Repentance · Internal Version¶
This version presents the original source texts in full, without alteration, organized by theme with source citations.
[I] Definition and Essence¶
"Repentance is a private matter between a person and the Greatest Creator — the Creator. If a person has not acted according to the will of the Greatest Creator, they should repent. If they do not repent, they will continue on the path of error and even wrongdoing, and this will bring upon themselves trouble, vexation, pain, anxiety, sorrow, calamity, and disaster." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan · Lifechanyuan's View on Repentance)
The foundation of repentance is that a person recognizes their own transgressions, acknowledges in their heart that they were wrong, and describes in detail the process of the error and the ways in which improvement is needed. (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Escaping Hardship, Part II)
Repentance is the expression of the sense of shame that arises after the self-regulating moral tribunal of conscience has judged and found oneself guilty; repentance is the touchstone for whether a person has conscience. (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Inner-Spirit · Conscience and the Signs of Its Absence; Xuefeng Corpus · Essays · Eight Pieces of Advice for Atheists, No. 7)
"Repentance is a way of purifying and perfecting one's inner Spirit, and it is of the same nature as the daily act of washing one's face, brushing one's teeth, washing clothes, bathing, and cleaning one's room and surroundings." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A · Answering Li Yunxiang's Questions on Complaint, Attachment, Illusion, and the Game)
[II] Effects: What Repentance Can Do¶
1. Purifying the Inner Spirit and Elevating LIFE Quality
"Repentance is an effective method for purifying the inner Spirit and a good remedy for eliminating karmic obstacles and avoiding harmful consequences." (Source: New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th ed., Concept 121)
"Repentance can purify the inner Spirit, can elevate the quality of LIFE, can make a person tranquil and harmonious, can bring a person closer to the Greatest Creator, and can make the path of one's life relatively smooth and auspicious." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan · Lifechanyuan's View on Repentance)
"Repentance is the necessary condition for the elevation of LIFE quality. Without repentance, there is no elevation." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Celestial Cultivation · Key Points of Spiritual Thinking)
"Repentance and prayer primarily serve to purify one's inner Spirit, so that the nonmaterial structure of one's LIFE gradually transitions toward perfection." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Escaping Hardship, Part II)
2. Eliminating Karma and Escaping Hardship
"The Fifth of the Eight Great Mysteries of Life: Repentance Can Eliminate Karma. The law of karma — cause and effect — is an iron law. Plant melons, reap melons; plant beans, reap beans… The seed that has been planted will sprout, grow, blossom, and bear fruit. If you do not wish it to blossom and bear fruit, dig it up and pull it out. This is precisely the function that repentance serves — digging up and pulling out." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Life Treasures · The Eight Great Mysteries of Life)
"The primary method for escaping hardship is repentance." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Inner-Spirit · How to Escape Hardship)
Repentance, prayer, giving, and selfless dedication are the best methods for eliminating karmic bonds — especially negative ones — before they fully mature. (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Spreading the Tao · The Mysteries and True Meaning of Yuan)
3. Communicating with the Greatest Creator and Receiving Divine Response
"The universe is holographic; the Spirit-Force of the Greatest Creator permeates all spaces; our every thought is intimately connected to the Spirit-Force of the Greatest Creator… Repentance and prayer are in fact acts of communication and exchange with the Greatest Creator. At the same time, our thought-waves spread like a broadcasting transmitter into the vast negative-universe space; divine beings and Buddhas can sense them and will come to our aid effectively." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Escaping Hardship, Part II)
"As long as one has the divine in one's heart and frequently repents and prays inwardly, this is direct communication with divine beings, and the ways in which divine beings respond are of a thousand forms and ten thousand variations." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom · The Highest-Level Form of Communication)
4. Receiving Forgiveness
"As long as one repents, the Greatest Creator will certainly forgive, and will certainly love the one who repents." "Before the Greatest Creator, there is no transgression or wrongdoing that cannot be forgiven." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan · Lifechanyuan's View on Repentance; Xuefeng Corpus · Inner-Spirit · The Mystery and Value of Repentance)
"Heaven belongs to those who have erred or committed wrongdoing and repent devoutly. Hell belongs to those who have erred or committed wrongdoing and refuse to repent." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Inner-Spirit · The Mystery and Value of Repentance)
[III] How to Repent: The Practice¶
1. The Object of Repentance: Only the Greatest Creator
"Repentance can only be directed toward the Greatest Creator, not toward other people or other living beings. Toward other people or other living beings, one can apologize, but one cannot repent." "It is wrong to repent to Xuefeng. You may apologize to me, but you cannot repent to me. I have no right to forgive the transgressions and wrongdoings of others." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan · Lifechanyuan's View on Repentance)
2. The Medium of Repentance: Only the Inner Spirit
"The method of repentance is to speak one's transgressions to the Greatest Creator through the inner Spirit and in sincerity, and to seek the forgiveness of the Greatest Creator." "Remember, repentance can only be done through the inner Spirit, and not through any other means. Do not use written words or spoken language; do not let others know; do not make a public spectacle of it. Any form of repentance not conducted through the inner Spirit is performed for others to see, not directed at the Greatest Creator, and the Greatest Creator will not accept such repentance." "The highest-level form of communication in the universe is communication through the inner Spirit. The Greatest Creator's communication with all living beings is not through spoken or written language; it is through the Spirit-Force." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan · Lifechanyuan's View on Repentance)
3. The Form of Repentance: Quiet, Solitary, Silent
"Repentance requires no written words, no voice, no public announcement. One should first calm the Heart, and then sit alone in silence. Or kneel, or stand — in one's own room, in a tranquil field, in a forest, on the Gobi, in the desert, by a river or lake or sea — with eyes gently closed, communicating with the Greatest Creator through the inner Spirit, openly acknowledging one's transgressions, expressing the sincerity of one's repentance, and seeking the forgiveness of the Greatest Creator." "Repentance is an activity of one's inner heart. There is no need to go to a church or temple to repent before a person or a statue, and there is even less need to say it aloud or to let others deliberately see or hear it." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan · Lifechanyuan's View on Repentance; Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Escaping Hardship, Part II)
4. Repentance Must Be Sincere and Must Be Followed by Action
"Repentance must be sincere; it must come from the heart." "After repentance, one must take action — that is, concretely improve in the practice of daily life. If one repents every day but continues as before every day, repentance has little meaning." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Inner-Spirit · The Mystery and Value of Repentance; Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Escaping Hardship, Part II)
[IV] What Repentance Must Never Become¶
"Never allow repentance to become sophistry and evasion of responsibility." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Escaping Hardship, Part II)
Repentance is the purification of the inner Spirit, not a form of attachment. To regard repentance as attachment "is the equivalent of regarding daily face-washing and tooth-brushing as a form of attachment — this is a misuse of the concept of attachment." (Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A · Answering Li Yunxiang's Questions on Complaint, Attachment, Illusion, and the Game)
[V] Repentance's Place in the Cultivation System¶
Repentance is one of the three great techniques for escaping hardship: repentance, action, and prayer. (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Escaping Hardship, Part II)
Together with prayer, repentance is a necessary means of progressing toward high-dimensional LIFE spaces; it is also an integral part of reaching Heaven, accumulating merit, and repaying karmic debts. (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Spreading the Tao · The Mysteries and True Meaning of Yuan)
"Inward prayer, repentance, wishing, and blessing all have effect, value, and meaning." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Spreading the Tao · Xuefeng Spreads the Tao, Part I)
From the Buddhist perspective: "If every day you see the faults and disputes of sentient beings, you must quickly go to repent — this is cultivation." "If you are clearly right but others insist you are wrong, you should also repent to them — cultivation is precisely the cultivation of this." (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation · 181 Points of Buddhist Cultivation)