Fearing an Evil Reputation and Not Fearing an Evil Reputation Are Both a Protection for Sentient Beings

Original text of the Sūtra on the Mindful Contemplation of the True Dharma, Volume Sixty-One: 如是恶人。比丘一切不应亲近。何以故。近如是人。失比丘法。世间之人。作如是念。如是比丘。近如是人。必与同行。与如是人习近共行。生一切人如是之念。是故比丘当畏恶名。不应与此不净业人同路。行于一足之地。
Explanation: Why does the Buddha require bhikṣus to avoid wicked people and to dread a bad reputation? Because a bhikṣu is a monastic who represents the Three Jewels and is the refuge for sentient beings. If a bhikṣu walks together with wicked people, his reputation will be affected, he will be shunned by sentient beings, causing sentient beings to no longer venerate the Three Jewels, to no longer respect and trust the Three Jewels, and even to slander the Three Jewels and commit evil karma. Therefore the Buddha instructed bhikṣus to avoid all the aforementioned kinds of wicked people, so as not to be implicated, fall into a bad reputation, and invite ridicule from sentient beings. Thus all of a bhikṣu's conduct should conform to the Vinaya discipline and to proper standards. If it is for the sake of delivering sentient beings, one should also find ways to avoid causing other sentient beings to misunderstand; where misunderstanding might arise, or where matters cannot be explained clearly, one should avoid letting others know. This is like an adult doing something: if a child simply cannot understand it no matter what, given the child's level of intelligence, then one should try to avoid it and not let the child know. Sentient beings are just like children—what can be done? They will be fine once they grow up.
As for bodhisattvas who are to deliver sentient beings, if these wicked people's karmic conditions have ripened and they too need to be delivered, then skillful means and appropriate methods are required, doing one's best to avoid misunderstanding and slander from sentient beings. In such matters, those with insufficient wisdom cannot handle them tactfully; only those of great wisdom can accomplish them, because sentient beings, with their various afflictions and ignorance, are very difficult to deal with. If a wicked person's karmic conditions are not yet ripe, then avoid them when possible and go do more important things; since one's energy is limited, one should make choices, using wise discernment to select whatever brings the greatest benefit.
The Buddha required bhikṣus to dread a bad reputation, while requiring lay bodhisattvas not to dread a bad reputation—both are for the sake of protecting sentient beings; it is merely that the ways of handling problems differ. But although bodhisattvas do not dread a bad reputation, they must still exercise wise discernment. It cannot be that because they do not dread a bad reputation, they care about nothing at all, disregarding the interests of sentient beings and of Buddhism, letting Buddhism bear a bad name, causing large numbers of sentient beings to ridicule the Three Jewels and commit all kinds of evil karma. Therefore those who propagate the Dharma must be pure in body and mind, with light afflictions, selfless and without self, putting the overall interests of Buddhism first and the interests of sentient beings first, guiding sentient beings back onto the correct path through pure bodily, verbal, and mental actions. They must not pollute sentient beings or add more afflictions to them, turning the delivery of sentient beings into harming them.
For laypeople practicing the bodhisattva path, deliver those who can be delivered as much as possible, and influence with wholesome dharma those who can be influenced as much as possible. As long as one remains vigilant in one's mind against being assimilated or adversely influenced, the merit is immense! The Buddha did not let bhikṣus openly walk together and associate with wicked people, for fear that sentient beings would misunderstand and ridicule them, and further slander the Three Jewels. Because the monastic identity is special, representing the Three Jewels and being the refuge for sentient beings, one must not invite ridicule and slander from sentient beings. If a bhikṣu's self-discipline is not strong, if he has not yet delivered himself and his mind is not at peace, then he should indeed stay far away from wicked people and wicked matters, so as to avoid being influenced and assimilated by them.
Those who have not severed their afflictions, whether monastic or lay, are easily influenced by the unwholesome. Even after enlightenment, with one careless moment, one can still be influenced by the unwholesome. If one can maintain meditative concentration and vigilance, and has wisdom, then one is not easily influenced. Being completely free from influence occurs only at the Buddha-stage; bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above are influenced only extremely slightly, while those from the first to the seventh bhūmi are influenced somewhat more. Pre-bhūmi bodhisattvas who wish to avoid being influenced simply cannot do it, because they have not severed the root of afflictions—let alone ordinary beings. So when a person is in a pure community, they can be influenced toward some purity; in a defiled community, the mind unconsciously becomes defiled along with it—this is unavoidable. I too fear being influenced; from childhood to adulthood, even until now, I have been influenced. Therefore I strenuously avoid people with heavy afflictions; even if I am not influenced by them, I still have to exert effort to refuse and resist, and both sides end up unhappy. For bodhisattvas who have severed their afflictions, what influences them are only minor defilements of the branches and leaves; after studying Buddhism, these are shaken off quickly and do not affect the root. Once a transgression is confessed and repented, it is settled, and the retribution received is also light.