ABSTRACT
For Advaita Vedānta, avidyā (ignorance), the superimposing of duality on the non-dual, keeps one from knowing ātman/Brahman. Advaitins must ask themselves: if ātman/Brahman is self-illuminating, unchanging, Being and Consciousness, how does avidyā appear? This is the hard problem for Advaita Vedānta. This chapter will: present a series of questions that expose avidyā to be the hard problem; present the philosophical divide between two Advaita schools regarding avidyā; and delineate a series of categories by which avidyā is understood.
