If our present suffering is the result of bad karma from a prior life, what is the real present remedy for suffering in this life?Ĭan all suffering be alleviated in this life through our efforts with the Eight Fold Path? Why engage in any effort related to the Eight Fold Path, if the only true benefits are to be realized in the next life?

But what if the individual doesn’t see the world in this way? What if the individual, even though he or she experiences hardship, understands the value of this experience and does not see it as suffering?ģ. If life is just suffering, as Buddhism claims, why is it some of us don’t see it this way? Why do some of us see life as wonderful rather than filled with suffering?īuddha’s observations about the world seem to come from his direct experience the entire religious system is built on the notion life is filled with suffering with no positive value on the individual. How are we to know which are authoritative? Many scholars believe it is impossible to say with confidence, “This is what Gautama Buddha said.” How can anyone make a claim for the truth without first establishing the foundation for Buddhistic truth?Ģ. None of these texts stands unchallenged as having come from the time in which Buddha lived. If Buddhists themselves cannot agree on which scriptural writings or traditions for practice are actually true statements from Buddha, how can Buddhism as a system claim any truth?Įven within Buddhism, there are contradictory claims related to the validity of a variety of late appearing religious texts, all of which claim to accurately represent the words of Buddha. Let’s begin with some questions springing from basic philosophical concerns:ġ. Let’s take a look at a few questions one might ask from a philosophical perspective and a few issues one might discuss from a theological perspective:

There are several topics one could engage when talking to a Buddhist in order to examine the internal and external coherence of the worldview. While Buddhism provides answers for the three most important worldview questions, the Buddhist answers raise important questions in and of themselves. In yesterday’s post I provided a brief overview of Buddhism in an effort to show how it answers the three most important questions (“How did we get here?”, “How did things get so messed up?” and “How do we fix it?”).

Why buddhism is real