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Can we also clear away bad karma if we invoke the great name of Amitabha
with a scattered mind ?
The merit and virtue of the Buddha-name are inconceivable, so how could they
not clear away bad karma? But reciting the Buddha-name with a scattered mind does not
guarantee being born in the Pure Land, since the good roots created by a diffuse, scattered
recitation are no match for the evils that have accumulated from time without beginning.
We must understand all the space could not contain our accumulate evils, if they took on
physical form. Every repetition of the Buddha-name might wipe away the bad karma of eight
millions eons of birth and death, but even if we recite the Buddha-name day and night for a
hundred years, the amount of bad karma which would be wiped out is like the amount of dirt
under a finger nail, while the amount of bad karma remaining is like all the dirt on the
earth.
The only way to eliminate all bad karma is to recite the Buddha-name to the point of
single-minded concentration. This is like a powerful warrior breaking out of encirclement,
so even three armies cannot hem him in any more. In all instances however, invoking the
Buddha-name is a seed for becoming enlightenment. It is like an indestructible diamond.
