法華三昧懺儀 1.87

1.87

(After the practitioner has finished paying homage to the Buddhas, they should adjust their posture and deportment in front of the Dharma seat, burn incense and scatter flowers, and visualize the Three Jewels filling the void. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, riding a six-tusked white elephant and surrounded by immeasurably adorned retinue, appears as if directly before their eyes. With single-minded devotion, the practitioner performs the method of repentance on behalf of all sentient beings, giving rise to profound remorse, disclosing all the evil karma generated by the six sense faculties together with all sentient beings from immeasurable kalpas down to this present life, severing the mind of continuous [defilement], so that from this present moment until the very end of future time, they will never again create any evil karma. Why is this? Although the nature of karma is empty, the retribution of fruition is never lost. One who understands emptiness does not even perform good deeds, much less commit transgressions. If one does not cease creating evil, these are all inverted causes and conditions, and one will consequently experience illusory retributions. Therefore, because the practitioner understands emptiness, they give rise to great remorse, burn incense, scatter flowers, disclose, and repent. The verses and phrases of repentance explained below mostly adopt the meaning of the Sūtra on the Contemplation of Samantabhadra. If one wishes to understand the repentance method extensively, read the sūtra and it will be seen naturally; if one cannot study it extensively, the meaning is now briefly extracted here to constitute the practice method.)