Problem
Part of the Avalokiteshvara Sutra reads "If some creature, young man of good family, be bound in wooden or iron manacles, chains or fetters, be he guilty or innocent (emphasis added), then those manacles, chains or fetters shall give way as soon as the name of the Bodhisattva Mahâsattva Avalokitesvara is pronounced." Doesn't this "escape clause" for guilty people (who deserve punishment) seem contrary to Buddhist moral teachings, and to the notion of karma? How can one make sense of this seeming contradiction?