Avijja Sutta
Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia is now 14 years old
Our Encyclopedia recently received a wonderful opportunity for a major renewal on its 14th birthday . After many years of growing our Encyclopedia had become bit slow and sometimes even decided not to answer when people knocked on the door.
A very big thank you and blessings to Dmytro Rudiy (rudiy.nl) for his great work in upgrading the server, website and all of the infrastructure and helping make TBE fast and reliable again for everyone!
We kindly ask our readers to help us cover the cost of this important upgrade and also help with the ongoing costs of keeping the Encyclopedia alive and freely available.
or card
Every little donation helps and every one is deeply appreciated. 🙏🙏🙏
OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM 🙏🙏🙏
May blessings shower down on all of yous 🙏🙏🙏
Avijja Sutta: Ignorance
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One:
"Lord, is there any one thing with whose abandoning in a monk ignorance is abandoned and clear knowing arises?"
"Yes monk, there is one thing with whose abandoning in a monk ignorance is abandoned and clear knowing arises."
"What is that one thing?"
"Ignorance, monk, is the one thing with whose abandoning in a monk ignorance is abandoned and clear knowing arises." [1]
"But how does a monk know, how does a monk see, so that ignorance is abandoned and clear knowing arises?"
"There is the case, monk, where a monk has heard, 'All things are unworthy of attachment.' Having heard that all things are unworthy of attachment, he directly knows every thing. Directly knowing every thing, he comprehends every thing. Comprehending every thing, he sees all themes[2] as something separate. [3]
"He sees the eye as something separate. He sees forms as something separate. He sees eye-consciousness as something separate. He sees eye-contact as something separate. And whatever arises in dependence on eye-contact experienced either as pleasure, as pain, or as neither-pleasure-nor-pain that too he sees as something separate.
"He sees the ear as something separate...
"He sees the nose as something separate...
"He sees the tongue as something separate...
"He sees the body as something separate...
"He sees the intellect as something separate. He sees ideas as something separate. He sees intellect-consciousness as something separate. He sees intellect contact as something separate. And whatever arises in dependence on intellect contact experienced either as pleasure, as pain, or as neither pleasure nor pain that too he sees as something separate.
"This is how a monk knows, this is how a monk sees, so that ignorance is abandoned and clear knowing arises."
Notes
1. In other words, ignorance is so fundamental that it has to be attacked directly.
2. Or: "all objects."
3. Aññato: literally, "as other." The Commentary explains this as "in another way" or "differently" from the way ordinary beings view things, but that does not fit with the syntax of the Pali, nor does it really answer the monk's question.