Rachel Wong
Professor Sik Fa Ren
BSTC 2004
December 11, 2014
Life through Confessional Ritual Confessional Ritual dates back to an early ritual called “Patimokkha conducted by monastic Buddhists” (lecture 9, pg. 3). The ritual consists of a list of possible zui which are recited twice a month by monks at Uposatha service where all of the monastic community members assembled (lecture 9, pg. 3). Confessional ritual is comprised of four main elements: “chanting the names of different Buddhas and doing prostration”, “kneeling to recite in taking refuge in the Three Jewels on behalf of all sentient beings”, “continued kneeling and recitation of the text in the confession of zui”, and finally, “transfer merit to sentient beings to help them …show more content…
The key to escape samsara and being reborn into good realms which is determinant in the confession of the accumulated zui; without confession, it is impossible to be free of suffering (lecture 8, pg. 1). Samsara is a continuous cycle of birth and death and the being cycles through six realms of existence (Shiva). Both concepts of samsara and karma are closely related: if we want to help the deceased get rebirthed in the better realm or pure land, the confessional ritual is the first step (Shiva). It allows one to repent their zui while doing the verbal chanting to show their emotions for understanding what they have done wrong—a sense of fear. Through having good karma and reciting zui, that clears karmic obstacles. The involvement of each individual in samsara is not impacted; instead, every sentient being is responsible in eliminating their zui to be free of suffering (lecture 9, pg. 3). Typically, wrongful actions are seen as “evil, bad, demeritorious, or corrupt” which leads to a “deeper entanglement in the process of suffering and samsara (lunhui) and away from fulfillment and enlightenment of nirvana” (lecture 9, pg. 3). Only through thorough understanding of “kong” can the individual escape samsara, lunhui. Therefore, only through a concrete understanding can one “eliminate meaningless attachment—absence of attachment is absence of delusions, which means liberation” …show more content…
There are three main influences including karma, samsara, and merit as well as two key concepts: rite of passage and verbal chanting. Each topic plays a crucial component in the confessional ritual with the goal of being: rebirthed into a higher realm of Pure Land. Participants must be truly obliged and understand what they are verbally chanting from the list of zui. The participants feel a sense of guilt then are able to repent upon it then feel compassion to understand more about the Pure Land. Each individual will experience the confessional ritual differently, but the key is to be thankful for others that were able to be there during the ritual and thank them from the bottom of your heart. Chinese confessional ritual is unique to Buddhism for ridding zui from present life to gain merit upon completion. Each ritual in Buddhism has a specific purpose, but the most crucial part is being open and understanding the ritual to gain full advantage of it. As Buddha once said, “what we think, we become” (JD). Through truly following in the teachings of Buddha and listening to what he has to say, one can completely transform their lives. In confessional ritual, if we think and become what we think, then when we repent our zui, we are ridding the negative to get into the positive realm into Pure Land. When we