The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (306 page)

t
dvaita, ignorance is the absence of knowing that the self (
j
va
) is distinct from, yet also merged into, Brahman, while for the
Dvaita
school of
Madhva
, avidy
is ignorance of the self's eternal distinction from God.
2.  In Buddhism, avijja/avidy
is ignorance of the true nature of reality, the non-emancipated state of mind; it is specifically expressed in Buddhist writings as lack of experiential knowledge of the
Four Noble Truths
. Avijja refers to moral and spiritual ignorance, not ignorance of a factual and scientific kind, and is only finally extinguished with the attainment of nirv
na.