佛說佛名經

We disciples pray that, through the power of the Buddha (1), the power of the Dharma (2), the power of the great bodhisattvas of the earth, and the power of all sages and saints, our parents and relatives throughout the six realms—along with any persons toward whom they bear enmity—may all assemble at this Dharma assembly at the same time, together repent of the transgressions of former lives, and untie every knot of resentment.

If any are bound or obstructed in body and life and cannot come, we pray that, through the majestic spiritual power of all Buddhas, their consciousnesses may be gathered in, enabling those sentient beings to reach this Dharma assembly and sincerely receive the repentance we offer today. May all enmity be resolved. We disciples in this Dharma assembly all think in our hearts and declare with our mouths: From beginningless time, ever since consciousness first arose, down to the present day, toward parents of many lives, relatives of many kalpas, paternal and maternal uncles and aunts, and relatives on both our father’s and mother’s sides, because the roots of the three poisons gave rise to the ten unwholesome karmas—whether through ignorance, disbelief,

or failure to practice—and because ignorance obscured wisdom, we formed knots of resentment and enmity.

Thus, toward parents and relatives, and even toward sentient beings throughout the six realms, we have borne hostility and resentment. Such transgressions are immeasurable and innumerable. We disciples now sincerely repent and bow in homage to the Buddhas of the three times:

We now dwell in the age of the five turbidities,
Creating evil karma and boundless transgressions.
We take life, unaware of others’ suffering;
In theft and sexual misconduct, deluded, we seek immediate pleasure.
With falsehood and embellishment, our words abound in deception;
With divisive and abusive speech, we malign the virtuous.
The karma of mind continually creates greed, anger, and delusion;
We do not cherish good friends or wholesome causes and conditions.
Today, with utmost sincerity, we pray to repent,
That the transgressions of the three karmas cease and the mind become pure.
Solemnly bearing incense and flowers, we make offerings to the Buddhas;
Through repentance, may all return to the cool, pure source.
Having repented, with utmost sincerity we bow in homage…

Next, we bow in homage to the twelve divisions of the revered sutras and the Dharma Wheel of the Great Canon. Homage to the great bodhisattvas, sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and all sages and saints of the three times throughout the ten directions.

Now that we disciples in this Dharma assembly have resolved the knots of resentment with our parents, we next pray to resolve the knots of resentment with our teachers and elders (3). Regarding the kindness and virtue of teachers and elders, we must reproach ourselves, feel shame, and not harbor evil thoughts. The Buddhist sutras teach: Although one has left home, one may not yet be liberated.

Though one is now a monastic, one should not think that one commits no evil; and householders likewise should not think that they perform no good. The Buddha often told the assembly: “You should always remember the kindness of your teachers and elders. Although parents give birth to this body, nurture it, and provide instruction, they cannot enable body and mind to escape the three lower realms.

The benevolence of teachers and elders is immense: they guide and instruct novices (4), enable them to leave home, and then transmit the complete precepts (5) to them. In this way, the embryo of arhatship has been formed; the fruit of arhatship will assuredly be born, freeing them from birth and death and bringing them the bliss of nirvana. Who can repay such world-transcending kindness and virtue of teachers and elders?

Even if one practices the path for an entire lifetime, that merely benefits oneself and cannot yet be called repayment of one’s teachers’ kindness.”

The Buddha taught: “Among good spiritual friends in this world, none surpasses one’s teachers and elders.” Today, we disciples in this Dharma assembly recognize how weighty the kindness and virtue of our teachers and elders have been, yet we have never reflected upon them. Sometimes, when our teachers and elders instructed us, we did not obey or accept their teaching; instead, we spoke harshly, gave rise to slanderous thoughts, perversely argued over right and wrong, and caused the Buddhadharma to decline!

With faults such as these, how could we escape the suffering of the three lower realms? No one can undergo such karmic retribution in our place. When life ends, happiness departs and suffering arrives; consciousness is tormented, the mind becomes confused, the six consciousnesses (6) lose their clarity, and the five faculties disintegrate.

One wishes to walk, but the feet cannot move; one wishes to sit, but the body cannot remain steady. Even if one wishes to hear the Dharma taught, the ears cannot hear; if one wishes to behold beautiful sights, the eyes can scarcely see. At that time, even if one remembers, regrets, bows, and repents, how can it still be done?

Only the horrifying signs of suffering in the hells appear. Therefore, the Buddhist sutras teach: Foolish people rely upon themselves and do not believe in calamity and retribution. They malign their teachers and elders, becoming jealous and derisive.

Such people are Mara-kings within the Buddhadharma and seeds of hell. They themselves form enmities and undergo endless painful retribution. Now, clearly recognizing our faults and feeling remorse, we bow to the Buddhas of the ten directions (7), openly revealing our transgressions and repenting.

Homage to the Buddha Lofty Radiance in the East
Homage to the Buddha Supreme Lotus in the South
Homage to the Buddha Great Compassion Radiance King in the West
Homage to the Buddha Treasury of Flower Mountain in the North
Homage to the Buddha Voice of the Buddha in the Southeast
Homage to the Buddha Udumbara Flower Banner in the Southwest
Homage to the Buddha Turning Auspiciousness in the Northwest
Homage to the Buddha Pure Light, Wondrous Illumination in the Northeast
Homage to the Buddha Never-Retrogressing and Never-Perishing Below
Homage to the Buddha Jewel-Virtue Assembly Above

Having bowed to the Buddhas of the ten directions, we disciples now repent of our transgressions toward our teachers and elders. Our upadhyayas and acaryas have constantly instructed us with caring hearts, but we disciples have never practiced in accordance with the Dharma. Toward our teachers and elders, most of us often gave rise to disobedient thoughts.

Although our teachers provided us with much, we did not know contentment. Sometimes teachers became angry with disciples, and sometimes disciples resented their teachers. Throughout the three times, such joy and anger have been immeasurable.

Transgressions such as these cannot be fully described. The Buddhist sutras teach: “Once an angry thought arises, the resulting resentments are boundless.” Such resentments exist not only among the six classes of relatives; there is also much resentment between teachers and disciples. Furthermore, when sharing rooms and living together, we did not deeply believe that leaving home is a Dharma for transcending birth and death; we did not understand that patience is the practice of peace and joy; we did not know that impartiality is the path to awakening; and we did not understand that freedom from deluded thoughts is the world-transcending mind (8).

Teachers and disciples shared rooms and lived together, yet their karmic entanglements did not cease. They opposed one another; discriminating thoughts suddenly became disturbed, and they quarreled together. Consequently, throughout lives and kalpas, it became difficult for them to live in harmony.

Moreover, when monastics sharing the same teacher or studying together made superior progress, we immediately harbored malice, anger, and jealousy. We did not recognize that their achievement came from the power of wisdom and merit cultivated in previous lives, while we ourselves lacked roots of goodness. Our corrupt minds continually made distinctions between high and low.

We often initiated disputes and seldom lived harmoniously, unable to yield to those of superior virtue. Though our merit was meager, we still bore grudges. We did not examine our own faults and concerned ourselves only with speaking ill of others.

Sometimes, through the three poisons, we slandered one another, lacking both loyal sincerity and reverence. We never reflected upon our own wrongdoing. We even raised our voices, spoke loudly and coarsely, and treated what the Buddha prohibited as acceptable.

We refused to believe and practice the instructions of our teachers and elders. Senior, middle-ranking, and junior monastics all harbored resentment. Because of that resentment, they disputed with one another over right and wrong, so that in the three lower realms many became mutual enemies.

Such disputes and enmities were all created by us as teachers and disciples. While studying and practicing together and living with senior, middle-ranking, and junior monastics, the arising of a single angry thought produced boundless hostility. The Buddhist sutras teach: “If in this life people resent and envy one another, in the next life these evils will become still fiercer and turn into great enmity—how much more so when evil karma is produced throughout an entire lifetime.”

Today, we in this Dharma assembly have remained unaware that, within human relationships, we created enmity and formed resentments with our teachers and elders and with senior, middle-ranking, and junior monastics. Such enmities are difficult to exhaust! This enmity has no visible form; the period of suffering has no limit, its kalpas cannot be counted, and it is difficult to endure. Therefore, great bodhisattvas relinquish thoughts of enemy and friend, abandon the perception of enemy and friend, and embrace all impartially with loving-kindness and compassion. Today, together we arouse bodhicitta and make the bodhi vow. We should practice the bodhisattva conduct: the four immeasurable minds, the six paramitas, the four vast vows, and the four methods of attraction (9).

These are the fundamental practices carried out by all Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Today, we too must train in them, regarding enemies and loved ones impartially and remaining unobstructed in all matters. Together, with wholehearted sincerity, we bow to the Three Jewels.

For the sake of all sentient beings, we pray concerning every enmity formed, from the first arising of consciousness until the present, throughout our many lives as monastics: enmity toward teachers and elders, upadhyayas, and acaryas; enmity toward the honored witnesses at the same ordination platform; enmity toward fellow students and senior, middle-ranking, and junior members of the assembly; enmity toward persons connected or unconnected with the Buddhadharma; and, extending universally, enmity throughout the three times, the six realms, and the four modes of birth in the ten directions—whether enmity exists or does not exist, whether grave or slight—including enmity toward the relatives of those enemies.

If we disciples bear enmity toward any sentient being in the six realms, from the present into the future, and must undergo its retribution, we now pray through repentance to eradicate it all. May we all revere one another and think of repaying one another’s kindness, with minds like the minds of the Buddhas and vows like the vows of the Buddhas. May everyone single-mindedly bow in homage.

Notes:

1. Power of the Buddha: The majestic spiritual power of the Buddha. Upon attaining complete awakening, the Buddha possesses inexhaustible majestic power. This is wondrous, unobstructed functioning.

2. Power of the Dharma: Dharmabala (S); La Force de la Loi (F): The power of the true Dharma, the Buddhadharma. This power may reside in a practitioner who has attained the path, or in scriptures and mantras recited by practitioners. The power of the Dharma can dispel calamities, subdue evils and poisons, and destroy defilements.

3. Teachers and elders: Great teachers. Virtuous and exemplary monastics who oversee a monastery. Those newly engaged in Buddhist study and practice—whether householders, lay devotees, or sramaneras—honor senior monastics and upadhyayas as teachers and elders. Furthermore, a monastic who represents a Buddhist school, has practiced and studied for many years, or is advanced in Dharma age is also called a teacher and elder.

4. Novice: A person newly engaged in practice who does not yet understand much of Buddhist doctrine or discipline. “Young” means still immature; “ignorant” means obscure and unenlightened.

5. Complete precepts: Règles complètes (de moine), the full precepts—namely, the 250 precepts of a bhiksu and the 348 precepts of a bhiksuni. Upholding the complete precepts is equivalent to upholding countless millions and billions of precepts; the merit is boundless and extends throughout the entire dharmadhatu. The ceremony for transmitting the complete precepts is the most solemn and rigorous ceremony and requires the full presence of three preceptors and seven witnesses.

6. Six consciousnesses: The six modes of cognition: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness.

7. Openly revealing and repenting: Disclosing one’s transgressions, remorsefully seeking repentance so that all obstructions of transgression and karma may be removed, without concealing a single fault.

8. World-transcending mind: A mind that has gone beyond the world. It is a mind uninvolved in worldly affairs and severed from attachments to family and society.

9. The four immeasurable minds; the six paramitas; the four vast vows; and the four methods of attracting and guiding people: These technical numerical categories are all explained in the preceding volumes.