Vajrasattva CHAPTER THREE Meditating and reciting on the teacher as Vajrasattva to cleanse all obscurations 172 Beyond being defiled by the two obscurations, • you purport to still be purifying them Having certainly reached the sublime path's very end, you profess to still be learning Beyond the extremes of samsara and nirvat;za, you manifest still in samsara Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow Listen to this chapter with the same attitude as before I HOW OBSCURATIONS CAN BE PURIFIED THROUGH CONFESSION The main obstacles that prevent all the extraordinary experiences and realizations of the profound path from arising are negative actions, obscurations and habitual tendencies , Just as it is important to clean the surface of a mirror if forms are to be reflected in it, so too it is • The obscurations of negative emotions and conceptual obscurations "Obscurations" means factors that cover and obscure our Buddha nature (see glossary) Habitual patterns created by past actions 263 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES important to eliminate our obscurations so that realization can appear like a reflection in the mirror of the Ground of All • The Conqueror taught countless methods of purification for this purpose, but the best of them all is meditation and recitation related to the teacher as Vajrasattva 173 There is no harmful act that cannot be purified by confession As the great teachers of ancient times affirmed: There is nothing good about negative actions-except that they can be purified through confession Of all negative actions-be they external breaches of the pratimo~a vows, inner transgressions of the bodhicitta training, or secret violations of the tantric samayas-there is not one, however serious, that cannot be purified by confession In the siitras, the Buddha tells several stories illustrating this point For instance, there is the tale of the brahmin Atapa, who was known as Angulimala, "Garland of Fingers." Angulimala killed nine hundred and ninety-nine people, 174 but then cleansed himself of those actions through confession and attained the state of Arhat in that very lifetime There is also the case of King Ajatasatru, who killed his father, but later repaired his crime through confession and attained liberation, having experienced the sufferings of hell only for the time it takes a ball to bounce once The protector Nagarjuna says: Someone who has acted carelessly But later becomes careful and attentive Is as beautiful as the bright moon emerging from the clouds, Like Nanda, Angulimala, Darsaka and Sailkara 175 However, purification only takes place when you confess sincerely in the right way, using the four powers as antidotes The purification process will never work if your eyes and mouth are otherwise occupied, or if you are just mouthing the words, "I admit I confess " while your mind is busy pursuing other thoughts And to think, "In future, even if I wrong it won't matter because I can just confess afterwards," will stop the purification from working at all, even if you confess Jetsun Mila says: You may doubt that confession can really purify negative actions, • Skt alaya The underlying consciousness in which karmic impressions are stored See glossary 264 MEDITATION AND RECITATION ON VAJRASATTVA But if your thoughts have become positive, you are purified It is absolutely fundamental that any confession should include as antidotes all of the four powers II THE FOUR POWERS The four powers are the power of support, the power of regretting having done wrong, the power of resolution and the power of action as an antidote The power of support In this context, the support is provided by taking refuge in Vajrasattva and cultivating the intention and application aspects of bodhicitta In other cases, the support would be the particular object to which you address your confession When you recite the confession of the Sutra in Three Parts, for example, the power of support is provided by the Thirty-five Buddhas It could also be a teacher, or a representation of the body, speech or mind of the Buddhas-in short, anyone or anything in whose presence you confess 176 Before any confession, arousing the bodhicitta of intention and application is indispensable The Buddha taught that confessing your evil deeds and downfalls without arousing bodhicitta, even though you might apply the four powers, will reduce your faults but not purify them altogether Sincerely giving rise to bodhicitta, however, will of itself purify all past misdeeds, whatever they might be m In The Way of the Bodhisattva, Santideva says of bodhicitta: As though they pass through perils guarded by a hero, Even those weighed down with dreadful wickedness Will instantly be freed through having bodhicitta Who then would not place his trust in it? Just as by the fires at the end of time Great sins are utterly consumed by bodhicitta The power of regretting having done wrong The power of regretting having done wrong comes from a feeling of remorse for all the negative actions you have done in the past There can be no purification if you not see your misdeeds as something wrong and confess them with fierce regret, without concealing anything 178 We recite in the Sutra in Three Parts: 265 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES I confess them all, without hiding or holding back anything The learned and accomplished Karma Chagme said: Confessing them without regret cannot purify them, For past misdeeds are like a poison within; So confess them with shame, trepidation and great remorse The power of resolution The power of resolution means to remember the faults you have committed and to resolve never to commit them again from this very day on, even at the cost of your dear life In the Sutra in Three Parts we recite: I vow to stop from now on And the Prayer of Sukhavati says: Without a vow for the future from now on, there is no purification, So I make the vow for the future from now on That even at the cost of my life I will no negative action The power of action as an antidote This power involves accomplishing as many positive actions as you can, as an antidote to your past negative actions It refers particularly to activities such as prostrating to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, rejoicing in the merit of others, dedicating your sources of future good to enlightenment, cultivating the bodhicitta of intention and application and staying in the essence of the unaltered natural state One day a meditator, a disciple of the peerless Dagpo Rinpoche, told his teacher that he felt regret when he remembered that he had once made his living from the sale of sacred books "Print books, then," the Master told him 179 So he set to work, but found that this work got him involved in many distractions Disillusioned, he went back to see his teacher Printing these texts brings up too many distractions," he said "Is it not true that no method of confession is more profound than remaining in the essential nature?"• Dagpo Rinpoche was delighted and told him that he was perfectly right ':'Even if you have committed negative actions as colossal as Mount • Remaining in a state of recognition of the nature of the mind 266 ... of the four powers II THE FOUR POWERS The four powers are the power of support, the power of regretting having done wrong, the power of resolution and the power of action as an antidote The power... power of support In this context, the support is provided by taking refuge in Vajrasattva and cultivating the intention and application aspects of bodhicitta In other cases, the support would be the. .. would be the particular object to which you address your confession When you recite the confession of the Sutra in Three Parts, for example, the power of support is provided by the Thirty-five