Contrasting Views On The Existence Of Suffering In World Religions

Why do we suffer? Sometimes, the simplest sounding questions have the most complex answers. Why are we here, who or what is God, and what is the nature of the self? These are all existential questions; they do not have black and white, logical answers, and remain unanswered in our modern society. Religions seek to offer answers that fulfill human's urge to know the unknowable. Among these questions is what is the cause of suffering, is suffering necessary and, if not, how can we prevent it?

Religions around the world take different approaches to this existential question. For Buddhists, the answer lies in the Four Noble Truths, for Christians it lies in sin and the resurrection of Jesus and as for my own beliefs, the answer lies somewhere in between. The cause of suffering is a fundamental aspect of Buddhism. As Siddhartha Gautama, known as Buddha famously said 'existence is suffering. ' He witnessed the suffering of Hindus during his lifetime, and made it his mission to help relieve people of it. Hindus believe that suffering comes from bad Karma achieved in a previous life, and that one must endure suffering as their punishment. However, Buddhism has a different approach. When Buddha achieved enlightenment, he was revealed the Four Noble truths about suffering. The First Truth suffering is inevitable. Buddha learned this when he came upon an elderly man, a sick man and a dead person. The Second Truth answers the cause of suffering, which in Buddhism is believed to be desire and ignorance. Desires for things such as worldly possessions, pleasure and immortality, can never truly be satisfied, and so it causes pain to desire them. Ignorance refers to a lack of understanding about how the world truly is, which leads to greed, jealousy hatred and anger. The third explains that suffering can end when one achieves Nirvana, a transcendent state of bliss free from the cycle of birth and rebirth. Finally, the Fourth Truth details how one can escape suffering. Hindus believe the way to do this is by following the Eightfold path. The path explains the importance of good moral behaviour, meditation and mental development and insight/wisdom. In essence, the religion of Buddhism believes that suffering is a consequence of desire and ignorance, and that it can be escaped through following the teachings of Buddha.

Christianity has a different approach to suffering. Like Buddhism, Christianity acknowledges the reality of suffering. However, Christianity attributes it to the sinful nature of humanity, originating from the original sins of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There, the first instance of humans disobeying the word of God was observed and as a consequence humans were cast out of the perfect garden and into a world with suffering. This human suffering even plays an important role in the story of Jesus, the Son of God, who was both fully human and fully divine. Jesus suffered betrayal by his friends, indignity as his claim of divinity was mocked by a crown of thorns, torture and crucifixion. While it not believed that suffering can be escaped in one's life on earth, it is promised to be achieved if one goes to heaven because of Jesus' sacrifice. In Mark's gospel he calls Jesus' suffering and death 'ransom for many'. By 'many' he is referring to those who have faith in the power of the Lord. Jesus, in Christian belief, is the path to overcoming the sinful nature that causes human suffering. Christians believe that it is His teachings, but rather it is Jesus Himself that alleviates suffering in the afterlife. However, one must follow His teachings and moral conduct in order to be sent to heaven when they die. To summarize, Christians believe that suffering is penance for the sins of humanity, but Jesus opened the gates to heaven so that people who live a righteous life according to the Bible may live in eternal bliss after death.

Personally, I agree with the aspects of Buddhist religion such as the first two Noble Truths. In this world, I believe that suffering is inevitable. I believe no matter how many privileges someone has, he or she is always going to suffer in some way. While it may be a relatively small struggle compared to someone in a third-world country, the small event may cause them great pain and suffering is suffering nonetheless. I also believe that desire and ignorance is a major cause of suffering. When one has a secular worldview and is constantly craving material success they are never truly fulfilled, no matter how many worldly possessions or admiration they gain. This is because they are searching to be emotionally and spiritually fulfilled with things that cannot substitute love and wisdom. Likewise, I believe that when one does not question and seek insight into the world around them, they often suffer. I think this is true because when people do not see the greater purpose of life, they often cannot find meaning or worth in their own. Thus I agree with the first two Noble Truths of Buddhism regarding suffering. However, I do not entirely adhere to the Buddhist approach to this existential question, and agree with the main elements of the Christian approach.

I do not believe in reincarnation and Nirvana but rather, as a Catholic, I believe that the alleviation of all suffering can only be achieved in the afterlife, which is a state of being. I believe this because I have faith that Jesus dying for the sins of humanity opened up the gates of heaven, where there is an eternal afterlife with no suffering. I believe the way to achieve this eternal bliss is through anthropogenic actions as Jesus demonstrated during his time on Earth. I also believe that intolerance is one major cause of suffering within our world. There exists a long list of wars caused by intolerance and a lack of understanding, such as the many wars of Israel. Thus, embracing multiculturalism is a way to end a lot of suffering in people's lives.

While I have a theocentric view, as do Muslims and Jews, I do not believe that we must only serve God through prayer and lifestyle. Rather, I believe the service of others and nature will not only help prevent some suffering for ourselves, but for the rest of the planet. I believe that in my life it is important to take elements from anthropogenic and cosmocentric worldviews, and implement them into serving God. I believe this because by serving others and serving nature, we are serving God's creation. Jesus also demonstrated this on his time on Earth by loving others and spending his time promoting the equality of others, regardless of race, gender or lifestyle. Thus, I think that while suffering is inevitable on Earth, we should attempt to lessen it by caring for others and being tolerant and loving, rather than focusing on material success in our own lives.

Clearly, there are many different contrasting views on the reason for the existence of suffering, as well as how it can be alleviated. However, the importance of studying world religions is that we can understand multiple perspectives and implement aspects into our own beliefs. Despite the scientific advances in a contemporary world, it is evident that religion still plays an important role, in that it provides guidance and answers to life's unanswerable questions. There exist many different approaches to answering existential questions, as there are many worldviews. The views of Hindus and Buddhists are cosmscomentric, or based on maintaining the natural state of the universe while those of Christians are theocentric or based around one's relationship with an Ultimate Reality or God. Christians share similar beliefs to other monotheistic religions such as Judaism and Islam. There are so many different religions, each with their own unique approaches to provide guidance for the mysteries of life. For these differences exists the need for tolerance. In order to create peace in a multicultural society one must look further than their own beliefs, and accept the validity of ways of life outside their own. Why do we suffer? Is suffering necessary? Is there a place without suffering? These answers are ambiguous and vary from person to person. As German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, 'To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. '