Supreme Wisdom Is Supreme Compassion

 In ancient India, women and children were considered the private property of their husbands and fathers, and men could freely give away or sell their wives and children. The Buddha did not overturn this custom and even allowed his disciples to give away their wives and then renounce household life to pursue the path. The low status of women in ancient times seems highly unreasonable from our modern perspective, yet no women resisted at that time, willingly enduring it. The existence of an unreasonable phenomenon must be underpinned by hidden, reasonable laws of cause and effect, which ordinary beings fail to comprehend, but the Buddha knew. Therefore, the Buddha initially did not permit women to renounce household life to pursue the path. This was not due to a lack of compassion on the Buddha's part, but because such compassion would have shortened the period of the True Dharma by five hundred years, resulting in fewer beings with karmic capacity being liberated. This would have been a loss for Buddhism and for all sentient beings. Ultimately, however, the Buddha had no choice but to accept women into monastic life. Thus, whether compassionate or not, whether virtuous or not—judging by the wisdom of ordinary beings—it is forever impossible to grasp the truth, for the perceptions of sentient beings are inverted. Whatever the Buddha did, it was always compassionate. In all directions—left, right, above, below, east, west—it was compassion. Whether considered from various angles, different circumstances, specific situations, or the overall interests of Buddhism, it was always compassion. Conditions differ, results differ, and thus decisions differ. Therefore, one cannot say that the Buddha was compassionate in this way but not in that way. Whatever the Buddha did was compassionate, due to his great wisdom and great compassion. It is the same for me: whether I respond to beings or not, it is always for the sake of beings, not for personal reasons. My time, energy, and mental strength belong to all sentient beings and to Buddhism, not to me personally. Therefore, everything I do should be for the greater good and the overall interests of Buddhism. If benefiting a portion of people causes harm to the majority, then mental energy cannot be expended solely for that portion. The overall cause of Buddhism must always take precedence over the interests of a part of sentient beings. Those with wisdom must make correct trade-offs, aiming for maximum benefit and rationally investing mental and physical effort. The Saha world encompasses more than just Jambudvipa; Jambudvipa is merely one celestial body within a small world among the three thousand great thousand-worlds of the Saha universe. The entire Saha world contains ten trillion celestial bodies, and everywhere there are beings in need of liberation and salvation. Bodhisattvas belong to all sentient beings throughout the ten directions, not just to beings in one region. The heart of a Bodhisattva should be immensely vast, and their vision should encompass the entire world and universe. Therefore, whether coming to this world or not, it is always for the sake of Buddhism and sentient beings—it is always compassion.