Ignorance of conventional life can be bliss, however, rather a short-lived one. Indeed, a much more fitting word is pleasure. Hence, ignorance is pleasurable in the short term. I’ve yet to meet an “ignorant” person who does not suffer in one way or another, who is not chasing a carrot dangling always few inches beyond reach, or who barely manages to escape the stick of some looming punishment.
Ambition and fear are the two forces that hold our current civilization together. It is therefore obvious why Abrahamic God is pictured as an angry and unforgiving Father and Eastern Absolute is tranquil and blissful.
However, the way these concepts are used within institutionalized religions and all their codices, is but a propaganda tool to keep masses obedient to the bidding of the powers that be, that is, the higher echelons of thus constructed hierarchy. The fact that priests are at the top of this social structure in all “civilized” cultures across the globe should be a clear telltale sign. But, as with all propaganda, there is a truth hidden within it, only twisted, perverted, and embedded into a falsified context, merely to suit the particular agenda.
It’s true that in the natural face of God there’s little to no room for error. On the other hand, this same nature provided everything, humans included, to build the human civilization, whatever we may think of it. It’s equally true that the absolute reality is tranquil and motionless, however, the image of an emotionless non-thinking “zombie sage” utterly passive and detached from everything is exactly that — an image, a social expectation, the last trap of becoming, the final Buddha to be killed on the quest for truth.
Universe is hardly inhuman when everything each of us knows about it exists “merely” in our minds (whole universe literally fits in there), and the proof that universe is essentially conscious is the fact that we both are conscious. It does not matter one bit whether consciousness is emergent or fundamental. If it’s fundamental, it just means that universe plays a hide-and-seek with itself and if that is the case, then it’s the best RPG ever. If it’s emergent then it simply means that universe has the capacity to be conscious of itself, which makes the whole affair even more marvelous. In both cases the identity of that universe is what we call “I” (the reality of existence then being “am”).
Ever wondered why there’s only first person singular perspective in this place?
However, as I see it, you try to reason yourself out of the box (so to speak). Which is fine and merely points out your strong predilection for jnana yoga, still, no one can capture the whole picture from one angle only.
As far as I can tell, in addition to asking the right questions and searching for reasonable answers (philosophy or jnana yoga), one has to master witnessing oneself at least to the point of being able to catch even the noises and disturbances in otherwise homogeneous perception (meditation, concentration, psychedelics, or raja yoga), accept one’s mortality as a fact not tinted by absurdity of nihilism or salvific expectations (detachment, letting go, acceptance, or bhakti yoga), and also act the knowledge out to see how it fares in the face of strict, cold, pitiless laws of causality (morality or karma yoga).
Then, with a bit of luck, one can know and also understand why compassion, or unconditional love, is the default modus operandi for an enlightened being even though it’s the pinnacle of selfishness.
