The Lotus repentance: a ritual of confession for the six senses

The Tiantai Lotus samādhi: a ritual in a prepared space, with offerings, prostrations, and confession of the six sense-doors.

Pourquoi ça marche

Mo-ho chih-kuan vol. 2 gives the bodily part of the Lotus samādhi as ten steps: purify the ritual space and the body, make offerings of body, speech and mind, invite the Buddhas, bow, confess the six sense-doors (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind), circumambulate, recite the sūtra, sit, and watch for the signs of attainment. The text says the Lotus samādhi is also set out in a separate fascicle by a Tiantai master. The confession step names the sense-doors one by one within the formal sequence, and the ritual is named for the Lotus Sūtra.

Comment faire

1. Before anything else, sit with your feet on the floor, open your eyes, and notice five things you can see and two sounds you can hear. This is the grounding step, and it comes first every time.
2. Learn the ritual from a teacher or a community that leads it before doing the full form.
3. Prepare a clean, quiet space, with a simple focus such as an image of the Buddha or a Lotus Sūtra text.
4. Make the offerings and bows in the order the teacher gives, keeping them simple and sincere.
5. For the confession, name each sense-door in turn and let it be seen, without elaborating on the details of any particular fault.
6. Stop at once, and ground yourself again, if the ritual brings up strong fear, shame or a sense of unreality. The shorter manual has a chapter titled “Recognizing Demonic Events” (覺知魔事第八), and that chapter is the place to look when such experiences arise.

Données probantes

The ten steps of the Lotus samādhi and the note that it is set out in a separate fascicle by a Tiantai master are in Mo-ho chih-kuan vol. 2. The Lotus Sūtra, which the ritual rests on, is published by BDK America as Taishō 262. The text’s first step is to adorn and purify a ritual space. (anecdotal)

The community and teacher element is the usual setting for the ritual, not something a fetched sentence prescribes. No study has tested the ritual. Because confession can bring up guilt, the practice must start with grounding, and the meditation-related-challenges page applies if distress comes up.

Sources

• Zhiyi. Mo-ho chih-kuan (摩訶止觀, T1911), vol. 2 (上), Chinese text on Chinese Wikisource. Sections on the four samādhis (常坐, 常行, 半行半坐, 非行非坐) and the Lotus samādhi.
• The Lotus Sutra, Revised Second Edition (Taishō 262). BDK America product page, which lists a free PDF download.

Erreur fréquente

Treating confession as a way to replay and punish oneself. The ritual names the sense-doors and lets them be washed through a set order; looping on guilt is a different practice, and the grounding step is there to stop that loop.