The Contest Between the Karmic Forces of Good and Evil

If there is a sentient being whose unwholesome karma is extremely potent, while other sentient beings possess some wholesome karma, yet the strength of these wholesome karmic seeds cannot overcome the power of the unwholesome karmic seeds of this evil being, then the outcome is determined by whichever karma is weightier; that karma becomes predominant and manifests. Consequently, all sentient beings will live together with the evil being in a harsh and adverse living environment. The karmic seeds output by the tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) of all sentient beings cannot match the unwholesome karmic seeds output by the tathāgatagarbha of this evil being. The final retribution is then unwholesome, resulting in situations like crops failing to yield, causing sentient beings to suffer from hunger and manifesting the retribution of poverty.

If there is a great practitioner in a certain region, whose wholesome karma is relatively weightier and whose wholesome power is comparatively strong, they can also alter the retribution of the environment in that area, causing fruits and vegetables to grow abundantly, enabling the people to live in prosperity, well-being, and peace, or eliminating disasters and obstacles from that region. However, if the unwholesome karma of the sentient beings in that area is too heavy, then this practitioner cannot change the overall adverse environment. Although their wholesome karma is relatively strong, they cannot overcome the power of the collective unwholesome karma of the beings; the unwholesome karma of the beings is too severe, so the environmental retribution manifests primarily as a harsh environment. If there were many true practitioners in the world, perhaps they could change the world's living environment, improving the environmental retribution for sentient beings.

If the unwholesome karma of sentient beings is extremely heavy, even if many Bodhisattvas come to this world, although the power of the Bodhisattvas' wholesome karma is immense, the power of the sentient beings' unwholesome karma is also immense. The outcome depends on which of the two forces is stronger; whichever force is stronger becomes predominant. If the power of wholesome karma is not greater than that of unwholesome karma, then unwholesome karma prevails. The tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings outputs unwholesome karmic seeds, and the resultant manifestation is unwholesome retribution. Conversely, if the power of wholesome karma is stronger, such as in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Sukhāvatī) or other Buddha-lands, where the wholesome power of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is exceedingly great and there is almost no unwholesome karma, then the environmental retribution of those Buddha-lands is supremely magnificent.

The same principle applies to the practice of an individual sentient being: it depends on whether that being's unwholesome karma or wholesome karma is heavier. At the time of death, whichever karma is heavier pulls them along. If the karma for hell is heavy, they descend to hell following the heavy unwholesome karma. If wholesome karma is heavy, they ascend to the heavens following the wholesome karma. If they vow to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and this vow power is extremely great, far surpassing the power of their unwholesome karma, then at the end of life, they are drawn by this powerful vow power to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and they will be reborn there.