[Liao-Fan]: Since Master Jung Feng disagreed with all of their views on good and evil, they decided to ask the Master himself. They questioned: [Scholar 1]: So what is really considered good, and what is really considered evil? [Liao-Fan]: Master Jung Feng told them: [Master J.F. ]: To do things with the intention of bringing benefit to others is good, to do things for the sake of oneself is evil. If what you do is for the sake of benefiting another, then it does not matter if you yell at or beat him, that is still considered good. If your intention is for self-benefit, then regardless of your appearance of respect and courtesy, it is still considered evil. Therefore, when one practices kind deeds with the sole intention of benefiting others, this is considered as benefiting the public, and if it's public, then it is real goodness. If you only think for yourself while doing kind acts, then that is considered private benefit, and that, is false goodness. When kindness springs from within the heart, it is real goodness. When one does good just for the sake of doing a good deed, then it is false. Also, when one does good without expecting anything in return, it is considered real goodness. When one practices kind deeds for some other purpose than to benefit others, it is false. These differences should all be scrutinized by those who wish to practice true kindness.
[Liao-Fan]: What is honest goodness and crooked goodness? People nowadays often look upon a conservative and nice person as a good and kind person. However, the ancient sages and saints have shown that they prefer those who are courageous and hold high goals for themselves.
[Narrator]: This is because those with courage and high goals are easier to teach and guide, and will someday reach accomplishment in life, while those who are overly careful and conservative will never amount to anything.
[Liao-Fan]: As for those who appear to be conservative and careful in their everyday actions, they may be liked by all, but because of their weak personality, they easily go along with everything, unable to think for themselves. Sages often speak of them as thieves of virtue. From this we can see that the viewpoint of common folk greatly differs from that of the saints and sages.
[Narrator]: What common people may view as goodness, the saint in fact proclaims to be evil. What appears to be evil to the common people, the saint perceives as true kindness.
[Liao-Fan]: This applies to other matters as well. Heaven, earth, gods and spirits all look upon good and evil from the same viewpoint as the sages. The kind man finds himself rewarded for his kind deeds, and the wicked man suffers for his evil-doings. Whatever the sages perceive as right, they too see the same way. They do not view things from the same perspective as do commoners. Therefore, those who wish to accumulate merit must not be deceived and affected by the sights and sounds of the world, and should practice with a true and humble heart, not for the purpose of pleasing others and acquiring respect. One must protect one's heart from deviant and impure thoughts. [Narrator]: Honest goodness comes from the thought to help all others, and crooked goodness arises from the thought of greed in wishing only to please people. In harboring love for others, this is being honest, and in harboring thoughts of hatred and jealousy, this is being crooked. Honest goodness is when one is respectful, and crookedness is when one acts without sincerity.
[Liao-Fan]: These should all be carefully differentiated.
[Liao-Fan]: What is hidden goodness and visible goodness?
[Narrator]: When one does something good and people know about it, it is called visible goodness. When one does something good and no one knows about it, it is called hidden virtue.
[Liao-Fan]: Those with hidden virtues will naturally be known by the heavens and will be rewarded. Those who practice visible goodness are known by people, and they enjoy fame. Fame itself is a fortune, but fame is not favored by heaven and earth, for heaven and earth do not like those who seek fame. We can see that those who have great fame but lack the virtues supporting it will eventually encounter some kind of unthinkable adversity. A person who truly has not done any wrong but continues to be falsely accused by others will have descendants who will suddenly become prosperous and successful. From this, we can see how important it is to know the minute differences between hidden and visible goodness. We cannot afford to mistake them!
[Liao-Fan]: In performing good deeds, there is also what seems to be goodness but is actually not, and what does not appear to be goodness but actually is. For example, in the Spring-Autumn Period, there was a country named Lu. Because there were other countries which took their citizens as slaves or servants, the country of Lu made a law which rewarded those who paid the ransom to regain the freedom of their fellow citizens. At that time, Confucius had a very rich student named Dz-gong. Although Dz-gong paid for the ransom to free his people, he did not accept the reward for doing such a deed. He did it out of good intention, seeking only to help others and not for the reward money. But when Confucius heard this, he was very unhappy and scolded him saying: [Confucius]: You acted wrongly in this matter. When saints and sages undertake anything, they strive to improve the social demeanor, teaching the common folk to be good and decent people. One should not do something just because one feels like it. In the country of Lu, the poor outnumber the wealthy. By refusing the reward, you lead others to think that accepting the reward money is being greedy, thus, all the poor people and others who do not wish to appear greedy will hesitate to pay for ransom in the future. Only very rich people will have a chance to practice this deed. If this happens, no one will pay the ransom to free our people again.
[Liao-Fan]: Another student of Confucius, Dz-lu, once saw a man drowning in the river, and went forth to rescue him. Later, the man thanked him by giving him a cow as a token of gratitude. Dz-lu accepted his gift. Confucius was happy when he heard this, and said: [Confucius]: In the future, people will be willing and eager to help those who are drowning in deep waters or lakes. [Liao-Fan]: If we look from the view of common people, Dz-gong, who did not accept the reward money, was good; and Dz-lu, who accepted the cow was not as good. Who would have known that Confucius praised Dz-lu instead and scolded Dz-gong? From this we can see that those who practice kind deeds must not only look at the present outcome, but should also consider the act's effect in the long run. One should not only consider one's own gain and loss, but should look to see the impact made on the public. What we do right now may be good, but with passing years it may inflict harm upon others. Therefore, what seems like goodness may in fact be the opposite, and what appears to be the opposite of goodness, may someday turn out to be goodness done after all.
[Liao-Fan]: There are other examples of what appears to be goodness but actually is not. For example: [Narrator]: There are many things that people ought to do, but sometimes these things prove to be better left undone. Forgiveness is a virtue, but it cannot be used without reason and wisdom. If we easily forgive and release a criminal when he has not repented and reformed, we may be letting loose a threat to society, causing more harm than good. In this case, forgiveness would be improper, and the man would be best left in his cell.
[Liao-Fan]: Everyone ought to have manners, but they should be carried out with good measure. Overdoing your courtesy to others can result in making them proud and arrogant. In this case, it would not be a good thing. Keeping to one's word is a virtue, but if one causes bigger trouble through keeping a small promise, then that would be considered improper also. Being loving and compassionate is a wonderful trait, but if compassion is carried out by allowing anything to be done, then the spoiled person would be daring and unrestrained, causing greater harm and trouble in the future. This would be most unmerciful. These are all examples of what appears to be goodness but actually is not, and should be thoroughly contemplated.
[Liao-Fan]: What is improper goodness and proper goodness? In the Ming Dynasty, there once was a prime minister named Wen-yi Lyu, who was a just and lawful man. When he grew old, he retired to his hometown where he was loved and respected by all the people. Once, a drunken villager went to his home and proceeded to insult him. Mr. Lyu was not angered by his words but instead told his servant: [Mr. Lyu]: This man is drunk; let's not give him a hard time. [Liao-Fan]: With this, he closed the door and ignored the onslaught of insults. A year later, the same man committed a grave crime and was sent to jail with the death sentence. Upon hearing this, Mr. Lyu said with great remorse: [Mr. Lyu]: If I had taken him to the authorities for punishment that day when he came to insult me, perhaps this would not have happened. A little discipline then could have prevented the great harm done now, and might have saved him from certain death. At that time, I was only thinking of being kind, and unknowingly nurtured a daring and outrageous character. Since nothing came from his deed of insulting a prime minister, he grew bold and went on committing the crimes which later brought him the death penalty.
[Liao-Fan]: This is an example of doing something bad while having good intentions.
[Liao-Fan]: There is also an example of those who did good when they in fact intended otherwise. Once, a famine ravished the land, and people stole food from others in broad daylight. A rich family reported their stolen losses from the marketplace to the authorities, but the government did not want to get involved, and did nothing to stop the people. Eventually, the people grew more daring and chaos was imminent. So, the rich family took the law into their own hands and proceeded to catch and punish those who stole from them. In this way, peace returned to the land and the people stole no more from one another. It was with selfish intentions that the rich family acted, but the result of their deeds actually did everyone a great benefit. Therefore, we all know that goodness is proper, and evil is improper; but remember that there are cases where deeds done out of good intention resulted in evil, and deeds done with evil intentions resulted in good.
[Narrator]: This is saying that although the intention was proper, it resulted in the improper, and can only be said as the 'improper within the proper'. However, there is also the case when the improper was intended but resulted in the proper. This is called the 'proper within the improper'. [Liao-Fan]: Everyone ought to know and understand this.
[Liao-Fan]: What is half goodness and full goodness? In the I Ching, Book of Change it is said: [Narrator]: When a person does not accumulate kind deeds, he or she will not attain good fortune. When one does not accumulate evil deeds, he or she will not bring about great adversity.
[Liao-Fan]: The accumulation of kind and evil deeds greatly determines our future. If we are diligent in doing kind deeds, it is like collecting things in a container, and with diligence, it will soon be full, and we will have our reward of good fortune. If we are eager in the accumulation of evil deeds and gather that with great diligence, then the container of evil will soon be full and disasters will surely befall. If we are somewhat lazy in our collecting, either in kindness or evil, then the container will be left half filled, and neither good fortune nor adversity will come swiftly. This is one explanation of half goodness and full goodness.
[Liao-Fan]: Once there was a poor lady who went to visit a Buddhist temple, and wished to make a donation. However, she was so poor that she had only two cents, so she gave these to a monk. To her surprise, the temple's abbot himself came forth to help her repent for past offenses and dedicate her merits in front of the Buddha. Later on, the same lady was chosen to enter the imperial palace and became a concubine to the emperor. Clad in her riches, the lady once again went to the temple to donate, this time bringing thousands of silver pieces to give. To her dismay, the abbot only sent his disciple to help her dedicate her merits. The lady did not understand, and so questioned the abbot: [Lady]: In the past, I only gave two cents in donation, and the Abbot personally helped me repent; today I come with great wealth to give, and the Abbot will not help me perform my dedication, why is it so? [Liao-Fan]: The abbot answered her saying: [Abbot]: Though the money you gave in the past was scant, it came from a true and sincere heart, and it was necessary for me to repay your sincerity by personally performing your dedications. Today, although your donation is manifolds more, the heart of giving is not quite as true and sincere as before. Therefore, it is fitting and enough that my disciple perform your dedications for you.
[Liao-Fan]: This is the example of how thousands of silver pieces are only considered as half goodness, and two cents as full.
[Liao-Fan]: Another example is of Li Jung, an immortal of the Han Dynasty. He was teaching his student, Dong-bing Lyu, the art of transforming steel into gold. They would use this gold to help the poor. Dong-bing asked his teacher: [Dong-bing]: Will the gold ever change back to steel again? [Liao-Fan]: Li Jung answered him saying: [Li Jung]: After five hundred years, it will return to its original form. [Liao-Fan]: Dong-bing then said: [Mr. Lyu]: In this case, I don't want to learn this art, it will harm those who possess the gold five hundred years from now. [Liao-Fan]: In actuality, Li Jung was only testing the goodness of his student's heart, and happy with the results, he said: [Li Jung]: To become an immortal, one must complete three thousand virtuous deeds. What you have just said came from a truly kind heart: your three thousand deeds are fulfilled!
[Liao-Fan]: This was another example of half goodness and whole goodness.
[Liao-Fan]: When we perform a kind deed, it is best if we can do it out of our innermost sincerity, not seeking rewards or noting in our minds how much we have done. If we practice thus, then all our good deeds will reach fulfillment and success. If, instead, we always think of the deeds we have performed, looking for a reward of some kind, then no matter how diligently we practice in an entire lifetime, the deeds will still be considered as half goodness.
[Narrator]: For example, when we donate money to the poor, we can practice what is called 'pure donation'. In this type of giving, we do not linger on the thought of 'I', who is giving; or dwell on the importance of the object I am giving away; or think of who the receiver is. We are simply giving, and it is out of true sincerity and respect. When we give with 'pure donation', then one dou of rice can bring boundless fortune, and the merit from giving one cent can wipe away the sins from a thousand kalpas. [Liao-Fan]: If we always keep in mind the good we have done, and expect rewards for our actions, then even a donation of two hundred thousand gold pieces would still not bear us the reward of a fully good fortune. This is another way of explaining half goodness and full goodness.
