Spiritual confusion

Ignorance (P., avijja; S., avidya) is really the inability to distinguish between what arises and vanishes, namely, the Five Aggregates, with what does not arise and vanish, namely, the self.  The self, according to the commentarial literature (Sâratthappakâsinî, ii. 268), is the island (dîpa), the refuge (tâna), the rock (lena), the ultimate rest (parâyana), and by implication, nirvana since it, too, is an island. 

It is only by abandoning our identification with what is not the self, anattâ/anâtma, this being the Five  Aggregates does, logically, arise vidya or gnosis.  Before vidya, I was under the bondage or spell of anattâ (the aggregates) insofar as the Five Aggregates were believed by me to be my self.  Now I have knowledge (vidya) of the true self which is an island, a refuge—the ultimate rest or parâyanam. 

In straightforward English, ignorance is a state of spiritual confusion.  I cannot distinguish between what is not my self (anattâ/anâtma) and my true self (attâ/âtma).  In such a state of ignorance, I even believe that the Five Aggregates are the measure of all things.  But how can what is impermanent be a measure?  How can the aggregates be the noble witness, in other words?  Only the self is the noble witness, according to the Buddha (A. i. 149).

Given that most of us exist in a state of profound ignorance, unable to distinguish between what is not really our true self from what is our true self, what does this mean for popular Buddhism?  The quick answer:  Almost all of popular Buddhism is wrong.  Unknowingly, it teaches from a state of ignorance.  Its basis is what is not the self (anâtman), namely, the Five Aggregates.  Unfortunately, the multitudes of Westerners lap it up. 

This is such a serious problem for modern Buddhism that it threatens to destroy the entire religion and its foundation.  The Zennist blog is one of the few places on the Internet that doesn’t follow the mindless herd but listens, instead, to what the Buddha teaches.  What is really amazing is that the Pali canon and the Chinese Agamas are so clear that we are not to regard as our self that which is not the self (the aggregates), that one could fairly conclude that modern Buddhists are stark raving mad—totally inverted (viparyâsa). 

Comments

[Jure K.]

You're taking this quote from I.B. Horner's Early Buddhist Theory of Man
Perfected ?

I had to search a bit for Google and found that people already asked you about the same quote on Newbuddhist

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.040.than.html

Here it is. Yes, it is on Access to Insight!

Your own self knows, my good man, whether you are true or false.
You underestimate the fine witness that is yourself,
you with evil in yourself
that then you hide.

[The Zennist]

Jure K.:

A.i.149. Go to the Anguttara-Nikaya. It is volume one, folio 149. Incidentally, Access to insight has an incomplete canon. If you are serious about Buddhism either find an academic library, buy the suttas, or go to Ken Wheeler's Aryan site (http://aryan-buddhism.blogspot.com/) and download his copies.

[Jure K.]

I saw that on the forums you post people want to look up the quotes you refer to, but your citation style is very difficult to understand for many (including me). For instance "A. i. 149" - can you explain that?

Or, you know what would be great, the ultimate improvement to the Zennist Blog - the last thing to make it perfect. If, instead of these annotations, there would be links, like this: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.043.wlsh.html

(Not necessarily to access to insight, but whichever translation you prefer of course)

Well, that's at least my wish.