Can Karmic Retribution Disappear?

Sentient beings create evil karma life after life, and the retribution is rebirth in the six realms of saṃsāra. If karmic results could not disappear, there would be no end to the cycle of the six realms, and sentient beings could never become Buddhas. But the facts are not like this. Why is it that after attaining realization of the fruits, the three fetters are severed and one never falls into the three evil destinies again? Before attaining the fruits, there were still countless karmic seeds of the three evil destinies that had not yet manifested, and the karmic results had not yet been experienced—where did those karmic seeds go? When sentient beings create evil karma, the Buddha requires them to eliminate karma through repentance, and then they need not undergo evil retribution. So where did that evil karma go? If cause and effect must necessarily be realized, then which sentient being could ever become a Buddha?

All dharmas, apart from the tathāgatagarbha, are illusory and unreal, just like things in a dream. The things in a dream vanish upon waking, and all the actions performed in the dream no longer require any accountability after waking. What is illusory has no karmic results, and after waking one will no longer create evil karma and will no longer be deluded. But in the dream it is different: if one performs karmic actions in the dream, one must bear the retribution.

When one eradicates the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and attains realization of the fruits, that is the first time one wakes up from the dream; seeing the mind (enlightenment) is waking up once again; attaining the contemplation of illusion is waking up once again; attaining the contemplation of mirage is waking up once again; attaining the contemplation of dream is waking up once again; attaining realization of each dharma is waking up once again. Entering the first bhūmi is waking up once again, entering the second bhūmi is waking up once again, until attaining Buddhahood, when one completely and fully wakes up from the dream—this time it is thorough awakening, and from then on one never enters a dream again, and there is no dream state anymore. So does the evil karma created in the dream still exist? The people, events, and things in the dream—do they still exist after waking? None of them exist anymore; they have vanished, utterly untraceable. In the Buddha's mind there is a vast emptiness where no dharma exists at all. What cause and effect would the Buddha still need to requite, and how could He requite it? If the skin does not exist, where can the hair attach itself? If karmic results have no people, events, things, or principles to attach to, where would the karmic results be?

When the Buddha teaches the Dharma for sentient beings, it is to let us fully recognize that we are all dreaming, that all dharmas are within the dream. Outside the dream, all dharmas do not exist; as long as one wakes up, there is nothing at all—no good deeds, no evil deeds. The Buddha's Dharma is nothing more than breaking through delusion. When the mind is not deluded, that is enlightenment; with enlightenment, there is nothing more to it.

I am not real, you are not real, events are not real, principles are not real. Having recognized these principles and realized these principles, are there still real people, events, things, and principles? No. Are there still any karmic results? No. Karmic results are also among events and principles, also illusory and unreal, and they all vanish upon waking. When one is partially awake, a portion vanishes; when thoroughly awake, all wholesome and unwholesome karmic results vanish completely. When one attains realization of the fruits, is one not awakened to a small portion? Having preliminarily realized the principle of no-self—no six faculties, no six sense objects, no six consciousnesses—are the three evil destinies, along with evil karma and its karmic results, not contained within the six faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses? They certainly are. Then those matters no longer exist, and a small portion of the karmic results has vanished.

If one's realization of the Dharma is extremely deep and the principles one understands are extremely profound, then the degree of awakening is very great, and one will realize that even more events and principles are unreal; more events and principles vanish, and more evil karma is eliminated. Once one awakens and becomes enlightened, one knows: where are there any real causes and effects? Where are there any real self, person, sentient beings, and life span? Where are there any wholesome or unwholesome karmic actions? Having realized these, a portion of the karmic seeds vanishes.

If one were as awake as the Buddha, perceiving all dharmas as the Buddha does, then all evil karmic seeds would be completely eliminated—where would there be even a trace of evil karmic retribution? There would be none. But in order to keep sentient beings from creating evil karma, the Buddha will also, for the sake of sentient beings, manifest as if having evil karmic retribution, to alert sentient beings. This is acting out a play in order to save sentient beings. The Buddha's countless kalpas of transforming sentient beings have all been acting; the Buddha is the best and greatest actor, the finest teacher. Everything He does is to awaken the deluded minds of sentient beings and let them wake up. Apart from this, what personal self-interest could the Buddha have? Absolutely none—completely without self.