Realizing the Principle of Non-arising Can Eliminate Karma

Among sentient beings, humans find it relatively easier to cultivate the Dharma. In the human realm, suffering and joy are intermingled. Only by knowing suffering can one practice cultivation. If there were only suffering, cultivation would be impossible; if there were only joy, cultivation would also be impossible. It is precisely because there is both suffering and joy that cultivation becomes possible. Therefore, the World-Honored One chose to attain Buddhahood in the human realm. Heavenly beings are too preoccupied with indulging in pleasures and lack the mind to cultivate. Beings in the evil paths—animals are ignorant, unable to comprehend language, and thus cannot cultivate; hungry ghosts lack merit, endure hunger and starvation, and cannot cultivate; hell beings suffer excruciating pain, their minds are obscured, and they lack the heart to cultivate. As the saying goes, "It is difficult for the wealthy to learn Buddhism, and difficult for the poor to practice giving; both are difficult to cultivate." For beings in hell, as long as their suffering does not plunge their consciousness into complete stupor and they retain some capacity for thought, they possess psychic powers, know their karmic actions from past lives, and those who understand principle can regret their past deeds, while those who do not understand principle remain unaware of repentance.

The karmic retribution for falling into hell differs between those who have studied Buddhism and those who have not, and between those who have merit and those who lack merit when falling into hell. The more one understands the principle, the faster one can emerge. Some, upon reaching the gates of hell, recite a verse from the Avatamsaka Sutra: "If one wishes to understand / All Buddhas of the past, present, and future, / One should contemplate the nature of the Dharma Realm: / Everything is created by the mind." Upon realizing that hell is also created by their own mind, they emerge from hell, and the manifestation of hell vanishes from their mind. Thus, understanding the Dharma and comprehending principle is extremely beneficial. By realizing the principle that the five aggregates are empty and illusory, the three fetters are severed, and the karmic causes for the three evil paths are extinguished. Without a self, how could there be the three evil paths? How could there be karma for the three evil paths? All is illusory. How excellent it is to eliminate karma in this way.

In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the World-Honored One eliminated the karma of King Ajatashatru. He explained to him: What is called 'father'? The five aggregates of the father are not the father; no single aggregate alone is the father; nor is the father the combination of them. There is no such dharma as 'father,' no such person as 'father,' and no such person as King Ajatashatru. The karma of patricide is also illusory and unreal. Upon hearing this principle, although King Ajatashatru did not attain the fruit of Arhatship, his hellish karma was eliminated, and he would not fall into hell again.

The elimination of karma in the Mahayana is equally supreme. There is a story of the Bodhisattva Courageous Giving (Yongshi) who committed grave offenses yet awakened to non-arising. The Bhikshu Courageous Giving went to a female donor's house to beg for food. The woman fancied him and wished to engage in illicit relations. He refused. The woman then put a hallucinogenic drug in the food and gave it to him. After eating it, he lost self-control and committed the illicit act, leading to subsequent encounters. When the woman's husband found out, he was furious. The bhikshu told the woman to poison him, and the husband was poisoned to death. Courageous Giving, upon learning of this, was deeply remorseful, knowing he had committed two grave offenses that would surely send him to hell. Distraught and driven mad, he went to seek Manjushri Bodhisattva. Manjushri said, "It is better to let the World-Honored One handle this." The World-Honored One then inquired about the details and used the principle of non-arising to enlighten him, analyzing the illusory nature of all things, including self and others. Upon hearing this, Courageous Giving awakened to the Mahayana principle of non-arising, attained enlightenment, and became a Bodhisattva. The karmic causes for the three evil paths were also eliminated, freeing him from falling into hell to suffer. This is equivalent to repentance through realization of true reality. In the reality of true suchness, there is neither self nor others. How could there be an offender and a victim? How could there be an act of creating karma? Who is the creator of karma? There is none! By carefully contemplating these dharmas, one's wisdom eye opens, and one attains the realization of non-arising.