Pain and suffering in Eastern culture is an examination of understanding.
That is:
Since pain and suffering is a fact, how do we deal with it, and what meaning can be found in it?
Eastern culture takes pain and suffering as a given and then asks what the best way to cope with it is.
This is the opposite of how the West looks at it.
In the East, the conclusion that is drawn about pain and suffering is often fatalistic and, rather than seeking to bring physical relief, is either totally spiritualized or used to develop a philosophy that attempts to see some good in it all. In all the years of addressing audiences across cultures, until recently I had never heard the connection between the question of suffering and God’s existence raised in the East.
-Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale, Why Suffering?
Also published on Medium.
