What To Do If Karma Is Very Profound

Interactive Q&A with the Grand Master

1)

Question: How can one understand that the karma of all living beings is very profound?

Grand Master:  Let me talk about some more principles about cause and effect, showing that cause and effect are true, Wholesome deeds will be received with good rewards, and unwholesome deeds will be received with evil results. This is the truth.

Since the beginningless of time, we sentient beings have been relying on our physical, verbal, and mind to create bad karma. The karma of all sentient beings is very serious. Sentient beings are initially ignorant and then confused. Due to confusion, we do not know if what we do is good or bad. What is the good thing I should do?  What are the bad things we should not do?  What is good karma? What is bad karma? We do not know at all. Without even knowing it, sentient beings have created a lot of bad karma. These bad karmas cause sentient beings to constantly revolve in the three evil realms and the six realms of reincarnation and suffering, so all sentient beings in the entire reincarnation are in great pain.

However, we believers in Buddhism rely on the kindness of our master, Shakyamuni Buddha, who taught the three turns of the Dharma wheel. The great disciples of the Buddha have successively passed down such extraordinary Dharma. Because of the good deeds we have done in the past, we have now come to this world and encountered Buddhism. We have the opportunity to listen to, think about, and practice the Dharma. This is a great reward.

Many people say, "I am a person with heavy karma and obstacles!"  There should be karma, but there are ways to eliminate it. What can be done? It can be eliminated by truly repenting with the four categories of antidotes. The karma itself is not an unconditional law, but a conditioned law. If you repent properly, it can be eliminated. This is the merit of the karma.

We often practice the virtualization of Vajrasattva Buddha. Although it can be done in the front of the Triple Gem or any Buddha or Bodhisattva.  But Vajrasattva Buddha’s vows before he became a Buddha were different from others, here it is: “After I become a Buddha, if anyone visualizes me and repents in front of me, his karma caused by body action, verbal speech, and thoughts would be quickly eliminated." He had also vowed: "If his karma doesn't disappear soon, I won't become a Buddha," Vajrasattva Buddha had vowed in this way. Now Vajrasattva has become a Buddha, and his vows have been successfully fulfilled. In this case, whether we visualize Vajrasattva Buddha on top of our heads or in front of us, and we repent properly, our karma will be eliminated very quickly.

Mipham Rinpoche wrote a four-sentence compliment to Vajrasattva Buddha. What are the four sentences? "From the beginning-less time to now, our sentient beings have had many karmic obstacles. But by remembering Vajrasattva Buddha in our mind, our karmic obstacles have been eliminated. With such a great blessing, we repeatedly repent in front of you. And prostrate ourselves to you every day." We admired Vajrasattva Buddha so much. So let us not forget Vajrasattva Buddha, virtualize with Vajrasattva Buddha in our mind all the time, and use the four healing powers to repent well.

A lot of sentient beings are in great pain because reincarnation is the sea of suffering. Besides the three evil realms, gods, asuras, and humans are also in pain, very painful. They are constantly in the process of birth, old age, illness, and death. If you go to the hospital today and take a look, you can see life, illness, and death in the hospital. Or if you go to the Sky Burial Platform today, some of the corpses there are newly born children, some are older, and then there are young, older, or very old bodies. No one can escape death, and no one can do anything about reincarnation. This is impermanent, and everyone knows it.

2)

Question: How to understand the merit of suffering?

Grand Master: Among birth, old age, illness, and death, the main reason is that it is too painful, but pain has the merit of pain. What merit does suffering have?

If you don't feel any pain at all, you won't have any renunciation. Why? Heavenly beings do not have clear pain for the time being. If there is no pain, they often dance and sing. In this way, they are always in the process of distraction. Many great tribulations have passed like this without practicing any Dharma. When he knew that he was going to die soon, he left by himself because many of his friends were unwilling to pay attention to him. This was already a great pain.

So we say suffering has merit, why? When we are human beings, our suffering is very clear. The suffering is very great. If there is suffering, we will think: "Oh, I am in so much suffering! How can I deal with this suffering?" Then we start to rely on the Three Jewels and rely on the Buddha's teachings. The Buddhist teachings - how to get rid of pain, how to be liberated, the Buddhist scriptures explain it very clearly, and then start practicing renunciation. This is the merit of pain.

When Shakyamuni Buddha started spinning the Dharma wheel, what was his first sentence? "Sentient beings in reincarnation must understand your suffering. This is the truth of suffering." Where does the pain come from? Suffering comes from both affliction and karmic obstacles. If you don't want to be in such pain, you must practice the Dharma well, get rid of worries, eliminate karma, and then generate renunciation. Practice slowly. Later, you will be liberated and become a Buddha. This practice begins with understanding pain.

Therefore, suffering has merit, and one's own suffering is based on the common law. From a different Mahayana perspective, my own pain is truly unbearable. Then observe the reason why you can't bear the pain through your feelings, "Oh, all living beings are like this, and they can't bear it. In this case, slowly change your feelings for others, and others can't bear it either.

Fish, chickens, pigs, dogs, cows, people... all living beings, big and small, suffer, and they can't bear it, they are also in pain." In this case, I don’t want to suffer, and all other living beings don’t want to suffer. Therefore, I want to be compassionate, and I also want to help remove the suffering of all living beings. My own suffering is too small. It is my own suffering, also feeling pain as a human being is not that serious. Because the pain of hell, hungry ghosts, and other lives are too great, this pain is too serious, I must practice by equalizing myself and others, exchanging myself with others, emphasizing others over self, and then slowly cultivating the Mahayana. Dharma, in this way bodhicitta arises, so the merits of suffering are like this.

3)

Question: How do I practice the path to liberation?

Grand Master: Sakyamuni Buddha said: "Where can we practice the path of liberation? The path of liberation should be cultivated when the person has the precious human body." Other living beings reborn in hell have no way to practice the Dharma. The same goes for evil ghosts and other beings. They cannot practice the Dharma. Asuras also cannot practice the Dharma. They often have hatred and jealousy and often fight. Their life spans pass in these bad states. Their chance to practice Dharma is also gone. Among gods and heaven beings, as I just said, there is no such clear suffering. In this way, renunciation has no causes and conditions to arise. So who can practice Dharma?  Only by reincarnating as a human being can we practice renunciation, achieve liberation, and become a Buddha. This opportunity is only available to us in this precious human body. The precious human body has such great benefits and merits. Don’t forget it. Therefore, you must not waste your very important precious human body. Don’t waste such precious time. Always seize the opportunity to listen, think, and practice the Dharma, and then continue to diligently cultivate and improve on it.