The Origin of Beginningless Greed, Hatred, and Delusion

Question regarding the Repentance Verse: "All evil karmas created in the past, arising from beginningless greed, hatred, and delusion, born from body, speech, and mind, I now entirely repent." Who does the "beginningless greed, hatred, and delusion" in the second line refer to?

Answer: The greed, hatred, and delusion that have persisted since beginningless kalpas, continuing right up to the present—could that possibly be the consciousness? Consciousness has only existed for a few decades. The mental faculty (manas) is immeasurably old, countless ages, immeasurable kalpas. Whose greed, hatred, and delusion could this be? The greed, hatred, and delusion of consciousness can be subdued through persuasion and education; understanding the principle comes quickly, and subjugation is easy. It wouldn't necessitate years of repentance that still fails to eradicate it. Some evil karmas of greed, hatred, and delusion require, after repentance, the manifestation of auspicious signs or good omens—such as a Buddha touching one's head or the Buddha's light shining upon one—to be eliminated. How deeply rooted must this greed, hatred, and delusion evil karma be? Could it be the greed, hatred, and delusion of consciousness? How could the hatred of consciousness be this severe?

Before taking monastic precepts, one repents of sinful karmas for a long time. Most people still cannot repent sufficiently to eradicate their evil karmas, resulting in either being unable to receive the precepts, falling ill, or even dying on the spot. Before receiving the Bodhisattva precepts, one must repent of the sinful karmas accumulated since beginningless kalpas. Even for taking the Three Refuges and Five Precepts, repentance is necessary to eliminate some sinful karmas and obtain the precept substance (śīla-saṃvara). If repentance is not pure, one cannot obtain the precept substance. A monastic without the precept substance is not a true monastic. Without obtaining the precept substance for the Bodhisattva precepts, one is not a Bodhisattva. Without the protection of the precept substance, there is no barrier (āvaraṇa) when breaking precepts; one transgresses very easily. In future lifetimes, there is even less of a barrier; when breaking precepts, one doesn't even know one has broken them, thinking it is perfectly normal. The reason for this is the lack of the protective barrier provided by the precept substance.