Avidyā (Buddhism)
| Translations of avidyā | |
|---|---|
| English | ignorance, misconceptions |
Tibetan | མ་རིག་པ (Wylie: ma rig pa; THL: ma rigpa) |
| Tagalog | avidya |
| Thai | อวิชชา (RTGS: awitcha) |
| Vietnamese | vô minh |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
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Avidyā (
Avidyā is mentioned within the Buddhist teachings as ignorance or misunderstanding in various contexts:
- Four Noble Truths[8]
- The first link in the twelve links of dependent origination
- One of the three poisons within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition
- One of the six root kleshas within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings
- One of the ten fetters in the Theravada tradition
- Equivalent to moha within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings
Within the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, avidya is typically symbolised by a person who is blind or wearing a blindfold.[citation needed]
Etymology
Avidyā is a Vedic Sanskrit word, and is a compound of a- prefix and vidya, meaning "not vidya". The word vidya is derived from the Sanskrit root vid, which means "to see, to knowingly-see, to know".[9] Therefore, avidya means to "not see, not know". The vid*-related terms appear extensively in the Rigveda and other Vedas.[9]
In Vedic literature, avidya refers to "ignorance, spiritual ignorance, illusion"; in early Buddhist texts, states Monier-Williams, it means "ignorance with non-existence".[10]
The word is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *weid-, meaning "to see" or "to know". It is a cognate with the Latin verb vidēre ("to see") and English wit.
Overview
Avidya is explained in different ways or on different levels within different Buddhist teachings or traditions. On the most fundamental level, it is ignorance or misunderstanding of the nature of reality;
While Avidyā found in Buddhism and other Indian philosophies is often translated as "ignorance", states Alex Wayman, this is a mistranslation because it means more than ignorance. He suggests the term "unwisdom" to be a better rendition.[17] The term includes not only ignorance out of darkness, but also obscuration, misconceptions, mistaking illusion to be reality or impermanent to be permanent or suffering to be bliss or non-self to be self (delusions).[17] Incorrect knowledge is another form of Avidya, states Wayman.[17]
Ignorance
Monks, but when there is the attitude 'I am',
there there is descent of the
five sense-faculties of eye.... body.
Monks, there is the mind organ,
there are mental objects,
there is the element of knowledge;
monks, the uninstructed ordinary person,
touched by feeling,
born of stimulation by spiritual ignorance [Avijja],
thinks 'I am'.
—Samyutta Nikaya III.46[18]
In other contexts, Avidya includes not knowing or not understanding the nature of phenomena as impermanent, the Four Noble Truths,[8] other Buddhist doctrines, or the path to end suffering.[19][20] Sonam Rinchen states Avidya in the context of the twelve links, that "[Ignorance] is the opposite of the understanding that the person or other phenomena lack intrinsic existence. Those who are affected by this ignorance create actions which precipitate them into further worldly existence."[21] Not understanding the Four Noble Truths, or its implications, is also Avidya.[22]
In Buddhist traditions
Avidya appears as a major item of discussion in two doctrines about the nature of reality, in various Buddhist traditions.
Theravada
|
Bhikkhu Bodhi states that Avidya is an important part of the Theravada Abhidharma teachings about dependent arising about conditions that sustain the wheel of birth and death. One such condition is the karmic formations that arise from ignorance. In other words, states Bodhi, ignorance (avijja) obscures "perception of the true nature of things just as a cataract obscures perception of visible objects". In the Suttanta literature, this ignorance refers to the non-knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. In the Abhidharma literature, in addition to the Four Noble Truths, it is the non-knowledge of one's 'past pre-natal lives' and 'post-mortem future lives' and of dependent arising.[31]
Mahayana
The Mahayana tradition considers ignorance about the nature of reality and immemorial past lives to be a primordial force, which can only be broken through the insight of Emptiness (
Avidya is the greatest impurity and the primary cause of suffering, rebirth. The insight into Emptiness, state Garfield and Edelglass, that is the "lack of inherent nature of all phenomena, including the self, cuts the impurities", an insight into Emptiness yields full awakening.[34]
Vajrayana
The Vajrayana tradition considers ignorance as fetters of bondage into samsara, and its teachings have focused on a Tantric path under the guidance of a teacher, to remove Avidya and achieve liberation in a single lifetime.[35]
Avidyā is identified as the first of the twelve links of dependent origination (twelve nidanas)—a sequence of links that describe why a being reincarnates and remains bound within the
See also
- Avidya (Hinduism)
- Kleshas (Buddhism)
- Maya (illusion)
- Mental factors (Buddhism)
- Tanha for a complementary root of suffering in Buddhism.
- Three poisons (Buddhism)
- Twelve Nidanas
Notes
- ^ Avidya can be defined on different levels; for example, it can be defined as a mis-perception of the nature of reality, or as not understanding the four noble truths. For example:
- Sonam Rinchen states: "Every action leaves its imprint on the mind, and later craving and grasping activate the imprint to bring about its result. Underlying this kind of action is our ignorance, namely our innate misconception of the self, the root of all our troubles.[12]
References
- ^ Keown 2013, p. 73.
- ^ a b c Trainor 2004, p. 74.
- ^ Robert Buswell & Donald Lopez 2013, pp. 1070.
- ISBN 978-1-317-97342-3.
- ^ a b Conze 2013, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Robert Buswell & Donald Lopez 2013, p. 86.
- ISBN 978-1-134-27941-8.
- ^ a b c Harvey 1990, p. 67.
- ^ a b Monier Monier-Williams (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 918.
- ^ Monier Monier-Williams (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 96.
- ^ Dalai Lama (1992), p. 4 (from the Introduction by Jeffrey Hopkins)
- ^ Sonam Rinchen (2006), p. 14.
- ^ Williams & Tribe 2000, pp. 66–67, Quote: From this perspective Not-Self and dependent origination together come to form the two pillars of the final gnosis (vidya) which is the antidote to ignorance (avidya)..
- ^ Gethin 1998, p. 150.
- ^ Harvey 1990, pp. 65–68.
- ^ Edelglass 2009, p. 171.
- ^ JSTOR 1396830.
- ^ Peter Harvey 2013, p. 40.
- ISBN 0-861715667, pages 40-43
- ^ Peter Harvey 2013, pp. 5, 40, 134–137.
- ^ Sonam Rinchen (2006), p. 51.
- ^ Ajahn Sucitto (2010), Kindle Locations 1125-1132.
- ISBN 978-1-134-56555-9.
- ISBN 90-04-06112-6., Quote: Suffering describes the condition of samsaric (this worldly) existence that arises from actions generated by ignorance of anatta and anicca. The doctrines of no-self and impermanence are thus the keystones of dhammic order."
- ^ Gethin 1998, pp. 146–159, 243.
- ^ Harvey 1990, p. 72, 125-126, 144.
- ISBN 90-04-09448-2.
- ^ Gethin 1998, pp. 73–75.
- ^ Harvey 1990, p. 68.
- ISBN 90-04-09448-2.
- ^ A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha, Bhikkhu Bodhi (2003), p. 295
- ISBN 978-3-447-03373-2.
- ISBN 978-94-011-2510-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-532899-8.
- ^ Trainor 2004, p. 162.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-119-14466-3.
- ISBN 978-1-135-02929-6.
Sources
- Robert Buswell; Donald Lopez (2013), Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691157863
- Conze, Edward (2013), Buddhist Thought in India: Three Phases of Buddhist Philosophy, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-54231-4
- Edelglass, William; et al. (2009), Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-532817-2
- Gethin, Rupert (1998), Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press
- Harvey, Peter (1990), An Introduction to Buddhism, Cambridge University Press
- Peter Harvey (2013), The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-136-78329-6
- Keown, Damien (2013). Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-966383-5.
- Trainor, Kevin (2004), Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-517398-7
- Williams, Paul; Tribe, Anthony (2000), Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition, Routledge, ISBN 0-415207010
- Ajahn Sucitto (2010). Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching. Shambhala.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi (2003), A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma, Pariyatti Publishing
- Chogyam Trungpa(1972). "Karma and Rebirth: The Twelve Nidanas, by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche." Karma and the Twelve Nidanas, A Sourcebook for the Shambhala School of Buddhist Studies. Vajradhatu Publications.
- Dalai Lama (1992). The Meaning of Life, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Boston: Wisdom.
- Mingyur Rinpoche(2007). The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness. Harmony. Kindle Edition.
- Sonam Rinchen(2006). How Karma Works: The Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, Snow Lion.
Further reading
- Avijjā and Āsava, Surendranath Dasgupta, 1940
- ISBN 978-0-7475-3413-6
- Avijja Sutta Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu