Question asked by Wong Lu Yang
Hello pastor, I had this question lingering in my brain for a while and it always comes up every once in a while. So my question is that why can't the Buddhas just enlighten all sentient beings in a snap of a second instead of letting others stay in samsara. The answer I got was that it was our karma to go in samsara so the Buddhas can't help us. Like I'm a skeptical person but I'm really trying to not be as doubtful but this question really got me because the Buddha's compassion cannot be put into words so why can't they just enlighten all beings?
Thank you so much
Dear Wong Lu Yang,
The Buddhas are not all-powerful. The idea that an all-powerful being can help us overcome our own problems and lead us to happiness is not an Eastern concept. It is a Western concept, that comes specifically from monotheistic religions. The Buddhas are compassionate, but they cannot help us within the snap of a second due to our karma.
Tsem Rinpoche has a very good teaching called “What is God? What is Buddha?”, you can watch it here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/what-is-god-what-is-buddha.html I think it will answer many of your questions.