Who Can Be Free from the Karma of the Three Evil Destinies

Only those who have truly eliminated the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), truly awakened to the true mind, and severed the three fetters can be assured of not falling into the three evil destinies. If one has not truly eliminated the self-view, and merely believes in one's mind that the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) are without self, the three fetters remain unsevered, and the three evil destinies cannot be avoided. The aspiration to propagate the Dharma and deliver sentient beings is precious, but if one has not cultivated genuine realization oneself, one cannot deliver sentient beings out of birth and death; one's own progress on the Path will also be delayed. Once afflictions and delusions manifest, one goes straight to the three evil destinies. Karmic cause and effect depend not only on one's aspiration, but also on the facts.

For those who go to save others before attaining liberation themselves, although they have generated the bodhisattva's aspiration, without genuine attainment on the Path, the consequences are also fearsome. If one has already secured freedom from the three evil destinies, and then comes forth to propagate the Dharma and deliver sentient beings, sacrificing one's own progress on the Path, then it does not matter. Some people will say, "I have eliminated the self-view; I have awakened to the true mind; I can be freed from the three evil destinies." But whether one has truly eliminated the self-view, whether one has truly awakened to the true mind—this is not something one can decide for oneself, nor is it something the person who gives the certification can decide; cause and effect have their own logic.

Some people say that by upholding the five precepts without violation one can attain a human rebirth. Yet the devas of the formless realm maintain a pure mind for eighty thousand great kalpas without committing the slightest unwholesome karma, but when their lives end and the unwholesome karma from beginningless kalpas ago ripens, they fall straight into hell. The same is true for the devas of the desire realm and the devas of the form realm. Even if one commits no unwholesome karma in this life, one has committed great unwholesome karma in beginningless kalpas past, and there is an immense amount of unwholesome karma whose retribution has not yet been received. Once the conditions for that unwholesome karma ripen at the end of life, one transmigrates according to karma, with no ability to direct oneself at all. Only by truly eliminating the self-view and severing the three fetters can the karma leading to the three evil destinies be eradicated. But if one commits further great unwholesome karma, one will still have to undergo retribution in the three evil destinies.