[Buddha-l] The root of ignorance?

[Piya Tan]

Hi Stefan,

I think in the fact that your statement is a tautology lies the efficacy of
the Buddhist teaching beginning its ontology with ignorance rather than say
God or some primordial force.

If it is God, one could go on questioning ad infinitum, only intolerance and
blind faith could make such a notion work.

However, if one says suffering begins in ignorance, and one were to ask,
what is the cause of ignorance. The best answer is "I don't know!" That's
ignorance, all right, but in the real sense. Now there's the rub: we have
hit the frontiers of expressible language.

Piya


On 11/22/06, Stefan Detrez <stefan.detrez at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> (about 'lack of information is the root of ignorance')
>
> 2006/11/22, Piya Tan <dharmafarer at gmail.com>:
> >
> > Isn't that tautologous?
> >
>
> It is. Pondering on the original question, I don't think the question can
> be answered. Suppose we take ignorance as the absence of knowledge (I
> shamefully substitute information with knowledge, thereby sophistically
> adjusting my original statement to fit my rhetorical needs). An absence has
> no cause unless something external made some thing to become absent, like
> sun making ice melt.The melting of the ice is not 'self-caused', but by
> the heat of the sun (all this stuff sounds pretty 'nagarjunesk' or
> 'madhyamakish'!), etc.
>
> Maybe it's safe to say that an inclination towards stupidity is the root
> of ignorance. It lies in the character of the person and can be 'cultured'
> to a limited degree. Face it: some people are too dumb to know how stupid
> they are. But then again, this very thing will be their consolation. And
> that's where being selectively ignorant can bring a lot of happiness.
>
> Greetings,
>
> Stefan
>
>
>
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