To be sentient means to have troubles. The so-called awareness of living beings, the first thought recognizes different trees and rocks! This sentient being is the first thought of all sentient beings! Because if there are worries, there must be an end to them, and only then can we achieve supreme Bodhi! Trouble is the seed, the seed that initiates Bodhi! That’s why Buddhahood occurs! Being ruthless means having no worries. If there were no worries, there would be no freedom from worries and no worries, and there would be no Three Vehicle Saints born because of the defeat of worries. In other words, if there were no worries, there would be no seeds of the holy path, and there would be no Bodhi to cultivate. Even if there is no emotion, there is no seed, because without the seed nature of the Three Vehicles, there will be no fruition of the Three Vehicles! Of course, the three vehicles are also expedients. If they are truly said, sentient beings are liberated. However, there is only one Buddha vehicle, and there are no other two vehicles!
The explanation of the whole sentence is: Because sentient beings have troubles, there are seeds for getting rid of troubles, ending troubles, and attaining the path of Buddhahood. Because of this cause, only the fruit of becoming a Buddha can be achieved. To put it bluntly, it means that afflictions are the cause of becoming a Buddha! If it is ruthless, it means that there are no worries, such as earth, wood, metal, and stone. Because there are no worries, there will naturally be no such thing as ending the worries and attaining the holy path. Because he has no worries, in fact, he does not have the nature to become a Buddha. Naturally, he will not have the troubles. There is no such thing as becoming a Buddha!
So there is a classic saying in Zen Buddhism: troubles are Bodhi. To put it bluntly, troubles are the seeds of Bodhi. If you can break through troubles, gain great freedom, enter the emptiness of nature, and enter the first truth, you can become a Buddha!