325 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
325 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
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ATONEMENT AND FORGIVENESS
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For people soiled by sin and hence unworthy to enter the presence
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of God, or corrupted by evil deeds and hence unable to realize their true
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inner nature, an essential prerequisite for salvation is the forgiveness
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of sins. The experience of divine forgiveness and pardon is universal,
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reaching to supplicants in all the world's religions.
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The opening passages express God's forgiving nature; it is ever
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God's desire to forgive. The next few passages treat the idea of
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atonement; some expiation must be made for sin, either by a Savior, or by
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a priest, or by the supplicant's own acts of penance and devotion.
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Several texts discuss the cleansing of sin. We conclude with passages
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which emphasize the magnitude of divine forgiveness, which can encompass
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even the most gargantuan evils. Some passages suggest that God even
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desired sin or favors sinners in order that He may demonstrate His
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gracious and forgiving nature.
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I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will
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not remember your sins.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 43.25
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All evil effects of deeds are destroyed, when He who is both personal and
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impersonal is realized.
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Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.9
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Say, "If you love God, follow me, and God will love you, and forgive you
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all your sins; God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate."
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Islam. Qur'an 3.31
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In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
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trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon
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us.
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Christianity. Bible, Ephesians 1.7-8
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Isaiah 43.25: Cf. Isaiah 1.16-20, p. 729. Ephesians 1.7-8: This passage
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speaks of the blood of Christ, shed on the cross for the forgiveness of
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sins. Cf. Romans 3.23-25, p. 506, Hebrews 9.11-14, below; John 1.29, p.
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636; 1 Corinthians 11.23-25, p. 851.
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Say, "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair
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not of the mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: for He is
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Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."
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Islam. Qur'an 39.53
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Let every person ask pardon of the Great Light Asis,
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The Molder of us all.
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African Traditional Religions. Kipsigis Tradition (Kenya)
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If we have sinned against the man who loves us,
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have wronged a brother, a dear friend, or a comrade,
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the neighbor of long standing or a stranger,
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remove from us this stain, O King Varuna.
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Hinduism. Rig Veda 5.85.7
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Though a man be soiled with the sins of a lifetime, let him but love me,
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rightly resolved, in utter devotion. I see no sinner, that man is holy.
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Holiness soon shall refashion his nature to peace eternal. O son of
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Kunti, of this be certain: the man who loves me shall not perish.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 9.30-31
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Anyone that is fallen into the grip of lust, wrath, or attachment,
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Attached to stingy greed, Guilty of the four cardinal sins and evils, And
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demonic sins like murder; Who never has attended to scriptures, holy
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music, or sacred verse-- By contemplation of the Supreme Being, With a
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moment's remembrance of God shall he be saved.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Sri Raga, M.5, p. 70
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Hide thy face from my sins,
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and blot out all my iniquities.
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Create in me a clean heart, O God,
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and put a new and right spirit within me.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalms 51.9-10
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Shining brightly, Agni, drive away
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our sin, and shine wealth on us.
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Shining bright, drive away our sin.
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For good fields, for good homes, for wealth,
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we made our offerings to Thee.
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Shining bright, drive away our sin....
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So that Agni's conquering beams
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may spread out on every side,
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Shining bright, drive away our sin.
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Thy face is turned on every side,
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Thou pervadest everywhere.
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Shining bright, drive away our sin.
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Hinduism. Rig Veda 1.97.1-6
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Of the sin against the gods Thou art atonement;
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Of the sin against men Thou art atonement;
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Of the sin against myself Thou art atonement;
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Of every kind of sin Thou art atonement.
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The sin that I have committed knowingly,
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and that I have committed unawares,
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Of all sins Thou art atonement.
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Hinduism. Yajur Veda 8.13
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Let him utter the name, Buddha Amitayus. Let him do so serenely with his
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voice uninterrupted; let him be continually thinking of Buddha until he
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has completed ten times the thought, repeating, "Adoration to Buddha
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Amitayus." On the strength of [his merit of] uttering the Buddha's name he
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will, during every repetition, expiate the sins which involve him in
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births and deaths during eighty million kalpas.
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Buddhism. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 3.30
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Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make
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atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two
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goats, and set them before the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting;
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and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the
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other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot
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fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; but the goat on which
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the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make
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atonement over it.... He shall kill the goat of the sin offering which is
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for the people, and bring its blood within the veil, and sprinkle it upon
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the mercy seat and before the mercy seat; thus he shall make atonement for
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the holy place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel....
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And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and
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confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their
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transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the
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goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in
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readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him to a
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solitary land.... And it shall be a statute to you for ever that in the
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seventh month, on the tenth day of the month... on this day shall
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atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be
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clean before the Lord.
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Judaism. Bible, Leviticus 16.6-30
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Qur'an 39.53: Cf. Qur'an 26.77-82, p. 137; 40.55, p. 743. Kipsigis
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Tradition: Cf. p. 906. Rig Veda 5.85.7: Cf. Rig Veda 7.86.2-5, p. 904 and
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note. Bhagavad Gita 9.30-31: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 18.66, p. 770; Srimad
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Bhagavatam 6.1, p. 909. Sri Raga, M.5: On the four cardinal sins, cf.
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Chandogya Upanishad 5.10.9, p. 463. Cf. Slok Vadhik, M.3, p. 904. Rig
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Veda 1.97: This is a litany for the fire ritual. Agni, deity embodied in
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fire, symbolically burns away sin and mental pollution through the ritual
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fire. Rig Veda 1.97.1-6: Cf. Rig Veda 10.9.8-9, p. 854. Meditation on
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Buddha Amitayus: In Pure Land Buddhism, compassion reaches to the
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nethermost hells! The grace of Buddha Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite
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Life, or Buddha Amitabha (Jap. Amida), the Buddha of Infinite Light (who
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are one in the same), is sufficient to save even the most reprobate
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sinner. In the Amida Buddha's original vow, he pledged to save all
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sentient beings who would repeat his name ten times; see Larger
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Sukhavativyuha Sutra 8.18, p. 639. Leviticus 16.6-30: This is the ancient
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ritual for the Day of Atonement. The Bible prescribes that the high
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priest (Aaron) purify the altar and holy place with blood from the bull
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and goat which are sacrificed, and that the sins of the congregation be
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placed upon the head of a remaining goat (the 'scapegoat') who is led into
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the wilderness. In modern Judaism the Day of Atonement is observed with
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solemn fasting and the "sacrifice of prayer" which replace this archaic
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ritual. Cf. Menahot 110a, pp. 864f. Hebrews 9.11-14: This passage
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compares the sacrifice of Christ, who shed his blood on the cross for the
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forgiveness of sins, with the above ritual of the Day of Atonement. It
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emphasizes that Christ's sacrifice was 'once and for all,' 'securing an
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eternal redemption,' while the atoning rites of the Old Testament were
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only temporary and had to be repeated every year. Since Hebrews was
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written after the Temple had been destroyed (in 70 <a.d.) and its rites
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had ceased, the implication is that Christ's sacrifice is the only
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effective means of atonement. Other rituals of purification from the Old
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Testament, such as the rite of the red heifer (Numbers 19.1-10) are also
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mentioned in the comparison. Cf. Romans 3.23-25, p. 506; John 1.29, p.
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636; Hebrews 2.14-18, p. 656; 1 Corinthians 11.23-25, p. 851.
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But when Christ appeared as the high priest of the good things that have
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come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands,
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that is, not of this creation) he entered once and for all into the Holy
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Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus
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securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons
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with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer
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sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the
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blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
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blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living
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God.
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Christianity. Bible, Hebrews 9.11-14
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[The Bodhisattva] Vajrasattva is white, with one face and two
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hands, holding a scepter in his right hand and a bell in his left. He is
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sitting in the adamantine posture embracing his consort, Dor-je Nyem-ma,
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who is white, with one face and two hands, holding a curved knife in her
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right hand and a skull-cap in her left.... Above a moon in Vajrasattva's
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heart is a HUM and on the edge of the moon revolves the hundred-syllable
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mantra.
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[I pray], "O Endowed Transcendent Destroyer Vajrasattva, I myself
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and others request that you cleanse wrongs and hindrances from all
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sentient beings and purify every weakened and broken sacred word of
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honor." Having requested like this, from the HUM and the mantra-rosary in
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his heart shine out radiant lights, cleansing the wrongs and hindrances
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from all sentient beings, who come presenting offerings that delight the
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Awakened Beings and their spiritual sons. Every excellence of their body,
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speech and mind collects in the form of light and dissolves into the
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mantra-rosary and the HUM. From there a white stream of nectar flows,
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pouring from the place of union of the Lord and consort. It enters
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through the pour aperture at the crown of my head, filling my whole body
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with a stream of nectar of pristine awareness. I become puri- fied by the
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cleansing of all evils and hindrances from my three doors.
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"Through my ignorance and delusions I have transgressed and
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weakened my pledges. O my spiritual master, protect me and be my refuge.
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Lord who holds the adamantine scepter, the embodiment of great compassion,
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the chief of beings, I go to you for refuge."
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In answer Vajrasattva replies, "O child of my family, your wrongs
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and hindrances and every broken and weakened commitment are cleansed and
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puri- fied." Having spoken thus, he dissolves into me and my three doors
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become inseparable from the perfect body, speech, and mind of Vajrasattva.
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Buddhism. Cakrasamvara Tantra
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Thus hearing the litany, and that there be
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no blot of sin in the court or the country,
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May the deities bestow their purification that
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no offense remain, and
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As the wind blows from its origin
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to carry away the clouds of heaven,
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Even as the wind of morning and the wind of evening
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clears away the morning and evening mists,
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As the ship in harbor casts off its moorings stem and stern
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to be borne out onto the great plain of the sea, and
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As the rank grasses beyond the river
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are swept away with the clean stroke of the scythe--
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Even so, may the deity Seoritsuhime-no-kami,
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dwelling in the swift-flowing stream that
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falls from the high mountains and low hills,
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Carry away these sins and pollutions
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without remain, to the wide sea plain.
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Our sins thus swept away,
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may the goddess Hayaakitsuhimi-no-kami,
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who lives in the stream of the sea plain,
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Open wide her great mouth
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to engulf those sins and impurities, and
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When they are thus imbibed,
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May the god Ibukidonushi-no-kami,
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dwelling in the place where breath is breathed,
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blow them out with a great rushing breath.
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And when he has thus banished them to the underworld,
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may the goddess Hayasasurahime-no-kami disperse them
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once and all.
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Even in this way, may the sins of
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all in the realm, from officials of the court
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on down, every transgression within the land,
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be washed away.
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Shinto. Engishiki 8
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Engishiki 8: This is a traditional litany for purification, recited at
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Shinto shrines. Cf. Kojiki 11, pp. 729f.
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God the Almighty has said, "O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and
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ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not
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mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and
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were you to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam,
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were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you
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to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness
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nearly as great as it."
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Islam. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 42
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Flowers like the lotus... do not grow on the dry ground in the wilderness,
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but do grow in the swamps and mud banks. Just so, the Buddha-qualities do
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not grow in living beings certainly destined for the uncreated but do grow
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in those living beings who are like swamps and mud banks of passion.
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Buddhism. Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 8
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If you were not to commit sins, God would have swept you out of existence
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and would have replaced you with another people who have committed sin,
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and then asked God's forgiveness, that He might grant them pardon.
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Islam. Hadith of Muslim
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Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 42: Cf. Pesikta Rabbati 32b-33a, p. 785;
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Canticles Rabbah 2.5, p. 764. Hadith of Muslim: Cf. Book of Mormon, 2
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Nephi 2.19-26, p. 428 and note.
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