How Do We Make Confession to Regain Peace and Purity?
When the mind is full of negativity it’s hard for peace to arise. The best way to clear this all away is through confession. There are two effective ways to make confession, one is by relying on the four powers and the other, a higher one, is through observing the nature of mind.
In Tibetan Buddhism the method of making confession mainly involves the four powers.
The first is the power of support where, as the object of confession, you visualize Buddha Vajrasattva or the guru in the space in front.
The second is the power of regret where we express our remorse for all the negativity we have accumulated by our past actions.
Third is the power of resolve where we vow to never again commit the faults.
Fourth is the power of action as an antidote where we visualize a rain of nectar flowing down from the body of Buddha Vajrasattva and through his blessings all our karmic obscurations and obscurations of habitual tendencies are purified.
By making confession in this way all our negativity will definitely be purified.
As well, a higher level of making confession is by abiding one-pointedly in the state of emptiness and recognizing the true nature of the mind. As the Uttaratantra Shastra says:
Truly looking at truth, truth is seen.
When seen, this is complete liberation.
By truly observing our mind, we can realize the ultimate nature of mind and so attain liberation instantly. If we have already reached that level we can confess in this way, otherwise to make confession using the four powers is also very effective.
