What Is Karma

Karma, also known as the habitual force of karmic actions, is divided into wholesome karma, unwholesome karma, and karma that is neither wholesome nor unwholesome. For instance, imagine a car driving at full speed towards a dangerous place ahead. The car is moving very fast. The driver realizes the danger ahead and feels he should slow down, brake, and turn around to change direction. However, the car cannot slow down, brake, or change direction due to two reasons. One reason is that although the driver is aware, he lacks the power to act, or his mind is unclear, he is flustered, and his power to act is weak. The other reason is that the car's own inertia is too great, or the brakes have failed. These two reasons cause the car to continue speeding towards the dangerous place.

Although many things are realized, they are not necessarily achievable. Realization means the conscious mind knows, but knowing with the conscious mind does not mean one can act accordingly, because the manas (the root mind) has not made a decisive choice. How then can it be achieved? The vehicle of the five aggregates of sentient beings, propelled by the immense unwholesome karma accumulated since beginningless kalpas, is habitually speeding towards the three evil destinies. Who is the driver or owner of this car? It is, of course, the manas, the sovereign consciousness. To break free from the path leading to the three evil destinies and turn the vehicle towards the three wholesome destinies, towards the Buddha's Pure Land, the driver or owner of the vehicle of the five aggregates is absolutely crucial. Why does the manas drive the car towards the three evil destinies? Some say it is the conscious mind that drives. Then, when the conscious mind ceases, is the vehicle of the five aggregates still running or has it stalled? If the conscious mind is intoxicated, what happens to the car? The conscious mind can only serve as a co-pilot, as a navigator, guiding and urging the driver to steer the wheel properly.

Sentient beings are headed towards the three evil destinies because of the three fetters, which bind the vehicle of the five aggregates on the path to the three evil destinies. In reality, it is the three fetters of the manas driver that cause the manas to drive on the path to the three evil destinies. Therefore, the so-called karma primarily refers to the karma of the manas. When the manas severs the view of self and severs the three fetters, it will turn the vehicle around and steer it onto the wholesome path.

When facing the objects of the six dusts (sense objects), karma manifests. For example, in the presence of wealth and sensual pleasures, the manas of different sentient beings possesses different karmic forces, exhibiting different habitual tendencies towards wealth and sensual pleasures. If the force of unwholesome karma is strong, one will greedily grasp at wealth and sensual pleasures. If the force of wholesome karma is strong, one will disregard wealth and sensual pleasures, or even practice generosity with them. Those with karma that is neither wholesome nor unwholesome will follow conditions and adopt the Middle Way. When the karma of sentient beings manifests, all admonitions fall on deaf ears; they do not enter the mind, they are not heard. If the force of wholesome karma is strong, one remains unstained even in adverse circumstances, does not conform to the corrupt, and maintains a pure mind. He who remains unstained amidst the mud is called a Bodhisattva. If the manas does not alter the force of its unwholesome karma, if afflictions are not subdued, then it is absolutely impossible to sever the view of self, sever the three fetters, and escape the three evil destinies. The Four Right Efforts—to prevent unwholesome states from arising, to abandon arisen unwholesome states, to cultivate wholesome states not yet arisen, and to maintain arisen wholesome states—must be diligently practiced. If unwholesomeness is not severed and wholesomeness is not perfected, one cannot avoid the three evil destinies.