INDIRECT BENEFIT
If you plant lentils in your field, you will get both an immediate and a long-term benefit. The immediate benefit is that you will harvest a crop of lentils. The long-term benefit is that bacteria will gather on the roots of the lentil plants, and these bacteria will take nitrogen from the air and add it to the soil. This way, your field will gain nitrogen fertilizer.
Similarly, every action has both direct and indirect benefits. People usually only recognize the direct benefits, while the indirect benefits stay hidden from their view. Direct benefits can be observed with the naked eye, but to perceive the indirect benefits, one needs intelligence and insight. That’s why people often only notice the first benefit and remain unaware of the second.
In this world, great successes are reserved for those who can see beyond immediate benefits and recognize the indirect ones. The direct benefit of an action is usually quite limited. The larger benefit is the one that appears indirectly. Not only are indirect benefits hidden from plain sight, but they also take longer to show themselves.
Indirect benefits are definitely more important and meaningful than direct benefits. The direct benefit can be measured, but the indirect benefit cannot be quantified.
If there is a pile of garbage on the road in front of your house and you clean it up, the immediate benefit is that the area becomes tidy. However, the indirect benefits are much greater. This action cultivates a positive attitude within you. It improves your reputation in the community. It encourages constructive values in society. It helps establish moral traditions. People start praying for you and sending good wishes. As a result, you build trust among others. If you later want to undertake beneficial work in your area, many will step forward to help because your earlier action has earned you respect in their eyes.
Those who only focus on the direct benefits of their work can only complete small tasks; accomplishing something significant is not meant for them. Major achievements are for those who look beyond immediate gains and see the indirect benefits.
To understand the importance of indirect benefits, it is crucial for a person to have a broad perspective. They must be able to look beyond the present for the sake of the future, accept temporary losses for long-term gains, and recognize the value of an action even if it benefits others. Such a person has a vision that not only perceives visible things but also sees the unseen.
Only those who have foresight can work with an eye on indirect benefits. These are people who can plan strategically and understand not only their own desires but also the natural laws that exist outside of themselves and operate independently.
If you want to accomplish something significant, the first thing you need to develop is a big heart. Without a big heart, you can never achieve great things.
In other words, the indirect approach can be called the wise approach, and in this world, no great success can be achieved without a wise approach.
