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Four Powers of Confession
1) Support: Object and place of refuge. Visualize guru as Vajrasattva on top of crown.
- Faith and devotion is inner support. Secret support is bodhicitta.
- When evil is hidden, it cannot be purified. Negative actions will keep on increasing.
2) Regret: Develop awareness of result suffering strong enough to overwhelm wanting to do negative actions, and wanting to purify immediately as soon as we become aware we have committed negative actions.
- Remember [identify] negative actions. ‘These are the negative actions I have done.’ The six doors of negative actions.
- In limitless lifetimes we have accumulated negative karma. These are the actions we confess.
- There is no negative deed that we have not done.
- Recognize the result suffering it will bring.
- Develop remorse/ shame as if drunk poison. Any action will increase if you don’t feel remorse.
- Regret is like soap for washing.
3) Antidote: Engage in virtue. Through virtue, we purify. This makes the consequence less severe.
- Develop compassion to beings in the three realms. Pray that they be freed this very instant.
- Recite the mantra with nectar falling, purifying.
4) Resolve: Commitment to stop. ‘Before I did not know, now I know. All these actions, I don’t ever want to do again, even at the cost of my life.’
- Promise again and again not to repeat. Promise not to harm.
- The resolve not to do again should be very powerful to counteract habits. There is something complete about it.
- Promising not to repeat negative is a mental act. It stops proliferation. This is like cutting the root. Otherwise result will increase.