“The āsava are the saṅkhāra that are encoded with ignorance [avijjā]”

Given that awakening is accomplished by the destruction of the āsava, understanding what precisely the āsava are (and what they are not) is a key to unraveling the mystery of the Buddha's teaching. At the 13:29 mark of this talk, 2016-11-16: Ajahn Sucitto: Asava and Careful Attention Ajahn Sucitto made the following claim: > The āsava are the saṅkhāra that are encoded with ignorance [avijjā] IMHO, this simple statement is profound. It places the āsava here: **paṭiloma-paṭiccasamuppāda:** 1: avijjā 2: saṅkhāra ** knowledge** I am 99% convinced that this interpretation is correct. It just fits. However, if possible, I would like some evidence from the suttas to corroborate this interpretation. Does such evidence exist? Ajahn Sucitto kindly responded to my request for information on this matter, thusly: > “'Avjijja paccaya sankhāra’ is the frequently reiterated beginning of > the paticcasamuppada (dependent origination) sequence. If you google > this you’ll find many sutta references. This means: ‘with ignorance as > a condition, formative energies arise’. These sankhara formulate > consciousness - the outward-looking intelligence that formulates data > in terms of labels and forms (nāma-rupa). The motivation behind this > formulating is to generate a substantial and enduring reality out of > them. This is the asava of ‘existence/becoming’ (bhava). There is also > the motivation towards stimulation; this is ‘sensuality’ (kāma). > Ignorance as the other of the three asava is the motivation to ignore > the others and just keep adding more proliferation to the mix. This > conclusion has arisen through prolonged study and practice."