Question: What is the difference between jnana and vijnana?

Sri Chinmoy: jnana is knowledge and Vijnana is superknowledge. jnana, or earthly knowledge, is all information. Vijnana has two meanings: one is “science,” the other is “Supreme discovery.” Vijnana is infinitely superior to the so-called mental knowledge, or what we call book-learning or world-information. It is a superior type of knowledge, which is founded upon one’s inner discovery. The inferior type of knowledge is jnana, which is desire-bound and earth-bound. Vijnana is Heaven-free. It is not bound by time or space. Anything that inspires us to become universal, to grow into the transcendental reality, is Vijnana. Anything that instigates us to bind the world is jnana. The higher knowledge inspires us to swim across the sea of light and delight, to fly in the vast welkin of peace, light and delight. The lesser knowledge instigates us to bind anything that we see around us.