Deeply Believe in Cause and Effect, Be Cautious in Words and Deeds

The karma of sentient beings includes fixed karma and unfixed karma. Fixed karma can, through certain causes and conditions, become unfixed karma, and unfixed karma can also, through certain methods and means, be made to disappear. Many karmas do not necessarily have to be eliminated through the form of receiving retribution; karma can also be eliminated through repentance. Especially after attaining the Way, once one clearly understands the principles of conventional truth and ultimate truth, the karma eliminated is both greater in quantity and greater in magnitude. When the mind changes, all karma will change; all dharmas are created by the mind alone—the key lies in whether the mind of sentient beings is pure. However, major fixed karma cannot be changed and cannot be resolved through repentance; only after the retribution has been received can the karmic seeds be eliminated. Major evil karma will severely obstruct one's progress on the Path, hindering one from seeing the Way and realizing the Way, and in the future one will certainly fall into the three evil destinies to suffer for long kalpas. Therefore, everyone should subdue their afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion, and avoid creating great evil karma, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

After the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and seeing the mind and one's nature, when one awakens to the principle of non-arising and possesses the wisdom of patience with non-arising and the wisdom of patience with the non-arising of dharmas, the karma of the three evil destinies can be eliminated, and the painful retribution of the three evil destinies will be transformed so that one only experiences some residual suffering among humans, and then the retribution comes to an end. Because karma is subject to arising and ceasing, and is not originally fixed and permanently existent—whatever has arising must have a time of ceasing—any dharma produced by the conditioned five aggregates (pañca-skandha), being a dharma with arising, must cease; it is not truly existent and unchanging forever. As long as it is a false and illusory dharma, it can all undergo change. Therefore, in our cultivation we must actively change our minds through repentance and various other means, allowing the mind to gradually transform toward tranquility (praśama); then the karmic seeds can also undergo change.

However, to make karmic seeds that have already been created completely disappear is rather unlikely; at most one can only lighten some obstructions of sin, just like a broken jade vessel—no matter how it is repaired, there will still be cracks; or like water that has been splashed out—no matter what, it is difficult to fully take back. All these laws of cause and effect are implemented by the tathāgatagarbha, yet the tathāgatagarbha does not act as a master or controller. Although the manas can act as a master, the manas cannot persuade the tathāgatagarbha to make accommodations, because the tathāgatagarbha has not the slightest gap—words cannot get in; it is neither swayed by sentiment, nor versed in worldly ways; it is impartial and incorruptible, implementing cause and effect only according to its fixed procedures. For this reason, even many post‑bhūmi bodhisattvas (bhūmika bodhisattva) must also endure the painful retribution of cause and effect.

As for the complexity of these causes and effects, post‑bhūmi bodhisattvas, through their wisdom of the consciousness-only seeds, can observe only a small portion; only a Buddha can know it completely. Therefore, deeply believing in cause and effect is extremely difficult. Ordinary people only harbor a mentality of taking chances, and most of the time they are unaware and ignorant of cause and effect. Only bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis, because they can observe and clearly understand the principles of the tathāgatagarbha's functioning, can deeply believe in cause and effect and dare not recklessly create karmic actions; all other people are mostly in darkness and confusion. For the sake of advancing our own progress on the Path and having less painful retribution, we must be cautious in speech and action at all times, keeping ourselves lowly. Especially when it comes to the Mahāyāna Three Jewels, and to the Mahāyāna tathāgatagarbha dharma, we must be careful and careful again. When we lack wisdom, we should respectfully remain silent, lest we create great evil karma and be left with endless regret.