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Kuang Xuan's Logbook: Difference between revisions
→Entry Sixteen
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I asked my master: '''"If the enlightened save the foolish at cost to themselves, won’t there soon be only fools remaining?"''' | I asked my master: '''"If the enlightened save the foolish at cost to themselves, won’t there soon be only fools remaining?"''' | ||
She told me that question was foolish because it viewed the work of enlightenment as something expressed in costs and benefits. She reminded me that the enlightened linger in the world to aid others in their enlightenment; these are the bodhisattvas, which are so beloved to Mahayana Buddhists. She warned me against the path of the selfish | She told me that question was foolish because it viewed the work of enlightenment as something expressed in costs and benefits. She reminded me that the enlightened linger in the world to aid others in their enlightenment; these are the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva bodhisattvas], which are so beloved to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana Mahayana Buddhists]. She warned me against the path of the selfish [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Ar%C4%81vaka Śrāvaka], who seeks enlightenment only out of fear and need. | ||
<u>But I fear the fearful!</u> I need to protect the future from the needy and selfish! If there were no one left alive, there would be no one to seek enlightenment. How can she sanctify the top of the mountain when we all begin down in the mud at its base? When they are those who would prefer to keep us in the mud and stand upon our backs? | <u>But I fear the fearful!</u> I need to protect the future from the needy and selfish! If there were no one left alive, there would be no one to seek enlightenment. How can she sanctify the top of the mountain when we all begin down in the mud at its base? When they are those who would prefer to keep us in the mud and stand upon our backs? | ||