The Secret Meanings of the Heart Sutra

 

What does the term “prajna” truly mean in Buddhism? Can it simply be literally translated into “wisdom”? The conventional definition of wisdom that we know involves all sorts of mundane matters, such as flower arrangement, calligraphy, and mathematical or scientific endeavors, to name a few.

 The notion of “prajna” in Buddhism has several aspects: the knowledge that all phenomena in the aggregates, sense fields, and elements arise dependently without an intrinsic nature; the perfect understanding of the four noble truths, which will prevent practitioners pursuing the transmundane Two-Vehicle Bodhi from falling into the erroneous views of nihilism; and the penetrative understanding of the essential nature of the dharma realm and the ultimate reality of the absolute truth.

 In other words, the Buddhist term “prajna” has such a broad and encompassing content that its mere literal translation into “wisdom” in our mundane world will not suffice. Hence, the term is transliterated into Chinese on the basis of its original Sanskrit sound as “prajna” to distinguish it from the conventional understanding of wisdom.

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