On the Principle of the Withering of Karmic Seeds (I)

The principle of the withering of karmic seeds is profound upon profound; only a very deep wisdom of the varieties of paths can comprehend the deep meaning herein. Before every sentient being attains buddhahood, all obstructions of evil karma must be fully undergone, fully retributed, and completely exhausted, with not even a trace remaining; only then can one become a Buddha. As long as even a tiny bit of evil karma still exists and has not been eliminated, one cannot become a Buddha. The evil karma that sentient beings have created since beginningless kalpas—must it all be retributed before buddhahood in order to be eliminated? That is impossible. Because the evil karma created since beginningless kalpas is truly far too much, as numerous as dust motes; if it all had to be retributed in order to be eliminated, then three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas would certainly not be enough to undergo it all—such an immense span of time could not exhaust or fully retribute it. Yet every Buddha has cultivated for only three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, and their evil karmic seeds have all been exhausted. So how were these karmic seeds exhausted?

Some karmic seeds, due to the circumstance of not manifesting for a long time, gradually wither and disappear on their own; in particular, relatively small evil karmic seeds wither and disappear more easily, whereas very large evil karmic seeds cannot wither away—they must be fully retributed during the bodhisattva stages; or heavy karma is transformed into light karma, with heavy offenses lightly retributed and thereby eliminated. All evil karma must be completely exhausted before one can become a Buddha. Many great bodhisattves, when they come to the human world, still have to undergo the retribution of evil karma—that is unavoidable. On the other hand, during the course of cultivation, bodhisattvas continuously accumulate wholesome karma, so that life after life their wholesome karma far exceeds their evil karma; the conditions for the arising of relatively small evil karmic seeds are always incomplete. After an infinitely long time, the manas constantly accords with wholesome karmic seeds and does not accord with evil karmic seeds, and the mind-ground gradually becomes purified; the seeds from long, long ago wither and disappear.

As for some smaller evil karmic seeds, if they long lack the opportunity to manifest, the karmic seeds will certainly wither. As for the evil and inferior habits of the manas, if they long lack the opportunity to express themselves, and then good and wholesome habitual tendencies are formed, the original evil habits will also disappear. The karmic seeds that can be eliminated refer to the actions created by body, mouth, and mind in past lives as seeds, which have already been stored in the tathāgatagarbha; in the future, upon encountering conditions, they will manifest as evil retributive results, and the retribution can only be realized when the causes and conditions ripen. What we need to do is, through repentance to dissolve karmic obstructions and by performing great wholesome karma greater than the evil karma of past lives, have the seeds of wholesome karma always manifest, so that evil karma has no opportunity to manifest, letting us always receive wholesome retribution and not receive, or receive little, evil retribution; when we have the capacity to bear it in the future, we then undergo the evil retribution—at that time, undergoing evil retribution will not be a very painful matter, and we will be fully able to bear it.