Karma of Body, Speech, and Mind and Its Retribution

The actions of body, speech, and mind, as long as they occur, are karma. Body refers to the physical actions and creations, speech refers to verbal actions and creations, and mind refers to the mental actions and creations of the seventh consciousness. No matter which sentient being it is, as long as there are actions and creations, there is karma, and there will be retribution; it depends on the wholesome or unwholesome nature and the severity of the bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Physical actions and creations can be wholesome or unwholesome, serious or minor; verbal actions and creations can be wholesome or unwholesome, serious or minor; the mental actions and creations of the seventh consciousness can be wholesome or unwholesome, serious or minor; accordingly, the retribution will be wholesome or unwholesome, serious or minor. If there is intention, there is retribution for intentional acts; if there is no intention, there is retribution for unintentional acts—no one escapes retribution. Only those of the third and fourth fruits who have eradicated the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis, do not commit mental karma or commit it only very slightly; all other people commit mental karma. Verbal karma is easier to commit than bodily karma; most people speak without restraint, while not so many create karma through bodily actions; those who create much karma through bodily actions are people with extremely heavy afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion.

All dharmas created by the actions of body, speech, and mind are stored as seeds. Intelligence and wisdom are stored away, so that in future lives one will still possess intelligence and wisdom in the same matters; things one does not understand will remain not understood in the next life. Every undertaking, whether wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral (avyākṛta), is fully recorded and stored by the tathāgatagarbha; nothing is done in vain—it is not as if doing something is the same as never having done it. Words that have been spoken are not spoken in vain either; each will eventually have a result, an accounting.

Karmic seeds can only manifest when the causes and conditions are complete. The karmic seeds of countless kalpas cannot all manifest at once; rather, whichever karmic seed ripens first, the retribution of that karma is realized first. If all were to manifest together, there would be retributions in which wholesomeness and unwholesomeness are interwoven, and joy and suffering are interwoven, making cause and effect appear even more intricate and complex.