At 09:45 AM 18-05-05, Stephen Hodge wrote:

>The other thing I wonder about here is the, to me misleading, translation of
>pa~n~na as wisdom. Does the word have a vaguer, general meaning in Pali
>than the way praj~naa is used elsewhere ? As you will know, it is defined
>in Sanskritic sources as "dharma-pravicaya", which suggests a discrinimating
>or analytical approach to things. Wisdom would seem to be the end product
>of the process not the means.

"End product" as in way, way at the end? I believe so (not being there yet). But wisdom/pañña do come in stages.

Let's use 5 faculties to explain this. With faith (saddha), one puts forth energy (viriya), and mindfulness (sati) gradually builds up. With that, concentration (samadhi) follows until it reaches a certain point when wisdom/insight (pañña) arises.

Then faith takes a leap. With that, one naturally becomes more keen to practice, i.e. joy comes in and energy increases, which again leads to more mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. And it goes on.

Of course this is easier said than done, particularly when there's a lack of right understanding of how to do that. So, having a good teacher (preferably enlightened) is indispensable (for most people, at least).


peace

Kumâra Bhikkhu