慈悲水懺法 2.7

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.