IS BUDDHISM'S NIRVANA THE ANSWER TO LIFE'S SUFFERING?

Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) over 2,500 years ago, is one of the world’s most ancient religions. But it has also grown in popularity in the Western world over the past few decades, and chances are that you have wondered what it teaches and how it compares to Christianity.

1. BASICS OF BUDDHISM

Buddhism centers its teachings on the Four Noble Truths that attempt to solve the problem of suffering.

The first truth is that “our lives are characterised by suffering or unsatisfactoriness,” and the Buddhist word for this is dukkha. Dukkha doesn’t just mean physical pain; it includes emotional distress, dissatisfaction, and even the fleeting nature of happiness. According to Buddhism, life is full of suffering because everything is impermanent—friends, family, achievements, and even our own lives eventually fade.

The second Noble Truth–samudaya–says suffering comes from tanha, or craving. This means we suffer because we cling to things like popularity, success, or material possessions. The Buddha taught that because we attach ourselves to people and objects that eventually change in some way, we will suffer until we lose that attachment to these things.

Buddhism's third Noble Truth–nirodha–seeks to offer hope: we can end suffering by letting go of craving. And we can lose such attachment through right effort and right actions.

And finally, the fourth Noble Truth–magga–lays out the path to freedom from craving, which leads to freedom from suffering. This path is called the Noble Eightfold Path, and includes practices like right thinking, right speech, and meditation. By following this path, Buddhists aim to reach nirvana, a state of liberation from all desire, and thereby end both suffering and the cycle of rebirth.

At first glance, this view might seem appealing. It seems to acknowledge that life is tough and offers a way to escape pain by changing how we think and live.

However, it has some big flaws.

2. WHY THE BUDDHIST VIEW FAILS

One of the big problems with the Buddhist perspective is that it views suffering as fundamentally an illusion rooted in the mind’s cravings and attachments. The external world—whether it’s a broken relationship, a natural disaster, or personal loss—isn’t the true source of pain. Instead, suffering arises from our internal reactions. This may provide some relief for minor ‘first world problems’; a dead battery on an iPhone or not being able to attend a concert with your friends. But think about mothers who lose their babies in natural disasters, victims of evil crimes, those who cannot feed their families because a terror group burns down their home and business. Is the problem only an illusion in the mind of those who suffer as a result of these things?

Secondly, Buddhism teaches that to escape suffering, you must let go of all desires. Once again, this may provide some relief if you are hooked on social media and you lose access to your Instagram account, but what about in the much more serious examples we outlined above? Buddhism teaches that to escape suffering, you also need to let go of your love for the dearest people in your life, including your friends and family. It teaches people NOT to love others in the pursuit of avoiding suffering.

Thirdly, Buddhism’s solution—reaching nirvana—is not a solution at all. It’s easy for Westerners who live in a world where a Christian view of the afterlife dominates to imagine that nirvana is basically like heaven, some place where you go and are happy. But that is not it at all. Nirvana is a state beyond suffering, where you cease to exist, not somewhere you can remain you and enjoy anything good. It’s more like dissolving into nothingness, a mist disappearing into the atmosphere, than a place to be. The end goal of Buddhism is that you are no more.

Finally, Buddhism places the burden of escaping suffering entirely on you. The Eightfold Path requires intense self-discipline, meditation, and moral effort. This makes Buddhism the most legalistic religion in the world–it’s not even about being more good than bad, like many other legalistic religions, but about absolute perfection in word, thought, deed and motivation. A single slip leaves you stuck in a cycle of rebirth, facing suffering again and again.

3. WHY CHRISTIANITY IS BETTER

Unlike Buddhism, which sees suffering as an illusion born of personal craving, Christianity acknowledges suffering as a real problem rooted in a fallen world, not just in our internal life. The Bible teaches that God created everything good, but mankind’s sin—breaking God’s law—damaged the world, bringing pain, death, and brokenness (Genesis 3:16-19). Whether it’s a mother grieving a lost child or a family destroyed by injustice, these aren’t just illusions in the mind. They’re tangible, real consequences of creation groaning under the weight of sin (Romans 8:22) and of the sins of others. The reason we feel that there is something wrong with the world is because there is. God didn’t create the world to be like this, and that’s something Christianity faces this reality head-on.

Furthermore, Buddhism’s call to detach from all desires, including love for family and friends, also falls short of what God intends. Christianity views people as made in the image of God and therefore of incalculable value. In particular, the Bible calls us to love friends and family with unique love, and celebrates this love as a gift from God even when it brings pain. Jesus Himself loved in a way that caused Him pain, weeping for His friend Lazarus (John 11:35) and sacrificing Himself for us (John 15:13). Instead of urging us to abandon love to avoid suffering, Christianity teaches that love is worth the cost.

Additionally, the Buddhist goal of a state of non-existence in nirvana offers no real hope compared to Christianity’s promise of eternal life. Unlike Buddhism’s concept of dissolving into nothingness, Christianity says you are uniquely created, known, and loved by God (Psalm 139:13-14). Heaven isn’t an escape from self but a place where you not only remain you, but you become even more you: fully alive, worshipping God with others in a world free of pain as God designed you to be (Revelation 21:4). Imagine a future where you’re reunited with loved ones, your personality shines, and every joy is amplified in God’s presence.

Fourthly, Buddhism’s reliance on self-effort through the Eightfold Path places an impossible burden on you. One wrong thought or action can trap you in endless cycles of rebirth. Christianity, however, offers grace—God’s unearned goodness. The standard is still perfection, but the good news is that Jesus already achieved that standard for you. He lived the perfect life you could not, His perfect death on the cross paid for your sins in full, and His resurrection guarantees victory over suffering and death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). We enter this eternal life not by our good deeds, but by His.

Finally, while Christianity addresses the problem of pain and suffering, it doesn’t make escaping pain the sole purpose of life. If you think about it, living life only in a way that limits the amount of suffering you experience is deeply selfish. Everything is motivated by yourself and nothing more. Christianity, on the other hand says that we are created with a purpose in our lives here on earth, are called to glorify God and love others. It calls us to look not into ourselves constantly, but upwards and outwards, to Him and to the world, and to seek to do great things, advancing God’s mission on the world. That can, in fact, mean a life where we might suffer more than if we just lived for ourselves. But it is also a life where our suffering has an eternal, glorious purpose, and in which we will be richly rewarded in heaven for any pain we endure out of love for God and others (2 Corinthians 4:17).

This is a better view of suffering–and more than that, it’s absolutely true.