Sám Dược Sư cầu tiêu tai (Sám tán cầu an 3)

Lễ cầu an đầu năm (New Year prayer for peace and safety). From Tết Nguyên đán (Lunar New Year) to the full moon of the first lunar month; in Huế it is held in a spread-out way from the 2nd day of Tết

  • Southern Vietnam
  • Buddhist
  • Buddhist repentance text or verse (sám, kệ)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Sám Dược Sư cầu tiêu tai, a Medicine Buddha penitential chant for averting disaster, recited in the pagoda ceremony, setting up a Medicine Buddha altar and asking the Buddha's grace to save all people from calamity; it prays that everyone be free of sorrow, have enough food and clothing, practice the Dharma, and be reborn in the Pure Land. Chanted throughout the ceremony.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

The prayer below is ready to read.

Your regional custom

This text is the version from the South.

How it differs from the common version

A lục bát sám recited when establishing the Dược Sư altar: prays for all people, for every household to be warm and well-fed, and for less sorrow; it does not pray for one family alone.

The common version: Prayer text to the Buddha (pagoda ceremony for cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) at the beginning of the year)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Lễ cầu an đầu năm (New Year prayer for peace and safety)

Other texts for Lễ cầu an đầu năm (New Year prayer for peace and safety)

Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Part of the open dataset Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.

More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.