At the beginning of the new year, Vietnamese people often have the habit of going to pagodas to pray for luck and health for their families... This is a beautiful feature of Vietnamese culture, but is it right to go to the temple to get good luck or not? Breaking taboos is something you need to know, especially young people.
Choose appropriate clothing when going to temple
The pagoda is a place to worship Buddha and is a sacred place in terms of beliefs, so when going to the pagoda you should dress neatly and neatly to suit the context of the pagoda, and should not wear clothes that are too colorful or revealing. For girls, you should not wear skirts that are too short or pants that are too short. This not only shows your respect for your ancestors and gods but also avoids negative consequences arising from inappropriate clothing.
When going to temple, you need to wear appropriate clothes
Rules for entering and leaving the temple
When passing through the Tam Quan gate to enter the pagoda, you should enter the Gia Quan gate (on the right) and exit through the Khong Quan gate (on the left). The Trung Quan gate (middle door) is only for the Sons of Heaven, high monks, and academics to enter the temple and exit through this door. You should also remember not to step on the door sill, you must step over the door sill, otherwise you will be guilty of disrespect.
How to properly address yourself when worshiping at a temple?
When entering a temple, you should use the Buddha's name "Amitabha Buddha" instead of your first name to greet the abbot and monks and nuns in the temple. When leaving, you should also use this sentence to say goodbye. For monks, they call themselves Amitabha Buddha, white teacher,... and call themselves their sons. Addressing him like that means seeing the monk and remembering Master Shakyamuni. If we address him like that, we are addressing Shakyamuni Buddha. When saying anything to the monk, he clasped his hands in the shape of a lotus bud.
What do you go to the temple to pray for?
According to the Buddhist concept, Buddha only blesses peace and protection for his children, but cannot bless his career, fame, fortune, or fortune. Therefore, when we pray to Buddha's door, we should ask for Buddha's protection and protection. Especially when entering the communal house or temple, you can pray for luck in your career and love so that the whole year will always be the luckiest and most favorable.
Prepare offerings
The temple is a peaceful place, so when shopping for offerings, you must choose vegetarian offerings such as incense, fresh fruits, oan, sticky rice and sweet soup, and avoid salty offerings like some people often bring to the temple. If they do so, it is no different from defaming the gods because they only eat vegetarian food and offer salty foods which is unsightly.
Offering salty offerings is only applicable in cases where the temple has Saints, Mother Goddesses, Thanh Hoang, etc. These deities usually sit in areas outside the main hall. Salty offerings can include chicken, pork sausage, sausage, wine, and betel and areca nuts.
When going to the temple, you can prepare underworld banknotes and incense, but you should not place real money or joss paper on the incense altar or main hall, lest you be considered to be bribing the gods, causing more harm than good. Put the money in the merit box to renovate the pagoda to bring lasting blessings to your children and grandchildren.
When offering flowers at temples, you should choose elegant flowers such as lotus, lily, peony, chrysanthemum... Avoid using strange flowers and wildflowers.