Master Meng Can (1915 – 2017), from the town of Kaitong in Heilongjiang Province, is a venerable sage in today’s Buddhist community. He studied from numerous Grand Masters in the past, including Master Ci Zhou, Master Xu Yun, Master Yan Xu, and Master Hong Yi, and later went to Tibet for ten years of Dharma learning. He often encourages himself with the verse: “Even if burning iron wheels spin on top of me, I will not lose Bodhicitta because of this suffering”, from the “Sutra of Repaying Kindness”. In 1937, Meng Can was instructed by Master Yan Xu to travel to Xiamen and invite Master Hong Yi to teach Vinaya at the Zhan Shan Temple. Deeply inspired by Master Hong Yi’s teachings, and instructed to promote the Three Sutras of Ksitigarbha, Master Meng Can respectfully asked Master Hong Yi to personally carve out a set of divination dice from sandalwood, with appearances as described in the “Sutra of Divining Good and Evil Karmic Retribution”. This would provide our future generations a means to practice, as the Ksitigarbha method is the most influential for sentient beings of the Saha world during the Saddharmavipralopa era, and is when karmic cause is experienced most deeply. The “Sutra of Divining Good and Evil Karmic Retribution” is one of the Three Sutras of Ksitigarbha. Its content explains the principles and applications of the divining dice readings. According to the repentance ritual: “The Ritual Practice on the Sutra of Divining Good and Evil Karmic Retribution” compiled by Master Ou Yi (1599 – 1655), if one repents sincerely as taught by the Dharma, one will attain a reading of purity from which wisdom will grow. A reading of purity manifests the good and bad karma or fortunes of the past and current life, and by solving the different kinds of problems we face in life and religious practice, we will experience growth in our wisdom, less hindrance in religious practice, and thus a better life. The first half of the sutra describes the phenomena of the secular world, and the second half discusses the Avatamsaka doctrine. Its Dharma is to achieve one true realm with two kinds of contemplation practices, as well as Anutpattika-dharma-ksanti. The upaya (expedient methods) mentioned in the first section, is used to resolve issues of concentration and wisdom discussed in the second section, and by employing both samatha and vipassana, the philosophy regarding the empty nature of sin and the arising and ceasing of tathatā unravels. All of this is consistent with the Avatamsaka Sūtra, the Mūlajāta-hṛidayabhūmi-dhyāna-sūtra, the commentary on the Daśabhūmika Sūtra, and various sutra commentaries, all of which contain the teachings of Dharma. Nowadays, the majority of Buddhist temples mostly hold the following Dharma assemblies for repentance rituals: “The Jeweled Repentance of Emperor Liang”, the “Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance”, the “Great Compassion Repentance”, “Medicine Buddha Repentance”, etc. As for the “Sutra of Divining Good and Evil Karmic Retribution”, very few promote or practice this form of repentance ritual. The cause, the principles, and the remarkable significance of the “Sutra of Divining Good and Evil Karmic Retribution” will be discussed in this thesis. Master Ou Yi fr
