The enemy within: ignorance
The
website www.maithri.com offers a neat exposition on the notion of ‘I’ in
its section on ‘Ego and desire’: ‘The feeling of a separate “I”, which
we call ego-consciousness, is directly related to the strength of
ignorance, greed and hatred. The deepest meaning of ignorance is the
believing in, identifying with and clinging to the ego, which is nothing
but an illusionary mental phenomenon. But because of this strong
clinging to ego-consciousness, attachment/desire, anger/hatred arise and
repeatedly gain strength.’
Ego and desire are likened to two sides of a coin and even more
interestingly to the pedals on a bicycle. If ego is projected desire and
desire projected ego, ‘then it is like pedaling a bicycle; if we go on
pedalling, the bicycle keeps moving!’ The one feeds the other, in other
words.
Human ignorance
Meditation helps minimize
ego-consciousness |
Ignorance, greed and hatred not only feed on one another but makes
for a grip on ego so tenacious that extrication becomes extremely
difficult. These are of course notions that require deep study and
experimentation through practical engagement, observation and arrival at
conclusion. On the other hand, this side of such engagement leading to
bicycle-stop, so to say, i.e. in the everyday of our doing and being,
reflection on the notions of ignorance, greed and hatred can have
positive outcomes for both the particular individual and the collective
he/she interacts with.
Governance structures
Let’s start with ignorance. The simple, commonsense meaning of the
word is ‘not knowing’. An extended meaning could include ‘not knowing
that one does not know’ and ‘believing erroneously that one knows’, the
latter containing an element of arrogance. I have found that the
greatest obstacle to acquiring some degree of humility is the refusal to
acknowledge the dimensions of our ignorance. The sum total of human
knowledge still amounts to nothing more than a grain of wisdom-sand
compared to the limitless universe of human ignorance. What an
individual knows is in turn a grain of sand compared to the vast
dimensions of accumulated human knowledge. Individuals and collectives,
therefore, are prone to err at every turn. Assertion, the professing of
full knowledge, totalizing claims and such are essentially indicative of
ignorance, i.e. the not-knowing of knowledge-limit.
This ignorance or the acknowledgement of knowledge-limit does not
necessarily have to inhibit action or for endless second-guessing. There
are ‘truths’ that are context bound, there are odds that can be played
given experience and recognition of pattern.
It is tough enough even at the individual level. It can’t be any
easier when one has to decide for collectives. Not everyone is an expert
on several fields. Politicians, for example, are ‘experts’ at reading
and playing with and within the power equation. While people from any
profession can enter and even thrive in politics, this doesn’t
necessarily mean that they are experts on things they have no training
on.
This is why they need advice. This is why effective governance
structures are those that consistently facilitate the appointment of
right people for the right task.
Where governance structures do not facilitate this, politicians are
forced to rely on their own understanding of things they may not know
much about, both in decision-making and in appointments. The room for
error is naturally great.
Greater reflection
The cultivation of humility always helps, but it does not insure
against error.
This is why the astute politician or leader will err on the side of
institutions rather than personalities; it is a better insurer against
error in the long-term and, again in the long-term, has a positive
impact on the particular individual’s (or party’s) political future.
If politicians can move from ‘I know’ to ‘I think I know’ or even ‘I
may be wrong, but’, if not in statement but in thinking, then the
collective can hope for a minimizing of error and even rectification of
flaw. Greater reflection on the nature of things and the underlying
principles of their being and becoming, as indicated at the beginning of
this essay, would certainly help, for recognition of the dimensions of
ego and desire is perhaps first step in the battle to vanquish ignorance
and the arrogance it produces.
It’s all there in the Grade Nine Buddhism textbook, pages 81-85, if I
remember right. No, not the deep philosophical engagement that seeks to
understanding suffering, its cause(s) and the pathways to end it, but
simple, day-to-day engagement in the public sphere. Or indeed, any
sphere where ‘collective’ is relevant.
www.malindawords.blogspot.com |