When There Are No Sentient Beings to Deliver, What Do Buddhas Still Do?

There is no world anymore, nothing at all, not even emptiness. The world exists because of people, because of people's karma, because of people's conditions, because of people's power of vows; if there were no people, there would be no karma, no conditions, no power of vows—how could the world exist independently? Sentient beings have the five aggregates and eighteen realms; without the five aggregates, there would be no eighteen realms. When there is no world, it is empty and tranquil, and even that empty tranquility does not exist, because emptiness represents the world, and tranquility represents a state; when there is no world, there is no space and no state.

After sentient beings become Buddhas, there are again no sentient beings to deliver. What do the Buddhas do in their lands and worlds? There is nothing to do, no mind to use; there is only entering meditation, and entering meditation for a long time is not as good as entering nirvāṇa—the outcome is the same, no difference. The arhats no longer engage in any worldly enterprises, so what else could a Buddha do? Entering meditation all day long—what use is entering meditation? Whatever the Buddhas do is of no use, and doing nothing is even more useless; meditation and nirvāṇa are no different. Sentient beings together can still fight with one another, but after becoming a Buddha, the mind is absolutely at peace, with nothing to do.

After becoming a Buddha, there is only one thing that can be done: delivering sentient beings. If there are no sentient beings to deliver, there is nothing at all; after becoming a Buddha, everything is superfluous. So why do we do so many things now? It is equally meaningless. Now that we gather together, what is the point of fighting with one another? What is there to fight over? Nothing is of any use. We should begin now to restrain ourselves: we should not do even one unwholesome dharma as much as possible; we can do wholesome dharmas, but in the end even doing wholesome dharmas is superfluous, and we do not do wholesome dharmas either. Only in this way can the mind become more and more unconditioned, and becoming a Buddha will be faster.