Avidyā (Buddhism)
| Translations of avidyā | |
|---|---|
| English | ignorance, misconceptions |
| Sanskrit | avidyā (Dev: अविद्या) |
| Pali | avijjā (Brah.: 𑀅𑀯𑀺𑀚𑁆𑀚𑀸) |
| Burmese | အဝိဇ္ဇာ (MLCTS: əweɪʔzà) |
| Chinese | 無明 (Pinyin: wúmíng) |
| Indonesian | ketidaktahuan, kebodohan |
| Japanese | 無明 (mumyō) |
| Khmer | អវិជ្ជា, អវិទ្យា (UNGEGN: âvĭchchéa, âvĭtyéa) |
| Korean | (Hangeul) 무명 (Hanja) 無明 (RR: mu myeong) |
| Sinhala | අවිද්යාව |
| Tagalog | avidya |
| Tibetan | མ་རིག་པ (Wylie: ma rig pa; THL: ma rigpa) |
| Thai | อวิชชา (RTGS: awitcha) |
| Vietnamese | vô minh |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
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In Buddhism, the term Avidyā (Sanskrit: अविद्या; Pali: 𑀅𑀯𑀺𑀚𑁆𑀚𑀸, romanized: avijjā; Tibetan transliteration: ma rigpa) commonly translates as "unseeing" or "ignorance," and refers to one's ignorance or misconceptions about the nature of metaphysical reality - the impermanence and anatta doctrines in particular. It is the root cause of dukkha,("suffering, unsatisfactoriness"), and asserted as the first link, in Buddhist phenomenology, of a process that leads to repeated birth.
Avidyā is mentioned within the Buddhist teachings as ignorance or misunderstanding in various contexts:
- Four Noble Truths
- The first link in the twelve links of dependent origination
- One of the three poisons within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition
- One of the six root kleshas within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings
- One of the ten fetters in the Theravada tradition
- Equivalent to moha within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings
Within the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, avidya is typically symbolised by a person who is blind or wearing a blindfold.