Manifesting Genghis Khan

Someone once asked my teacher Maezumi Roshi, "If all beings are
Buddha, how about someone like Genghis Khan or Adolf Hitler? Are they
Buddhas, too?" What Maezumi Roshi answered was interesting and
challenging. He said, "When you start a painting, you have a blank
piece of paper, a brush, and ink. With that blank piece of paper,
everything is possible. The minute we start painting, we create one
of the countless possibilities. That is our life, moment to moment."
His point is that the whole spectrum of human existence exists in
every one of us. We have the potential to manifest Genghis Khan, and
we have the potential to manifest the Buddha, and everything in
between. And we do.

We are constantly painting. Life is constantly unfolding. Definitely,
my life of thirty years ago is not what my life is today. Everything
changes. Each one of us is in a  constant state of becoming. Nothing
is fixed. That is the most exciting thing about this life. No matter
how bad it is, it is going to change. No matter how good it is, it is
going to change. And we never know which way it is going to unfold.
It keeps the hair on the back of your neck erect. You have to be
alert, ready, and open.

--The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism,
John Daido Loori