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Definitions for avidya

Traditional

Bhikkhu Bodhi states:

Ignorance (avijja) is the cetasika delusion [[[moha]]], which obscures perception of the true nature of things just as a cataract obscures perception of visible objects. According to the Suttanta method of explanation, ignorance is non-knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. According to the Abhidharma method, ignorance is non-knowledge of eight things: the Four Noble Truths, the pre-natal past, the post-mortem future, the past and the future together, and dependent arising.A Comprehensive Manual of the Abhidharma, p. 295

Bhikkhu Bodhi explains:

Ignorance (avijja) is actually identical in nature with the unwholesome root "delusion" (moha). When the Buddha speaks in a psychological context about mental factors, he generally uses the word "delusion"; when he speaks about the causal basis of samsara, he uses the word "ignorance" (avijja). --- Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Noble Eightfold Path, footnote 1

Nina van Gorkom states:

Moha is ignorant of the true nature of realities, it does not know nāma and rūpa as they are. Moha is lack of knowledge about the four noble Truths: about dukkha, the origination of dukkha, the ceasing of dukkha and the way leading to the ceasing of dukkha5. So long as ignorance has not been eradicated we have to continue to be in the cycle of birth and death, we have to be born again and again. The Pāli term avijjā is used for ignorance in connection with the “Dependent Origination”, the conditional arising of phenomena in the cycle of birth and death. Avijjā is the first link in the chain of conditions for the continuation of this cycle. At the attainment of arahatship ignorance is eradicated and then there are no more conditions for rebirth.[1]

Mipham Rinpoche states:

Ignorance means not knowing the [law of] actions and their effects, the [four] truths, and the virtues of the Precious Ones. It cases all affliction to occur. ---Mipham Rinpoche, Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1, p. 25

The Abhidharma Samuchaya states:

What is lack of intrinsic awareness? It is a lack of being aware to one's fullest capacity and it covers the three realms of life. Its function is to serve as it basis for mistaken stubbornness, doubt and emotionality about the entities of reality.--- Guenther, (Kindle Locations 770-772)

On different levels

Dzigar Kongtrul explains two levels of ignorance:

There are two levels of ignorance: ignorance of the absolute, or the essential nature of phenomena, and the ignorance that prevents us from taking an accurate reading of the relative world. These two kinds of ignorance are like two kinds of thread: When they are tightly woven together, they are not easy to identify, yet they make up the fabric of delusion.

As a result of the first type of ignorance, we lack wisdom. Lacking an understanding of our true nature, we perceive that which is illusory and spacious to be solid and real. The second type of ignorance is the inability to clearly understand the laws of karma and interdependence, which then results in an inaccurate relationship to the world. --- Kongtrul, Dzigar (2011-01-12). It's Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path (p. 18-19). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.

Jeffrey Hopkins states:

There are two types of ignorance: a basic form and a secondary form that is involved only in nonvirtuous, or negative, actions. The first is a consciousness that misconceives the status of persons and other phenomena. It imagines that persons and other phenomena have a concreteness beyond that which they actually have, thereby inducing all afflictive emotions (kleshas). [...] The other form of ignorance--the type that is involved only in nonvirtuous, or negative actions--is a misconception about the effects of actions. In this case, there is also obscuration with respect to even the course relationship of actions and their effects--no understanding that if a certain action is performed, a certain result will follow, and developing misconceptions such as that only please will arise from a theft.

Contemporary

Bhikhu Bodhi states:

Wisdom is "the one thing needed" to cut off the defilements because the most fundamental of all the mental depravities is ignorance (avijja). Ignorance is the kingpost upon which all the other defilements converge and the lynchpin which holds them all in place. While it remains the others remain, and for the others to be destroyed it must be destroyed. Doctrinally defined as nescience with regard to the four noble truths, ignorance signifies not so much the lack of specific pieces of information as a basic non-comprehension regarding the true nature of things as expressed in the four truths. Since the eradication of the defilements depends upon the eradication of ignorance, the one factor capable of abolishing the defilements is the factor capable of abolishing their fundamental root, and that is the direct antithesis of ignorance — wisdom or "the knowledge and vision of things as they really are." For this reason, at the beginning of our sutta, the Buddha proclaims: "The destruction of the cankers is for one who knows and sees, I say, not for one who does not know and does not see." The defilements, epitomized in the "cankers," are only destroyed for one who overcomes ignorance by the wisdom which knows and sees things as they are. Transcendental Dependent Arising

Ringu Tulku states:

In the Buddhist sense, ignorance is equivalent to the identification of the self as being separate from everything else. It consists of the belief that there is an "I" that is not part of anything else. On this basis we think, "I am one and unique. Everything else is not me. It is something different." --- Ringu Tulku, Daring Steps Towards Fearlessness, p. 29

Ron Leifer states:

From the Buddhist point of view, the unwillingness or failure to see the facts of life as they are, to see ourselves as we are, and to conduct ourselves in harmony with these realities, is the chief cause of our self-inflicted suffering and, therefore the chief obstacle to our happiness. This state of denial, or lack of realization of the facts of existence, is called avidya in Sanskrit--literally, "the failure to see or know"--translated as "ignorance". One of the great contributions of Gautama Buddha was the realization that ignorance is the primary cause of the sufferings we impose on ourselves and others. --- The Happiness Project, p. 14

Ajahn Succitto states:

Although we all have this fundamental motivation for well-being, most of us don’t get the right instructions on how to fulfill it. This lack of know-how is what the Buddha referred to as “unknowing” or “ignorance” and this is precisely what his teaching directly addresses. As long as we don’t know our own mind and heart deeply, we can’t steer them. Then instead of directing ourselves to what is most immediate and personal, we try to steer the world. But with wise instructions, you have a powerful resource to steer your life with. ---Sucitto, Ajahn (2010), p. 3

Philip Moffett:

The Buddha taught that suffering comes from ignorance. "Ignorance is the one thing with whose abandonment clear knowing arises," he said. By "ignorance" he meant the misperceptions and delusions that your mind has about its own nature, in short, being ignorant of the Four Noble Truths. Thus, the way to free the mind from suffering is through gaining insight into what truly is. Insight is a profound level of understanding that transcends mere intellectual cognition and can only be known by experiencing it. One of the tools the Buddha taught for gaining insight is mindfulness, the ability to be fully aware in the moment. ---- Phillip Moffitt. Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering (Kindle Locations 288-291). Kindle Edition.

Bhavacakra overview

What is it?

The bhavacakra is painted on the outside walls of nearly every Tibetan Buddhist temple in Tibet and India. Dzongsar Khyentse states:

One of the reasons why the Wheel of Life was painted outside the monasteries and on the walls (and was really encouraged even by the Buddha himself) is to teach this very profound Buddhist philosophy of life and perception to more simple-minded farmers or cowherds. So these images on the Wheel of Life are just to communicate to the general audience.

Jeffrey Hopkins writes:

The diagram, said to be designed by Buddha himself, depicts an inner psychological cosmology that has had great influence throughout Asia. It is much like a map of the world or the periodic table of elements, but it is a map of an internal process and its external effects.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche writes:

It’s quite a popular painting that you can see in front of almost every Buddhist monastery. In fact, some Buddhist scholars believe that the painting existed prior to Buddha’s statues. This is probably the first ever Buddhist symbol that existed...

One of the reasons why the Wheel of Life was painted outside the monasteries and on the walls (and was really encouraged even by the Buddha himself) is to teach this very profound Buddhist philosophy of life and perception to more simple-minded farmers or cowherds. So these images on the Wheel of Life are just to communicate to the general audience.

Mark Epstein states:

The entire Wheel of Life is but a representation of the possibility of transforming suffering by changing the way we relate to it. As the Buddha taught in his final exhortation to his faithful attendant Ananda, it is only through becoming a “lamp unto yourself” that enlightenment can be won. Liberation from the Wheel of Life does not mean escape, the Buddha implied. It means clear perception of oneself, of the entire range of the human experience...

Origin

Legend has it that the Buddha himself created the first depiction of the bhavacakra, and the story of how he gave the illustration to King Rudrāyaṇa appears in the anthology of Buddhist narratives called the Divyavadana.