智慧の学術的一表現
An academic expression of wisdom
2026-03-31
If one were to express wisdom in a more refined and academic manner, it might be articulated as follows:
“Wisdom is an internal form of language that serves as the direct catalyst by which a person (a sentient being) attains Buddhahood. It is a constructed concept that can account for the essential nature of an event—this ‘condition’—which is suddenly recalled by a practitioner of the Buddhist path who has accumulated merit, triggered by an opportunity for awakening. Even if, upon calm reflection, one feels that it lacks scientific grounding, it is nonetheless inferred, regarded as the only means capable of properly explaining the phenomenon, and strongly believed to be so. In this sense, it is the meaningful culmination of an extremely unique mode of thought.”
In short, when a practitioner of the Buddhist path attains Buddhahood, the internal language that existed immediately beforehand is clearly recognized, and its role is completed by the very fact that Buddhahood has actually been realized. Therefore, strictly speaking, there is no inherent need to even create the term “wisdom.” However, when one is compelled to explain the process of attaining Buddhahood to others with a certain degree of objectivity, it is believed that the term “wisdom” can be employed as the name of a generalized, conceivable conceptual construct suitable for that explanation.
Furthermore, regarding wisdom, one can observe the following principle in the early Buddhist scriptures attributed to the Buddha.
── All of your verses have been recited splendidly, one after another. But now, listen also to my verse. Giving with faith has indeed been praised in many ways. However, the “verse of the Dharma” is superior (to giving). It is said that the good people of old, and those even before them, possessing wisdom, have gone forth to Nirvāṇa. (The Buddha’s Dialogue with the Gods — Saṃyutta Nikāya I, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
1035 The Master replied, “Ajita, it is mindfulness and careful attention that dam all the currents of defilements in the world. It is mindfulness that prevents and guards against those currents—I declare. And those currents shall be blocked by wisdom.” (The Words of the Buddha – Sutta Nipāta, Chapter 5: The Way to the Far Shore, The Questions of the Student Ajita, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami Bunko)
847 For one who has abandoned obsessional thoughts, there are no bonds that bind. For one liberated through wisdom, there is no delusion. Those who cling to thoughts and to biased views wander about in the world, colliding with one another. (The Words of Buddha, Sutta Nipāta, Chapter 4: Chapter of the Eight Verses, 9: Māgandiya, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
Now then, insofar as wisdom is an extremely unique constructed concept that arises on the basis of such personal mental formations, it follows that it cannot be learned or acquired by others.
That is to say, wisdom is something that each practitioner must realize individually. Whether a given constructed concept that has arisen (= the fruition of one’s thought) truly constitutes wisdom can be determined only by whether that person, through it, attains awakening (= liberation) and became a Buddha.
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