On the Withering of Karmic Seeds (Part II)

Question: The principle of the withering of karmic seeds seems to contradict the verse: "Even over hundreds of thousands of kalpas, the karma created does not perish; when conditions converge, the retribution returns to the one who created it." That four-line verse appears to express that karmic seeds are solid and unperishable unless their retribution is experienced. How should this be explained?

Answer: The meaning of this "withering of karmic seeds" is that the habitual force within sentient beings that drives them to create karma, due to a prolonged absence of the conditions for creating such karma, gradually weakens. Eventually, it loses the capacity or the inclination to create karmic actions. It is like a seed that, if stored and unused for a long time, loses its vitality and will no longer take root or sprout. Sentient beings who committed grave offenses and attain rebirth in the Pure Land through the lowest grade are enclosed within a lotus in the Land of Ultimate Bliss for up to twelve great kalpas. There, they immerse themselves in the practice of the Dharma, utterly devoid of any opportunity to create new karma. Ultimately, even the evil tendencies in their minds vanish, and they cease creating karma altogether. Only then can they emerge from the lotus, behold the manifestation body of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, and listen to the Dharma, though they may not yet comprehend it. This lack of understanding is due to the obscurations caused by their past sinful karma.

Because they have been without karmic activity within the lotus for so long, the habitual tendency to create evil karma is gone. Evil actions of body, speech, and mind no longer arise; it has become their habit. Thus, they do not disturb the purity and tranquility of the Land of Ultimate Bliss. However, when they return to the Saha World, the major evil karma they created in the past, upon the ripening of conditions, will still bear retribution, though the retribution will be lighter and not severe. They will not fall into the three evil paths to suffer; they will only experience corresponding lighter suffering within the human realm. This illustrates that grave offenses can be mitigated, and minor offenses can disappear.

The principle of repentance is similar. Through repentance, the seeds of evil karma are either destroyed or weakened, enabling sentient beings to avoid suffering the retribution of evil karma in the future or to experience it only lightly; thus, the karmic seeds vanish. Therefore, not all karmic seeds disappear only through experiencing retribution; many are eliminated through other means. Otherwise, upon attaining Buddhahood, one would never finish experiencing all the evil retributions, making it impossible to become a Buddha.