What kinds of sentient beings can be delivered by Bodhisattvas?

A bodhisattva is an awakened sentient being—one who is himself an enlightened sentient being. Then he goes on to awaken other sentient beings, not only benefiting himself but also benefiting others. A bodhisattva is also a sentient being of great mind: he does not seek personal ease and comfort, but only wishes that sentient beings be freed from suffering; his mind is broad and magnanimous, embracing everything. Just like Maitreya Bodhisattva, whose great belly can contain what the world finds intolerable. In the eyes of a true bodhisattva, there are no conflicts or disputes, no opposition; his mind is unobstructed, and he holds no enmity toward any person, thing, or affair. To a bodhisattva, everything is himself—everything is an image of his 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 mature and who cannot yet be taught and transformed.

When a bodhisattva observes sentient beings, he does not look at surface-level good and evil, but focuses on the substance: he looks at the good roots, the potential, the merit, the conditions, and the wisdom. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva often transforms into various forms to deliver sentient beings. But the beings he delivers are not necessarily good people on the surface; rather, they are those whose conditions have matured. For a person whose conditions have matured, even if he appears evil on the surface, his good roots are incomparably deep. Once delivered, the strength of his wholesome deeds will be hundreds of thousands, millions of times—or even immeasurably times—stronger than that of a small good person. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, a prostitute was delivered by the World-Honored One into becoming an arhat of the fourth fruit, while those good people remained ordinary beings; the bhikṣu Yongsī committed grave precept violations, yet was delivered by the World-Honored One into becoming a great bodhisattva who attained enlightenment, while those precept-keeping bhikṣus remained ordinary beings. During the Tang dynasty, there was a hunter who often killed deer. When his conditions for leaving home matured, he met a Chan master; after just a few exchanges of dialogue with the Chan master, he was delivered into becoming a bhikṣu cultivating the path, and before long he saw the mind and awakened to the Way.

Therefore, matters of good and evil are hard to determine, and the natures and faculties of sentient beings are also hard to determine. Very often, a person regarded as evil, because of his deep good roots and high wisdom, advances extremely rapidly upon encountering the conditions for cultivation; while the small good people whose minds and natures are not yet unobstructed chase closely behind, yet can never catch up. The Buddha spoke of liberation through wisdom, of attaining buddhahood through wisdom; a mind and nature that are unobstructed and embrace everything—this is wisdom.

Look at our tathāgatagarbha: it never opposes any dharma, it always embraces all people, things, and affairs—regardless of whether they are wholesome or unwholesome, true or false, good or bad (kuśala-akuśala, satya-mithyā, śubha-aśubha)—whatever sentient beings do is fine, and it accommodates it all as it passes. When sentient beings ascend to heaven, it accommodates the ascent to heaven; when sentient beings descend into the earth, it accommodates the descent into the earth. In this way, it can perfectly accomplish all dharmas. Any dharma whatsoever, it can manifest without the slightest obstruction. When it encounters the straight, it is straight; when it encounters the bent, it is bent; when it encounters the square, it is square; when it encounters the round, it is round; though its nature is firm and upright, it does not mind bending along with the bends. In this way, it can never be violent or abrupt, never be crushed or shattered, never arise or cease. When the mind and nature are unobstructed, there are immeasurable merits and wisdom-virtues and capabilities.