Hari Om
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Namaste,
This is to stimulate views, opinions and points of reference. I hope any and all that wish to participate, jump in!
What is this thing we define as ignorance?
The Vedanta view sees it as avidya and usually mentions the word nescience; from nescientia ne- not + scientia knowledge. This a+vidya suggests not + vidya or knowledge - without or opposite of knowledge.
The Sankhya's calls this ignorance aviveka or a or not + viveka or discrimination, hence non-discrimination between the real and the unreal. Yet one must ask what real and non-real are we alluding to?
Nyaya school of thinking calls ignorance mithya jnana. Mithya or wrongly, wrongfully, falseness or misapprehension; also mithuyā = conversely, contrary; wrongfully, incorrectly + Jnana or knowledge - so the misapprehension of knowledge.
The Yoga school of thinking may say it as the lack of viveka (discrimination) between buddhi ( the intellect) and Purusha ( Being); this is called Viveka-khyati.
Each view of the human condition suggests, if one is not living in Dharma-mega (as Patanjali may say it), or enlightenment, then one is bathing in ignorance. All suggest this other state of being is more reliable, enjoyable and preferred to this ignorance so many of us, ( me that is), lives in.
Each view, each approach wants to get rid of it , this condition. But what is it? What is this ignorance to get rid of? Is it I do not know how to add , or do calculus? Or I do not know the distance from here to the moon, or cannot parse a sentence out into verbs, nouns, pro-nouns and prepositional phrases?
These things are being ignorant of knowing this information… Yet ignorance is a state of ___________________? What? Where is this ignorance hiding? how come I cannot just think it , throw it away? How come I cannot not take a class and make it dis-appear?
Do you care to share your thoughts and opinions on this?
pranams,
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