༄༅།།པུང་པོ་གསུམ་པའི་མདོ།།

THE SUTRA IN THREE SECTIONS

Comment: The sutra in three sections commonly known as the sutra of the three Heaps is really the sutra of confession of misdeeds and broken vows. A group of thirty-five monks who had taken the bodhisattva vow and had accidentally caused the death of a child while they were out begging for alms went to visit Upali, one of the closest disciples of the Buddha, and asked him to request from the Buddha a method of confessing and purifying what they had done. The Buddha then spoke this sutra, and as he did so, light radiated from his body and thirty-four other buddhas appeared in the space all around him. The thirty-five monks prostrated before these buddhas, made offerings, confessed their misdeed, took refuge and re-awakened bodhichitta.