Liao-Fan: What is difficult goodness and easy goodness? The knowledgeable scholars of the past used to say:
Scholar: When one wishes to conquer one's greed and desires, one should start with the most difficult to overcome.
Liao-Fan: Fan-chr, a student of Confucius, once asked his teacher how to cultivate one's humanity to its fullest. Confucius replied, "Start with what's most difficult to practice". What Confucius meant by the most difficult, was to sever the selfish mind, and one should practice that by conquering what is most difficult for oneself to conquer. We should practice like the old teacher, Mr. Su of Chiangshi, who gave two years worth of salary to a poor family who owed money to the government. Thus he saved them from being tom apart should the husband be taken to prison.
Liao-Fan: Another example is Mr. Jang from Her-bei:
Narrator: Mr. Jang saw an extremely poor man who had to mortgage his wife and child, and had no money for their redemption. If he was unable to pay for their return, the mother and child could both lose their lives.
Liao-Fan: Therefore, Mr. Jang gave his ten years of savings to the poor man so the family could be reunited.
Narrator: Such examples as Mr. Su and Mr. Jang are rare, for they have given what is most difficult to give, and what others could not sacrifice, they did so willingly.
Liao-Fan: Another example is Mr. Jin from Chiangsu Province. He was old and without any sons, so his neighbor offered their young daughter in marriage to him, to give him descendants to carry on his lineage. But Mr. Jin could not bear to ruin the otherwise bright and long future of this young girl, and so refused the offer and sent her back home.
Narrator: This is another example of being able to overcome what is most difficult to conquer in oneself. Therefore, the heavens showered down fortune which was especially good for these three old men. [Liao-Fan]: It is easier to accumulate merit and virtue for those who have money and power than for those who are poor. But if one refuses to cultivate kindness even when it's easy and when one has the chance to do so, then it would truly be a shame. For those who are poor and without prestige, doing kind things for others is a great difficulty-, but if in this difficulty one can still manage to help others, then it is a great virtue, and the merits gained would be boundless.
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