If we choose to ignore and offer no help,

COURAGE

Courage is daring to do difficult and dangerous things, especially doing what is right and noble. Bad people who dare to break into others' houses or commit murder are hard-hearted, too. However, they are not deserving of the beautiful word "courage". "Courage" is only suitable for heroes.

Here, we name a few cases of courageous actions. A firefighter runs through flames to seek trapped victims. A pupil dives into the river to rescue friends. Ordinary citizens fight against deforesters with only simple sticks. A soldier runs and keeps shooting to attract the enemies so that his teammates can withdraw safely. An explorer keeps trekking into deep caves without the fear of unknown obstacles ahead. An old man gives away his last bread to a hungrier one without worrying about his own hunger... In our lives, courage is indispensable in many situations. It is thanks to brave people who have the courage to do difficult and dangerous things that humans can exist and progress.

Doing good deeds is moral. However, doing good deeds in difficult and dangerous conditions demonstrates a very high level of morality. Helping others, with high risks of harming ourselves, is a huge challenge.

Two people see a girl fall into a river. One of them calls for help and the other dives into the water to rescue the girl. We may think that the latter, who dares to dive into the river, is braver. However, we should not jump to this conclusion. The man who does not dive into the river may not know how to swim, so, his reaction in this situation is reasonable. Or, he may be the sole breadwinner of his family, or keeping the nation's confidential information, and so on. Thus, he cannot risk his life for the victim, he can only call for help. Therefore, we cannot make a comparison about morality in this case. Meanwhile, apparently, the latter, who dives into the river to rescue the girl, has a very courageous and righteous action.

A man who acts for the right things without the fear of difficulty and danger is a brave person. If the level of danger is high and the good deed is significant, such a person is celebrated as a hero. Thus, heroes are those who have courage to do great and good things in challenging and dangerous situations. Often, these heroes will be born into the realm of deities after death, as their minds are so strong and determined. If these heroes think highly of themselves because of their merit, then when they are reborn as humans, they will be very bad-tempered and usually make others frightened. Meanwhile, if they do not claim credit for their good deeds, they will remain powerful deities in the invisible realm.

Courageous people are those who have strong minds which helps them overcome the fear of danger. However, it takes time for those people to build such strong minds. Being keen on doing every small good deed over and over again, at the same time, building admiration for predecessor heroes, will strengthen our mind gradually. Once the mind is strong enough, courage will appear. Only courage can make us do righteous things in difficult and dangerous situations.

Facing a challenge, we can choose to either act upon righteous or stay doing nothing. If we take righteous action, we will have blessing, which will generate favorable outcomes later. For instance, we can ignore and go away when we see a family standing and crying in front of their burnt house. Or we can choose to approach them and offer help. It takes time and our money to help this family, and we do not know exactly when we are going to enjoy the blessing from this merit. However, many unexpected outcomes from this action will appear, i.e. we suddenly become more intelligent, stronger, and naturally distance ourselves from bad friends.

If we choose to ignore and offer no help, a wide range of bad consequences will unexpectedly come afterwards. For example, we become less intelligent, our mind turns weaker, eyes get ill, and our plans in life always have troubles.

Therefore, we should seize any opportunities to do good deeds, even the smallest ones. That way, we are increasing our blessing gradually, and thus, courage will be built into our personality.
In the end, the lack of courage is a defect in morality.

Written by:
Janna

Related Articles:

Cannot Lend a Band: Robots, Technology and Human Morality

Homelessness, Wealth, Karma, and the Value of Social Contribution

Whose Stretch of Road Is This? Responsibility, Morality and Causality

Cheating: The Trap of Deception and Dishonest Living

Letting Go of All the Credits – The Path to True Virtue

Soliciting: Loyalty, Money, Romantic Love and Betrayal

Returning Favors: The Value of Gratitude and Repaying Kindness

Instruction on Meditation: Essential Methods and Practice Guide

Meditation Q&A 14: Using Attention to Anchor the Mind

Imperfect: Identity, Meditation, Karma and the Search for Inner Peace