Ignorance I

1. I heard thus. At one time the Blessed One lived in the monastery offered by Anāthapiṇḍika in Jeta's grove in Sāvatthi.

2. Then a certain monk approached the Blessed One, worshipped and sat on a side.

3. Sitting, he said to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, it is said `Ignorance.' What is ignorance and how does someone come to ignorance?”

4. “Monk, the not learned ordinary man does not know matter, the arising of matter, the cessation of matter, and the path leading to the cessation of matter.

5. “The not learned ordinary man does not know feelings, their arising, cessation, and the path leading to their cessation.

6. “The not learned ordinary man does not know, perceptions their arising, cessation, and the path leading to their cessation.

7. “The not learned ordinary man does not know, intentions, their arising, cessation, and the path leading to their cessation.

8. “The not learned ordinary man does not know consciousness, its arising, cessation, and the path leading to its cessation.

9. “Monk, to this is called ignorance, with this much someone comes to ignorance.”