When the Occasion Calls For Doing Good, Do Not Hesitate
 
An ancient saying goes, "To do good, it is necessary to be unremitting and persistent. Big starts from small; millions accrues from one; a nine-story tall tower is built from the ground up; and journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." When there is something benevolent to do, do it right away, do it earnestly, and keep at it.
 
For example, Northern Song Dynasty's Han Qi (1008 – 1075 AD), a person of noble character and high prestige, was always very kind. When he encountered something kind that needed to be done, he always tried his best to do it. When he heard that others were doing charitable deeds, he praised them and spread the news, and told people that he was inferior to them. People asked him why. He responded, "A heart of compassion is most precious. Praising those who do good will encourage them to try harder in the future and inspire others that hear about it. It can also make those who erred to be ashamed and reform themselves. So it is very important to promote doing good deeds." He often read and promoted books of the saints and sages, "These books can guide people to become righteous gentlemen!" Han Qi later became a virtuous prime minister and was appointed the Duke of Wei. He had all the good fortunes in life and his future generations all received appointments to the imperial court until the end of the South Song Dynasty in 1279. Everyone believed that he was rewarded for all the good deeds he had done.
 
Some people evidently see good deeds and refuse to do them, thus missing opportunities. For example, at the end of the Zhou Dynasty, the Duke Huangong of Qi (? – 643 BC) passed the ruins of a clan surnamed Guo. He asked a local elder, "How did Guo's family decline and perish?" The elder replied, "They declined because they did not do good deeds when they encountered them." The duke asked, "How so?" The elder said, "The Guo family liked good deeds, but they did not do any. They detested bad deeds, but they did not refrain from performing them. That's why they weakened and collapsed."
 
Another example is Yao Haowen in the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD). When he served as a county magistrate, he was very prudent and incorruptible. But he did not have a strong will and was easily swayed by others. Once in late spring, it rained for over forty days in a row, and Yao went to each village to survey the damage. He saw that several hundred acres of farmland in West Village were flooded, while the wheat crops in other villages were unscathed. He wanted to declare West Village a disaster area, but the accompanying official said, "Other villages in our county are all doing fine. Although West Village is flooded now, they can plant other crops once the water recedes. If we submit a report as a separate case, people may ask questions and scrutinize it." Yao knew that the official's thoughts were selfish, but he did not want to cause trouble, so he hid the truth and did not report the losses. As a result, West Village was subject to the same amount of taxes as villages that had bumper harvests.
 
Yao once wanted to build schools to provide free schooling for the poor and to build a help center for the needy, but both were rejected by the local officials. He was in his 50s, but he had no child. His mother and wife both were often ill, and the family was quite anxious. One day his mother fainted due to some illness. When she came to, she told Yao, "I met an official in the nether world. He said, 'You are a prudent and incorruptible person and should have been blessed with a child. But every time you encounter a chance to do good deeds and know very well you need to do them, you are often stopped by what others say. Take the flood disaster for example, how could you hide the truth and not report it? Your hiding the truth caused the stricken people to have to sell their sons and daughters to pay the grain taxes. Your sin was enormous and hence your tribulations.' The official also said, 'An ignorant person can be forgiven, because he just does not know any better. Those who know but refuse to do good deeds are the ones loathed by Heaven the most. You can tell your son that if he desires blessings, he needs to work hard at doing good deeds, not be afraid of difficulties, and not be lazy. He cannot think about wanting to do a kind deed initially and then change his mind. If you work hard doing good deeds for a period of time, you can obtain good fortune to offset the sin that you committed when you concealed the truth during the flood disaster.'" Although Yao paid attention to his mother's lecture, he still got confused whenever the service clerks made slanderous remarks, and he repeated his old pattern, unable to snap out of it. In the end he was fired from his position and his family began to deteriorate.
 
If one identify something charitable to do, one needs to go all out and do it. By correcting one's past wrongs, one can offset the losses, eliminate karma, and improve one's fortune. If one keeps procrastinating and does not accept advice, or one cannot truly control oneself, one will create karma. It will be too late for regrets later.
 
见善而为　行善勿怠
 
古语说：“做善事，贵在坚持不懈。取小所以就大，积一所以成亿。九层高的楼台，最初也是开始从累土渐渐累高的；千里之远的行程，最初也是开始从脚下一步一步的走！”知道是善事，就要马上去做，而且还要认真努力的去做，持之以恒。
 
例如北宋的韩琦德高望重，待人仁恕，每见到善事必定努力去做，每逢听到别人行善时，必定嘉许鼓励，到处传颂，并说：“韩琦不如。”有人问他为甚么这样做，韩琦说：“人向善的心最为珍贵。赞颂善行可使行善之人今后更加努力，使其他人闻之也心生向往，使有过之人感到羞愧而改恶迁善，所以扬善是非常重要的。”他还常诵读和传扬圣贤经书，说“这书可以指导人成为正人君子呀！”韩琦后来成为一代贤相并受封魏国公，五福齐全，子孙世代在朝廷为官，一直到南宋末年。人们都说这是积善得到的福报。

而有些人明明看见善事就在眼前却不做，错失了机缘。例如周朝末期时，齐桓公有一次经过郭氏的废墟，就问住在附近的老人说：“郭氏家族是怎样衰败灭亡的？”老人回答说：“是因为郭氏家族见善不为的缘故啊！”齐桓公就问：“怎么见善不为呢？”老人说：“郭氏家族喜欢善事，可他们自己却不能够去做善事；讨厌恶事，而又不能禁止自己不去做恶事，所以才会衰败灭亡啊！”
 
再如明朝的姚好问做邑令时，行为谨慎，做官廉洁。但是耳朵太软，总轻信别人的话。一次晚春时节，连续下了四十多天的雨，姚好问亲自去各乡观察勘问灾情。他看到西乡有几百亩田地被淹，其它乡麦子没受损失，就想申报西乡局部灾害。跟随的吏役却说：“本县各乡平安稳定，这里虽说被水淹没，几天后水退了，仍可补种其它粮食。如果分类别呈报上司，恐怕牵扯到驳难查问。”姚好问明知吏役出于私心，但恐怕惹麻烦，于是隐瞒灾情，没有上报。征收赋税时，受灾的田地与取得丰收的田地一样收税。
 
姚好问又曾经想建造免费学校，修造普济堂，扶危济困，但都被书役阻挡了。而他已过了知天命之年，还没有孩子，母亲、妻子总是生病，一家人非常忧愁。一天，他母亲生病晕了，被救苏醒后对他说：“我见了幽冥的官吏，他说‘你做人廉洁谨慎，本来应当有孩子，但是每当碰上行善的事，明明知道应当去做，却常常被别人的言语所阻挡。比如呈报灾荒这件事，受灾地方难道可以隐瞒不报吗？你隐瞒灾情，以致灾民受到了催逼，卖儿卖女纳完粮赋，罪恶太大了，所以遭到报应。’冥官还说‘愚昧的人由于不明事理，还可以姑且宽容饶恕，只有明知善事不去做的人，存心不求进德的人，这是上天深深厌恶的，可告诉你的儿子想要多福，必须勇于做好事，不怕艰难，不能苟且偷安，不能当初心上如此，转念间又不去做。行善久了自会获得吉祥福份，使匿报灾荒的罪恶可以得以消免。’”姚好问虽然承受了母亲教诲，但是每当文书吏役说谗言，仍被迷惑，最后以至于循环往复，不能振作，官职被免，家道也衰落了。
 
认定是善事，就一定要全力去做。若能够改过向善，也可以弥补损失，消去罪业而增加福报。如果总是迟疑不做，不纳善言，自己不能真正的主宰自己，将会给自己造下罪业，后悔已晚。