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Has God Betrayed You? There is Still Hope!

February 19, 2021

The hopes and wishes we have are usually pretty shallow. We usually wish for what we want, something convenient for us. But maybe God/Buddha’s love is not so straightforward.

It’s like when we were children and our parents made us eat broccoli, carrots, green peppers, etc. — vegetables or something that we didn’t want to eat. We’d rather eat chocolate, chips, and cake. They gave us the food we didn’t want but that was good for us.

When we wanted a toy or something, we might have asked our grandparents. They usually tended to spoil us. But if parents think and care for the future of their kids, they’ll give kids something to make them grow.

And God/Buddha does the same.

We aren’t often given just what we want, what we wish or hope for. And sometimes it seems as though our wishes have been betrayed. But actually, this is training that will grow our hope.

Erich Fromm said in his book “The Revolution of Hope”:

“Hope is paradoxical. It is neither passive waiting nor is it unrealistic forcing of circumstances that cannot occur … .
To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime.
There is no sense in hoping for that which already exists or for that which cannot be.
Those whose hope is weak settle down for comfort or for violence; those whose hope is strong see and cherish all signs of new life and are ready every moment to help the birth of that which is ready to be born.”

And these are Jesus’s words:

“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Matthew 11:6

What Jesus meant was that people project their expectations onto him, then when they find that was an illusion, then that will make them feel they got hurt when their expectations aren’t realized and they’ll think their wish was betrayed.

People think about Jesus, who is the savior, a powerful prophet, leader, and teacher, who came to save the people of Israel as the Messiah.

People expect him to perform miracles. People project their wishes and hope onto him. But these are the people who will “stumble on account of him.”

Apostle Peter, who led Jesus’s disciples, also stumbled on account of Jesus.

The famous “Denial of Peter.”

Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.” But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” Luke 22:33-34This story is interpreted as showing Peter’s weakness, that when Jesus was arrested at the high priest’s house, Peter sneaked into the house, but was found by a servant girl and other people at the house. Three times they said, “I saw him, this man was with him (Jesus),” and Peter denied that three times, as he tried to escape being caught.But maybe he wasn’t so weak. He believed in Jesus so much, as a teacher who spoke strong words and made miracles happen, who had saved him and a lot of other people, Jesus as the savior, the Messiah.But Peter saw Jesus get caught, and Jesus was mocked and blindfolded, and many people were insulting him, hitting him, and asking the question “Hey prophet, tell me who hit you?”And when people said to Peter, “You were with Jesus,” Peter said to them, “I don’t know him.” Maybe he meant “I don’t know that weak person.” My teacher, my master, my leader, my messiah, he shouldn’t be so weak, he should be the greatest. When his wish and hope were destroyed, Peter despaired, and that’s why he denied Jesus. He stumbled on account of Jesus, maybe he said “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”Hope is paradoxical.When Peter’s own wishes and hopes were destroyed, from this despair and the realization of his own misunderstandings and expectations, Christianity began. He realized that he didn’t follow what Jesus taught, he actually chose to believe what he wanted to believe. So, faith starts with the realization of your illusions and expectations. That’s when you can find true faith and hope.The same thing took place in Buddhism with the first of the Four Noble Truths and one of the Three Marks of existence. It is called Duhkha, and is usually translated as suffering (including terms such as anxiety, distress, frustration, unease, unsatisfactoriness, etc.).Buddhism teaches that life is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering. There are all kinds of suffering in human life, but there is a way to overcome suffering and receive enlightenment and the light of wisdom, and this is through the Four Noble Truths.Enlightenment is hidden within suffering. Wishes and hopes are hidden within the suffering. Hope is paradoxical.It’s also the same in the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box. Hope is the last thing left hidden in the box after everything else is gone.And it’s the same with the Flame of Hope. It started from the embers of the Hiroshima atomic bomb that made a massive number of people into charcoal in a single moment. A lot of people suffered after that, and many still suffer to this very day. But the flame that was taken from the embers was turned into a symbol of hope and peace for all human beings: this is the Flame of Hope.It is a very difficult time in the world right now. Everyone is suffering, everyone is struggling with something, feeling as though there is no hope in this world. But because of this difficult time, there is hidden hope.Please listen to the Flame of Hope chant and pray with us. Let’s light Hope in the hearts of all people!