22. THE MIND CAUSES OUR IGNORANCE
The biggest problem in life is not that we are ignorant, but that we are ignorant about our ignorance. We don't realize that we are living a life of illusion. Our own mind causes this ignorance and we are unaware of this fact. The mind bombards us with thoughts and makes us regret, worry, fear as we live in stress and anxiety. How does this happen?
We look at a gold ring, and the eyes and the mind see the ring. We don't see the gold that it is made of. We say it is a ring when in reality it is not. It is gold metal appearing as a ring. But the mind does not let us realize the Truth. If we realize the Truth, there is a big problem for the mind. It will cease to exist. It will become a slave of our intellect that discriminates the myth from the Truth. Thus, the mind continues to cause our ignorance as it projects the myth and conceals the Truth.
Spiritually, this is known as Maya or the cosmic illusion. It is the mind that falls prey to Maya and makes the myth appear like it is the Truth. We continue to live our life enveloped in the darkness of ignorance and we are not enlightened with the Truth. It is this ignorance that causes our suffering and stops us from reaching that state of eternal Peace and everlasting Joy. Instead of living a life of Bliss and Peace, our mind makes us chase pleasure, success, and achievement, and we remain ignorant about the true purpose of life.