Is karmic obstruction (karmāvaraṇa) eliminated by the mind consciousness or by the manas? And how is it eliminated?

Karmic obstructions are obstructions of ignorance. They are obstructions to one's own mind brought about by the unwholesome karma created through the power of ignorance. They obstruct one's own mind from obtaining good retributions and good fruits, and even from performing good karma; wholesome dharmas cannot be accomplished, and moreover they obstruct the wisdom and cognition of all dharmas. Ignorance originates initially in the manas; the root lies in the ignorance of the manas. The ignorance of the mind consciousness also initially comes from the manas. Influenced and driven by the manas's ignorance, the mind consciousness is in turn defiled by environmental conditioning. Once the manas's ignorance is eliminated, the mind consciousness is no longer conditioned by the environment, much less defiled by the manas's ignorance, and thus the mind consciousness becomes pure. The ultimate purity of the mind consciousness is the result of the purity of the manas. If the manas is not pure, it will certainly drive and impel the mind consciousness to engage in impure karma; once defiled karmic seeds are formed, there will be karmic obstructions in future lives. Therefore all karmic obstructions are eliminated only after the manas becomes pure, because the manas is the originator of it all—as the saying goes, the one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it.

When the manas's merit increases, its meditative concentration strengthens, and its wisdom grows, a portion of ignorance is eliminated, the mental disposition partially transforms, a portion of innate afflictive obstruction (kleśāvaraṇa) is removed, and the obstructions to wholesome dharmas, wholesome karma, wholesome fruits, wholesome retributions, and wholesome conditions are partially removed; the obstructions encountered in learning Buddhism are thus partially lightened. The more of the manas's ignorance is eliminated, the more the mind is purified, the more karmic obstructions are reduced, and the more wholesome karma increases.

At the time of eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) and realizing the fruits, or of seeing one's true mind and awakening to one's nature, meditative concentration and wisdom greatly increase, a fundamental transformation is attained, and the mental disposition simultaneously undergoes a fundamental transformation. The mind becomes pure, one obtains purity of the Dharma eye, and a portion of innate afflictive obstruction is eliminated. In this way, the karma leading to the three evil destinies is accordingly eliminated, signifying that one need no longer go to the three evil destinies to suffer and undergo retribution; the remaining karma need only be retributed within the human realm. Each time sentient beings attain a kind of meditative absorption (samādhi), a portion of their karmic obstructions is eliminated. This includes the second, third, and fourth fruits of the Small Vehicle, the various checkpoints of the Great Vehicle, as well as attaining the bhūmis, and the first, second, and third bhūmis. When wisdom grows, views and concepts change, the mind changes, and innate afflictive obstruction is eliminated, the corresponding karma is eliminated. Repentance can also eliminate karmic obstructions from past lives, because deep within, the manas recognizes its own ignorance, foolishness, and afflictions, and resolves to correct them. When the mind changes, the corresponding karmic obstructions are eliminated, either entirely or in part.

Karma is divided into fixed karma and unfixed karma. Fixed karma cannot be diverted; it must be retributed to be concluded. But unfixed karma can be diverted and does not necessarily have to be retributed to be concluded; it may be partially eliminated through repentance, with the remainder undergoing retribution. Even fixed karma can be diverted under special circumstances. Special circumstances refer to when a sentient being's mental power is strong, wisdom is strong, meditative concentration is strong, repentance is sincere and weighty, and the mental disposition has been greatly transformed—then the karma is diverted. If no karma whatsoever could be diverted, and all of it had to be retributed to be concluded, then no one in the world could become a Buddha. This is because sentient beings' karma is too numerous and too heavy to ever be fully retributed and concluded. Moreover, if karma could not be diverted, then repentance would be useless for sentient beings, and karmic obstructions could not be dissolved.