法苑珠林 26.5

26.5

Now, karmic conduct varies, and the pathways of past conditions are not singular. Lifespans may be long or short, and the principle of clarity or dimness is impermanent. Truly, because karmic causes are wholesome or unwholesome, their retributions entail clarity or obscurity. Some remember many kalpas; some recall multiple generations; some record only a single lifetime; and some know only the present. Therefore, ordinary persons and sages are distinct and separate, and knowledge of past lives may be long or short. Even if one entrusts one's spirit and resonates with the sages, latent tendencies still remain; though one dispels delusion and sees the principle, the playful mind is still present. Unless one's stage reaches the ten grounds and one's practice fulfills three asamphyeya kalpas, how could one permanently sever the causes of latent tendencies and realize this superior retribution?