Having last month considered how reflection on the true principle of the Great Vehicle has allowed all Buddhas to become rid of impurities, we consider the Buddha’s advice to Ānanda.

The Buddha spoke thus to Ānanda:

“When living beings wish to contemplate the bodhisattva Universal Sage, they should do this contemplation. Contemplating in this manner is known as correct contemplation; contemplation done in any other manner is called errant contemplation.

“When followers of Buddha practice self-amendment according to the Buddha’s instructions after the Buddha has passed away, it should be known that they are doing the practice of Universal Sage. Those who follow the practice of Universal Sage will not experience negative situations or detrimental karmic consequences. Those living beings who pay homage to the buddhas of the ten directions at the six specified times of day and night, internalize the Great Vehicle sutras, and reflect on the ultimate principle – the most profound truth of emptiness – will, in an instant, become rid of the impurities from innumerable hundreds of millions of myriads of kalpas of the cycle of births and deaths. Those who follow this practice are truly buddha successors, born of all of the buddhas. The buddhas of the ten directions, and the bodhisattvas as well, will be their mentors. They will be recognized as those who fully conform to the behavioral principles of bodhisattvas: without the need of a ceremony, they will fulfill them on their own. They will become worthy of being honored and rendered service by all human and heavenly beings.”

See Repentance: An Indispensable Requisite of Religious Life