Questions tagged [ignorance]
Avidyā (Sanskrit; Pāli: avijjā; Tibetan phonetic: ma rigpa) is commonly translated as "ignorance" or "delusion". It can be defined as not understanding the full meaning and implication of the four noble truths or as a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of reality.
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Reference Request: Suttas that address avijja (ignorance) with respect to anatta (non-self)
I've become aware through sutta study that avijja (the fetter of ignorance) refers to ignorance of the Four Noble Truths. Is there a specific canonical sutta that says that avijja is ignorance of the ...
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Arahants are perfect. Do they realize others are not perfect and they themselves are?
Arahants have eliminated the conceit of, "better," amongst other aspects of conceit and other fetters. However, if they are perfected people, that would mean they are perfect. Other people ...
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"Dealing" with extremely superstitious people
This applies to all superstitious people in general, but especially to someone very close. My mom is extremely ignorant and superstitious. She comes from an uneducated village background from a third ...
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Do we indulge in ignorance?
This question arises from this previous post. The questioner seems perplexed that a person should suffer for not knowing or possessing certain knowledge i.e. simply for being unaware. While there is ...
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How to get rid of Ignorance?
According to dependent origination , ignorance is at the root of suffering.
What are the various ways in which we can get rid of ignorance?
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How was it possible for some people to refute the Buddha face to face?
Bearing in mind that ignorance is in opposition to knowledge and the starting point for all the suffering, it seems still unbelievable that there were people contemporary to the Buddha that ...
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Ignorance and 5 hindrances
The five hindrances or obstacles of common buddhism are:
worry/restlessness/regret /distraction
hate (ill-will)
sensual desire
skeptical doubt (ignorance?)
lazy/lethargy
Ignorance is not listed. ...
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“The āsava are the saṅkhāra that are encoded with ignorance [avijjā]”
Given that awakening is accomplished by the destruction of the āsava,
understanding what precisely the āsava are (and what they are not)
is a key to unraveling the mystery of the Buddha's teaching.
At ...
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Does the Pali word "vinaya" in the suttas always refer to the Vinaya Piṭaka?
I read the following comment on the secular internet in relation to the closing paragraphs of DN 2, where a King or layperson made an admission of a moral transgression/sin to the Buddha:
Yes that ...
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Do ALL thoughts with lobha (craving), dosa (aversion) and moha (ignorance) create bad karma?
This answer stated that:
Even if you sit in the dark and do nothing, you can still be creating
bad Kamma. It depends on whether you have Samma Sati or not. Whatever
you do can create bad Karma as ...
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Is intention "conscious energy" in Buddhism?
I read the following intentional thought on the internet:
Intention is directed conscious energy. When we think about doing
something, where does that energy go? Thoughts like these are created
...
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What is panna? Is it permanent?
Because panna (wisdom) is the understanding of anicca, dukkha and anatta, it leads to the cessation of ignorance, greed and aversion and therefore to Nirvana. Now Nirvana or the state of being ...
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Do we have to let go the "Subha Sanna" completely?
Lord Buddha said that we should practise Asubha sanna (perception of the non-beautiful). Does it mean that we have to let go Subha sanna (perception of the beautiful) completely ? Are there anything ...
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What is the meaning of the Datthabba Sutta?
In relation to the question: "Is there is no benefit and there is no intrinsic positive nature in a pleasant sensation?", I read the following quote from SN 36.5 on the internet:
A ...
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How come movies/video games decrease the motivation to do buddhist practises?
I practised buddhism a lot in holidays given due to Covid-19. I listen to dhamma and meditate each and every day. When my college started, I was not ready for the exam. I got stress. Somehow I found ...
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How to overcome fear for lost of opportunity?
I get fear when I'm trying to choose something over buddhist teaching.
Listening to Dhamma instead of studying something else
Reject a job offer to get some free time
Not having relationship (with a ...
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Is "anupassi" translated as "focused" accurate?
I read the following on the internet:
If having a little wisdom one would not see any different between
"staying right focused" and "watch closely", but the fool seeks to
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What are the things that the enlightened people know but others don't?
Recently, I heard a list of things that the non-enlightened people don't know about reality. Ex: Some people might think "everything is permenant". but I forgot the complete list. So, what are they ?
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Where is ignorance, and why does it not end with death?
Where is ignorance, and why does it not end with death? Can we experience it? Does it have to be actively conditioning formations for us to experience it, or can we know this nidana even when freed ...
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How to interpret "cessation"?
Throughout the suttas, we find the following stock passage:
"Now from the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of ...
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Is ignorance a kammically active volitional formation, or a kammically passive fruit of past kamma?
As the title indicates, I'm not sure how to classify 'avijja' in Dependent Co-arising:
Is it a volitional formation which produces a certain kind of vipaka, or is it a vipaka in itself?
In Bhikkhu ...
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In which ways do anagamis still experience ignorance?
According to the ten fetters model, one of the five fetters which are only removed at attaining arahantship is ignorance (avijja). This means that anagamis are still subject to ignorance in some way. ...
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What is exactly Avijja -- and how to uproot it?
To most of the questions about Nibbana, the easiest answer is "Avijja".
But what exactly this Avijja? Improper attention, ignorance?
What are we ignoring, and then what's the fact that we should not ...
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What does 'Ignorance' mean in Dependent Co-Arising?
A while ago I wrote a question here about the relation between dukkha and the sense of self (whether from identity view, from conceit or both). There, most answers said that, indeed, that sense of ...
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What prevents us from attaining Nibbana?
What prevents us from attaining Nibbana?
Is it the ignorance or the craving?
So, what should we focus on, in order to attain Nibbana?
Is it uprooting the craving or uprooting the ignorance?
Because ...
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What's the relation between feelings of neither-pleasure-nor-pain and ignorance?
I often see in some suttas that there are some habitual tendencies that, after the arising of pleasent feeling or painful feelings, lead to suffering due to passion for the pleasure and aversion for ...
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Why would existence remove my knowledge after reicarnation?
Avidyā and moha which can be translated as confusion or ignorance are sources of suffering. The western term for the study of reality and knowledge is called "philosophy" which an be translated from ...
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Regarding Nicca and Anicca natures of Avidya and Prajna
If Tanha (Craving) is caused by Avidya (Ignorance), and Avidya is originated and sustained by Tanha, then the origination of Avidya is part of a recursive cycle with no beginning. Yet Prajna (Wisdom) (...
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Why do ignorance and intention have something to do with rebirth?
I have a lot of trouble dealing with rebirth, mostly because of my previous "skeptic" past. However, buddhism has helped me a lot to open my mind and to get detached from any point of view that might ...
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Is there a mistranslation of definition of ignorance?
Ignorance is the cause of suffering.
Buddha says in SN 12.2 :
“And what, bhikkhus, is ignorance? Not knowing suffering, not knowing
the origin of suffering, not knowing the cessation of ...
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what do you think of Miracles as mentioned in the Suttas and in the Oral traditions found in Hinduism and Buddhism? [duplicate]
I know one teacher who is an ok teacher, as far as he gets people to relax and make a good effort, but he really poo poo's any mention of Miracles in reference to the Buddha. I think that Full and ...
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What is the difference between moha (delusion) and avijja (ignorance)?
What is moha (delusion)? What is avijja or avidya (ignorance)?
What is the difference between moha (delusion) and avijja or avidya (ignorance)?
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Does MN9 imply a cyclic causation? How does it work?
The Nanamoli and Bodhi translation of MN9 states in 2 excerpts:
With the arising of the taints there is the arising of ignorance. With
the cessation of the taints there is the cessation of ...
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Is ignorance eradicated after breakup of the physical body?
Suppose an ignorant person dies in a car accident. Has ignorance come to an end for that person?
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Who was ignorant about the Truth in the beginning?
In the dependent origin co-arising, ignorance came before consciousness and self.In fact we begin with ignorance. This ignorance is the ignorance about the 4 noble truths.
My questions are :
Who is ...
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Buddhism and misanthropy
Is it possible to be Buddhist and a misanthropist? I've realised I actually despise humanity and sometimes I fantasise about the sun exploding and wiping us all out. I believe that the majority of ...
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What is the Buddhist text quoted by the Hindu philosopher Yogaraja?
Kashmiri Shaivism is a sect of Hinduism that used to be popular in the Kashmir region of India. Now this excerpt from the Paramarthasara Vivriti, a work by the 11th century Kashmiri Shaivite ...
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Recognition of Ignorance on a Topic
I have read many Q&As here on ignorance but I am concerned with the recognition of my own ignorance on particular topics. I feel like recognizing my ignorance helps me to reduce my identification ...
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What is the "nature of reality" according to the Buddha?
I have read that the Buddha said the cause of suffering is ignorance of the "nature of reality". Is this correct?
What is the "nature of reality" that the Buddha talks about?
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Who is ignorant and when does one realize that one is ignorant?
Who is considered to be ignorant according to Buddhism? What does the term ignorance cover ? When does one realize, one is ignorant ?
Can one know nothing of ignorance and still become enlightened?
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Conceptual reality, mettā, ignorance
According to some commentaries/abhidhamma, all unwholesome states are rooted in ignorance; that ignorance is, according to Pa Auk Sayadaw, the ignorance that sees things as concepts, e.g., a man a ...
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Is ignorance a form of superstition?
There are many varieties of delusion, and probably many ways to categorize them. I’ve heard one way of categorization that was interesting. This was from Alex Berzin. (Alex Berzin often talks from the ...
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Is ignorance/unawareness Dukkha?
It is usually said that the root delusions of attachment, anger and unawareness/ignorance are the causes of Dukkha. Of the three, unawareness/ignorance is the root cause.
I see very how unawareness/...
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Ignorance and the arising of dukkha
Some explanations of the second Noble truth emphasizes the three poisons of ignorance, attachment and aversion as the causes of Dukkha. There are probably many different ways to lay this out, but my ...
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Ignorance of others when practising the teachings of the Buddha
Ignorance is described as not knowing about dukkha. If one knows dukkha and understands the cause of dukkha is starts with ignorance, how does one traverse ignorance of others?
For example, the ...
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What is ignorance in Buddhism and what are examples of ignorance?
Wikipedia describes ignorance and delusions. This appears to be academic and do not find examples that are easily related.
What is ignorance?
How is it different to delusions or are they the same?
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What does delusion feel like?
In his book Breath by Breath Larry Rosenberg writes about meditating on the three kleshas directly i.e. meditating on craving, aversion and delusion. He is talking in the context of the Anapanasati ...
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In the wheel of life, how can death be a condition for ignorance?
Considering the 12 nidanas as represented on the Tibetan wheel of life.
I can understand how the previous links cause (or condition) the subsequent ones for instance sensation is a condition for ...
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