In reading Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s 14-volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra – I’m currently on the sixth volume – I’ve been setting aside hundreds of quotes that I want to keep available. By the time I complete the entire commentary I expect to have thousands of quotes. What I’m going to do with it all is unknown. However, I periodically come across something I feel needs to be posted sooner rather than later. This is one such quote.

As we walk the path to Buddhahood, we should do all kinds of good deeds to help us succeed–that is the most important thing. We should do good deeds whenever we can and to the best of our ability. What are good deeds? They are deeds that help and benefit others. Bodhisattvas “benefit themselves and benefit others, awaken themselves and awaken others.” Do these kinds of things.

“I’ve heard that a lot,” you say.

Really? How many times?

“Several dozen times.”

Well, how many times have you put it into practice? Sure, you may have heard so much of “benefiting oneself and benefiting others; awakening oneself and awakening others.” But how much have you put into practice? How many “others” have you benefited? How many “others” have you caused to become awakened? One? Two? Probably none. If you have not even benefited or awakened one or two people, what use is your having heard of it? No use at all. The Path must be followed. Do it truly! Do it sincerely! Plant your feet firmly on the ground and do the work diligently and reliably. What is meant by doing it truly? The same deed can be done differently by different people. Others may do it with the thought of benefiting themselves, but if you can do it with the thought of benefiting others, then you have done it truly.

Some people may understand a matter or a principle and leave it at that, not worrying about whether anyone else understands it. Once you understand it yourself, you should then teach it to others and help them to understand. That is to awaken oneself and awaken others. In general, there are different ways of doing things in this world. One person may be selfish and seek personal benefit, while another person may do nothing but benefit other people. Those who are selfish and seek their own benefit go to the hells. Why? They are simply too selfish and obsessed with personal benefit. Those who benefit others may also go to the hells. Why? They go to rescue living beings in the hells. Their goal is to undergo suffering themselves in order to teach those in the hells how to leave suffering and attain bliss. Earth Store Bodhisattva, for example, is constantly in the hells being a friend to all the hungry ghosts. But he has gone there by choice, with the intention of leading the ghosts from suffering to bliss.

There are a lot of confused people in the world, and I will pass on to them whatever understanding I have. That is called “awakening oneself and awakening others; benefiting oneself and benefiting others.” To sum it up, there are different ways of doing everything. It is like what I just said before: one person may do it to benefit himself, while someone else will do it to benefit others. If you want to know what certain people are like, just observe and see whether what they do is for their own benefit or for the benefit of others. That is what you should take note of.