IGNORANCE

Ignorance (avijjà or moha) is the absence of information or knowledge about something causing a misapprehension of it or a lack of awareness of it. According to the Buddha, ignorance is one of the two causes of suffering, the other being craving. When we are unaware of why we are suffering or even that we are suffering, we are unable to even begin the process of freeing ourselves from it. On the other hand, we might be intensely aware of the incompleteness and unsatisfactoriness of conditioned existence but mistakenly believe that the solution to the problem is to pray to a deity or try to be reborn in heaven. Once again, this will only prolong the problem. It is only when we begin to see with wisdom the true nature of suffering and its causes that freedom becomes a possibility.