Transcript Wisdom In The Eigh

Wisdom – panna / prajna
• The wisdom element of
the Eightfold Path
features in Right
Understanding
• This implies the obvious
but is often
misunderstood
• i.e. – in order to practise
we need to have heard or
read the Buddha’s
teachings
Wisdom – panna / prajna
• This means that
Buddhists will have
actively penetrated the
truth of the Four Noble
Truths and tested them
against their experience
• Buddhists who want to
follow the way will be
following it based on
informed confidence in
the soundness of the
teachings rather than just
blind faith
Wisdom – panna / prajna
• The wisdom element of
the Eightfold Path also
features in Right Thought
• In other words, Buddhists
need to show the correct
motivation for following
the path. They need to
move away from the ego
and towards a selfless
existence
Wisdom – panna / prajna
• None of us have perfect
understanding or thought
from the start. We are
often advancing our own
cause according to the
Buddha’s teaching by
devising plots, plans and
strategies
• We often have egoistic
thoughts and hedonistic
fantasies. We ought to be
more altruistic
Wisdom – panna / prajna
• How might a Buddhist
put this into practice?
• Act responsibly
towards the
environment for
example
Wisdom – panna / prajna
• ‘All that we are is the
result of what we have
thought. The mind is
everything. What we
think, we become.’ The
Buddha
• ‘There is nothing so
disobedient as an
undisciplined mind, and
there is nothing so
obedient as a disciplined
mind.’ The Buddha
Wisdom – panna / prajna
• ‘He is able who thinks
he is able.’ The
Buddha
• ‘What we think, we
become.’ The Buddha
Wisdom – panna / prajna
• Conclusions
• 1. Right Understanding
or view - is the true
understanding of the Four
Noble Truths.
• 2. Right Thought or
Intention is the true
desire to free oneself
from attachment,
ignorance, and
hatefulness.
Wisdom – panna / prajna
•
•
The mind is the source of
happiness and unhappiness.
The thought manifests as
the word. The word
manifests as the deed. The
deed develops into habit.
And the habit hardens into
character. So watch the
thought and its ways with
care. And let it spring from
love, born out of concern for
all beings.
.