Cầu siêu (prayer for the deceased)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Lễ cầu siêu, Tụng kinh cầu siêu, Làm chay, Cúng thất, Thất thất trai tuần

According to the pagoda, cầu siêu is reciting sutras, chanting the Buddha's name and doing good deeds, then dedicating the merit to the deceased. Buddhists can do it themselves at home following the ritual course guided by the Buddhist Sangha, or bring the offering to the pagoda for a làm chay ceremony during the tuần thất.

When
Within 49 days after death, especially on the tuần thất (weekly mourning days); also performed on other occasions as the pagoda arranges
For whom
The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are invited to witness; the merit is dedicated to the spirit of the deceased

Prayer text in the ritual performed at home before attending the cầu siêu ceremony

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Buddhist
  • Indoor offering

What this prayer says

Prayer text in the ritual performed at home before attending the cầu siêu (prayer for the deceased) ceremony, recited before the home altar: the disciple states their name and address, respectfully addresses the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the assembly of noble monks for witness, invites the heavenly beings, spirits, and the spirits of the deceased to come and practice, and makes a vow of merit to dedicate the blessing to the invited spirits.

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

Fill in before the rite

Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

4 more blanks

Thỉnh hương linh: + Ngày tu thứ nhất:

+ Ngày tu tiếp theo:

Phát tâm công đức (nếu không phát tâm thì không đọc phần này; phát tâm hồi hướng cho mục nào, thì đọc mục đó)

Other texts for Cầu siêu (prayer for the deceased)

Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of the rite.

Offerings and how the rite is done

As commonly practised and recorded by the sources. Each family and each region may do it differently.

Used across Vietnam, Buddhist

Where the offerings are set
In front of the Buddha altar at home
Who makes the offering
Lay Buddhists, possibly without a master

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Lamp, incensethree incense sticksRequired

Steps

  1. Offering incense and bowing, reciting the mantra to purify the dharma realm and purify the three karmas
  2. Incense offering: kneel, hold three incense sticks level with the forehead and recite the incense offering verse
  3. Recite the Kỳ nguyện asking to receive and guide the spirit of the deceased
  4. Praising the Buddha, visualization, bowing
  5. Praising the incense burner, reciting the Great Compassion mantra
  6. Reciting the Amitabha sutra, the Heart sutra, chanting the Buddha's name
  7. Dedication of merit, reciting the words bạch Thượng lai and Phục nguyện
  8. Three refuges

Used across Vietnam, Buddhist, Indoor offering

When
Performed at home 3 to 7 days before attending the cầu siêu ceremony at the pagoda; no taboo on days or hours
Where the offerings are set
At home
Who makes the offering
The Buddhist family

Steps

  1. Nguyện hương
  2. Prayer text: invite the spirits listed to come and cultivate, and invite them to the pagoda to attend the cầu siêu ceremony
  3. Rite of praising the Buddha, praising the Dharma, reciting sutras
  4. Food offering (if any)
  5. Phục nguyện, dedication of merit, three refuges
  6. Bạch hạ lễ

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

When
Tuần chung thất 49 days
Where the offerings are set
At home or brought to the pagoda

Steps

  1. Tế tuần chung thất
  2. Some households bring it to the pagoda for a làm chay ceremony, asking monks to recite sutras of repentance for three nights or seven nights to pray for the soul to be reborn in the Pure Land

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Buddhist

When
Seven tuần thất after death (thất thất trai tuần)
Where the offerings are set
At home or at the pagoda

Steps

  1. In some places the offering is made at home, with or without inviting venerable monks to come and chant sutras for cầu siêu (prayer for the deceased)
  2. In some places the offerings are brought to the pagoda for a vegetarian feast, asking the monks to chant sutras for bạt độ (deliverance)

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

Sources for the offerings and steps

  • Giáo hội Phật giáo hướng dẫn nghi thức cầu siêu tại nhà (tienphong.vn)
  • Việt Nam phong tục, thiên I chương IX Tang ma (vi.wikisource.org)
  • Sự hỗn dung văn hóa trong tín ngưỡng thờ cúng tổ tiên ở Nam bộ (giacngo.vn)

Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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