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The Impact of Hidden Goodness (and Sins)
- Alex Chen
- 4 minutes ago
- 20 min read
In the first article of this karma series, we looked at five basic rules of karma. In the second article, we looked at two stories to go into more depth on how karma requires time. In the third article, we studied four stories that showcased how karma has size and heaviness, as well as the distinction between shared and individual karma. This article will look at the hidden versus visible aspects of karmic seeds, which we can call hidden merit (good karmic causes) and hidden faults (bad karmic causes).
Liao Fan's Four Lessons is an excellent book on the subject of karma, and it talks about the difference between hidden and visible goodness:
"What is hidden goodness and visible goodness? When one does good and others know about it, it is called visible goodness. When one does good and others don't know about it, it is called hidden virtue. Those with hidden virtues will be rewarded by the Heavens, while those with visible goodness enjoy a good reputation among people.
A good reputation is a type of fortune, but it is disliked by the Heavens. Those with a great reputation but lack the virtues to support it will eventually encounter many strange disasters. Meanwhile, those who haven't done wrong yet are unfairly blamed by others will have descendants that suddenly become prosperous and successful. The boundary between hidden and visible goodness is extremely subtle!"
(Original text: 何謂陰陽？凡為善而人知之，則為陽善；為善而人不知，則為陰德。陰德，天報之；陽善，享世名。名，亦福也。名者，造物所忌；世之享盛名而實不副者，多有奇禍；人之無過咎而橫被惡名者，子孫往往驟發，陰陽之際微矣哉。)
Fortune is similar to money. We need fortune for life to go smoothly and obtain what we want. When we do good and others don't know about it, it's like accumulating savings in the fortune bank account. When others know about our goodness and start praising us for it, that's like spending our fortune dollars (whether we want that to happen or not). If the praise exceeds our true virtues, then our bank balance will quickly run out, and it will go into deficit. Then troubles and disasters will start appearing.
If that explanation seems too abstract, let's look at it from another perspective. If we do good deeds and people know about it, they will probably praise us. When people see us, they will respect us. Receiving their praise and respect is a form of fortune.
However, if they praise us excessively, people will have unrealistically high expectations for us. Then when they see that we aren't actually that good, their praise and respect will turn into slander and disdain. A good reputation can easily turn into a bad one, which is why Mr. Liao Fan said the boundary between hidden and visible goodness is very subtle.
From another perspective, there is always a percentage of the population that is jealous of the famous or wants to use other people's fame to obtain fame for themselves. So the more famous we are, the more people who will be jealous of us and slander us to try to obtain fame for themselves.
From yet another perspective, misunderstandings are inevitable, and people will hear fragmented bits of information about you and jump to conclusions without truly understanding the whole picture. They may not have ill-will; it's just a misunderstanding. Again, the more famous we are, the more this will happen.
From a past life karma perspective, we have misunderstood people in the past, and our fame is now a condition for them to misunderstand and criticize us. Thus, we shouldn't get upset at others for jumping to conclusions and criticizing wrongly. They are simply collecting a debt that we owe. If we willingly pay the debt back, then the conflict is over. If we get upset at the debt collector, then the negative cycle of revenge will continue.
To be fair, when we get more famous, there will also be more people who understand us and support us if we are truly good. Thus, fame is a condition for both more supporters and criticizers.
To give an analogy, imagine a product being sold online. At the beginning, the product is not famous, so there are few reviews. First, the seller's family and friends buy it and write positive reviews. Later, some people from the general public find it. They read the positive reviews and have high expectations. Some people like it and give positive reviews. Others think it's not as good as others say, and so they write negative reviews.
As the number of people who know this product increases, both the number of positive reviews and negative reviews increase. Some reviews are extremely negative, and this could be for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the person got a defective product, or they were just in a bad mood that day, or they wanted attention, or they don't like another person who uses that product. These are all ways fame can attract trouble for the product. The same is true with a person's fame.
If the product is truly worthy of a good reputation, it will have more positive reviews than negative reviews. Moreover, when people see those unjustified negative reviews, they will write responses to argue and restore the good reputation of the product. If the product is not worthy, then the negative reviews will dominate, and eventually this product will go out of business.
From all these different perspectives, we can see why fame is a dangerous tool that requires sufficient virtue to handle. Therefore, wise people wouldn't actively seek fame. They would rather accumulate hidden virtues. However, if wise people become famous unintentionally, they wouldn't gloat or show off. They would remain humble, say that the praise they receive is too high, and use their fame to help the world.
Remember that hidden and visible goodness is just one aspect of karma. We can layer on top the aspect of big and small. If someone has extremely big hidden goodness, then they will likely receive a good reputation in this lifetime without seeking it. This is their flower-retribution. The fruit-retribution might be rebirth into Heaven next life.
The opposite is true for hidden and visible sins. If we commit a small wrongdoing and people know about it, people will criticize and slander us. The karmic retribution will be over. If we commit a small hidden sin that people don't know, then even though we might not get criticized for it, we might encounter some sort of strange inconvenience in the future. If we accumulate great hidden sins, then we will eventually encounter great disaster and suffer a terrible death.
Below are some historical accounts to illustrate the principles of hidden goodness and hidden sins.
Story 1: The Hidden Merit of Rong Yang's Ancestors
In Jian Ning, there was a prominent man named Rong Yang (楊榮) who held a very high position in the imperial court as the Emperor's teacher. For generations, his family made their living ferrying people across rivers.
Once, there was a long storm that caused fierce flooding, which swept away people's homes and drowned many people. Many boaters sought to loot valuables from the water. Only Rong Yang's great-grandfather and grandfather devoted themselves solely to rescuing people and did not take any of the floating goods. The other boaters laughed and mocked them for being foolish.
By the time Rong Yang's father was born, the family gradually became prosperous. One day, a Heavenly spirit manifested as a Daoist monk and told the Yang family, "Your ancestors have accumulated hidden merit, so your descendants shall receive wealth and prominence. There is a special place where you should build your ancestral tomb." The family followed the Daoist's instructions. Today, their ancestral tomb is known as the White Rabbit Tomb.
Later, when Rong Yang was born, he passed the imperial examination when he was only twenty years old and rose to the rank of one of the Three Excellencies (the three highest officials and the emperor's closest advisors). The emperor even bestowed his great grandfather and grandfather with the same imperial honours. To this day, many stellar people continue to emerge from the family.
(Source: Liao Fan's Four Lessons)
(Original Text: 楊少師榮、建寧人。世以濟渡為生，久雨溪漲，橫流衝毀民居，溺死者順流而下，他舟皆撈取貨物，獨少師曾祖及祖，惟救人，而貨物一無所取，鄉人嗤其愚。逮少師父生，家漸裕，有神人化為道者，語之曰：汝祖父有陰功，子孫當貴顯，宜葬某地。遂依其所指而窆之，即今白兔墳也。後生少師，弱冠登第，位至三公，加曾祖、祖、父，如其官。子孫貴盛，至今尚多賢者。)
Commentary 1:
Rong Yang's great grandfather and grandfather were very sincere in helping others. They weren't greedy for the floating valuables at all. Even when they saw others taking advantage of the situation to get wealthy, they didn't get tempted. Such virtue is rare and precious, and it reflects how deep their virtues are. The depth of their virtue is "hidden".
Although people know that they saved many people, the amount of praise and fame they received at the time was very little compared to the actual substance of their goodness. In fact, they even got mocked for helping others instead of looting valuables. This is related to their past karma; they must have mocked others wrongfully in the past too.
But they didn't get upset at the mockery. They knew what they did was right, and they continued being moral people. In this way, their negative karma got eliminated quickly, and their positive karma would fruit faster.
As said in Liao Fan's Four Lessons, their descendants suddenly became prosperous and successful. This is the "excess fortune" left behind by the great grandfather and grandfather. Their great virtues and fortune attracted descendants with matching virtues and fortune to be born into the family. Given that the excess fortune is enough for descendants to attain the position of the emperor's teacher, we can only imagine how big their original fortune is! We can confidently assume that they were reborn into Heaven.
Story 2: Mr. Ying's Hidden Virtues
When Taizhou's Imperial Secretary, Mr. Ying (應尚書), was young, he often studied in temples in the mountains. At night, he often heard the sound of ghosts and howls, but he was never afraid.
One night, he heard a ghost happily say to another ghost: "There is a village woman who's husband has gone away to earn a living and has not returned for a long time. Her in-laws believe their son is dead and are forcing the daughter-in-law to remarry. The woman, determined to remain chaste, plans to commit suicide tomorrow. That means she can replace me so that I can be reborn!"
(The souls of those who commit suicide have to wait for another to die at the same place they did in order to leave the ghost realm and attain rebirth at a higher realm.)
Mr. Ying heard this and immediately sold his own land. He pretended to be the husband by writing a letter home and enclosed the silver with it. The elderly parents noticed that the handwriting did not look like their son’s, but then reasoned, “The letter may be fake, but silver is not. Besides, who would send us this much money? Perhaps our son is truly alive and well, and we should not force our daughter-in-law to remarry." Later, their son indeed returned, and the family was joyfully reunited.
Mr. Ying heard the ghosts converse again: "Originally, I was about to get a substitute, but this scholar has ruined my chance!"
Another ghost asked, "Why don't you inflict some harm on him?"
The first ghost replied, "No, I can't. His goodness and virtue has been recognized by the Heavens, and he will receive the position of Imperial Secretary due to his hidden virtues. How can I possibly harm him?"
Mr. Ying heard this and became even more diligent in practicing goodness and accumulating merit. Whenever there was a famine, he would use his own money to buy food for the poor and needy. Whenever his relatives encountered urgent difficulties, he would assist them even if he himself was struggling. Whenever he received unfair treatment and adversities, he would reflect on himself and accept the situation calmly rather than complain. Even to this day, his descendants are still very prominent.
(Source: Liao Fan's Four Lessons)
(Original Text: 台州應尚書，壯年習業於山中。夜鬼嘯集，往往驚人，公不懼也；一夕聞鬼云：某婦以夫久客不歸，翁姑逼其嫁人。明夜當縊死於此，吾得代矣。公潛賣田，得銀四兩。即偽作其夫之書，寄銀還家；其父母見書，以手跡不類，疑之。既而曰：書可假，銀不可假；想兒無恙。婦遂不嫁。其子後歸，夫婦相保如初。公又聞鬼語曰：我當得代，奈此秀才壞吾事。旁一鬼曰：爾何不禍之？曰：上帝以此人心好，命作陰德尚書矣，吾何得而禍之？應公因此益自努勵，善日加修，德日加厚；遇歲饑，輒捐穀以賑之；遇親戚有急，輒委曲維持；遇有橫逆，輒反躬自責，怡然順受；子孫登科第者，今累累也。)
Commentary 2:
This story illustrates how the Heavens will reward hidden goodness. As stated in the Treatise on Cause and Response, there are many spirits in charge of recording people's merits and faults and reporting them to the Heavenly courts.
To be clear, these spirits and the Heavenly courts do not impose punishments or give rewards according to their own desires. They are like police officers. They simply keep records and they themselves follow the law of karma. All our fortune and misfortune are created by ourselves.
When the Heavenly court said that Mr. Ying would receive the position of Imperial Secretary in the future due to his hidden merit, it's not the Heavenly court that granted this position to him. The Heavenly court simply records this. The cause is ultimately Mr. Ying's own actions.
The Buddha also taught that people who are highly virtuous will attract virtuous spirits who guard them from malicious ghosts. On the other hand, evil and immoral people will attract malicious ghosts who try to harm them. This is because these ghosts have been harmed by that person in the past, and they are here to get revenge or collect a debt.
In reality, all of us have harmed living beings in the past. The reason our karmic debtors can't harm us right now might be because we still have excess fortune from the past, or we attracted guardian spirits from our virtues. However, if we start accumulating sins, our fortune will get used up soon, and guardian spirits will leave. Then, karmic debtors will be able to harm us.
When Mr. Ying sold his land to help that family, it was a large sacrifice. Thus, this is big and sincere goodness. He also didn't boast about it, so it remained as hidden goodness. In terms of helping the poor and needy and always reflecting on himself, although some people around him probably knew about these things, he didn't get widely praised in public, so it remained as hidden goodness. His abundant hidden goodness allowed him to attain the high position of Imperial Secretary with the excess fortune to have prominent descendants.
Story 3: Lord Wen Chang's Admonishment Regarding Hidden Merit and Hidden Sins
During the Ming dynasty, in Yizhou (present day Taiyuan in Shanxi province), there was a man named Wang Yongyu (王用予). He was known for being generous and steady. In his daily life, he served The Heavenly Lord of Culture and Literature, Wen Chang, with great care and reverence.
Together with several friends, Wang Yongyu formed a local Wen Chang Worship Association. Every year on New Year’s Day, they would take turns setting up an altar and holding rituals at the Wen Chang shrine atop Yunzhong Mountain to pray for blessings.
Among the members was a man named Yu Lin (俞麟), who was renowned for his filial piety and careful conduct. Many people from near and far came to study under him and regarded him as their teacher. There was another man in the association named Yu Congzhou (郁從周), whose appearance was extraordinary, his bearing dignified and imposing, with exceptional talent and eloquence in both speech and writing. Everyone greatly admired and respected these two gifted scholars.
On New Year’s Day of 1441, Wang Yongyu arrived early at the Wen Chang shrine and stayed there overnight. That night, he had a dream.
He saw Lord Wen Chang ascending the Heavenly court, while the City Gods from all regions gathered before him, reporting the list of successful candidates for the provincial examinations. A Heavenly person wearing a court cap and red robe held a large register and presented it to the Lord for approval.
Wang Yongyu quietly asked this person, “Among the names from Shanxi province, are there Wang Yongyu, Yu Lin, or Yu Congzhou?”
The person replied, “None of them are listed.”
After a while, the City Gods withdrew to the sides. The red-robed person then brought the register forward and knelt as he presented it. Lord Wen Chang examined each name and marked approval beneath them. At times, however, he hesitated for a long while without marking.
Then the red-robed person proclaimed the Lord's decree:
“Return this to the City Gods of each province. Quickly investigate families that have accumulated hidden virtue, and select sons of benevolent character. Submit their names to replace those candidates not approved by the Lord.”
At this moment, Wang Yongyu was hiding beneath a pillar in the hall. Suddenly, he heard his own name being called. He prostrated himself at the steps and was summoned before the Lord.
The Lord said:
“Matters of official success and rank are secret records of Heaven and must not be carelessly disclosed. However, because for more than ten years you have served me with unwavering sincerity, I have summoned you to explain.
Your grandfather was simple, upright, and self-reliant. He never took advantage of others. Because of this, your name was long ago recorded among the top candidates of the provincial examination as a reward for your family’s culture of devotion and generosity.
However, although you bow whenever you encounter statues of gods and Buddhas, your prayers are always for your own success and for your wife's recovery from illness, and that you may grow old together. Yet your old mother is still alive, and you have never prayed for gods and Buddhas to bless her. Because of this, your rank has been reduced by two grades. You will only place fifty-third on the lower list. You ought to correct your selfish attitude and behavior. Don't provoke Heaven any further!"
Wang Yongyu listened and repeatedly bowed in repentance.
Lord Wen Chang continued: “Zhou Ji (周吉), from your association, will be the top candidate of this examination.”
Among the members, Zhou Ji was the most timid and unassuming, and his learning and writing were inferior to others. Wang Yongyu was astonished and asked for the reason.
The Lord replied:
“Zhou Ji’s father and grandfather were both scholars who never entered litigation nor committed sexual misconduct. For three generations, they never spoke of others’ faults nor exposed others’ wrongdoing. Moreover, Zhou Ji’s great-grandfather wrote the Essay on A Hundred Endurances to teach and transform people, influencing many.
Thus, for over sixty years, their family has quietly cultivated merit through simplicity and humility. This is the highest form of hidden virtue, unknown to others. Heaven has therefore specially rewarded them, recording prosperity and blessings for their next three generations. Zhou Ji’s success is only the beginning of his family’s fortune.”
Wang Yongyu then asked: “What about Yu Lin and Yu Congzhou from our association?”
The Lord checked the register and frowned in disapproval, saying:
“Yu Lin originally should have passed an examination. However, he outwardly serves parents obediently, yet he harbours resentment in his heart. He also frequently criticizes others harshly and unreasonably, and falsely regards himself as an exemplary person. Therefore his imperial examination rank has been revoked, and he will remain in poverty all his life.”
Wang Yongyu asked, “What does it mean to resent one’s parents in one's heart?”
The Lord said:
“Though he appears obedient in speech and action, in his heart he disagrees and merely suppresses it. Outwardly he seems filial, but he departs from the True Nature more and more each day. This false filiality is no different from treating one’s parents as strangers. Deceiving the world to gain reputation most angers the spirits; Thus, he will be punished.
As for Yu Congzhou, he was originally a heaven-endowed genius. At twenty-six he could have passed the highest level of imperial exams and attained the Jinshi degree. In his early thirties, he could have become the Vice Censor-in-Chief. By forty-five he could have risen to the position of Grand Minister of Works and concurrently hold the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Justice roles. At fifty four, he could have retired honorably, living to sixty-nine with a peaceful death.
However, since entering school at seventeen, he showed off his talent and became arrogant. His speech was full of sarcasm, mockery, and ridicule. The underworld has already recorded over 2,470 offenses of arrogant and disrespectful speech.
Heaven is enraged. His name has been placed in the register of hidden evil, and all his previously destined wealth and prestige have been removed. If he still does not repent and reaches three thousand offenses, his life will also be cut short, and his descendants will fall into beggary. Such arrogant and disrespectful speech harms the harmony of Heaven and Earth and violates divine taboos. These verbal sins are equal in severity to killing and sexual misconduct. All of you must be extremely cautious!”
After a long pause, the Lord added:
“Even the slightest acts of sexual misconduct, killing, or sinful speech bring karmic retribution—this need not be said further. People who love themselves can refrain from killing and misconduct. But careless ridicule, sarcasm, and hidden malice in words—these become habits that are hard to detect. Eventually, one’s speech, expression, and even one’s heart become arrogant and disrespectful. All such offenses are recorded by spirits, and misfortune follows. A fate originally full of fortune can quickly turn into poverty and disgrace—this is truly tragic and frightening. You must widely advise the world to take this as a warning, so that I need not struggle and hesitate when approving the examination lists.”
Wang Yongyu bowed again and withdrew. At that moment, the great bell of the shrine rang, and he awoke. Outside, the rooster had already crowed three times. He immediately went to thank Lord Wen Chang and then wrote down the entire dream. When the examination results were announced in autumn, Zhou Ji indeed placed first in Shanxi. Wang Yongyu therefore made this account public in order to warn the world.
Commentary 3:
The first two stories mainly showcased hidden merit. This third story showcased both hidden merit and hidden sins. From this story, we can see that hidden sins include deceiving others for a good reputation.
Wang Yongyu had the hidden fault of neglecting his old mother, who gave him the most kindness by bringing him into this world and raising him. Yet he forgot her kindness and instead only thinks about his own success and his wife. Although most people wouldn't know about this, let alone slander him for it, the Heavens know it, and he received a corresponding reduction to his fortune.
Just to be clear, the reduction in fortune is the karmic result caused by his own unfilial behavior. Nobody can increase or reduce anyone's fortune. The Heavens and spirits merely record these deeds and execute the law of karma. In his past lives, he originally cultivated the fortune to be a top candidate at the provincial exams. However, this seed requires conditions in the present life to mature into the fruit of attaining that top candidate position. The condition required is that he continues being virtuous. His unfilial behavior is very unvirtuous, so he was unable to obtain the fruit of a top exam candidate. His level of virtue only allowed him to attain the fifty third on the lower list. This is a result of his own doing.
To give an analogy, maybe we have a very good seed. If we plant this seed in good soil, and it gets good water and sunlight frequently, it could grow to be a very strong tree with many big fruit.
However, we ended up planting it in low quality soil, and we don't water it enough. As a result, it can still grow and bear some fruit, but it didn't attain its full potential. There's also a person on the side watching and recording the height of the plant. The recorder doesn't determine what happens to the tree, though he might criticize the planter for not taking good care of the tree. Ultimately, the recorder just keeps records.
Yu Lin has the reputation of a filial son, but in reality, his heart is resentful and not respectful or loving towards his parents. His good reputation does not match his true reality, so his fortune is expended very fast, and he certainly won't have guardian spirits protecting him. Falling into poverty for the rest of his life is his flower-retribution. We can only imagine how much more severe his fruit retribution would be next life.
Theoretically, if he realized his sin of deceiving others and falsely holding the reputation of being a filial son, and then he confessed in public and repented for his sins, then that would eliminate some of his negative karma. Moreover, if people in public then started slandering him harshly and treating him with disrespect, that would also be eliminating some of his negative karma. This would be the negative flower retribution he receives this life, and it would reduce the severity of the fruit-retribution he receives next life. If he also corrected his ways and diligently cultivated goodness, he could even change his fate this life. Mr. Liao Fan is a good example of this.
As for Yu Congzhou, he accumulated a large quantity of verbal sins. While individually, each sin might not be a heavy offense, accumulated together, they become very big. People probably also couldn't criticize him much because he was so good at debating and using words, so it was hard for him to be humble and to think he has faults. He's an example of how accumulated sins become big and heavy.
From Yu Congzhou's case, we realize that we really have to be extra careful with verbal karma because it is so frequent and has big impact. Physical karmic sins like killing and adultery are big offenses, but people don't commit them that frequently. Mental karma is the most abundant, but a thought without action is much lighter in weight. Verbal karma is very abundant because we all speak a lot every day, and our words can cause a lot of pain and suffering for others, which is a real and heavy result. Thus, verbal sins can accumulate very quickly. That's why the ancients have advised that when it comes to cultivation, one of the first places to start is with verbal karma.
How can we know if we are accumulating merits or sins? Generally speaking, if life is smooth, then we have positive karma or fortune. If life isn't smooth, then we have negative karma.
Liao Fan's Four Lessons gives some detailed guidance. The book states that if someone repents and corrects faults, they may have the following results:
"What are the results of repentance?
One may feel the mind becoming calm and at ease;
Or feel that one suddenly has wisdom;
Or feel clear-headed and smooth even amid messy and complex situations;
Or encounter old enemies yet feel joy instead of anger;
Or dream of spitting out dirty things;
Or dream of past sages guiding and uplifting you;
Or dream of soaring freely through the sky;
Or dream of all kinds of colorful flags and ornately decorated canopies;
These auspicious phenomena are all indications of a successful reform and the dissolving of past offenses."
(Original text: 或覺心神恬曠；或覺智慧頓開；或處冗沓而觸念皆通；或遇怨仇而回瞋作喜；或夢吐黑物；或夢往聖先賢，提攜接引；或夢飛步太虛；或夢幢幡寶蓋，種種勝事，皆過消罪滅之象也。)
As for accumulating sins, the book states:
"On the other hand, for those whose bad deeds are deep and heavy, there are also signs:
One feels their mind is dull and blocked, forgetting things immediately upon turning away;
Or feels troubled and agitated for no apparent reason;
Or feels ashamed and discouraged upon seeing virtuous people;
Or feels displeased upon hearing proper teachings;
Or when offering kindness to others, others respond with complaint and resentment;
Or one has chaotic and messy dreams;
Or even speaks recklessly and feels lost in life.
These are all signs of accumulated sins. If even one of these appears, we must promptly rouse and reform ourselves. Don't delay."
(Original text: 然人之過惡深重者，亦有效驗：或心神昏塞，轉頭即忘；或無事而常煩惱；或見君子而赧然消沮；或聞正論而不樂；或施惠而人反怨；或夜夢顛倒，甚則妄言失志；皆作孽之相也，苟一類此，即須奮發，舍舊圖新，幸勿自誤。)
Conclusion
If we want to accumulate fortune and blessings and prevent misfortune or unexpected disasters, it's very important to cultivate hidden goodness and guard against hidden sins.
When we do good and get praised a lot, then the good fortune from that act of goodness is spent. If we do good and people don't know about it or don't praise us publicly, then we can accumulate hidden merit by doing good without seeking praise. If people praise us, we remain humble and say we're not actually that good, but we will try our best to do better. As our hidden goodness accumulates, so too will our fortune.
On the other hand, if we commit sins and do immoral things in secret, even though we won't receive criticism and slander from people, eventually we will encounter strange misfortune and disasters. We may also start feeling troubled and dull, feel ashamed upon meeting virtuous people, have disordered dreams, or feel lost in life. If such signs of accumulated sins appear, it's important to promptly rouse and reform ourselves. As long as we are still alive, it's never too late to reform.
Weekly Wisdom #390
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