A Comparative Study on Suffering in Augustine and Asvaghosa Through Gate Control Theory

By pointing out free will Augustine attempts to lay the responsibility of suffering on humanity since free will represents human subjectivity. It is one of the most logical answers that Augustine could infer from Christian doctrines. Augustine could not inquire into a deeper origin of human free will’s wrong decision because of the basic doctrine: God is good and almighty. Although Awakening of Faith in Mahayana (AFM) refers to human free will in finite Enlightenment AFM focuses more on the origin of free will’s wrong choice of attachment. It is basic Nonenlightenment. Free will is already a perverted form of One Mind since it arises from basic Nonenlightenment. Thus AFM cannot but inquire into a deeper origin of free will. However, AFM also describes a dilemma between One Mind and basic-Nonenlightenment. Basic-Nonenlightenment is the origin of suffering, but AFM does not answer the origin of basic-Nonenlightenment.