Can Repentance Eliminate Karmic Obstructions?

Repentance may or may not eradicate karmic offenses. Repentance at the superficial level of consciousness cannot eradicate karmic offenses and is largely ineffective. Only repentance involving the deep-seated manas (root consciousness) together with consciousness can eliminate karmic offenses. The extent to which offenses are eradicated depends on the sincerity of the manas. This is because the mental activities of the manas determine karmic seeds. Since the manas utilizes the six consciousnesses to create karmic actions, storing seeds of unwholesome karma, the manas itself must personally repent and transform its mental activities to eliminate some or all of these unwholesome karmic seeds. Repentance at the level of consciousness alone cannot remove the influence of karmic seeds; the seeds are still preserved, and the suffering experienced in future lifetimes remains unavoidable.