Wisdom of the I Ching - Yin Can Lecture Series I (Volumes on Classics and Commentaries) ( VCD disc one)

Author: Yin Can
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: What is true goodness? "The simplicity of goodness matches the highest virtue." This summarizes what was said before. Whether it's great or broad; specialized or direct; contracting or expanding—when discussed, they are opposites, yet they are also unified. This is "simplicity." This "goodness" is not the concept of good and evil.
Two years ago, a relative told me on the phone: Whenever beggars come by our door, I always give them something, and I have never refused. He understood this as goodness, but that's too narrow. Many people think of this goodness as merely doing good deeds—giving a little to beggars when they come by. This is not true goodness. What is true goodness? I would like to elaborate more on this goodness.
Nowadays, everyone knows that water on Earth is extremely scarce. Over ten years ago, I developed a habit—even in hotels, public places, or on docks, when using the restroom, if I saw someone leaving a tap running or not fully closed, I would go around and turn it off. Why? It wasn't pretense; it was a genuine habit from the heart. I felt it was a waste to let the water flow freely, and seeing it flow uselessly was unbearable.
Everyone says, "How compassionate are parents!" This refers to parents' love for their children, the love of human parents. But do animal parents, plant parents, or water parents have compassion too? They do. Is human parental love limited only to biological children?
In Sichuan, there was a flight attendant who found an abandoned baby girl on the train (no one wanted to adopt her). She was single at the time and saw no one adopting the child, so she took her home and raised her with her mother. Later, her girlfriend learned about this and insisted on marrying her, wanting to share the burden. After they married, they had a son. They treated the girl and their son equally, supporting their education.
Later, the wife fell ill with cancer—a terminal illness. Before the girl's college entrance exams, the couple visited her every week. When the wife's condition worsened, she became very thin and had to be hospitalized, unable to go. She even called her daughter, lying, "I'm on a business trip to Shanghai. How long will I be gone?" She called her daughter every week to avoid affecting her exams.
When the daughter returned from her exams, she saw her mother lying in bed and burst into tears. Later, she was admitted to Tsinghua University. However, her father lost his job, and her mother passed away. In this situation, her father sent her to Tsinghua, paid her tuition, and then explained everything clearly to her: "Now you should find your biological parents. Our responsibility is fulfilled." As he was leaving, his daughter chased after him, embracing him and crying, "You are my father."
This parental love is extraordinary. It is true goodness, the innate goodness from the beginning of human life. P718-719