What should I do if I have created too many bad karma?

 　

    Some people may have created a lot of bad karma because of ignorance or intentional disregard. Sometimes they may want to change their wrong behaviors after encountering good conditions. Is there any way? As the saying goes: “Put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha on the spot”. As long as they can repent sincerely, it's better than continuing to do bad karma!

　

    First of all, we must figure out what evil karma is: in order to satisfy our own desires, such as the pursuit of money, power, sex, and fame, we choose to use methods that violate conscience and morality to achieve our goals, and even harm other people and cause other people’s suffering —— it is bad karma; also, because some things are not in line with one's own expectations, therefore resentment arises; in order to change the current situation, using means that violate conscience and morality to retaliate or harm others —— it is also bad karma. Specifically: killing lives, coercing others with violence, lying, stealing or robbing others' property and reputation, abnormal sexual relations and sexual behaviors, and hurting others due to anger are all serious bad karma.

　

    We often say: sowing melons to get melons, sowing beans to get beans; of course we will get bad results when we create bad karma. After the bad karma matures, the actions that made others suffer and hurt others will be returned to the person himself who created bad karma; although bad karma will not certainly mature in our current life, however, in any case, the bad karma created by oneself must definitely be endured by oneself. Some people might think: Since it can't be changed, then I will still continue to create bad karma. However, we have to understand: bad karma can also be divided into seriousness and “no seriousness”. The more serious the bad karma, the more painful and unbearable the bad retribution will be. If we can sincerely repent, we may be able to "retribute the serious sin slightly." The following are several methods to repent:

　

1. Stop immediately

　

    Now that we have decided to change the wrong behaviors, we should no longer continue to create bad karma, and stop pretending that we don’t know it, escaping the reality, or making excuses. Make up your mind first to prevent the evil karma from expanding.

　

2. Repenting

　

    As the saying goes: If one can know that he had made mistakes and correct them, then the good benefit is very great. We must have regrets about the wrong things we did in the past so that we can make up our minds never to do it again in the future. There are many methods of repentance in Buddhism, but the form of repentance is not important. The important thing is whether we truly repent and sincerely decide not to make such mistakes again.

　

3. Make a wish

　

    In order to remedy other’s harm and pain caused by the evil karma we created, we can make some good promises for ourselves, hoping that we can make merits to atone for bad karma —— do something beneficial to the people, and hope to offset part of the evil karma; for example: Donate to people or groups in need, help spread the Buddhist Dharma, print Buddhist sutras, invite people to give lectures of Buddhism, make up our mind to strictly abide by the precepts, make merits, do good deeds, cultivate our own blessings... etc. Although this can't completely eliminate the evil karma created in the past, if we can do it sincerely, we can be punished slightly for a serious sin.

　

4. Practicing diligently

　

    If we realize that the mistake of making bad karma in the past is a very stupid behavior, we must practice diligently, so that we can better understand the various causes and effects of the world and beyond the world. Through the wisdom brought by practice, we can have a deeper understanding of the root causes of our wrong behaviors —— greed, anger, and ignorance, and we can cut off the motivation to create bad karma, and even get real relief.