avidya

avidya means ignorance, but not simply a lack of knowledge. It is the illusion of separateness, mistaking what is not real for what is real, in short, ignorance of the true nature of being.

the yoga sutras describe avidya as the root forgetting or ignorance of the nature of things that is the breeding ground for the kleshas (2:4) and as being an ignorance of one of four types: regarding that which is transient as eternal, mistaking the impure for pure, thinking that which brings misery to bring happiness, and taking that which is not-self to be self (2:5). the gita says that all suffering and limitation imposed by the ego come from avidya and so one must seek knowledge. avidya os related to maya, in that it is a veiling of the truth, and once the truth is recognized the illusion begins to fall away.

so, avidya is the very ignorance which keeps us from reality, from being one with pure consciousness, with the eternal, and we must work to remove this ignorance, wipe clean the illusory veil that obstructs our view of the truth. there are endless opportunities each day to move closer to this truth or further away (and thus further away from ourselves, too). avidya is the forgetting that hinders our self-remembering, our ability to transcend so that we might again see our union with the real, the eternal, the divine.