“It is as the Buddha has explained: ‘It is impossible for someone with bonds to emancipate others from their bonds. It is only possible for someone without bonds to emancipate others from their bonds.’ Therefore, bodhisattvas should not generate bonds.
- “What are bonds, and what is emancipation?
“A desirous attachment to the flavor of meditation is the bond of bodhisattvas; and birth through skillful means is the emancipation of bodhisattvas. “Further, to be without skillful means is to have one’s wisdom in bondage, while to have skillful means is to have one’s wisdom emancipated.
“To be without wisdom is to have one’s skillful means in bondage, while to have wisdom is to have one’s skillful means emancipated.
- “What is it to be without skillful means and one’s wisdom in bondage? It is for bodhisattvas to use affection to ornament the buddha lands and accomplish (the salvation of) sentient beings, to control oneself within (the three emancipations of) emptiness, sign-less-ness, and wish-less-ness. This is called being without skillful means and one’s wisdom in bondage.
“What is it to have skillful means with one’s wisdom emancipated? It is not to use affection to ornament the buddha lands and accomplish (the liberation of) sentient beings, and to control oneself so as to be without aversion within (the three emancipations of) emptiness, signlessness, and wish-less-ness.