慈悲水懺法 2.8

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.