Question: Why is ignorance unwholesome?

Answer: Ignorance conditions all defilements. There is ignorance with each unwholesome moment of consciousness. Because of ignorance we live in darkness; we do not know what is wholesome and beneficial and what is unwholesome. Because of ignorance we don’t know what is real and what is only imagination. Ignorance conditions a distorted view of realities, wrong view. When we believe that body and mind can stay, that they are permanent, there is wrong view. What we call mind is, in reality, only fleeting moments of consciousness which cannot stay. What we call body is ever- changing particles, elements, which cannot stay. When we believe that mind and body are self or mine there is wrong view. Wrong view conditions many other defilements.