Repentance rituals in the Tiantai School are closely connected to the practice of the zhiguan (calming and contemplation), which stems from Master Huisi’s The Liturgy for Receiving Bodhisattva Precepts. From the context of “paying homage to the Buddha as if the Buddha were present” mentioned in the Liturgy, Master Huisi has developed a repentance system of “single-mindedly paying homage to the Buddha,” with the idea of “when paying homage to the Buddha, pay homage to the Buddha.” In other words, receiving the bodhisattva precepts through the repentance liturgy is a personal matter, rather than being a performance for the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and sentient beings of the ten directions that were necessarily and respectfully invited. Therefore, one should only focus on “single-mindedly paying homage to the Buddha,” “single-mindedly repenting to the Buddha,” and “singlemindedly receiving the precepts” ‒ unconcerned about anything else. From this standpoint, repentance liturgies of Tiantai School emphasize that “a mind of emptiness is efficacious” rather than “a mind of sincerity is efficacious” because “single-mindedness” refers to a mind of non-attachment during the repentance ritual.
