What Does Ignorance (avidyā) Refer To?

Ignorance (avidyā) is a dharma of illusion, not a truly existent dharma; it has no substance, like duckweed floating on water. Ignorance is a state of the mind that is unclear, indistinct, and unknowing; a state is constantly changing and can also vanish. Once ignorance disappears, the mind becomes clear, lucid, and wise. Real dharmas, on the other hand, truly exist, are unchanging, and cannot be eliminated. For example, true suchness (tathatā), self-nature, and tathāgatagarbha are dharmas that precede even heaven and earth; they are truly existent dharmas, not dharmas born later, and therefore cannot be extinguished.

Wisdom and ignorance are dharmas in opposition to each other: where there is ignorance there is no wisdom, and where there is wisdom there is no ignorance. The substance of the tathāgatagarbha is itself a body of great wisdom, never deluded with respect to any dharma, and therefore it has not a trace of ignorance. The seven consciousnesses, lacking great wisdom, are obscured by ignorance; and because they are obscured by ignorance, they lack great wisdom. Once the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses is extinguished, the four wisdoms become perfectly luminous.