In traditional culture, the moral creed that "good will be rewarded with good and evil will be rewarded with evil" is generally believed in. Confucianism teaches that "a house that accumulates good deeds will be blessed, and a house that accumulates evil deeds will have disasters." When the time comes, everything will be repaid." Taoism says, "There is no way for misfortunes and blessings, only good and evil will be brought to you by yourself." There is also a saying in the Western Christian Bible that "sow good causes and reap good results". Because people generally believe in this, people have the instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, "avoid doing all evil and pursue all good deeds." Accumulating virtue and doing good has gradually become a common practice, building bridges and repairing roads, respecting the elderly and caring for rice, helping the weak and the poor, helping others, being honest and not bullying, tolerant and tolerant, generally maintaining a high social moral level.

But once upon a time, especially during the Cultural Revolution, these things in traditional culture were called the "Four Olds" and were destroyed, labeled as feudal superstition and ruthlessly criticized. The moral system and moral concepts that have been passed down for thousands of years have been destroyed. Betrayal of trust, adding insult to injury, constantly going above and beyond, cruel struggles, ruthless attacks, and even traditional ethics and family ties have been trampled on.

After the reform and opening up in the 1980s, the shift from political leadership to economic leadership resulted in the destruction of the traditional moral system and the failure to establish new moral norms. Under the impact of the torrent of market economy, people who are not restrained by moral concepts worship money and material things, are mercenary, forget all about profit, indulge in desires, and put pleasure first, and the moral level of the entire society has plummeted. Therefore, it is necessary for us to re-discuss and reflect: Is it superstitious that good will be rewarded with good and evil will be rewarded with evil?

1. What is good and what is evil

The so-called good, or good deeds, refers to behaviors that are beneficial to oneself, others or society. As long as it can bring benefits to yourself and others, it is good.

The so-called evil, or evil deeds, refers to behaviors that are harmful to oneself, others or society. Any behavior that can cause harm to oneself or others is evil. Such as killing, stealing, sexual immorality, fraud, insult, etc.

It should be pointed out that the interests mentioned here include both material interests such as money and property, and spiritual interests, including reputation, honor, happiness, feelings, etc. It includes both direct benefits, such as personal happiness such as good health and a happy life, and indirect benefits, such as the benefits of relatives such as parents, spouses, brothers and sisters, and the benefits of future generations.

Since the issue we are discussing has a certain religious background, from a religious perspective, especially a Buddhist perspective, the interests involved here should also include supernatural interests. What are extraordinary benefits? According to Buddhist theory, under normal circumstances, a person's life will continue in another way after death, which is the six paths of reincarnation and reincarnation. After the death of the human body, life still exists. The interests of life in this special situation are what we call extraordinary interests here.

2. The nature and form of good deeds and evil deeds

Good deeds will be rewarded with good deeds, and evil deeds will be rewarded with evil deeds. In fact, what they show is the relationship between people and the environment. There is an interaction between everything. When one thing exerts an effect on another thing, the other thing must respond to the effect of this thing. This reaction can also be said to be the reaction of something to the previous thing. The relationship between people and the environment is also such an interaction. When people exert an effect on the environment, the environment will inevitably react to the person's action, or it is called a reaction. When people exert an effect on other people in the environment, other people in the environment will inevitably exert a counter-effect on this effect. The directions of action and reaction are in the same direction. When a person's behavior brings benefits to others in the environment, others in the environment will definitely reciprocate with benefits. When a person's behavior causes damage to the interests of others in the environment, the victim must respond in different ways to make the other party compensate with his or her own interests. Those who benefit others will benefit themselves, and those who harm others will ultimately harm themselves. Whoever sows roses will get flowers; whoever sows thorns will get thorns. Pay debts with money, kill with life.

Not only that, the moral norms and legal norms of human society in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, maintain this law. Violating this rule will result in condemnation of conscience and criticism from public opinion. Honor stained, reputation ruined. Those who seriously violate this law and cause serious social consequences will also be severely punished by the law, such as being forcibly deprived of property, restricted personal freedom, and even losing their precious lives. This is what we used to call prison, brutal death, and violent death.

Even if a person’s evil deeds do not receive immediate retribution, once a person does something bad, they often have a potential or unconscious mental guilt, guilt, worry, uneasiness or fear. . And a bad mental state will lead to a bad physiological state. All these bad psychological or mental states and the resulting physical pathology are themselves an invisible punishment for the perpetrators. On the contrary, the gratitude, reverence, self-spiritual satisfaction and joy that people who do good receive, isn't this an invisible reward and reward?

Also, even if there is no immediate reward for doing good or doing evil, does this mean that there is no reward for doing good and evil? According to Buddhist teachings, there are immediate retributions of cause and effect, that is, retributions that are done now and received now; there are also delayed retributions, that is, retributions are not repaid now but will be repaid in the future. That is to say, karma often has a process. Maybe it will be retribution to future generations, or maybe it will be retribution in the process of reincarnation after death. Either go to hell or go to heaven, or be reincarnated into a wealthy family to enjoy happiness, or be reincarnated into a poor family to endure hardship; In addition, various seemingly accidental and unexpected events encountered by the perpetrator seem to have no direct and inevitable connection with the perpetrator's actions. According to Buddhism, they are all caused by the relationship between good and evil. For example, natural and man-made disasters, financial losses, and illnesses that occur to evildoers are all concrete manifestations of karma according to Buddhism.