Signs of Effective Purification

One of the reasons I mentioned the "black sore" that developed a few days after my dorje khadro puja is that I think that it could be a sign. Even though on the face of it it seems like it was an unwholesome sign, it is actually a wholesome sign, in the sense that something unusually happened and bad dark blood did ooze out. After doing purification or repentance practices, Ven. Master Hsuan Hua taught that if wholesome signs appear, then it means that the repentance/ purification was effective and prayers were indeed heard by the Buddhas. But that doesnot mean we go seeking after all these signs after doing it. You just let it be. If it happens, it happens. If not, you just go on doing it. Or, KIV it for awhile, and resume another day when the mind is more sincere and peaceful. So, is the sore a "sign" or just another coincident "injury"? I leave that to you.

I learned this from the Chinese Buddhist Master, Ven. Master Hsuan Hua. Look at the attached quote from the document explaining the conditions of receving the lay bodhisattva precepts picked from their website. Read the below quote: -

Quote:
If you break a major precept without having first renounced it, your entire precept substance (the power of upholding the precepts) is destroyed. You can take any precept again after receiving wholesome signs while doing your repentance. Did you break the precept and then receive wholesome signs while doing your sincere repentance?
(Answer truthfully, yes or no? If yes, please write them down in detail.)

source:
http://www.cttbusa.org/laybodhisattvaprecepts/04_questionnaire_for_going_to_take_the_lay_bodhisattva_precepts.pdf