What Is Delivering Sentient Beings?

So-called saving sentient beings does not mean that one must, in a single stroke, save beings burdened with deep afflictions and karmic obstructions so that they become sages—that alone counts as saving sentient beings. Rather, it means raising beings' cultivation to a corresponding level, achieving a substantial improvement compared with the past—that is enough; it is impossible for them to become sages all at once. The result of forcing growth by pulling up seedlings is to save beings to their death, saving them into the three evil destinies, with Buddhism destroyed. When the causes and conditions for becoming a sage are not yet mature, one can only nurture them through long-term permeation, until they approach the character of a sage; only then can one save them to transcend the ordinary person. Saving people with eagerness for quick success can only save their heads off, while the mind remains that of an ordinary person—the head and the hands become separated.