Goodness

The act of doing good has value in itself. Any effort to do good with the expectation of a reward is incomplete.

Selflessness is a concept we encounter often. We are taught about it from childhood, yet we rarely reflect on what it actually means. The common explanation is that if I help someone without expecting a reward, it is a selfless act.

However, when we look deeper, we find that truly pure selflessness is very rare. Helping those close to us is not completely selfless, because it carries a quiet expectation that they will help in some other way later. Helping strangers can be motivated by the desire to make contact, to gain favor, or at least to feel that someone will one day help us. If we believe that good deeds will bring us an advantage in the afterlife, that is not selfless either. And if we do good with the aim of improving society, there is still a conscious or subconscious benefit in it.

Doing good with the prospect of a good afterlife is not selfless

Pure good is an act that benefits society, a person, or the world regardless of whether there is a reward. It is a value in and of itself.

Examples of pure good:

As a driver I stop to let pedestrians cross safely.

I help a stranger with a heavy load.

I stand up for someone being oppressed in public.

I fix or clean something that serves everyone.

I show a stranger the way.

I help an animal or a person in need.

I remove an obstacle that could harm someone.

Such deeds can be small or large, but they always contribute to something better. Each of us can think of countless small or greater pure deeds that can improve our society, even if only for a moment.

By practicing pure good, both the individual and society grow.

In Semelism, as well as in other movements that reject the supernatural, doing good is freed from the notion of a reward after death. There is only one life and after it there is nothing. Thanks to this, such individuals perform purer good.

Doing good is a reward in itself. It brings inner balance, joy, and nobility. Everyone who experiences pure good is motivated to pass it on. From this it follows that through the pure good of an individual, both the individual and society grow.