IGNORANCE - Avijja
| The Buddha starts the sequence of factors with ignorance,
'Avijja'. In our past lives our minds were obscured by a basic ignorance. No first point
can be found to this ignorance. No matter how far back we go through our past lives, one
always finds that our minds have been obscured by ignorance. What is ignorance? The Buddha
defines ignorance as not knowing, not seeing the Four Noble Truths; the truth of
suffering, its origin, its cessation and the way to its cessation. Ignorance does not mean
the mere lack of conceptual understanding of these, but spiritual blindness, not
understanding the Four Noble Truths in their full depth and range. Through beginningless, times ignorance has led us to see things as being permanent, pleasurable, attractive and self, and prevented us from seeing them in their real characteristics of impermanence, suffering and selflessness. Out of this ignorance come all other defilements, such as greed, aversion, pride, wrong views, jealousy, selfishness etc.. It has to be emphasised that ignorance is not the 'uncaused' first cause of things. It also arises through conditions. As a mental factor it depends on the minds and bodies of these beings. Though it arises through conditions, ignorance is the most fundamental condition. Therefore the Buddha takes this as a starting point for explanation. This ignorance controls our mind until we are perfectly enlightened, leading us into actions which bring about renewed birth in the future. This brings us to the first proposition, which connects together the first two factors "Dependent on ignorance volitional formations arise." |