蕅益智旭（1599~1655）一生致力於禪教合一、性相會通、三教會通；前兩項主要針對佛教內部宗派的會通，後一則是對儒、釋、道三家思想所進行的詮釋與調和活動。三教的會通，因其世界觀與終極目標不同，困難度相對提高。智旭以儒、老主治世，佛教主出世的安排，義理的詮解看似合理，實踐上卻難免有矛盾之處。觀察智旭的罪感來源，不論是謗法或不孝之罪，皆與其由儒轉佛的學思進路相關。智旭的罪感心理，反映出儒、佛兩種文化相互激盪而產生的深刻印記，而這也可作為檢示儒、佛交會現象下，文化對心理產生作用的另一觀察點。智旭的罪感與其身處的時代有密切關聯，犯罪不僅是個人別業，同時也是時代的共業。從智旭的懺罪方式，諸如發願回向、禮懺、持咒等，反映出當時的佛教懺罪儀軌的世俗性與社會性的特色，仍流行於今日民間社會。智旭一生持律甚嚴，每每懺悔，仍多言罪，可見其人多警醒，遇過則覺，縱使一念亦不輕放，此正是佛教懺罪精神之所在。換言之，今日吾人之懺罪若只著重在業障是否被消除，忘卻自覺悔改己過，徒流於表面形式，便失去懺罪的意義與精神。

Ouyi Zhixu (1599~1655), the Pure Land Sect patriarch, had devoted his whole life in the unison of Ch’an and Buddhism, the compatibility of nature and form, and the convergence of three schools. With the former two, he focused on the internal merging of the sub-sects within the Buddhism, while with the latter one, he intended to interpret the core thoughts of the three dominant schools, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The divergent worldview and ultimate goal had made it relatively difficult for the convergence of the three schools. The seemingly logic plausibility of Zhixu’s separating Confucianism and Taoism as the schools emphasizing on the engagement with the secular world, from Buddhism’s emphasis on renounciation of the present life, is actually unavoidably contradicting in practice. Under close observation, the source of Zhi-xu’s guilt, whether in defaming of dharma, or non observance of filial piety, had rooted in his converting from a Confucianist to a Buddhist. It is clear that Zhixu’s guilt had reflected the profound imprint branded by the conflicting encounter of the two cultures, which also provides us an alternative observation point to examine the psychological effect the convergence of Confucianism and Buddhism has on the culture. Zhixu’s guilt had closely knitted in the prevailing thought of the time he was in, which not only saw sin as a personal karma, but also as a contemporary collective karma. The vow-making, repentance, and mantra reciting adopted by Zhixu as a way of spiritual purging represented the distinctively customary and societal features of popular Buddhist’s penance ritual of the time, which is still prevailing in today’s civilian society. As one of the highly revered Buddhist patriarch, Zhixu had observed a very strict discipline. It seemed that his repeated repentance could never make up for his never-ending self-admitted sins, revealing his being in a constantly vigilant state. He was mindful to even the minutest lapse, and never let go of a single thought without a thorough inner examination. This has always been the essence of Buddhist’s penance ritual. In other words, in practicing repentance, the real meaning and spirit lie not in the mere formality of karma-dispersing, but in the essence of rectifying wrongs and errors.