What is ignorance?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sharon Saw on April 9, 2011 at 1:08pm

I loved reading all the responses to this question!

In lay man's terms, I believe that ignorance is the core of the three poisons or root problems, the others being anger and attachment. Every suffering we experience can find its source in these three poisons. From ignorance arises attachment and from attachment arises anger, and hence the circle goes endlessly round and round.

The scariest part of ignorance for me is not knowing the true nature of things, and not knowing what i don't know. However, as I realise how ignorant I am, I am humbled because there is so much to learn and learning the Dharma, purifying my negative karma and accumulating merits are the only routes out of this cycle.

Thank you for all your sharing, I look forward to reading more in this forum.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ana-María Clasing on June 22, 2011 at 7:38pm

Ignorance is attachement! to anything, to all things and to the 'I'. This attachement makes things be, make things look solid to us, make things be holders of many characteristics which we believe are also fixed...attachement determines things. Nevertheless things and the 'I' are conditioned and become to beeing through causes and conditions. This solely fact that things need to depend on causes and conditions to be able to be, makes them indetermined and changeable, so no fixed or solid existance is possible, and therefore, attachement is senseless, and suffering comes and goes within samsara. Cessation of suffering (the 3rd.NT) is when things and the 'i' have already gone beyond this state of cognition and are pervaded by emtiness. This realization does not come to us by merely intellectual understanding, it is through the direct experience lived in meditation that one can aquire it.

Excuse my english...have studied buddhism for more than 10 years now and my teachers were H.H.and Geshe sonam Rinchen.

Ana-María from Chile

www.protibetculture.blogspot.com