Purifying our Negative Actions, Words, and Thinking

I am getting better about my actions and even my words. However, I still catch myself with negative thinking all the time. I think that my most common negative thinking is the frustration when things are not going the way I want them to go.

As a Vajrayana Buddhist student, I know that every negative thought (including emotions) carries with it some negative "consequences"...this is what we call karma.

Since I am regularly building up negative karma, it is important that I remember the Purification techniques expounded by Vajrayana meditation masters.

The Four Powers are a means to purify our negative karma.

The first power is the power of Support. We call on the power of the deity or deities to hear our confession. I personally use Vajrasattva, the “buddha” of purification, as the deity along with his consort. I do a short form of practice, which includes visualization, mantra recitation, and dissolution.

The second power is the power of Regret. We are called upon to fully and deeply regret all our negative actions, words, thoughts in this life as well as past lives. It is important to remember that we have lived many many lives and carry the karmic imprints from all these lives.

We must remember that the seeds of karma must be purified otherwise they will manifest at some point in our life - If not this life then in a future life. We definitely carry forward our karmic seeds from past lives in our stream of consciousness. The purification process is meant to purify negative karma before the conditions arise.

The third power is the power of Resolve - to never do again. As my teacher has told me, a promise carries much power. For every moment we keep a promise, we are creating good merit – good karma. If and when we break a promise, we again can purify the negative karma and make another promise.

Yeah I know this sound a little crazy. Its really funny because I use to have a big problem with the idea that we could do really bad things, confess them and then everything would be okay. Yeah right! However, within Buddhism, its not that simple. We must call on powers beyond us, truly regret our actions, and promise never to do again. Finally, we must commit to the fourth power as well.

The fourth power is the power of the Do Good. The most common translation for this is the power of the Antidote, but I prefer to use “Do Good.” What this means to me is to then purify our wrongs with doing what is good and meritous. I think that the best antidote is to do whatever I can at every moment to help all sentient beings be free from suffering and have happiness. And each day I have plenty of things to purify when I fail to everything I can. So I start over and try again for another day.

So, if you are like me, you would be asking, “Well, this all sounds nice but it is really hard to believe that these four powers have the power to purify. It does sound a little ridiculous.”

For me it took some really bad feelings and times before I actually put the four powers into Practice. Did it help? Are there really results?

I want to conclude by suggesting that you give it a try. Put it into practice. Try the practice of Vajrasattva and the four powers into practice for 10 days. When you practice, practice with complete faith and no doubt. See for yourself. If it helps you, then continue. If it does not help you, then stop.

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff