Today we are going to look at ignorance. But wait, I am a wise person you might say! I am not ignorant. Well, let’s take a look at that really quickly.
If you think about it, all of us are afraid of something or other. Most of our fear is a direct result of ignorance. We are afraid of things or people that we don’t understand. Just because it is not in our experience we tend to stay away from it. Instead of learning about the subject and trying to get over our ignorance, we tend to fight, flight or freeze. This was a good option back in the days when we were still hunter-gatherers and needed to save our lives from the elements. But those days are over and we still have not adopted ourselves! Not your fault for sure—we can blame our genes for that. We are all afraid of terrorism, why? Because we don’t know what type of violent attack will come, where, or when. That unknown is what strikes fear. I guess, if we knew something was coming, we would prepare for that.
When I say we are all ignorant, I am not talking about your intellect. One can be intellectual and ignorant at the same time. How is that possible you might ask? Well, look at someone who is specializing in a particular field. They are formidable experts in that field and know all the nuances and intricacies. But outside of that field, they may not have basic knowledge of day-to-day life. So one could say they are intellectual and ignorant at the same time. Another way to look at this is to know that to be intellectual and to be wise are two totally different things. I know so many so-called experts whose judgment may be questionable. Hopefully, this makes some sense.
Here, I am talking about how we all lack the knowledge about the ultimate truth as to how phenomena exist. We talked about this at length in our emptiness teachings as to how all phenomena are like a dream and they are dependent existence. Some of us may have developed a theoretical acceptance of that concept but it is not certainly in our experience or in our practice.
All phenomena have dependent existence. This means that everything that we see and experience does not have an independent inherent existence. All of that plays out in our minds as we have discussed in the past. So why is it that we are grasping so tightly? That is where our ignorance comes into play. We grasp this phenomenon like they are rock solid. But if we look back in our own lives, we realize that things are constantly changing. Think about a 12-year-old version of yourself. I am sure you were in love with that person. You held that person so tightly. You could do no wrong and you probably had an inflated opinion of yourself. Now looking back, I am sure you realize that 12-year-old self is no longer there. Who you are today is much more different from that 12-year-old person. Your thoughts have changed, your taste in life has changed, your dreams and aspirations are different, and so on. So can you see your 12-year-old self was inherently existent? If it was, it would not have changed. But it is our ignorance that was grasping that 12-year-old self. If that is the case, why are you grasping your current self? If you can intellectually realize that your 12-year-old self was not inherently existent, what makes you think your current self is? I know, it is tough to take it in but if we are intellectually honest with ourselves, we would not grasp ourselves so strongly.
If we stop grasping ourselves so strongly, we will not take ourselves so seriously and that would open up so much harmony in this world. So how do we develop that wisdom if you will? Well, let’s start by being mindful. In our daily activities let’s be mindful that things are not the way they appear. Just acknowledge that without doing anything else. If we start developing this mindfulness, our attitude towards events and phenomena will change for the better.