Once others become ‘them’, ‘the boss’ the enemy’ etc, then all kinds of abusive behaviour can take hold. Truly these two qualities are called ‘the guardians of the world’ because they keep the mind from narrowing into a ‘me’ and ‘them’ focus. When these are in place, there is a sense of ‘to others as to myself’, which is the basis of compassion, generosity and tolerance. Ignorance can be quite ingenious! We might also take the example of bombing a town and killing people: it can be called ‘collateral damage.’ There are many instances, and many excuses whereby the natural clarity of moral sensitivity gets blurred and uprooted.but all of them are based upon losing touch with two qualities: respect and conscience regarding oneself (hiri), and respect and concern regarding others (ottappa). My friend, on the other hand, wouldn’t do that he said: ‘This is stealing this is theft.’ But the other men said: ‘No, this is not stealing, it is a redistribution of property.’ The other men working in the warehouse would always take a certain amount of goods for themselves when they were loading and unloading the lorries. We might do something and then excuse it by saying: ‘Everybody does this.’ For example a friend of mine was working in a warehouse. The first kind of ignorance suppresses ethical clarity.
Furthermore there is ignorance about the nature of mind, and there is ignorance regarding the sense of self. This is ignorance about kamma, or the ethical quality of action. The first of these is ignorance in terms of not being in touch with our actions in terms of cause and effect, in moral terms.
Three levels of ignorance One way of getting in touch is to focus on three levels where ignorance takes over. Then it’s like regaining balance: when you sense imbalance and have confidence that there is such a thing as a steady poise that doesn’t need to hold on, then with some effort and some ease balance gets re-established. We don’t have to be indoctrinated into truth – it’s more a case of being honest, and clearing the view. In this context, ignorance means ‘not being in touch’ rather than stupidity, and so when we get fully in touch with how things are, the clarity of true understanding comes by itself. Although ignorance obviously isn’t something that we have a clear perspective on, as practitioners our work is to establish and sustain an honest focus on our mental behaviour in order to reveal this ignorance. According to the Buddha, the underlying source of the suffering that we experience is dependent on an ignorance (avijja) that we can remove from our minds.
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