Question: Some remark to Buddhists that ‘你不入地狱，谁入地狱?’ (If you do not enter the hells, who will enter the hells?), asking Buddhists to make sacrifices to benefit others, including themselves. How should Buddhists respond?
Answer: The actual saying is ‘我不入地狱，谁入地狱?’ (If I do not enter the hells, who will enter the hells?). The person in focus to have selfless sacrifice should be oneself, not someone else. To demand others to sacrifice for oneself is selfish instead, missing the point and not encouraged.
Although not worded so formally, the saying expresses the spirit of Earth Treasury Bodhisattva (地藏菩萨), as summarised in the Táng Translation Of The Earth Treasury Sūtra’s Preface《唐译地藏经跋》by Bhikṣu Xìng’ān (比丘性安) — ‘若夫众生度尽，方证菩提；地狱未空，誓不成佛。’ (If these sentient beings are delivered completely, then realising Bodhi. If the hells are yet to be empty, vowing to not accomplish Buddhahood.)
The meaning of the saying in question is not to personally do any evil for oneself or others, leading to entering of the hells; it is about having the firm resolution as a Bodhisattva to enter the hells, to help guide hell-beings leave them. This entering of the hells is not only not evil, it is great good.
Of course, the Buddha’s teachings discourage all from doing evil to become hell-beings, while they commend the Bodhisattva vow of entering even the hells. That said, most of us are not ready to be Great Bodhisattvas (大菩萨) like Earth Treasury Bodhisattva yet, while we try to emulate him to the extent we can now.
While Earth Treasury Bodhisattva’s sacrificial spirit is lauded, the truth is, being a Great Bodhisattva without fixation on self, there is no real sense of ‘self-sacrifice’, as this ‘self’ is already truly sacrificed; let go of! This is what to truly cultivate towards — to be selfless for the welfare of all instead of selfish for oneself only.
Also to note, as one’s self-created evil karmas can only be borne by oneself, one cannot really ‘substitute sentient beings to go through their hellish suffering’s karmas’ (替代众生的地狱苦业) literally. However, one can attempt to alleviate their suffering with sharing of blessings and offering of guidance on how to be delivered.
Related Article:
佛菩萨如何救度地狱众生？
How Do Buddhas And Bodhisattvas Save And Deliver Hell-Beings?
https://thedailyenlightenment.com/2022/07/how-do-buddhas-and-bodhisattvas-save-and-deliver-hell-beings
