The mystery of evil and human suffering can never be fully understood, yet we know that much of it is a result of selfish cravings and desires stemming from the ignorance of the laws of reality. This ignorance is called avidya. An avidya results in human’s moving away from the self (atman), which obscures his knowledge of the truth. Avidya, from a psychological perspective, is the state of unconsciousness, an unreflected life.
