What is liberating 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 is what saving sentient beings means. Rather, it means raising sentient beings' cultivation to a corresponding degree, so that compared with before there is a substantial improvement—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 mature, one can only engage in long-term permeation and edification, 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, while their minds remain those of ordinary beings—the head and the hands become separated.