The Role of Confession in Chinese and Japanese Tiantai/Tendai Bodhisattva Ordinations

Confessions have been an integral part of Buddhist practice since its inception. This chapter focuses on one type of confession: its use in bodhisattva ordinations in the Tiantai tradition in China and the Tendai tradition in Japan. When confessions were used in bodhisattva precept ordinations several issues became evident. First, confessions frequently served to purify the candidate for ordination so that he or she could go before buddhas and bodhisattvas and directly receive the precepts. Second, when a self-ordination was performed by an individual, that person might spend as much time as necessary in confession. Third, the perception of Buddhist history also played a part in these developments. Confessions were not always part of bodhisattva ordinations, particularly those that were granted by a qualified teacher. Confession comes to play an important role in self-ordinations described in apocryphal texts on the bodhisattva precepts. Keywords:bodhisattva ordinations; Buddha; confession; Tendai tradition; Tiantai tradition