Nowadays, Theravada schools advocate vipassana meditation as the most important way to increase one’s ability to perceive reality.
In this practice, prajña (insight) is considered necessary to attain nirvana. Prajña means one’s ability to discern reality as it actually is. Prajña is crucial to personal development in all Buddhist schools.
In Mahayāṇa schools, prajña is the final perfection or pāramitā realized in meditation on the path to enlightenment.