"If I purify all my non-virtue, there will be no basis for me to take lower rebirth. By accumulating virtue. I shall take a human rebirth possessing freedoms and endowments in future lives. Thus, I can make progress along the path to enlightenment continually, life after life." Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
That is why it is very important for us to start our purification practice if we wish to avoid from rebirth in the 3 lower realms as well as to progress steadily on our spiritual path.
"Purification practices are excellent means to remove emotional burdens such as guilt, as well as to pacify the obstacles to our happiness and self-improvement created by the imprints of our destructive actions. Guilt over past actions is useless, only leaving us feeling helpless and hopeless. On the other hand, acting to purify negative imprints and afflictions is very productive. It helps us to change our bad habits and subdues obstacles to long life and success in our spiritual practice." - Ven Thubten Chodron
A complete purification practice consists of four opponent powers:
1. The power of regret for having done the negative action.
2. The power of reliance: taking refuge, which restores our relationship with holy objects, and generating the altruistic intention, which restores our relationship with other sentient beings.
3. The power of the remedial action, e.g. prostration, offering, reciting the names of the Buddha, reading or contemplating the Dharma, etc.
4. The power of the promise not to repeat the action.
These four opponent powers are found in "The Bodhisattva's Confession of Ethical Downfalls," the Vajrasattva meditation, and other practices.
Full-time Dharma workers are lucky because they are doing their purification daily... is that so?
