The Principle of Eliminating Karma

Some people say: karmic obstructions are like a painting on a wall—if the wall disappears, the picture is gone too.

The body of the five aggregates is like the wall, and karmic obstructions are the afflictions and hindrances on the body of the five aggregates. If the body and mind of the five aggregates become empty, if the mind consciousness and the manas become empty, then karmic formations will naturally be eliminated. Karmic obstructions come toward the body and mind of the five aggregates and attach themselves to them—in fact, they attach to the minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. When the minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses become empty, do the karmic obstructions become empty or not? The karmic obstructions have nothing to attach to; unable to find the body and mind of the five aggregates, they will vanish and disappear—emptied. When the master who created the karma no longer exists, who is there to undergo the karmic retribution? With no one to undergo the retribution, the retribution is ended.

However, it depends on the degree to which the body and mind of the five aggregates have become empty: the more the mind is emptied, the more karmic obstructions are eliminated. The emptiness of a srotāpanna differs from that of a sakṛdāgāmin, the emptiness of a sakṛdāgāmin differs from that of an anāgāmin, and the emptiness of an anāgāmin differs from that of an arhat of the fourth fruit; therefore the elimination of karmic obstructions is also different. But if the karmic obstructions are too heavy, one cannot empty the mind to escape one's debts. For example, if a person owes one million and is reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī), to whom will the creditor demand the one million? If a person owes a debt of one hundred million, the creditor will watch him every moment—can he run off to the land of bliss (sukhāvatī)? He certainly cannot go far; as soon as he moves, the creditor will block his way and not let him leave. Only when the debt is relatively light will the creditor not bother to keep constant watch over him.