How to Repent to Eliminate Karma-Obstacles

Q: How to repent and eliminate karmic obstacles?

A: When initially learning Buddhism, one should follow the repentance and vow texts. Two practices should be emphasized: repentance and making vows. Engage in these frequently, performing them daily before the Buddha to eliminate negative karma, arouse wholesome vows and pure aspirations. Guided by these wholesome vows, spiritual practice will gradually become smoother. Making vows is crucial, and repentance is equally vital. Without repentance, karmic obstacles cause great distress. By repenting daily to eliminate karmic obstructions, body and mind will gradually become lighter and more at ease, and practice will proceed more smoothly.

The morning and evening liturgy contains the repentance texts for the Three Refuges and Five Precepts, as well as the repentance text for the mental faculty that I composed. Using these two repentance texts as references, repent before the Buddha for all negative karma created in past lives—whether major or minor, whether one is certain of having committed it or not—repent for all. Before the Buddha, openly confess the karma created in this present life and vow never to commit it again. Both repentance and vow-making must be sincere, arising from the heart, not reduced to mere formality or superficiality. Only with genuine sincerity can karma be eliminated and the mind purified. Once the mind becomes somewhat purified and habitual afflictions are further transformed, then, guided by pure and great vows, spiritual practice will naturally follow the right path.