Doing Good Deeds Whether Needs Rewards?

September 23, 2010

A great many people presume upon a reward when conducting a good deed. / It is widely believed by many people that doing a good deed just gives them the right to ask for some rewards. Anyway, sometimes doing a good deed will make you entangled in a dangerous condition and so it deserves certain compensation in the form of money or other materials.

On the contrary, the vast majority of people assume that doing good deeds should be based on people's individual consciousness of responsibility. Hence, conducting a good deed is one way of fulfilling oneself and should have nothing to do with monetary reward.
(1) Numerous illustrations can be given, but this one will suffice. Mr. Leifeng lived an austere life dedicated to doing good deeds without expecting any reward and helping people from all walks of life, yet he was remembered as one of the most successful idol of our time.
(2) We can give out a lot of examples but I think the story of Mr. Leifeng is most familar to all of us. Leifeng lived in a plain and simple way all his life. He devoted his whole life to the business of helping others and never asked for a reward. He is an admirable idol of the Chinese people and is also well-known by many foreigners.

Generally speaking, it is imperative for us to conduct good deeds without expecting any rewards.
For one thing, we should appeal to the authorities to legislate laws and regulations to encourage people to do good deeds.
For another, we should cultivate people's awareness that conducting good deeds is extremely crucial for ourselves. We do this for enjoyment, self-fullfillment and spiritual enhancement, not for the purpose of reward.