What Kind of Sentient Beings Can a Bodhisattva Deliver?

A Bodhisattva is an enlightened being, one who is themselves an awakened sentient being. Then, they proceed to awaken other sentient beings, benefiting not only themselves but also others. A Bodhisattva is also a being with a great heart, not seeking personal peace and happiness but wishing for all beings to be free from suffering, possessing a broad and magnanimous mind that embraces everything. Like Maitreya Bodhisattva, whose large belly symbolizes the capacity to tolerate what is difficult for the world to tolerate. In the eyes of a true Bodhisattva, there is no right or wrong, no opposition; their mind is thoroughly penetrating and does not hold grudges against any person, thing, or circumstance. A Bodhisattva sees everything as themselves, as projections of their 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 ripe and who cannot be taught for the time being.

A Bodhisattva observes sentient beings not by their superficial good or evil but focuses on the substance, looking at their roots of goodness, their potential, their merit, their conditions, and their wisdom. Guanyin Bodhisattva often manifests in various forms to guide and transform sentient beings. However, those beings guided by the Bodhisattva are not necessarily superficially good people but those whose conditions have matured. A person whose conditions have matured, even if superficially evil, may possess roots of goodness that are immeasurably deep. Once guided, their capacity to create good can surpass that of minor virtuous people by hundreds of thousands, millions, or even immeasurable times. In the Shurangama Sutra, a courtesan was guided by the World-Honored One to become a Fourth Fruit Arhat, while those virtuous people remained ordinary beings; the monk Yongshi committed grave precept violations but was guided by the World-Honored One to become an enlightened great Bodhisattva, while the precept-holding monks remained ordinary beings. During the Tang Dynasty, there was a hunter who frequently killed deer. When the conditions for his ordination ripened, he encountered a Chan master whose few words of dialogue guided him to become a monk and practice the Way. Soon after, he attained enlightenment and realized the truth.

Therefore, matters of good and evil are difficult to define, and the dispositions of sentient beings are also hard to predict. Often, those seen as evil people, due to their deep roots of goodness and high wisdom, progress very rapidly when encountering conditions for practice; whereas minor virtuous people with obstructed minds, though chasing closely behind, cannot catch up. The Buddha taught that liberation comes from wisdom, and Buddhahood is attained through wisdom; a mind that is thoroughly penetrating and embraces everything is wisdom itself.

Consider our Tathagatagarbha—it never opposes any phenomenon and has always embraced all people, things, and circumstances, regardless of good or evil, right or wrong, good or bad. Whatever sentient beings do, it accommodates everything, letting it all pass. If sentient beings ascend to heaven, it accommodates their ascent; if they descend into the earth, it accommodates their descent. In this way, it perfectly accomplishes all phenomena. It can manifest any phenomenon without the slightest obstruction. It meets straight with straight, meets curved with curved, meets square with square, meets round with round; though its nature is firm and upright, it does not hinder itself from bending with the bend. Only thus can it never be suddenly broken, never be shattered, and never undergo birth or destruction. A thoroughly penetrating mind possesses immeasurable merit, wisdom, and virtuous capabilities.