<p>In Sutta Nipata there is a lyric about if and when the Buddha gets approached by the question of <em>earning merits</em> (which in my thoughts appear when I read of "polishing karma"). I've kept this to my <em>"personal inventary"</em> long time ago; moreover it reminds me also of the demand of general <strong><em>wide-heartedness</em></strong> of any follower that the Buddha was going to accept... </p>

<p>see: Palicanon <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.3.02.than.html" rel="nofollow">Thansissaro Bhikkhu</a> , <a href="http://www.palikanon.com/pali/khuddaka/sn/sn_iii02-3_456.htm" rel="nofollow">Pali</a> </p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>(english by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)</em></p>
  
  <p><strong><em>SN III,2 Padhana Sutta</em></strong></p>
  
  <p>(...)</p>
  
  <p>Saying these verses, Mara stood in the Awakened One's presence.<br>
  And to that Mara, speaking thus, the Blessed One said this:<br>
  <em>"Kinsman of the heedless, Evil One, come here for whatever purpose:</em><br>
  <strong><em>I haven't, for merit, even the least bit of need.</em></strong><br>
  <em>Those who have need of merit: those are the ones Mara's fit to address.</em></p>
  
  <p><em>In me are conviction, austerity, persistence, discernment.</em><br>
  <em>Why, when I'm so resolute do you petition me to live?</em><br>
  (...)</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-19T20:03:33.937Z
I don't understand why this sutta reminds you of "the demand of wide-heartedness"?
ChrisW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-19T20:31:38.630Z
@chrisW: Just "in general". When I'd read this, I felt confirmed with this, that the bookkeeping of the "small coins of merit" is somehow contrary to some general habit of "wide-heartedness" (I hope that's the correct english term for "Großzügigkeit") with the ups and downs of the life itself... and that a better thing is to have a look on the longer waves and on the deeper flows - which is, what I feel the Buddha does here: to look for the general goal of liberation and not be disturbed by loss&wins of so-to-say "coins-of-merit"
Gottfried Helms
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-19T16:07:42.323Z
2014-10-19T16:07:42.323Z
Gottfried Helms
<p>As I pointed out in "<a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/1672/43">If I undergo suffering now, will my next birth be better?</a>" a while ago, liberation is not attained by "burning" past karma, but through "abandoning of unskillful mental qualities and the attainment of skillful mental qualities in the here-&amp;-now"</p>

<p>As @Yam Marcovic showed in his "large boulder" quote (<a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn42/sn42.006.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 42.6</a>), Buddha of Pali Canon laughed at using rituals to <em>improve someone else's rebirth</em>. Indeed, how can your chanting help a dead person attain skillful mental qualities?! :)</p>

<p>However, Buddha never denied efficacy of rituals for changing <em>one's own</em> mood and motivation. In fact Buddha promoted usage of verbal aids for attainment of first jhana, and mantras can be seen as a kind of verbal aid.</p>

<p>In Tibetan Buddhism mantras and prostrations are used to cleanse <em>one's own mind</em> (not past karma!), <em>one's own</em> habitual tendencies. Specifically, <strong>mantras help stop inner dialog, and prostrations help against egoistic resistance</strong>.</p>

<p>From Mahayana perspective, denying efficacy of such self-directed rituals is foolish, because rituals obviously do change mood and motivation of the performer and participants.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-19T13:12:22.763Z
2014-10-19T16:47:34.197Z
2017-04-13T12:51:05.990Z
Andriy Volkov
<p>I would like to know if, in the pali canon, there is any practice for purifying karma, such as: Using mantras, prostrations etc...</p>

<p>I know there is the concept of using good Karma, like dana, to balance the results (vipaka) of bad Karma, however the question is focused on rituals or practices.</p>

<karma><pali-canon>
Purifying Karma using mantras and/or prostrations
# Purifying Karma using mantras and/or prostrations

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-18)

I would like to know if, in the pali canon, there is any practice for purifying karma, such as: Using mantras, prostrations etc...

I know there is the concept of using good Karma, like dana, to balance the results (vipaka) of bad Karma, however the question is focused on rituals or practices.

**Tags:** karma, pali-canon


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-10-19. Score: 3

As I pointed out in "[If I undergo suffering now, will my next birth be better?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/1672/43)" a while ago, liberation is not attained by "burning" past karma, but through "abandoning of unskillful mental qualities and the attainment of skillful mental qualities in the here-&-now"

As @Yam Marcovic showed in his "large boulder" quote ([SN 42.6](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn42/sn42.006.than.html)), Buddha of Pali Canon laughed at using rituals to *improve someone else's rebirth*. Indeed, how can your chanting help a dead person attain skillful mental qualities?! :)

However, Buddha never denied efficacy of rituals for changing *one's own* mood and motivation. In fact Buddha promoted usage of verbal aids for attainment of first jhana, and mantras can be seen as a kind of verbal aid.

In Tibetan Buddhism mantras and prostrations are used to cleanse *one's own mind* (not past karma!), *one's own* habitual tendencies. Specifically, **mantras help stop inner dialog, and prostrations help against egoistic resistance**.

From Mahayana perspective, denying efficacy of such self-directed rituals is foolish, because rituals obviously do change mood and motivation of the performer and participants.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2014-10-19. Score: 1

In Sutta Nipata there is a lyric about if and when the Buddha gets approached by the question of *earning merits* (which in my thoughts appear when I read of "polishing karma"). I've kept this to my *"personal inventary"* long time ago; moreover it reminds me also of the demand of general ***wide-heartedness*** of any follower that the Buddha was going to accept...

see: Palicanon [Thansissaro Bhikkhu](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.3.02.than.html) , [Pali](http://www.palikanon.com/pali/khuddaka/sn/sn_iii02-3_456.htm)

> *(english by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)*
>
> ***SN III,2 Padhana Sutta***
>
> (...)
>
> Saying these verses, Mara stood in the Awakened One's presence.  
> And to that Mara, speaking thus, the Blessed One said this:  
> *"Kinsman of the heedless, Evil One, come here for whatever purpose:*  
> ***I haven't, for merit, even the least bit of need.***  
> *Those who have need of merit: those are the ones Mara's fit to address.*
>
> *In me are conviction, austerity, persistence, discernment.*  
> *Why, when I'm so resolute do you petition me to live?*  
> (...)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I don't understand why this sutta reminds you of "the demand of wide-heartedness"?  
> **username_1**: @chrisW: Just "in general". When I'd read this, I felt confirmed with this, that the bookkeeping of the "small coins of merit" is somehow contrary to some general habit of "wide-heartedness" (I hope that's the correct english term for "Großzügigkeit") with the ups and downs of the life itself... and that a better thing is to have a look on the longer waves and on the deeper flows - which is, what I feel the Buddha does here: to look for the general goal of liberation and not be disturbed by loss&wins of so-to-say "coins-of-merit"  

---

