Key Terms/Pāpadeśanā
From Bodhicitta
पापदेशना pāpadeśanā
confession
སྡིག་པ་བཤགས་པ་
sdig pa bshags pa
懺悔,披露罪過
chànhuǐ,\ pīlù zuìguò
Sanskrit - Noun
Basic Meaning
The Buddhist practice of 'confession' or 'laying aside evil.' It involves honestly acknowledging past mistakes and negative actions with regret, then committing not to repeat them. This process helps clear the mind of guilt and negative karmic imprints, creating space for positive qualities to grow.
Has the Sense of
- Abhidharma (Indo-Tibetan): In Abhidharma literature, pāpadeśanā (T. sdig pa bshags pa) relates to the mental factors of conscience (hrī) and shame (apatrāpya). It is the process of reversing the mental state of 'concealing faults' (mrakṣa), which is a subsidiary affliction. By disclosing negative actions, the practitioner prevents the 'ripening' of negative karmic seeds. The effectiveness of the practice depends on the strength of the remorse, which acts as a direct antidote to the attachment or aversion that prompted the original act.
- Mahāyāna (Indo-Tibetan): Within the Mahāyāna path, pāpadeśanā is the second of the seven branches of supreme worship (anuttarā-pūjā). It is extensively detailed in the second chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra, where it is presented as a profound psychological 'laying aside' of evil. The practice is formalized through the Four Opponent Powers (T. gnyen po stobs bzhi):
- The Power of Regret (Skt. vighātakabala
,T. rnam par sun 'byin pa'i stobs): Feeling deep remorse for past negative actions, recognizing them as harmful like poison.
- The Power of Reliance (Skt. āśrayabala,T. rten gyi stobs): Taking refuge in the Three Jewels and generating bodhicitta to provide a stable foundation for purification.
- The Power of Remedy (Skt. pratipakṣabala,T. gnyen po kun tu spyod pa'i stobs): Engaging in virtuous activities—such as reciting sūtras, meditating on emptiness, or visualizing deities—specifically to counteract negative karma.
- The Power of Resolve (Skt. pratyāpattibala,T. sor chud pa'i stobs): Making a firm determination not to repeat the negative action in the future.
- Vajrayāna (Indo-Tibetan): In Tantric practice, the visualization and mantra recitation of Vajrasattva (T. rdo rje sems pa) is considered the supreme method of pāpadeśanā. The practitioner visualizes a stream of purifying nectar (amṛta) descending from the deity to wash away all stains of broken commitments (samaya) and negative deeds. This is often part of the preliminary practices (ngöndro) and is essential for maintaining the purity of the tantric path.
| Term Variations | |
| Key Term | Pāpadeśanā |
|---|---|
| Topic Variation | pāpadeśanā |
| Tibetan | སྡིག་པ་བཤགས་པ་ ( dikpa shakpa) |
| Wylie Transliteration | sdig pa bshags pa ( dikpa shakpa) |
| Devanagari Sanskrit | पापदेशना |
| Romanized Sanskrit | pāpadeśanā |
| Chinese | 懺悔, 披露罪過 |
| Chinese Pinyin | chànhuǐ, pīlù zuìguò |
| Japanese Transliteration | sange |
| Korean | chamhoe |
| Buddha-nature Site Standard English | confession |
| Alternate Spellings | sdig bshags, disclosure of faults, laying aside evil |
| Term Information | |
| Source Language | Sanskrit |
| Term Type | Noun |
| Definitions | |
| Tshig mdzod Chen mo | མི་དགེ་བའི་ལས་སྦ་གསང་མེད་པར་བཤགས་པ། |
| Dung dkar Tshig mdzod Chen mo | མི་དགེ་བའི་ལས་སྦ་གསང་མེད་པར་བཤགས་པ། |
