Tag Archives: Buddhism

Clapping to Reverse Bad Luck: Eye Twitch

Text:

Informant: “So, like my mom is very superstitious. She’s, um, Vietnamese, and she has a Buddhist background.

So, like, she heard from her parents that if your eye twitches, your right eye twitches, it means something bad’s gonna happen, or, like, more bad luck for the day. So, to reverse the bad luck, you have to clap twice until the twitching stops.

And then the thing is, like, if the left eye twitches, it’s good luck. Something good is going to happen.

I don’t know where she learned that from, or how that happens, but she told me that.

Whenever my eye twitches, I perform the clapping. Which is all the time.”

Context: The informant is a Chinese-Vietnamese-American USC student whose mother has a Buddhist background and is very superstitious. She learned this belief from her mother, who heard it from earlier generations. Even though she grew up in the U.S., she still follows the practice when it happens.

Analysis:
This is an example of folk belief and a protective ritual. The idea that an eye twitch signals good or bad luck functions as a sign, where the body is seen as predicting future events. The act of clapping twice to stop bad luck is a simple, repeated behavior meant to reverse or control that outcome. Even if she doesn’t fully understand where it comes from, she still does it, showing how superstitions are passed down and continue through habit and family influence.

Vietnamese & Buddhist Healing Ritual/Belief

Text

S: “So, my mom, she’s very into like, I guess like folk medicine. She’s Vietnamese and Buddhist. So like whenever we’re feeling sick, like even if it’s not like a cold, like if we’re just like, have a headache or something. Do you guys know, like the suction cup? “

C: “Oh, I’ve heard it.”

S: “Yeah. There’s one that’s called where they like heat up the cup and then do that on your back. But this one, it’s kind of like pressure. So you kind of put the cup on your back and then like there’s like a little pump and then you put the cups all over your back. And then she [S’s mom] says like, oh, the redder your back is like the more sick you are, even though that’s like pretty sure that’s not true. So like as the days go on, like she keeps doing it and like if the redness going on, she’s like, oh, you’re feeling better or something, but she’s like, oh, like helps get the blood flowing and helps all that stuff.”

Context

Whenever anyone in S’s family doesn’t feel well – whether it be an illness like a cold or just a headache – S’s mom will take cups – or coins if there are no cups – and apply a specific amount of pressure. She believes that the redder the back becomes, the sicker one is, and that the combination of the pressure and release helps purge or cure the body of the illness/unwell feeling.

Analysis

This healing ritual seems to have a two part purpose: (1) to determine how ill one is – the redness of the back – and (2) to help the body heal from it whatever is afflicting it. The small change of the color of one’s back stands in for the immaterial presence of an affliction or illness which helps categorize this as a ritual, as well as its repeated, pattern, and symbolic characteristics.

How to make Gluten

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Marriage & Family Therapist
Residence: Forest Falls, CA
Language: English

Text:

JB: “Okay, you’re gonna start with some gluten flour, however much gluten you want to make, otherwise known as ‘dough pep’. And then I mix in a couple handfuls of usually whole wheat flour — I think it gives it more flavor — and then you mix it up dry. And then you add in cold water, and you want to be mixing it up while you add it so it doesn’t turn into glue too much, and then you want to mix it up into a ball that holds together that is a little soft, not too gluey. And then you can kind of let that sit in water. And then you’re gonna make a ‘witch’s brew’ [smiles and laughs] — however you wanna make a really strong broth. Whatever you got to make a really strong witch’s brew of a broth. I like to use Vegex [a brand of yeast extract] and soy sauce, I usually chop up an onion, umm.. might add some different powders, like packets of George Washington broth I’ll put in, like onion powder, sometimes I’ll put in barbeque sauce? I’m sure there’s other things too. You can use like the box vegetable broth. But a witch’s brew. And then you tear up the chunks of dough, make little balls and kind of flatten them out, and drop the dough in  — well you want to get the witch’s brew boiling first — and then you drop in the bits of dough and boil it for about 45 minutes. And then after you’ve cooked it in the broth, I like to store it in the broth so it kind of marinates and absorbs the flavor, and then you can do whatever you want with it. I usually make it for special occasions, like Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

[JB’s husband]: “It’s too bad you don’t do it for Adventist-specific days. You should be doing it every October 22 for the Great Disappointment.”

Context:

Informant JB was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist church, which is a denomination of Protestant Christianity that is distinct for its emphasis on vegetarianism, health, and the Sabbath. The ‘Great Disappointment’ refers a date in 1844 on which the Millerites, a 19th century religious movement, falsely believed that Jesus would return to Earth. The reference to a ‘witch’s brew’ was especially humorous in the context of Adventist culture because witchcraft and ‘spiritualism’ are taboo subjects. She also shared further details on where she learned the recipe and its significance in the Seventh-day Adventist community:

“I learned the Gluten recipe from my mom. She usually made it for special occasions. Mom [husband’s mother] also made Gluten. I think a lot of Adventist people made it, that was their special Thanksgiving dinner. [Gets old cookbook from the kitchen] In An Apple A Day, the Gluten recipe is listed under ‘Mrs. Robert Chung’. This is the most traditional Seventh-day Adventist cookbook, and it was put together by doctors’ wives. Because it was so traditional, they didn’t even write the women’s names, just ‘Mrs.’ and then their husband’s name. This was my mom’s, but every good Adventist had this. Sold at the ABC bookstore, everybody had it. Adventists have been pretty good cooks in my experience. I mean, they had to kind of reassess their approach to cooking. I think they embraced probably ethnic foods in earlier parts of American culture.”

Analysis:

Gluten serves as a replacement for meat-based holiday dishes for many Seventh-day Adventist community members. Interestingly, the process for making ‘Gluten’ is very similar to the process of making seitan, a dish that is traced back to ancient China and is believed to have been invented by Chinese Buddhist monks who followed a vegetarian diet. This potential connection is further reinforced by the authored version of the recipe in the An Apple A Day cookbook, listed by a person with an East Asian surname. The Seventh-day Adventist church’s early days also coincided with Chinese and Japanese migration to America the the early 20th century. Whether via evangelizing or close contact, the practice of making a gluten-based meat substitute likely spread to Euro-Americans during this time.

A Nat’s Malevolent Dream

Nationality: Burmese

Primary Language: Burmese

Other Language(s): English

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Baltimore, WA

Performance Date: 03/19/2024

Y.Y. has been my friend since Kindergarten, and is also a Burmese person who is originally from Yangon, Myanmar. He recounts the time P, his grandma told him a horror story about Burmese spirits. Their relationship is very close knit, as his grandma would regularly tell him Burmese legends and superstitions that she has learned about. 

“In Pyi Oo Lwin, there are a lot of cave pagodas and this one family went on a vacation there. They visited a cave pagoda one morning during their trip and later that night, their son had a dream. In the dream, he was in the exact same cave pagoda they were at earlier that day. In caves like these, there are usually ponds that are created since water would drop and seep through from the top of the caves due to humidity. There was a pond in that cave pagoda and it just so happens that there was a lot of treasure in that pond. Somehow, he ended up in the cave in real life the next day, to search for the treasure in the pond. Days later they found his corpse floating with chains tied around his body on top of the pond. P. Told me that sometimes Nats (god-like spirits) try to seduce people into the areas that they are chained to, because they are finding a replacement. Nats are usually found in sacred places like those ponds and they attract humans using dreams and hallucinations so they can leave the place once a replacement has been found. I interpret the story my grandma told me as a way for her to make me respect or at least fear the Nat. This is because my family usually doesn’t believe in spirits like the Nat but she does, so she says that although we don’t have to worship them, at the very least we should respect and acknowledge them when we visit pagodas so they don’t harm us. 

I personally found this story really terrifying, and interpret it as an unrealistic legend made to incite fear in us. I think these stories usually have a motive that is trying to push a certain narrative or lesson on to us. For this story, I think it teaches us to not wander off and be greedy. Since P. told Y.Y. this when he was quite young, it might be her way of protecting and warning him from danger whenever they visit sacred places like temples. In Myanmar, it is very important that we are respectful when we visit sacred places like pagodas and temples. We would have to be dressed a certain way, and not do much else other than pray and walk around there. This type of story makes sure people are not doing anything that can be considered greedy or sinful, when they are at sacred places.

Ma Ho Saddha Jataka

Nationality: Burmese

Primary Language: Burmese

Other Language(s): English

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Baltimore, WA

Performance Date: 03/19/2024

Y.Y. has been my friend since Kindergarten, and is also a Burmese person who is originally from Yangon, Myanmar. He recounts the time P, his grandma told him a story that is a well known legend back home. Their relationship is very close knit, as his grandma would regularly tell him Burmese legends and superstitions that she has learned about. 

“When I was younger, maybe 13 or 14, my grandma told me about a legend about the Ma Ho Saddha, a scholar prodigy that is well known in the Buddhist community. He is also someone that became Buddha after his next few lives. In this story, a mother is traveling with her baby. She wanted to take a bath so she stopped by a river and left the baby on the shore momentarily. In Buddhism, there’s a type of ogre or ‘ogress’ as you know, called Belu Ma. They can shapeshift and such and they also like to feed on humans. This one Belu Ma that disguised herself as an extremely beautiful woman, and tried to take the baby. She picked up the baby and was about to leave, but the mother saw her and started arguing. She exclaimed that the baby was her child and why she was taking him. In response to this, the Belu Ma claimed that the baby was her child, and they started arguing in front of many other people who started to look at the loud scene. The people told them to go to the Ma Ho Saddha so that he can decide whose baby it is and resolve the problem. They went to him and he said that they should play a game. He told them to pull the child on either end of his limbs, and whoever is able to take the baby will be known as the mother. The two women did as they were told, but of course the baby started crying since it hurts. The true mom started to feel bad and let the baby go. The Belu Ma started celebrating and said that she was the mother but surprisingly, the Ma Ho Saddha stopped her. He said that no, she isn’t because the true mother would have stopped pulling since she would care for her child. And so he gave the baby to the real mother. I think my grandma told me this story mostly because she loves to share these types of legends; she even has a  subscription to a magazine on Burmese superstitions and legends! I think this was one of the stories that showed how knowledgeable and smart the Ma Ho Saddha was so I took it as a lesson showing how Buddha’s past life as a scholar was very wise.”

I personally found this story kind of creepy but also really interesting because of its twist. I think it’s possible that this story was used to spread Buddhism and preach about how Buddha was a very good and wise figure even in his previous lives. Since it is perceived as a true story that he was a prodigy scholar in his past life, it would only encourage people to live by Buddha’s morals. The series of stories about Ma Ho Saddha’s intelligence continues to prove that. I think this story also solidified people’s beliefs in Belu and Belu Ma (demons) which in turn can enforce people to pray often out of fear for the Belu.