Offering prayers to ward off bad luck is not a Buddhist ritual.

During the first days of January, many famous pagodas are packed with people. Among the visitors to the pagoda, in addition to those who want to enjoy the spring, there are also a large number of people who come to perform star offering ceremonies to ward off bad luck.

The fact that pagodas organize star offering ceremonies to ward off bad luck creates the misconception that this is a Buddhist ritual, based on the teachings of Buddha. This is not true.

"Offering prayers to ward off bad luck is not in Buddhist teachings",- Most Venerable Thich Bao Nghiem, Vice President of the Executive Council, Head of the Central Propagation Committee, Head of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Hanoi City affirmed.

Offering stars to ward off bad luck is a Taoist ritual but has penetrated the subconscious of many Vietnamese people, becoming a folk belief. This belief and Buddhist rituals have in common the wish for people to be safe and avoid bad things. Therefore, many pagodas accept offering stars to ward off bad luck with the meaning of praying for peace.

So if you pray for peace, will you get peace? In the newspaperEnlightenment, the mouthpiece of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Ho Chi Minh City, the Giac Ngo Advisory Group said:“We need to frankly acknowledge the fact that some people who pray for peace will have peace and some people who pray for peace will not have peace. Why? Whether they are at peace or not depends entirely on the process of cause and effect of each person.

The full meaning of cause and effect is cause-condition-effect. From cause to effect, there is a strong influence of conditions. Cause belongs to the past (created), effect belongs to the future (is happening and will come), conditions are what we are doing in the present. It is important to remember that conditions are completely proactive, depending on our actions in the present, good or bad, they will affect the result in the future accordingly.

If the good karma in the present (praying for peace and creating blessings) is strong enough, it will positively influence the results, and the results will manifest as goodness. Specifically, the bad results that are about to form will be transformed; big bad deeds will become small bad deeds, small bad deeds will become nothing. Those who pray for peace and create blessings in this case will certainly be safe.

If the good karma in the present (praying for peace, creating blessings) is not strong enough to positively influence the results and deflect bad results, then there will be no peace.”.

Venerable Vien Minh affirmed on the Buddhist Information Portal of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha that offering sacrifices to the stars to ward off bad luck "It is just a psychological move that makes those who believe in it feel secure. Those who understand the right path, believe in cause and effect, good and bad, and are often clear-minded and aware of their own perceptions and behaviors can adjust themselves to be correct and good, and cannot rely on offering prayers to the stars to dispel bad luck.

Venerable Thich Bao Nghiem advises that we should not follow suit when we see others performing star offering rituals to ward off bad luck, which could affect our family's finances. Instead of spending money to perform star offering rituals to ward off bad luck, we should keep a pure heart, attend the rituals with a sincere heart and not let personal gain influence us.

Professor Tran Lam Bien, a researcher of folk culture, beliefs and religions, once said:"Offering prayers to ward off bad luck is just a way for people to avoid disasters caused by themselves. Therefore, there is nothing better than cultivating oneself, using wisdom to perceive everything, avoiding wrongdoings, then bribing the gods, betting with the gods, like that, the spiritual sin will be much greater."

The custom of worshiping the stars to ward off bad luck comes from the belief that each year, a person has a star that shines on them. There are 9 stars in total, including Thai Duong, Thai Am, Moc Duc, Ke Do, La Hau, Thai Bach, Tho Tu, Van Han, and Thuy Dieu. Of these, Thai Duong and Thai Am are good stars, while La Hau, Ke Do, and Thai Bach are bad stars, believed to cause people to encounter misfortune, illness, and generally bad luck.

However, science has never confirmed the existence of the above 9 stars or their influence on human life.