Eighteen Arhats of Shaolin, the 2020 Chinese movie isn't so much a movie about the eighteen arhats found in Buddhist temples. Set in the Ming Dynasty, one sees the Buddhist precepts of not killing being broken over and over again as 18 Shaolin monks fight Japanese invaders in China. The monks probably know that they have broken the first Buddhist Precept : Panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures. Towards the end of the movie, a monk who survives the odeal says : I'm willing to confess all my sins to Buddha to clear my karmic debt. Buddhism,doesn't work like that, I suppose; not like confessions would free one from sins one has commited. That would mean being irresponsible from one's action. We alone can clear our karmic debts.
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