Avijja
| Translations of avidyā |
|
|---|---|
| English | ignorance, misconceptions |
| Pali | avijjā (Dev: अविज्जा) |
| Sanskrit | avidyā (Dev: अविद्या) |
| Burmese |
အဝိဇ္ဇာ (IPA: [əweɪʔzà]) |
| Chinese |
無明 (Pinyin: wú míng) |
| Japanese | 無明 (mumyō) |
| Korean |
(Hangeul) 무명 (Hanja) 無明 (RR: mu myeong) |
| Sinhala | |
| Tibetan |
མ་རིག་པ (Wylie: ma rig pa; THL: ma rigpa) |
| Thai | อวิชชา |
| Vietnamese | vô minh |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
Avidyā (Sanskrit; Pāli: avijjā; Tibetan phonetic: ma rigpa) in Buddhist literature is commonly translated as "ignorance". The concept refers to ignorance or misconceptions about the nature of metaphysical reality, in particular about the impermanence and non-self doctrines about reality. It is the root cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness), and asserted as the first link, in Buddhist phenomenology, of a process that leads to repeated birth.
Avidyā is mentioned within the Buddhist teachings as ignorance or misunderstanding in various contexts:
Within the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, avidya is typically symbolized by a person who is blind or wearing a blindfold.
Avidyā is a Vedic Sanskrit word, and is a compound of a and vidya, meaning "not vidya". The word vidya is derived from the Sanskrit root vid, which means "to know, to perceive, to see, to understand". Therefore, avidya means to "not know". The vid*-related terms appear extensively in the Rigveda and other Vedas.
In Vedic literature, avidya refers to "ignorance, spiritual ignorance, illusion"; in early Buddhist texts, states Monier-Williams, it means "ignorance with non-existence".
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.
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; more specifically about the nature of not-Self and dependent origination doctrines.Avidya is not lack of information, states Peter Harvey, but a "more deep seated misperception of reality". Gethin calls Avidya as 'positive misconception', not mere absence of knowledge. It is a key concept in Buddhism, wherein Avidya about the nature of reality, rather than sin, is considered the basic root of Dukkha. Removal of this Avidya leads to overcoming of Dukkha.
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. 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). Incorrect knowledge is another form of Avidya, states Wayman.
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