Confessing evil actions. The second of the four prac-
tices is to confess evil actions, or lay down neurotic
actions. In Buddhist monasteries, this is done cere-
monially on days of the full and new moons. Con-
fessing your neurotic actions has four parts to it: ( 1 )
regretting what you’ve done; ( 2 ) refraining from doing
it again; ( 3 ) performing some kind of remedial activ-
ity such as the Vajrasattva mantra, taking refuge in
the three jewels, or tonglen; and ( 4 ) expressing com-
plete willingness to continue this fourfold process in
the future and not to act out neurotically. So the four-
fold formula of laying down your neurosis consists of
regret, refraining, remedial action, and the resolve
not to do it again.
Bad circumstances may have arisen, but we know
that we can transform them. The advice here is that
one of the best methods is to confess the whole
thing. First, you don’t confess to anybody; it’s a per-
sonal matter. You yourself look at what you do and go
through this fourfold process with it. Second, no one
forgives you. You’re not confessing sin; it’s not as if
you’ve “sinned,” as we were taught in the Judeo-
Christian culture in which we grew up.
What is meant by neurosis is that in limitless,
timeless space—with which we could connect at any
time—we continually have tunnel vision and lock
ourselves into a room and put bolts on the door.
When there’s so much space, why do we keep put-
100 Overcoming Resistance