Part 13 (1/2)
We confess this transgression within the expanse of supreme bliss, which is sameness!
Since we have failed to encounter the true meaning of reality, We have forsaken truth and persevered in non-virtuous acts.
We have forsaken the transmitted precepts of the Teacher and have been deceived by the vagaries of [mundane] human doctrines!
We confess this transgression within the expanse of supreme bliss, which is reality!
Since we have failed to experience the natural liberation of pristine cognition, which is [intrinsic] awareness, We have forsaken the modality of intrinsic awareness, and persevered in distracted acts.
Take pity on these sentient beings who are devoid of such truthful experience!
We confess this transgression within the expanse, which is free from distraction!
To the a.s.sembled deities of pristine cognition, to the protectors who uphold the commitments, And to those yogins who have fulfilled their commitments in accordance with the textual elucidation, We remorsefully confess all our own faults, [We remorsefully confess] all our deviations and obscurations generated by our unrealised view!
CONFESSION IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL THOSE GONE TO BLISS.
OM We pray to all Those Gone to Bliss, throughout the three times, To you, the conquerors, and your retinues, And to all who maintain the commitments of indestructible reality, Please, each of you, attend to us!
Having initially generated the mind [aspiring] to supreme enlightenment, In order to actualise the indestructible reality of buddha-body, speech and mind, On the enlightened plain of an accomplished awareness holder, We have adopted numerous secret commitments, Relating to both the meditational deities and our vajra-masters, And we have pledged not to transgress these injunctions, to which we are bound, [For to do so] would lead to a birth in the h.e.l.ls, Driven by our past actions and misfortunes.
[Nonetheless], swayed by attachment, aversion, delusion, pride, envy and so forth, We have continued to err: Should we have belittled the vajra-master in our hearts, the 'lamp of the teaching', And thus allowed our commitments to degenerate, And should we have harboured ill will and mistaken att.i.tudes Towards the vajra-companions who share our commitments, For [whatever] such [harm we have thus created], We confess all our degenerations of the commitments of buddha-body!
Should we have not clearly visualised the seals of the meditational deity,27 Should we have been deficient in our mantra recitations during our ritual service, Should we have failed to carry out the rites through which both ritual service and attainment are fulfilled, Especially with respect to the ritual offerings of six session [yoga], And should we have been incapable of practising in accordance with the teachings and the texts, We confess all such degenerations of the commitments of buddha-speech!
Should we have degraded the commitments, which the vajra-master imparted as an esoteric instruction of buddha-mind, Commitments he orally seeded in our hearts, through the grace of his loving kindness, And should we have even transgressed our secret name,28 by divulging it carelessly, We confess all such degenerations of the commitments of buddha-mind!
We [also] confess our degenerations of the ancillary commitments, Caused by our failure to realise the essential sameness of phenomena.
We confess our degenerations of the commitments relating to ritual service and attainment, Caused by our falling into the sleep of idleness and apathy.
We confess [each and every one of our] degenerations of the commitments of buddha-body, speech and mind, Caused by our transgressions, enacted physically, verbally and mentally!
In the presence of our revered spiritual teachers, We confess our inadequate utensils and resources.
In the presence of the a.s.sembled meditational deities, We confess our prejudices towards their practices of visualisation.29 In the presence of the four cla.s.ses of dkins, We confess our degenerations of our commitments and pledges.
In the presence of the protectors of the [sacred] teachings, We confess our [tardy] torma-offerings, whether years or months overdue.
In the presence of our parents of the three times, We confess our failure to repay their kindness.
In the presence of our spiritual brothers and sisters, We confess our inadequate fervour for upholding the commitments.
In the presence of the six cla.s.ses of sentient beings, We confess the inadequacy of our compa.s.sion and altruism.
We confess all our contradictions and degenerations: Those relating to the prtimoksa vows, Those relating to the trainings cultivated by the bodhisattvas, And those relating to the commitments upheld by the awareness holders.30 From now on we shall not conceal [such degenerations]
And we resolve to guard against any and every infraction!
As we confess all our negative obscurations born of indulging in the three poisons, Please purify [all our obscurations]
And grant us the supreme and common accomplishments of buddha-body, speech and mind!
The Hundred-syllable Mantra [of Vajrasattva] should be recited [repeatedly] in conjunction with these verses and thus the confession will be effected.
This Natural Liberation through Acts of Confession in the Presence of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities, Which is a supporting text to the Reparation and Confession: Natural Liberation of Degenerations, 31 is thus presented.
Be persevering with regard to this practice, O Children of Posterity!
May this practice be encountered by all those of the future who have a [positive] inheritance of past actions!
This Natural Liberation through Acts of Confession, in the Presence of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities was extracted from the Tantra of Immaculate Confession by Padmkara, the preceptor of Oddiyna. May [the influence of] this sublime teaching not be exhausted until all of cyclic existence is emptied!
May virtue prevail!
SAMAYA rgya rgya rgya!
gter-rgya! sbas-rgya! gtad-rgya!32 A treasure of Karma Lingpa!
8.
Natural Liberation through Recognition of the Visual Indications and Signs of Death CONTEXT.
Since the human body is regarded as an abode of deities, it is the responsibility of the pract.i.tioner to protect the body from the causes of harm, disease and premature death and to foster the conditions which support an active and unenc.u.mbered life up to the natural exhaustion of the lifespan.
This chapter describes six categories of signs indicative of the time of death, together with a variety of techniques for purposefully eliciting specific indications of death. Also described, in the section t.i.tled 'Signs of Extremely Near Death', are the experiential and outer signs that occur during the process of dying. Lastly, the signs that are indicative of the nature of the future rebirth, which occur at or after death, are described.
This chapter and the following chapter: Natural Liberation of Fear through the Ritual Deception of Death are inextricably interlinked. Should the predictive signs described in this chapter definitively arise, then it is expected that the appropriate practices described in the following chapter: Natural Liberation of Fear through the Ritual Deception of Death should be undertaken without delay.
The sophisticated description of the process of dying, contained in the section 'Signs of Extremely Near Death', concurs with the understanding of the process of death commonly found in cla.s.sical Buddhist literature.h This section forms a component of the Liberation by Hearing (Chapter 11) and it is a vital aspect of the guidance to be given by a qualified spiritual teacher at the time of death.