The Four Opponent Powers for Purification
While the following excerpt is written from a Buddhist perspective, its four principles are universal in nature and would have some parallels in other faith traditions.
Maitreya, if bodhisattvas, the great heroes, possess these four teachings, then they will overcome any negativities that they have committed and accumulated. What are the four? They are [1] the power of eradication, [2] the power of applying remedies, [3] the power of turning away from faults, and [4] the power of the foundation. (The Sutra Giving the Four Teachings)
Doing the four opponent powers repeatedly can purify the karmic latencies [states of existing but not yet being developed or manifest] of our destructive actions and relieve the psychological heaviness of guilt.
Contemplate:
1. The power of regret. Visualize the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in front of you and generate regret (not guilt!) for your negative actions and motivations by honestly admitting them. Feel that the Buddhas and bodhisattvas witness your unburdening these things and look at you with complete acceptance and compassion.
2. The power of the foundation. Repair the relationship with those whom you have harmed. In the case of holy beings, reaffirm your refuge in them. In the case of ordinary beings, generate a positive attitude toward them and the altruistic intention to benefit them in the future. If it is possible to do so, apologize to those you have harmed. When it is not possible, focus on wishing them well.
3. The power of turning away from faults. Make a determination not to do the actions again in the future. For those actions you cannot honestly say you will never do again, make a determination to abandon them for a specific amount of time that is reasonable for you.
4. The power of remedial behavior. This may be community service, spiritual practice, prostrations, making offerings, visualizing light and nectar flowing from the Buddhas into you while you recite mantra, meditating on bodhicitta or emptiness, and so forth.
Conclusion: Feel you have purified all negative karmic latencies and released all guilt. Feel psychologically and spiritually cleansed so you can go on with your life with a fresh and positive attitude.
Source: Based on Chodron, Thubten. Guided Buddhist Meditations (pp. 90-91). Shambhala. Kindle Edition.
We read in the Sutra of the Teaching on the Four Powers:
“Maitreya, if a Bodhisattva possesses four powers, all the negative deeds he has gathered will be completely overwhelmed. What are these four? They are regret, action as an antidote, the power of restoration, and the power of the support.”
Accordingly, to part from negative actions one must have all four powers. When they are all present, even a heap of negative actions as high as Mount Meru will be purified by parting from them genuinely once.
(Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje, A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom)