Sentient Beings Have Had Ignorance Since Beginningless Eons

Since beginningless kalpas, sentient beings have had ignorance; their minds have never been illuminated. If sentient beings no longer had ignorance—when ignorance has been completely eradicated—they are Buddhas. Sentient beings have never been Buddhas; if sentient beings had ever been Buddhas, they would never become sentient beings again. This is discussed in the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yuanjue Jing), where the World-Honored One gave an example: just as true gold is refined from gold ore, true gold will never turn back into gold ore. The meaning is that after attaining Buddhahood, one will never become a sentient being again. This also shows that sentient beings have had ignorance since beginningless kalpas, and there is no rationale to be given for this—it is simply thus by the nature of Dharma (dharmatā). In the fourth volume of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Ānanda also asked the World-Honored One where ignorance comes from and why there is ignorance. The World-Honored One said that ignorance has no place of origin; it exists without any cause. If it had a cause, then it would not be ignorance.