hasunoha

Do good things

This is my first question. Thank you to the monks who read it. And thank you for your support.

I want to be someone who helps people. If you're a human, it might be natural, but I think that's how I live my life.

The above content alone seems like a good thing, but it inevitably bothers me.

For example, when helping an elderly person who seems to have trouble carrying heavy luggage, it's not pure kindness that “I wanted to do something good,” and in a sense, I can't help but feel like I'm doing it out of desire.

The nuance changes slightly, but I feel that it is a means for “appealing to honors students” or for making people think “I am a kind person” in my heart.

Is it possible to do “good things” with pure feelings? If you can't do it, how can you do “good things” without feeling this guilt?

6 Zen Responses

for myself

I worry because I'm trying to do something good.

When you do something good, you're always doing it for yourself.

It's not for people.

Seeing the other person's smile and seeing them happy makes me feel happy.
So I want to do good things.

I would be happy if it were me.
I would be happy if they did this to me.

If you want to see someone's happy face, do it for yourself, not for them.

What you do for yourself is, as a result, good for your partner.

Aren't you happy then?

Get rid of your own and others' depths

The mentality of the saints, such as Buddha, Fathers, and Christ, is not about thinking “let's do good things” or “Yes, let's volunteer.”
Self-consciousness (opinion, ego) is destroyed by meditation, meditation, and prayer, and since it is a state of mind contained, we are naturally able to do our best without being separated by others, without anything in return, and without conditions.
It's different from service or so-called altruism, isn't it?
Selfishness ⇔ Ego (the spirit of acknowledging oneself in a fixed manner)
When humans acknowledge their ego excessively, their ego and self-centered mind grow steadily, and they become ❝ bad ❞ human nature where they can only think about their own convenience, which has been symbolized by being called Gaki, Mala, Devil, Satan, etc. in various religions since ancient times.
Such a state of mind can be called Shura, Gaki, Beast, Hell.
People possessed by it are competing in the real world, causing wars, massacres, and crimes.
Meditation, zazen, and buddhism stop these ego increases.
Furthermore, there is an explanation of a deep state of meditation (Yukifuka Hannya Haramita) until the fire of the ego is destroyed, and the boundary between oneself and partner disappears, and it becomes a state of “unthinking” and “mental and physical decline.”
I realized that Dogen had dropped out of body and mind (originally attaining Buddhism) from the beginning.
Being aware of this state of affairs is enlightenment.
Enlightenment is the moment you switch from a thought mind to a factual mind, so after that, you reach a state of “unthinking” and “nirvana” where you leave your thoughts and thoughts.
What is acted upon from there is natural human mercy.
Mercy means being able to reach out naturally even when the other person is in trouble.
There is a time when everyone doesn't think of their mind and body as “themselves” at least once, right?
Self forgetting, selfless, and self-assertive self; self who destroyed my own rules.
It's not “me for me,” but “something I don't even know is right away.”
Why do people feel pain even when people are unhappy?
Why do people who have nothing to do with the movie or themselves cry and rejoice when they kick a ball into a huge basket or fly the ball far away with a stick? (↑ meaning football/baseball)
They are proof of a person's selflessness.
From now on, try to casually do something that would be helpful to your partner without any reason or conversation. I think everything will connect.

I'll do it if asked

Right after the Buddha realized it, he had no intention of saving people.
I intended to live my life alone and quietly.
However, I was asked by a god called Bonten to teach people.
Then, many people relied on me more and more, saying, “Please tell me too” and “Please make me your disciple.”
The great thing about Buddha is that when asked to do it easily. There's no such thing as “bothersome.”
If someone else asks you to do it, you can just take it lightly.
If your parents tell you to “study,” you can easily take on your studies by saying “yes yes, OK.”
Also, others usually only make requests that match your abilities, so it's safe.

I don't need calculations to impress people

Things that have been calculated to make people think this way aren't true, so it feels flimsy.

At first glance, planning a surprise to want the other person to think like this also seems wonderful, but if the calculation is hidden there, it becomes cheap all at once, and the sense of truth fades.

The performance of an acting person who wants to impress people, makes calculations, and is intoxicated by themselves, does not impress people.

That's why I was moved by the results that were taken for granted naturally. It probably means that it gave joy.

Just think about the other person and do it. It is the opponent's decision whether it's good or not.

Nice to meet you. My name is Kameyama Junshi. My response is as follows.

Whether an act you have committed is a good thing or a bad thing is not decided by you; it is up to the person who received the act to decide. There is a saying, “small kindness, big care.” Even if you think you've done something kind yourself, it can be a very annoying act for your partner.
Also, even if you think you've done something good, if your partner doesn't appreciate you, they say, “I'm doing this much, so it would be fine to say thank you. That person has no common sense.” Doesn't that feeling arise? And if you're doing something good and this kind of feeling arises, was that act really a good thing? It also seems like you're simply testing the other person's reaction.
With that in mind, after all, whether an act you have committed is a good thing or a bad thing, not for you to decide, but for the person who received that act to decide. Therefore, if I take this answer from me as an example, it is not for me to judge whether this answer was a “good” answer; it is for the people who read this answer to decide.

The bottom line is, you just think about the other person and do it. The other party decides whether that's a good thing or not. From myself, “I did a good thing.” If you think about it, I don't think it's an act from pure feelings. An act from a pure feeling is “I did a good thing.” I don't think so.

Do for yourself what you don't know “might” benefit others.

Nice to meet you, my name is Ryoga Taiki (Yoshikawa Taiki).
Thank you for posting your concerns to hasunoha.

As the title says.

Humans are originally
They are disgraceful, pathetic, and unavoidable creatures.
That's why
I think they will polish their own heart and grow by being kind to others and being a wonderful person.

Appetite, which people have from birth, is different from the ability to live, such as the desire to sleep, and instincts,

kindness, kindness... We are not born with a so-called “conscience.”
“Conscience” goes hand in hand with human growth, and it must be nurtured.

Of course, that nurtured “conscience”
It's easy to be misunderstood or thought to be hypocritical because it changes shape from person to person
There are also failures, such as someone getting hurt or angry as a result of action.

However, there are always people who will be happy no matter what they do.

The old man who brought the luggage
No matter what this side was thinking, didn't they seem happy?

“There is an old man with heavy luggage!” Link's heart at the moment he was moved definitely comes from his conscience, and even though he thinks it might be hypocritical after that... his partner is delighted.

“I thought maybe it would benefit this person, and when I acted, it was also for myself.”

I want to be a kind person, I want to be a good person,
I think that method is fine as the reason for the first action.

By all means, even from today's day,
Be honest with your own heart, have confidence, and act in a way that helps people,
Please spend your time developing your own “conscience” no matter what people say to you.

Have a nice day with a smile.

I'm sorry for taking so long.
Thank you for reading.

Ryoga Taiki