The Why of Darkness in Buddhism, Essay Example

Introduction

Perhaps as crucial to all religious belief as the identity of God or a supreme being is the question of why evil exists in a world governed by a God.  Certainly, evil is acknowledged as very real by major faiths, as the struggle between good and evil dominates the teachings of such religions.  This reality of evil nonetheless seems “out of place”; God is good, no matter the faith identifying God, and God is all-powerful, so there should be no evil.  The answer, however, may lie precisely within the question itself.  Evil is no ancillary power, but a vital agent in the processes of human existence and spiritual understanding.  As the faith of Buddhism reveals, evil is a necessary force in place because of both human susceptibility to natural forces and humanity’s need to evolve to higher states of being.

Discussion

To truly examine why evil exists in the world, and in relation to Buddhism, it is necessary to note a similarity between the faith and Christianity.  Both religions encompass evil as a reality, and Christianity addresses this in something of a direct way; no matter the evil, the individual is redeemed by seeking absolution for it (Morse).  Evil is then in a sense explicable as a phase in coming to know God, even as it is a power to be overcome or destroyed.  The similarity resides, however, in the utility of evil in both faiths, as well as even the creation of it.  In Buddhism, there is a force remarkably similar to that of Satan in Christianity: the Mara.  This is the seemingly masculine power that creates and promotes evil and, as with Satan, was originally a force of enlightenment and suffered degradation (Witzig  41).  The role of evil in Buddhism is then reinforced by how it is reflected in the Christian faith, as each maintains evil as a fall of good and as a means of attaining a nearness to God.

What separates Buddhism, among other things, is the concept of karma, or the consequences of past acts and lives as rebounding on the individual.  On one level, this in itself would seem to render evil unlikely.  If, after all, evil done in the past has repercussions, it appears logical that evil must eventually be distilled to nothingness.  The Buddhist learns, consciously or otherwise, how bad acts create bad consequences, so there should be an eventual end to any self-perpetuating of evil.  This view, however, ignores other critical aspects of the faith.  To begin with, it is important to note that karma translates to, “action”  (BBC).  This implies far more than behavior or movement; it implies human choice and all that which humanity is capable of performing.  In this is an emphasis on the physicality and the personal of human existence, as opposed to the spiritual.  Humans, in plain terms, will always act, just as their actions must create after-effects.

This in turn importantly connects to how evil is actually defined in Buddhism; it is a force composed of greed, hatred, or delusion, and there are functional meanings attached to each which expand the terms from ordinary conceptions of them.  Greed, for example, is a “sticking” quality derived from relentless craving, mindless and ceaseless. Hatred is the essence of savageness, and usually self-destructive in its own, poisonous fury, and delusion is a state of unknowing, or distance from the truth (Thera  4-5). The faith, moreover, describes these things in natural terms; the fire in the forest is fueled by hate, for example, as greed is the rushing of a river into the sea, unmindful of anything but its course.  These are genuine forces in Buddhism, rather than human states of being, and here is support for the presence of evil.  Human beings must act, and human beings are inevitably subject to those forces of greed, hatred, and delusion existing in the natural world, just as they are susceptible to those promoting good.  It is then inevitable that humans create evil, time and again.  This view in place, evil exists in the world because humanity shares the world with it and is all too prone to echo its manifestations.

Perhaps even more importantly, however, evil in Buddhism is an enabling power.  The Buddhist ideal is to achieve the state wherein no further incarnation is required, and the individual achieves the ultimate nearness to God.  This is nirvana, the pinnacle of existence, and such a state cannot be achieved without struggle.   As God or the knowing of God is the highest form of being to which humans may aspire, it follows that this can be achieved only by means of the most fundamental and vital conflicts.  In plain terms, it is unreasonable to imagine that real enlightenment may be generated through undergoing mild forms of turmoil.  The greater the essence desired, the more intense must be the conflict.  Then, as the goodness of God is of an ineffable being and power, it follows that the conflicting agent must be equally strong.  This explains, in fact, why the path to nirvana is viewed in Buddhism as long and daunting.  Human beings must continually undergo challenges of the most fierce nature in order to gain understanding in each incarnation of the self.  Karma is, in a word, instructional in this process, even if its actual effects are debated.  What matters is that the force of evil is not only an omnipresent power, but one which exists because it is required.  In Buddhism, then, evil is the necessary darkness used to move nearer to the light of understanding.

Conclusion

It is likely that turning to any faith for an understanding of why evil exists in the world is an exercise in frustration, simply because evil does indeed exist, and this seems contrary to any presence of God.  Such a view, however, ignores the crucial imperative of evil itself, and as a force beyond human motive.  In Buddhism, evil is a natural force; as human beings are subject to nature, then, it exists to shape human spiritual evolution, as it provides the dark power necessary to create the conflict ultimately moving the individual to enlightenment.  In a very real sense, evil exists because it exists, just as good does.  Then, like good, evil is a necessary force in place because of both human susceptibility to natural forces and the human need to evolve to higher states of being.

Works Cited

BBC.  Religions: Karma.  2009. Web.  14 Mar. 2014.

Morse, Donald R.  “Reincarnation: Yes, No or Maybe!” Journal of Spirituality & Paranormal Studies  Apr. 2006: 61. Academic Search Complete.  Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Thera, N.  The Roots of Good and Evil: Buddhist Texts. Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 2008 Print.

Witzig, Marcus B.  “The Great’s Controversy In The Buddhist World: A Suggestion For An

Adventist Approach Towards Buddhism.”  Journal Of Asia Adventist Seminary 12.1 (2009): 37-50.  Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.