The Contest Between Wholesome and Unwholesome Karmic Power

If there is a sentient being whose power of evil karma is very great, and although other sentient beings have some wholesome karma, the power of the seeds of that wholesome karma cannot withstand the power of the seeds of this evil being's evil karma, then the result is that whichever karma is heaviest will manifest as the dominant one, and all sentient beings will live in a harsh living environment together with the evil being. The karmic seeds output by the tathāgatagarbha of all sentient beings cannot outweigh the evil karmic seeds output by the tathāgatagarbha of this evil being, so the final retribution is an evil retribution. Consequently, situations arise where melons, fruits, and vegetables fail to harvest, and sentient beings must endure hunger and starvation, manifesting the retribution of poverty.

If there is a great practitioner in a region, and this practitioner's wholesome karmic seeds are relatively heavy and the power of goodness relatively strong, he too can change the environmental retribution of that region, making melons, fruits, and vegetables grow luxuriantly, the people live in prosperity and well-being, or eliminating disasters and obstacles from that region. If the evil karma of the sentient beings in that region is too heavy, then this practitioner cannot change the overall harsh environment. Although his wholesome karma is relatively heavy, he cannot withstand the power of the sentient beings' evil karma; when the sentient beings' evil karma is too severe, the environmental retribution is dominated by the harsh environment. If there are many true practitioners in the world, perhaps they could change the world's living environment and improve the environmental retribution of sentient beings.

If the evil karma of sentient beings is extremely heavy, then even if many bodhisattvas come into this world, although the power of the bodhisattvas' wholesome karma is very great, the power of sentient beings' evil karma is also very great. Between these two forces, whichever is stronger will be dominant. If the power of wholesome karma cannot outweigh the power of evil karma, then evil karma dominates. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings outputs evil karmic seeds, and the resulting retribution that manifests is an evil retribution. If the power of wholesome karma is relatively strong—for example, in the Land of Bliss or other Buddha-lands, where the power of the wholesome karma of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas is extremely mighty and there is almost no evil karma at all—then the environmental retribution of that Buddha-land is exceedingly sublime.

The practice of an individual sentient being is the same: it depends on whether this being's evil karma or wholesome karma is heavier. At the time of death, whichever karma is heavier, he will be drawn away by that karma. If his hell karma is heavy, he will descend into hell following the heavy evil karma; if his wholesome karma is heavy, he will ascend to the heavens following the wholesome karma. If he makes a vow to be reborn in the Land of Bliss, and his power of vow is very great—a power of vow far greater than the power of his evil karma—then at the end of his life he will be drawn to the Land of Bliss by this mighty power of vow, and he will be reborn in the Land of Bliss.