The Meaning of "Temptation" in Southern Buddhism.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.

  

To repent is only to show mistakes, repent and correct them so that you don't have to do it again. Thus, the confession cannot end sins, cannot be rid of all sins, clearly so. Why? Repenting or confessing our faults is just a way for us to see our mistakes and try to correct them, do not continue to make mistakes, prevent them from happening again, that is the transformation of body mind or the three karma to be purified. never mind.

 

Repentance means confession, confessing sin. When we do something wrong, then feel ashamed, repent of that mistake, we promise not to commit it again, like that, confession, revealing. For all religions in the world, there is a way for their followers to confess their sins and commit crimes, not just Buddhism. According to folklore, to repent is to apologize for the mistake you have committed. Particularly for Southern Buddhism, it is the duty of the Bhikkhu-khưu to find his mistake, must object, report his crime with another co-practitioner, must not hide, speak out. to try not to make the mistake again. Such is the purpose of repentance or disgrace.

In Buddhism in Vietnam, we usually on the 15th or 30th of the lunar month, Buddhists often gather to the temple to recite penance, this is a very popular activity. Initially, this confession or generosity was only for the monastics only. According to the spirit of Vinaya precepts for bhikkhus-khưu, each month there are two days of Uposatha (Bo-slapping), the bhikkhu should practice monthly. According to ancient Indian custom, each month is divided into two pakkha (half a month):

- Sukhapakkha: the first half of the month of the moon rises, starting from the 1st to the full moon day.

- Kāḷapakkha: half a month after the moon falls, starting from the 16th to the 29th day of the last month, or the last 30th of the full month.

Buddhist countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia follow the above custom, but in the second half of a month, it will be recalculated from the 1st, not from the 16th. divided by the first half and the second half, but only counting from the 1st to the 29th of the month or 30 full months. Thus, every month, all Bhikkhu-khưu must practice Uposatha for two days, on the full moon day and on the last 29 of the month; or the end of the month in full If a bhikkhu does not practice Uposatha, he commits āpatti dukkaṭa.

On this day, the Buddhists of the national religions also come to the temple to do merit, observe the eight mandarin precepts, listen to the Dharma all day, sometimes sleep overnight at the temple for an entire day and night. And then, from the day of the Bodhisattva of the monks is also an opportunity for Buddhists to come to the temple to chant prayers, take precepts and listen to the Dharma every month. However, when I go to the temple to recite my penance, I do not have to end my sins, I do not have to pray to the Buddha for forgiveness of sins or the monks to be baptized for purity and purity. Because repentance is just the expression of guilt, repentance and correction so that there is no need to commit it again. Thus, the confession cannot end sins, cannot be rid of all sins, clearly so. Why? Repenting or confessing our mistakes is just a way for us to see our mistakes and try to correct them, not to make mistakes, to prevent them from happening again, it is the transformation of body mind or the three karma to be purified. To clarify this problem, let us go through a few cases recorded in the Pali Canon.

The case of Bhikkhu Bhaddāli in the Bhaddāli Sutta.

The Buddha called the bhikkhus and taught that they should eat only once - with one sitting (ekāsanabhojana), they will be healthy, less sick, gentle, and happy. Upon hearing this, Bhikkhu Bhaddāli protested, telling the Buddha that he could not do so, because he would worry, regret, fear that he would not be able to live the full virtuous life. Hearing that, the Blessed One suggested that if so, when begging for alms, he should eat a portion, save a portion for later. Bhaddāli also refused to do that, saying that he would still worry because he had to finish eating the plants before noon. Thus, when the Buddha announced this sutra, Bhikkhu Bhaddāli also announced between them that he did not practice that precept. Due to disobeying the Buddha's words, he avoided seeing the Buddha during the three months of the rainy season. After three months in the rainy season, the Buddha was about to travel, the Bhikkhus advised Bhaddāli to come and ask for repentance to the Buddha. Knowledge of the Ton,

- Bach The Ton, a mistake has taken you, it is stupid, it is delusion, it is unwholesome. While they obeyed the study of the World Religion, I declared my helplessness. Bach The Ton, I hope the Blessed One will accept this error as a mistake, so that you can protect it in the future. [first]

After rebuking, the Blessed One taught Bhikkhu Bhaddāli that: a person who does not practice fully learn the precepts, even if he lives a renunciation, he will not be able to obtain a legal person, a superior knowledge of the saint; For those who practice fully studying the precepts, the life of seclusion will lead to the attainment of samadhi and the attainment of the Three Intelligence.

A monk who knows wrong without stopping is that the mind has no nonsense. The wrong deeds are known by the Sangha, with suggestions or constructive suggestions, but without stopping itself is the precious mind. With the mind that is no longer precious, that is, there are still many defilements, it will definitely not enter samadhi. Without deep concentration, it is impossible to attain the superior dharma and victorious views. This is the reason that The Blessed One teaches that those who keep studying the dharma are lacking, even if living in seclusion, it is impossible to attain the superior dharma and the victorious knowledge.

In this case, Bhikkhu Bhaddāli made a mistake and then confronted the Blessed One who confessed his mistake for "future protection". The content of this discourse does not show whether repentance can eradicate a sin committed, or in other words whether a person's fault is exempt after repentance but is clearly accepting the offender's repentance, allows the offender to continue living in his community, and the mistake he committed will not be repeated. But the offender himself will not make this mistake again in the future. The Blessed One also gave an example image of a person with only one eye left, his relatives protected that other eye and thought not to let this other eye be destroyed. If the other eye were destroyed, of course, this person would become a blind man, can no longer see anything. If the remaining virtuous roots of the wrong person are lost, the person will become dark, lose confidence in being able to return to purity and be able to advance on the path of spiritual growth.

The case of King Ajatasattu

King Ajātasattu was in contact with Devadatta, so he committed a felony of killing his father, and later felt guilty, regretful:

- Bạch Thế Tôn, I have committed a felony. Because of ignorance, because of ignorance, because of akusala, I have harmed my father, a righteous king, to attain kingship. I hope The Ton admitted to me that crime is a sin to prevent me from going forward.

And the Buddha accepted that sin for the king:

- Great King, what a serious crime. Because of ignorance, because of ignorance, because of bad deeds, Dai Vuong has harmed his father, a true king, to take the king. Because the United Kingdom has seen that sin is a sin, has confessed to the correctness of the Dharma, I admit it to the Great King. It is an improvement, King, in the law of the saint, those who see sin as sin, confess their sins in accordance with the Dharma, and prevent future.

The Buddha had such advice to provide comfort to encourage that person and this person became happy when the Buddha confirmed his mistake and he comforted by saying: " It is progress. , if there is revelation, this is the progress of the saint ". Hearing this, he is very happy and feels light as if he can take off the burden because after making mistakes, his mind becomes frustrated and uncomfortable. When it has emptied out, the mind turns toward goodness.

In this passage, the Buddha "pleaded guilty" of this king, does not mean that he "pardoned" his sin. Which here only means that, He accepts that repentance and such acknowledgment and repentance are in accordance with the Dharma, and such acknowledgment will also contribute to relieve the mentality of the offender. In terms of cause and effect, the cause of that sin is not completely eradicated after repentance and the sower must reap the fruit. The cause and effect here is expressed in the fact that, because of having committed the murder of his father, even though he was repentant, that karma had a negative effect on the development of his path. When King Ajatasattu farewell and left, the Buddha made the following comment: "Hey the Bhikkhu-khưu, the king's mind is very repentant, the Bhikkhu-khưu, the king's mind is very sorry. If the king did not harm the life of his father, a very righteous king, then at this seat, the king was able to witness the legal vision, not bare, not defiled ". [2]

In the case of Venerable Pukkusati

This false Buddha, because he admired the Buddha and his teachings, gave up his family, lived a wandering life and practiced according to the Buddha's teachings. However, he never met the Buddha once and could not imagine what he was. By chance once, during a night staying at the residence of a potter named Bhaggava, Pukkusati met the Buddha, but because he did not recognize him, he called the Buddha a sage. The Buddha then gave a lecture to Pukkusati. When he finished listening to what was being taught, the Sun realized that the person facing him was none other than the Blessed One, whom he "left home and kept on" and accepted as the Master. Then the Venerable Pukkusati said that, because of "ignorance and ingenuity" he addressed the Blessed One as Sage, what he thought was a mistake, and so he expected the Blessed One to accept it as a mistake.

Then the Buddha said that "... if you see a mistake as a mistake, and as the dharma reveals, I accept it for you." Because, this Bhikkhu-khưu, this is an increase in the precepts of the saint, when one sees a mistake as a mistake, as the dharma reveals, to prevent in the future . [3]

This passage is similar to the one in the Bhaddāli sutra, although the Pukkusati erroneous case is different from the Bhaddāli. While a person committing a mistake for not being able to follow the discipline accepted by the Sangha, a person committing a mistake just by unintentionally not realizing who he is facing him is. In Pukkusati's case, he made a mistake - if so were to say - out of error; and his apology could be seen as an "apology" rather than a "repentance". However, no matter the degree of error, its realization and repentance, there are "gains" in life as well as in practice. And furthermore, in this sutta, Pukkusati made "mistakes" with the Buddha himself, and "accepting mistakes for him" can be seen as his ignoring this mistake.

Repenting or expressing their mistakes is a human trait so that each individual in a group has the opportunity to see his or her own mistake and correct himself, through which each individual is an article. Ethics for each person. There are many ways to express remorse, but in the spirit of Southern Buddhism we can base on the Ambalahika Rāhula Sutta as the most active way of confession. In this sutta, the Buddha advised Raāhula to repent when he encountered a mistake:

If, while reflecting, this Rāhula, he knows the following: "This karma I have done. This karma leads to self harm, to harm others, to harm both; this kamma is unwholesome. suffering, brings suffering ". Such a karma, Rāhula, you need to say, need to reveal, need to present before the masters, or before the fellow virtues of wisdom. After speaking, disclosing, presenting, it is necessary to protect in the future.  [4]

And if the karma is wrong, it must:

If, while reflecting, this Rāhula, he knows the following: "This will of karma I have done. This karma leads to self harm, to harm others, to harm both; this karma is akusala, which leads to harm." suffering, resulting in suffering ". Such a karma, rāhula, you need to worry, need to be noble, you need to be boring. After worrying, precious, boring, needing protection in the future.

Based on the above two passages, reflecting on the three karma is a very important job, for us to review our body, speech and mind to see if it has been well? If any action or word or just thought has not been done, then leave, don't do it, don't say it, and don't think about the other negative thoughts, because they lead to suffering. you, for you, bring the treasure of no peace. But if we have committed an unwholesome body karma or speech, we need to bring this fact to our mentor or wise co-practitioner, so that he can understand the fact and have advice. proper teaching, aiming to end the negative actions of the body and mouth in the future.

Thus, to confess or to remind yourself of your mistakes, according to the above passage, it takes three steps:

1. Reflect yourself.
2. Present it to the master or wise fellow virtuoso.
3. Protection in the future.

In a nutshell, the confession is to contemplate the three karma, to reveal the faults you have committed and prevent it from happening again. That is how to contemplate the three karma. Why? Before doing, you must observe, while doing, you must observe, after doing, you must observe, to see how your three karma? Is it good or not good? Therefore, every action, word, or thought we need to consider properly, as her grandparents used to say "bend the tongue seven times before speaking" is so. Before doing good, then do not need anything to repent or repent. "Carefree discipline" is like that. END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.29/11/2020.