慈悲水懺法 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1

All Buddhas, with pity for sentient beings, taught the general method for the bodhimaṇḍa of the Water Repentance; now we take refuge in all Buddhas.

Namo Vairocana Buddha. Namo our Fundamental Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha. Namo Amitābha Buddha. Namo Maitreya Buddha. Namo Sovereign Supreme King of Dragon Seed Buddha. Namo Sovereign Dragon King Buddha. Namo Ratnaketu Buddha. Namo Sovereign King of the Samādhi of Awakening Flowers Buddha. Namo Kaṣāya Banner Buddha. Namo Lion's Roar Buddha. Namo Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva. Namo Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Namo Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva. Namo Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. Namo Mahāvyūha Bodhisattva. Namo Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva.

2.3

Having paid homage to the Buddhas, next we repent. As we, [names], are presently tranquil in body and mind, free from flattery and hindrances, this is precisely the time to produce good and extinguish evil. We should each also give rise to four kinds of contemplative practice to serve as preliminary expedients for extinguishing sins. What are the four? First, contemplating causes and conditions; second, contemplating karmic retribution; third, contemplating our own bodies; fourth, contemplating the Tathāgata's body. First, regarding contemplating causes and conditions: know that this sin of mine relied on avidyā and unwholesome thinking; lacking the power of correct contemplation, I did not recognize its faults, stayed far away from good friends, Buddhas, and bodhisattvas, followed Māra's path, and walked perilous, deviant ways. Like a fish swallowing a hook unaware of the peril, like a silkworm spinning a cocoon winding and binding itself, like a moth flying into a flame burning and scorching itself—due to these causes and conditions, one cannot escape on one's own. Second, regarding contemplating karmic retribution: through all evil and unwholesome karma, transmigrating in the three periods of time, the bitter fruit is endless; drowning in the great boundless ocean of the long night, devoured by the rākṣasas of kleśas, future births and deaths are dark and shoreless. Even if one's retribution were to be a cakravartin ruling the four continents, flying at will and endowed with the seven treasures, after life ends one cannot avoid the evil destinies. Though one attains the retribution of the four formless [heavens] and supreme honor in the three realms, when blessings are exhausted one returns to being a worm in an ox's neck. How much more so for the rest who lack merit and virtue, yet are indolent and not diligent in repenting! This too is like holding a rock and sinking into an abyss—seeking escape must be difficult. Third, contemplating our own bodies: although we possess the spiritual, awakening nature of the primary cause, it is covered and obscured by the dark jungle of kleśas; lacking the power of the revealing cause, it cannot be manifested. Now we ought to give rise to a supreme mind, tear apart the heavy obstacles of avidyā and inverted views, sever the deceptive causes of suffering in saṃsāra, reveal the Tathāgata's greatly luminous, awakening wisdom, and establish the unsurpassed, marvelous fruit of nirvāṇa. Fourth, contemplating the Tathāgata's body: unconditioned and serenely illuminating, free from the four propositions, beyond the hundred negations, complete with myriad virtues and serenely ever-abiding; although through expedient means he enters into extinction, his compassionate rescue has never ceased for a moment. Producing such a mind may be called a fine ford for extinguishing sins and an essential practice for removing obstacles; therefore, with utmost sincerity we plead for compassion and repent. From beginningless time until today, we, [names], have nurtured kleśas deeper, thicker, more rampant, and more lush day by day, covering the wisdom eye so that it sees nothing, cutting off myriad good deeds so that they cannot continue: giving rise to the kleśas that obstruct seeing the Buddha, hearing the true Dharma, and encountering the holy Saṅgha; the kleśas that obstruct seeing all good and evil karmic deeds of the past and future and renouncing [saṃsāra]; the kleśas that obstruct receiving the nobility of gods and humans; the kleśas that obstruct being born into the dhyānas, blessings, and bliss of the form and formless realms; the kleśas that obstruct obtaining unhindered supernatural powers to fly, ascend, conceal, appear, and travel everywhere to the pure lands of the Buddhas of the ten directions to hear the Dharma; the various kleśas that obstruct learning ānāpāna, counting the breath, the contemplation of impurity, and the contemplation of causes and conditions; the various kleśas that obstruct learning heat, summit, patience, the supreme worldly dharma, and the seven expedients; the kleśas that obstruct learning loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity, hearing, contemplating, and cultivating; the kleśas that obstruct learning the three contemplations of emptiness, equality, and the middle way; the various kleśas that obstruct learning the bodhipakṣa-dharmas—the foundations of mindfulness, correct exertions, faculties, powers, and bases of spiritual power; the kleśas that obstruct learning the eightfold noble path of demonstrated characteristics; the kleśas that obstruct learning the seven bodhyaṅgas without demonstrated characteristics; the kleśas that obstruct learning the eight vimokṣas and the nine successive absorptions; the kleśas that obstruct learning the ten knowledges and the three samādhis; the kleśas that obstruct learning the three clarities, six spiritual penetrations, and four unhindered knowledges; the kleśas that obstruct learning the six pāramitās and the four apramāṇas; the kleśas that obstruct learning the four saṃgraha-vastus for broadly transforming [sentient beings]; the kleśas that obstruct learning the Mahāyāna mind and the four universal vows; the kleśas that obstruct learning the ten clarities and ten practices; the kleśas that obstruct learning the ten dedications and ten vows; the kleśas that obstruct learning the clear understanding of the first bhūmi, second bhūmi, third bhūmi, and fourth bhūmi; the kleśas of knowledge and vision that obstruct learning the fifth bhūmi, sixth bhūmi, and seventh bhūmi; the kleśas of dual illumination that obstruct learning the eighth bhūmi, ninth bhūmi, and tenth bhūmi; down to the kleśas that obstruct learning the millions of asaṃkhyeyas of practices of the Buddha fruit. Such obstacles of practice being immeasurable and boundless, I, disciple [name], today with utmost prayer and prostration, feeling shame and remorse before the Buddhas of the ten directions, the venerable Dharma, and the holy Saṅgha, repent and vow that they all be eliminated. Relying on the merit generated by this repentance of all kleśas that obstruct practices, may we take birth freely in every place, not turned about by karmic deeds and habits; with sovereign spiritual power, in a single thought reach everywhere throughout the pure Buddha lands of the ten directions to gather and transform sentient beings; be unhindered in deep realms of dhyāna and all knowledges and visions; with a mind able to encompass all dharmas, delight in preaching endlessly without attachment; attain freedom of mind, freedom in Dharma, and freedom in expedient means; cause these kleśas and habitual traces of nescience to be severed ultimately and forever, never to continue; and let the anāsrava noble path shine radiantly like the sun. Having made these vows, we take refuge and pay homage to all Buddhas.

2.4

Namo Vairocana Buddha. Namo our Fundamental Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha. Namo Amitābha Buddha. Namo Maitreya Buddha. Namo Superior King of the Dragon Race Buddha. Namo Sovereign King of Dragons Buddha. Namo Ratnasambhava Buddha. Namo Sovereign King of Enlightenment-Flower Samādhi Buddha. Namo Kāṣāya Banner Buddha. Namo Lion's Roar Buddha. Namo Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva. Namo Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Namo Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva. Namo Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. Namo Mahāvyūha Bodhisattva. Namo Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva.

2.5

Having paid homage to the Buddhas, next we repent once more. We, so-and-so and the others, have briefly repented of the afflictive obscurations; now we must systematically repent of karmic obscurations. Karma adorns worldly destinies, so that in every place one no longer contemplates seeking deliverance and liberation from the world. Thus the retributions in the six destinies are varied and their physical types diverse; one must know that all are produced by the power of karma. Among the Buddha's ten powers, the power of karma is extremely profound, and ordinary persons frequently harbor doubts regarding it. Why is this? In the present world one sees that people who do good encounter hardship and obstruction at every turn, while those who commit evil find success in every endeavor, so that people claim there is no difference between good and evil under heaven. Those who hold such views simply fail to deeply penetrate the principles of karma. Why is this? The sūtras say that there are three kinds of karma. What are the three? The first is karma with immediate retribution; the second is karma with rebirth retribution; the third is karma with subsequent retribution. Immediate retribution karma is committing evil in the present and receiving retribution in this very body. Rebirth retribution karma is doing good or committing evil in this life and receiving retribution in the next life. Subsequent retribution karma is doing good or committing evil in immeasurable past lives and receiving retribution in this life, or receiving its retribution only in immeasurable lives to come. If someone who now acts evilly currently meets with good fortune, this is because good karma of past rebirth retribution or subsequent retribution has ripened, so that in the present they enjoy this happy fruit; how could it be that committing evil deeds now brings about a good retribution? If someone who now does good is currently beset by suffering, this is because evil karma of past rebirth retribution or subsequent retribution has ripened, and because the strength of present wholesome roots is weak and cannot dispel it, they therefore receive this painful retribution; how could it be that doing good now invites an evil retribution? How is this known to be so? One presently sees in the world that those who do good are praised by others and respected by others; therefore one knows that in the future they will inevitably invite happy fruits. Since there has been such evil karma in the past, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas have taught beings to draw near to good friends and practice repentance together. A good spiritual friend constitutes total benefit in attaining the Way; therefore today with utmost sincerity we take refuge in the Buddha. From beginningless time until today, we, so-and-so and the others, have accumulated evils like the sands of the Ganges and committed transgressions filling the great earth; discarding bodies and taking up bodies, we have been neither aware nor conscious of it. Either we have committed the unceasing karmic deeds of the five heinous crimes, with deep, thick, and turbid entanglements; or created the karma of an icchantika cutting off wholesome roots; or lightly disparaged the Buddha's words and slandered the Vaipulya scriptures; or destroyed the Triratna and ruined the true Dharma; or, disbelieving in transgressions and blessings, committed the ten evil deeds; or committed deeds of delusion and confusion that abandon truth and turn to the contrary; or committed unfilial and rebellious deeds against both parents; or committed deeds of slighting and disrespecting teachers and elders without courtesy; or committed faithless and unrighteous deeds toward friends; or committed deeds that transgress the four pārājikas or eight pārājikas, obstructing the noble path; or violated the five precepts and broken the eight purificatory fasts; or frequently breached and transgressed the five skandhas and seven categories [of monastic rules]; or incurred minor and major tainted deeds regarding the upāsaka precepts; or failed to keep the bodhisattva precepts pure and act in accordance with the teachings; or defiled brahmacarya before and after its preparatory practices; or committed deeds of laxity by failing to observe the six monthly fast days; or failed to regularly practice the three annual extended fasts; or acted improperly regarding the three thousand dignified manners; or committed subtle transgressions against the eighty thousand rules of deportment; or committed deeds of not cultivating body, discipline, mind, and wisdom; or committed multitude of crimes on the days of the eight kings of spring and autumn; or practiced the sixteen kinds of evil rules of deportment; or acted without pity toward beings; or were callous, unmindful, and without compassion; or failed to rescue and deliver without offering protection; or harbored jealousy in our hearts and lacked the intent to deliver others; or failed to maintain impartiality toward foes and kin; or indulged in the five desires without revulsion and renunciation; or engaged in reckless dissipation on account of clothing, food, gardens, ponds, and pools; or gave free rein to passions and desires in our prime of youth to commit all manner of crimes; or performed tainted good deeds dedicated to the three realms of existence, thereby obstructing supramundane attainment. Transgressions such as these are immeasurable and boundless; today we confess them all before the Buddhas of the ten directions, the honored Dharma, and the holy assembly, repenting of them all. May we, so-and-so and the others, by virtue of this repentance, see all our transgressions of avidyā and all unwholesome deeds extinguished; and may the blessings and good produced cause us, life after life, to eliminate the five heinous crimes and remove the delusion of an icchantika. From this day forward until reaching the bodhimaṇḍa, we vow never again to commit such minor and major evil karmic deeds; we will constantly practice the supramundane, pure, and wholesome Dharma, strictly uphold the Vinaya practices, and guard our deportment, just as one crossing the ocean treasures a flotation buoy. May the six pāramitās and the four apramāṇas always head our practice; may the categories of discipline, samādhi, and wisdom become increasingly bright; may we quickly achieve the Tathāgata's thirty-two marks, eighty minor characteristics, ten powers, fearlessnesses, great compassion, the three mental states, and the eight autonomous sovereignties of eternal, blissful, and wondrous wisdom. Taking refuge in the Buddhas, we pray they will extend their protective mindfulness upon us. Previously we have repented of all karma in general terms; now we must systematically proceed to repent of each specific aspect one by one. Whether general or specific, coarse or fine, light or heavy, spoken or unspoken, may each category be extinguished in turn. Repenting specific aspects: first we repent of the three bodily deeds, next we repent of the four verbal deeds, and for all remaining obscurations we will bow down in turn. Regarding the three bodily karmas, the first is killing. As explained in the sūtras, one may take oneself as an analogy: do not kill, do not use the stick; though there is a difference between humans and beasts, in preserving life and fearing death they are the same. If we trace these beings back, from beginningless time they may have been our parents, siblings, or kinfolk; through karmic causes and conditions they revolve in the six destinies, born and dying, changing forms and altering retributions so that we no longer recognize them; yet now we harm them and eat their flesh, wounding compassion to the extreme. Therefore the Buddha said: 'Even if one obtains other food, one should think of it as eating the flesh of one's own child during a famine; how much more so eating this fish and meat?' He also said: 'Killing living beings for profit and using wealth to purchase meat—both are evil karma; at death one falls into the Raurava Hell.' Thus we know that killing and eating [meat] incurs guilt deep as rivers and seas, and faults heavy as hills and peaks. Yet we, so-and-so and the others, from beginningless time, not meeting good spiritual friends, have all committed such deeds. Therefore the sūtras state: The sin of killing causes beings to fall into the hells and the preta realm to suffer; if reborn among tiryagyoni, they receive bodies such as tigers, leopards, jackals, wolves, falcons, and hawks, or bodies such as pit vipers, adders, and scorpions, constantly harboring evil intentions; or they receive bodies such as roe deer, stags, and bears, constantly harboring terror. If born among humans, they receive two kinds of retribution: first, frequent illness; second, short life. Since killing and eating [meat] bring about such immeasurable and diverse evil retributions, we therefore seek mercy and repent with utmost sincerity. From beginningless time until today, having this consciousness, we have constantly harbored venomous cruelty and lacked a compassionate mind: killing out of greed, killing out of anger, delusion, and arrogance; or devising evil expedients, vowing to kill, wishing to kill, or killing by curses; or breaching lakes and ponds, burning mountains and plains, hunting, and fishing; or setting fires with the wind, releasing hawks and loosing hounds, tormenting and harming all beings. All such transgressions we now repent. Or using snares, traps, pit-falls, spears, halberds, bows, and crossbows to shoot birds and beasts; or using casting-nets, haul-nets, traps, fishing hooks, and ladles to drag and scoop up aquatic creatures—fish, softshell turtles, giant sea turtles, alligators, shrimp, clams, snails, and mussels—and all things that dwell in moisture, leaving those that move through water, land, and sky with no place to hide. Or raising chickens, pigs, cattle, sheep, dogs, swine, geese, and ducks to supply our own kitchens, or selling them for others to slaughter. Leaving their wails unfinished while their feathers are plucked, their scales and shells wounded and ruined, their bodies and heads severed, their bones and flesh pulverized, flayed, butchered, and sliced, baked, roasted, boiled, and broiled with agonizing pain and bitter torment—inflicting this unjustly upon the innocent merely for a moment's pleasure! The taste gained by the palate is exceedingly little, merely passing over a three-inch tongue, yet its karmic retribution entails calamities for eternal kalpas. All such transgressions we today repent with utmost sincerity. Furthermore, from beginningless time until today, we may have raised armies to wage war, contending on the frontiers, two battle lines confronting one another to slaughter mutually. Or we killed with our own hands, instructed others to kill, or rejoiced upon hearing of killing; or engaged in butchery or took hire as executioners, slaughtering other lives and acting without forbearance; or, indulging violent wrath, brandished spears and wielded blades to behead or stab, or pushed victims into pits and moats, or drowned them in water, or blocked burrows and destroyed nests, or crushed them with earth and stone, or crushed and trampled all beings with chariots and horses. Such transgressions are immeasurable and boundless; today we confess and repent them all. Furthermore, from beginningless time until today, we may have aborted fetuses, broken eggs, or harmed and killed beings with poison or sorcery. Plowing the earth, digging the ground, planting fields and gardens, raising silkworms, and boiling cocoons have harmed and killed even more abundantly. Or swatting mosquitoes and gnats, pinching and biting fleas and lice, or burning away refuse, or opening and digging drainage ditches, unjustly harming all things. Or eating fruits, using grains, or using vegetables, casually killing living beings; or burning firewood, or leaving lamps and candles exposed to incinerate various insects; or taking soy sauce and vinegar without first shaking them, or pouring boiling water, scalding and killing insects and ants. In this way, down to the four postures of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, we have constantly harmed and killed minute creatures flying in the air and clinging to the earth; darkened by ordinary consciousness, we were unaware and unconscious of it. Today we confess and repent all of it. Furthermore, from beginningless time until today, we may have used whips, canes, cangues, locks, stocks, and fetters, crushing, dragging, beating, flaying, striking, and hurling, kicking and trampling with hands and feet, binding, caging, and tying up, cutting off food and water—using such diverse evil expedients to afflict and torment beings. Today with utmost sincerity before the Buddhas of the ten directions, the honored Dharma, and the holy assembly, we repent of all of this. May the merits produced by repenting these sins of killing grant us, life after life, a vajra body with limitless life, forever free from enmity and hatred, without thoughts of killing. Toward all living beings may we attain the stage of regarding them as an only child; if we see those who are in danger, distress, or emergency, without begrudging our bodily lives we will skillfully rescue and deliver them, and then preach the profound, wondrous, true Dharma to them, causing all beings who see our forms or catch our shadows to receive peace and joy, and those who hear our names or listen to our voices to have all terrors removed. We now bow down and take refuge in the Buddha.

2.6

2.7

Having paid homage to the Buddhas, next we repent. We next repent the karma of robbery and theft. The sūtras say: If an object belongs to another and is guarded by another, then even a single blade of grass or single leaf among these things must not be taken if not given—how much more so theft! Yet sentient beings, seeing only present benefit, take by all kinds of unrighteous means, causing themselves to suffer these calamitous repercussions in the future. Therefore the sūtras say: The sin of robbery and theft can cause sentient beings to fall into the hells or suffer as pretas. If among animals, they receive the forms of oxen, horses, donkeys, mules, camels, and the like, repaying their past debts with their physical strength, flesh, and blood. If born among humans, they become servants and slaves to others; clothing does not cover their bodies, food does not fill their mouths, and in poverty, cold, hardship, and distress, their human dignity is almost entirely destroyed. Since robbery and theft incur such painful retribution, today with utmost sincerity we plead for mercy and repent. From the beginningless past down to the present day, we may have stolen others' wealth and treasures, wielding blades to take them by force, or rushed forth in person to extort them; or relied on official authority or borrowed influence, using high pillories and heavy shackles to unjustly oppress the innocent, pocketing illicit goods, and torturing the upright to make them plead guilty, so that due to these causes and conditions we ourselves became entangled in the net of the law; or holding corrupt office, we managed others' property, infringing on the public to benefit the private, or infringing on the private to benefit the public, harming that to benefit this, or harming this to benefit that, cutting into others to enrich ourselves, promising with our mouths while withholding in our hearts; or secretly embezzled taxes and duties, smuggled across checkpoints and ferries, concealed public assessments, or hid corvée laborers. All such sins we entirely repent. Furthermore, from the beginningless past down to the present day, we may have taken without permission the property of the Buddha, Dharma, or Saṅgha—whether property of scriptures and images, or property for repairing stūpas and monasteries, or property for making offerings to the resident Saṅgha, or property intended for the Saṅgha from the four quarters—or stolen it, misused it, or relied on influence not to return it; or borrowed it ourselves, lent it to others, or exchanged and loaned it and then forgot it; or mingled and confused the property of the Triratna for miscellaneous use; or according to our own whims and desires taken community property—grain, rice, firewood, salt, fermented beans, sauce, vinegar, vegetables, fruits, money, silk, bamboo, timber, patterned silk banners and canopies, incense, flowers, oil, and candles—and either used it ourselves or given it to others; or plucked flowers and fruits dedicated to the Buddha, used the Saṅgha's garlands, or personally enriched ourselves through the wealth and property of the Triratna. Such sins are measureless and boundless; today, full of shame and remorse, we entirely repent them. Furthermore, from the beginningless past down to the present day, in our dealings with acquaintances, friends, teachers, monks, classmates, parents, siblings, and six kin relations, while living and dwelling together, we may have deceived and defrauded one another over the slightest necessity; or among village neighbors and nearby residents, moved fences and expanded walls to encroach upon others' lands and residences, altered boundary markers to seize property, taken over fields and gardens under the pretext of public duty for private gain, or usurped others' shops, inns, and agricultural settlements. All such sins we now entirely repent. Furthermore, from the beginningless past, we may have attacked cities, destroyed towns, burned villages, and torn down stockades, illicitly sold free citizens, and enticed away others' servants and slaves; or unjustly oppressed innocent people, causing their bodies to perish by the bloody blade, their persons to be subjected to penal servitude and chains, their households to be broken and scattered, their flesh and blood to be separated in life, and kin to be parted in foreign lands, separated forever in life and death. Such sins are measureless and boundless; we now entirely repent them. Furthermore, from the beginningless past down to the present day, in merchant trading, shopkeeping, and marketplace bartering, we may have used light scales and small bushels, trimmed inches and feet, stolen minims and grains, cheated on measures, swapped coarse for fine, and exchanged short for long, employing hundreds of deceptions in hopes of the tiniest profit. All such sins we now entirely repent. Furthermore, from the beginningless past down to the present day, we may have broken through walls, cut off roads, and committed highway robbery; repudiated debts and interest, betrayed trust, breached agreements, and taken by deceiving face-to-face; or by improper means usurped the property of ghosts, spirits, birds, beasts, and the four modes of birth; or made false divinations and physiognomic readings to take people's wealth and treasures. In this way, even pursuing profit through profit, evilly seeking and abundantly seeking without satiation or contentment. Such sins are measureless, boundless, and cannot be fully spoken; today, with utmost prayer toward the Buddhas of the ten directions, the honored Dharma, and the assembly of sages, we entirely repent them all. May the merit generated by repenting the sins of robbery, theft, and the like enable us, in life after life and world after world, to obtain the wish-fulfilling jewel that constantly rains down the seven treasures, supreme wondrous garments, sweet delicacies of a hundred flavors, and various medicines, arriving immediately upon thought according to what is needed. May all sentient beings be free of thoughts of theft and robbery, all able to have few desires, know contentment, and remain unindulgent and unstained; may they always delight in charity, practicing the path of giving and relief, abandoning head, eyes, marrow, and brain as if discarding phlegm and saliva, dedicating this toward the fulfillment of the dāna-pāramitā. We next repent the sins of greedy attachment. The sūtras say: Merely because of desire, one is locked in the prison of folly, sinking into the river of birth and death without knowing how to escape. Because of the causes and conditions of the five desires, sentient beings from of old have transmigrated through birth and death; the accumulated bones of each sentient being across kalpas and lifetimes are like Mount Vipula in Rājagṛha, the mother's milk they have drunk is like the water of the four oceans, and the blood shed from their bodies is even more than this. When parents, siblings, and six kin relations die, the tears shed from weeping are also like the water of the four oceans. Therefore it is said: Where there is attachment, there is birth; when attachment is exhausted, birth is extinguished. Thus we know that greedy attachment is the root of birth and death. Hence the sūtras say: The sin of sexual desire can cause sentient beings to fall into the hells and pretas to suffer pain; if among animals, they receive bodies such as doves, sparrows, or mandarin ducks; if among humans, their wives are unchaste and they obtain disagreeable family members. Since sexual desire has such evil results, today with utmost sincerity we plead for mercy and repent. From the beginningless past down to the present day, we may have stolen others' wives and concubines or seized others' women; violated the chaste, defiled bhikṣuṇīs, broken others' pure conduct, coerced them unrighteously, or harbored impure minds, looked askance, and used mocking words; or brought shame upon others' families and stained the reputation of the virtuous; or engaged in impure acts with men or with the five types of eunuchs. Such sins are measureless and boundless; today with utmost sincerity we entirely repent them all. May the merit generated by repenting the sins of sexual desire and the like enable us, in life after life and world after world, to be born spontaneously by transformation rather than through a womb, pure and spotless, endowed with marks, characteristics, and radiance; may our six senses be bright and clear, sharp and discerning; may we fully awaken to the fact that affectionate love is like fetters and shackles, contemplate the six dusts as illusory and transformative, be resolutely detached from the realms of the five desires, and never give rise to unwholesome thoughts even in dreams, utterly unmoved by internal and external causes and conditions. Having repented and made vows, we take refuge in and pay homage to the Triratna.

2.8

Having previously completed the repentance of the three physical karmas, we should now sequentially repent the four unwholesome vocal karmas. The sūtras say: The sins of vocal karma can cause sentient beings to fall into the hells or suffer as pretas. If among animals, they receive the forms of screech owls or night herons, whose cries none hear without detesting them. If born among humans, their breath is constantly foul, what they say is not believed or accepted, and their families are discordant and fond of quarreling. Since vocal karma has such evil results, today with utmost sincerity we take refuge in the Triratna and entirely repent. From the beginningless past down to the present day, through the karma of harsh speech we have committed all kinds of sins toward the four modes of birth and the six destinies: uttering coarse and unrefined words, speaking violent and tyrannical language, regardless of high or low, close or distant, noble or base. At the slightest displeasure, we harbor wrath and rage, resorting to scolding, reviling, insulting, obscenity, and filthy foulness to the utmost degree, causing others to hold grudges to the end of their lives without forgetting, intertwining calamities and forming enmities without end. Or we have resented heaven and earth, rebuked ghosts and spirits, disparaged sages and worthies, and defamed the innocent and virtuous. The sinful karma arising from such harsh speech is measureless and boundless; today with utmost sincerity we entirely repent it all. Furthermore, from the beginningless past down to the present day, through the karma of false speech we have committed all kinds of sins: desiring fame, reputation, and material gain in our minds, concealing our true feelings, practicing deceit, darkening our conscience, and thickening our faces; declaring what exists to be void, and declaring what is void to exist; saying we saw when we did not see, and saying we did not see when we saw; saying we heard when we did not hear, and saying we did not hear when we heard; saying we knew when we did not know, and saying we did not know when we knew; saying we acted when we did not act, and saying we did not act when we acted; defrauding sages and worthies, and misleading worldly people. Even toward fathers and sons, rulers and ministers, relatives and old friends, our speech has never been truthful, causing others mistakenly to trust and believe, so that the ruin of families and the downfall of states all stemmed from this. Or feigning sorcery and illusions, we repeatedly praised ourselves, claiming to have attained the four dhyānas, the four formless absorptions, the sixteen practices of ānāpāna, or having attained from srotāpanna up to arhat, having become pratyekabuddhas or non-retrogressing bodhisattvas; claiming that devas come, nāgas come, ghosts come, spirits come, and whirlwinds and earth spirits all come to our presence—displaying anomalies to delude the masses and seeking their reverence and the four requirements of offerings. The sinful karma arising from such false speech is measureless and boundless; today with utmost sincerity we entirely repent it all. Furthermore, from the beginningless past down to the present day, through the karma of frivolous speech we have committed all kinds of sins: using ornate phrasing and flowery calligraphy, glossing over faults, skillfully composing songs, describing seductive charm, and portraying lewd manners, causing people of middling and lower capacity to be stirred in mind and lose their nature, indulging in wine and lust unable to turn back. Or giving free rein to private grudges and disregarding public opinion, we willfully composed writings to fabricate evil against loyal ministers, filial sons, persons of high principle, and benevolent people, so that later generations read them and took them to be true, leaving those victims to harbor grievances in the Yellow Springs with no way to clear their names. The sinful karma arising from such frivolous speech is measureless and boundless; today with utmost sincerity we entirely repent it all. Furthermore, from the beginningless past down to the present day, through the karma of divisive speech we have committed all kinds of sins: praising people to their faces and slandering them behind their backs, using hundreds of cunning words, saying this to that person and saying that to this person, only seeking self-benefit without regard for harming others; slandering and alienating rulers and ministers, defaming the good and virtuous, causing suspicion between rulers and ministers, discord between fathers and sons, separation between husbands and wives, estrangement among kin, the destruction of kindness between teachers and disciples, and the severance of friendship. Even inciting two nations to break treaties and lose harmony, forging grudges, mobilizing armies, and wounding and killing common people. The sinful karma arising from such divisive speech is measureless and boundless; today with utmost sincerity toward the Buddhas of the ten directions, the honored Dharma, and the assembly of sages, we expose, seek mercy, and entirely repent it all. May we, through the merit generated by repenting the four unwholesome vocal karmas, in life after life and world after world be endowed with the eight tones of voice and attain the four kinds of eloquence; may we always speak harmonious and beneficial words, with voices pure, elegant, and delightful for all to hear; may we clearly understand the regional dialects and vernaculars of sentient beings; and whenever we speak, may it accord with the time and the faculties of others, enabling the listeners immediately to attain understanding and awakening, transcend the ordinary and enter the noble state, and open the eye of wisdom. Having repented and made vows, we take refuge in and pay homage to the Triratna.

2.9

Having previously finished repenting of the three bodily and four verbal actions, we should now repent in succession of the sinful obstacles created by the six sense faculties. From the beginningless past down to the present day, we and others: either through the eyes, being deluded by forms, were passionately attached to dark, yellow, red, green, vermilion, and purple hues, to precious curios and jeweled ornaments, or grasped at the physical marks of male and female, tall and short, dark and fair, with bewitching charms, giving rise to improper thoughts; or through the ears, craved pleasant sounds, the five notes, strings and pipes, courtesans' music, and songs, or grasped at the sounds of men and women, speech, crying, and laughing, giving rise to improper thoughts; or through the nose, depended on fine perfumes—aloeswood, sandalwood, dragon's brain, musk, saffron, and storax—giving rise to improper thoughts; or through the tongue, craved good tastes, fresh, savory, sweet, and rich flesh and blood of sentient beings to nourish the four great elements, thereby further increasing the basis of suffering, giving rise to improper thoughts; or through the body, took pleasure in flower-patterned silks, brocades, embroideries, fine gauzes, all smooth and soft things, and the lovely garments of the seven treasures, giving rise to improper thoughts; or through the mind, had many scattered thoughts, contrary to the Dharma wherever it reached. The sinful karmas created through these six faculties are measureless and limitless; today, with utmost prayer, before the Buddhas of the ten directions, the honored Dharma, and the holy assembly, we repent of them all. We pray that by the merit of repenting the eye faculty, this eye may clearly behold the pure dharmakāya of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions without dual characteristics; we pray that by the merit of repenting the ear faculty, this ear may constantly hear the true Dharma spoken by the Buddhas and holy sages of the ten directions, and practice in accordance with the teachings; we pray that by the merit of repenting the nose faculty, this nose may constantly smell the fragrance of Gandhahastin entering the stages of the Dharma, leaving behind the impure foulness of birth and death; we pray that by the merit of repenting the tongue faculty, this tongue may constantly partake of the food of Dharma joy and dhyāna delight, not craving the taste of the flesh and blood of sentient beings; we pray that by the merit of repenting the body faculty, this body may don the Tathāgata's robe, wear the armor of forbearance, lie on the bed of fearlessness, and sit on the seat of the emptiness of dharmas; we pray that by the merit of repenting the mind faculty, this mind may accomplish the ten powers, completely master the five sciences, profoundly contemplate the equal truth of the emptiness of the two truths, enter the flowing stream of Dharma from wisdom born of skillful means, increase in clarity thought after thought, and manifestly reveal the Tathāgata's great forbearance of the unproduced. Having made these vows, we take refuge and pay homage to the Triratna.

2.10

Compassionate Samādhi Water Repentance, Fascicle Two

Linked texts (1)

慈悲水懺法 — Classical Chinese