What Do the Buddhas Do When There Are No Sentient Beings to Save?

When there is no world, there is nothing at all—not even emptiness. The world exists because of people, because of people's karma, because of people's conditions, and because of the power of people's vows; if there were no people, there would be no karma, no conditions, no power of vows—how could the world exist on its own? Sentient beings have the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) and the eighteen realms; without the five aggregates, there would be no eighteen realms. When there is no world, it is empty and still—yet even that emptiness and stillness would not exist, because emptiness represents the world, and stillness 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 liberate. 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 would be no better than entering nirvāṇa, for the outcome is the same, with no difference. The arhats no longer engage in any worldly enterprises, so what could the Buddha still do? Entering meditation all day long—what use is that? 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 squabble with one another, but after becoming a Buddha, the mind is absolutely at peace, with nothing to do.

After becoming a Buddha, the only thing left to do is liberate sentient beings. If there are no sentient beings to liberate, then there is nothing at all to do—after becoming a Buddha, everything is superfluous. So why do we now do so many things? It is equally meaningless. Now that we gather together, what is the point of struggling and 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 a single unwholesome dharma as far as possible; we may practice wholesome dharmas, but in the end even practicing wholesome dharmas becomes superfluous, and one no longer does even wholesome dharmas. Only in this way can the mind become increasingly non-active (asaṃskṛta), and only thus can Buddhahood come quickly.