Sagely wisdom or prajna
Most people dont know what wisdomactually means. In Buddhism wisdom or praj is a very important term. If one fails to grasp its essence they will always be moving contrary to wisdom and Buddhism.
In a nutshell, wisdom is the capacity to distinguish or discern between right and wrong, or, in the Buddhist sense of the term praj, to discern between the absolute and non-absolute. A sage, we can say, is wise because he is able to distinguish between right and wrong actions and ultimately, true reality from illusion. From the Catusparisat Sutra we can see wisdom at work in distinguishing the first aggregate of the Five Aggregates, material form (rupa), from our self thus knowing that material form is not my self.
"Therefore then, O monks, whatever material form there is, past, future or present, inside or outside, gross or subtle, low or eminent, far or near, all this is not mine, I am not this, it is not my self. In this way it must be seen, in truth, by means of correct discriminative knowledge (praj)."
By the application of wisdom, a sage avoids taking up material form, feelings, perception, habitual tendencies, and sensory consciousness as being their self or atma. Said again, a sage avoids taking up the psychophysical body as being who they really are. The sage by wisdom or praj knows that it is by clinging to the psychophysical body, which is suffering, that one is plunged into suffering. In other words, I become the sufferant in proportion as I cling to this suffering body of my birth. Also, the failure to discern what is beyond suffering, that is, nirvana plunges one into suffering since there is nothing other than a world of suffering for those who have not attained nirvana. This brings us to the fact that nirvana is the highest happiness such that there is nothing beyond the happiness of nirvana/nibbana (Therigatha 476). In addition, the mortal who del! ights in nirvana is freed from all suffering (S. ii. 278).
Wisdom in Buddhism also implies that one has really comprehended the absolute, i.e., attained nirvana. It is not just a metaphysical notion. By this comprehension one easily discerns the true from the false; true reality from the empty world of illusion. This leads to Prajna-paramaita, that is, the perfection of wisdom in which the distinction between the true substance of reality and its phenomena is clear and perfect, but this is another blog.
