Repentance Text Before Receiving the Eight Precepts of Purification (Aṣṭāṇa-Śīla)

Original text of the Ekottara Āgama, Volume 16, Gaozhuang Chapter: 是时。教授者当教前人作是语。我今奉持如来斋法。至明日清旦。修清净戒。除去恶法。若身恶行。口吐恶语。意生恶念。身三口四意三诸有恶行。已作当作。或能以贪欲故所造。或能以瞋恚所造。或能以愚痴所造。或能以豪族故造。或能因恶知识所造。或能今身后身无数身。或能不识佛不识法。或能斗比丘僧。或能杀害父母诸尊师长。我今自忏悔。不自覆藏。依戒依法成其戒行。受八关如来斋法。

Explanation: At this time, the instructing master who transmits the precepts teaches the precept-seeker to say as follows: I now uphold the Tathāgata's precept of fasting, until tomorrow at dawn, cultivating pure precepts and eliminating evil dharmas. If I have committed evil bodily actions, uttered evil speech, or given rise to evil thoughts in the mind—the three evil bodily actions, the four evil verbal actions, and the three evil mental actions—all evil actions already done and yet to be done, I now fully confess and reveal them all, without concealing them. Whether these evil actions were committed out of greed, out of anger, or out of delusion; whether they were committed deliberately relying on my noble family and prestigious surname; whether they were committed due to the teaching of evil teachers; whether they were committed with this present body, future bodies, and countless bodies; whether they were committed because of not knowing the Buddha and the Dharma; whether they were evil actions that sowed discord among the bhikṣu Saṅgha; or whether they were evil actions of killing my parents and all venerable teachers and elders—all these evil actions I now confess myself, no longer covering or hiding them, accomplishing my precept conduct in accordance with the precepts and the Dharma, and receiving the Tathāgata's eight precepts of fasting.

This content is the confession text before receiving the precepts. By means of confession and revealing one's evil actions, one can purify one's own mind and repent away karmic offenses. Only when the karmic offenses have been repented away and there are no obstructions can one receive the dharma of the eight precepts of fasting, obtain the substance of the precepts, and thereby perfect one's precept conduct. Among these, the gravest evil action is killing one's parents and teachers; next is sowing discord among the Saṅgha, the evil action of bringing chaos to the Three Jewels—these evil actions carry extremely great retributions. Some evil actions are committed because of not knowing the Buddha and the Dharma, being unable to distinguish wholesome from unwholesome, true and false, good and bad; some evil actions are committed because, although one has encountered the Buddha and the Dharma, one has received the false teaching of evil teachers. Due to delusion, one cannot distinguish good teachers from evil teachers, taking every word of the evil teacher as one's guiding principle and following it in every detail, thereby committing evil actions, complying with all the afflictions of one's own mind, and moreover being influenced to give rise to new afflictions. Grave evil actions require long-term, earnest confession in order to be repented away; only afterward can wisdom arise, enabling one to distinguish wholesome and unwholesome, true and false, right and wrong, to cease evil and cultivate goodness, with a pure mind.