Correct your past wrongs and cultivate good karma for your future. Cleanse your mind and change your behavior. You will naturally receive a response. Your wishes will be fulfilled.

This excerpt talks about the saying: “In Buddhism, every sincere request will receive a response.”

“Correct your past wrongs and cultivate good karma for the future. Cleanse your mind and change your behavior.” This teaches us how to seek. If we seek according to the truth and the teachings, our wish will be fulfilled. If our seeking is unreasonable and unlawful, our wish, as expected, will not come to fruition. How can we seek within the truth and the teachings? “Correct your past wrongs and cultivate good karma for the future” is to accord with the teachings. “Cleanse your mind and change your behavior” is to accord with the truth.

Correct bad habits to end all wrongdoings and cultivate virtuous deeds—this is to “cultivate good karma for the future.” For the future, we should cultivate diligently. This is from the aspect of phenomena.

“Cleanse your mind and change your behavior.” This is from the aspect of the truth. The mind contains afflictions, wandering thoughts, and attachments. These are defilements that need to be removed in order to restore a pure mind. “Behavior” refers to actions—the physical actions of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct, and the verbal actions of false speech, divisive speech, and so on, and other bad behaviors.

When our mind, thoughts, and views are not pure, we use “Amituofo”—the method of having belief, vow, and chanting the Buddha-name—to cleanse our mind and change our behavior. When we use the method of ending wrongdoings and practicing virtuous conduct, it is correcting our past wrongs and cultivating good karma for the future.

“You will naturally receive a response. Your wishes will be fulfilled.” If we practice in this way, we will naturally receive a response and our wish will be fulfilled.

Therefore, when we learn Buddhism, we must accord with the truth and the teachings, and not seek extraordinary powers or any response. As long as we cultivate the causes according to the teachings, we will reap what we sow—this principle is definite. A Chinese proverb says, “Just focus on farming. Do not ask what you will harvest.”

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung