Transcending Insanity, Part Six: True Wisdom

Oct 31, 2025

A journey through prajna, the wordless wisdom that points beyond concepts. A tour of the five pāramitās as steps toward spacious awareness. A clear take on the Middle Way between eternalism and nihilism. Emptiness framed as interdependence, not nothingness. A contrast between focused mindfulness and open awareness, plus a look at three levels of wisdom and a musical closing.

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INSIGHT

Middle Way Between Extremes

The Middle Way rejects eternalism and nihilism as extremes and points to interdependent reality.
Prajña is realized by navigating between 'something lasts forever' and 'nothing matters'.

INSIGHT

Emptiness As Interdependence

Emptiness means being empty of independent nature, not nothingness.
Recognizing interdependence reveals you as a full, unmappable composite of causes and conditions.

INSIGHT

Mind As Spacious, Not Preloaded

Mind is empty and spacious before stimuli present content; thoughts are habitual responses.
Prajña arises when you notice the space from which thoughts emerge.

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In this episode, I explore the sixth and final pāramitā—prajna, or wisdom—the one beyond words and concepts. True wisdom isn’t about knowledge but about recognizing the interdependence of all things and walking the Middle Way between eternalism (“something lasts forever”) and nihilism (“nothing matters”).

We revisit the first five pāramitās—generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, and meditative absorption—and see how they lead us to the spacious awareness that meditation reveals. Mindfulness is only half the path; the other half, awareness, brings love, creativity, and compassion.

We also look at the three forms of wisdom—worldly, beyond worldliness, and beyond even dharma—and the essence of the Heart Sutra: “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”

I close with a piece of music I love, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman’s “My One and Only Love,” a perfect expression of what I call undone and refined.

Highlights:

Prajna as direct, wordless knowing
The Middle Way between extremes
Emptiness as fullness and interconnection
Mindfulness vs. awareness in meditation
The three forms of wisdom
The Heart Sutra’s simple truth
Closing reflection: Coltrane and Hartman’s timeless duet

Watch this episode on video
If you’d like to see me share my reflections, the video version is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdpt80EJvOc

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Produced by Citizens of Sound