In Mahayana Buddhism, All Karma Is Unfixed

Some people raise a doubt: those who have committed evil deeds their entire lives, such as the beings reborn in the three lower grades of the Pure Land (all of whom are evil-doers)—why are such beings able to be reborn there? This is a question that Bodhisattva Nagarjuna takes up in his teachings.

The mind that recites the Buddha’s name at the moment of death—especially when the hell realm manifests before one, the desperate, resolute mind striving to break free from hell’s suffering—is called the final deathbed mind. The power of this final mind is the greatest: the strength of the mind can far outweigh the accumulated karma of a lifetime spent doing good or evil in a perfunctory, half-hearted manner. This explains why Prince Ajātasattu repented with such profound sincerity on his deathbed. Had he not repented, and had he not encountered the Buddha to confess his wrongdoings, his evil karma would have consigned him to hell. The Buddha had already foretold that he would be reborn in hell, for the gravity of his evil acts was far too severe: he had killed his father and imprisoned his mother.

But when his repentant mind arose on his deathbed, he attained rootless faith. Though he had held no faith in the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) in his daily life, at this critical juncture of death, he developed immeasurable faith in the Buddha. Once this faith arose, the blessing of the Triple Gem empowered him, and the evil karma that would have consigned him to hell was eradicated. This is why, in Mahayana Buddhism, all karma is considered unfixed.

No one is fated to a fixed outcome for the karma they create, for karma is forged by the mind: the mind can create karma, and the mind can also transform karma. The power of karma may be great, but the power of the mind is greater. It all depends on whether the thought in your mind can turn the tide. If you cultivate an earnest, sincere mind of repentance, you begin to transform your karma; if you are also able to hold fast to and recite the Buddha’s name, aligning yourself with the infinitely meritorious name of Amitabha Buddha, then with the empowerment of Amitabha’s light, vow, and majestic power, your hellish karma is eradicated. This is truly miraculous.

In the Sutra of Contemplation, the middle and lowest grades of the lower rebirth category all involve the manifestation of the hell realm before the dying being. A being on the verge of descending to hell only needs to recite Amitabha Buddha’s name ten times, or even once, to transform the hell realm into the Pure Land. The raging fires of hell turn into cool, refreshing breezes; as fire and wind are interrelated in the framework of elemental composition, the fire transforms into cool wind. The wind carries countless lotuses, and on each lotus sits a transformation Buddha, who reaches out to guide this being to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This demonstrates that the single mind inherently contains all ten dharma realms, and this truth is absolutely real. His evil karma evoked the hell realm, while his faithful, vow-filled recitation of the Buddha’s name evoked the dharma realm of Amitabha Buddha. The lowest of the ten dharma realms can instantly transform into the highest of the ten dharma realms—do you see how this transcends all bounds, surpassing the nine lower dharma realms? All of this is accomplished through the inconceivable power of vow to evoke a karmic response.

First is this inconceivable power of vow to evoke a karmic response; second, all ten dharma realms reside within the present thought of every sentient being. This is why Mahayana Buddhism can only describe this phenomenon with the term “Great Inconceivability.”

This transformation relies on threefold power: first, the inconceivable power of the Buddha’s name; second, the inconceivable power of Amitabha Buddha’s vow; third, the inconceivable inherent meritorious power of the sentient being’s (even an evil person’s) present mind that holds fast to the name. The combined effect of these three inconceivable powers creates the wondrous transformation of the hell realm into the Pure Land. From the perspective of Mahayana’s perfect, sudden enlightenment teachings, there is no separation in space: all things exist in the same place, within the single mind. This means the Land of Ultimate Bliss and this defiled Saha world exist right here, in the present moment. This truth is described in many Mahayana sutras: whether the Shurangama Sutra or the Lotus Sutra, whenever the Buddha extends his blessing, all the countless buddha lands merge into a single buddha land.

This is why Mahayana sutras speak of so many beings generating the mind of anuttara samyak sambodhi (supreme, perfect enlightenment), and of as many beings as the sands of the Ganges attaining various stages of enlightenment. One might wonder: how could so many beings receive benefit in such a small place as Vulture Peak? It turns out that countless buddha lands are gathered together into one land, which is how this is described. Without this understanding, it is impossible to make sense of how so many beings could receive benefit. This is why both space and time are classified as mind-uncoordinated activity factors in Abhidharma Buddhist doctrine.

To borrow Einstein’s words, time and space are merely tools we use to explain the world, and have no inherent true existence. Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only) Buddhism holds that they are mind-uncoordinated activity factors, mere nominal conventions. This conventionally established space is actually the One True Dharma Realm in the present moment. The One True Dharma Realm gives rise to and manifests all ten dharma realms through dependent origination; it is the perfectly integrated, inconceivable, wondrous true suchness nature that is equally possessed by both sentient beings and Buddhas.

This perfectly realized and certified state is what Amitabha Buddha and all Buddhas of the ten directions have fully attained, and it is inherently possessed by all sentient beings in their causal ground of practice. This is the principle that manifests the immense transformative power discussed above.