Chapter 4. Wisdom and Ignorance
“Wisdom” (Pāli: paññā) is knowledge of the three universal states of things (anattatā, aniccatā, dukkhatā). Lack thereof is “ignorance” (Pāli: avijja). To be wise is therefore to be constantly aware of these universal laws. At the very moment of forgetfulness of the laws, one becomes ignorant. That is, wisdom and ignorance are moments to moments, i.e. they are functions of time. Craving (Pāli: taṇhā) and attachment (Pāli: upādāna) are two common manifestations of human ignorance. To crave for or attach to something (saṅkhatadhamma) at any moment of time is evidence of not recognizing at that moment that the very thing one craves for or attaches to is impermanent (aniccā), unstable (dukkhā), and has no fundamental identity (anattā). Heed therefore Buddha’s advice:
“Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya.”
Since we were born ignorant and have by and large lived among the ignorant, we have not normally been educated or trained to be wise. On the contrary, we have been systematically educated and trained to crave and attach. In all, our craving is of three types and attachment four kinds. We crave sensual pleasures (Pāli: kāma-taṇhā), crave to become (Pāli: bhava-taṇhā), and crave not to be (Pāli: vibhava-taṇhā). Our attachments are sensual (Pāli: kamupadana), habitual (Pāli: silabbatupadana), theoretic (Pāli: ditthupadana), and egoistic (Pāli: attavadupadana) in nature. Having been led to walk such a normal well-trodden path, it becomes extremely difficult to see, think, and behave wisely. We must unlearn and learn anew to see, to think, to speak, and to act wisely.
Let T be the set of all human cravings and U be the set of all human attachments. The set T X U will be called the “World of Ignorance”, while P will be used to denote the “World of Wisdom”, the set of all knowledge based on “Wisdom” (Pāli: paññā) defined above.
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