The Practice of the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas
Confession of Downfalls to the Thirty-Five Buddhas, is an excellent confession prayer recommended in The Way of the Bodhisattva. It has the power to purify eons of non-virtuous karma accumulated in our previous lives and prevent us from taking rebirth in the three lower realms in future lives. Sodargye Khenpo Rinpoche explains more benefits of this practice which will encourage you to make this prayer as a daily practice.
Why Is Confession so Important?
Excerpt 1: Why Is Confession so Important?
The first step of practice is to purify our mind-stream through confession. Every person, rich or poor, young or old, must have accumulated lots of bad karma. Without our defilements being cleared away, it is very difficult for us to do any other practice successfully.
Excerpt 2: Hard at the Beginning, Easy in the End
We should devote ourselves to long-term Dharma practices. In the beginning, it is necessary to use forceful and specific ways to subdue our discursive thoughts. However, we need not feel frustrated, as the time will come when every practice falls into place by itself.
Excerpt 3: Praying to the Thirty-Five Buddhas Benefits the Dead
At the time of your death, if you are able, pray to the Thirty-five Buddhas by chanting the Confession of Downfalls to the 35 Buddhas. If that’s not possible, people around you can chant it for you. In this way, you will not fall into the lower realms, and all your defilements and obscurations will be cleansed.
Excerpt 4: How Lucky We Are
The first Buddha of Thirty-five Buddhas is Shakyamuni Buddha, who is praised with the honorific titles of the Bhagavan, Tathagata (the Thus Come Ones), Arhat (Worthy of Offerings), and the Fully Enlightened One. If we pray to Shakyamuni Buddha and chant his name, we won’t regress from the path to enlightenment. Anyone who hears his name is a person of good fortune.
Excerpt 5: Being Angry Is Always Useless
As Buddhist practitioners we should try our best to control our temper, shouldn’t we? Whenever we are aggravated by situations or people, consider that if the issue can be remedied, why get angry? Just apply the remedy. If the situation is beyond any remedy, what then is the point of getting mad and blowing up? Buddhist practice means mind training; if our minds remain undisciplined, we cannot call ourselves practitioners.
Being Angry Is Always Useless
As Buddhist practitioners we should try our best to control our temper, shouldn’t we? Whenever we are aggravated by situations or people, consider that if the issue can be remedied, why get angry? Just apply the remedy. If the situation is beyond any remedy, what then is the point of getting mad and blowing up? Buddhist practice means mind training; if our minds remain undisciplined, we cannot call ourselves practitioners.
Praying to the Thirty-Five Buddhas Benefits the Dead
At the time of your death, if you are able, pray to the Thirty-five Buddhas by chanting the Confession of Downfalls to The 35 Buddhas. If that’s not possible, people around you can chant it for you. In this way, you will not fall into the lower realms, and all your defilements and obscurations will be cleansed.
“If we don’t confess our misdeeds, we will fall into the three miserable realms after we die. If we confess by way of praying to the Thirty-five Buddhas and relying on the power of their aspirations, the offenses that we have committed in this life and many eons before, can be purified.”
