Have you heard of Buddha-nature, or people saying that you are already a Buddha? Perhaps you have also heard someone suggest that meditation is unnecessary: all you need to do is empty your mind, and you are already enlightened.

Such statements can be confusing for beginners. Without understanding the context in which these teachings are presented, we may mistakenly conclude that there is nothing we need to learn, no defilements we need to overcome, and no mental training we need to undertake.

Worse still, we might begin to regard the more fundamental teachings and practices of Buddhism as unnecessary, even though they provide the foundation for our spiritual development.

Different Buddhist traditions explain Buddha-nature and enlightenment in different ways. Rather than attempting to resolve these differences here, let us consider a more practical question: Does wisdom arise by itself, or must we cultivate it?

The following question-and-answer exchange between Ajahn Suchart and a disciple offers one perspective worth considering.

Q:  I’ve heard that wisdom or paññā is something that will grow inside me without me trying to get anything or trying to achieve anything.

Than Ajahn:  That’s a misperception because the Buddha said that wisdom comes in 3 stages: 

1. The first stage is called ‘wisdom arising from learning, ‘sutta-maya paññā.’ Sutta means listening to Dhamma talks, listening to the teachings of the Buddha. So you have to learn them. You cannot have your own wisdom arising from a foolish mind. A foolish mind will never have any wisdom arising by itself. You need to get wisdom from a wise mind, like that of the Buddha. That’s why we have to study the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha. Study the Four Noble Truths and the Three Characteristics of Existence, for instance. This is the first level or first stage of having wisdom: learning from others. 

(Bodhi-Bowl: Learning is an important part of practical Buddhism. Without the right knowledge, we are like people wandering in darkness, unsure of where to go or how to find our way out. Before the Buddha’s awakening, the path to liberation wasn’t available to the world. Through his awakening, the Buddha came to understand the nature of suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. We begin our own journey by learning what the Buddha taught. We cannot put his teachings into practice if we do not first understand what we are trying to practise.)

2. Once you have learned from others, then you go to the next stage. The next stage is to maintain this knowledge that you have learned by constantly thinking about it, contemplating on it [cintā-maya paññā]. Because if you don’t contemplate on it, you will forget. Right? It’s like when you go to school, when you first learned the lessons from the teachers in the class, the teachers will give you homework to do so that you won’t forget the lessons. So this is the next level of having wisdom or knowledge: to contemplate the knowledge that you have learned. Once you have learned the Four Noble Truths, the Three Characteristics of Existence, the asubha, for instance, then you have to contemplate on them, so that you won’t forget the knowledge that you’ve learned.

(Bodhi-Bowl: This is important because learning something once does not mean that we have truly understood it. We may forget what the Buddha taught, interpret it incorrectly, or allow our habitual ways of thinking to distort its meaning. That is why we need to revisit the teachings, recollect them, and reflect on them repeatedly. For example, knowing intellectually that everything is impermanent is one thing. Reflecting on impermanence when we lose something we treasure is another. Through repeated contemplation, we begin to understand how the teaching relates to our own experiences and how it can change the way we respond to life’s difficulties. Learning gives us the knowledge. Reflection helps us understand and internalise it – reprogram how we habitually think)

3. Then, you go to the third level. This is the level in which you apply this knowledge to get rid of your defilements. In order to apply the knowledge that you have learned from the Buddha, the knowledge that you have contemplated on, you need to have upekkhā. You have to have a strong mind, a mind that is content, not hungry. And in order to have upekkhā, you need to bhāvanā, you have to meditate to get into the fourth jhāna. Once you have the fourth jhāna, and have upekkhā, when you apply the knowledge that you have been contemplating on, you can get rid of your dukkha or suffering. This is the third level of wisdom (bhāvanā-maya paññā). Sometimes people interpret bhāvanāmaya-paññā to be the knowledge that is arising from their meditation, but no—it is not. Because when you meditate, you don’t get any knowledge, you get equanimity. Then, with this equanimity, you use the knowledge that you have learned from the Buddha to apply it to get rid of your desires, your cravings. 

(Bodhi-Bowl: The important point here is the relationship between knowledge and mental training. Some people dislike sitting meditation or find it difficult to practise. Fortunately, Buddhist traditions offer various approaches to mental cultivation, including mindfulness of breathing, chanting the Buddha’s name, and reciting Buddhist mantras. They are for developing Samadhi.  When our minds are strong and stable, we recollect the teachings of Buddha to help us loosen our grasping of self-identity. The actual experiencing of the mind letting go of identification allows us see how it is like)

Source: “Dhamma in English, Nov 16, 2021.” By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto www.phrasuchart.com

May all be well and happy,