BODHISATTVA’S CONFESSION
OF MORAL DOWNFALLS

1. Begin by visualizing the 35 Confession Buddhas in space in front of you.

2. Think of all the negative karma you have created in this and in all previous lives.

3. Generate the four opponent powers in your mind.

Generate strong faith that the nectar beams emitted by all the holy objects in the merit field and your recitation of the buddhas’ holy names will completely purify you of all defilements, negative karma and downfalls. It is very important to feel very strongly that you have been completely purified and that nothing negative whatsoever is left in your mental continuum. The names of the 35 Buddhas are unbelievably powerful; reciting each one once purifies tens of thousands of eons of negative karma. Remember this from time to time while you are prostrating. It is important to generate strong faith that this is so. Lama Je Tsong Khapa did this practice. The strength of your faith determines how much negative karma you have purified. Your mind creates negative karma, and your mind purifies it as well.

 ( to increase the benefit of each prostration, first prostrate three times while reciting with each prostration )

OM NAMO MANJUSHRIYE
NAMO SUSHRIYE
NAMO UTTAMA SHRIYE SVAHA (3x)

( continue to prostrate )

I, ( say your name ) throughout all times,
take refuge in the Gurus
I take refuge in the Buddha
I take refuge in the Dharma
I take refuge in the Sangha

1. to the founder,
bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
Glorious Conqueror Shakyamuni Buddha,
I prostrate

2. to tathagata Thoroughly Destroying with Vajra Essence,
I prostrate

3. to tathagata Radiant Jewel,
I prostrate

4. to tathagata King, Lord of the Nagas,
I prostrate

5. to tathagata Army of Heroes,
I prostrate

6. to tathagata Delighted Hero,
I prostrate

7. to tathagata Jewel Fire,
I prostrate

8. to tathagata Jewel Moonlight,
I prostrate

9. to tathagata Meaningful to See,
I prostrate

10. to tathagata Jewel Moon,
I prostrate

11. to tathagata Stainless One,
I prostrate

12. to tathagata Bestowed with Courage,
I prostrate

13. to tathagata Pure One,
I prostrate

14. to tathagata Bestowed with Purity,
I prostrate

15. to tathagata Water God,
I prostrate

16. to tathagata Deity of the Water God,
I prostrate

17. to tathagata Glorious Goodness,
I prostrate

18. to tathagata Glorious Sandalwood,
I prostrate

19. to tathagata Infinite Splendor,
I prostrate

20. to tathagata Glorious Light,
I prostrate

21. to tathagata Sorrowless Glory,
I prostrate

22. to tathagata Son of Non-craving,
I prostrate

23. to tathagata Glorious Flower,
I prostrate

24. to tathagata Pure Light Rays Clearly Knowing by Play,
I prostrate

25. to tathagata Lotus Light Rays Clearly Knowing by Play,
I prostrate

26. to tathagata Glorious Wealth,
I prostrate

27. to tathagata Glorious Mindfulness,
I prostrate

28. to tathagata Glorious Name Widely Renowned,
I prostrate

29. to tathagata King Holding the Victory Banner of Foremost Power,
I prostrate

30. to tathagata Glorious One Totally Subduing,
I prostrate

31. to tathagata Utterly Victorious in Battle,
I prostrate

32. to tathagata Glorious Transcendence Through Subduing,
I prostrate

33. to tathagata Glorious Manifestations Illuminating All,
I prostrate

34. to tathagata All-Subduing Jewel Lotus,
I prostrate

35. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
King of the Lord of Mountains Firmly Seated on Jewel and Lotus,
I prostrate

35. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
King of the Lord of Mountains Firmly Seated on Jewel and Lotus,
I prostrate

35. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
King of the Lord of Mountains Firmly Seated on Jewel and Lotus,
I prostrate

Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoche: "I recite the last, 35th name three times. Why? Not because other people do, but because the 35th buddha’s name purifies broken samayas and negative karma created in relation to your gurus, which are the heaviest negative karmas of all. Therefore, I think it’s necessary to recite the last buddha’s name three times. By then adding the names of the seven Medicine Buddhas, all your prayers for special realizations from your Dharma practice, for good things to happen to you, for the benefit of others will be successful. Your own prayers will be successful and you will also receive the beneficial effects of all the prayers made by the seven Medicine Buddhas in the past. Therefore, it is very important to recite the names of the Medicine Buddhas in addition to those of the 35 Buddhas. Names of the 7 Medicine Buddhas are extremely powerful not only for healing but for success in general. This is because when those seven buddhas were bodhisattvas they prayed and dedicated for sentient beings to be able to overcome their problems and achieve all success. Therefore, praying to the Medicine Buddhas and reciting their names is an extremely precious practice and is very effective for both healing and success. Those who recite the 7 Medicine Buddhas’ names and the Medicine Buddha mantra in their daily lives will never be reborn in the lower realms and, no matter what happens, will have no fear of death. Any human being or animal who at the time of death simply hears the name or mantra of the Medicine Buddha will also not be reborn in the lower realms. This practice is very important. Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen and other recent lineage lamas recited the names of the 7 Medicine Buddhas right after reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas. This addition makes this powerful purification practice even more powerful.

Om Bekanze Bekanze Maha Bekanze Randza Samungate Soha

1. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
Renowned Glorious King of Excellent Signs, I prostrate
( to tathagata Supari Kirti Tanama Sri Raja, I prostrate )

2. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
King of Melodious Sound, Brilliant Radiance of Skill,
Adorned with Jewels, Moon and Lotus, I prostrate
( to tathagata Svara Gosa Raja, I prostrate )

3. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
Stainless Excellent Gold, Great Illuminating Jewel
Who Accomplishes All Conduct and Vows, I prostrate
( to tathagata Suvarna Bhadra Vimala, I prostrate )

4. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
Glorious Supreme King Free from Sorrow, I prostrate
( to tathagata Asokotta Ma Sri Raja, I prostrate )

5. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
Melodious Ocean of Proclaimed Dharma, I prostrate
( to tathagata Dharma Kirti Sagara, I prostrate )

6. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
Delightful King Clearly Knowing by the Play
of Supreme Wisdom of an Ocean of Dharma, I prostrate
( to tathagata Abhijya Raja, I prostrate )

7. to bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha,
Medicine Guru, King of Lapis Lazuli Light, I prostrate
( to tathagata Bhaisajya Guru Raja, I prostrate )

Om Bekanze Bekanze Maha Bekanze Randza Samungate Soha

CONFESSION

In the presence of the buddha-bhagavans, who are transcendental wisdom, who are eyes, who are witnesses, who are valid, and who see with omniscient consciousness, I am admitting and confessing all these negativities collectively, as well as individually. Every single one I now confess. I do not conceal them nor hide them, but I reveal them, and from now on I abstain and refrain from committing them again.

All buddha-bhagavans, please pay attention to me: In this life and in all other states of rebirth in which I have circled in samsara throughout beginningless lives, whatever roots of virtue I have created by generosity, even as little as giving just one mouthful of food to a being born in the animal realm; whatever roots of virtue I have created by guarding morality; whatever roots of virtue I have created by following pure conduct; whatever roots of virtue I have created by fully ripening sentient beings; whatever roots of virtue I have created by generating bodhicitta; and whatever roots of virtue I have created by my unsurpassed transcendental wisdom: all these assembled and gathered, combined together, I fully dedicate to the unsurpassed, the unexcelled, that higher than the high, that superior to the superior. Thus, I completely dedicate to the highest, perfectly complete enlightenment. Just as the previous buddha-bhagavans have fully dedicated, just as the future buddha-bhagavans will fully dedicate, and just as the presently abiding buddha-bhagavans are fully dedicating, like that I too dedicate fully. I confess all my broken vows collectively, as well as individually. Every single broken vow I now confess. I rejoice in all merits.

I urge and implore all Buddhas to grant my request: may I fully and directly realize the highest, most sublime, transcendental, ultimate Wisdom.

In the conquerors, the best of humans (those who are living in the present time, those who have lived in the past, and those who will likewise come) in all those who have qualities as vast as an infinite ocean, with hands folded, I take refuge.

CONCLUSION

DEDICATION

"In emptiness, there is no I, creator of negative karma; there is no action of creating negative karma; there is no negative karma created”. ( i.e. negative karma is empty, and that is main reason why it can be purified )

( with this awareness, dedicate the merits )

"Due to all the merits collected by having done prostrations, made offerings, confessed, rejoiced, requested the gurus to have stable lives and to turn the Dharma Wheel, may I achieve Enlightenment in order to firmly establish all sentient beings in that Enlightenment.”

( of course, there is a dedication already included within the 35 Buddhas prayer, but you should still make this extra dedication in emptiness at the very end )

BENEFITS

from: Making Life Meaningful by Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
www.lamayeshe.com/lamazopa/mlm/mlm.pdf

Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoche: "If you are doing this practice in a group and one person leads the chanting while the others do not recite the names of the 35 Buddhas because they have not memorized them, only one person gets the benefit of the recitation. Those who haven’t memorized the names will get the benefits of making prostrations, but they won’t get the benefit of reciting the names. This is a great loss. How? Take the very first name, that of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, for example. By reciting Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s name, you purify 80,000 eons of negative karma; if you don’t recite his name, this doesn’t happen. Reciting each of the 35 Buddhas’ names purifies a certain number of eons of negative karma or a particular negative karma. Reciting each name just one time purifies thousands of eons of negative karma. If someone told you that you would not get cancer for six eons, you would think that that was fantastic. Forget about the six eons, even if someone told you that you would not get cancer in this life, you would think it fantastic, unbelievably good fortune. Now here, in relation to the practice of the 35 Buddhas, we are talking about your not getting cancer or any other problem for thousands of eons because you have purified that many eons of negative karma, which is the cause of not only sickness but that of all other problems and obstacles. Cancer is just a tiny drop in the ocean of samsaric suffering. Purifying even two thousand eons of negative karma is incredibly advantageous. If you were going to die right now, in the next moment, the most important thing, the most urgent thing, you could do would be to purify your negative karma. If you were about to die, which would you prefer to be given: a billion dollars or the chance to purify this life’s negative karma? Which is more important? Which is more precious? Of course, purifying even one negative karma before you die is much better than receiving a billion or even a trillion dollars. My point is that if only one person recites the names of the 35 Buddhas, only that person receives the advantage of all this purification. Those who don’t recite the names don’t receive the benefit. It’s like one person trying to eat a meal on behalf of a group of people while they don’t eat. The food that person eats doesn’t fill the other people’s stomachs, doesn’t satisfy their hunger. The great advantage of having memorized the names of the 35 Buddhas is that you can recite them in the car or train while going to work. Since you spend so much time going back and forth between home and work, it is good to spend that time doing prayers or reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas. You can also recite them when you are flying in an airplane. It’s all right to read them from a book, but it is much easier if you know the names by heart, because then you can purify at any time. Since reciting these buddhas’ names even once purifies thousands of eons of negative karma, it’s a great loss if you don’t recite them. It will take you longer to purify your negative karma and gain realizations, and longer to achieve enlightenment, which means that the numberless other sentient beings who are karmically connected to you will have to experience more suffering. Therefore, you must realize what a precious opportunity you have right now. This present time is the most precious time. If you don’t take this opportunity to practice, it is a great loss. There is no greater loss than this; it’s a greater loss than losing a million dollars, zillions of dollars. Some people, when their business collapses or they lose a million dollars, become crazy and want to jump off a bridge or the roof of a building. Such losses are nothing, just something material, meaningless. But here, if you don’t take this incredible opportunity to practice confession with the 35 Buddhas, to purify your negative karma and collect merit in such an easy way, you have suffered the greatest loss. Even if you owned skies of diamonds, gold or wish-fulfilling gems, that alone could not purify your negative karma or stop you from being reborn in the lower realms. However, even if you don’t own any of this wealth, if you recite Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s name just once, you purify 80,000 eons of negative karma. Reciting the name of any of the 35 Buddhas purifies many thousands of eons of negative karma. Even if you were to lose that much wealth, it would be nothing compared to losing the chance of practicing the 35 Buddhas. This is such an easy way to purify and to collect extensive merit. Simply by reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas, you can achieve unbelievable purification."

BENEFITS

from: Making Life Meaningful by Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
www.lamayeshe.com/lamazopa/mlm/mlm.pdf

Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoche: "If you are doing this practice in a group and one person leads the chanting while the others do not recite the names of the 35 Buddhas because they have not memorized them, only one person gets the benefit of the recitation. Those who haven’t memorized the names will get the benefits of making prostrations, but they won’t get the benefit of reciting the names. This is a great loss. How? Take the very first name, that of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, for example. By reciting Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s name, you purify 80,000 eons of negative karma; if you don’t recite his name, this doesn’t happen. Reciting each of the 35 Buddhas’ names purifies a certain number of eons of negative karma or a particular negative karma. Reciting each name just one time purifies thousands of eons of negative karma. If someone told you that you would not get cancer for six eons, you would think that that was fantastic. Forget about the six eons, even if someone told you that you would not get cancer in this life, you would think it fantastic, unbelievably good fortune. Now here, in relation to the practice of the 35 Buddhas, we are talking about your not getting cancer or any other problem for thousands of eons because you have purified that many eons of negative karma, which is the cause of not only sickness but that of all other problems and obstacles. Cancer is just a tiny drop in the ocean of samsaric suffering. Purifying even two thousand eons of negative karma is incredibly advantageous. If you were going to die right now, in the next moment, the most important thing, the most urgent thing, you could do would be to purify your negative karma. If you were about to die, which would you prefer to be given: a billion dollars or the chance to purify this life’s negative karma? Which is more important? Which is more precious? Of course, purifying even one negative karma before you die is much better than receiving a billion or even a trillion dollars. My point is that if only one person recites the names of the 35 Buddhas, only that person receives the advantage of all this purification. Those who don’t recite the names don’t receive the benefit. It’s like one person trying to eat a meal on behalf of a group of people while they don’t eat. The food that person eats doesn’t fill the other people’s stomachs, doesn’t satisfy their hunger. The great advantage of having memorized the names of the 35 Buddhas is that you can recite them in the car or train while going to work. Since you spend so much time going back and forth between home and work, it is good to spend that time doing prayers or reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas. You can also recite them when you are flying in an airplane. It’s all right to read them from a book, but it is much easier if you know the names by heart, because then you can purify at any time. Since reciting these buddhas’ names even once purifies thousands of eons of negative karma, it’s a great loss if you don’t recite them. It will take you longer to purify your negative karma and gain realizations, and longer to achieve enlightenment, which means that the numberless other sentient beings who are karmically connected to you will have to experience more suffering. Therefore, you must realize what a precious opportunity you have right now. This present time is the most precious time. If you don’t take this opportunity to practice, it is a great loss. There is no greater loss than this; it’s a greater loss than losing a million dollars, zillions of dollars. Some people, when their business collapses or they lose a million dollars, become crazy and want to jump off a bridge or the roof of a building. Such losses are nothing, just something material, meaningless. But here, if you don’t take this incredible opportunity to practice confession with the 35 Buddhas, to purify your negative karma and collect merit in such an easy way, you have suffered the greatest loss. Even if you owned skies of diamonds, gold or wish-fulfilling gems, that alone could not purify your negative karma or stop you from being reborn in the lower realms. However, even if you don’t own any of this wealth, if you recite Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s name just once, you purify 80,000 eons of negative karma. Reciting the name of any of the 35 Buddhas purifies many thousands of eons of negative karma. Even if you were to lose that much wealth, it would be nothing compared to losing the chance of practicing the 35 Buddhas. This is such an easy way to purify and to collect extensive merit. Simply by reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas, you can achieve unbelievable purification."

GENERAL CONFESSION (Tibetan tradition)

Ah, woe is me! Great Guru Vajradhara and all other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, and venerable Sangha, please pay attention to me!
I, [..say your name..], for beginningless samsaric lifetimes until now, owing to the defilements - greed, hate and delusion - have committed by body, speech and mind the ten non-virtuous actions;
I have created the five immediate karmas;
I have created the five similar to them;
I have broken the Pratimoksha vows;
I have broken the Bodhisattva's training;
I have broken my tantric pledges;
I have been disrespectful to my parents;
I have been disrespectful to my Preceptor and Teachers;
I have been disrespectful to companions in the celibate life;
I have done actions harmful to the Three Jewels;
I have rejected the true Dharma;
I have abused the Sangha of Aryas;
I have done actions harmful to sentient beings and so forth.
This accumulation of non-virtuous actions that I have done, asked others to do, or rejoiced in when others have done them and so forth; in short, my entire accumulation of faults and offenses that hinder higher rebirth and liberation and cause samsara and evil rebirth, I confess before the great Guru Vajradhara and all the other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, and the venerable Sangha; I do not conceal them, I reveal them; henceforth I take up restraint.
If I confess and reveal them, I shall dwell in pleasant contacts; but if I do not confess and reveal them, I shall not. (3X)

35 Buddhas Practice

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35 Buddhas Confession and Purification Practice	[posted Oct. 2005]
This advice was compiled from teachings given by Rinpoche at Istituto Lama Tsong Khapa in Italy, during the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga Retreat in 2003.

There are four remedy powers. The one that reduces and purifies negative karma is regret. The stronger the regret, the more the negative karma is purified. All phenomena affect each other; that is what dependent arising means—fire can burn, water can make things wet. It works similarly in our mind: our positive thoughts have one effect; negative thoughts have a different effect. So, there is happiness and there is suffering—this is a dependent arising.

Reciting the mantra of Vajrasattva, who attained qualities such as compassion and power in order to benefit sentient beings, purifies negative karma through dependent arising. In the same way, by reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas many times or just once, eons of negative karma is purified.

Lama Atisha explained why reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas has so much power. In the past, when the 35 Buddhas were bodhisattvas, they made many prayers to be able to benefit sentient beings, to easily purify our defilements and negative karma. When they achieved enlightenment, they achieved the Buddha’s ten qualities or powers, one of which is the power of prayer. So, their names have the power of all those past prayers. That is why, when sentient beings recite their names, they have so much power to purify defilements and eons of negative karma. Every single quality the 35 Buddhas attained was in order to benefit sentient beings, there was no other reason or motivation for it, so we should use this advantage.

Think: “The purpose of my life is to free all the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, sura, asura, human, and intermediate state beings—every single sentient being in the six realms of suffering, all unenlightened beings who have defilements.

“I must free all the hell beings, from whom I receive all my past, present, and future happiness, realizations of the path, and enlightenment, who are the most precious, most kind ones in my life, from all sufferings and their causes, and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.

“I must free all the preta beings, from whom I receive all my past, present, and future happiness, realizations of the path, and enlightenment, who are the most precious, most kind ones in my life, from all the sufferings and their causes, and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.

“I must free all the animals, every one of them, from whom I receive all my past, present, and future happiness, realizations of the path, and enlightenment, who are the most precious, most kind ones in my life, from all the sufferings and their causes, and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.

“I must free all the human beings, from whom I receive all my past, present, and future happiness, realizations of the path, and enlightenment, who are the most precious, most kind ones in my life, from all sufferings and their causes, and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.

“I must free all the sura beings, from whom I receive all my past, present, and future happiness, realizations of the path, and enlightenment, who are the most precious, most kind ones in my life, from all sufferings and their causes, and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.

“I must free all the asura beings, from whom I receive all my past, present, and future happiness, realizations of the path, and enlightenment, who are the most precious, most kind ones in my life, from all sufferings and their causes, and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.

“I must free all the intermediate state beings, from whom I receive all my past, present, and future happiness, realizations of the path, and enlightenment, who are the most precious, most kind ones in my life, from all sufferings and their causes, and bring them to enlightenment by myself alone.

“Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment. In order to do this, I need to actualize the path and purify my defilements, negative karmas, and downfalls collected from beginningless rebirths.”

Just one complete negative karma that is committed through the ten non-virtuous actions—killing, sexual misconduct, telling lies, etc.—produces four suffering results. As well as the ripened aspect result of rebirth in the lower realms, there are three other sufferings: experiencing the result similar to the cause; creating the result similar to the cause; and the possessed result, which is related to the environment and the suffering that is experienced when, for example, you are born after some time as a human being due to your good karma.

Creating the result similar to the cause means committing the same negative action again as a result of the past. Then, that complete negative karma produces another four suffering results, including creating the result similar to the cause; then that complete negative karma produces another four suffering results. As long as we don’t purify that one negative karma and abstain from it we will experience the result again and again. Like this, it goes on and on, forever—the effect becomes endless.

Think: “If I put effort into not creating that one negative karma, I don’t have to experience all the endless suffering that comes from it. It makes a huge difference whether that one negative karma is committed or not.”

To make your practice really effective and powerful, contemplate the endless effect of even just one complete negative karma—having to experience so much suffering in samsara for that one negative karma—so that you can’t stand to live even one more second without purifying it immediately. There are so many negative karmas committed each day, month, and year, from beginningless past lives—it is unimaginable. If you think of all these karmas from beginningless past lives, it becomes more and more unbearable. There is no way to relax for even a second without practicing purification.

On top of this, you need to remember broken pratimoksha vows, and bodhisattva vows, which are much heavier. Then, having taken and broken the tantric vows in this and past lives, which is heavier again. Pabongkha Rinpoche’s commentary on the Six-Session Yoga says that breaking a bodhisattva root vow is 100,000 times heavier than breaking a pratimoksha root vow. Breaking a tantric vow is 100,000 times heavier than breaking a bodhisattva root vow. The vow that results in the heaviest, longest suffering, and is the heaviest obstacle to actualizing the path is the negative karma collected regarding the relationship with the virtuous friend. Remember all of that collected from beginningless rebirths. This is the situation we are in. In those hot hell realms even one tiny spark is much hotter than all human beings’ fire energy, which, comparatively, is extremely cool and pleasurable. This was explained by Buddha, the Omniscient One, with compassion for sentient beings, to save us from the unbearable suffering of samsara, particularly the lower realms.

Think: “Death can come any time, even today; it can come this hour or minute. That means I can be in the most terrifying suffering of the lower realms today, any minute, any second. The minute my breath stops, it is there, actualized. Therefore, I must purify right away, not delaying for even a second.” As is normally explained in the teachings, it is as if you have eaten poison and are going to experience great pain and die, so you want to get rid of the negativity in the quickest possible way.

This also applies when you practice Vajrasattva meditation in daily life or in retreat. You can meditate like this at the beginning of any purification practice, to make it really powerful. How much we can purify negative karma depends on the mind. Our mind creates negative karma but, with strong regret, the mind can purify so much. Regret is like medicine for us.

In Western psychology, regret may be interpreted as negative, but there is negative, harmful regret and useful, positive regret. One becomes medicine for our mind; the other becomes negative, for example, regretting our or other people’s virtue or positive actions. If somebody becomes a monk or nun and you express regret, “Oh, terrible! Oh, I’m sorry!”, or somebody is doing retreat in an isolated place and you say, “Oh, I’m so sorry you are living in a cave, poor thing”, your regret is misplaced. That person may actually be attaining realizations every year and offering the most benefit to sentient beings. That is incorrect regret. There is also correct and incorrect patience and tolerance. Similarly, perseverance in virtue is right perseverance, but perseverance in actions that are negative karma, the cause of samsara or of the lower realms—bearing great hardship to achieve power or reputation for happiness in this life, putting much effort into that, sacrificing, even endangering life, as many people in the world are doing—is incorrect tolerance. Correct tolerance has to be perseverance in virtue; that is the definition of perseverance. There has to be positive action. If an action is negative karma, it doesn’t have that definition of perseverance—it is incorrect perseverance, incorrect patience, or incorrect regret. Non-virtue only harms you and others.

Think: “Therefore, I’m going to perform prostrations by reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas and practicing the Confession of Downfalls, which purifies eons of negative karmas. I am so fortunate, having this opportunity, to create happiness and benefit for every single one of my kind mother sentient beings, every hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human being, sura, asura, and intermediate state being.”

At the end you must think of the happiness of others. If you think too much of your own negative karma and the suffering result of that, then, since we don’t have a realization of bodhicitta or of compassion, there is the danger of performing the prostrations for your own happiness. You need to come back to thinking of the happiness of others. With that attitude, every prostration you perform or prayer you recite is for other sentient beings.

You prostrate not only to the 35 Buddhas but to all the gurus, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and all the holy objects of the ten directions. If you prostrate to many merit fields—to billions of buddhas—you create billions of causes of enlightenment. This way is much more profitable. You can recite the 35 Buddhas’ names in whichever language you normally use.

The mantra OM NAMO MANJUSHRIYE NAMAH SUSHRIYE NAMA UTTAMA SHRIYE SOHA multiplies the prostrations one thousand times. If you recite it every day, it helps to develop a direct perception of emptiness in this life, also to not encounter harm or obstacles. If you recite this mantra and the Buddha’s name seven times, then each prostration or circumambulation is increased millions of times. Recite:

OM NAMO MANJUSHRIYE NAMAH SUSHRIYE NAMA UTTAMA SHRIYE SOHA (3X)

CHOM DEN DE DEZHIN SHEKPA DRA CHOM PA YANG DAKPA DZOK PE SANG GYE RINCHEN GYALTSEN LA CHAG TSAL LO (7X)

OM NAMO BHAGAWATE RATNA KETU RAZAYA TATHAGATAYA ARHATE SAM YAK SAM BUDDHAYA TAYATHA OM RATNE RATNE MAHA RATNE RATNA BIZAYE SOHA (7X)

Then, prostrate and recite the 35 Buddhas’ names and the Confession of Downfalls.

After completing any purification practice it becomes more powerful if you seal it with emptiness by meditating on the three circles: the performer of the action, the action, and the object, what is accomplished—looking at them all as empty. Think: “In emptiness there is no creator, me; there is no action of creating; and there is no creation, negative karma.”

Remain in that state of mindfulness, allowing the awareness that all things are empty to continue, that they do not exist from their own side, and then dedicate the merits:

“Due to all the merits of the three times collected by me and by others, may I achieve the 35 Buddhas’ enlightenment and lead all sentient beings to the 35 Buddhas’ enlightenment by myself alone.”

Then, dedicate the merits:

Jang chub sem chog rinpoche
Ma kye pa nam kye gyur chig
Kye pa nyam pa me par yang
Gong ne gong du pel bar shog

May the precious bodhicitta not yet born, arise and grow
May that born have no decline but increase forever more.

The Benefits of Prostrations
Rinpoche commented on the following benefits from performing prostrations.

When making prostrations by reciting the names of the 35 Buddhas, even only one prostration to all the Buddhas, Dharma, and Sangha becomes a cause for achieving enlightenment. Prostrations to statues, scriptures, and stupas create many causes for liberation from samsara and achieving success in this life. But prostrations to the 35 Buddhas become a cause for enlightenment, which is a big difference.

More talks by Lama Zopa on this topic:
See the Daily Practice chapter and Appendix 3 of Rinpoche's book Making Life Meaningful for more information about this practice.