THE CONCEPT OF IGNORANCE IN BUDDHISM.

 

 

Buddhism is the end of the Enlightenment and means to help achieve Enlightenment is Intelligence, and Wisdom is the opposite of ignorance. So to achieve enlightenment is to eliminate ignorance. Ignorance brings suffering and bring enlightenment is liberation. Intelligence is the dose to neutralize Ignorance ie to eliminate suffering. That's why ignorance is a very important concept in Buddhism because if ignorance is not understood what it was really hard to remove it. Ignorance is in three books mentioned different cases:

- Ignorance is venomous first of the three venomous poison called: it is the dull or ignorance (moha - delusion) ; lust and attachment (raga - greed) and hatred (krodha - anger) . U love (moha - ignorance - ignorance) will lead to stupid actions and mistakes, bring your emotional disturbances in consciousness.

- Ignorance (avidya / avijja) is "knot" or a "ring" the first of twelve "knot" of long-chain engaging and interactive called "Ten Second predestined," beings in bondage world of reincarnation. The first knot was also known as primitive ignorance (sahajavidya ), ie events not understanding the Four Noble Truths, the law of cause consequences (professional) and not aware of the existence of bound his own.

- Ignorance of the meaning confusion, lack of insight (ditthi, wrong views - wrong) that is not visible to the nature of things, that the true mode of existence of human beings and all phenomena.

Books, lectures, articles on the concept of ignorance ... The numerous, so this short article is intended to recall a few definitions and developed primarily to the third form of ignorance that is the mistake and ignorance about the nature of all objects, and mentioned several specific examples for us to reflect same. The word "ignorance" in general, Sanskrit called Avidya and Pa-li is avijja , meaning from the words of this chapter is the "ignorance" , but can also understand it is a "mistake" . "Lack of understanding" does not mean lack of knowledge brought from the chapter to learn from books, or a lack of understanding how wise nature of a scientist. To put it simply, we can understand ignorance as a way to "look wrong" or "confused" . For Buddhism is an erudite scholar, a wise philosopher, a brilliant scientist or a politician wise, etc. ... can still be those who are "ignorant" and "ignorance" , because although that they fail to understand about this familiar but can also look wrong and out wrong about another thing. Moreover, the other things that sometimes have a stature more important than things they know very familiar turn, because it can relate to happiness and their long term future and the whole others as well.

In short though it is a teacher or just a no good fortune to education, both also can fall into the same mistake. If the mistake was only related to the events and ordinary events in life, the consequences are sometimes brought to life not too bad. But if it is a mistaken view, a restaurant that deviations do not recognize the true nature of ourselves and of all things, not customary to see the illusion of all phenomena is fluctuating around their energy and momentum in his mind, the consequences will bring much more serious.

The complexity of ignorance and the diversity of the practice:

So if you want to break down or "overcoming ignorance" to expand the knowledge and wisdom must find how? The practice is rather complicated. People have so many different trends, from the nature of the body to education, from traditional to personal experience, from the situation to the direction of self-interest, that all these things are all post- cumulative effects of industrial advance. Indeed very difficult to find a general method has universal character, responds to everyone. So should not wonder around us is "a spiritual way," sects, tribes are "countless", and lectures are also all sorts of books. Actually, there are different ways that the French director to adapt to the diversity of living beings, or, simply is to adapt to the ignorance and the self of each person only.

Buddhism is not unaware of it, hence the French view Dao there are "skillful means" (upaya) "acceptable" for every one to find a "path" like for me, and of course also have to respect some basic principles that the French director. Scriptures say that all 84,000 "skillful means", and the cultural traditions of India, this figure are only symbolically, that is the skilful means so much, not counting Xue. Ignorance, too, is also much and counting NEVER-ENDING. Everyone has a their own ignorance, and can be viewed as a "fortune" private, "was" inherited from his career that everyone wants to protect the "fortune" was, "hold" on it, "proud" because, "clutching" get it. So of course the practice must also be consistent with the ignorance of each person is.

Let's look at an example of practical and specific as follows. A teacher preaching to a crowd of Buddhists to the temple. Buddhists sit quietly and listen to it into focus, the teacher is very enthusiastic preaching and also very sincere, sometimes eloquent, sometimes funny, sometimes very solemn and serious, to attract the listener's attention. But he also knows you just repeating what they have memorized (!). Among Buddhists, then surely there are people who listen and thought to himself as "linen around as well, nothing new," or think that this teacher is not teaching "attractive" by the day before. Meanwhile, there also who are thinking of coming to pick me because going to school now, but this teacher actively teaching so that new not know until the end, others are a little impatient because there must lo the markets and hundreds of work to be done, and so on and so on ... Then the lecture ended, teachers were glad together merit hands to pray for this world is more peaceful, happy more ... Buddhists have to hustle to port the application has hands in your pockets ... for fear of pickpockets, beggars they should not know too many handouts to people who, like getting the car loom, to look ahead looked after to avoid the car ... in the temple teaching, the teacher has done well to rest a little, because this afternoon to speak on the subject at a different temple. Everyone back to their daily life and no one can think of is that after his lecture, the improvement was partly the intellectual capital of your own?

Ignorance is indeed complex and diverse, so the practice if you want to really "effective" they also had to run in the diversity and complexity there. But fortunately, the end of French director is always just one: it is wisdom. Although a hitch in the context of mixed industrial and predestined by creation, but we should also try to look further and deeper than before the familiar events happening around them.

Consistent attention to see it stronger, more frequent and profound, the mind as a result of our increasingly developed. In short it is a way to help us get out of the ordinary bound to look further into the fluctuation phenomena are around and to gain insights into the emotions and impulses that dominate the mind power to help his own restaurant reviews, analyze and explore them to discover their true nature, to help her pick a behavior more adaptive.

Looking at the phenomenon of volatility and the nature of reality

Perspective as just described above consists of two aspects or two different areas: first of all looking at the phenomenon can be volatile as news of the "outside" or "illusion" of reality, and then look at the "true nature" of reality. Actually, both aspects or areas of reality that has been described in numerous books and was the teacher representative for the French Religion preach to us, but we have to see the it's because nobody can see them instead of us are. Two ways to look at it like this:

- Looking at the phenomenon of reality changes:

I try to sit down cross-legged, quiet and free of thought view the universe, to imagine the earth is spell rotation around the sun, then the sun and solar system is spinning in the galaxy, and splashed galaxies in the universe ... All these things are all moving at a tremendous velocity, which is the velocity of a huge explosion in the universe (Big Bang). Along with the earth and the galaxy, are being splashed in space ... But a few minutes ago, when we have not sat down to figure out their place in the vast space, we still feel that own sense of peace now, still feel firm foot on the ground and apparently he had nothing happen: it is the sky on top with with towering clouds went smoothly, the ground beneath us is solid, and our house is the old and building the foundation for sure. In summary we say every "normal foot as some" without consistent motion that the terrible ignorance that is one thing very noticeable, but just as any running back to run down so we did not see the ignorance that his only!

The earth is a tiny particle spin flipped in the air, so that we still try to look up to find something great, and looked down to the sense of the doomed. I put myself in the center of the universe to self-identify themselves. The position used to guide as the center, right, left, above, below ... no meaning at all, considering it is the benchmark purely relative and conventional. But for us it's called "heaven" it is certain to stay on top, we can not accept the "ridiculous" it would be a in ... "beneath" us. A northern hemisphere, the "heaven" will have a direction opposed to the direction of "heaven" of a southern hemisphere. I looked "up" to search for a supreme, a heaven of happiness or a blissful realm of peace, despite that the tiny particles called spin globe that are being flipped "over the top" or blown "down under" in this universe. This is one of thousands of vision helps us see that their ignorance shocks around.

If further narrow vision to return to what is happening around us in the limits of this earth, we also see that all objects and phenomena where a small planet also changes continuously, from humans to everything, from culture to politics, from geography to history and events from ancient to modern. There were times when rain crops and favorable weather there are also times when natural disasters kill hundreds of thousands of people at once. There are babies born, then there are those who lie down, and lay down among the also still breastfed babies, the elderly are sick, and those who are young and healthy ... All these phenomena on the level of "outside" seems to appear as independent, is clearly identified. But if we understand that a tsunami that killed more than two hundred thousand people have originated from an earthquake. Earthquake is to have the continental plates drift on hot rocks and fluid flow within the earth's crust, the continental plates collide, leaning on each other, pent-up, was "broken "to create earthquakes. The reason we did not see the movement that is because they occur too late in life when we are too intense, and termination occurs as a lightning bolt. Further contrast to the past, we will see that the events of the earthquake and tsunami related to the Earth from the planet was a mass of fire cools, there are continental plates and stone-forming liquids is not really cool ...

When you see a breastfed baby, one could imagine a frail older people and later disease. When you see the dead body of an old key, we can imagine the opposite image of a child when he was cradling in her arms. From the physical movements of the globe for the death of a baby while breastfeeding, or the luck of a child to grow up to become an old man, all of which are continuously changed, interlaced and solidarity, created by a multitude of reasons. In conclusion a general recognition of independence, separating from the binding and intricate part of the working conditions make it a perspective of ignorance, or false, shallow and naive.

If you continue to sit still and narrow vision who knows more then suddenly we will see an ant crawling on the wall before me, then it crawl back up to the ceiling. We will understand that we do not like it, can not walk straight up walls and ceilings are ascending because our body is too heavy and the Earth's gravity will cause it to fall. If previously we feel is a speck in the universe, now I feel myself a giant creature, too bulky compared to the ants, we have more demand, more greed, too much "heavy" and not as easy as ants.

If replacing seven billion people on this planet with seven billion ants then this planet will become more peaceful, no war, no weapons of today's giants. The demand of seven billion ants will also nonsense of the insatiable greed of man, and some comments that will not make this planet became polluted and destroyed as now, the creatures are no longer afraid human abuse and eating them. In short, if we look at creative people are the smartest, most perfect in the whole universe, or at least on this planet, here's a look ignorant. One might think that by comparing the above measures and innovative self-abuse, that's very true, but that is not a way of reasoning to prove a fact at all but merely a way to do striking deviation when evaluating the status of human beings in this universe as well as ignorance about their vision for themselves and the surrounding context.

But ants are still too big, because if you put your arm to look closer, the scientists will tell us that in each square on the skin of our division has about 200,000 living organisms, thanks to the warmth , sweat and dead skin rejection as food. For microorganisms, the body that it is a very complex universe. In making the above image to compare, we will realize that it is just a speck in the universe and at the same time is also a space for the microorganisms on the one hand, both without "I" , "mine" or "ego" at all. If you see "ego" of their own and each share of microorganisms live with them and that's called "I", then it was a very smart look.

- Looking at the true nature of reality:

True nature of reality is impermanence (anitya / anicca - not last long) , suffering (duhkha / dukkha - the unsatisfactoriness) and Anatta (anatman / anatta - itself does not exist) . Ignorance is not seen those attributes of the object. What an insight not confused about? Texts that he must look like this:

"It is an object, this is the way by which the manifest object, this is the end of it, and here's how it must end. If you look at an object through that process, we will see that every object in itself does not have a real existence at all, there is no independence at all, that they are impermanent, unsatisfactory and selflessness. " (summary based on the meaning of a business).

But in fact we do not see a physical nature as such, and this makes us love it expresses and hunger for "it" , or the desire to "hate it" only to suffer when forced to recognize the presence of its subject. If that is not an object but rather a form that can form, then we re "wanted to be like that" or awe "forced to become like that" . In short ignorance gives rise to lust or attachment - ie to be occupied or hate - and vice versa appetite or cling to her back arising out of ignorance. This is identical pair grip us in samsara and suffering.

Let's raise a specific example, such as clinging to the self or the structure of the first year - the five aggregates - create an instance, ie body (rupa - excellent) , sensual (vedanā - receptor) , perception (samjna - perfect) , volition (samskara - act) and knowledge (vijnana - form) . Five aggregates called "fifth structure of the possession." Why there are things called "possession"? Because we are always looking for ways to capture and occupy the whole structure of the first year of constant flux and change that he calls it "the one" "the self" (attman / atta) of us, it is "I". From there arose in his mind the illusion of an entity known as the "I", and the structure of his first year as a "mine", of my own. The identification error is called ignorance or a mistaken understanding. In short ignorance is the way to capture images of the fifth temporary structure to work with very often creates the illusion of a "me" really. Overcome the ignorance that is no longer seen in the secondary structure that is "me" anymore.

Let's look closer at the overall five year aggregates composed by selecting the first aggregates - ie appearances - for introspection to see why. The reporter looked at the general structure of an individual's right, we assign a certain number of features for the appearance was such as big, fat dwarf, tall, white, clear, beautiful, body odor, bad acquisitive, charming, coarse, delicate, to love, fierce, gentle ... Actually it is just the expression "outside" of reality, hallucinations and is expressed ignorance. But if one still insists that the overall illusion of moving as an entity that brings a lasting sense, the immediate appetite or aversion will arise.

If you come closer to actually look at the main body representing the structure of the above, we will see? The body is the General Business mindfulness (Maha-Satipatthana-Sutta, school ministry, 22) described as including:

"Hair, hair, nail, nails, teeth, skin;
meat, tendons, bones, marrow, kidneys heart, liver, mucous membranes, kidneys, lungs;
intestines, mesentery, stomach, excrement, brains;
Eye , digestive fluid, pus, blood, oil, grease;
tears, sweat, saliva, mucus, mucus in the joints.
The sum which has nine holes, from the substances that dirty hole and the constant flow disgusting, it is nine holes: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, bladder and anal hole. "

If you look at the structure of the angular forms, then we will feel little more than cling to it because it seems to look close to realistic, or to put it comparatively easy to understand than "objective" than little more expression. But there is still not an absolute reality.

Let's return to the above examples highlight the link between us, the universe and human microbes cling to our skin. I am a space for it, but for our planet is just a speck of dust, and comparison with the universe, the whole Earth is also just a tiny speck. Everything is relative. Because the relative nature of microorganisms, so I did not have the self, have no self, no self earth, that the universe has no ego. Anatta is an absolute characteristic of reality. If you compare the concept of selflessness and the concept of emptiness, we will immediately understand that the not-self is emptiness, and emptiness can contain from one to the little creatures of this universe.

Absolute truth beyond any concept of convention, and binary opposites, beyond "bad" and "good" , "the right" and "wrong" ... that is all that everyone's creative mind. If we also look at the problems in the real relative look then this is the look of ignorance, and look it all will bring suffering. The good and bad have brought suffering and evil bring bad consequences, but also brought the good suffer for the good correlation. Yet also like to open a parenthesis here to demonstrate that the expression is not an incentive to not do good, but just want to raise is the "lust" is doing good and suffering is a kind of pain because of "good" also contains the exquisite pain and difficult to grasp for everyone. Dreams are made ​​to improve the police precinct on two meals for his wife and children or be President of color [yellow] power management a prosperous nation on the planet are also suffering. As representative of God that every time the road had to squeeze into the glass without perforation gun is not something to be very comfortable. Child was born, nurtured and taught them, to then come back when he becomes older, they turned to ridicule and contempt for us, how we can be happy. Creative will also have the pain with his creativity is like.

The only consistent that the absolute nature of reality, ie a view to escape from ignorance can not help it cling to the illusion of manifest reality anymore, that means understanding that no any thing or any object worthy of us "got it" or "become like that." Understanding it is the Deliverance.

Business Aggi-Vacchagotta-Sutta (Majjhima-Nikaya, 72, PTS, 483-489) has recorded the Buddha's answer to the question of an ascetic is Vacchagotta related to appearance, that his body as follows:

"Hey Vaccha, can not imagine the physical appearance of the Tathagata Tathagata as it was then withdrawn. It was brushed aside, removed to take root, making it like a coconut tree [took root] is no longer grow back. This Vaccha, Tathagata does not look and not their own identity through the body by the Minister anymore. Therefore, should the physical appearance becomes deep, not exploration, vast as the ocean ".

Buddha used to explain similar to explaining to continue Vacchagotta on the other profiles are: sensual, perception, volition and knowledge (consciousness) of Him. Aims to shorten so let's see questions related to intellectual faculty as follows:

"Hey Vaccha, can not imagine the knowledge of the Tathagata. The knowledge he has withdrawn Tathagata gone. It was brushed aside, removed to take root, making it like a coconut tree [took root] is no longer grow back. Lai does not look like themselves and not through the recognition that knowledge again. So, it was the deep knowledge, not exploration, vast as the ocean ".

Buddha did not identify its structure through the first year is the five aggregates, because the dependence and their continuous changes can only create the illusion only. See the illusion is real, is ignorance. Buddha did not confirm his or disappear into nothingness, but only themselves as "Tathagata," which means "How" (Ainsite / Suchness) , "does not come from the" and also " not going anywhere " , which is just a "person achieve what is possible as a natural form . "

Dismiss any illusions as to see the empty nature of reality, and the nature that is not nothingness. Dismiss any illusions nor erase reality that it is just a "stop" with reality, a suspension (nirodha - cessation) to "mingle" with reality. The emptiness of reality characterized by the fact that full suspension and "very deep, not exploration, vast as the ocean".END=VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY BACH LIEN HOA.NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ). OM MANI PADME HUM.( 3 TIMES ).16/12/2011.