The Power of Threes: Three Words for Wisdom

You would never know from looking at my desk, but I am a very organized person. My wife does not know that; she moves things around to make it tidy, and then I can not find anything. In this connection, I take a very syncretic approach to Buddhist concepts. I am convinced that various sets of threes are all part of a common thread. Moreover, I am determined to sort it out, While this often works, I occasionally encounter a snag. When this happens, I follow a threefold approach:

• Kick it, dismiss it as irrelevant, and belittle those who care about it. {I deal with my messy desk this way}.
• Tie my mind in knots wrestling with it and wind up with a headache. {I deal with disagreements with my wife this way}.
  
• Confess ignorance, let go, sleep on it, and come back to it later. {I have learned to apply this one to difficult Buddhist concepts}
  

Sometimes, as with Conflation/Syncresis of the Three Great Hidden Dharmas, Triple Body & the Threefold Training, there are inconsistencies that seem to defy reconciliation. Not that this a problem; I can deal with ambiguity -- well, sometimes and sort of. On other occasions, the the third step of the threefold system, if greased with a lot of patience, seems to work out. Along this line, one thing that has long bothered me is the inconsistent use of the word wisdom in Buddhist texts and commentaries. It seemed like it meant three different things in different contexts. I also noticed that sometimes knowledge is used instead of wisdom, with the same ambiguities.

It finally dawned on me that that three different words are being translated as either wisdom or knowledge; and sometimes as discernment. Each one has a distinct Pali & Sanskrit form, as well as a Chinese translation. Sorting these out was a headache, because modern Dharma teachers almost invariably slough them off as synonyms. After comparing translations with originals, and weighing context, I came up with a tentative take.

Knowledge, Science, Hard Fact, Objective Wisdom, Lore, Learning: Pali: Vijja; Sanskrit: Vidya; Chinese: 明 -- Go-on or shindoku reading myo; Mandarin ming2, literally meaning "light." This appears to mean knowledge or wisdom in the sense of fact, information, or science. An example of use would be the Vidya -Raja or Myo'on [明王], the Esoteric Wisdom or Knowledge Kings. The opposite is avidya, which might mean nesceince, misinformation, error, or incorrect knowledge.

In keeping with our PIT theme (see The Power of Threes; Universal Truths, General Concepts, and Methods), I see a parallel between Vidya and Principles.

Comprehension, Understanding, Knowing, Subjective Wisdom: Pali & Sanskrit: Jnana ; Greek: Gnosis; Chinese [智] -- Go-on or shindoku reading Chi, Mandarin zhi4. I take this to mean an accurate or correct take on things. The opposite would be ignorance, not knowing, agnostc or ajnana.

There is a related term vinnana or Vijnana. The original meaning appears to have been discrimination. Indeed, the Chinese is 識; shindoku shiki, Mandarin shi4 or zhi4; meaning discriminating. The Buddha applied this to the six sensory organs; eyes, ears, nose, mouth, body, and brain; the function of which is discriminating between various phenomena. As such, it became conflated with citta in the sense of consciousness.

In keeping with our PIT theme, I see a parallel between Jnana and Ideas.

Discernment: Pali: Panna; Sanskrit: Prajna, Chinese: 慧 -- shindoku E, Mandarin hui4. This appears to be accurate thinking, practical skill in both perception and cognition, to be smart or intelligent. For more on this see Manjushiri Mantra . The opposite of prajna might be the Sanskrit mudhi; meaning stupidity, or foolishness. By the way, prajna is also transliterated or phonetically rendered as 般若 -- the shindoku reading is hannya. In this case, the Chinese writing has no meaning, it is a borrowed word. Prajna is closely related to, and often conflated with insight, Pali: vipassana; Sanskrit: Vipashyana, Chinese 観; shindoku kan, Mandarin gwan or kuan. As an aside, 観 is also used to translate the Sanskrit lokita, meaning to look, in the physical sense of sight.

In keeping with our PIT theme, I see a parallel between Prajna and Techniques.

This is still tentative. There is a lack of hard data, book learning, or lore to confirm my take. I could also be misunderstanding the available sources. It could also be that I lack the requisite skill of discernment. However, I think am less misinformed and ignorant than I was, before I looked into the use of the word Wisdom in Buddhist texts. The jury is out on whether I am any less foolish.

Oh, there is no parallel between the PIT formula and the threefold approach to dealing with snags; all three of those are techniques.