Page 43 - Bodhayanti Parasparam Vol 8
P. 43
know the truth. This vairagya is fundamental to any significant growth in spirituality.
It is held by some English writer that there are four causes of ignorance:
i)To follow the example of weak and undeserving authorities.
ii) The influence of custom without proper verification.
iii) The opinion of the unlearned crowd.
iv) The concealment of one‟s ignorance in a display of apparent wisdom.
These same four causes or plagues of ignorance may well be taken to be the causes of enormous egoism. Significantly it is the fourth one listed above which is the worst as it is the spring board from which all human evils emerge.
37
