Question asked by jangchub
dear rinpoche i seek to be free from suffering and enlightenment means liberation. why would i want to be a buddha and save all other sentient beings ?is it because buddhahood is the path and if i dont have the aspiration to liberate others i can never negate the self cherishing ego and achieve my own liberation ? the whole point of my seeking the dharma is ultimately to free myself from samsaric suffering..cant i be free and blissed forever in a pureland or in arhatship?
If you want to heal the sick, you need to study and graduate as a doctor otherwise it is wishful thinking.
To be a Buddha is to be liberated from one’s own shackles of delusions and illusions so one can serve others better. Otherwise it us one delusionary being leading another… Being liberated is not ‘liberation’ from the problems of samsara others are enduring. Being liberated is getting one’s ‘degree’ to fully qualify one to benefit others fully and eternally.
When one’s liberated you may appear in a thousand places as a thousand beings (arhat, yidam, beggar, housewife, etc) simultaneously with zero limits of space, time, form and dimensions. You have no borders and parameters.
You only negate your own suffering by having the true motivation of liberating others. Bodhicitta. Without this, liberating others and oneself is just thinking without much causes.