Who Can Avoid the Karma of the Three Evil Realms?

Only those who have genuinely severed the view of self and awakened to the mind, thereby cutting off the three fetters, can guarantee they will not fall into the three evil destinies. If one has not truly severed the view of self but merely mentally believes that the five aggregates are devoid of a self, the three fetters remain uncut, and descent into the three evil destinies is unavoidable. The aspiration to propagate the Dharma and liberate sentient beings is noble, but if one has not yet attained realization oneself, one cannot truly liberate beings from birth and death, while one's own path is also delayed. Once afflictions and ignorance manifest, it leads directly to the three evil destinies. Karma depends both on the initial motivation and on the actual facts.

Those who attempt to liberate others before liberating themselves, though their aspiration may be that of a Bodhisattva, lack genuine realization, and the consequences are formidable. Only after one has secured liberation from the three evil destinies oneself, then emerging to propagate the Dharma and liberate sentient beings, sacrificing one's own path progress, does it become inconsequential. Some may claim, "I have severed the view of self, I have awakened to the mind, I am free from the three evil destinies." However, whether one has truly severed the view of self or genuinely awakened to the mind is not determined by oneself, nor is it determined by whoever confers the confirmation; karma itself has its own principles.

Some say that merely upholding the five precepts without transgression guarantees rebirth in the human realm. Yet, heavenly beings in the Formless Realm maintain mental purity for eighty thousand great kalpas, creating not a single trace of evil karma, yet when their life ends, evil karma from beginningless kalpas ripens, causing them to fall directly into hell. Likewise for heavenly beings in the Form Realm and the Desire Realm. If one creates no evil karma in this life, it does not negate the grave evil karma accumulated throughout beginningless kalpas, of which there remains an immense amount yet to bear fruit. At life's end, once those karmic conditions ripen, one immediately follows the karma into rebirth, utterly devoid of autonomous control. Only by truly severing the view of self and cutting off the three fetters can one eradicate the karma leading to the three evil destinies. However, if one subsequently creates grave evil karma, one will still descend into the three evil destinies to undergo retribution.