Happy Chinese New Year

Finally this dreadful year of mine has arrived.... Few years back i already knew that this particular 2009 year will be very bad for me but luckily its just only one year! No matter where i went, those monks and priests will tell me about this year. So guess it must be something quite serious. Anyway i will just lead my life as normal and take things as it comes. When things happened, it must happen for a reason. It must be due to my own mistakes and faults in the past so i should be responsible for my own actions.

Anyway today i'm going to share with you guys the difference between goodness. In accumulating merits, there are differences between genuine and fake goodness, upright and crooked goodness, hidden and visible goodness, goodness which brings on negative effects, one sided and proper goodness, half and full goodness, big and small goodness, difficult and easy goodness. So we must have a thorough understanding of these different types of goodness before we can really cultivate goodness correctly. At times, we may think that we are practising good deeds but actually we are creating bad karma and wasting our effort.. Haha.. You didn't know that there are so many types right? Let me explain them now... ^_^

For example, we often hear people say, "So and so has practised good deeds but his descendants are not prosperous. So and so has created all bad deeds but his descendants flourish and are very wealthy." So, they regard the common saying, which stated that, "Rewards and retributions will follow one just like the shadow which follows the body" as nonsense.

In fact, these are the confused ones who cannot differentiate between true and false goodness and evil as they do not understand the genuine principle and hold on to wrong concepts. So, we should disregard the teaching of rewards and retribution in the working of cause and effect and treat it as some misleading talks to deceive people.

Let us take a look at genuine and fake goodness. Most people regard hitting people, scolding people and being greedy for wealth as bad. They say that we must be respectful and courteous to people and conduct ourselves with integrity. But such conduct is not necessary good or bad.

We must go further to investigate the motives and aims before we can come to a conclusion to differentiate the bad conduct from the good one. In other words, "As long as we wish to benefit other, then hitting and scolding people are considered as good. If we wish to pursure self benefit, the even respecting and being courteous to others are considered as evil."

In dealing with people in the world, if we can truly benefit others, this is genuine goodness. But if we only pursue self benefit, this is fake goodness. To help poeple with a kind heart is genuine goodness while showing off to other is fake goodness. To practise good deeds without demanding personal gain is genuine goodness while to plan and scheme for self benefit by doing good deeds is known as fake goodness.

Then what is it meant by upright goodness and crooked goodness? Most people say that a good man is one who is cautious and easy going. But sages believe that a good man is one who is brave to shoulder responsibilities, who is diffferent from commoners as he is bold, unpretentious and natural in temperament.

Very often, a man who is overly cautious, weak in nature is considered a good man. But such man is often weak and unsteady as he is easily influenced by others. He lacks the strong sense of will power, morality, righteousness and courage. Thus, from this point of view, we can see that there are many confused and nonsensical phenomena in the world. Overall, the spirits and ghosts between the Heaven and Earth hold the same view as the sages. They are different in point of views from the worldly people.

The difference between hidden virtues and visible goodness. Visible goodness refers to good deeds which are known by others while hidden virtues refer to good deeds which are not known by others. Visible goodness will bring us fame and praise while people who cultivate hidden virtues will greatly be blessed by the Heavens.

When the fame enjoyed by a man is more than his true worth, disaster will follow as fame is not a form of blessing. It should be avoided. Many famous people do not live up to their reputation because they have not accumulated enough merits and virtues. That is why, we often see unforeseen calamities befall upon their families.

So the ancients advised us, "We should not aim to have fame which surpasses our true worth. We must be humble always and maintain a low profile. A humble man is praised by sages." If a man, who has not committed any evil, were accused by others and could endure it, he must be a greatly virtuous man with lofty cultivation. His sons and descendants will often be wealthy and be highly respected by others.

So we must further investigate the statement of the commoners that evil people are often prosperous. On the whole, the difference between visible goodness and hidden virtues, is that the former is clearly seen by others while the latter is not known by others.

What is meant by cultivating goodness which has a negative effect? For example, according to the law in the state of Lu, a man who could pay a ransom in exchange for the captives held by the neighbouring country, would be rewarded by the government as an encouragement.

Zi gong, a student of Confucius did not take the reward after paying the ransom. Upon hearing that, Confucius reprimanded him, "You are wrong! The conduct of a virtuous man is able to bring about a change towards goodness on the culture and way of life of the multitude. He is a model for everyone. How could you act in accord with your temperament and just to get some false reputation?"

"In the state of Lu, we have very few rich people as most of them are very poor. You have shown them a bad example! Next time who will be willing to pay a ransom for the release of captives? People would be ashamed of themselves if they were to take the rewards! The tradition to exchange a captive with a ransom will gradually disappear."

Here is another example. Once Zi Lu who had saved a drowning man, accepted a cow as a token of gratitude from his master. On hearing that, Confucius commented,"In the future, Lu's citizens will surely be glad to help drowning people." This is because one is willing to save while another man is willing to show gratitude. Such conduct will gradually develop into a common practice in the society.

From the above two examples, most commoners would say that Zi Gong was a man of integrity as he was not greedy for the reward, while Zi Lu was wrong in accepting the cow as a reward. But Confucius looked at them from a different point of view. From here, we can come to a conclusion: Do not judge a man from his conduct, we must also consider the effect of such conduct on the society. Do not judge his present conduct, we must study the outcome of such behaviour. We should not judge a man from this gain or less. Instead we must see his impact on the multitude.

If the present conduct seems to be good but has a negative effect on others, it is goodness which only appears to be good but is not truly so. If his present conduct doesn't not appear to be good but can benefit others, it is the actual goodness which has a negative appearance.

Here are other examples. We must not be too lenient and forgive those who could only change their conduct by punishing them. We must truly teach them a good lesson. We must not over praise a man until he loses his senses. We should not for the sake of keeping a minor promises and bring on a greater disaster.

We must not spoil a child and face more trouble later. In fact, there are many more examples. We should calm down and investigate so as to change for the better. Or else it will benefit the saying of the commoners who after witnessing some bad examples, say that those who are kind hearted are struck to death by lightning.

What is meant by improper goodness and proper goodness? For example, once there was a Prime Minister Lu Wen Yi who after his retirement went back to his hometown. The villagers still honoured him. They had a high regard for him just as if he was the Tai Mountain.

One day a drunken villager gave him a good scolding but Mr Lu just kept quiet as he thought those were words of a drunkard. In the following year, the man's conduct deteriorated as he changed from bad to worse. Finally he was sentenced to death after committing a grave offence.

Mr Lu felt extremely regretful. He said, "Earlier on, if i had taken action against his bad conduct by sending him to the court, he would at least have learnt a lesson. Maybe he would not dared to commit such a severe offence which he had done now. "I was wrong in being too lenient with him. I was afraid that people would say that i was using my power to oppress others. And now, i have truly harmed him!" This is an example on how a kind hearted man has committed evil by being too good.

Here is another example of how a man has practised good deeds by being unkind. Once there was a famine and the hungry victims became so violent that they even robbed from others in broad daylight. A rich man reported to the government but no action was taken. And so the people's discipline became worse as they continued to rob without a care in their mind. The wealthy man was forced to punish the rioters and finally, he managed to restore peace in the village.

Most people know that it is proper to do good deeds and improper to commit evil deeds. But we must also understand another point that is if a man were to act with a kind heart but the outcome is bad, it is known as improper goodness. If a man were to act with a unkind mind but the outcome is good, it is then known as the proper goodness.

Morever what is meant by half goodness and full goodness? In Yi Jing(The Book of Change), it was thus stated, "A man who has not accumulated enough goodness will not become famous while a man who has not committed enough evil will not have to face destuction." Just like keeping things in a container, if we are diligent in gathering them, it will soon be full. But if we are lazy and heedless, it will not be full.

For example, formerly there was a woman who went to the pray at a temple. She wished to donate some money to the temple but she could only afford to give two cents as she came from a poor family. The Abbot will come out personally to bless her by reciting the Sutra and bowing in repentance on her behalf. Later when the woman became an honourable lady in the palace and brought a few thousand pieces of gold to donate to the temple. However the Abbot only asked his disciple to recite the Sutra for her on that occasion.

So she asked,"Formerly, i only donated two cents and you came personally to bless me. Today i have donated a few thousand pieces of gold, why didnt you offer your services?" The Abbot answered," Formerly even though the donation was small, you were very sincere. If i did not come to bless you personally, it would have been difficult to repay your kindness. Today your donation is quite alot but you are not as sincere as previously. Therefore, it is good enough to ask someone else to bless you." Taking this as an example, the donation of thousands of gold peices is half goodness and donation of two cents is full goodness.

There was an immortal Zhong Li, who wanted to teach Lu Dong Bin the magical art of transforming iron into gold so as to benefit the world. Mr Lu asked,"Will this type of gold return to its original form?"The immortal Zhong Li replied,"Yes! After five hundred years, it will change back to its iron form." Mr Lu said,"Then isn't it harmful act to the people after five hundred years? This type of magical isn't worth learning."

The immortal Zhong Li answered,"A man who wishes to practise the path of Immortality must first accumulate three thousand merits and virtues. You have fully accumulated the merits and virtues in your speech just now. You are qualified to practise the Immortal Path." That is why we must practise good deeds sincerely and naturally. We should not even keep it in our mind after we have done it. By doing so, even a small goodness will reap abundant merits and blessings but if we were to do goodness with a purpose or hope for a reward, it is still considered half goodness even if we have practised it our whole lives.

For example in donating money to help others, we must give as if not giving. We should not even feel that we are helping others or someone is getting the help. Then one will not be attached to the money, oneself and others. This is the state of a pure mind. Thus even with the donation of one cent, it can eradicate thousands of kalpas of offences. Even a decalitre of rice will reap abundant blessings. But if after giving, we are always thinking of the good deed or hoping to get a reward, or our mind undergoes agony in parting with it. These are only half goodness even if we have given tens of thousands of gold pieces.

In addition, there are great of small goodness, difficult and easy goodness. In the past, there was a man whose name was Wei Zhong Da. He was a government officer. Once his spirit left his body and was brought to the Dark Realm. The King Yama asked his follower to present him the record of good and evil deeds. He saw that the record of evil deeds have fully covered the whole courtyard while there were only a few pieces of good records.

King Yama asked his follower to weigh the good and bad deeds. It was found that the record of bad deeds weighed lighter than the good ones. Mr Wei was very surprised and enquired,"I am only twenty years old. How come there are so many pieces of bad record?" King Yama answered,"It is not necessary to commit an offence. Just by giving rise to an evil thought is an offence itself."

He asked again,"Why does the good record weigh heavier than the bad one?" KIng Yama answered,"The government often carried out big projects of construction. When the bridge in Shan Zhi was being repaired, you had sent in your suggestion. Mr Wei said,"Yes, i did hand in the proposal but it was not accepted. So how could it be so heavy?" King Yama answered,"Although the government did not accept your proposal, it was your kind thought to benefit the people that counted. If the government were to accept it, your merit would have been even greater."

From here we can see that if we wish to benefit millions of people in the world, a small goodness will reap abundant merits and virtues. But if we only think of our benefit or to benefit only one man, a great amount of giving only brings little merits and virtues. And talking about diffcult and easy goodness, it is like nurturing and restraining one's conduct. We must first study our faults and try to subdue the worst of evil habits. If we could do so, other minor faults would naturally be subdued.

For example in Jiang Xi, there was a teacher, Mr Shu, who used up the savings of his two years' salary to pay the fine of an offender so that the latter could reunite with his wife. In He Nan, Mr Zhang took out his ten years' savings to pay the debts of a debtor so as to save the latter's wife and daughter. Mr Zhang, an old man in Zhen Jiang, was without a son. Despite this, he could not bear to marry a young girl as his wife. The above are examples of good men who could give up all they had to help people who were kind and considerate and who only thought of others' benefit. These are difficult goodness as they are able to do what others cannot do, tolerate what others cannot tolerate.

The difficult goodness is genuine goodness. They will surely receive abundant blessings from the Heavens. People who are poor and without status find it very diffuclt to help others. But if they could try to practise goodness while facing all adversities then this is most invaluable. They will reap greater blessings. It is easy for the rich and powerful people to practise goodness and accumulate virtues. But if they do not care to do so, they are just being heedless by giving themselves up. As the common saying goes,"To be rich and yet unkind is not much different from a fat pig!"


Think of the last time you were happy...

Think of the last time you were angry...

Which will you choose the next time?