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Fugen Bosatsu – Samantab<\/p><\/div>\n
This means: All my past and harmful karma ( or ancient twisted karma), born from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, through my actions of body, speech, and\u00a0 mind, I now fully avow.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the verse of repentance, and it turns up from time to time in our zen way. It\u00a0 comes from Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. We don\u2019t talk much about\u00a0 Samantabhadra whose name means Universal Virtue or Universal Goodness.\u00a0 Whereas Manjushri Bodhisattva (Monju Bosatsu) exemplifies wisdom, and\u00a0 Avelokitshevara Bodhisattva (Kannon or Kan ji zai bosatsu) exemplifies compassion\u00a0 \u2013 Samantabhadra (Fugen Bosatsu) represents wisdom in action – he\u00a0 says that there can be no wisdom if it doesn\u2019t benefit beings \u2013 wisdom must be\u00a0\u00a0 practiced – So, Fugen bosatsu symbolises practice. I like to think of Samantabhadra\u00a0 as being the bodhisattva of just being an all round good person.<\/p>\n
Maybe the reason why we don\u2019t hear a lot about him is because one of the features of Samantabhadra\u2019s practice is doing \u201chidden good deeds\u201d. He is mentioned in the\u00a0 Lotus sutra, the Avatamsaka (flower garland) sutra, our meal sutra, and influences a lot of our ceremony. Samantabhadra is well known for his 10 vows, mentioned in\u00a0 the last chapter of the Avatamsaka sutra. Vow number 4 is the vow to repent. The\u00a0 words of the vow are \u201cFrom beginningless time I have acted unskilfully, with craving, hatred, and ignorance, in actions of body, speech, and mind. Determined\u00a0 now to begin anew, I repent.\u201d It\u2019s very easy to see how we get our verse of\u00a0 repentance from this; the words are almost the same.<\/p>\n
It is Repentance, our verse and our ceremony of repentance, that I want to talk\u00a0 about today. The word repentance brings a lot of things up for some, maybe of\u00a0 people preaching in the street, shouting \u201cRepent Sinner !\u201d or of a Catholic confessional with a priest to whom you confess your sins and seek forgiveness.<\/p>\n
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But\u00a0 in Buddhism, we don\u2019t have the same idea of \u201csin\u201d that we find in Christianity. In Christianity, sin is an immoral act considered a transgression against divine law,\u00a0 rather than a natural law.<\/p>\n
It is also something for which you can be encouraged to feel shame, and guilt. Additionally it is a system\u00a0\u00a0 that relies on the benevolence of an \u201cother power\u201d \u2013 in this case Christ, God or a Saint, to facilitate your\u00a0 redemption. In Buddhism, \u201cother power\u201d is called\u00a0 TARIKI\u201d \u2013 and we see other power redemption\u00a0\u00a0 particularly in the Pure Land school of Buddhism. The opposite of Tariki is Joriki \u2013 or \u2018self power\u2019 \u2013 this\u00a0 is applicable to zen.<\/p>\n
Another part of the idea of \u2018sin\u2019 in Christianity is the guilt and shame we can be\u00a0 encouraged to feel. Guilt and shame are about keeping us stuck in the past. Keeping\u00a0 us, in our minds, inside some past story that we have created; a story that is all\u00a0 about how horrible we are. \u201cI\u2019m so terrible, my god, I\u2019m the worst person, I will beat\u00a0 myself\u201d – It\u2019s a very self-centred attitude, it turns a situation into something\u00a0 that\u2019s \u201cALL ABOUT ME!\u201d. Guilt and shame are about NOT Continuing, not letting go, being unable to return to the present.<\/p>\n
In Buddhism, repentance is not about\u00a0 shame or guilt. It is about acknowledging the role that we play in this world, and\u00a0 seeing it clearly. We can express our regret \u2013 which is a way of addressing the\u00a0 suffering we have caused, we can apologise, if it\u2019s appropriate, we can accept\u00a0 responsibility, and then we can move forward. We WANT to recognise and acknowledge what we have done, so we can return to the present and meet what is\u00a0 right here, right now. Recognise is a great word. I looked up the English word\u00a0 recognise, and found out that it is taken from the Old French world recognoistre \u2013 which means to RE THINK \u2013 to recall to mind \u2013 to know again.<\/p>\n
So, there is an element of wisdom in recognising our misdeeds.<\/p>\n
Whatever the\u00a0 consequences of our actions \u2013 whether wholesome or unwholesome\u00a0 \u2013 whether good or bad \u2013 in Buddhism, we own them. They are ours \u2013 and one of\u00a0 our jobs is to recognise that. This is the English word \u201cavow\u201d. \u201cI now fully avow\u201d\u00a0 means to acknowledge, to look again with eyes open. To think again, and then\u00a0 MOVE FORWARD from this place – that is to say \u2013 to let go and return to the\u00a0\u00a0 present.<\/p>\n
When we perform repentance rituals, or chant the repentance verse, the point is not\u00a0 to ask forgiveness from someone for what we\u2019ve done. It is not \u201cBless me father\u00a0 for I have sinned\u201d, which is \u2018other power\u2019. It\u2019s important that we don\u2019t think in this\u00a0 way, ultimately there is no gap between ourselves, the person who we might be\u00a0 asking forgiveness from \/ or whom we may have harmed, and the actions we have committed.<\/p>\n
Finally, when we move forward, there is also an element of repentance that\u00a0 encourages us to try not to create harmful consequences again. Repentance doesn\u2019t\u00a0 mean we should keep causing harm. Just because you can mend a broken leg,\u00a0 doesn\u2019t mean you should break your legs.<\/p>\n
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Guy often speaks about giving and receiving – that the giver, receiver and gift are not separate \u2013 are one. This is the same. The one who acts, the\u00a0 consequences and the aggrieved party, are not separate \u2013 they are one. Real repentance can\u2019t rest in \u201cwrong view\u201d,\u00a0 in thinking we are separate. In\u00a0 Buddhism, the purpose of \u201cright view\u201d\u00a0 is to clear one\u2019s path from confusion, misunderstanding, and deluded\u00a0 thinking. It is a means to gain right\u00a0 understanding of reality.<\/p>\n
So, we do 2 kinds of repentance in Zen. Formal and Formless.<\/p>\n
Formal repentance is when we own up to something, usually something specific \u2013\u00a0 like when we apologise for hurting someone. Our verse of repentance is formal,\u00a0 except that it\u2019s non-specific.<\/p>\n
We chant the repentance verse before ordination ceremonies (tomorrow), before we receive the precepts (also tomorrow), and the beginning of our Ryaku Fusatsu\u00a0 ceremony (our repentance, or purification, ceremony) \u2013 where our commitment to the precepts are re-affirmed. “Ryaku” means, “abbreviated” or “simple”, and “fusatsu” means “to continue good practice”,\u00a0 or, “to stop unwholesome action”. Our ceremony (that we\u2019ll do later) is even more abbreviated than the ones commonly\u00a0 done \u2013 a very abbreviated resolve to continue good practice, or to uphold\u00a0 Samantabhadra\u2019s wise practice.<\/p>\n
This ceremony is similar\u00a0 to a ceremony done in the Theravada and some other kinds of Buddhism, where traditionally, the monks and\/or nuns in the sangha meet\u00a0 twice a month (on the full and new moon) and confess openly all their specific\u00a0 transgressions of the 227 (311 for women) Pr\u0101timoka rules of the vinaya which they\u00a0 broke over the past fortnight. Each rule broken exacts a prescribed penalty, a\u00a0 specific punishment from the community. This punishment could be anything from\u00a0 simply apologising, to being kicked out. But, don\u2019t worry, we don\u2019t do that, we don\u2019t\u00a0 normally confess or repent specific actions in front of the community, or even to a\u00a0 third party, nor do we have any prescribed penalties. Our repentance is much more\u00a0 broad and all encompassing. It is non-specific, we own up to ALL of our harmful\u00a0 actions of body speech and mind from the beginning of time. Acknowledging our regret for harmful actions is done internally, with the awakened quality of our own\u00a0 mind.<\/p>\n
The idea is that we chant this verse before we take on something very important –\u00a0 it\u2019s like moving forward with a clean slate, like washing cloth before we dye it.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s\u00a0 Formal repentance. The other kind of repentance that we do in Zen is\u00a0 \u201cFormless Repentance\u201d. Formless repentance, is repentance in the ultimate realm.\u00a0 It is absolute\/supreme, it is beyond any idea of good or bad, of wholesome or\u00a0 unwholesome, of helping or harming. It is letting go completely. Zazen is formless\u00a0 repentance exactly.<\/p>\n
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Daikan Eno (Huineng) \u2013 the 6th\u00a0 Chinese ancestor talked a lot about\u00a0 formless repentance in the Platform Sutra. He stated that formless\u00a0 repentance will annihilate the sins of\u00a0 past, present, and future, enabling you\u00a0 to attain purity of thought, word, and deed. Formless repentance happens in each instant.<\/p>\n
Master Eno wrote:<\/p>\n
“From the preceding moment of thought, the present moment of thought, and the\u00a0 following moment of thought, from moment of thought to moment of thought I will\u00a0 not be affected by folly or delusion \/ conceit or deceit, Jealousy or envy; I repent of\u00a0 all previous folly or delusion, conceit or deceit, Jealousy or envy and other faults\u00a0 due to them, may they disappear all at once and never occur again.<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Formless repentance is manifesting your true self, in this moment.<\/p>\n
In the reality of our lives, where we live, in this relative world, we have to make\u00a0 choices every day. We use our discriminating mind all the time, it\u2019s unavoidable. We have to decide what is good, what is bad – but in zazen – we just let thought pass \u2013\u00a0 no discrimination, no judgement, only pure presence, we are totally free from\u00a0 discrimination. Repentance is letting go of our past, and zazen is letting go completely. So our practice of zazen is also the purest, most complete, form of\u00a0 repentance.<\/p>\n
We need both kinds of repentance in order to move forward in each\u00a0 instance.\u00a0 Formal repentance cleans the slate, and softens the consequences of our\u00a0 self- centred actions of body, speech, and thought. Formless repentance deals with\u00a0 the roots of these actions. Formal repentance prepares us for zazen. Formless\u00a0 repentance is zazen itself.<\/p>\n
In the Sutra of Forty-two Sections: The Buddha said:<\/p>\n
“If a person has many offenses and does not repent of them, but cuts off all thought\u00a0 of repentance, the offenses will engulf him, just as water returning to the sea will gradually become deeper and wider.<\/em>“<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So\u2026 it\u2019s good to repent \u2013 it\u2019s good to recognise our misdeeds, it\u2019s good to let them\u00a0 go, and to try to do better in the future. In Zen, whether we are working with the\u00a0 precepts, sitting in zazen, or engaging in daily activity, what is emphasized is\u00a0 returning \u2013 returning to our original nature before any thoughts of separation.<\/p>\n
Dogen Zenji wrote:<\/p>\n
“We should reflect on it. This is the exact point of a realized buddha. With\u00a0 repentance you will certainly receive invisible help from buddha ancestors. Repent to the buddhas with mind and body. The power of repentance melts the roots of unwholesomeness. This is the single colour of true practice, the true heart of trust,\u00a0 the true body of trust<\/em> “.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In the Samantabhadra sutra it says:<\/p>\n
“The ocean of all karmic hindrances arises solely from delusive thoughts. If you wish to make repentance, sit in upright posture and be mindful of the true reality.\u00a0 All misdemeanours, like frost and dew, are melted away in the sun of wisdom.<\/em>“<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lana H\u014dsei Berrington In zen we chant this verse of repentance on some occasions: Ga shaku sho zo sho aku go Kai yu mu shi ton jin chi Ju…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Fugen_the_life_preserver_full_view-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11502,"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101\/revisions\/11502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenborin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}