Minor Goodness and Major Goodness

Minor good leaves traces and is easily noticed and perceived; great good is formless, difficult to perceive, even harder to discover, and not easily understood—it may even be misunderstood.

Minor good yields short-term effects, addressing only immediate concerns; great good focuses on the fundamental and ultimate, looking toward the distant future, regardless of immediate gains or losses.

Minor good is easily recognized as good, while great good may be mistaken for evil; minor good can be feigned, but great good scorns recognition; minor good is praised by all, yet great good is understood by few—even reviled. In short, the ignorant always hold inverted views, failing to grasp the true principle. If one follows the inverted views of the world, then there would be no good left in this world!

Following the world's direction leads only to destruction and samsara; turning away from the world's direction invites its scorn. That great good is difficult to achieve and the noble path hard to tread—this is the principle, obscured by the world's ignorance!

With eyes clouded, the world sees phantoms yet accuses others of blindness, hurling accusations—truly like a consumptive raging in delirium. Mortally ill, they distrust the healer's counsel, beyond rescue or cure, left only to suffer according to their karma.