Types and Methods of Repentance

Where karma is created, sincere repentance must be made there, with a vow never to commit it again; in front of however many people the karma was created, sincere repentance must be made before that same number of people. If the influence of the unwholesome karma is extremely great and one has reached a considerable level in Dharma practice, reality repentance may be undertaken. Reality repentance is divided into two types: one is repentance according to the non-arising principle of the Hinayana, observing in meditation the unreality of the five aggregates and the unreality of the physical, verbal, and mental actions created by the five aggregates, attaining the first fruition or the stage preliminary to the first fruition; upon achieving purification of the Dharma-eye, the repentance is purified.

The other is repentance according to the non-arising principle of the Tathagatagarbha in the Mahayana Dharma, observing how the previous physical, verbal, and mental actions arose, ultimately realizing that one's own physical, verbal, and mental actions are all born bit by bit from the Tathagatagarbha, that there is no reality to physical, verbal, and mental actions, that the five aggregates are illusory, and thus the physical, verbal, and mental actions dependent on the five aggregates are also illusory—thereby the karma is eradicated. Of course, it is essential to possess access concentration to have hope of realizing the Tathagatagarbha; only afterward can one observe how physical, verbal, and mental actions are precisely born from the Tathagarbha. Once the Buddha Dharma is realized, all karma leading to the three evil destinies is eliminated, including the karmic offenses of the three evil destinies accumulated since beginningless kalpas. However, this is extremely difficult, requiring exceptionally good roots of virtue, merit, meditative concentration, wisdom, and causes and conditions.