Question

Prajñā (Sanskrit) or Paññā (Pāli) in Buddhism is
1. Insight or knowledge of the true nature of existence
2. Virtues or directions for meditation in Buddhist traditions
3. World of desirelessness
4. Right speech, right action and right livelihood

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Insight or knowledge of the true nature of existence

The correct answer is Insight or knowledge of the true nature of existence.

• Prajñā (Sanskrit) or paññā (Pāli), is a Buddhist term often translated as wisdom, intelligence.
• In Buddhism, wisdom is realizing or perceiving the true nature of reality, seeing things as they are, not as they appear.
• This wisdom is not bound by conceptual knowledge.
• It must be intimately experienced to be understood.
• It is described in Buddhist commentaries as the understanding of the true nature of phenomena.
• Paññā is the fourth virtue of ten pāramīs found in late canonic (Khuddaka Nikāya) and Theravādan commentary, and the sixth of the six Mahāyāna pāramitās.

• Buddhist meditation, the practise of mental concentration leading ultimately through a succession of stages to the final goal of spiritual freedom, nirvana.
• Four stages, called dhyanas (virtues), are distinguished in the shift of attention from the outward sensory world:
  1. detachment from the external world and consciousness of joy and ease,
  2. concentration, with suppression of reasoning and investigation,
  3. the passing away of joy, with the sense of ease remaining, and
  4. the passing away of ease also, bringing about a state of pure self-possession and equanimity.
• The Noble Eightfold Path is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth.
• The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi.
• Taṇhā is an important concept in Buddhism, referring to thirst, desire, longing, greed, either physical or mental.
• Tanha appears in the Four Noble Truths, wherein tanha is the cause of dukkha.