IBefore Reading
Every morning at dawn while mist still lingers over the rice paddies and every evening at dusk across the Mekong Delta provinces of the Tiền and Hậu Rivers, a quiet yet deeply moving liturgical service unfolds in hundreds of thousands of Hòa Hảo Buddhist homes. Without the clang of bronze bells or the tapping of wooden fish drums, and without a single sheet of burning votive paper, the lay practitioner dressed in simple householder attire lights three sticks of fragrant incense and offers a glass of pure cool water first before the Ancestral Altar (Bàn thờ Ông Bà / Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ), steps before the indoor Buddha Altar (Ngôi Tam Bảo adorned with the brown Trần Dà cloth), and finally walks out into the open courtyard to stand before the Open-Air Heaven Altar (Bàn Thông Thiên) beneath the vast sky, raising clasped hands to the forehead to pray for ancestors and for all living beings across the ten directions.
Within the scriptural canon of Hòa Hảo Buddhism, if the poetic Oracular Verses (Sấm Giảng Khuyên Người Đời Tu Niệm) awaken moral conscience through six-eight balladry and the Eight Precepts (Tám Điều Răn Cấm) establish daily ethical discipline, then the Daily Prayers Before the Open-Air Heaven Altar, Buddha Altar and Ancestral Altar codified in Book 6 (Cách Tu Hiền Và Sự Ăn Ở Của Một Người Bổn Đạo) form the daily spiritual heartbeat of Học Phật Tu Nhân (Studying Buddhism and Cultivating Human Virtue). What makes this domestic liturgy unique is how the physical movement across three altars directly embodies the Four Great Debts of Gratitude (Tứ Trọng Ân): Gratitude to Ancestors and Parents, Gratitude to the Homeland, Gratitude to the Three Jewels, and Gratitude to Fellow Countrymen and Humanity:
First, the practitioner always begins the service at the Ancestral Altar (Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ) to fulfill filial piety as the foundation of human ethics; second, the practitioner steps up to the Buddha Altar (Ngôi Tam Bảo) to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and pray for the liberation of ancestors and the well-being of living parents; and third, the practitioner steps outdoors to the unroofed Open-Air Heaven Altar (Bàn Thông Thiên), turning toward the four cardinal directions to pray that all people everywhere may be freed from calamity and delusion (tiêu-tai tịnh-sự, giải-thoát mê-ly). In fifteen to twenty minutes of morning and evening devotion, a farmer or worker traverses the entire spiritual arc from filial gratitude within the family to the universal Bodhisattva vow beneath the open sky.
This monograph presents the complete twenty core clauses and verses of the morning and evening prayers exactly as written in Book 6 (fifth lunar month of 1945), integrated with the traditional Five Western Pure Land Vows (Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện: Nam-mô nhứt nguyện cầu...) inherited from the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương lineage at Tây An Temple and explicitly endorsed by Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ in Book 6.
According to the internal theology of Hòa Hảo Buddhism expounded in the Annotated Complete Scriptures (Chú Giải Sấm Giảng Thi Văn Giáo Lý Toàn Bộ), domestic worship is grounded in the principle of prizing sincere inward mindfulness over external form. Above the indoor Buddha Altar, instead of gilded statues or ornate paintings, believers hang a simple rectangular cloth of monastic brown called the Trần Dà (or crimson cloth called the Trần Điều), symbolizing the undifferentiated harmony of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the humble robe of liberation.
Outdoors in the front courtyard stands the Open-Air Heaven Altar (Bàn Thông Thiên): a chest-high wooden or masonry pillar supporting a forty-centimeter square table on which rest only a flower vase, a glass of pure cool water and an incense burner. Philosophically, Thông Thiên (Communicating with Heaven) signifies that between a sincere human heart and the Buddhas and Heaven of the ten directions there is no barrier whatsoever. Standing beneath the open sky, the practitioner offers only pure cool water (representing an unstained, tranquil mind), fresh flowers (representing pure wholesome causes) and fragrant incense (representing the fragrance of morality, meditative concentration and wisdom).
From the perspective of religious textual history, between the founding of Hòa Hảo Buddhism on the eighteenth day of the fifth lunar month of the Year of the Earth Rabbit (1939) at Hòa Hảo Village (Hòa Hảo Ancestral Sanctuary) and 1945, most Mekong Delta believers chanted the traditional Five Western Pure Land Vows (Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện) handed down from Master Đoàn Minh Huyên (Đức Phật Thầy Tây An, 1807 to 1856), founder of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương tradition in 1849, together with the four-line ancestral verse Cúi đầu lạy tạ Tổ-tiên composed by Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ in Book 5: Khuyến Thiện (1941, written at Mr. Võ Văn Giỏi's house in Cần Thơ).
In the fifth lunar month of the Year of the Wood Rooster (1945) in Saigon, while writing Book 6: Cách Tu Hiền Và Sự Ăn Ở Của Một Người Bổn Đạo, Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ codified the sections Cách Thờ Phượng and Cách Cúng Lạy in clear Southern Vietnamese prose and seven-syllable verse. Notably, at the conclusion of Cách Cúng Lạy, he added a compassionate pastoral provision: "If anyone has already memorized the old prayer, they may continue praying according to the old phrasing as well." Thanks to this explicit canonical endorsement, both the 1945 prose prayers and the classical Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện have been preserved side by side in living Hòa Hảo practice for over eighty years.
IIFull Text of the Daily Prayers Before the Ancestral Altar, Buddha Altar and Open-Air Heaven Altar (Including the Five Western Vows)
The scripture table below presents the complete twenty prayer clauses and verses in the exact sequence prescribed in Book 6 (1945): Part I (clauses 1 to 5) recited before the Ancestral Altar (Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ); Part II (clauses 6 to 12) recited before the indoor Buddha Altar (Ngôi Tam Bảo); and Part III (clauses 13 to 20) recited before the Open-Air Heaven Altar (including the Heaven Altar prayer, the five vows of Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện and the closing five-bow salute). The original Vietnamese column preserves the exact 1945 Southern Vietnamese spelling and compound hyphenation.
| Verse | Original 1945 text | English | Plain Vietnamese paraphrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cúi kính dâng hương trước Cửu-Huyền, | Bowing in reverence, I offer this fragrant incense before the Nine Generations of Ancestors, | Con cúi đầu cung kính dâng nén hương thơm lên trước bàn thờ chín đời Tổ tiên, |
| 2 | Cầu trên Thất-Tổ chứng lòng thiền. | praying that the Seven Forefathers on high bear witness to my tranquil, meditative heart. | nguyện cầu bảy bậc Tổ phụ trên cao chứng giám cho tấm lòng thanh tịnh tu hành của con. |
| 3 | Nay con tỉnh-ngộ quy-y Phật, | Today I have awakened from worldly delusion and taken refuge in the Buddha, | Ngày nay con đã thức tỉnh giấc mộng trần gian, quyết lòng quay về nương tựa ngôi Phật, |
| 4 | Chí dốc tu-hiền tạo phước-duyên. | resolving whole-heartedly to cultivate virtue and sow wholesome affinities of merit. | dốc trọn ý chí sửa mình hiền lương để gieo tạo nhân lành và duyên phước giải thoát. |
| 5 | Cúi đầu lạy tạ Tổ-tiên, báo ơn sanh-dưỡng dày công nhọc-nhằn; rày con xin giữ Đạo hằng, tu cầu Tông-Tổ siêu-thăng Phật-đài. | I bow my head in gratitude to my Ancestors to repay their boundless toil in giving birth and nurturing us; from this day forth I vow to uphold the constant Way, cultivating myself to pray that our entire ancestral lineage may ascend to the Buddha's realm. | Con cúi đầu lạy tạ Tổ tiên để đền báo công ơn sinh thành dưỡng dục vất vả sâu dày; từ nay con nguyện giữ tròn đạo lý thường hằng, chân thành tu tập để hồi hướng cầu cho Tổ tông dòng họ được siêu thăng lên đài Phật. |
| 6 | Nam-mô Ta-bà Giáo-chủ Bổn-sư Thích-Ca Mâu-Ni Phật. | Homage to Our Original Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha, Lord of the Teaching in this Sahā World. | Con chí thành kính lễ Đức Phật Thích Ca Mâu Ni, vị Thầy gốc và Giáo chủ dạy đạo ở cõi đời Ta Bà. |
| 7 | Nam-mô Thập-phương Phật. Nam-mô Thập-phương Pháp. Nam-mô Thập-phương Tăng. | Homage to the Buddhas of the Ten Directions. Homage to the Dharma of the Ten Directions. Homage to the Sangha of the Ten Directions. | Con chí thành quy y và kính lễ chư Phật khắp mười phương, chánh Pháp khắp mười phương, cùng chư vị hiền thánh Tăng khắp mười phương. |
| 8 | Nam-mô Phật-Tổ, Phật-Thầy, Quan Thượng-đẳng Đại-thần, chư quan cựu thần, chư vị Sơn-thần, chư vị Năm-Non Bảy-Núi cảm-ứng chứng-minh, nay con nguyện cải-hối ăn-năn, làm lành lánh dữ, quy-y theo mấy Ngài, tu-hiền theo Phật-Đạo. | Homage to the Patriarch Buddha, Master Phật Thầy Tây An, the Supreme Great Mandarin, the loyal former mandarins, the Mountain Deities, and all Sacred Worthies of the Five Peaks and Seven Mountains: may you respond and bear witness that today I vow to repent and reform my faults, do good and shun evil, take refuge in You, and cultivate virtue according to the Buddha Way. | Con kính lễ Đức Phật Tổ, Đức Phật Thầy Tây An, Đức Quan Thượng Đẳng Đại Thần Nguyễn Trung Trực, các bậc trung thần nghĩa sĩ đời trước, chư vị thần núi cùng các đấng thiêng liêng nơi Năm Non Bảy Núi (Thất Sơn) cảm ứng chứng giám: từ hôm nay con nguyện ăn năn sửa đổi lỗi lầm, làm việc lành tránh việc dữ, nương tựa theo các Ngài mà tu hiền theo đúng đạo Phật. |
| 9 | Nam-mô Tây-phương Cực-lạc thế-giới đại-từ đại-bi phổ-độ chúng-sanh A-Di-Đà Phật. | Homage to Amitābha Buddha of the Western World of Ultimate Bliss, who with great loving-kindness and great compassion universally delivers all sentient beings. | Con chí thành kính lễ Đức Phật A Di Đà nơi thế giới Cực Lạc phương Tây, đấng lấy lòng đại từ đại bi rộng khắp cứu độ muôn loài chúng sinh. |
| 10 | Nguyện xin Đức Phật Từ-Bi cứu-độ ông bà cha mẹ, Cửu-Huyền Thất-Tổ của con thoát chốn mê-đồ vãng-sanh về miền Cực-Lạc, lại cứu-độ cho cha mẹ và lục-thân quyến-thuộc khỏi chốn tai-ương, đồng hành chánh-đạo. | I pray that the Compassionate Buddha deliver my grandparents, parents, and Nine Generations and Seven Forefathers from the paths of delusion so that they may be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and protect my living parents and sixfold kindred from all calamity so that we may walk the orthodox Way together. | Cúi xin Đức Phật Từ Bi cứu vớt ông bà cha mẹ đã khuất cùng Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ của con thoát khỏi đường mê lầm tối tăm, được sinh về cõi Cực Lạc; đồng thời gia hộ cho cha mẹ hiện tiền và bà con thân thuộc sáu họ thoát khỏi mọi tai họa, cùng nhau bước đi trên đường chánh đạo. |
| 11 | Nam-mô Tây-phương Cực-lạc thế-giới tam-thập-lục vạn-ức, nhứt-thập nhứt-vạn, cửu-thiên ngũ-bá đồng-danh đồng-hiệu đại-từ đại-bi phổ-độ chúng-sanh A-Di-Đà Phật. | Homage to the thirty-six trillion, one hundred and nineteen thousand, five hundred Buddhas of the Western World of Ultimate Bliss who all share the single name and title of Greatly Compassionate, Universally Saving Amitābha Buddha. | Con chí thành kính lễ ba mươi sáu vạn ức, mười một vạn, chín ngàn năm trăm Đức Phật khắp thế giới Cực Lạc phương Tây đều cùng chung một hồng danh A Di Đà Phật, cùng mang lòng đại từ đại bi cứu độ chúng sinh. |
| 12 | Từ-bi đại-độ dẫn-dắt chúng-sanh vãng-sanh Cực-Lạc Quốc. | In your boundless compassion and great magnanimity, guide all sentient beings to rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. | Cúi xin các Ngài mở lượng từ bi rộng lớn dẫn dắt hết thảy chúng sinh được vãng sinh về nước Cực Lạc an lành. |
| 13 | Nam-mô Tây-phương Cực-lạc thế-giới tam-thập-lục vạn-ức, nhứt-thập nhứt-vạn, cửu-thiên ngũ-bá đồng-danh đồng-hiệu đại-từ đại-bi phổ-độ chúng-sanh A-Di-Đà Phật; lại cứu-độ cho Cửu-Huyền Thất-Tổ và bá-tánh vạn-dân tiêu-tai tịnh-sự, giải-thoát mê-ly. | (Before the Open-Air Heaven Altar): Homage to the thirty-six trillion, one hundred and nineteen thousand, five hundred Buddhas of the Western World of Ultimate Bliss sharing the name Amitābha Buddha; may you deliver my Nine Generations and Seven Forefathers together with the hundred families and ten thousand peoples everywhere, dispelling calamities, bringing peaceful order, and liberating all from delusion and sorrow. | (Trước Bàn Thông Thiên ngoài trời): Con chí thành kính lễ ba mươi sáu vạn ức, mười một vạn, chín ngàn năm trăm Đức Phật đồng danh hiệu A Di Đà nơi cõi Tây Phương Cực Lạc; cúi xin cứu độ cho Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ của con cùng trăm họ vạn dân khắp nơi tai qua nạn khỏi, việc đời êm ấm thanh tịnh, sớm cởi mở thoát khỏi cảnh mê lầm đau khổ. |
| 14 | Nam-mô nhứt nguyện cầu: Thiên-hoàng, Địa-hoàng, Nhơn-hoàng, Liên-hoa hải-hội, Thượng-phật từ-bi, Phật-vương độ mạng. | (The Five Western Vows) First, I bow and pray to the Celestial Sovereign, Earthly Sovereign, and Human Sovereign, the Ocean-Wide Lotus Assembly, the Compassionate Supreme Buddhas, and the Dharma King to protect all lives. | (Bài Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện) Lời nguyện thứ nhất: Con kính cầu đấng Thiên Hoàng, Địa Hoàng, Nhơn Hoàng cùng đại hội biển sen của chư Thượng Phật từ bi và Đức Phật Vương che chở độ mạng cho muôn loài. |
| 15 | Nam-mô nhị nguyện cầu: Cửu-Huyền Thất-Tổ tịnh-độ siêu-sanh. | Second, I bow and pray that the Nine Generations and Seven Forefathers may ascend to rebirth in the Pure Land. | Lời nguyện thứ hai: Con kính cầu cho Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ nhiều đời được siêu sinh về miền Tịnh Độ thanh tịnh. |
| 16 | Nam-mô tam nguyện cầu: Phụ-mẫu tại đường tăng long phước-thọ, phụ-mẫu quá-khứ trực vãng Tây-phương. | Third, I bow and pray that living parents in the home may enjoy abundant blessings and longevity, and departed parents may go directly to the Western Pure Land. | Lời nguyện thứ ba: Con kính cầu cho cha mẹ còn sống nơi nhà được thêm nhiều phước lành và tuổi thọ, cha mẹ đã qua đời được đi thẳng về cõi Tây Phương Cực Lạc. |
| 17 | Nam-mô tứ nguyện cầu: Bá-tánh vạn-dân từ-tâm bác-ái, giải-thoát mê-ly. | Fourth, I bow and pray that the hundred families and ten thousand peoples everywhere may cultivate compassionate and fraternal hearts and be liberated from delusion and suffering. | Lời nguyện thứ tư: Con kính cầu cho trăm họ vạn dân khắp nơi đều khởi lòng từ bi bác ái thương yêu nhau, cùng giải thoát khỏi vòng mê muội chia lìa. |
| 18 | Nam-mô ngũ nguyện cầu: Phật-Tổ, Phật-Thầy từ-bi xá tội đệ-tử, tiêu-tai tịnh-sự, trí-huệ thông-minh, giai đắc đạo-quả. | Fifth, I bow and pray that the Patriarch Buddha and Master Phật Thầy mercifully forgive the disciples' transgressions, dispel calamities, grant peace and clear wisdom, so that all may attain the fruit of the Way. | Lời nguyện thứ năm: Con kính cầu Đức Phật Tổ và Đức Phật Thầy mở lòng từ bi tha thứ lỗi lầm cho hàng đệ tử, giúp tiêu trừ tai nạn, việc nhà yên ổn, mở mang trí tuệ sáng suốt để tất cả đều chứng đắc quả đạo. |
| 19 | Nam-mô A-Di-Đà Phật. Nam-mô Đại-Thế-Chí Bồ-Tát. Nam-mô Quan-Thế-Âm Bồ-Tát. | (Closing five-bow salute) First three bows: Homage to Amitābha Buddha. Homage to Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva. Homage to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (the Three Holy Ones of the West). | (Nghi thức năm xá kết lễ) Ba xá đầu: Con kính lễ Đức Phật A Di Đà (một xá), kính lễ Đức Đại Thế Chí Bồ Tát (một xá), kính lễ Đức Quan Thế Âm Bồ Tát (một xá), tức Tây Phương Tam Thánh. |
| 20 | Nam-mô Phật-Tổ, Phật-Thầy, Quan Thượng-đẳng Đại-thần, chư quan cựu thần, chư vị Sơn-thần, chư vị Năm-Non Bảy-Núi. | Final two bows: Homage to the Patriarch Buddha, Master Phật Thầy Tây An, the Supreme Great Mandarin, the loyal former mandarins, the Mountain Deities, and all Sacred Worthies of the Five Peaks and Seven Mountains. | Hai xá cuối: Con kính lễ Đức Phật Tổ, Đức Phật Thầy Tây An, Đức Quan Thượng Đẳng Đại Thần, các bậc cựu thần trung nghĩa, chư vị thần núi cùng các đấng thiêng liêng nơi Năm Non Bảy Núi. |
Textual Collation Across Book Six (1945), Book Five Khuyến Thiện (1941) and the Traditional Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương Five Vows
Observers visiting Hòa Hảo Buddhist households often notice that while some families recite the concise 1945 prose prayers, others include the eight-line ancestral poem or the five-fold chant Nam-mô nhứt nguyện cầu.... The philological table below clarifies how these three authentic textual layers fit together within the canon.
| Altar & Liturgical section | Book 6: Cách Tu Hiền (Fifth lunar month of 1945) | Book 5: Khuyến Thiện (1941) & Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương heritage | Philological and liturgical notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Before the Ancestral Altar (Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ) | Prescribes the four-line seven-syllable quatrain (clauses 1 to 4): Cúi kính dâng hương trước Cửu-Huyền, Cầu trên Thất-Tổ chứng lòng thiền, Nay con tỉnh-ngộ quy-y Phật, Chí dốc tu-hiền tạo phước-duyên. | In Book 5: Khuyến Thiện (1941), the section on the Ancestral Altar gives the six-eight verse (clause 5): Cúi đầu lạy tạ Tổ-tiên, Báo ơn sanh-dưỡng dày công nhọc-nhằn; Rày con xin giữ Đạo hằng, Tu cầu Tông-Tổ siêu-thăng Phật-đài. | Book 6 establishes the seven-syllable quatrain as the standard and adds: If one wishes to pray further for one's parents or grandparents, one may add those prayers. Many families recite both verses together. |
| 2. The Refuge Prayer before the Buddha Altar & Heaven Altar | Prescribes clauses 6, 7 and 8: Nam-mô Ta-bà Giáo-chủ Bổn-sư Thích-Ca Mâu-Ni Phật... Nam-mô Phật-Tổ, Phật-Thầy, Quan Thượng-đẳng Đại-thần, chư quan cựu thần, chư vị Sơn-thần, chư vị Năm-Non Bảy-Núi cảm-ứng chứng-minh... | Continues the distinctive Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương invocation honoring Master Phật Thầy Tây An and the patriotic heroes who defended and settled the Seven Mountains (Thất Sơn) frontier. | Recited while holding three lit incense sticks clasped at forehead level prior to placing them in the burner, uniting Buddhist refuge with gratitude to the homeland. |
| 3. The Forty-Three-Syllable Invocation of Amitābha Buddha | Prescribes clauses 11 and 12 at the Buddha Altar and clause 13 at the Open-Air Heaven Altar: Nam-mô Tây-phương Cực-lạc thế-giới tam-thập-lục vạn-ức, nhứt-thập nhứt-vạn, cửu-thiên ngũ-bá đồng-danh đồng-hiệu đại-từ đại-bi phổ-độ chúng-sanh A-Di-Đà Phật. | Already recorded verbatim by Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ in Book 5: Khuyến Thiện (1941) as the core Pure Land invocation. | Derived from classical East Asian Pure Land texts (such as Wang Rixiu's Song-dynasty Longshu Jingtu Wen); at the Open-Air Heaven Altar it adds the universal petition for the hundred families and ten thousand peoples. |
| 4. The Five Western Pure Land Vows (Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện) | At the close of Cách Cúng Lạy in Book 6 (1945), Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ explicitly states: If anyone has already memorized the old prayer, they may continue praying according to the old phrasing as well. | The five classical vows (clauses 14 to 18): Nam-mô nhứt nguyện cầu: Thiên-hoàng, Địa-hoàng, Nhơn-hoàng... through Nam-mô ngũ nguyện cầu: Phật-Tổ, Phật-Thầy từ-bi xá tội đệ-tử... | Structures the five vows across the Three Powers and Four Debts: the Three Sovereigns and Buddhas (vow 1), Nine Generations of Ancestors (vow 2), living and departed parents (vow 3), all humanity (vow 4), and wisdom and enlightenment (vow 5). |
IIIDetailed Commentary on the Prayer Clauses and the Philosophy of Studying Buddhism and Cultivating Human Virtue
The twenty clauses in the scripture table weave together the plain spoken Vietnamese of the Mekong Delta with profound Pure Land Buddhist soteriology and the indigenous Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương heritage. The seven commentary entries below analyze each section in liturgical sequence.
The four-line seven-syllable quatrain opening the daily service at the Ancestral Altar lays the ethical cornerstone of Studying Buddhism and Cultivating Human Virtue (Học Phật Tu Nhân). In Southern Vietnamese kinship terminology, Cửu-Huyền (Nine Generations, from high great-grandparents down to great-great-grandchildren) and Thất-Tổ (Seven Forefathers) designate the entirety of one's paternal and maternal ancestors. Most striking is the phrase lòng thiền (meditative heart) in line 2: standing before the family ancestors, the practitioner does not bargain for worldly wealth or personal favor, but offers up a quiet, awakened mind that has taken refuge in the Buddha (tỉnh-ngộ quy-y Phật).
In Hòa Hảo teaching, the highest filial piety toward departed ancestors consists neither in lavish banquets nor in burning paper money, but in the descendants' own resolve to cultivate virtue and create wholesome merit (tu-hiền tạo phước-duyên), dedicating that living spiritual radiance to uplift their forebears.
This six-eight quatrain from Book 5: Khuyến Thiện (1941) articulates the direct bond between the Debt of Gratitude to Ancestors and Parents (Ân Tổ tiên cha mẹ, the first of the Four Great Debts) and Pure Land cultivation. The first couplet recalls the parents' and ancestors' boundless toil in giving birth and nurturing; the second couplet vows to uphold the constant ethical Way (Đạo hằng) so that through genuine self-cultivation one's ancestral lineage may ascend to the Buddha's realm (siêu-thăng Phật-đài).
Stepping from the Ancestral Altar to the indoor Buddha Altar (Ngôi Tam Bảo) and subsequently to the Open-Air Heaven Altar, the believer opens by invoking Our Original Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha, Lord of the Sahā World, followed by the Three Jewels of the Ten Directions (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha). In Hòa Hảo ritual etiquette, the practitioner performs one standing bow with clasped hands (xá) after invoking Śākyamuni Buddha and another standing bow after invoking the Three Jewels of the Ten Directions.
Placing Śākyamuni Buddha and the universal Three Jewels at the head of the refuge prayer affirms the orthodox Buddhist foundation of Hòa Hảo lay practice: all domestic cultivation is anchored in the Dharma taught by the historical Buddha.
Clause 8 is one of the most distinctive liturgical formulas of the indigenous Mekong Delta Buddhist tradition, uniting the Debt to the Three Jewels (Ân Tam Bảo) with the Debt to the Homeland (Ân Đất Nước). Alongside Phật-Tổ (Śākyamuni Buddha), the prayer invokes Phật-Thầy, namely Master Phật Thầy Tây An (Đoàn Minh Huyên, 1807 to 1856, who founded the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương movement in 1849 during a devastating cholera epidemic and whose tomb stands beside Tây An Temple at the foot of Mount Sam in Châu Đốc). Next comes the Supreme Great Mandarin (Quan Thượng-đẳng Đại-thần), honoring the righteous patriot commander Trần Văn Thành (Đức Cố Quản, who led the Láng Linh Bảy Thưa resistance) as well as national hero Nguyễn Trung Trực, followed by the loyal former mandarins (chư quan cựu thần, such as canal-builder Thoại Ngọc Hầu) and the Mountain Deities and Sacred Worthies of the Five Peaks and Seven Mountains (Năm-Non Bảy-Núi).
Geographically, Năm-Non Bảy-Núi designates the sacred Thất Sơn (Seven Mountains) range in An Giang Province (Mount Cấm, Mount Dài Năm Giếng, Mount Cô Tô, Mount Dài Lớn, Mount Tượng, Mount Két and Mount Nước, together with the five high rocky crags known as Năm Non). Before the witness of both the Buddhas and the sacred landscape of the homeland, the believer makes a threefold ethical vow: to repent and reform past faults (cải-hối ăn-năn), to do good and shun evil (làm lành lánh dữ), and to cultivate virtue according to the Buddha Way (tu-hiền theo Phật-Đạo).
The forty-three-syllable invocation in clause 11 (repeated in clause 13 at the Open-Air Heaven Altar) forms the contemplative heart of Pure Land (Tịnh Độ) practice in Hòa Hảo Buddhism. The numerical formula thirty-six trillion, one hundred and nineteen thousand, five hundred Buddhas sharing the single name Amitābha (tam-thập-lục vạn-ức, nhứt-thập nhứt-vạn, cửu-thiên ngũ-bá đồng-danh đồng-hiệu A-Di-Đà Phật) stems from classical Pure Land literature (such as the Song-dynasty treatise Longshu Jingtu Wen), expressing the infinite, all-pervading reach of Infinite Light and Infinite Life across the cosmos.
Reciting this sacred name together with the petition Từ-bi đại-độ dẫn-dắt chúng-sanh vãng-sanh Cực-Lạc Quốc unites the three pillars of Pure Land Buddhism: Faith (Tín), Vow (Nguyện, as articulated in the Eighth Precept of the Eight Precepts to study the Way in the Western Pure Land and return to save sentient beings), and Practice (Hạnh).
When the practitioner steps outdoors to stand before the Open-Air Heaven Altar (Bàn Thông Thiên) in clause 13, the horizon of prayer expands from one's own family to all humankind: praying to deliver both the Nine Generations of Ancestors and the hundred families and ten thousand peoples (bá-tánh vạn-dân) from calamity and delusion. This is the daily liturgical practice of the Fourth Debt of Gratitude: Gratitude to Fellow Countrymen and Humanity (Ân Đồng bào và Nhân loại). Twice every day beneath the open sky, even the humblest farmer in a remote delta hamlet cultivates a universal heart embracing the peace and liberation of the entire world.
Clauses 14 to 18 preserve the complete Five Western Pure Land Vows (Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện) of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương lineage endorsed in Book 6. Its fivefold architecture mirrors the Three Powers and Four Debts with remarkable symmetry: the First Vow honors the Three Primordial Sovereigns (Heaven, Earth, Humanity) and the Ocean-Wide Lotus Assembly of Supreme Buddhas; the Second Vow prays for the Pure Land rebirth of the Nine Generations and Seven Forefathers; the Third Vow prays for the longevity of living parents (phụ-mẫu tại đường) and the Western Pure Land rebirth of departed parents (phụ-mẫu quá-khứ); the Fourth Vow prays that all peoples everywhere cultivate compassionate, fraternal hearts (từ-tâm bác-ái); and the Fifth Vow prays for the forgiveness of faults, clear wisdom and shared attainment of the fruit of the Way (giai đắc đạo-quả).
Clauses 19 and 20 close the liturgy with the five standing bows (năm xá): the first three bows salute the Three Holy Ones of the West (Amitābha Buddha representing Infinite Light, Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva representing Great Wisdom, and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva representing Great Compassion), while the final two bows salute the Patriarch Buddha, Master Phật Thầy Tây An and the Sacred Worthies of the Five Peaks and Seven Mountains.
IVRegulations for the Three Domestic Altars and Morning-Evening Liturgical Practice
To show how these twenty clauses are practiced in daily life (see also Hòa Hảo Buddhist Ritual Practice and Hòa Hảo Ancestral Sanctuary), the table and practice cards below summarize the canonical rules for altar arrangement, offerings and prostrations from Book 6.
| Domestic Altar | Arrangement & Sacred Symbol | Canonical Offerings | Prayer Sequence & Prostration Rubric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The Ancestral Altar (Bàn thờ Ông Bà / Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ) | Placed in the central bay of the house (below or distinct from the Buddha Altar). Enshrines the ancestral tablet Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ and portraits of departed grandparents and parents. | Daily: pure water, fresh flowers, three incense sticks. On festivals and death anniversaries (Chánh Kỵ): pure vegetarian food and fruit; strictly no animal slaughter and no burning of votive paper. | Visited first in every service: light 3 incense sticks held at forehead level, recite the ancestral verse Cúi kính dâng hương trước Cửu-Huyền... (clauses 1 to 5), place incense in the burner and perform 4 full prostrations (4 lạy). |
| 2. The Buddha Altar (Bàn Phật / Ngôi Tam Bảo) | Placed at the highest, most dignified spot indoors. Hung with the rectangular brown Trần Dà cloth (or crimson Trần Điều cloth), without statues, ornate paintings, bells or wooden fish drums. | Strictly three pure offerings only: one vase of fresh flowers, one glass of pure cool water (changed before every service) and three sticks of fragrant incense. Food is never placed on the Buddha Altar. | Light 3 incense sticks held at forehead level, recite the Refuge Prayer (clauses 6 to 8, with 2 standing bows), place incense in the burner, kneel or stand to recite the Prayer for Ancestors and Parents (clauses 9 to 12), perform 4 prostrations, then stand for 5 standing bows (5 xá) (clauses 19, 20). |
| 3. The Open-Air Heaven Altar (Bàn Thông Thiên) | Erected outdoors in the front courtyard beneath the open sky (or on an open balcony/veranda in urban apartments). A 40-cm square table mounted on a chest-high pillar. | Identical to the Buddha Altar: only one vase of fresh flowers, one glass of pure cool water and one incense burner with three incense sticks. | Light 3 incense sticks, recite the Refuge Prayer (clauses 6 to 8), place incense in the burner, recite the Heaven Altar Prayer (clause 13) and Five Western Vows (clauses 14 to 18). Perform 4 prostrations facing the altar, then turn to bow toward the four cardinal directions (three directions invoking the Buddhas, the southwest direction toward Thất Sơn invoking Phật Tổ and Phật Thầy). |
The morning service takes place between 4:30 and 6:00 AM before heading to the fields or workplace; the evening service takes place between 5:30 and 7:00 PM after bathing and supper. This rhythm allows householders to sustain lifelong daily cultivation without neglecting their livelihood.
Book 6 provides humane pastoral guidance: healthy practitioners perform four kneeling prostrations at each altar (and toward the four directions outdoors), whereas elderly, ill or pregnant practitioners, or those praying during heavy rain or in cramped quarters, may stand with palms joined at the chest and perform standing bows (xá) in place of kneeling prostrations, provided the heart is sincere.
When bowing toward the four cardinal directions at the Open-Air Heaven Altar, three directions salute the Buddhas of the ten directions (Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta), while the direction facing the Seven Mountains (Thất Sơn in An Giang) invokes the Patriarch Buddha, Master Phật Thầy Tây An and the patriotic heroes to honor the cradle of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương lineage.
After completing the prayers at the Open-Air Heaven Altar, the practitioner returns indoors to sit in half-lotus or upright posture, gently closing the eyes and silently reciting the six-syllable name Nam-mô A-Di-Đà Phật in rhythm with the breath to purify stray thoughts.
VCommon Misunderstandings
Because Hòa Hảo Buddhist worship intentionally dispenses with outer pomp and differs markedly from folk spirit-shrine practices, outside observers often encounter the five misunderstandings clarified below.
In Hòa Hảo Buddhism, the Bàn Thông Thiên is never a shrine to local tutelary or wealth spirits for business luck. Thông Thiên means direct, unobstructed communion with the ten directions of the cosmos and the Buddhas, where the lay practitioner stands beneath the open sky to examine conscience and pray for all humanity.
Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ explains in Book 6 that the Buddhas of the ten directions dwell in unconditioned purity and do not partake of material food or worldly bribes. Therefore, the Buddha Altar and Heaven Altar receive only pure cool water (symbolizing a clean mind), fresh flowers (wholesome causes) and fragrant incense (morality, concentration and wisdom); vegetarian food is offered only on the Ancestral Altar to express filial piety.
Hòa Hảo Buddhism is a lay householder path (working in the fields by day, practicing Pure Land recitation at home morning and evening). Refraining from striking bells and drums in private homes preserves quiet for neighbors and reminds the practitioner to 'take the mind as the bell and the will as the drum,' while fully respecting monastic traditions.
Hòa Hảo ethics rests on the Four Great Debts of Gratitude, in which Gratitude to the Homeland stands second only to Ancestors and Parents. Invoking the Supreme Great Mandarin (patriot commander Trần Văn Thành, Nguyễn Trung Trực) and the pioneers who settled the Seven Mountains during every daily prayer teaches believers never to separate Buddhist compassion from love of country.
The section Cách Thờ Phượng in Book 6 explicitly provides for urban homes and riverboats without a front yard: believers may place the Bàn Thông Thiên on an open balcony or veranda, or simply open a window facing the unobstructed sky to offer their prayers.
?Quick Questions
Which canonical book of Hòa Hảo Buddhism contains the Daily Prayers Before the Open-Air Heaven Altar and Ancestral Altar
The daily morning and evening prayers are drawn verbatim from the sections Cách Thờ Phượng and Cách Cúng Lạy in Book 6: Cách Tu Hiền Và Sự Ăn Ở Của Một Người Bổn Đạo, written by Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ in the fifth lunar month of the Year of the Wood Rooster (1945) in Saigon, combined with the ancestral quatrain from Book 5: Khuyến Thiện (1941) and the traditional Five Western Pure Land Vows (Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện).
In what order does a Hòa Hảo Buddhist pray at the three domestic altars during each service
During every morning and evening service, the practitioner moves from inside the home outward in accordance with Studying Buddhism and Cultivating Human Virtue: (1) Praying and performing 4 prostrations before the Ancestral Altar (Cửu Huyền Thất Tổ) to fulfill filial piety; (2) Stepping up to pray and perform 4 prostrations before the indoor Buddha Altar (Ngôi Tam Bảo with the brown Trần Dà cloth); and (3) Stepping outdoors to pray and bow toward the four directions at the Open-Air Heaven Altar (Bàn Thông Thiên) for ancestors and all humanity.
Why are only cool water, fresh flowers and incense offered on the Buddha Altar and Open-Air Heaven Altar
According to Book 6, the Buddhas dwell in unconditioned purity and never accept material food or worldly offerings. The three sole offerings on the Buddha Altar and Heaven Altar serve as contemplative symbols: a glass of pure cool water represents an unstained, tranquil mind; fresh flowers represent wholesome moral causes; and three sticks of incense represent the fragrance of morality, concentration and wisdom.
Who are the Patriarch Buddha, Master Phật Thầy, the Supreme Great Mandarin and the Five Peaks and Seven Mountains named in clause 8
In the refuge prayer, Phật-Tổ is Śākyamuni Buddha; Phật-Thầy is Master Phật Thầy Tây An (Đoàn Minh Huyên, 1807 to 1856, founder of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương movement in 1849); Quan Thượng-đẳng Đại-thần and chư quan cựu thần honor the righteous heroes and mandarins who defended and settled southern Vietnam (such as Trần Văn Thành, Nguyễn Trung Trực and Thoại Ngọc Hầu); and Năm-Non Bảy-Núi refers to the sacred Thất Sơn (Seven Mountains) range in An Giang Province.
What is the status of the Five Western Pure Land Vows (Tây Phương Ngũ Nguyện) in Hòa Hảo liturgy
The Five Western Pure Land Vows (opening Nam-mô nhứt nguyện cầu: Thiên-hoàng, Địa-hoàng, Nhơn-hoàng...) represent the classical Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương prayer recited since the 1849 founding and the early years of Hòa Hảo Buddhism (1939). When codifying Book 6 in 1945, Prophet Huỳnh Phú Sổ explicitly noted that believers who had already memorized the old prayer could continue reciting it, preserving both side by side.
How should elderly or ill believers, or those praying during rain, perform the prostrations
Hòa Hảo Buddhism prioritizes inward sincerity over rigid physical form. Book 6 stipulates that elderly, infirm or pregnant practitioners who cannot kneel may stand upright with palms joined at the chest and perform standing bows (xá) in place of full prostrations; during rain outdoors, one may stand under the house eaves facing the Open-Air Heaven Altar to pray.