Fascicle 3

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. Having already confessed the three bodily deeds and the four of speech, we shall next confess every obstruction that concerns the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. The sūtra says the Buddha taught: a human body is hard to obtain, the Buddha-dharma is hard to hear, the Saṅgha is hard to encounter, faith is hard to arouse, the six faculties are hard to have complete, and a good companion is hard to find. And yet we ourselves, having planted wholesome roots in past lives, have obtained this human body, with the six faculties complete, and have moreover encountered good companions and been able to hear the true Dharma. Yet in the midst of all this, each of us has still failed to apply the mind fully and diligently, and we fear that in time to come we will long be sunk in ten thousand sufferings with no time of escape ever in sight. For this reason, today, with utmost sincerity, we beg for mercy in confession. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, have constantly let ignorance cover the mind and affliction obstruct the will — seeing the Buddha's image without honoring it with a whole heart, slighting the Saṅgha and injuring good companions, destroying stūpas and ruining monasteries, burning sūtras and images, and drawing the Buddha's own blood. Or we have kept ourselves in fine, ornamented halls while placing the sacred image in some low and neglected spot, letting it be blackened by smoke, bleached by the sun, exposed to wind and rain, soiled by dust, and damaged by sparrows and rats, dwelling and lodging alongside it without ever once showing it reverence. Or we have left the image bare before us, never once properly adorning it, while shading lamps and candles and shutting up the hall, obstructing the Buddha's own light. Faults of this kind, today, with utmost sincerity, we confess entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether handling a sūtra scroll with unclean hands, or speaking unlawful and vulgar words while facing the sūtra texts; or placing them carelessly at the head of a bed, sitting and rising before them without reverence; or shutting them away in a chest or box until they are eaten by insects and rot away; or letting their spindles and covers fall apart and their sections fall out of order; or tearing and dropping them, staining and tearing the paper and ink through carelessness, unwilling ourselves to study them or to let them be passed on to others. Faults of this kind, today, with sincere mind, we confess entirely. Or lying on the ground to listen to a sūtra, or reciting it while lying flat on our backs; talking and laughing loudly, disturbing others who are listening to the Dharma; or wrongly interpreting the Buddha's words, twisting the meaning of the sages, calling what is not the Dharma the Dharma, and calling the Dharma not the Dharma, calling what is not an offense an offense, and calling an offense not an offense, calling a light fault grave, and a grave fault light. Or cutting a passage from earlier and inserting it later, or from later and inserting it earlier, moving what belongs before or after into the middle, or what belongs in the middle to before or after, dressing up the wording with flourishes and passing it off as one's own composition. Or, for the sake of profit, fame, and reverence, teaching the Dharma to others without a mind of virtue, seeking out a Dharma-master's faults in order to attack him unreasonably in debate, rather than seeking a deeper understanding of the teachings that lead beyond the world. Or slighting the Buddha's own word while honoring false teachings, disparaging the Great Vehicle while praising only the path of the disciples. Faults of this kind are immeasurable and boundless; we confess them all entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether in matters concerning the Saṅgha, obstructing or killing an arhat, breaking apart the harmonious Saṅgha, harming one who has given rise to the unsurpassed mind of awakening, cutting off the seed of buddhahood so that the noble path can no longer proceed. Or stripping a monk of his robes, whipping and torturing a renunciant, driving him with lashes and harsh words and adding slander to it; or breaking the pure precepts and violating dignified conduct. Or urging another to abandon the eightfold path and instead follow the five heterodox practices, or, under the pretense of a monastic's outward form, secretly pilfering the property of the permanent Saṅgha. Faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Or going about with the body exposed, our robes carelessly worn and disheveled, standing before sūtras and images with unclean feet, or treading upon the halls and stūpas; or wearing wooden clogs into the monastery grounds, spitting and blowing our nose within the halls, soiling the ground of the Buddha and the Saṅgha, or riding in carriages and on horseback, crowding and jostling against the monastery buildings. All such faults as these, arising in matters concerning the Three Jewels, are immeasurable and boundless. 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 every fault and obstruction concerning the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, we may, in life after life, constantly encounter the Three Jewels, honoring and revering them without ever growing weary, and that heavenly silks and fine brocades, garlands of every precious jewel, a hundred thousand kinds of music, rare and famous incense, and fresh flowers and fruit — everything the world contains — may always be ours to offer up. Should any being attain buddhahood, may we be the first to go and entreat him to open the gate of ambrosia; should he enter nirvāṇa, may we always be granted the chance to make the very last offering to him. Within the assembly of the Saṅgha, may we cultivate the six points of reverent harmony, attain the power of mastery, and cause the Three Jewels to flourish — above, spreading wide the Buddha's path, and below, transforming living beings.

As set out above, we have already confessed every fault, light and grave, concerning the Three Jewels; we shall now, in turn, further confess every remaining evil. The sūtra records the Buddha's own teaching: there are two kinds of strong and capable persons — one who commits no fault to begin with, and one who, having committed a fault, is able to repent of it. It also says: there are two wholesome dharmas able to remove every obstruction for living beings — the first is shame before oneself, refusing to do evil; the second is shame before others, refusing to let them do evil. One who has such shame may truly be called a human being; one without it is no different from the birds and beasts. For this reason, today, with utmost sincerity, we take refuge in the Buddha and confess as the Dharma teaches. We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day, whether trusting in false and inverted views to kill living beings, or invoking goblins, sprites, and demons in sacrifice, hoping thereby to extend our lifespan and never succeeding; or falsely claiming to see ghosts, or falsely claiming to speak the words of a spirit — faults of this kind we confess entirely. Furthermore, from beginningless time until this very day, whether behaving with arrogance and conceit, exalting ourselves above others; or relying on lineage and pedigree to look down on everyone; using our rank to despise the humble, or our strength to oppress the weak; or drinking wine and brawling in disorder without regard for kin or stranger, drunk and stupefied all day long, unable to tell high from low — faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Or indulging in food and drink without any measure or restraint, eating raw minced meat, or eating the five pungent roots, polluting sūtras and images with their stench and crowding rudely among the pure assembly, giving free rein to our own whims without knowing any limit, keeping distant from the good and drawing close to bad companions — faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Or being conceited, pretentious, arrogant, and self-important, domineering and rude, ignorant of others' feelings, always taking ourselves to be right and others wrong, hoping for good luck we have not earned — faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Or, when facing wealth, showing no restraint, without integrity and without shame, butchering meat and selling wine to make our living through deceit; or lending at interest, reckoning our profit by the day, hoarding and grasping, greedy and never satisfied, accepting others' offerings without any shame or remorse; or, lacking the virtue of the precepts, emptily receiving the offerings given in faith — faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Or beating our male and female servants, working our young attendants without pity, giving no thought to whether they hunger or thirst, whether it is cold or hot; or tearing down bridges and blocking the roads that others must travel — faults of this kind we now confess entirely. Or living recklessly and self-indulgently, our minds scattered and undisciplined in gambling and board-games, gathering in crowds to feast on wine and meat, disturbing and toasting one another, engaging in idle talk about the affairs of the world with no purpose, wasting the days and months, letting the very light of heaven pass by in vain; neglecting meditation and recitation through the early, middle, and later watches of the night, idle and lazy, lying about like a corpse all day long, never once managing the mind through the six recollections; and, on seeing another succeed, at once giving rise to jealousy, harboring cruelty and poison in the heart, arousing every affliction in full — until the fierce wind of every evil fans the firewood of fault into flames that blaze without rest, burning away entirely the slight goodness in our three kinds of karma, until all wholesome dharma is exhausted and we become an icchantika, falling into the great hells with no time of escape ever in sight. For this reason, today we implore and bow our heads to the ground, and before the Three Jewels of the ten directions, we confess all of this entirely. As for every fault set out above, whether light or grave, whether coarse or subtle, whether done by ourselves, or caused by us through instructing another, or done through our own delight in another's wrongdoing, or done through our forcing another by threat or power — extending even to those who merely praise the doing of evil — today, with sincere mind, we confess all of this entirely. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing every evil, we may, in life after life, be compassionate, gentle, loyal, and filial, humble and forbearing, knowing integrity and shame, greeting others first with kind concern, upright, careful, pure, and yielding in what is right, keeping far from bad companions and constantly meeting with good conditions, gathering in the six faculties and guarding the three kinds of karma, enduring hardship and bearing suffering without the mind ever retreating or sinking, establishing the resolve for awakening and never failing living beings. Having made this vow, we take refuge in and pay homage to 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. Up to now we have confessed the obstruction of affliction and confessed the obstruction of karma; the obstruction of retribution that remains we shall now, in turn, lay open and confess. The sūtra says: when the time comes for karmic retribution, there is no emptiness, no ocean, no mountain crag, no place at all where one might escape without receiving it. Only the power of confession can truly remove and dissolve it. How do we know this is so? When Śakra, lord of the gods, saw in himself the five signs of heavenly decline, he was struck with such urgent dread that he turned with utter sincerity to the Three Jewels, and the five signs at once vanished, and his heavenly life was extended. Instances like this, made clear throughout the sūtras' teaching, are not just one or two — and so we know that confession can truly dissolve calamity. But ordinary people, if they do not encounter a good companion to guide and encourage them, will leave no evil undone, until, as their great span of life is about to end, the terrible visions of hell all appear before them. At that moment, regret and terror arrive together — but for one who has not cultivated good beforehand and only repents when death is upon him, what good can such late repentance possibly do? The calamity waits in a different place, prepared and severe from long before, and he must go alone to the place of hell, where he can only advance into the cauldron of fire, body and mind shattered, spirit in agony. At such a time, could he still hope to obtain so much as a single bow, a single act of confession? Let none of us rely on the prime of our years, our wealth, or our influence, growing idle, lazy, and self-indulgent. When the suffering of death arrives, it makes no distinction between old and young, rich and poor, noble and humble — all are equally erased, and it comes suddenly, without warning anyone. Human life is impermanent, like the morning dew — though the outgoing breath still remains, the incoming breath is hard to guarantee. How, then, can we so casually fail to confess? Once the five heavenly messengers have come and the demon of impermanence, the killer, arrives close behind, no one escapes, however youthful or handsome. At that moment, what have fine halls and deep chambers to do with human affairs any longer? How could tall carriages and fine horses follow us then? Wife, children, and kin are no longer truly our own; the seven treasures and fine adornments become mere playthings for others. Considered this way, every worldly fruit of retribution is nothing but illusion and transformation. Even the joys of heaven inevitably end in ruin, and when the heavenly life is spent, the spirit departs and falls into the three evil destinies. This is why the Buddha said to Subhadra: "Your former teacher Udraka Rāmaputra was keen and intelligent, able to subdue affliction all the way to the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception — and yet when his life ended, he was reborn among the animals, as a flying wildcat. How much more so, then, for everyone else!" Hence we know that all who have not yet ascended to the fruit of a noble one must still turn through the cycle, passing in full through the evil destinies. If we are not careful, and one morning suddenly find ourselves caught up in this very thing, will we not regret it then? Even now, to be arrested for a crime and brought before a magistrate's gate is already a small suffering — the heart thrown into panic, one's family terrified, begging for rescue by every means. Compared to this, the many sufferings of the hells are a hundred thousand times greater still, beyond any possible comparison. We ourselves, together, have accumulated faults across dust-laden kalpas as vast as Mount Sumeru — how, then, upon hearing this, can we remain at ease, without fear, without alarm, without dread, letting this very spirit of ours meet with such suffering again? This is truly a thing to grieve over. For this reason, with utmost sincerity, we beg for mercy in confession.

We disciples, from beginningless time until this very day — of all the obstructions of retribution that await us, the gravest by far is none other than the hell of Avīci. As the sūtra makes clear, let us now briefly describe its features. This hell is surrounded on every side by seven layers of iron walls, and above it, seven layers of iron netting cover it over; below, there is a forest of seven layers of iron blades, and a raging fire without measure, eighty-four thousand yojanas in breadth and length. The bodies of the guilty fill it entirely, and though their karmic causes and conditions differ, none obstructs any other. Fire rises from below all the way through to above and descends from above all the way through to below, passing crosswise through east, west, south, and north, so that the sufferers are rendered like fish in a pan, every bit of their fat rendered away — the suffering of fault within this hell is just the same. At the hell's four gates stand four great bronze dogs, their bodies four thousand yojanas in breadth and length, their fangs and claws sharp and long, their eyes like flashing lightning. There are also birds beyond number with iron beaks, beating their wings and swooping down to devour the flesh of the guilty. The ox-headed jailers take the form of rākṣasa-demons, but have nine tails, each tail like an iron trident; they also have nine heads, each head bearing eighteen horns, each horn bearing sixty-four eyes, and from every one of these eyes bursts forth a stream of red-hot iron pellets that burn the flesh of the guilty — and whenever these jailers grow angry and roar in a single fit of rage, the sound is like a thunderclap. There also fall, without measure or bound, wheels of blades from the sky, entering through the crown of the sufferer's head and emerging through his feet, so that the guilty feel a pain that pierces to the very marrow, an agony that cuts through liver and heart. In this way they pass through countless years, seeking life and unable to find it, seeking death and unable to find it. Retributions of this kind — today we bow our heads to the ground, in shame, and confess them all. We further confess the retribution of the hell of the sword-mountain and blade-forest, where head parts from body; we confess the retribution of the hell of the boiling cauldron and burning coals, where one is scalded and cooked; we confess the retribution of the hell of the iron bed and bronze pillar, where one is charred and consumed; we confess the retribution of the hell of the blade-wheel and fire-chariot, where one is split and crushed; we confess the retribution of the hell of tongue-plowing, where one is torn in bitter agony; we confess the retribution of the hell of swallowing iron pellets and having molten bronze poured down the throat, where the five inner organs melt and rot away; we confess the retribution of the hell of the iron mill, where bone and flesh are ground to ash and powder; we confess the retribution of the black-rope hell, where every limb and joint is torn apart; we confess the retribution of the hell of the river of ashes and boiling excrement, where one is tormented and stifled; we confess the retribution of the hell of salt water and freezing ice, where the skin cracks apart while one lies naked and frozen; we confess the retribution of the hell of jackals, wolves, hawks, and hounds, where all tear at one another; we confess the retribution of the hell of blades, spears, and claws, where all grapple, seize, hack, and stab one another; we confess the retribution of the hell of the fire-pit, where one is scorched and roasted; we confess the retribution of the hell of the two grinding stones, where the body is crushed and shattered; we confess the retribution of the hell of crushing-together and black ears, where one is dismembered; we confess the retribution of the dark hell of the mountain of flesh, where one is hacked and chopped; we confess the retribution of the hell of the saw and the nail-driven body, where one is severed and cut through; we confess the retribution of the hell of iron clubs and hanging upside down, where one is butchered and carved; we confess the retribution of the hell of scorching heat and wailing cries, where one is consumed with anguish; we confess the retribution of the space between the greater and lesser encircling iron mountains, a long night of darkness where the three lights are never known; we confess the hells of Apapa, Ahaha, Aṭaṭa, and Araraḥ. Within all these eight cold hells and eight hot hells, there are furthermore eighty-four thousand lesser cell-hells attached to them as their dependents, where the suffering of fault by scalding and roasting, by bitter torment, by flaying the skin and scraping the flesh, by cutting the bone and beating out the marrow, by drawing out the intestines and plucking out the lungs, brings immeasurable sufferings that cannot be heard of, cannot be spoken of — homage to the Buddha! Those who dwell within these hells today may well be, since beginningless time, our own parents and every kin of some former life, and when our own lives come to their end, we too may fall into hells such as these. Today we wash our minds clean, imploring earnestly, knocking our heads and bowing to the ground, and before the Buddhas and great bodhisattvas of the ten directions we beg for mercy in confession, that every one of these retributions of fault may be dissolved once and for all. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing these hellish retributions, the iron walls of Avīci may at once be broken apart, all made into a pure land where the very name of an evil destiny is unknown; that in the remaining hells, every instrument of suffering may be turned into a condition for joy, the mountains of blades and forests of swords transformed into groves of jewels, the boiling cauldrons and burning coals transformed into lotus flowers from which beings are born anew; that the ox-headed jailers may cast aside their cruelty and violence and give rise entirely to compassion, with no evil intent remaining; that the beings of hell may be freed from their bitter fruit and no longer create its causes, and, receiving peace and joy equally as in the third dhyāna, may all together, in that very moment, give rise to the unsurpassed mind of the Way. Having confessed, with utmost sincerity we take refuge in and pay homage to the ever-abiding Three Jewels. 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. Having already confessed the retribution of the hells, we shall now, in turn, confess the retribution of the three evil destinies. The sūtra records the Buddha's teaching: a person of many desires, seeking profit at every turn, suffers many troubles as well; a person who knows contentment, though he lie upon the bare ground, still counts himself at ease; one who does not know contentment, though he dwell in a heavenly palace, still finds nothing to his liking. When people of this world suddenly face an urgent crisis, they are able to give away their wealth without counting the cost — and yet they do not realize that this very body stands even now at the edge of the deep pit of the three evil destinies, and that should a single breath fail to return, one must fall in at once. Should a good friend then urge us to build up merit, to prepare provisions of wholesome dharma for the future, we cling instead to a stingy heart and refuse to act on reason. Such a person is the height of foolish confusion. Why is this so? The sūtra records the Buddha's teaching: at birth, one brings not a single coin into the world, and at death, one carries not a single coin away. We wear out the body accumulating wealth and worrying over it, though it brings no benefit to ourselves and merely ends up belonging to others; with no good to rely on and no virtue to lean upon, we bring it about that at death we fall into the evil destinies. For this reason, today we take refuge in the Three Jewels, and with utmost sincerity confess. We next confess the retribution of dwelling among the animals without any understanding or knowledge; we confess the retribution of dwelling among the animals, bearing heavy loads and pulling the plow to repay debts owed from former lives; we confess the retribution of dwelling among the animals, without any freedom, cut, stabbed, and butchered at another's will; we confess the retribution of dwelling among the animals with no legs, two legs, four legs, or many legs; we confess the retribution of dwelling among the animals, our fur, feathers, scales, or shells forever preyed upon and devoured by countless small parasites. Retributions of this kind among the animals are immeasurable; today, with utmost sincerity, we confess them all. We next confess the retribution of dwelling among the hungry ghosts, enduring hunger and thirst for a hundred thousand myriad years, never once even hearing the name of water or drink; we confess the retribution of the hungry ghosts, who eat and drink only pus, blood, and filth; we confess the retribution of the hungry ghosts, whose every limb and joint bursts into flame the moment they move; we confess the retribution of the hungry ghosts, whose bellies are vast while their throats are as narrow as a needle. Retributions of this kind among the hungry ghosts are immeasurable; today we bow our heads to the ground, beg for mercy, and confess them all. We next confess the retribution of dwelling among the spirits and asuras, given to flattery, arrogance, and deceit; we confess the retribution of dwelling among the spirits, condemned to carry sand and bear stones to fill in rivers and dam up seas; we confess the retribution of dwelling among rākṣasas, kumbhāṇḍas, and every kind of evil spirit, born to devour blood and flesh and to bear this loathsome and ugly form. Retributions of this kind among the spirits are immeasurable and boundless; today we bow our heads to the ground, and before the Buddhas and great bodhisattvas of the ten directions, we beg for mercy in confession, that they may all be dissolved. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing the retributions among the animals and the rest, we may, in life after life, extinguish the defilement of foolish delusion, come to recognize the causes and conditions of our own karma, and, with the clear light of wisdom, cut off the bodies of the evil destinies. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing the retributions among the hungry ghosts and the rest, we may, in life after life, be forever free of the suffering of stinginess, greed, hunger, and thirst, and constantly savor the taste of the ambrosia of liberation. We pray that, by the merit born of confessing the retributions among the spirits and asuras and the rest, we may, in life after life, be upright and straightforward, without flattery, free of the cause of a wrongful livelihood, and rid of the fruit of an ugly form, bringing benefit and blessing to humans and gods alike. We pray that, from this day forward, even to the very seat of this rite, we shall never again receive the retribution of the four evil destinies — save only that, out of great compassion, for the sake of living beings, we may dwell among them by the power of our own vow, without ever growing weary of it. Having already confessed the retributions of the three evil paths, we shall now, in turn, earnestly bow and confess the remaining retributions of the human and heavenly realms. We who together bear this span of life in Jambudvīpa, though it is said to run to a hundred years, few indeed live to see it fulfilled; and in the midst of it, those cut down wrongfully in the prime of life are beyond number. There is only the press of many sufferings pursuing us, the heart and body caught in sorrow, worry, and fear, never for a moment set free. All of this comes from wholesome roots too weak and evil karma too abundant, so that whatever we now attempt fails to satisfy us — know that all of this is the remaining retribution of evil karma from the past. For this reason, we disciples shall now confess: from beginningless time until this very day, whatever immeasurable remaining retribution exists now or is yet to come among humans and gods — we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of inherited calamity and long-standing debts, of crippling, of a hundred illnesses, and of the six faculties left incomplete; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of being born in a borderland with wrong views, or amid the three evil destinies and the eight conditions unfavorable to the Dharma; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of much illness, of wasting away, and of a life cut wrongfully short; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of being unable to keep one's kin and family together for long; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of the suffering of loved ones' deaths and separation from those we love; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of encountering our enemies and gathering with them in sorrow, worry, and dread; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of flood, fire, robbers, and war, of danger, terror, and cowardice; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of solitude, hardship, wandering displacement, and the loss of one's own land; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of imprisonment, confinement in darkness, forced standing, whipping, and torture; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of public and private slander, of being entangled and falsely accused by one another; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of a grave illness lasting years without recovery, confined to bed and unable to rise; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of winter plagues and summer epidemics, of pestilence and cold-damage disease; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of the disease-bearing wind, of swelling and blockage; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of evil spirits watching for their chance to bring calamity upon us; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of birds crying with a hundred ill omens, of flying corpses and evil spirits working strange misfortune; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of being harmed by tigers, leopards, jackals, wolves, and every evil beast of water and land; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of suicide by hanging; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of throwing oneself into a pit or into fire, drowning or falling to one's own death; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of having no dignity and no good reputation; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of clothing and livelihood never sufficient to satisfy the heart; we confess the retribution, in the human realm, of meeting, in all our comings and goings and undertakings, with bad companions who place obstacles in our way. All such immeasurable calamity, disaster, plague, and affliction, present and future, among humans and gods — we disciples, today, with utmost sincerity, before the Buddhas, the venerable Dharma, and the noble assembly of the ten directions, beg for mercy in confession, that they may all be dissolved.

Having now confessed the three deeds and six faculties, every obstruction of affliction, every obstruction of karma, and every obstruction of retribution across the four modes of birth and the six destinies, we shall now, in turn, make our vow and dedicate this merit. We disciples pray that all the merit born of this confession of the three obstructions be entirely dedicated and given over to all living beings, that they may join us in this same confession; we pray that all living beings, within this very life, may have peace of body and mind, that the three calamities, the eight difficulties, and every inauspicious thing may be entirely dissolved, that food and clothing may be abundant, that true faith in the Three Jewels may be theirs, and that, upon giving up this retributive body, all may be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, behold Amitābha in person, and receive from him the prediction of buddhahood; and that in the age to come, they may behold the Buddha Maitreya, hear the true Dharma, and advance in cultivation just as he teaches. We further pray that, in life after life, in every place, we may constantly encounter kings who cause the Three Jewels to flourish, and never be born into a household of heterodox and wrong views. We further pray that, in life after life, in every place, we may be born by transformation from a lotus flower, of an honored and excellent lineage, at peace and joyful, our clothing and food arising naturally of themselves. We further pray that, in life after life, in every place, we may hold a mind of compassion, benevolence, loyalty, and filial devotion, equally relieving all beings, without a single thought of hostility or harm ever arising. We further pray that, in life after life, in every place, we may constantly be held in the protective mindfulness of all the Buddhas, able to subdue the demon of Māra and every heterodox teaching, gathering together in one place with all the bodhisattvas, our resolve for awakening continuing without ever breaking off. We further pray that, in life after life, in every place, we may cause the Buddha-dharma to flourish and shine forth, practicing the Great Vehicle, dividing our bodies without limit to save and deliver living beings, advancing straight to the very seat of awakening without ever turning back. Just as all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas have made their vows, cultivated their merit and wisdom, and carried out their dedication, so too do we now make this vow, cultivate this accumulation, and carry out this dedication. Until the very reach of empty space is exhausted, until the very realm of living beings is exhausted, until the very karma and afflictions of living beings are exhausted, this dedication of our practice shall never come to an end. Having made this vow and dedication, with utmost sincerity we take refuge in and pay homage to the ever-abiding Three Jewels.