Sleep of ignorance seems to me to mean the same think as spiritual blindness / death or dead spiritually.
2007-01-26 05:57:47 · 5 answers · asked by t a m i l 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes, I think you're right.
2007-01-26 06:03:17 · answer #1 · answered by lotusmoon01 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's a state of ignorance worded in a poetic manner. The Buddha taught in many ways to reach people however they might best understand his teachings. Being "dead spiritually" is not having faith, or having a weak faith according to most theistic traditions and is very dualistic in philosophy. The "sleep of ignorance" is what we call "WRONG VIEW" about "reality" per Buddhist thinking... it keeps people in what we call "cyclical samsaric existence" and on the wrong path, which doesn't alleviate "suffering". (4 Noble Truths)
"Buddhist words must be dealt with, to be understood properly, by understanding the Eastern philosophy that is behind them. Too many words are too easily misinterpreted.
I hope this makes sense to you. Buddhism cannot be interpreted through a Western philosophical lens, along with Western thinking, connotations and denotations of words, or it leads to severely incorrect views of the Buddha's teachings. However there are some really GOOD Western teachers of Buddhism who spend time breaking things down so that it's easier for a Western mind to grab onto... Robert Thurman, Venerable Thubten Chodron, B. Alan Wallace, et al, just in case you're interested in their "translations" of the Buddha's teachings.
_()_
2007-01-26 14:16:14 · answer #2 · answered by vinslave 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. If I understand it correctly, the "sleep of ignorance" is a state BEFORE a spiritual awakening. Someone who is "spiritually dead" (this hasn't been well defined) implies someone who was once more awake, but has since died, so to speak.
In other words, "sleep" comes before awakening, "death" after. Perhaps.
2007-01-26 14:03:05 · answer #3 · answered by STFU Dude 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yeah, you are pretty much right.
Of course, you won't be able to work in Hollywood now. :)
2007-01-26 14:05:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Thanks for enlightening me, I had never heard of the sleep of ignorance. It certainly applies to Christianity because Christianity is definitely NOT about knowledge and enlightenment.
2007-01-26 14:05:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋