Avijjāsutta

Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “‘avijjā, avijjā’ti, bhante, vuccati. Katamā nu kho, bhante, avijjā; kittāvatā ca avijjāgato hotī”ti? “Yaṁ kho, bhikkhu, dukkhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhasamudaye aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhagāminiyā paṭipadāya aññāṇaṁ— ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhu, avijjā; ettāvatā ca avijjāgato hotīti.

Seated to one side, that mendicant said to the Buddha: “Sir, they speak of this thing called ‘ignorance’. What is ignorance? And how is an ignoramus defined?” “Not knowing about suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering. This is called ignorance. And this is how an ignoramus is defined.

Tasmātiha, bhikkhu, ‘idaṁ dukkhan’ti yogo karaṇīyo …pe… ‘ayaṁ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yogo karaṇīyo”ti. Sattamaṁ.

That’s why you should practice meditation …”