On the way back from the organic fruit farm to the Taichung city on May 3, 2009, one of the women in the group gave me a "Pocket Guide to Buddhist Wisdom" written by Venerable Chan Master Sheng-Yen published by Dharma Drum Mountain, 2006. The book is written in English. I read through it and found the perspective interesting and there are some subtle differences in its teaching from that of Christianity. For this reason, I would like to share Buddhist's perspective with my readers.
When I read the book, I was paying my attention to Buddhism teachings in situations when human beings are experiencing unbearable suffering, for example, "Why bad things happen to good people?" All great religion must have teachings so that their believers have the attitude and strength to endure the unbearable.
Just like Christianity, Buddhism asks its believers to face calamity with a peaceful mind. Buddhism believes in retribution. Thus your current suffering is the results of retribution from unwholesome deeds of either your current life or previous life. By completely "accepting retribution' , the believer will have the strength to endure the suffering. This is what the Venerable Chan Master Sheng Yen believes.
This perspective is quite different from those of Christianity. Indeed, in Christianity belief, "Why bad things happen to good people?" is a wrong question. The right question to ask is "When bad things happen, what do I do?" In Christianity, God does not promise believers to have an easy life of no suffering. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Indeed, Christ has to die on a cross; so did Saint Peter. What God promises is that 'when suffering comes', He would give you strength to endure it. Because if you do, you are bearing the witness of 'Him'.
Religion is very personal. I ask my readers to pick and choose what is right for you. You may also want to read my post on 4/23/09, "to care is to live". In the end, both great religions teach the same thing, endure the suffering with a peaceful mind.
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