Understand ignorance.  Why would we need to do that if we are studying our minds? Most of us come to meditation retreats or Buddhist teachings because we are searching for answers.  We know that we are unhappy, or anxious, or we may just feel like something is not quite right.  If we have studied for some time, we may have heard a lot about how we are confused by ignorance.  But why do we need to understand ignorance?  Because if we just think that we suffer from ignorance, we may start to think of ignorance as something solid and unchanging.