Manjushri is the Bodhisattva (beings that have attained insight to reality) of Transcendent Wisdom. The youthful prince Manjushri carries in his right hand the double-edged sword that cuts through illusion; in his left hand, a blooming lotus that supports a volume of the Prajna-paramita Sutra. He is depicted as a youth of sixteen years in order to convey the Buddhist insight that wisdom is not a matter of years of experience but of the cultivation of wisdom. Wisdom is one of the most honored virtues in Tibetan Buddhism. Wisdom and compassion together constitute the true path to enlightenment and the great bliss that is the goal of all living beings.