吟味の基底
Very foundation of examination
2026-03-12
It is taught that a practitioner of the Buddhist path should carefully observe the true nature of the events that occur in daily life and make them nourishment for the path—that is, causes for the accumulation of merit.
Moreover, when one encounters an important occasion or turning point, one is encouraged not merely to observe it but to examine it further and discern the true state of the matter.
However, simply thinking that one understands the event before one’s eyes and merely distinguishing or judging it cannot be called true examination.
The examination that a practitioner of the Buddhist path should undertake requires an attitude in which, while knowing that the essential nature of a matter cannot ultimately be fully grasped, one nevertheless inquires into the factors of its origin and strives to examine it deeply—even at times employing imagination.
And at the culmination of such examination, one eventually attains liberation.
Regarding this, the early Buddhist scriptures attributed to the Buddha present the following principle.
1105 Udaya asked: “I have come here to ask the Master—who sits absorbed in meditation, free from defilement, who has done what had to be done, who is without the stain of the passions, and who has reached the far shore of all things. Please teach me the breaking of ignorance and liberation through right understanding.”
1106 The Master (the Buddha) replied: “Udaya, the abandoning of both craving and sorrow, the removal of depression, the cessation of regret,
1107 and a tranquil state of mind together with the purity of mindfulness—arising from reflection on the truth—this, I declare, is the breaking of ignorance and liberation through right understanding.” (The Words of the Buddha – Sutta Nipāta, Chapter 5: The Chapter on the Way to the Far Shore, 14: The Questions of the Student Udaya, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
What is important here is that ignorance is not merely something that should simply be destroyed. A practitioner who has steadily accumulated merit is able—precisely because of ignorance—to undertake (and give rise to) the kind of examination that ought to occur. Because of ignorance, one may at times engage in various forms of imagination. Yet all of these activities become connected to reflection on the truth, whereby decisive merit is accumulated, wisdom eventually arises, and one finally awakens (= attains liberation).
In this sense, it becomes known—somewhat unexpectedly—that the very foundation of examination is ignorance itself.
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