A confession from the Sutra of the Golden Light

I confess today, single-mindedly, all of

The extremely heavy bad actions,

The sins that I have committed in the past.

I have constantly committed bad actions

By not believing in the buddhas,

Not revering gurus and kalyāṇamitras,

And I have not performed many good actions.

I have constantly committed bad actions

By being proud of my high status,

Of my family, and of my possessions,

And by being conceited about my youth.

I have constantly committed bad actions

Through constantly having wrong thoughts,

Giving voice to bad words,

And not seeing these as sinful

I have constantly committed bad actions

By constantly having a foolish mentality,

My mind obscured by the darkness of ignorance,

And by following wicked companions.

I have committed bad actions because of

My delighting in amusements,

Because of being in a state of misery,

Or being in the bondage of desire and hate.

I have committed bad actions because

I have relied upon friends who were not virtuous,

Because of being motivated by envy and greed,

And because of poverty and deception.

Though I did not aspire to commit many bad actions,

I have committed such actions

Through fear and terror,

Or because I was under the power of others.

I have committed bad actions because,

Though I did not aspire to many bad actions,

I did so through fear and terror

Or because I was under the power of others.

I have committed bad actions because

My thoughts were completely distracted,

Because I was angry or held a grievance,

And because I was tormented by hunger and thirst.

I have committed bad actions because of

Being burned by the fire of the kleśas

In craving for food and drink,

And for clothes and for women.

All the many bad actions I have done,

Such as not having veneration in my mind

For the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha,

Today I individually confess them all.

“ ‘All the many bad actions I have done,

Such as not having veneration in my mind

For the pratyekabuddhas and bodhisattvas,

Today I individually confess them all.

“ ‘All the many bad actions I have done,

Such as ignorant criticism of the Dharma

And having no respect for my parents,

Today I individually confess them all.

All the many bad actions I have done,

Through the power of ignorance,

Of pride, of desire, and of anger,

Today I individually confess them all.

May the countless buddhas in the realms

Of the ten directions, to whom I make offerings,

Become guides for all beings

And free them from suffering and obstacles.

May every single being

Abide in the ten bhūmis.

Having perfected merit and wisdom,

May they guide beings as buddhas.

(adapted from source 84000)

Long Quote on Confession and Ethics

"For many people, a belief in divine punishment or reward is integral to their sense of the meaning of religion. For instance, on a recent journey to India, I met a Sri Lankan Muslim while I was waiting for a connection at Kuwait airport. He was a nice chap and we got talking. When he heard I was a Buddhist, he started asking me about the violent things that he had seen some Buddhist monks doing in Sri Lanka. I had to agree with him and say, ‘Yes, it’s terrible’, because I knew about them too. He went on to ask, ‘Well, what is there that guarantees morality in Buddhism?’  So I tried to explain about Buddhist ethics, but he could only comment, ‘Well, that’s not enough is it? Who is going to refrain from doing bad things, or care about doing good, if there is no punishment for evil?’  To him it seemed obvious that, if people did not believe there was an all-powerful God waiting to fry them if they stepped out of line, they would throw all moral restraint to the winds.


This attitude is found in all theistic religions. In a sense, it is found in Buddhist societies too, although it does not really fit in with the Buddhist view of things. Bhante has often commented that the gory detail in which some Buddhists speak about the torments of hell is really a means of social control, comparable to similar talk in the theistic religious traditions. It seems that most societies have considered it necessary to frighten the mass of people into morality (or at least into docility). I doubt whether such terror tactics are beneficial or even effective, but this is not the place to explore that question. The point is that this fear of a punishing power has got nothing to do with Buddhist morality as such. We should recognise that some of the difficulties that we typically face in our spiritual lives come from our inability to distinguish remorse from its near enemy, namely the fear of losing love and acceptance, or of being punished (or some poisonous brew concocted from the two)."



(from "Remorse and Confession in the Spiritual Community" By Subhuti)



In a way, there's nothing to add to that, but it's a point I struggle with others.  They want ethics to have more bite.  They want to judge people.  The idea that ethics is something you develop for yourself, that you apply to yourself, is a foreign thing.  People want to hack into others.  In a way, there is something profound about just working on yourself, and letting everyone else sort themselves out.  It's the thing you have most control over.

Subhuti Quote

"When we are on a retreat, meditating, absorbing the Dharma, perhaps spending a lot of time in silence, we become much more sensitive and our actions start to reflect the great ethical principles of metta, generosity, contentment and so on. We usually carry something of this state away from the retreat, but back in the hurly-burly of everyday life, surrounded by distractions, we soon start to lose the spiritual ‘edge’ we acquire on retreat. After only a few days, our actions of body, speech and mind start to coarsen. Before long, we are quickly forgetting or even not noticing the little unskilful acts that we are committing and so have no chance of confessing them."

From "Remorse and Confession in the Spiritual Community"