What is wisdom?

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Polar Bear
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Polar Bear »

If by renouncing a lesser happiness one may realize a greater happiness, let the wise man renounce the lesser, having regard for the greater. - Dhammapada

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .budd.html

I believe this principle, if adopted and made much of, will gradually lead one all the way to the happiness that is Nibbāna.


:namaste:
"I don't envision a single thing that, when developed & cultivated, leads to such great benefit as the mind. The mind, when developed & cultivated, leads to great benefit."

"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about such suffering & stress as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about suffering & stress."
mal4mac
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by mal4mac »

nichiren-123 wrote: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:27 pm I read a dhammapada quote (340) earlier:
Everywhere these streams are swirling,
up-bursting creepers (craving) rooted firm.
Seeing the craving-creeper there
with wisdom cut its root!
And this raises a question for me: What does 'wisdom' mean as a buddhist concept?

What exactly are we using to cut the roots of craving?
From what I've read, we should use insight to cut the roots of craving. This is recognition of the suffering, impermanence, and no self of anything that comes to mind.

For instance you may crave to go to bed with a particular woman, but she isn't interested in you. By observing this craving you see (i) the suffering this unsatisfied craving causes; (ii) that such sexual satisfaction is not at all necessary to your well being, it is no part of your best self; (iii) it is impermanent. One moment you crave this woman, the next you are thinking of dinner, or (best of all) you are deep in meditation and not holding on to any impermanent thing.

The last paragraph is how I try and apply wisdom, and I do often find myself suffering less, so it is (at least) a somewhat wise move on my part to do this kind of thing. The more experienced here might like to chip in and extend/correct my understanding. For instance, I am not sure my understanding of "no self" is water tight! I try to look at things like "lust for a particular unattainable women" as not part of my ultimate/best/core self (and even consider this "best self" as impermanent.) I hope this is a reasonable staging post on the way to to seeing that I have, really, no self at all.

With "with wisdom cut its root" we have a metaphor, from the Buddha himself, of his insight being like a knife. I think my insight is a much more blunt instrument. That is, I look at upsetting objects of consciousness, I try (gently) to let go, try to see, or otherwise determine, impermanence/no self/suffering, and hope the upsetting object will just melt away like dank fog. So it's more like seeking creepers with a dim torch, tearing away the very few pieces I can tear with my bare hands, and just deciding to put up with the tougher creepers, and hope they eventually just go away.

This alleviates suffering somewhat, I think, but it's a slow process, and the same old creepers keep on coming back.

So how do we get this insight that cuts like a knife? How do we get rid of these creepers once and for all? How do we cut back down to the root?
- Mal
Unexist
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Unexist »

Wisdom is that which cut assunder the tree of Samsara, literally the unbinding of name&form.

It's like pool of cool degree of water, instantly poured into the blazing fire. Afterwards fire is extinguished and burnt ashes(name) and evaporated smoke(form) can be clearly seen. It's a state of freedom or Nirvana or declutched or primeval state.

Wisdom really means "How" that unbinding occur.

And that how is Eightfold path or stream of cool water or satguru or pure counsiousness.

But remember that stream is only temporary, only for it's purpose to cut the root cause. Afterwards the doctor departs when pateint been healed by relief from every disease.

Hope this simple understanding help! May all living being happy and arrive to unbinding.
Saengnapha
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Saengnapha »

mal4mac wrote: Sun Oct 29, 2017 9:50 am
nichiren-123 wrote: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:27 pm I read a dhammapada quote (340) earlier:
Everywhere these streams are swirling,
up-bursting creepers (craving) rooted firm.
Seeing the craving-creeper there
with wisdom cut its root!
And this raises a question for me: What does 'wisdom' mean as a buddhist concept?

What exactly are we using to cut the roots of craving?
From what I've read, we should use insight to cut the roots of craving. This is recognition of the suffering, impermanence, and no self of anything that comes to mind.

For instance you may crave to go to bed with a particular woman, but she isn't interested in you. By observing this craving you see (i) the suffering this unsatisfied craving causes; (ii) that such sexual satisfaction is not at all necessary to your well being, it is no part of your best self; (iii) it is impermanent. One moment you crave this woman, the next you are thinking of dinner, or (best of all) you are deep in meditation and not holding on to any impermanent thing.

The last paragraph is how I try and apply wisdom, and I do often find myself suffering less, so it is (at least) a somewhat wise move on my part to do this kind of thing. The more experienced here might like to chip in and extend/correct my understanding. For instance, I am not sure my understanding of "no self" is water tight! I try to look at things like "lust for a particular unattainable women" as not part of my ultimate/best/core self (and even consider this "best self" as impermanent.) I hope this is a reasonable staging post on the way to to seeing that I have, really, no self at all.

With "with wisdom cut its root" we have a metaphor, from the Buddha himself, of his insight being like a knife. I think my insight is a much more blunt instrument. That is, I look at upsetting objects of consciousness, I try (gently) to let go, try to see, or otherwise determine, impermanence/no self/suffering, and hope the upsetting object will just melt away like dank fog. So it's more like seeking creepers with a dim torch, tearing away the very few pieces I can tear with my bare hands, and just deciding to put up with the tougher creepers, and hope they eventually just go away.

This alleviates suffering somewhat, I think, but it's a slow process, and the same old creepers keep on coming back.

So how do we get this insight that cuts like a knife? How do we get rid of these creepers once and for all? How do we cut back down to the root?
Insight takes you to the point of seeing anicca, the inability to maintain anything (some call it impermanence) in all experience, how dissatisfying it really is, and the inability find any refuge or agency in any of it. The cutting of roots is a figurative metaphor. Insight does not cut the roots. Insight is still part of the anicca, the mental formations. It is with disenchantment and dispassion, that one turns away from this endeavor of becoming and the dream of existence.

It seems that most people need to exhaust all their strategies to attain nibbana before disenchantment and dispassion can take place. Somehow, there is still the belief that there is a doer and a done, a task to be completed. This has to abate.
Unexist
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Unexist »

Senganppa said: wisdom is part of insight!

Many people hold wisdom to non-wisdom. Truth to untruth. Wisdom is Mark to cut the delusion.

Here my friend said it is part of it i.e. root. Upsurd vain the talk later, when the patient been healed he forget the doctor, how mean? The doctor is wisdom or eithfold path or purity and virtue or heavenly path or the lamp who destroy darkness.

When one is surrender to wisdom or Eightfold path or Purity, it happen, and afterwards one forget the path? How cruel is the nature?

For example; A man's face is stucked in beneath the water, he nevertheless cry for help to come out. A helping hand of wisdom came, and hold his head to pull out of the water. Now after that he clearly sees his face is out! So he joyfully run hither and tither, claiming, oh I have got pulled up my face from water, hail to me! Utterly forgot A helping hand?

Now the question, was a helping hand part of the water? Or part of face?
Ask yourself and feel it!
Saengnapha
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Saengnapha »

Unexist wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 7:49 am Senganppa said: wisdom is part of insight!
Did I say that? Please show me.
Unexist
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Unexist »

Please forgive me, when I say, I don't said with intention to hurt anyone. But wisdom is rather easy to speak what it is not than to speak what it is!

If one really sees, by eyes of wisdom, there are directions if truth and untrue. In front(east) one sees name and form unbounded. But this is the insight into the freedom. Yeah! One is freed!

But one never forget that from which this insight occurs. If one sees rightly then caste your eyes upward(north) , may be at night can clearly percieve that which is not name nor form. It's real wisdom. Buddha term it Anatta. And he termed the Eastern insight of unbinding as Anitya. One has to be very careful between Anatta and Anitya.
nichiren-123
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by nichiren-123 »

Having thought about this for a while, I'd like to give my take on what I think wisdom is:

Wisdom is closely related to emotional intelligence. You can act based on emotional impulses or you can learn to act based on wisdom - that is acting from what you know to be the right thing, without being swayed by your emotions
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Aloka
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Aloka »

.

Ajahn Sucitto discusses wisdom (pañña) in the following article:

The Unified Path to Freedom

It’s important to remember that the Buddhist path unifies in ethics, meditation and discerning wisdom: sīla, samādhi, and pañña. Sīla, or ethics, includes virtue, integrity, intentions, attitudes and inclinations of the mind that are skilful – and it excludes ones that are unskilful. Samādhi is the deepening stillness that we experience in meditation; it is a focus that is steady and firm. Pañña is wisdom, or discernment: the action of clearly understanding things in line with suffering and the cessation of suffering.

So Buddhist wisdom is something you do. It’s about applying the mind to find out how stress or suffering is caused, how the roots of it are laid down, and how suffering continues if these roots are not looked into. Even if the stress is not agonizing, and the suffering is just manageable discontent, we can either lay down the foundation to continue in the future suffering, refrain from doing that, or clear the premises and habits that trigger unskilful mental action.

Continues at the link:

http://ajahnsucitto.org/articles/the-un ... o-freedom/




:anjali:
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Sam Vara
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Sam Vara »

nichiren-123 wrote: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:27 pm I read a dhammapada quote (340) earlier:
Everywhere these streams are swirling,
up-bursting creepers (craving) rooted firm.
Seeing the craving-creeper there
with wisdom cut its root!
And this raises a question for me: What does 'wisdom' mean as a buddhist concept?

What exactly are we using to cut the roots of craving?
I don't think that wisdom is some other unidentified factor that we need to identify in order to cut the root of craving. Rather, if we are able to cut the root of craving, then to that extent we are wise. I attended a dhamma talk a couple of days ago where the Ajahn said something along the lines that wisdom is what enables us to see reality clearly. We are prevented from seeing reality clearly because of our greed, hatred, and delusion getting in the way; so when we act to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion by not acting upon them and cultivating their opposites, we are exercising wisdom. The "cutting off" aspect of wisdom is seen again in the Milindapanha like this:
"Just as, your majesty, a barley-reaper takes a sheaf of barley in the left hand, takes a sickle in the right hand, and cuts the barley, even so, your majesty, does the spiritual aspirant take hold of the mind with attention, and cut off the defilements with wisdom. Indeed thus, your majesty, examination is the distinguishing characteristic of attention, and severing is the distinguishing characteristic of wisdom."
It is made clear that this "cutting off" leads to increased clarity, or seeing things properly:
"Previously, your majesty, I said 'severing is the distinguishing characteristic of wisdom,' and now furthermore illuminating is the distinguishing characteristic of wisdom."

"How, venerable sir, is illuminating the distinguishing characteristic of wisdom?"

"Wisdom arising, your majesty, dispels the darkness of ignorance, produces the illumination of insight, brings forth the light of knowledge, and makes manifest the noble truths; and further, the spiritual practitioner sees with complete understanding impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and corelessness."

"Give me an analogy."

"Just as, your majesty, a person might bring a lamp into a dark house, and with the lamp lit dispel the darkness, produce illumination, show the light, and make manifest forms, so too, your majesty, wisdom arising dispels the darkness of ignorance, produces the illumination of insight, brings forth the light of knowledge, and makes manifest the noble truths; and further, the spiritual practitioner sees with complete understanding impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and corelessness."
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tip ... .kell.html
samsarictravelling
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by samsarictravelling »

nichiren-123 wrote: Wed Aug 09, 2017 7:27 pm I read a dhammapada quote (340) earlier:
Everywhere these streams are swirling,
up-bursting creepers (craving) rooted firm.
Seeing the craving-creeper there
with wisdom cut its root!
And this raises a question for me: What does 'wisdom' mean as a buddhist concept?

What exactly are we using to cut the roots of craving?
Wisdom here is The Four Noble Truths, and the Dhamma in general, is my short reply.
User1249x
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by User1249x »

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html
Discernment

As he was sitting there, he said to Ven. Sariputta, "Friend, 'One of poor discernment, one of poor discernment': Thus is it said. To what extent is one said to be 'one of poor discernment'?"

"'One doesn't discern, one doesn't discern': Thus, friend, one is said to be 'one of poor discernment.' And what doesn't one discern? One doesn't discern, 'This is stress.' One doesn't discern, 'This is the origination of stress.' One doesn't discern, 'This is the cessation of stress.' One doesn't discern, 'This is the practice leading to the cessation of stress.' 'One doesn't discern, one doesn't discern': Thus one is said to be 'one of poor discernment.'"

Saying, "Very good, friend," Ven. Maha Kotthita — delighting in & approving of Ven. Sariputta's statement — asked him a further question: "Discerning, discerning': Thus is it said. To what extent, friend, is one said to be 'discerning'?"

"'One discerns, one discerns': Thus, friend, one is said to be 'discerning.' And what does one discern? One discerns, 'This is stress.' One discerns, 'This is the origination of stress.' One discerns, 'This is the cessation of stress.' One discerns, 'This is the practice leading to the cessation of stress.' 'One discerns, one discerns': Thus one is said to be 'discerning.'"
Amanaki
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Re: What is wisdom?

Post by Amanaki »

Wisdom arise when you cultivate the dhamma. When morality highten because of your cultivation then wisdom arise within you.
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