Buddhism Good Vs Evil

Eastern Concepts: In the East there is often no explanation as to why evil should exist. Gautama Buddha observed that all of life is suffering, that suffering is caused by desire, and that suffering can be eliminated if desire is annihilated. Concentrating on the human situation, he ignored all matters pertaining to creation and whether there are gods. The Buddha declared that there is no such thing as permanent ego-identity and that the ultimate goal is the achievement if nirvana.

In Vedanta Hinduism, Brahma, the ultimate, is beyond good and evil. Although in action Brahma may be described as creator and destroyer, the destructive acts are not considered necessarily evil. Admittedly there are differences in caste, and gross inequities exist. Whatever happens, however, is merited because of one’s thoughts and deeds in a prior existence. The process is automatic and not due to the will or decision of a personal God. Furthermore, phenomena with respect to one’s spiritual goal, which is absorption in the great pervasive reality and

Evil results when man disrupts the natural processes, Taoism says, and the cure is to be found in flowing effortlessly with the tide of nature. Confucianism holds that evil is caused by man’s ignorance or refusal to know and obey the laws of the universe. Western Explanations of Evil: If it is assumed that the universe is self-existent – that there is no creator and no transcendent meaning – the existence of evil has to be explained only in terms of the universe. If one views the world as negative, without order, or perhaps as essentially destructive, there would be no problem in explaining evil; instead, the problem would be to explain the good. However, the philosophical and theological traditions of the West have affirmed that there is a transcendent reality that is essentially