Fascicle 2

All the Buddhas, mindful of living beings with compassion, have spoken this comprehensive rite of the Water Repentance. We shall now take refuge in all the Buddhas. Homage to the Buddha Vairocana. Homage to our fundamental teacher, the Buddha Śākyamuni. Homage to the Buddha Amitābha. Homage to the Buddha Maitreya. Homage to the Buddha King of the Dragon Race, Most Honored. Homage to the Buddha King of Sovereign Dragons. Homage to the Buddha Ratnaśrī. Homage to the Buddha King Ever Still in the Samādhi of the Awakening-Flower. Homage to the Buddha Banner of the Kāṣāya Robe. Homage to the Buddha Lion's Roar. Homage to the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. Homage to the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. Homage to the Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta. Homage to the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. Homage to the Bodhisattva of Great Adornment. Homage to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Having paid homage to the Buddhas, we next continue with confession. We disciples, together, our bodies and minds now still, free of flattery and free of obstruction, stand exactly at the moment for generating good and extinguishing evil. We should each further arouse four kinds of contemplative practice, as the preliminary skillful means for extinguishing fault. What are the four? First, contemplating causes and conditions; second, contemplating the fruit of retribution; third, contemplating one's own self; and fourth, contemplating the body of the Tathāgata. First, contemplating causes and conditions: know that this fault of mine relies on ignorance and unwholesome thinking; lacking the power of right contemplation, I fail to recognize its fault, and I stray far from good companions, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, following instead the path of Māra and walking a wrong and perilous road — like a fish swallowing a hook, unaware of the harm in it; like a silkworm spinning its cocoon, binding and entangling itself; like a moth flying into a flame, burning and destroying itself — and because of these causes and conditions, I am unable to free myself. Second, contemplating the fruit of retribution: every evil and unwholesome karma turns through the three periods of time, its bitter fruit without end, drowning one in the boundless great ocean of a vast night, devoured by the rākṣasa-demons of affliction, the future cycle of birth and death stretching on dark and unbounded. Even supposing one gained the retribution of a wheel-turning sage-king, ruling the four continents, flying freely through the air, endowed with all seven treasures — once that life ends, one still cannot escape the evil destinies. Even the retribution of the four formless heavens, the very summit of the three realms, once its merit is exhausted, one returns to being a maggot in the neck of an ox. How much more so, then, for all the rest who have no such merit, and who still remain idle and unwilling to confess diligently — this too is like a man who embraces a stone and sinks into a deep pool, and then seeks to climb back out: it can hardly be done. Third, contemplating my own self: although I possess the true cause, the nature of numinous awareness, it lies covered over by the dark forest-thicket of affliction, and lacking the power of the revealing cause, it cannot come to manifest. I should now arouse a superior mind, breaking apart the heavy obstruction of ignorance and inverted thinking, cutting off the false and empty causes of suffering in birth and death, bringing forth the Tathāgata's great, bright awakened wisdom, and establishing the unsurpassed, wondrous fruit of nirvāṇa. Fourth, contemplating the body of the Tathāgata: unconditioned, still, and illuminating, free of the four propositions and cut off from the hundred negations, complete with every virtue, serene and ever-abiding — though, as a skillful means, he enters into cessation, his compassion in saving and receiving beings has never for a moment been set aside. To give rise to a mind such as this may truly be called the good ford for extinguishing fault, the essential practice for removing obstruction. For this reason, with utmost sincerity, we beg for mercy in confession. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, have cultivated affliction until it has grown deeper and thicker, richer and more luxuriant day by day, covering over the eye of wisdom so that it sees nothing at all, cutting off every wholesome quality before it can continue — giving rise to the affliction that obstructs seeing the Buddha, hearing the true Dharma, and meeting the noble Saṅgha; the affliction that obstructs seeing every past and future good and evil karmic deed, and obstructs release; the affliction that obstructs receiving honor and nobility among humans and gods; the affliction that obstructs rebirth into the meditative bliss of the form and formless realms; the affliction that obstructs the free and unhindered supernormal power to fly, to appear and vanish at will, and to travel throughout the ten directions to the pure lands of every Buddha to hear the Dharma; the afflictions that obstruct learning mindfulness of the breath, breath-counting, the contemplation of impurity, and the contemplation of dependent origination; the afflictions that obstruct learning the stages of heat, summit, forbearance, and supreme worldly dharma, and the seven expedient stages; the afflictions that obstruct learning loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity, hearing, reflection, and cultivation; the affliction that obstructs learning the meaning of the three contemplations that resolve emptiness, equality, and the middle way; the afflictions that obstruct learning the auxiliary factors of the path — the foundations of mindfulness, right effort, the faculties, the powers, and the bases of supernormal power; the affliction that obstructs learning the eightfold noble path with its manifest marks; the affliction that obstructs learning the seven factors of awakening without manifest marks; the affliction that obstructs learning the eight liberations and the nine progressive absorptions of emptiness; the affliction that obstructs learning the ten kinds of knowledge and the three samādhis; the affliction that obstructs learning the three insights, the six supernormal powers, and the four unhindered eloquences; the affliction that obstructs learning the six perfections and the four immeasurables; the affliction that obstructs learning the four means of gathering beings for their broad transformation; the affliction that obstructs learning the Great Vehicle mind and the four universal vows; the affliction that obstructs learning the ten illuminations and the ten practices; the affliction that obstructs learning the ten dedications and the ten vows; the affliction that obstructs the clear understanding of the first, second, third, and fourth grounds; the afflictions that obstruct the various knowledge and views of the fifth, sixth, and seventh grounds; the affliction that obstructs the twofold illumination of the eighth, ninth, and tenth grounds — extending even to the affliction that obstructs the million incalculable eons of practice that lead to the fruit of buddhahood itself. Obstructions to practice of this kind are immeasurable and boundless. We disciples, today, implore and entreat most earnestly, and before the Buddhas, the venerable Dharma, and the noble assembly of the ten directions, in shame we confess them, praying that they all be dissolved. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing every affliction that obstructs these practices, we may be reborn freely wherever we will, no longer turned about by the accumulated force of karma; that with the power of wish-fulfillment we may, in the space of a single thought, reach throughout the ten directions to purify the buddha-lands and gather in living beings for their transformation; that in the profound states of meditative concentration and in every form of knowledge and vision we may pass through without hindrance; that the mind may pervade all phenomena everywhere, delighting to teach without end and yet remaining unstained; that we may attain mastery of mind, mastery of the Dharma, and mastery of skillful means; and that this affliction, together with the accumulated habits of ignorance, may be cut off once and for all, never to continue again, so that the undefiled noble path shines forth clear as the sun. Having made this vow, we take refuge in and pay homage to the Buddhas.

Having paid homage to the Buddhas, we next continue with confession. We disciples have now briefly confessed the obstruction of affliction; we shall next, in order, confess the obstruction of karma. Now, karma is able to adorn and shape one's destiny in this world, so that everywhere, in every place, one no longer thinks to seek liberation from the world. This is why the fruits of retribution across the six destinies differ so greatly in kind and form — know that all of this is the work of the power of karma. Among the ten powers of the Buddha, the power of karma is especially profound, and ordinary people most often give rise to doubt on this very point. Why is this so? Because it is seen in this world that those who do good meet with misfortune at every turn, while those who do evil find their affairs going smoothly — and so people say that in this world good and evil bring no distinction at all. Such reckoning, in every case, comes from failing to penetrate deeply into the principle of karma. Why is this so? The sūtra says there are three kinds of karma. What are the three? First, retribution in the present life; second, retribution in the next life; third, retribution in a later life. Karma with retribution in the present life is this: evil committed now is met with retribution in this very body, now. Karma with retribution in the next life is this: good or evil committed in this life is met with retribution in the life to come. Karma with retribution in a later life is this: good or evil committed across immeasurable past lives is received in this present life, or good or evil committed now will only be received across immeasurable future lives to come. If a person doing evil now appears to prosper in the present, this is because good karma from a past life or a later-ripening life has come to fruition, and so he enjoys this pleasant fruit now — how could this have anything to do with the evil deeds committed now bringing a good reward? If a person doing good now finds himself bound up in suffering in the present, this is because evil karma from a past life or a later-ripening life has come to fruition, and the power of his present wholesome roots is too weak to dispel it, and so he receives this bitter retribution — how could this have anything to do with the good committed now inviting an evil result? How do we know this is so? It is seen in this world that those who do good are praised by others and honored by others — and from this we know that the future must bring them a pleasant fruit. Since such evil karma already exists from the past, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas teach us to draw close to good companions and practice confession together. A good spiritual friend is of complete benefit on the path to attaining the Way — and for this reason, today, with utmost sincerity, we take refuge in the Buddha. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, have accumulated evil as numerous as the sands of the river, and committed faults that fill the great earth, discarding one body and taking up another, without ever perceiving or knowing it. Whether committing the five heinous crimes, deeply mired in defilement without interruption; or the karma of an icchantika, cutting off the roots of goodness; or the karma of slighting and slandering the Buddha's word, defaming the Vaipulya teachings; or the karma of destroying the Three Jewels and injuring the true Dharma; or the karma of the ten evils, disbelieving in fault and merit; or the karma of confusion and delusion, mistaking the true for the false; or the karma of rebellion, being unfilial to one's two parents; or the karma of discourtesy, slighting one's teachers and elders; or the karma of disloyalty, being untrustworthy to one's friends; or committing the karma that obstructs the noble path through the four grave or eight grave offenses; or the karma of violating the five precepts and breaking the eight precepts of the observance day; or the karma of many transgressions among the five categories and seven groups of monastic offenses; or the karma of light and grave defilements of the lay precepts; or, unable to keep the bodhisattva precepts pure and act as taught, the karma of defiling pure conduct through improper skillful means before and after; or the karma of idleness in neglecting the six observance days each month; or the karma of failing to keep regularly the three long fasting periods of the year; or the karma of the three thousand dignified observances not kept according to the Dharma; or the karma of the eighty thousand subtle faults against monastic discipline; or the karma of failing to cultivate the body, precepts, mind, and wisdom; or the karma of committing every fault during the eight seasonal turning-points of spring and autumn; or the karma of practicing the sixteen kinds of evil observance; or the karma of showing no compassion or grief toward living beings; or the karma of withholding sympathy and pity, without compassion; or the karma of failing to rescue or relieve, without offering aid; or the karma of harboring jealousy without measure toward others; or the karma of failing to treat enemy and friend with impartiality; or the karma of indulging without restraint in the five desires, unwilling to turn away from them; or the karma of dissipation arising from clothing, food, gardens, and ponds; or the karma of committing every fault by giving free rein to passion and desire in the prime of life; or the karma of dedicating tainted wholesome deeds back toward the three realms of existence, thereby obstructing release from the world — faults of this kind are immeasurable and boundless. Today we lay them bare, and before the Buddhas, the venerable Dharma, and the noble assembly of the ten directions, we confess them all. We pray that, by this confession, we disciples may see every fault of ignorance and every unwholesome karma entirely dissolved, and that the merit and goodness thereby produced may, in life after life, extinguish the fault of the five heinous crimes and remove the delusion of the icchantika. From this day forward, as for every such fault and evil karma, light or grave, we vow, even to the very seat of this rite, never to commit them again; we shall constantly practice the pure and wholesome dharmas that lead beyond the world, diligently keep the discipline, and guard our dignified conduct, cherishing it as a man crossing the sea cherishes his life-raft; we shall always hold the six perfections and the four immeasurables as the very forefront of our practice, so that the qualities of precepts, concentration, and wisdom grow ever brighter, and swiftly accomplish the Tathāgata's thirty-two marks, eighty minor characteristics, ten powers, fearlessnesses, the three foundations of mindfulness of great compassion, and the eight kinds of sovereign mastery of eternal bliss, wondrous wisdom, and true self. We take refuge in the Buddhas, and pray that they extend their protective mindfulness over us.

We disciples have already, in general terms, confessed every karma; we shall now, one by one, in turn, confess each of them individually. Whether general or particular, whether coarse or subtle, whether light or grave, whether stated or unstated, may every category of fault, following in its kind, be entirely dissolved. As for confessing them individually: we first confess the three deeds of the body, next confess the four of speech, and then, in turn, bow our heads to the ground over the remaining obstructions. As for the three bodily deeds, the first is killing. As the sūtra makes clear, one may take one's own case as the standard for judging: do not kill, do not raise the rod against another — for although beasts and birds differ from us in kind, in cherishing life and fearing death, the matter is one and the same. If we trace back these living beings, since beginningless time, they may well have been our own parents, brothers, or kin in the six degrees of relation, who, through the causes and conditions of karma, have turned through the six destinies, passing out of one birth and into another death, changing form and changing retribution until we no longer recognize one another — and now we raise up harm against them and feed on their flesh: this is an injury to compassion of the gravest kind. This is why the Buddha said: even should you have other food, you should regard it as though, in a famine, you were eating your own child's flesh — how much more so, then, the flesh of fish that you eat and devour? And he said further: to kill living beings for profit, to net their flesh for money — both of these are evil karma, and one falls, upon death, into the hell of wailing and screaming. Hence we know that the fault of killing and of eating flesh is deeper than river or sea, heavier than hill or mountain. Yet we disciples, since beginningless time, not having encountered good companions, have all committed this karma. This is why the sūtra says: the fault of killing can cause living beings to fall into the hells and among the hungry ghosts, to suffer there; if born among animals, they receive the bodies of tigers, leopards, jackals, wolves, hawks, and falcons, or the bodies of venomous snakes, vipers, and scorpions, forever harboring a vicious heart; or they receive the bodies of river-deer, deer, bears, and brown bears, forever harboring terror. If born among humans, they receive two kinds of retribution: first, much illness; second, a short life. Since killing and the eating of flesh bring such immeasurable and various evil retributions, we therefore, with utmost sincerity, beg for mercy in confession. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, have carried this same consciousness, forever harboring cruelty and poison, without a compassionate heart — whether killing out of greed, or out of hatred, or out of delusion, or killing out of arrogance; or devising evil schemes, vowing to kill, wishing to kill, or killing by curse; or breaching lakes and ponds, burning mountains and wilds, hunting and fishing; or setting fires with the wind, releasing hawks and hounds — bringing harm and vexation upon every creature. Faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Or using cages, snares, pit-traps, forked spears, halberds, bows, crossbows, and pellet-bows to shoot flying birds and running beasts of every kind; or using nets, weirs, and hooks to trawl and drain the water for fish, turtles, soft-shelled turtles, alligators, shrimp, clams, snails, and mussels, and all creatures that dwell in wetness, leaving no place of refuge for any creature of water, land, or air to hide. Or raising chickens, pigs, cattle, sheep, dogs, boars, geese, and ducks to supply one's own kitchen, or selling them to others for slaughter — so that before their cries of anguish have even ceased, their feathers and fur are stripped away, their scales and shells broken, their bodies severed from their heads, their bones and flesh crushed, flayed, and butchered, roasted, boiled, steamed, and broiled in bitter torment — inflicted wrongfully upon the innocent, all merely for a moment's pleasure, the taste gained being so slight, no more than the three inches of the tongue's own root — and yet the retribution for this fault lingers on for endless kalpas. Faults of this kind, today, with utmost sincerity, we confess entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether raising armies to attack one another, contending over borders, two armies facing each other and slaughtering one another; or killing with our own hand, or ordering another to kill, or rejoicing on hearing that a killing has taken place; or practicing the butcher's or broker's trade, hired out for execution, cooking and slaughtering another's life without mercy; or, giving free rein to violent rage, brandishing spear and blade, cutting or stabbing, or shoving another into a pit or ditch, or drowning another in water, or blocking up a den or destroying a nest, or crushing with earth and stone, or trampling every living being beneath cart and horse — faults of this kind are immeasurable and boundless. Today we lay them bare and confess them entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether aborting the unborn or breaking eggs, harming and killing living beings through poison or sorcery; or breaking ground and digging earth, planting fields and gardens, raising silkworms and boiling their cocoons, causing harm and killing to a still greater degree; or swatting mosquitoes and gnats, crushing fleas and lice; or burning refuse and clearing out ditches and channels, wrongfully harming every creature there; or eating fruit, or consuming grain, or eating vegetables while wrongfully killing the creatures within them; or lighting firewood, or leaving lamps and candles uncovered, burning insects of every kind; or drawing sauce or vinegar without first stirring it, or pouring out hot water and scalding ants and insects to death. Extending even to every one of the four postures — walking, standing, sitting, and lying down — we constantly injure and kill the tiny creatures that fly through the air or crawl upon the ground, which we, as ordinary beings with darkened awareness, neither perceive nor recognize. Today we lay this bare and confess it entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether using the whip and rod, the cangue and chains, the fetters and shackles, crushing, twisting, torturing, striking, and throwing; or trampling with hand and foot, binding and caging; or cutting off water and grain — through all these various evil devices tormenting living beings. Today, with utmost sincerity, before the Buddhas, the venerable Dharma, and the noble assembly of the ten directions, we confess all of this entirely. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing the fault of killing and the rest, we may, in life after life, attain a body like vajra, a life without end, forever free of enmity and hatred, without any thought of killing; that toward all living beings we may attain the ground of regarding them as an only child, and that whenever we see one in danger or urgent distress, we may, without begrudging body or life, find some skillful means to rescue and free them, and only then teach them the subtle and wondrous true Dharma, so that all living beings, upon seeing our form or even its mere reflection, may all receive peace and joy, and upon hearing our name or even the mere sound of our voice, may have every terror entirely removed. We now bow our heads to the ground and take refuge in the Buddha. Homage to the Buddha Vairocana. Homage to our fundamental teacher, the Buddha Śākyamuni. Homage to the Buddha Amitābha. Homage to the Buddha Maitreya. Homage to the Buddha King of the Dragon Race, Most Honored. Homage to the Buddha King of Sovereign Dragons. Homage to the Buddha Ratnaśrī. Homage to the Buddha King Ever Still in the Samādhi of the Awakening-Flower. Homage to the Buddha Banner of the Kāṣāya Robe. Homage to the Buddha Lion's Roar. Homage to the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. Homage to the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. Homage to the Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta. Homage to the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. Homage to the Bodhisattva of Great Adornment. Homage to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.

Having paid homage to the Buddhas, we next continue with confession. We disciples next confess the karma of robbery and theft. The sūtra says: if an object belongs to another and is guarded by another, then not so much as a blade of grass or a single leaf of that object may be taken without its being given — how much less, then, outright theft! Yet living beings, seeing only present gain, take things through every manner of wrongdoing, bringing upon themselves this calamity to be received in time to come. This is why the sūtra says: the fault of robbery and theft can cause living beings to fall into the hells and among the hungry ghosts, to suffer there; if born among animals, they receive the forms of oxen, horses, donkeys, mules, and camels, repaying with all the strength of their body and their very flesh and blood the debts they owe from former lives; if born among humans, they become the slaves and servants of others, their clothing not enough to cover their bodies, their food not enough to fill their mouths, poor, cold, and utterly destitute of human dignity. Since robbery and theft bring such bitter retribution, today, with utmost sincerity, we beg for mercy in confession. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, whether stealing another's wealth by force of arms, or exerting ourselves to seize it by coercion; or relying on official authority, or borrowing the power of influence, using great cangues and heavy fetters to wrongfully oppress the innocent and good while swallowing up ill-gotten goods, twisting the straight into the crooked — and because of this, our very persons have become entangled in the net of the law. Or, holding office unjustly, managing another's property, encroaching on the public to benefit the private, or encroaching on the private to benefit the public, harming one party to profit another, or harming this one to profit that one, cutting away from others to enrich ourselves, promising with the mouth while begrudging in the heart; or secretly withholding taxes and levies, smuggling past the customs barrier, privately concealing public dues, or hiding away conscripted laborers — faults of this kind we confess entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether taking, without its being given, property belonging to the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Saṅgha — the property of sūtras and images, or the property for the upkeep of stūpas and monasteries, or the property offered for the resident Saṅgha, or the property intended for the wandering Saṅgha; or stealing it, misusing it, or relying on influence to avoid returning it; or borrowing it ourselves, or lending it to others, or exchanging or lending it and then forgetting to account for it; or mixing and misusing the property of the Three Jewels indiscriminately; or, with common goods — grain, firewood, salt, fermented paste, sauce and vinegar, vegetables and fruit, coin and cloth, bamboo and timber, silk and banners and canopies, incense, flowers, oil and candles — using them however we please, whether keeping them for ourselves or giving them to others; or plucking the Buddha's flowers and fruit, or using the Saṅgha's garland-offerings, profiting ourselves privately through the wealth of the Three Jewels — faults of this kind are immeasurable and boundless. Today, in shame, we confess them entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether among friends and companions, teachers and monks, fellow students, parents, brothers, and kin dwelling and lodging together, deceiving one another over every small daily need; or, among neighbors close at hand, moving a fence or extending a wall to encroach on another's land and dwelling, altering boundary markers to plunder another's property, seizing fields and gardens under pretense of public duty while serving private ends, or seizing another's shop, lodging, or open land — faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time, whether attacking cities and breaching towns, burning villages and destroying stockades, secretly selling good people or luring away another's servants; or wrongfully oppressing the innocent, so that their bodies perish by the blade or their persons are bound in chains, their families scattered and broken, flesh and bone parted from one another, driven apart into distant lands, cut off from each other in life and death — faults of this kind are immeasurable and boundless. Today we confess them entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether in trading goods, running a shop, or dealing in the marketplace, using light scales and small measures, shaving down the length of a bolt of cloth, stealing by the smallest fraction, cheating by the tiniest measure, exchanging the coarse for the fine or the short for the long, practicing deceit in a hundred forms in hope of the slightest profit — faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, tunneling through walls, cutting off the road to plunder travelers; refusing to pay a debt's interest, breaking one's word and violating an agreement, deceiving to the face while taking to heart; or, against all right, seizing the possessions of spirits, birds, and beasts of the four modes of birth; or, under pretense of divination and physiognomy, taking another's wealth. Extending even to seeking profit through profit itself, seeking evilly, seeking excessively, never satisfied and never content — faults of this kind are immeasurable and boundless, beyond what words could ever exhaust. Today we implore, and before the Buddhas, the venerable Dharma, and the noble assembly of the ten directions, we confess all of this entirely. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing the fault of robbery, theft, and the rest, we may, in life after life, attain a wish-fulfilling jewel that constantly rains down the seven treasures, and that fine garments, food of a hundred flavors, and every kind of medicine may arrive the instant they are thought of, according to whatever is needed; that all living beings may be free of any thought of theft, all able to have few desires and know contentment, neither indulgent nor attached; that we may forever delight in generosity, practicing the way of giving and relief, giving up our very head, eyes, marrow, and brain as easily as spitting or wiping away a tear, dedicating it all toward the complete fulfillment of the perfection of giving.

We disciples next confess the fault of craving and desire. The sūtra says: it is desire alone that locks us within the prison of delusion, sinking us in the river of birth and death with no knowledge of how to escape. Living beings, because of the causes and conditions of the five desires, have from ages past turned through birth and death; the bones that every living being has accumulated through countless lifetimes would rise as high as Mount Vipula by Rājagṛha, the mother's milk each has drunk would fill the four seas, and the blood each has shed exceeds even that. The tears wept by parents, brothers, and kin at the death of a loved one would likewise fill the four seas. This is why it is said: where there is craving, there is birth; where craving is exhausted, there is cessation. Hence we know that craving and desire are the very root of birth and death. This is why the sūtra says: the fault of sexual misconduct can cause living beings to fall into the hells and among the hungry ghosts, to suffer there; if born among animals, they receive the bodies of doves, sparrows, or mandarin ducks; if born among humans, their spouse is unchaste, and they gain a household that will not comply with their wishes. Since sexual misconduct bears such an evil fruit, today, with utmost sincerity, we beg for mercy in confession. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, whether stealing another's wife or concubine, seizing another man's woman; violating chastity, defiling a bhikṣuṇī, breaking another's pure conduct through coercion and unlawful force; looking upon others with a defiled mind and lustful eyes, speaking to them with mockery and taunts; or bringing shame upon another's household, defiling the good name of the virtuous; or committing impure acts with any of the five kinds of men — faults of this kind are immeasurable and boundless. Today, with utmost sincerity, we confess them all. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing the fault of sexual misconduct and the rest, we may, in life after life, be born spontaneously by transformation rather than through a womb, pure, radiant, and adorned with fine marks and a shining light; that our six faculties may be open and clear, sharp, keen, and understanding; that we may come to realize that love and attachment are but fetters and shackles, and see the six sense-objects as illusory and unreal as a magician's conjuring, resolved to turn away in revulsion from the objects of the five desires, so that not even in a dream does a wayward thought arise, and no cause or condition, inward or outward, can ever move us again. Having confessed and made this vow, we take refuge in and pay homage to the Three Jewels.

Having already confessed the three bodily deeds, we shall next, in order, confess the four evil deeds of speech. The sūtra says: the fault of verbal karma can cause living beings to fall into the hells and among the hungry ghosts, to suffer there; if born among animals, they receive the forms of owls and other birds whose cry no one hears without loathing; if born among humans, their breath is always foul, no one believes what they say, and their household is discordant and forever quarreling. Since verbal karma bears such an evil fruit, today, with sincere mind, we take refuge in the Three Jewels and confess it entirely. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, through the karma of harsh speech, have committed every kind of fault across the four modes of birth and the six destinies — speaking coarsely, uttering words violently and unreasonably, without regard for whether another is noble or humble, close or distant, exalted or lowly; the moment something displeases us we harbor anger and rage, cursing and reviling, humiliating and defiling, with nothing too obscene or foul left undone, causing others to bear the resentment for the rest of their lives, unable to forget it, binding calamity and enmity together without end. Or we resent and revile heaven and earth, rebuke gods and spirits, disparage sages and worthies, and slander the good and virtuous. Faults of this kind, arising from harsh speech, are immeasurable and boundless. Today, with utmost sincerity, we confess them all. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, through the karma of false speech, we have committed every kind of fault, our minds set on seeking fame and profit, concealing our true feelings and practicing deceit, a mind of darkness and a face of brazenness — pointing to what exists and calling it empty, pointing to what is empty and calling it existent; saying we have not seen what we have seen, and saying we have seen what we have not seen; saying we have not heard what we have heard, and saying we have heard what we have not heard; saying we do not know what we know, and saying we know what we do not know; saying we have not done what we have done, and saying we have done what we have not done — deceiving sages and worthies, and misleading the people of the world. Even with father and son, ruler and subject, relatives and old friends, whatever we have said to them has never once been sincere, causing others to mistakenly believe and trust it, so that the ruin of households and the fall of kingdoms have all come from this. Or, relying on false and deceptive claims, we have constantly praised ourselves, claiming to have attained the four dhyānas or the four formless absorptions, the sixteen-part contemplation of mindfulness of breathing, the fruit of stream-entry up to arhatship, the state of a pratyekabuddha or a non-retrogressing bodhisattva, claiming that gods, dragons, ghosts, and spirits have come to us, that whirlwind-demons and earth-spirits all gather at our place — displaying wonders to delude the crowd, seeking their reverence and the four kinds of offerings. Faults of this kind, arising from false speech, are immeasurable and boundless. Today, with utmost sincerity, we confess them all. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, through the karma of flowery speech, we have committed every kind of fault, our words ornate and extravagant, our writing florid and seductive, dressing up our faults and glossing over our wrongs, skillfully composing songs and verses, describing seductive appearances and depicting lascivious postures, so that people of middling and lesser capacity have their minds stirred and lose their proper nature, sinking into wine and lust unable to turn back on their own. Or, giving free rein to private grudges while forgetting public fairness, we have forced loyal ministers, filial sons, men of resolve, and men of benevolence into verses and writings that malign them, so that later generations, reading them, take them as true, leaving these wronged souls to nurse their resentment in the underworld with no way to make their innocence known. Faults of this kind, arising from flowery speech, are immeasurable and boundless. Today, with utmost sincerity, we confess them all. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, through the karma of divisive speech, we have committed every kind of fault, praising a person to the face while slandering them behind their back, speaking cleverly in a hundred different ways, telling this person one thing and that person another, knowing only to benefit ourselves without regard for the harm done to others, slandering and sowing discord between ruler and subject, defaming and maligning the good and virtuous, causing ruler and subject to suspect one another, father and son to be discordant, husband and wife to be separated, relatives to grow estranged, the bond of teacher and disciple to be lost, and the way of friendship to be severed. Even to the point of inflaming two countries against one another until their alliance is broken and their harmony lost, binding them in enmity and war, wounding and killing their common people. Faults of this kind, arising from divisive speech, are immeasurable and boundless. Today, with utmost sincerity, before the Buddhas, the venerable Dharma, and the noble assembly of the ten directions, we lay them bare and beg for mercy, confessing them all. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing the four evil deeds of speech, we disciples may, in life after life, be endowed with the eight kinds of Brahmā-voice and attain the four unhindered eloquences, ever speaking words of harmony and benefit, our voice clear and elegant, delighting all who hear it, skillfully understanding the languages and customs of every kind of being, so that whatever we say suits the moment and the listener's capacity, causing all who hear us to attain understanding at once, transcending the ordinary to enter the ranks of the noble, and opening wide the eye of wisdom. Having confessed and made this vow, we take refuge in and pay homage to the Three Jewels.

Having already confessed the three bodily deeds and the four of speech, we shall next, in order, confess the faults and obstructions caused by the six sense-faculties. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, whether the eye has been deluded by form, drawn to and infatuated with black, yellow, red, green, vermilion, and purple, with precious ornaments and jeweled adornments, or has fixed upon the tall or short, dark or fair features of men and women, their alluring bearing giving rise to unlawful thoughts; or the ear has craved fine sounds — the tones of pipe and string, music and song — or has fixed on the voice, speech, laughter, and weeping of men and women, giving rise to unlawful thoughts; or the nose has relied on fine incense — aloeswood, sandalwood, musk, saffron, and storax — giving rise to unlawful thoughts; or the tongue has craved fine flavors, fresh and rich, nourishing the four elements with the flesh and blood of living beings, only deepening the very root of suffering, giving rise to unlawful thoughts; or the body has delighted in fine silk, brocade, and gauze, in every smooth and delicate thing, in the seven treasures and fine clothing, giving rise to unlawful thoughts; or the mind has been filled with scattered and confused thoughts, turning against the Dharma at every touch. Because of these six sense-faculties, the fault and karma produced are immeasurable and boundless. Today we implore, and before the Buddhas, the venerable Dharma, and the noble assembly of the ten directions, we confess it all entirely. We pray that, by the merit of confessing the eye-faculty, this eye may come to see thoroughly, throughout the ten directions, the pure Dharma-body of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, without any duality of appearance. We pray that, by the merit of confessing the ear-faculty, this ear may constantly hear the true Dharma spoken by the Buddhas and sages of the ten directions, and act upon it as taught. We pray that, by the merit of confessing the nose-faculty, this nose may constantly smell the fragrance of accumulated merit that enters the station of the Dharma, forsaking the impure stench of birth and death. We pray that, by the merit of confessing the tongue-faculty, this tongue may constantly savor the food of the joy of Dharma and the bliss of meditation, no longer craving the taste of the flesh and blood of living beings. We pray that, by the merit of confessing the body-faculty, this body may be clothed in the Tathāgata's robe, armored in the armor of patience, resting on the bed of fearlessness, and seated on the seat of the emptiness of the Dharma. We pray that, by the merit of confessing the mind-faculty, this mind may accomplish the ten powers, penetrate thoroughly the five sciences, contemplate deeply the equal and empty principle of the two truths, and, through skillful wisdom, enter the flowing water of the Dharma, its brightness increasing thought after thought, until it brings forth the Tathāgata's great acceptance of the non-arising of all phenomena. Having made this vow, we take refuge in and pay homage to the Three Jewels.