KNOWLEDGE AND IGNORANCE
The Vedic seers were well aware of this problem, but they had a solution presented in the form of a mysterious aphorism concerning the relation between knowledge and ignorance: “Knowledge and ignorance—whoever knows these two together, crosses over death by means of ignorance (avidya), and attains eternal life by means of knowledge (vidya).” 2
What does this mean? The sea of death is crossed by means of pure ignorance—that is, by remaining awake in the state of pure ignorance without harboring any desire for the things in this world.
Those who are capable of remaining awake in the state of silent darkness—whether waking, dreaming, or sleeping—will be delivered eventually to the other shore, the shore of eternal life, by the will of God, without any effort whatsoever on their part. Upon arriving at the other shore, they will attain eternal life by means of pure knowledge.The solution is simple: The soul must wait in the state of pure ignorance, without any desire or sense of expectation, like a babe in the womb or a corpse in the tomb, until it is delivered from that state by the grace of God.