The chief virtues in Christianity are Faith, Hope and Charity. Buddhism has some parallel with Faith in the virtue of Saddha (Shraddha - Sanskrit), which means 'placing the heart on' and indicates the aspiration to tread the spiritual path. Charity is also present in Buddhism in the virtue of Chaga or Dana, which means generosity and letting go of attachment to things.
But there is no such virtue as hope in Buddhism. This is because the Buddhist vision of reality is based on the law of conditioned co-production. What this means, simply put, is that everything in existence arises in dependence on conditions. When this is applied to the spiritual path it means that if the conditions are in place then the progress will naturally follow and there is no need for hope.
Applying this to the moral life of the individual, it becomes the law of karma, which states that all actions have consequences; skilful (kusala) actions have beneficial consequences and unskilful (akusala) actions have the opposite effect. Skilful refers to the states of mind of love, generosity and wisdom. Actions are of body, speech and mind. So when we act, or communicate or think with a mind that is free from hatred, greed, and spiritual ignorance we will experience positive consequences. This law of karma means that if we make the effort to be skilful in our thoughts, expression and actions then our spiritual progress is guaranteed and we have no need of hope. So there is no hope for Buddhists!
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