忏悔

　　Purification Practice

　　今天是元宵節，也正值藏曆的神變月期間。很多藏地的修行人都在此月修習善法，如持八關齋戒、轉繞、頂禮、放生等等。漢地的人則在今天放鞭炮、點燈籠、舞獅子等，十分熱鬧開心。

　　Today is the Lantern Festival. It also falls in the Month of Miracles in the Tibetan calendar. Many Tibetan practitioners are performing virtuous deeds this month, such as nyungne fasting, circumambulation, prostration, releasing live beings, and so on. In Han Chinese, on the other hand, people are enjoying themselves setting off firecrackers, lighting lanterns and performing lion dances in festive ways.

　　但是，愚癡的人們爲了使親朋好友的團聚更加“多姿多彩”，常常不惜以衆生的生命作爲代價。無數生靈在今天慘遭塗炭，被無情地判處死刑。它們慘遭被刀割、油煎、烹煮等等殘酷刑法，使歡慶的背後演出了一幕幕人間煉獄的血腥場景。

　　However, some fools, in order to make their reunions with friends and relatives “more cheerful”, choose to entertain at the expense of other beings” lives. Behind the facade of joyful celebration, many beings today are executed mercilessly. The cruel punishment inflicted upon them––shearing with knives, frying in oil, or cooking in boiling water––is the playing out of bloody purgatory right here in the human realm.

　　Like humans, animals feel pain when suffering;

　　Unlike humans, they can only weep silent tears.

　　“畜生哀痛盡如人，只差有淚不能哭。”讓我們爲那些慘遭不幸的衆生，也爲那些造作惡業的衆生忏悔吧！

　　Let us, then, do the purification practice for the woeful slaughtered beings as well as for the evil perpetrators!

　　喬美仁波切的《善法集》中有一簡單方便的竅訣：“將金剛薩埵觀想于頭頂，自金剛薩埵發出無量金剛薩埵，位于死去的或活著的衆生頭頂。盡力念誦百字明後，自金剛薩埵身體降下甘露，自他一切有情罪障得以清淨，再念108遍百字明後，金剛薩埵化光融入自他一切衆生。于忏悔對境、忏悔者無緣之境界中修習空性，于空性中片刻入定。此乃世俗谛和勝義谛忏悔之法。依此，前世無量罪障也可得以清淨。”

　　In Collection of Good Deeds, Chagme Rinpoche imparts a simple pith instruction: “Visualize Vajrasattva at the crown of your head, and from him emanating numerous Vajrasattvas, each sitting on the top of other beings, either alive or dead. Recite the Hundred Syllable Mantra as many times as you can and visualize that the nectar, flowing down from Vajrasattva”s body, cleanses the obscuration of yourself and all others. Recite the mantra another 108 times, and then visualize that Vajrasattva dissolves into light and melts into yourself and all beings. Recognize emptiness while seeing that neither the support for purification nor the one who does the purification has any real existence. Remain unmoved in the state of emptiness momentarily. This is the way for confession in the context of both absolute and relative truths. By this practice, even incalculable downfalls in previous lives can be purified.”

　　這種修法不僅僅適用于今天，即使在平時，如果能以此修法爲家人、爲他人所造惡業進行忏悔，不但很有必要，而且非常方便。

　　This practice suits well for today”s occasion, however, it does not stop here. In everyday life, we should use it to purify the non-virtues of our family members and others. It is not only necessary, but also very convenient.

　　壬午年正月十四日 　

　　2002年2月26日 　

　　14th of January, Year of RenWu

　　February 26, 2002