ignorance　無明 The Sanskrit avidyā means absence of wisdom by which to see reality as it is. Ignorance is deeply entrenched in human existence itself. It is the root of all forms of delusion and suffering, being one of the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance, and the basic factor in the twelve-stage cycle of causation. The goal of Buddhism is to transform ignorance into enlightenment.
　In Shin Buddhism, the true realization of oneself as ignorant―as a person of avidyā―comes about only through the working of the nembutsu or shinjin, and so is called the “wisdom of shinjin” or the “nembutsu of wisdom”. This wisdom is knowledge of oneself as ignorant; hence, it is wisdom that takes ignorance as its basis. When ignorant persons attain this wisdom, their ignorance, rather than being done away with, is tansformed into wisdom.