Do Bodhisattvas Also Need to Practice Repentance? Understanding the True Meaning of "Confessing Karmic Obstructions"

Even after attaining enlightenment, great bodhisattvas still practice repentance for past karma. When they recall countless lifetimes, what stands out most is not their good deeds, but their mistakes. Even when karmic debts are fully paid, stains remain on the mind. The lesson for us is clear: live with mindfulness so we do not create new stains.

Have you ever wondered why a bodhisattva who has attained realization and possesses supernatural powers still needs to confess karmic obstructions? It may seem paradoxical, yet this is one of the most subtle lessons on ethics within the Samantabhadra practices. Venerable Thich Chan Quang offers a perspective that startles us into examining our own minds.

### What Stands Out When Recalling Many Lifetimes?

The teacher explains that an enlightened being can remember many past lives. However, what impresses them most is not their virtuous actions, but their errors. This is a characteristic of holy beings. While ordinary people tend to remember their good deeds and quickly forget their bad ones, holy beings do the opposite. As the teacher says:

An enlightened person has the ability to recall many of their past lives. When remembering one life, two lives, up to countless eons, what stands out most from those ancient times? It is precisely the sins and mistakes they committed.

Imagine this: after a meditation session, what do you remember? You might instantly forget giving your seat to someone else, yet feel lingering regret over dropping a piece of trash. That is the heart of a person growing spiritually.

### Paying Off Karma Is Not Enough: Bodhisattvas Make Up Tenfold

The teacher shares a story about a monk who endured suffering for forty or fifty years due to a mistake in his youth: he had caused the death of his stepmother. After paying off the karmic retribution, he did not stop there. He performed countless acts of merit to make amends. The teacher explains that bodhisattvas never simply pay off karmic debt and move on. They actively do good to compensate many times over.

It is like a father whose son broke another child’s arm. After apologizing and paying medical bills, the father also takes responsibility for educating the injured child through high school—compensating ten times the damage caused.

He said that from now until the child finishes grade twelve, he would cover all educational expenses. This means he compensated ten times more than the consequences his son created.

This is how a moral person resolves mistakes: not only paying the price sufficiently, but striving to correct errors in a positive direction. Ask yourself: have we ever done something like this?

### Stains Remain Even After Karma Is Paid

Many are surprised to learn that even after recalling sins across countless lifetimes and having long since paid the karmic retribution, bodhisattvas still perceive these stains. Why? The teacher explains that when you become a bodhisattva, all Buddhas and other bodhisattvas see your mistakes clearly, as if looking right before their eyes. These stains cannot be erased merely by paying karmic debt; they require continuous cultivation and doing good.

Karmic retribution is paid off. Yet, over many lifetimes of cultivating morality and performing merits far exceeding one's sins, stains still remain. This is the difference between a bodhisattva and those who are not yet bodhisattvas.

Consider this: a small action like keeping chickens in a cramped cage creates karma of imprisonment. Even if you go to prison to pay for it, the memory of confining animals remains. Therefore, bodhisattvas practice repentance not out of fear of retribution, but because they wish to purify their minds until not a speck of dust remains.

### Looking at Your Own Mistakes: A Sign of Wisdom

There is a profound saying: "Only fools fail to see their own faults." The teacher affirms this through a simple principle:

It is only because we are foolish that we do not see our own faults. Please remember this. Only fools fail to see their own mistakes. Those with wisdom always see their faults.

Have you ever heard someone say, "I have lived my whole life without harming anyone; I have no faults"? According to the teacher, this is a sign of ignorance. People with wisdom look deeper and see countless faults—faults born of carelessness, indifference, or insufficient compassion. For instance, during a dharma talk, failing to notice an elderly person standing behind you while sitting comfortably is also a fault. Wisdom reveals that we lack subtlety and sufficient care.

### Practicing Now: Keep the Mind Free from New Stains

Understanding that every mistake leaves a trace gives us motivation to live more carefully. The teacher reiterates a major lesson: use your speech to speak beautifully and guide others toward morality. Do not let your mouth sow verbal karma, for a person who slanders or curses may fall into rebirth as an animal that only knows how to bark. Every word is a seed, wholesome or unwholesome, planted in our mind and the dharma realm.

Start by asking yourself: "Did I see any faults in myself today?" If you recognize many faults, it is a sign that your wisdom is growing. Do not run away or comfort yourself by saying, "My karma is already paid." Accept the results of cause and effect (karmic law), and more importantly, use each day to make amends. Then, when you look back, there will be no stains left, and your mind will be light and clear, like the moon in a gentle breeze.