Ideas regarding the phenomenon of the Spiritual Ignorance in the Hindu Tantrism Philosophy
Abstract
Among the concepts often referred to by tantric thought, an important place is occupied by the spiritual “ignorance” – avidyā, or ajñāna. It is considered as the main cause of saṃsāra (the complex of births and deaths of an individual or of all live beings as a whole. This is usually interpreted as the “world of suffering”). The ignorance causes other bonds, which enslave a human individual, like māyīyamala and kārmamala. The avidyā not only determines the ways of knowledge by beings, but also the very their lifestyle. The ignorance is caused by the activity of the higher Deity, who “plays” with himself in the process of cosmoand anthropogenesis. Ignorance is egocentrism, duality, fragmented, incomplete, limited and at the same time ordinary knowledge, which we use constantly in our lives. The ignorance is juxtaposed to the “unawakened” (“unenlightened”) state of consciousness. As humans, being in the grip of ignorance, we misinterpret the true nature of reality. There are various classifications of spiritual ignorance. For example, Abhinavagupta distinguishes two varieties of ignorance: one of them is associated with intelligence, and the other with the category of “Self ”. The Maheśvara Tantra mentions three types of ignorance that are associated with three levels of the Absolute and three states of consciousness. The notion of ignorance in Hindu Tantrism is both general and specific.
About the Author
S. V. Pakhomov
Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sergey V. Pakhomov, Ph. D, Associate Professor, Institute of Philosophy of Man
Saint Petersburg
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For citation:
Pakhomov S.V. Ideas regarding the phenomenon of the Spiritual Ignorance in the Hindu Tantrism Philosophy. Orientalistica. 2020;3(2):428-440. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31696/2618-7043-2020-3-2-428-440
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