What Kind of Sentient Beings Can a Bodhisattva Deliver?

A bodhisattva is an enlightened being, one who is themselves an enlightened sentient being. Then, they proceed to enlighten other sentient beings, seeking not only self-benefit but also the benefit of others. A bodhisattva is also a great-hearted being, not seeking personal peace and happiness, but wishing only for all beings to be freed from suffering, possessing a broad and magnanimous mind that embraces everything. Like Maitreya Bodhisattva, whose ample belly embraces what is difficult for the world to embrace. In the eyes of a true bodhisattva, there is no right or wrong, no opposition; their mind is thoroughly penetrating and does not set itself in opposition to any person, thing, or event. A bodhisattva sees everything as oneself, as images of one's own mind; there is nothing outside the mind. In the eyes of a bodhisattva, there are no evil people, only sentient beings whose conditions are not yet ripe and who cannot yet be taught for the time being.

A bodhisattva observes sentient beings, not looking at superficial good or evil, but focusing on the essence, looking at their roots of goodness, their potential, their merit, their conditions, and their wisdom. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva often manifests in various forms to liberate sentient beings. However, the beings he liberates are not necessarily superficially good people, but those whose conditions have ripened. Those whose conditions have ripened, even if superficially evil, possess roots of goodness that are incomparably deep. Once liberated, their capacity to perform good deeds surpasses that of minor virtuous people by hundreds of thousands, even immeasurable, times. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, a courtesan was liberated by the World-Honored One and became a fourth-stage arhat, while those virtuous people remained ordinary beings; the monk Courageous Almsgiver committed grave offenses, yet was liberated by the World-Honored One and became a great bodhisattva who attained awakening, while the monks who upheld the precepts remained ordinary beings. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a hunter who frequently killed deer. When the conditions for his renunciation ripened, he encountered a Chan master. After a brief dialogue, the master ordained him as a monk, and he soon attained awakening and enlightenment.

Therefore, matters of good and evil are difficult to define, and the dispositions of sentient beings are also hard to ascertain. Often, those seen as evil people, due to their deep roots of goodness and high wisdom, progress very rapidly when they encounter the conditions for practice; while small-minded virtuous people, though chasing closely behind, cannot catch up. The Buddha taught that wisdom brings liberation, wisdom leads to Buddhahood; a mind that is thoroughly penetrating and embraces everything is itself wisdom.

Observe our Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature): it never opposes any phenomenon, it always embraces all people, things, and events. Regardless of good, evil, right, wrong, good, or bad, it allows sentient beings to do whatever they do, accommodating everything in accordance with it. If sentient beings ascend to heaven, it accommodates their ascent; if sentient beings descend into the earth, it accommodates their descent. In this way, it perfectly accomplishes all phenomena. It can manifest any phenomenon whatsoever, without the slightest obstruction. When encountering the straight, it is straight; when encountering the curved, it is curved; when encountering the square, it is square; when encountering the round, it is round. Though its nature is resolute and upright, it does not hinder itself from bending with the curve. Only thus can it be forever unbroken, forever uncrushable, forever beyond birth and death. A thoroughly penetrating mind possesses immeasurable merit, wisdom, and virtuous capabilities.