View source for Sutra of the Three Heaps

'''Sutra of the Three Heaps''' (Skt. ''Trīskhandhadharmasūtra''; Tib. ཕུང་པོ་གསུམ་པའི་མདོ་, ''pungpo sumpé do'', [[Wyl.]] ''phung po gsum pa'i mdo''), also known as the '''sutra of the confession of downfalls''' (Tib. ''tung shak'') — a [[sutra]] used in the [[confession]] and purification of transgressions of vows, especially downfalls of the [[bodhisattva vow]]. It features the [[thirty-five buddhas of confession]]. The 'three heaps' or three sections referred to in the title are 
#homage, 
#confession, and 
#rejoicing or dedication.

Alternatively, according to a commentary (Skt. ''Bodhipattidesanavrtti''; Wyl. ''byang chub ltung ba bshags pa'i 'grel pa'') by [[Nagarjuna]], the three heaps are:
#"All wrongs individually I confess" is '''the heap of confessing wrongs'''. 
#Rejoicing in the merits of both ordinary beings, who are impure, and Superior Beings or [[Arya]]s, who are pure, making them the object of your rejoicing is '''the heap of joy'''. 
#Beseeching the Fully Awakened Beings not to (die and) pass into the state [[nirvana|Beyond Sorrow]], and requesting them to continually turn the wheel of the doctrine is '''the heap of making request'''. 

Through these Three Heaps you accumulate immeasurable amounts of merit.<ref>Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, ''The Confession Sutra with commentary by Arya Nagarjuna''</ref>
 
==Origin of the Sutra==
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 [[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]].  

==References==
<small><references/></small>

==Translations==
*[[Bokar Rinpoche]], ''Taking the Bodhisattva Vow'', ClearPoint Press, San Francisco, 1997 
:*(in French, ''Le Voeu de bodhisattva'', Claire Lumière, Mas Vinsargues, 1996)
*Ngawang Dhargye, ''The Confession of Downfalls'', translated by Brian Beresford, LTWA
*Padmakara Translation Group, ''The Sutra in Three Parts'', 2004

[[Category:Texts]]
[[Category:Sutras]]