I.2, Confess to the near heinous crimes:

Killing a bhikkhu or a samanera, 

defiling a nun, destroying a statue, a

stupa, or a temple and so on,

all near heinous crimes I now confess.

Confess to the near heinous crimes: killing a bhikkhuni or samanerika who has pure precepts, defiling a samanerika or bhikkhuni, etc., a nun who has pure precepts and destroying their precept vows, and destroying and burning Buddha images, statues, or stupas and Dharma halls, etc., are the five near heinous crimes. (In front of Amitabha and his followers) confess to and repent of all the extremely serious near heinous crimes that one has committed or caused others to commit.

Some parts of this treatise are different from those of other sutras and treatises. It does not directly list the misdeeds that are not easy to commit, but only lists the ones that are easy to commit. Generally speaking, as the Abhidharma-kosha says: "Defiling one's mother who is also an Arhati, killing a Bodhisattva who has attained bhumi, or a Buddhist saint of the three stages before Arhathood, robbing the food of monks of a Sangha, and destroying stupas, are the near heinous crimes."

Killing a bhikkhu or samanera: Pure bhikkhus and samaneras are the foundation of Buddhism. If they are killed, both the Dharma and the Sangha will be destroyed. As the Buddha once said: "The supreme lamp of Buddhism, is the vessel of the holy Dharma, ascetic and wearing kasaya (monk's robe), bhikkhus are sons of Buddha Sakyamuni." Even if one harms the monks with broken precepts, the fault is very serious. Because no matter how base the monks are now, they will all attain enlightenment at the time of Buddha Rucika (the last of the one thousand Buddhas of the current kalpa)#. The sutra says: "All lay people are like dog corpses, and monks with broken precepts are like elephant corpses." Those who broke the precepts are still better than all the non-Buddhist monks. The "Ksitigarbha Ten Wheels Mahayana Sutra" says: "Although the Campaka flower withers, it is still better than other flowers. Even if the monks who break the precepts do evil, they are still better than all non-Buddhist monks."

Not only that, one can't even have malicious thoughts towards bhikkhus and samaneras. The sutra says: "If any sentient being has malicious thoughts towards a monk wearing a kasaya, then he has malicious thoughts towards the Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Arhats of the three times. The retribution of immeasurable negative karma will ripen in him because he has malicious thoughts towards the saints of the three times."

It is not permissible even to slight or damage monk's robes. If one respects them (the robes), one will gain merit. The Ksitigarbha Sutra says: "All wise men highly praise, this great immortal (Buddha)'s Victory Banner Robe. Whoever makes offerings to it, will definitely be freed from the bondage of the three realms." In the past, there was a lion named Unshakeable Dignity in a forest. Its golden fur was extremely beautiful and it was very kind to all sentient beings. One day, a hunter saw it and thought to himself: If I kill this lion and offer its skin to the king, I will definitely get a big reward. So he shaved his hair, put on the robes (pretending to be a monk), hid the bow and arrow under his armpits, and walked towards the lion. While the lion was sleeping, he shot it with a poisoned arrow. The lion was shocked and woke up, and he pounced on the hunter. When it found that the hunter was wearing the robes, faith arose in it. It thought: If I harm this person, that's having malicious thoughts towards the saints of the three times. Then it died. In the initial kalpa, even animals did not harm those who only showed the appearance of monks.

If a Buddha statue, Buddhist scriptures, or stupa is destroyed, the destroyer commits a serious misdeed that is near the heinous crimes. But it will not cause great harm to Buddhism. (However, it is different if a bhikkhu or samanera is harmed.) Whether a bhikkhu or samanera is good or bad, they have definitely received and practised some Buddhist teachings. Therefore, when dignitaries or rich people litigate with monks or punish and persecute them physically, it is directly destroying Buddhism. In the past, laws in India stipulated that no matter how a monk violated the king's law, he would only be called "a juvenile is exempted" and would not be tried, punished, or condemned.

(Not only that, even harming a lay Buddhist is a serious fault:) In the past, a person who beat a lay Buddhist was reborn into a huge animal in many lives. When it went into the water, it was eaten by all aquatic animals. When it came to the river, it was swallowed by wild beasts. When it went into the sky, all non-humans cut him into pieces with weapons. It experienced such pain.

There are also many koans describing the harm of killing bhikkhus or samaneras.

Defiling nuns: Even if one maintains one part of the precepts, it is considered as the realization of the Dharma, which is equivalent to the stupas respected and served by sentient beings including gods. Therefore, if one damages the upholding of the precepts of bhikkhunis, sramanerikas, Buddhist laywomen, and women who are observing the eight Sojong vows, it is defilement of Buddhism. This person also is cut off from the path to liberation. As the proverb says, "With a black poisonous axe, damages a gold stupa." In fact, in this degenerate age of the five turbidities, the crime of creating obstacles for observing one part of the precepts for one day is more serious than the crime of obstructing others from offering and giving for a hundred years. As the Ratnakuta Sutra says, "Whoever gives alms with faith, for a hundred years, whoever observes the precepts for one day, pure precepts surpass the former."

Destroying Buddha statues: In many places in the sutras and tantras, it is said that among all the virtuous deeds, the merits of making Buddha statues, building stupas, and printing Buddhist scriptures are extremely great. If these are destroyed, the sin is greater than the merits. The Lotus Sutra says: "If anyone paints or has others paint, on the wall, the perfect body adorned with a hundred merits, they will all attain the perfect enlightenment." Buddha statues are manifestations in craftsmanship. The Ratnakuta Sutra also says: "The Buddha magically appears as many kinds of images, to benefit sentient beings and help them to practice virtues." The "Ear Ornament Sutra"(?)(耳饰经) says: "In the five hundred years of the Age of Degenerate Dharma, I will appear in the form of texts. Imagine that they are me, one should respect them at that time." This shows that the texts of the scriptures are both material and Dharmakaya relics. Therefore, if one sells or destroys the scriptures, the offense is extremely serious.

For sentient beings in the lower realms with serious negative karma, they don't even have the opportunity to have the idea of "this is a Buddha statue." Today, we can see Buddha statues in our minds or with our own eyes, this is also the result of accumulating merits in the past. When one attains the stage of great accumulation, Buddha statues are also seen directly as supreme nirmanakayas. As the Ratnagotravibhaga says: "Just as in the pure ground of lapis lazuli, the image of the king of heaven appears, in the ground of a pure mind of sentient beings, the image of the king Sakyamuni appears."

Therefore, when we think about the merits of the Buddha, whether the materials of the Buddha statue are good or bad, we should not think that it is made of physical matters, but think of it as the real Buddha. As Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend says: "Even if the Buddha statue is carved from wood, wise people offer to it anyway." If one destroys the statues of gurus, accomplished monks, etc. the offense is equally serious.

Destroying stupas: stupas are manifestations of Buddha's mind. If one builds them, the merits are immeasurable; if one damages them, the faults are endless. Thinking of this, even if others build stupas of the size of Tibetan barley, etc., one cannot comment on them as beautiful or not, let alone destroying them? As the verse says: "If one with virtuous intentions places a shoe insole, on the top of the head of the Buddha, and another person throws it away, the two will become kings." This is the so-called "By a stupa, a small figure, three people attain Buddhahood." Once a pig covered with mud rubbed mud on a stupa and happened to fill a crack. As a result, it was reborn in heaven after death. There are many such koans.

One also gains many merits if he circumambulates a stupa,. For example, the Vinaya Pitaka says: "Any wise person who with pure intention, takes a step towards this stupa, the meirt is incomparably greater than that of, one thousand taels of top-grade pure gold, offered to the stupa." The Sutra says: Offering decorations, flowers, butter lamps, as well as cleaning, applying fine fragrance, and painting white paint, etc. to a stupa, also have immeasurable merits.

If one repairs a damaged stupa, one will also gain great merits, as the verse says: "Whoever sees the stupa, should repair it repeatedly, then he will gain great power, be strong and fearless." If one damages Buddha statues or stupas, or make Buddha statues or stupas of incorrect proportion, blacken them with smoke, or step over them, etc., he will fall into the lower realms. Even if he is reborn as a human, he will be short, have defective senses, body form, or organs, be ugly, stupid and incompetent, etc.

Destroying a Dharma assembly hall: The so-called Dharma assembly hall refers to the place where objects that manifest tha Three Jewels exist or the assembly room where the monks or the sangha gather. Not to mention damaging it, even sleeping, spitting, snotting, throwing leftover tea, or farting in it will lead to falling into the lower realms. One also cannot sit on dirty cushions in a Dharma assembly hall.

In the past, when the Buddha went to Vaiasli to beg, he saw a person with a back of the color like a black porcelain pot. The Buddha said: "This person was a monk under the teachings of Kasyapa. At that time, he spread and sat on dirty linens and cushions in the Dharma assembly hall of the monks. Because of the karma of this misdeed, he became a person with a black back in five hundred lives."

Venerable Sangharakshita saw beings in the shape of walls and pillars in hell, these were also the retribution fruits for spitting on the walls, smearing saliva, snot on the pillars, and dirtying the walls and pillars by leaning on them, in the Dharma hall.

If one takes materials meant for building the objects of the Three Jewels or the temple, and the temple is reduced in size due to insufficient materials, etc., this is the same as the misdeed of damaging (objects of the Three Jewels or the temple). Although there are not many koans about this kind of faults listed here, we must be careful and vigilant after we clearly know the faults of damaging stupas. It is very important to confess to such misdeeds on the same day they are committed.

I.3, Confessing to the crime of abandoning the Dharma:

Swearing by the refuge, the temple, or the scriptures, 

then violating it, etc. 

All such deeds of abandoning the Dharma, 

I now confess.

This kind of abandoning the Dharma refers to taking the supreme Three Jewels, temples, Dharam halls, or Scriptures and Treatises, any objects of the Three Jewels, as witnesses. This includes casually swearing and taking oaths in idle talks, taking oaths when fighting lawsuits or doing business, but then deliberately breaking one's word. Even if one only says that the deity is a witness, one must make a statue of him if the oath is violated. Otherwise he has abandoned these deities. (Before Amitabha and his retinue) Confess to all the misdeeds of abandoning the Dharma.

These days, some people do not even have the ability to make a small clay stupa or engrave or print a line of the Avalokitesvara mantra, but they keep swearing on the Kangyur and the Tengyur. What are these people thinking? Most people make big vows as a joke, and as a result, their merits are exhausted in their mouths. As Guru Padmasambhava said, "When an inferior person breaks his own vows, his merits are destroyed and his crops are lost." Nowadays, people make a lot of vows even for a trivial matter. This is a sign of not upholding their vows and not keeping their promises. If the vows can be trusted upon, why would there be any need to make so many vows?

The retribution fruit of breaking one's word ripens in the external environment: the land is barren, the food is not nutritious, and one is constantly suffering from natural disasters. When ripening in oneself: one has few merits and is weak. Therefore, we must be doubly vigilant to avoid destroying roots of virtues by breaking our own words. The main misdeeds of abandoning the Dharma included in the word "etc." in this verse have also been briefly explained in the previous sections.

After taking refuge in and following a guru who has no wisdom and is biased, some people disrupt Buddhism due to greed and hatred. After only hearing a little bit of the Dharma on the surface, he thinks that he is a great practitioner, a person who upholds the teachings of the sect, and develops pride, saying " Through observation, I found this point reasonable, this point unreasonable". Just like a blind person commenting on the merits and demerits of physical appearances, they approve, reject, disproves, and establishe the views and rules of the new and old schools, causing many fools to follow them and echo them. It is more serious to cause others to abandon the Dharma than to commit the five heinous crimes oneself. Therefore, it is very important for us who are unlearned and narrow-minded to be careful. As stated in the Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika: "If one who hears the Dharma a little and gains some wisdom-like incomplete understandings, and with that slanders the Dharma he has heard, he will be reborn (and experience suffering)# in different forms of countless bodies. Why does a fool do this?" It also says: "If one only understands the meaning literally, becomes proud which hampers true wisdom, he has abandoned all excellent teachings, destroyed himself and gave rise to the obstacles of disliking the true Dharma."

Even though not all paths of the Dharma can accord with one's mind, practicing the path that one is interested in is also the Dharma that one is karmically connected with, and it will be beneficial. One should also try to establish a karmic connection with all other Dharmas. Master Drukpa Ganlar(?)(珠巴根拉大师) once said: "I have met various superior Dharma teachings, and I established karmic connection with the essence of every one of them." Even if this is not possible, do not make arbitrary praises or criticisms. Keep silent and regard them as equals will not commit any faults . The Buddha said: "Those who stay in the middle, I have not said they abandon the Dharma." It is also stated in the Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika: "Malicious thoughts are crime in nature, so one should not have aversion to any phenomena, let alone to the Dharma that he is in doubt with, so there is no fault if one is neutral."

Because sentient beings have inconceivable faculties and tendencies, the compassionate Buddha also taught inconceivable paths of the Dharma. All these paths are valid from different perspectives. Whether from a direct or indirect perspective, all of them are the path to liberation. Similarly, all the excellent teachings written by the great masters who followed the Buddha are also valid. Therefore, one should not regard some of them as good and some bad, but he must realize that they are inconceivable. The sutra says: "Even if one does not have faith, in the profound Dharma that is taught, do not slander it, and think that the Dharma is inconceivable." As Sakya Pandita once said: "If a fool who knows nothing says nothing, it will not cause much harm to the Dharma."

Especially in today's age, the evils of wrong views, greed, and malice are rampant, and wise people who are fair and upright are extremely rare. Even when the wise men of the authentic sects engage in vulgar debates, it will become a cause of hatred. Let alone those fools who pretend to be accomplished? The "The Verse of The Drum Beat of the Naga King"(?)(龙王鼓音颂) says: "Those with bad qualities, are destroyed by wrong views. When they are rude and angry, they can be happy if keep silent." It also says: "When fools teach the Dharma, roots of virtue are destroyed, while taking in many sentient beings, they will be stewed in hell."

In addition, in the Age of Degenerate Dharma, many monks slandered the Dharma, and thus fell deeply into hell for the offense of abandoning the Dharma. They will suffer for several kalpas, be reborn into beings with crooked faces, deaf and blind, tongueless, ugly, hunchbacked, neckless, lame, and with voices like dogs in many lives. They will also be constantly oppressed by hunger and thirst, with emaciated bodies, broken mouths, and disliked by everyone.

In particular, commenting on the right and wrong of the views and practices of the Great Perfection and Mahamudra is like measuring the space with a palm. One must even be very cautious about the places where these words reach when blown by the wind. As the "Ratnagotravibhaga" says: "If anyone detests the Dharma, how can he be liberated?" It declares many faults of slandering the Dharma. "The Tantra Equal to the Limit of Space"(?)(等虚空边续) says: "Whoever slanders, the most excellent secret among secrets, abandons the Buddha's most excellent secret, and is forever away from the path of liberation." "The Perfection of Profound Wisdom Tantra"(深智圆满续) says: "Those who commit the misdeed of violating the definitive meaning, will definitely fall into hell, which is truly tragic." Safeguarding Intention Tantra"(?)(护意续) says: "If one slanders this secret meaning of Samantabhadra, he will fall into the Vajra Hell after death, for as long as space exists." "The Wisdom of the Commander Tantra"(?)(将哲续) says: "In the last days of Buddhism, ignorance and suffering will be extremely intense. Even if one is disgusted with samsara, practices the Dharma to enter into the Buddhist path, he will be contaminated by inferior sects, and will have biased views on the Dharma, his wrong views will increase and have disputes. Due to afflictions and jealousy, he abandons the Dharma because of the Dharma. With biased views towards the Sutras and Vinaya, he will praise his own Dharma and belittle others' Dharma. He will speak with pride and slander, the essence of Vajrayana, committing the crime of abandoning the Dharma. Practitioners in the degenerate age, are like a box of sand turned upside down, they will fall into the Vajra, Avici, and other hells of the evil realms." It is difficult for those who abandon the Dharma because they do not understand the fundamentals of the Dharma to escape from samsara. As the Sutra says: "Not understanding the subtle Dharma, fools wander for a long time." In all the commentaries on the Sutras and Tantras, the immeasurable harms of abandoning the Dharma are stated like the cases here. There are many such koans in India and Tibet, but I will not describe them here to be brief.

Lay people should not make judgements on the soundness of Buddhism, or the auspiciousness of the Dharma (whether it gives blessings), etc. just because the hear some comments by others. Otherwise, just by speaking, they will commit the crime of abandoning the Dharma, which is extremely dangerous. Therefore, we must be doubly cautious from now on, and with a strong regret, confess and repent of such misdeeds we have committed in the past, to strive to be purified.