Though Without Guilt, Unintentional Faults Incur Negative Karmic Retribution

First, to explain why faults arise even when there is no deliberate intention to create unwholesome karma: this is due to the mind being afflicted by ignorance and delusion. Ignorance and delusion are fundamental afflictions, from which other major, medium, and minor derivative afflictions arise. The two fundamental afflictions of greed and hatred are also caused by ignorance and delusion. Without ignorance, without delusion, there would be neither greed nor hatred. Without ignorance and delusion, various faults would not manifest. Superficially, these faults appear to be unintentional, but are they truly without intention? They are not unintentional; they arise from the force of habitual tendencies born of afflictions. Because the habits are deeply ingrained, faults are committed without conscious thought or deliberation, leading even to irreparable harm—causing severe injury to others, significant losses, or even killing people, slandering the Three Jewels, or damaging the reputation of the Three Jewels.

Ordinary people often say these are unintentional mistakes, not deliberately intended, but rather committed carelessly or impulsively. From this perspective, they are not unintentional errors or oversights; they are intentional, arising from a mind polluted by afflictions and ignorance, reflecting deeply rooted habits. Pure individuals do not have such faults or transgressions; their actions of body, speech, and mind are perfectly pure and flawless, without error. Even Mara Papiyas, searching for faults in such people over hundreds or thousands of years, finds no opening or vulnerability. Unable to exploit any opportunity to create unwholesome karma, Mara is forced to depart disappointed. Therefore, all faults and transgressions are intentional, and thus all incur negative karmic retribution. The karmic result of ignorance and delusion is rebirth in the three lower realms, primarily the animal realm. Among all afflictions, ignorance is the most difficult to eliminate. Only after greed and hatred are completely eradicated can ignorance be removed. It is not until the stage of equal enlightenment that a bodhisattva can completely eradicate the last vestige of ignorance, demonstrating the tenacity, subtlety, and pervasiveness of ignorance and delusion.

The heaviest karma of ignorance is not killing or arson. Although killing karma can lead to rebirth in hell, the duration is finite; once the negative karma is exhausted, one emerges from hell. However, slandering the Three Jewels or committing unwholesome actions against them incurs retribution over an extremely long period. Even after emerging from the three lower realms and being reborn among humans, due to having slandered the Three Jewels, one still suffers the retribution of blindness, deafness, muteness, or failure to encounter the Three Jewels, never hearing their names. Even if some negative karma is exhausted and one encounters the Three Jewels, the Dharma teachings cannot penetrate the mind; one finds no entry point and remains deeply troubled. Among all negative retributions, none is heavier than this—obstructing the path to learning the Dharma and liberation, representing the greatest loss of supreme benefit.