The Contest of Good and Evil Karmic Forces

If there is a sentient being whose power of evil karma is extremely great, and although other sentient beings have some wholesome karma, the strength of these wholesome karmic seeds cannot withstand the strength of the evil karmic seeds of this evil sentient being, then the result is that whichever karma is heavier becomes the dominant one that manifests, and all sentient beings will live together with this evil sentient being in a harsh living environment. The karmic seeds output by the tathāgatagarbha of all sentient beings cannot withstand the evil karmic seeds output by the tathāgatagarbha of this evil sentient being, so the final retribution is evil retribution. Consequently, situations arise where melons, fruits, and vegetables fail to harvest, sentient beings have to endure hunger and starvation, and the retribution of poverty manifests.

If there is a great practitioner in a region, and this practitioner's wholesome karmic seeds are relatively heavy and the power of goodness is relatively strong, he too can change the environmental retribution (adhipati-phala) of this region, making melons, fruits, and vegetables grow luxuriantly, the people live in prosperity and well-being, or causing the disasters and obstacles of this region to be eliminated. If the evil karma of the sentient beings in this 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; the sentient beings' evil karma is too severe, so the environmental retribution is dominated by the harsh environment. If there are many genuine 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; whichever of the two forces is stronger becomes the dominant one. If the power of wholesome karma cannot exceed 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 evil retribution. If the power of wholesome karma is relatively strong—for example, in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) 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—then the environmental retribution of that buddha-land is extremely sublime.

The practice of an individual sentient being is the same: it depends on whether this sentient being's evil karma is heavier or the wholesome karma is heavier. At the time of death, whichever karma is heavier, he will be drawn away by that karma. If the karmic potential for the hells is heavy, he will descend into the hells following that heavy evil karma; if the wholesome karma is heavy, he will ascend to the heavens following that wholesome karma. If he makes a vow to be reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī), and his power of vow is very great, with this power of vow far exceeding his power of evil karma, then at the end of his life he will be drawn by this mighty power of vow to the land of bliss, and he will be reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī).