好事，坏事？行善，造恶？这之间该如何区分？
心善的话，做什么都会积功累德
Doing anything with a good heart accrues merit
心善的话，做什么都会积功累德；心恶的话，做什么都会变成恶业。
Doing anything with a good heart accrues merit, whereas harboring a bad intention renders all activities negative.
就像一棵树，它的根若是剧毒，枝叶花果全是剧毒；
If a tree has a poisonous root, its branches, flowers and fruit will all be poisonous.
如果根是妙药，那枝叶花果全是妙药。
However, if a tree has a medicinal root, its branches, flowers, and fruit will all bring healing.
好事，坏事？
Good or bad?
行善，造恶？
Virtue or non-virtue?
这之间到底该如何区分呢？
How can we tell them apart?
关键要看自己的发心。
It all comes down to motivation.
假如你发的是恶心，就算结果皆大欢喜，也算不上是善法；
If we start off with bad intentions, nothing we do will ever be deemed virtuous, even if the results please everyone.
如果你发的是善心，哪怕结果不尽如人意，也仍是功德一件。
Conversely, as long as we have good intentions, all our activities become virtuous, even if the results are less than satisfactory to all.
《德育古鉴》中有个人叫卫仲达，一次他的魂被引到阴间。
There is a story in Old Sayings on Cultivating Morality. Once, a person by the name of Wei Zhongda found his consciousness transported to the underworld.
冥官令手下把他在阳间所做的善恶档案呈上来。
There, he saw that a supervisor had ordered the file containing records of his good or bad deeds in the living world be brought forward.
他发现自己作恶的档案堆满整个法庭，而行善的记录，却只有筷子那么小的一卷。
Wei noticed that the file of his bad deeds filled the whole courtroom, and the file of his good deeds was only a tiny volume the width of a chopstick.
冥官吩咐拿秤来称，
The supervisor asked the two files be weighed on a scale.
没想到那一大堆恶事的档案，反而比行善的记录轻。
Surprisingly, the huge file of vices weighed less than the tiny file of virtues.
于是冥官说：“你可以走了。”
Seeing this, he said, “Now you’re free to go.”
卫仲达问：“我年纪还不到40岁，怎会有这么多的罪恶呢？”
Wei Zhongda asked, “How could I have accumulated so many bad deeds, given that I am not even forty years old?”
冥官回答：“只要一念不正，阴间就有记录，不必等到行为犯法。”
The supervisor replied, “Evil does not mean physical infractions only. Entertaining even one moment of bad intention is registered as a breach in the underworld.”
卫仲达又问：“那小卷行善的档案，写的是什么内容？”
Wei asked further, “What was recorded in the little file of my good deeds?”
冥官说：“朝廷想大兴土木，建造三山石桥，叫很多老百姓去做苦工。
The supervisor said, “In the past, the imperial government was planning a large-scale development, which entailed the building of stone bridges across three mountains. Many citizens would have been drafted to do hard labor.
你上书建议朝廷不要这么做，这一卷就是你奏章的底稿。
At that time, you wrote to the imperial court and advised against the project. This file is the draft of your court submission.
朝廷虽没接纳你的建议，可你这一念善心是为了万民，所以力量非常大。”
Although your suggestion was declined, your good intention for the welfare of many people, nonetheless, generated great merit.”
可见，善根功德的大小，不能单凭表面来衡量，唯一要看自己的心。
Therefore, what makes an action good or bad does not depend on its outer appearance; rather, it is the intention that matters.
诚如智悲光尊者所说：“只随善恶意差别，不随善恶像大小。”
Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa taught, “What makes an action good or bad? It’s not how it looks nor whether it is big or small, but the good or evil motivation behind it.”
《了凡四训》中还记载：
There was an account in the popular book Liao Fan’s Four Lessons.
当年吕洞宾跟汉钟离学点铁成金术时，
In the past, Loo Dongbin took an apprenticeship with Hang Zhongli to learn the alchemy of turning iron into gold.
汉钟离告诉他：“点铁为金可以济世，帮助很多贫困的人。”
Hang Zhongli told him, “If you master the art of turning iron into gold, you will be able to help many destitute people and benefit mankind.”
吕洞宾问：“此金以后会不会变为铁？”
Loo Dongbin asked, “Will this gold ever revert back to iron in the future?”
汉钟离回答：“五百年后，铁才会恢复原形。”
Hang Zhongli replied, “It will take five hundred years. Only then will the original iron come back.”
吕洞宾说：“如此则害了五百年后的人，我不愿意这样做。”
Loo Dongbin said, “In that case, I’ll harm people five hundred years from now. I don’t think I want to do that.”
汉钟离赞叹：“修仙本要积累三千功德。
Hearing that, Hang Zhongli praised him with admiration, “The cultivation for immortality requires the practitioner to accumulate three thousand meritorious deeds.
你这样的存心，三千功德已圆满了！”
Now, by generating this single thought, you have just accomplished those accumulations!”
《心地观经》讲过：“三界之中，以心为主。”
The Sutra of Mind-Ground Contemplation says, “Within the entire cosmos, the mind is the master of all.”
可见发心最为重要。
It is clear that motivation is the ultimate key.
心善的话，做什么都会积功累德；心恶的话，做什么都会变成恶业。
Doing anything with a good heart accrues merit, whereas harboring bad intentions renders all activities negative.
就像一棵树，它的根若是剧毒，枝叶花果全是剧毒；
If a tree has a poisonous root, its branches, flowers, and fruit will all be poisonous.
如果根是妙药，那枝叶花果全是妙药。
However, if a tree has a medicinal root, its branches, flowers, and fruit will all bring healing.
有些人做的善法非常大，表面上供僧、修路、造经堂，
Some people appear to do good deeds on a grand scale. They make offerings to the Sangha, build roads, or erect huge monasteries.
但如果发心不善，是为了竞争、攀比、炫耀，这些也只是一种形象而已，即使修了十三层楼的经堂，这个功德也不大；
However, if the intention behind such endeavors is non-virtuous—rivalry, competitiveness, or flaunting their wealth—not much merit will come from these superficial displays.
反之，倘若以善心来摄持，有些行为看似微不足道，实际上功德无量无边。
Conversely, if the intention is virtuous, even seemingly insignificant activities will garner immeasurable merit.
所以，我们无论做什么，一定要先观察自己的心。
Henceforth, we should always check our motivation when we do anything.
索达吉堪布《做，才是得到》
Khenpo Sodargye《Achieve by Doing》
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