“Greed Is Good.” Anger Can Be Managed. But Ignorance? Here’s How It Causes More Damage Than You Know

Confusion, Self-Doubt, and Delusion Are Ignorance

All suffering is due to anger, greed, and ignorance.

As a kid, I called bullshit on Buddhism. Anger and greed, sure. But ignorance?! I thought ignorance = lack of knowledge. No biggie. Just go read some books. Nope. “Ignorance” means confusion, self-doubt, and delusion. Big stuff, hard to fix.

Ignorance is the soul’s would-be assassin.

Anger and greed are easy to spot. Society doesn’t condone them, so there’s awareness, shame, and resources to process them. The suffering anger and greed cause is visible, and their power feared and respected.

But ignorance is sneaky.

It’s emotionally diffuse, the damage harder to spot, and its roots socially sanctioned. Overgiving, self-silencing, pointless self-sacrifice are lauded, encouraged, and even required by society. This ignorance is condoned by our family systems, generations of conditioning, and all of the systemic “-isms”.

Here are a few examples of ignorance:

Blaming oneself for someone’s else’s transgression.

Not taking the risks needed to live a full life.

Self-silencing.

Wallowing in a fog of indecision and confusion.

Willfully blinding ourselves from seeing a truth that compels action.

Lack of self-awareness is also ignorance.

When we hurt others cluelessly, we dodge accountability. When we refuse to look at ourselves, we do well meaning things that are toxic to others. When we unquestioningly perpetuate ignorance we harm others but don’t take responsibility.

Ignorance is our psychological defenses, weaponized against ourselves and others.

If we refuse to see the truth because not connecting the dots will spare us pain, we pay the price with our integrity.