Are karmic obstructions eliminated by the mind consciousness or by the manas?

Karmic obstructions are the obstructions of ignorance—the obstructions to one's own mind brought about by the unwholesome karma created through the power of ignorance. They obstruct one's own mind from obtaining wholesome retribution, wholesome fruits, and even wholesome karma; wholesome dharmas cannot be accomplished, and moreover they obstruct the wise cognition of all dharmas. Ignorance originates first in the manas; the root lies in the ignorance of the manas. The ignorance of the mind consciousness initially all comes from the manas. Under the influence and impetus of the manas's ignorance, the mind consciousness is also tainted by the environment. Once the manas's ignorance is eliminated, the mind consciousness is no longer tainted by the environment, let alone tainted by the manas's ignorance, and thus the mind consciousness becomes pure. The ultimate purity of the mind consciousness is the result of the purity of the manas. If the manas is not pure, it will certainly impel and drive the mind consciousness to engage in impure karma; once defiled karmic seeds are formed, there will be karmic obstructions in future lives. Therefore, all karmic obstructions are eliminated only after the manas becomes pure, because the manas is the originator of it all—as the saying goes, the one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it.

When the manas's merit increases, its meditative concentration strengthens, and its wisdom grows, a portion of ignorance is eliminated, the mental disposition transforms to some degree, a portion of innate afflictive obstruction (kleśāvaraṇa) is removed, and the obstructions to wholesome dharmas, wholesome karma, wholesome fruits, wholesome retribution, and wholesome conditions are partially removed—the obstructions encountered in learning Buddhism are thereby lightened to some extent. The more the manas's ignorance is eliminated, the more the mind becomes pure, the more karmic obstructions are reduced, and the more wholesome karma increases.

At the time of eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), realizing the fruits, and seeing one's true mind and awakening to one's nature, meditative concentration and wisdom greatly increase, and the mental disposition simultaneously undergoes a fundamental transformation. The mind becomes pure, one obtains purity of the dharma eye, and a portion of innate afflictive obstruction is eliminated. In this way, the karma leading to the three evil destinies is accordingly eliminated, signifying that one need no longer undergo suffering retribution in the three evil destinies, and the remaining karma need only be retributed in the human realm. Each time sentient beings attain a kind of meditative absorption (samādhi), a portion of their karmic obstructions is eliminated. This includes the second, third, and fourth fruits of the Small Vehicle, the various checkpoints of the Great Vehicle, as well as attaining the bhūmis, and the first, second, and third bhūmis. When wisdom grows, views and concepts change, the mind changes, and innate afflictive obstruction is eliminated, the corresponding karma is eliminated. Repentance can also eliminate karmic obstructions from past lives, because deep within, the manas recognizes its own ignorance, folly, and afflictions and resolves to correct them; when the mind changes, the corresponding karmic obstructions are eliminated, or a portion of them is eliminated.

Karma is divided into fixed karma and unfixed karma. Fixed karma cannot be diverted and must be retributed before it is exhausted; but unfixed karma can be diverted and does not necessarily require retribution to be exhausted—it may be partially eliminated through repentance, with a portion still undergoing retribution. Even fixed karma can be diverted under special circumstances. Special circumstances refer to when a sentient being's mental power is strong, wisdom is strong, meditative concentration is strong, repentance is earnest and profound, and the mental disposition has been greatly transformed—then the karma is also diverted. If no karma whatsoever could be diverted, and all of it had to be retributed before being exhausted, then no one in the world could become a Buddha. This is because sentient beings' karma is too numerous and too heavy to ever be fully retributed and exhausted. Moreover, if karma could not be diverted, then the repentance of sentient beings would be useless and could not dissolve karmic obstructions.