Synopsis of the Sutra Adaptation of the Water Repentance Text

8/3/2019 Synopsis of the Sutra Adaptation of the Water Repentance Text

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Synopsis of the Sutra Adaptation of the WaterRepentance Text

During the month of August 2011, Tzu Chi volunteers in Taiwan held the sutra adaptation of the Water Repentance text,

bringing to life the more than 1,000 year old Buddhist text in a modern form of stage adaptation. The sutra adaptation

expresses the teaching contained in the Chinese Buddhist text known as "Water Repentance" composed by DharmaMaster Wu Da, and does so in the form of theatrical sketches, song, and sign language. This sutra adaptation shows the

ways in which human beings have created negative karma as a result of their afflictions and inner impurities, and urges all

to sincerely reflect and repent.

The sutra adaptation is in Chinese. In providing an English synopsis of the sutra adaption, we hope that English viewers

may also derive benefit from the sutra adaptation and learn the teaching of the repentance practice. Click here to see the

video of the sutra adaptation of the Water Repentance text.

Content

Act I: Prelude (

)

Scene 1: Introduction ( )

Scene 2: The story of Dharma Master Wu Da ( )Scene 3: Introducing the practice of repentance ( )

Act II: The obstacle of affliction (

)

Scene 1: Our mind is the source of our afflictions ( )

Scene 2: Desire ( )

Scene 3: Repenting for our afflictions ( )

Scene 4: Making vows and starting anew ( )

Act III: The obstacle of unwholesome action (

)

Scene 1: The law of karma ( )

Scene 2: The three vices of bodily conduct ( )

Scene 3: The four vices of speech ( )

Scene 4: Repenting our wrong ways ( )

Scene 5: Making vows after repenting ( )

Act IV: The obstacle of karmic retribution (

)

Scene 1: The dream ( )

Scene 2: Living hell ( )

Scene 3: The realm of hungry ghosts ( )

Scene 4: The realm of animals ( )

Scene 5: The realm of asuras ( )

Scene 6: The human and heaven realms ( )

Scene 7: Calamities around the world ( )

Scene 8: The world climate is becoming abnormal ( )

Scene 9: The suffering of wars ( )

Scene 10: The suffering of hunger and famine ( )

Scene 11: Repenting for our karmic retributions (

)Scene 12: Making vows after repenting ( )

Act V: Finale (

)

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Tue, 18 Oct 2011 Tzu Chi Foundation

Page 1 of 16Synopsis of the Sutra Adaptation of the Water Repentance Text

21/10/2011http://tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php?view=article&catid=118%3Asutra-adaptation-of-the...


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Compiled by the Jing Si Abode English Editorial Team

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Act I: Prelude

Scene 1: Introduction

Scene 2: The story of Dharma Master Wu Da

Scene 3: Introducing the practice of repentance

Scene 1: Introduction

Through song and sign language, this section introduces the following message:

In the cosmos full of stars and planetary bodies, there is planet Earth. Our world, the Earth, is full of changes and

impermanence, such as the changing seasons and the changing of day and night. Besides humans, there are also othercreatures living on this Earth.

Impermanence is the underlying principle of everything; nothing is permanent or in stasis. As causes and conditions come

together, different things come into being, continue, decay, and go out of existence. Through unwholesome actions,

negative karma is created, eventually bringing about karmic retribution. Yet, underlying all the changes is an eternal,

never-changing naturethe Buddha natureour original pure nature.

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Scene 2: The story of Dharma Master Wu Da

Through artistic expression, this section introduces the message of how the human heart and mind can create karma,

leading to karmic retribution in the cycle of rebirth:

Since beginningless time, living beings have been reincarnating in the six realms in an endless cycle. Though living beings

possess a pure nature to begin with, this pure nature gradually gets covered with impurities as they go through the cycle of

In

the

cosmos

full

of

stars

and

planetary

bodies,

there

is

planet

Earth.

(Photo

by

Tseng Fang-jung)

(Photo

by

Yen

Lin

-

chao)




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rebirth. As a result, their hearts and minds become full of ignorance; they create karma and reap karmic retribution,

suffering life after life.

Onstage, the three people dressed in white symbolize human conscience, or the pure heart. The people dressed in black

symbolize unwholesomeness, or the tainted heart.

Next, the life story of Dharma Master Wu Da, the author of the Water Repentance text, is presented in a Taiwanese opera

dramatization:

Dharma Master Wu Da was a Buddhist monk in the Tang Dynasty. When he was young, he travelled around China to

study Buddhism. On his travels, he encountered an ill Indian monk, Venerable Kanaka. Out of compassion, Master Wu Da

tended to Venerable Kanaka and helped him recover his health. Before parting ways, Venerable Kanaka told Master Wu

Da that if he should ever encounter problems, he could look for him in Western Sichuan, by the twin pines.

Master Wu Da then continued on his journey. After many years of diligent cultivation and upholding precepts, he became a

venerated Buddhist master. The emperor of China established him as the national master and bestowed a chair made of

precious agarwood for him to sit on when preaching the Dharma. Upon receiving the chair, Master Wu Da gave rise to a

sense of self-importance. As he was about to sit in the chair, he bumped his knee on it. The resulting bruise developed

into a sore in the shape of a human face and caused Master Wu Da tremendous pain and suffering. No doctors were able

to treat the sore.

Remembering the words of Venerable Kanaka, Master Wu Da went to seek his help. Upon seeing Master Wu Da,

Venerable Kanaka told him to wash his sore in the spring at the foot of the mountain.

Just as Master Wu Da was about to rinse the sore, he heard a voice. The voice spoke of the story of Yuan Yang and Chao

Cuo from the Western Han Dynasty. Yuan Yang and Chao Cuo were senior officials serving in the government. Out of

political motives, Yuan Yang had the emperor execute Chao Cuo. To take revenge for this, the soul of Chao Cuo followed

Yuan Yang life after life. But, because for ten lifetimes, Yuan Yang had cultivated purity of conduct, there was no chance

for Chao Cuo to take revenge. In this lifetime, Yuan Yang had become Master Wu Da. Because Master Wu Da gave rise

to arrogance, Chao Cuo was able to take his revenge as a sore with a human face inflicting pain and suffering on Master

Wu Da.

The voice then told Master Wu Da that after Venerable Kanaka taught him the Dharma, he was willing to let go of his

enmity. After the voice faded away, Master Wu Da rinsed the sore with the water, and the sore healed. Realizing that hissuffering was the result of the negative karma he had created, Master Wu Da did not return to serve the emperor but

instead built a cabin at the foot of the mountain to repent for his wrongs. There, he composed the Water Repentance text.

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Scene 3: Introducing the practice of repentance

(Photo

by

Liao

Hsiang

-

lin)

Dharma

Master

Wu

Da

in

hiscabin.

(Photo

by




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This scene starts with Master Wu Da in his cabin, beginning to compose the Water Repentance text so that people can

learn the law of karma and be aware of their own unwholesome behavior. With the understanding of the law of karma and

the Buddha's teachings, people can transform themselves and end their vices which create negative karma.

Through song and sign language, those onstage express the message that living beings exist as if drifting in a sea of

suffering. By turning back toward the shore, they can return to the correct path in life and be liberated from suffering.Hence, all Buddhas earnestly call on living beings to awaken and return to the correct path.

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Act II: The obstacle of affliction

Scene 1: Our mind is the source of our afflictions

Scene 2: Desire

Scene 3: Repenting for our afflictionsScene 4: Making vows and starting anew

Scene 1: Our mind is the source of our afflictions

This section describes the power of our mind:

The scene opens with an artist and a painting of a tranquil lake. The artist starts to paint over the painting, turning the

tranquil lake into countryside, then into a village. Not satisfied, he continually thinks of new, more complicated things to

add, building one high-rise after another. His increasing desires drive him on in the pursuit of moremore buildings, more

developments, more technological advancements, etc. until his mind becomes chaotic and he no longer has control over

himself.

The artist symbolizes our heart and mind, able to think and plan, and bring to life the images in our mind. But when our

heart and mind are filled with desires, we can lose ourselves and suffer from afflictions.

All our sufferings come from the three obstaclesour afflictions, our karma, and our karmic retribution. The repentance

practice teaches us how to get rid of these three obstacles and liberate ourselves from suffering. The repentance practice

is like water, able to cleanse away the impurities in our heart and mind.

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Scene 2: Desire

Yen

Lin-chao)

The

artist

starts

to

paint

over

the

painting...(Photo

by

Deng

Wen

-

sen)




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This section illustrates the source of human sufferingdesire. It is presented through a theatrical sketch of a man who

pursues wealth and success. As he focuses on climbing the career ladder and expanding his business, he becomes a

changed man. But, impermanence strikes. The man ends up losing his business and wealth, and suffers greatly.

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Scene 3: Repenting for our affliction

The message from the previous sections is that all our afflictions originate from the greed, anger, ignorance, and doubt in

our heart and mind. If we can repent for having these unwholesome thoughts, our afflictions can be eliminated. The

repentance is done through song and sign language, the lyrics expressing some of the things to repent for:

Let us repent for our greed for

fame, wealth, and power

Let us repent for our anger and bad temper,

which make us want to hurt people

Let us repent for our ignorance and

lack of understanding of the law of karma

Let us repent for our arrogance,

which makes us look down on others

Let us repent for doubting the Buddha's teachings,

which leads to deluded notions

Let us repent for our attachment to "self" and

our delusions of"permanence" in life

Let us repent for taking up with unwholesome friends

and doing bad deeds

Let us repent for being stingy and uncharitable,and for not forming good affinities with people

Let us repent for being domineering, unreasonable,

forgetting to be gentle, and becoming angry easily

Let us repent for being jealous of others and

for unkind actions made in envy

Let us repent for not following the Truth,

which makes us drift in the sea of samsara

Let us repent for our blindness and delusions,

which make us undergo the suffering of rebirth in the six realms

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Scene 4: making vows and starting anew

Impermanence strikes. The man ends up losing his

business and wealth, and suffers greatly. (Photo by Ho

Ching-po)

Let

us

repent

for

being

stingy

and

uncharitable,

and

for

not

forming

good

affinities

with

people (Photo by Chi Wen-kuo)

We




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The repentance practice teaches that after repenting for our unwholesome thoughts, we can prevent repeating our errors

by making vows to transform ourselves and begin anew. By replacing old unwholesome behaviors with wholesome ones,

afflictions will not arise in our heart and mind again.

In this section, vows are made through song and sign language:

We vow to overcome our greed and selfish desires

by sowing seeds of kindness in people's hearts

We vow to work on our anger and bad temper

by spreading love around the world

We vow to dispel our ignorance and delusion

by learning the Dharma and doing good deeds

We vow to eliminate our ego and arrogance

by cultivating humility and practicing precepts

We vow to uproot our skepticism of the Dharma

by developing genuine faith in the Buddha's teachings and the law of karma

We vow to eschew wrong views

by nurturing loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity in our hearts

We vow to transcend our jealousy and narrow-mindednessby respecting and learning from people and emulating their good

We vow to do good and cultivate ourselves diligently,

as life is impermanent

We vow to practice the 37 Aids to Awakening

so we may purify our heart and mind

We vow to develop the bodhi mind (the awakened mind)

so we may have both compassion and wisdom to help all beings

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Act III: The obstacle of unwholesome action

Scene 1: The law of karma

Scene 2: The three vices of bodily conductScene 3: The four vices of speech

Scene 4: Repenting our wrong ways

Scene 5: Making vows after repenting

Scene 1: The law of karma

Onstage, there are three people dressed in white and three people dressed in black. Originally, the six people weretogether on the same path. Gradually, the three in black were led astray by temptations and deviated from the right path.

One of them comes to realize he has gone astray and tries to get back onto the right path. The other two try to stop him,

but after much struggle, the repentant one succeeds in returning to the right path, even bringing the other two with him.

vow

to overcome our greed and selfish desires by sowing seeds of kindness in people's

hearts (Photo by Huang Ying-ciao)

(Photo

by

Lin

De

-

wang)




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The lyrics in this section explain the law of karma:

In the cycle of rebirth, we always carry with us the karma we created in our past lives. The sutras tell us that the karma we

created brings karmic retribution, which comes to fruition in three ways: in our current lifetime, in our next life, or in our

future lives. While we may not see the karmic retribution for the karma we created in this life, it will eventually come to

fruition under the right conditions.

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Scene 2: The three vices of bodily conduct

Through a series of artistic and theatrical sketches, this section shows how people in our modern times commit the three

bodily vices of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.

Sketch 1: Various acts of killing are presented through artistic expression: killing animals for food, killing another human

being to take his possessions, killing for fun, stepping on insects or bugs, sacrificing animals for cultural or religious rituals,

hunting for sport, killing oneself, or instigating others to kill.

The Buddha tells us that all living creatures have the Buddha nature and therefore are equal. All creatures value their own

life, just as humans do. Because humans do not see this, they take the life of other creatures without remorse.

Sketch 2: One example of the act of stealing is presented. A government official and a businessman scheme to turn

protected land to business use for their own personal profit. Through unscrupulous means, they take away an elderly

couple's property to build a bus stop. The elderly couple's world is shattered as they lose the land they had lived on for

most of their lives.

Sketch 3: One example of sexual misconduct is presented. A womanizer angers a woman he was involved with when he

pursues another woman. In revenge, she hires thugs to harm both him and his lover. In the end, the lives of all three are

ruined.

Through song and sign language, those onstage express the lesson to be learned:

People should be aware of the harm of sexual misconduct and uphold their marriage vows. If people can carefully guardtheir minds from going astray, abide by their marital responsibilities, and respect family values, they can build a good,

happy family.

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Scene 3: The four vices of speech

(Photo

by

Yen

Tung

-

liang)

A

mischievous

fairy

wears

a

greenvest

with

protruding




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This section shows the ways we can create negative karma with our speech, namely by using abusive words, propagating

falsehoods, speaking with sweet but empty words, as well as bearing tales. These four kinds of unwholesome speech are

like a sharp knife that can hurt people and cause harm. The message is conveyed by a mischievous fairy wearing a green

vest with protruding knives, symbolizing unwholesome speech. She takes us through four theatrical sketches to show us

how unwholesome speech can harm people, using examples from modern times.

Sketch 1: The harm of speaking abusive words is presented. A tough businesswoman always speaks harshly to her

family, hurting their feelings and causing her relations with her family to become strained.

Sketch 2: The harm of lying and spreading false beliefs is presented. A man gives false predictions of misfortune and

doom, causing fear among people who blindly believe him; he then sells them a "lucky charm" (in actuality, just a yellow

slip) that supposedly will ward off the evil or misfortune. A righteous man with correct views guides people to stop

believing in such superstitions.

Sketch 3: The harm of sweet yet empty words is presented. Two people use sweet promises to attract consumers for their

health and beauty product. Those who use the product later develop health problems. When the product is discovered to

be harmful, the two people run away.

Sketch 4: The harm of bearing tales is presented. The mischievous fairy with the knife vest goes between two people tobear tales, sowing discord.

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Scene 4: Repenting our wrong ways

The previous sections show how unwholesome conduct and speech can cause harm. In a formation representing the

waters of the ocean, those onstage lead everyone to reflect and repent through song and sign language, the lyrics

expressing some of the things to repent for:

Let us repent for killing living creatures and

committing acts of violence to harm others

Let us repent for killing other creatures accidentally or

for sport, and for abusing animals, not realizing that all creatures are equal

Let us repent for giving rise to greed when

enticed by money, and for failing to observe the precepts

Let us repent for being deeply entrenched in

desire and losing ourselves in the sea of lust

Let us repent for lying to secure personal gains,

and for speaking meanly to hurt others

Let us repent for speaking insincere words of

flattery and causing discord through gossip and tale-bearing

Let us repent for giving rise to greed

when our eyes have come in contact with pleasant sights

Let us repent for letting our ears pursue pleasant sounds and sweet words

which can cloud our good judgment

Let us repent for giving rise to unwholesome thoughtswhen we come into contact with pleasant fragrances

Let us repent for eating all kinds of living creatures in our attachment

to taste and the desires of our palate

Let us repent for our desire for fine and smooth textures

as our body pursues the contact of touch

Let us repent for having a deluded mind as we filled it with false views

and perceptions and negative emotions

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The repentance practice teaches that the true nature of every one of us is as pure as the Buddha'sthis is Buddha

nature. Yet, we have lost touch with our Buddha nature as we go through life. Out of our ignorance, we create negativekarma with our body and speech. After repenting for our unwholesome conduct and speech, we can prevent repeating our

errors by making vows not to create more negative karma.

knives,

symbolizing unwholesome speech. (Photo by

Liao Chun-chin)




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In this section, a formation of the Tzu Chi logo with eight petals is presented, signifying the Eightfold Path of proper

conduct in life. Vows are made through song and sign language:

We vow to protect life by not killing and

by eliminating our hatred and resentment

We vow to be vegetarian life after lifeso that animals do not have to be killed

We vow to be content by reducing our desires

and transcending thoughts of stealing, jealousy, and greed

We vow to be generous and charitable by not being stingy and greedy.

Through the practice of giving, we accomplish our spiritual cultivation

We vow to uphold the precepts, to keep our heart pure,

and to be free from lustful thoughts

We vow to realize that desire acts like a shackle that restrains us,

and to let go of our greed for wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep

We vow to avoid speaking gossip and abusive words,

instead speaking good words in a gentle voice

We vow to treat others with sincerity

by not lying or spreading hearsay

We vow to speak beneficial words that can bring harmonyand reconciliation among people

We vow to be humble and to be prudent in our speech,

not exaggerating or using flattery

We vow to purify our six sense organs

so we won't be deluded when encountering the external environment

We vow to end our unwholesome ways

and prevent future unwholesome actions

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Act IV: The obstacle of karmic retribution

This entire Act describes the workings of karma through theatrical and artistic expression.

The Act begins with a theatrical sketch of a man and two women surrounded by people dressed in black holding a black

net. One of the women tells the man she's pregnant with his child. Later, she learns there's another woman pregnant with

the man's child. The first woman then kills herself, but her soul wants to take revenge on the man. Eventually, the man

dies in a car accident.

The black net symbolizes how living beings are trapped by their karma. While living beings undergo karmic retribution,

they create new negative karma, leading to new karmic retribution, in the midst of which they continue to create more

negative karma. It forms a vicious cycle, trapping them in samsara, the cycle of rebirth. The way to break out of this cycle

is to be aware of the principle of karma and to stop creating new negative karma.

The force of karma is very powerful. When karmic retribution becomes ripe, there's no way one can stop it from

happening.

Scene 1: The dream

The

black

net

symbolizes

how

living

beings

are

trapped

by

their

karma.

(Photo

by Liao Hsiang-lin)




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Scene 2: Living hell

Scene 3: The realm of hungry ghosts

Scene 4: The realm of animals

Scene 5: The realm of asuras

Scene 6: The human and heaven realms

Scene 7: Calamities around the world

Scene 8: The world climate is becoming abnormal

Scene 9: The suffering of warsScene 10: The suffering of hunger and famine

Scene 11: Repenting for our karmic retributions


Scene 1: The dream

This section depicts the true story of a woman in 19th century China, who dreamed of an out-of-body-experience where

her soul entered the bodies of animals about to be killed for her birthday feast.

The woman was married to a wealthy man who was a devout Buddhist, a generous philanthropist and a longtime

vegetarian. The wife, however, was very fond of meat and fine cuisine. For her birthday, she wanted to have a sumptuous

meal to celebrate. Her servants purchased a live pig, chicken, duck, and fish for the occasion. When her husband learned

of this, he tried to dissuade her and asked her to spare the lives of these animals. She refused as it was her birthday and

she wanted to celebrate.

The night before her birthday, she had a dream. In the dream, she entered the kitchen of her home, where the cook and

servants were making preparations for her birthday feast. As the animals were about to be slaughtered, the wife felt her

soul enter the body of their bodies in turn. She experienced the pain and suffering of the animals as they were being killed,

cut into pieces, and boiled. When the cook was done slaughtering all the animals, a servant brought in a live fish. The

wife's soul also entered the body of the fish. After killing the fish and scraping the scales off, the cook made it into fish

balls, one of the wife's favorite dishes.

The next morning, the maid brought in the dish of fish-ball soup for breakfast. When the wife saw it, she was filled with

fright and ordered the maid to take the dish away.

Feeling frightened, the wife told her husband about her dream and her deep remorse for eating meat.

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Scene 2: Living hell




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The message of this section is that the law of karma is real. We cycle through the six realms of reincarnation due to karmic

retribution.

If we do not believe in karma, we might do things that lead us to be reborn in the realm of hell. In fact, we can experience

a living hell in our everyday world. When we are under tremendous suffering or mental affliction, that's what being in hell

feels like.

This section continues the story of the wife, showing her struggles with her conscience over the killings she had done.Eventually she dies.

We are then taken to see the realm of the hungry ghost.

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Scene 3: The realm of hungry ghosts

The message of this section is that there are many people in our world who suffer from starvation and malnutrition. They

are like the manifestation of the hungry ghost realm.

The theatrical sketch centers on two gourmands (people who pursue good food) who, not satisfied with eating fowl, want

to eat meat from other kinds of animals. After eating these, they become sick, can no longer take in any food, and suffer

greatly. Two men, one dressed in white and one dressed in blacksymbolizing the messengers of deathappear with a

long white sheet. One of the gourmands dies. Which realm he is reincarnated in his next life will depend on his karmic

retribution.

We are then taken to see another realm, the realm of animals.

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Scene 4: The realm of animals

This section depicts the animal realm and shows how animals get abused and killed for their skin or meat, undergoing

much pain and suffering.

The theatrical sketch shows women in a fashion show wearing fur and animal skins. Four women buy the fur clothing;




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after they die, they are reborn as the type of animal whose fur they'd worn in their previous life. Being animals, they have

to labor for humans, enduring beatings and other abuse. The messengers of death then come and take one of the

"animals" away, and where it will be reborn next will depend on its karmic retribution.

We are then taken to see another realm, the realm of asuras.

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Scene 5: The realm of asuras

This section depicts the asura realm. Asuras are bad-tempered beings who have a lot of anger and arrogance. They can

be found in any of the five realms: heaven, human, animals, hungry ghost, or hell.

The theatrical sketch shows three gangsters and a couple. One gangster gets into an argument with the man, which

quickly turns into an all-out brawl. One gangster sets a fire, killing the couple. The leading gangster becomes terribly

frightened by the consequences, and eventually is caught for the crime and jailed. The messengers of death then come to

take his life away. Where he will be reborn next will depends on his karmic retribution.

Next we are taken to see two realms, the heaven realm and the human realm.

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Scene 6: The human and heaven realms

This section depicts the human and heaven realms. In the realm of heaven, heavenly beings enjoy pleasure and

happiness. Those in our world who are wealthy, can get whatever they want, and have their desires fulfilled enjoy a kind of

heaven on earth.

The theatrical sketch shows a rich man who indulges himself in the pleasures of food and women. He then develops a

disease which makes all his friends shun him. A fire burns down his house, and he finds out he has contracted a sexually

transmitted disease. While getting treatment, the two messengers of death come, signaling the next stage of his karmic

retribution.

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Scene 7: Calamities around the world




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This section shows a video of the Earth undergoing destruction due to natural disasters and human activities.

Our Earth used to be a beautiful planet, with clean rivers and beautiful mountains, where people lived in harmony with

Mother Nature. But now humans are destroying mother earth, causing global warming, which brings about natural

disasters around the world. Such is the result of the collective negative karma created by humans. Besides natural

disasters, man-made disasters, such as war, also cause much suffering to people.

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Scene 8: The world climate is becoming abnormal

This section shows the natural disasters that ravage our planet, with four different color flags representing disasters of

earth, water, fire, and wind. When natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, snow storms, tornados, or forest fires

happen, they can cause a lot of destruction and casualties, bringing considerable suffering.

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Scene 9: The suffering of wars

This section expresses the suffering of war, doing so through video and a theatrical sketch of a battlefield where people

pick up the dead and the injured. The man in the center of the stage performing with a Chinese Yo-Yo represents the

throwing of bombs. Wherever the bombs land, war and destruction occur.

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Scene 10: The suffering of hunger and famine

This section uses video and a theatrical sketch to express the suffering caused by famine and starvation. In the sketch,

people who had died in the previous scenes "wake up" to find themselves reborn in places of famine, where they have to

scavenge for food, surviving on grasses or tree roots.

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Scene 11: Repenting for our karmic retributions

The previous sections show how for countless lives, living beings have been cycling through the six realms, enduringmuch suffering, without being able to liberate themselves because they do not realize the law of karma and continue to

create negative karma. Nevertheless, if people can repent for their unwholesome ways which bring about such karmic

retribution, there is hope to break out of this vicious cycle.




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The scene shows Dharma Master Wu Da's cabin rising up from the center stage. People dressed in black crawl toward

the cabin, reaching for Dharma Master Wu Da, seeking liberation from their sufferings. In a formation representing an

ocean, those onstage lead us to repent through song and sign language, the lyrics expressing some of the things to

repent for:

Let us repent for the wrongs we've committed through our body,speech and mind, leading to the karmic retribution of reincarnation in the hell realm

Let us repent for committing unwholesome acts instead of practicing goodness,

leading to the karmic retribution of reincarnation in the animal realm

Let us repent for our killing, our self-indulgence and greed,

leading to the karmic retribution of reincarnation in the hungry ghost realm

Let us repent for leading an unwholesome life and acting arrogantly,

which lead us to develop the personalities of asuras.

Let us repent for pursuing profit and self-gain,

thus giving rise to unwholesome thoughts which dispel wholesome thoughts

Let us repent for being cruel to animals by hunting and harming them;

one day we will reap karmic retribution

Let us repent for breaking the law, being undisciplined and rebellious,

and not being filial to our parents nor abiding by moral ethics

Let us repent for not respecting the Buddha or his teachings and for doubtingthat the Dharma can liberate living beings from suffering

Let us repent for the obstacles of affliction, unwholesome action, and karmic retribution

that we have created; and let us dedicate any merit we have to all living beings

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This section presents a representation of a Dharma ship, symbolizing the ship of Dharma which can rescue people from

the sea of suffering and take them to the safety of the shore.

The message is that though living beings have gone astray before, now that they've encountered the Dharma, they canturn themselves around. After repenting, all make vows to create a better world with less suffering. Vows are made

through song and sign language:

We vow to turn the realm of hell into a Pure Land

by eliminating karmic obstacles

We vow to turn our animosity to goodwill and transform violence

into kind actions

We vow to help all living beings in need

so they can attain peace and happiness

We vow to harbor no thoughts of killing,

and help all creatures co-exist in harmony

We vow to get rid of our bad habitual tendencies and

our deluded thoughts and perceptions

We vow to mitigate disasters and epidemicsso people won't suffer from pain, illness, and loss

We vow to help provide abundant supplies of food and clothing




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so people won't suffer from starvation and cold

We vow to bring harmony and peace to society

so there'll be no wars in this world

We vow to spread the teachings of the Buddha

so people can understand life's principles and eschew misguided views

We vow to walk the Bodhisattva Path and

help inspire the mind of awakening in people

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Act V: Finale

In this section, Dharma Master Wu Da walks out of his cabin and visits the various people who had done wrong in the

previous acts. As he visits each, he spreads the teaching of repentance, and people rectify the wrongs they had

committed so that they instead of continuing the cycle of negative karma into the next life, they can begin to turn things

around in this life.

Venerable Kanaka appears on stage. Those who had done wrong in previous scenes take off their colored costumes,

revealing white clothing underneath, symbolizing the purification of their hearts.

The message of this section is that since beginningless time, we've been undergoing the cycle of rebirth, suffering in the

six realms without being able to liberate ourselves. The Buddha came to this world to teach us the Four Noble Truths,

which show us a way we can end our suffering. If we can learn the Buddha's teachings, we can cleanse our heart and

mind.

The world is full of changes and impermanence. Yet, underlying all the changes, even through the cycle of rebirth, oureverlasting, non-changing Buddha nature is always with us. But people cannot see this and they go after things that are

ephemeral, such as fame and personal gain. In the process, they create negative karma and plant karmic seeds in their

consciousness, which then ripen into karmic retributions and trap them in the cycle of rebirth. Through the Twelve Links of

Interdependent Co-Arising, they suffer endlessly.

Dharma

Master

Wu

Da

(center).

(Photo

by

Tseng

Fang

-

jung)




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Dharma Master Wu Da, with the rise of arrogance, brought to fruition the retribution from karma he had created ten

lifetimes before. With the help of Venerable Kanaka, Dharma Master Wu Da was able to resolve his negative karma.

Thereafter, he composed the Water Repentance text to tell people how to get rid of the three obstacles of affliction,

unwholesome action, and karmic retribution through the practice of repentance. These timeless teachings remain

beneficial to humanity to this day.

Drifting in the vast sea of suffering, we should turn back toward the safety of the shore. All Buddhas earnestly call on all

living beings to awaken and return to the correct path.

Towards the end, Dharma Master Wu Da as well as everyone onstage sing the four verses of great repentance:

In times of crisis, we must recognize right from wrong

In times of great calamities, we must bring forth great compassion

In times of great blindness and ignorance, we need to exercise great wisdom

In times of great turmoil and unrest, we must deeply reflect and repent

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Related news items:

The Way to Enjoy Life

Making Vows after Repenting: Part VI of the Repentance Series

Repenting Obstructions from Afflictions: Part V of the Repentance Series

Understanding Desire's Pivotal Role: Part IV of the Repentance Series


Documents

Synopsis of the Sutra Adaptation of the Water Repentance Text