Sentient Beings Have Been in Avidya Since Beginningless Kalpas

Sentient beings have been afflicted by ignorance since beginningless kalpas; their minds have never attained enlightenment. If sentient beings were free from ignorance, and ignorance were completely eradicated, they would become Buddhas. Sentient beings have never been Buddhas before. If they had once been Buddhas, they would never revert to being sentient beings again. This is explained in the Surangama Sutra, where the World-Honored One gives an analogy: just as pure gold refined from a gold mine never reverts to being ore, so too, once one becomes a Buddha, one never reverts to being a sentient being. This also illustrates that sentient beings have been bound by ignorance since beginningless kalpas. There is no rationale to explain this; such is the inherent nature of reality. In the fourth volume of the Surangama Sutra, Ananda also asked the World-Honored One about the origin of ignorance—why it exists. The World-Honored One replied that ignorance has neither a source nor a cause; it simply exists. If it had a cause, it would not be ignorance.