Do Not Seek Quick Success and Instant Benefits in Delivering Sentient Beings

So-called saving sentient beings does not mean that one must, in a single stroke, save sentient beings burdened with heavy afflictions and karmic obstructions so that they become sages—that alone counts as saving sentient beings. Rather, it means raising sentient beings' cultivation to a corresponding degree, achieving a substantial improvement compared with before—that is enough; it is impossible for them to become sages all at once. The result of pulling up seedlings to help them grow is to save sentient beings to death—saving them into the three evil paths, with Buddhism being destroyed. When the causes and conditions for becoming a sage are not yet ripe, one can only nurture them through long-term permeation, until they approach the character of a sage; only then can one save them to transcend ordinary beings. Saving people with eagerness for quick success can only save their heads off—their minds remain those of ordinary beings, with head and hands split apart.