Dharma Master Jingjie
Cause-and-effect is entirely directed by consciousness. Therefore, when your state of mind changes, your karmic force changes and the result or fruition correspondingly changes too.
For example, if a practitioner who is usually laid-back and lax suddenly becomes vigorous and diligent in Dharma practice, oftentimes, many karmic obstacles arise for them. This means that the flow of their mind-stream was originally heading for the three lower realms, but suddenly changed course (due to their diligence). When this happens, the karmic force of the defilements within their mind will definitely be expelled first. This detoxification then arises as obstacles.
Therefore, the more diligent you are, the more obstacles you face. This is just how things work. Of course, if you endure and get through it, then eventually you reach a state of spacious freedom (when the karmic energy of defilements is exhausted).
The reverse is also true. Perhaps you were seriously observing the precepts and generating the karmic result of peace and happiness, then you suddenly break the precepts. It is sometimes said that a monk who breaks the precepts experiences great fortune (at first). This is because when you first change directions, your virtuous karmic forces will also be forced out first.
For some people, their cultivation is gradual — they go from defilement to purity slowly, so the obstacles they face will not be so obvious or heavy. But when you make the change in a very strong and drastic manner, then the obstacles easily manifest, because your life and mind-stream have undergone a massive reversal in direction.
Therefore, (when you change directions,) the existing karmic force within your mind-stream must first be released because it no longer fits with your new direction. This is saying that our karma has a storage place and this storage place is our mind-consciousness which is a continual stream of thoughts. This is how karmic forces are stored and manifested as results from the perspective of conditioned phenomena where there is arising and ceasing.
