Question

A Buddhist response to evil and suffering?

Answer 1

Every religion has its own way of explaining human suffering and the concept of evil. For Buddhists, understanding the causes of suffering and rejecting evil is part of the route to enlightenment.

Answer 2

 For Buddhism, it’s the problem of desire. Christianity has the problem, not Buddhism. Why is this? Buddhism starts with the problem of evil, suffering or “dukkha,” as its first statement of faith in the four noble truths. However, it is not the problem we think. Buddhism concedes that suffering or evil is what life is made of. It does not begin with an all powerful and good God, and the ensuing moral and logical entailments. In fact, in Buddhism, the question of God’s existence is not raise. Buddhism begins from a different starting point, suffering, not God’s existence.