In the spiritual path of knowledge, like that of Buddhism, right Dhamma is of utmost significance. Understanding the right view of the nature of reality as it is from an experienced Dhamma teacher propels you closer towards the goal of liberation. Bhante Gunaratna is one such venerable teacher who explains what are the nutriements of ignorance that strengthen Avidya(ignorance). A correct understanding of the nature of ignorance helps us defeat it and free ourselves from suffering, of course, by putting it to practice.
Ignorance is the cause of Suffering
Hinduism as well as Buddhism attribute the cause of suffering to Ignorance or Avidya. Both use logical analysis of causality(Cause & effect) to arrive at a point which can’t be regressed further. This point called Ignorance is therefore beginningless.
Philosophically, to understand how ignorance can be beginningless, we can use an example. Suppose you don’t know how to swim, if a question is asked about since when you don’t know how to swim, there can’t be any answer to it. Ignorance simply exists without any beginning until it gets dispelled by knowledge.
Pain, suffering, old age, and death have a dependent origination tracing back to ignorance. Owing to the dependent origination, a cycle of rebirth(samsara) is created, thus binding us in suffering in perpetuity.
For liberation, this cycle needs to be broken by eradicating ignorance through knowledge(prajna).
What strengthens Ignorance?
To defeat ignorance, it is essential to understand its nature, what factors provide strength to it, and what causes them to get weak. Knowingly or unknowingly, if you supply all the nutrients to make it powerful, then it’s a lost cause to fight it. It has to be tackled with proper understanding and employing our intelligence.
Ignorance is strengthened by 5 factors, which are called the 5 hindrances of mindfulness. They are as follows
- Anger or hatred.
- Sensual desire.
- Restlessness or worry.
- Sloth or laziness.
- Doubt.
The presence of these factors deludes you and thus bolsters the force of ignorance. If you take any of them and analyze, you shall find how they cloud your knowledge and drive you towards unwholesome acts. Restlessness, for example, renders you incapable of being affectionate to your kids when they are present right there with you.
These 5 factors are like boulders and rocks that need to be cleared through sincere practice in order to cultivate the seeds of knowledge.
What strengthens the 5 hindrances of Mindfulness?
The strategy employed to defeat the enemy remains the same all along. It is to get a deeper understanding of the enemy’s support system and then attacking these dependent factors.
The 5 hindrances are strengthened by 3 ways of wrong conduct, i.e.
- Wrong conduct of thoughts
- Wrong conduct of speech
- Wrong conduct of actions
Any conduct through these modalities that has unwholesome attributes like non-beneficial(harmful), or unnecessary for yourself and others can be identified as wrong conduct.
Unmindful thoughts add fuel to the fire of sensual desire. Similarly, doubt gets more powerful by unwholesome rumination. Anger rises to its culmination point only with the support of these wrong conduct.
At this juncture, one should be able to roughly map out an understanding of the circular dependence. The wrong conduct strengthens the hindrances, and the hindrances in turn enable one to commit wrong conduct.
To get control over the 5 hindrances, eradication of the wrong conduct is therefore necessary.
Why does anyone commit wrong conduct?
Inability to restrain the senses results in wrong conduct. It is because we can’t exercise control over our 6 sense organs, viz. eye, nose, skin, mouth, ear, and mind, we end up in unwholesome acts, unwholesome speech, or unwholesome thoughts.
For example, we overeat because we can’t check our taste buds’ continuous demands of feeding them with flavours. At the same time, in such cases we are unable to restrict the incessant thoughts of food and the pleasure associated with it.
Our sense organs have become wild horses that drag you wherever they want. When you get dragged, your mind gets deluded into a false sense of freedom. Delusion restricts your intelligence to become aware of the impropriety of the wrong conduct.
Nutrients that support the Inability of Sense Restraint
Lack of sense-restraint has its support system ingrained in unmindfulness and unclear comprehension. Unawareness of the present moment prevents you from restricting the habitual tendencies of sensory organs.
If we have a narrow view that doesn’t allow us to be aware of the entire comprehensive picture, then we are bound to fail in restraining our senses whenever required. For example, if we aren’t fully aware of the suffering that could be brought upon by overeating, then we indulge in it.
Unmindfulness or a state of unawareness and unclear comprehension enter into a circular relationship. Due to unmindfulness, unclear comprehension arises, and because there is unclear comprehension, unmindfulness is strengthened.
What nourishes Unmindfulness and lack of Clear comprehension?
Unmindfulness is like a flow that is put to an end with proper attention. If there is improper attention, then unmindfulness continues unobstructed like a stream.
Attentiveness of the present moment to focus on a required activity/object, anchors your mind to become fully aware of the cause and effects of that. It helps you build a clear understanding and a wider holistic view of its nature.
Scattered and distracted attention fails to notice the underlying reality. It superficially becomes aware of the things without capturing its true essence. For example, when you are distracted by watching TV while eating, you have a sense that you are eating, but do not have a clear knowledge whether you are hungry anymore, what the exact flavour is, etc.
Why is there Improper Attention?
This is where the true revelation happens. Improper attention is caused due to a lack of faith. You pay attention only to that which you believe. If there is no belief, then you ignore it and do not consider it as a worthwhile investment of your attention.
When you eat some food, then you have a certain degree of belief in that food. You have faith that it must be tasty, or it may be nutritious, or it may be able to satiate your hunger. Therefore, you have attention for a brief period of time before your faith shifts to another object. This is improper faith superficially built on the basis of sugar-coated names and forms.
You fail to recognise and build a strong conviction in the ephemeral nature of the world. Proper faith is established on the one which is not changing every moment, and impermanence is the only constant. The switching of faith(improper faith) in the impermanent sensory objects of the phenomenal world compels you to remain shackled in perpetual improper attention.
How to Break the lack of Faith?
Lack of proper Faith is broken by putting a halt to unmindful consumption. The continuous flickering of the mind, leading it to believe that the outside object is the source of happiness until it moves its focus to another object, is caused by consuming unmindful visuals, speech, products, food items, etc.
Subjecting the mind to movies, talks, gossips, narrow views of the people, consumer products, and food that constantly water the unmindful seeds of anger, violence, sensuality, greed, jealousy, and fear, acts as an excellent support system for improper faith. These support systems need to be tactically broken by firm determination.
Moreover, that’s just half the work. The other important aspect is to water the seeds of wholesomeness in our mind. This has to be done by associating with wise teachers and listening to true teachings from them. Regularly listening to the right Dhamma awakens mindfulness in you and thus helps you break free from the cycle of ignorance.
Following is a link to one of the related lectures by venerable Bhante G for your reference.
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