How to Repent and Eliminate Karmic Obstacles

Question: How can one repent and eliminate karmic obstacles?  

Answer: When first learning Buddhism, one should follow the aspiration text to repent and make vows—one is repentance, the other is making vows. These two practices should be done frequently, done before the Buddha every day, to eliminate evil karma and bring forth wholesome and pure vows. Drawn along by wholesome vows, one's practice will become smoother and smoother. Making vows is very important, and repentance is also extremely important. Without repentance, karmic obstacles will obstruct you and cause great distress. After repenting daily to eliminate karma, body and mind will become increasingly at ease, and practice will go more smoothly. 

The morning and evening liturgy books contain the repentance text for the Three Refuges and Five Precepts, as well as the repentance text for the manas that I wrote. Using these two repentance texts as a guide, repent before the Buddha of all the evil karma created in past lives—great and small, whether or not one can be certain it was created, repent of it all; confess before the Buddha the karma created in this present life, and vow never to create it again. Both repentance and vow-making must be sincere, coming from the heart, not merely going through the motions or being a formality. Only with utmost sincerity can karma be eliminated and the mind purified. Once the mind becomes somewhat pure and afflictive habits are somewhat corrected, then, drawn along by great pure vows, one's practice will naturally proceed onto the right path.