Paññā pāramī : transcendental wisdom, insight, discernment
- paññā
‘understanding, knowledge, wisdom, insight’, comprises a very wide field. The specific Buddhist knowledge or wisdom, however, as part of the Noble Eightfold Path (magga, q.v.) to deliverance, is insight (vipassanā, q.v.), i.e. that intuitive knowledge which brings about the 4 stages of holiness and the realization of Nibbāna (s. ariyapuggala), and which consists in the penetration of the impermanency (anicca, q.v.), misery (dukkha, s. sacca) and impersonality (anattā) of all forms of existence. Further details, s. under tilakkhana.
Reference:
http://www.palikanon.com/english/wtb/n_r/pannaa.htm
Comment: What I’ve been told in the 10-day retreats I’ve attended is that the wisdom arises from direct experience while practicing Vipassana.