Is Karma Changeable? 1/3, Can God or Buddha Remove my Bad Karma? 業力可轉不可轉, 神佛能否消除你的惡業?

(English subtitles) Lectured by Daoist teacher Rui-Lie Lee (李瑞烈, 1921-2015)
Subtitles:
Can gods or Buddhas remove your karma?
Good afternoon, fellow practitioners. We are going to talk about a topic written on the board. Many people are confused that whether we can change karma or not. Somebody say that we can change karma. The ancient said, “Lay down butcher's knife and become a buddha on the spot.”
And some say: Make up for your sins by meritorious acts.
If karma is unchangeable, did the ancient sages and buddha become liars? Also, some people say karma is unchangeable. If karma is changeable, like the Buddhist Maudgalyayana, like the Confucian, Zi Lu. They were both beaten to a pulp and died horribly. They were both disciples of the Buddha and the sage. Maudgalyayana is one of the 10 great disciples of the Buddha.
2:00
Zi Lu is an outstanding person in Confucianism. Why can't the merits they performed during their lifetime, change their bad karma and eliminate it? Aim at this question, most people don't quite understand karma. There is not only one kind of karma. There are many kinds of karma. Is karma changeable? Before discussing this issue. First, we have to make sure. Whether we talk about the acquired path or the innate path.
Based on Daoism theory, there are usually two ways to choose from for practice: the innate path and the acquired path.
The innate way is equivalent to basic theory, focusing on inaction, relying on own comprehension, knowing only the basic laws between heaven and earth, yin yang, causality. The cultivation of innate way is all up to the individual.
The acquired way is equivalent to applied science, based on the foundation of the teachings and keep learning. Emphasize action and learning. Awakening is the last step. If we talk the acquired path, every karma should be changeable. If we talk about the innate path, some karma is changeable, some is not. Why? Let me introduce all kinds of karma. First, let's talk about karma of past lives. What is the karma of past lives?
4:00
That is the karma made in the past lives, not only one life. But one life, the previous life, and the previous life, accumulate hundreds of times of life, that is karma of past lives. 2Nd, karma of the past life, that is the karma made in the past life. 3Rd, karma of the present life. That is the karma made in the current life. 4Th, good karma. Usually, people talk about bad karma. Few people talk about good karma. Good karma is that people are attached to do benefaction. Good karma is that people are attached to do benefaction. Some desperately seek to do good things, and that's karma. We should do good things naturally. We do what we can do. Some lust for merit. For example, I want to do benefaction, do it alone. Someone wants to share with you, you disallow. That's your karma, which is good karma. Good karma is not a crime. Only you will receive the affliction of karma. So you won't be freed from birth and death due to making good karma but only have the good fortune of human and heaven. You will become a rich person in the afterlife or become a celestial in heavens. As far as being freed from birth and death is concerned, you shouldn't even have good karma.
6:00
I ever met somebody to print virtue books. Originally, he planed to do it by himself. Someone knew he is printing virtue books, asking him to join together. No, I will print it myself and not let others join. Then , this is good karma. If someone is willing to participate, let him do it. If you are going to spend 100 grand, but others endeavor to do more than half, I only do 40 grand. That is ok, you can do other things later with the rest of the money. Wouldn't it be great to have this opportunity to get people involved who never do charity? Yet, we shouldn't invite. If you invite people to help print virtue books, that's karma too. Doing benefaction must be natural. If you want to invest by yourself. Print more if you're capable, print less if you're incapable. You shouldn't enforce others to participate. For example, I want to print virtue books, who wants to join? It's good to join spontaneously, shouldn't force people. Forcing people is also karma. It is also karma to reject others who want to join. This is called good karma.
Then there is evil karma. People commit crimes of killing, robbery, theft, obscenity. If the crime was committed in a previous life. Then it will be paid for in this life. If you commit crimes in this life but didn't pay for it, it will left to the afterlife, and that is evil karma. There is debt karma, which is the debt you have owed. It's like you owed people money in the past life.