Monks and other Buddhists practioners around the world frequently recite what is called the Four Great Vows, starting with "Beings are numberless; I vow to free them," or some similar variation of those words.
In my experience, most people, at least here in North America, recite those words without much thought about what it is they are actually vowing to do. How can one person free numberless beings? And free them from what?
My interpretation is we can free them from our own delusional perception that the numberless beings are individual things somehow separate from ourselves and from each other. In place of seeing all beings as either assets or impediments to our pleasure, we can fulfill the vow by freeing the numberless beings, including all appearances and all forms, by embracing them, meeting them just as they appear, and not merely using them for our own purposes. In so doing, we free them from our own clutching minds.
For those interested, this is discussed in further detail in a great dharma talk posted on line by Upaya Zen Center here.
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