Kỳ nguyện (in the sutra chanting session for cầu siêu at home)

Cầu siêu (prayer for the deceased). Within 49 days after death, especially on the tuần thất (weekly mourning days); also performed on other occasions as the pagoda arranges

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Buddhist
  • Opening or closing address of a chanting session
  • Sino-Vietnamese reading

Culture and belief A record of custom.

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.

How it differs from the common version

A prayer recited in Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation at the beginning of the chanting session: vowing that the Three Jewels, Shakyamuni Buddha, and Amitabha Buddha deliver the spirit of the deceased to "siêu sinh Tịnh-độ" (rebirth in the Pure Land); it does not invite the spirit back, nor does it generate the intention of merit.

The common version: Prayer text in the ritual performed at home before attending the cầu siêu ceremony

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Cầu siêu (prayer for the deceased)

Other texts for Cầu siêu (prayer for the deceased)

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.