The Cao-Dai religion by NguyenPhanLong
The "DAI-DAO TAM-KY PHO-DO" or The Third Revelation of the Misericord Divination is a new religion of spiritualist disclosure brought into being after "Ngoc-Hoang Thuong-De"s teachings. Its founder set up the "CAO-DAI"'s name meaning "High Palace", by extension "The Very High", The Supreme Being, finally GOD, reigning over the Universe from the height of the Empyre.
CAODAISM
The "Cao-Dai" term was found in ancient buddhist prayer books and even inside a Chinese character issue of the British and Foreign Bible Society published in Shanghai in 1913. But only in 1919, it came into light for the first time in Cochin-china inside a spiritualist message intended for Ngo Van Chieu, Mandarin Chief of Phu-Quoc District, an island capital in Slam Gulf.
Honest civil servant, Ngo Van Chieu was highly esteemed by his townsmen who witnessed his leading wisdom abode by intensive Taoist principles. From time to time, inside that isolated countryside so favourable for relaxation and meditation, he was devoting along with some teenaged mediums, in invoking higher spirits from whom he got necessary instructions for his spiritualist evolution. One of those divinities known under the name of "CAO-DAI" was particularly interested in Mandarin Chieu. Having asked "Cao-Dai" the permission to praise it through a discernible form, Chieu got the order to represent it i,y an eye girding with sunny arrays.
THE SYMBOLIC EYE
On the subject of the symbolic eye, what a lot of ridiculous jokers or spiteful people affect, by the easy inclusion of the eye in that of the Moscow, allow me to open the brackets over here. The God's eye is in the mind of man, the picture that naturally recalls the Creator's thought. It is found for example, in the first page of the "Catechism-Album" published by the Paris bookshop Saint-Joseph. Inside that illustrated catechism, there is the following commentary: "God is spirit, He can neither be noticed by our eyes nor therefore represented by a picture, That EYE reminds you that God is the supreme intelligence, that He knows everything and sees everything. He is framed with the sun, for God is the real sun that lights and warms everything and bears the life everywhere. " God is the Eternal Light". On the other hand, in a message, Cao-Dai expresses itself in the same way: "At present, it is not the time yet to tell you why you should worship me under the form of an EYE. Here is however in substance, what that symbol means: The Eye is the motor of the heart, the supreme master of the visual perception. Therefore, the visual perception comes from the intelligent principle and the intelligent principle is a development from the divine principle, that is "ME". Aristotle had also conceived the supreme Being symbol under that form. To Secundus who asked him what was his conception of God, he answered : "It is Good existing by himself, and invisible Height, a Being that is not understood, and immortal Spirit who penetrates all; A FOREVER OPEN EYE, the own gift of everything, a Power that has got many names, an all-powerful Hand: God is Light, Intelligence and Strength" At a certain step of his intellectual and religious evolvement. Chieu did polish off his mental picture for understanding God. More subtle, the human psyche views Him now under less material to a greater extent of simulated form and obviously raises Him tomorrow on a higher platform. Chieu will be given, by the only power of abstraction, how k conceive of the Supreme Being in His hypothesis and to contemplate Him face to face with sublimity without the help of human arts. Those with all creations from ugly African totems to painting and sculpture masterpieces, can only yield more or less imperfect vision.
THE SPOUTEXT BASKET
Allow me to go back by deviating, to Mandarin Ngo Van Chieu who was the first master of Caodaism. Six years later, at the middle of 1924, a small group of Vietnamese clerks belonging to different Saigon officialcioms, conceived the idea of performing spiritualism by way of evening pastimes. Purposedly, they used a "striking table". The first attempted results happened to be unsubstantial but in the long run with patience and training, they got better outcome. To questions asked, either in verses or in fluent style, they received surprising answers from Spirits. Their defunct relatives or friends revealed themselves to tell the group about family matters along with giving them advices. One of the expansive spirits got itself particularly noticed through diligence and high ethical, philosophical teachings of prominent exertion. However, in spite of attendants' prayers, that Spirit did not want to show up its personality. Soon, other followers came along to make that small group of spiritualistic amateurs booming. Sessions became then more involved and regular. As the striking table use was not convenient, the unknown Spirit got it replaced by a "spouted basket".
THE REVELATION
By December 24, 1925, on the occasion of Chrismastime, the Spirit Guide who had been sofar unyielding to keep anonymous revealed at last as the supreme being to neo-spiritualists under the name of CAO-DAI to teach the truth to Vietnamese people. Since then, the Heavenly Master initiated his first disciples into the new gospel. In the course of the same year, Mr Le-Van-Trung living in Cholon was converted into Caodaism. Former member of the Cochinchina Colonial Council and the Indochina Supreme Council yesterday still tied up to possessions and life enjoyment, enthusiastically embraced the new faith. Getting in touch with a few members of the Saigon Spiritualistic group and Mandarin Ngo-Van-Chieu, Mr Le-Van-Trung received from the Great Master the mission to lead the rising religious movement. One Caodaist circle was then set up it consisted of a dozen of members, all of French education and workers in most various Saigon public services. Ardour and selflessness of those early hour workers soon attracted more and more followers. The Caodaist religion then sprang up from its limited circle to spread into the masses.
THE ADVENT OF CAODAISM
The supporters bunched up so much so that on the fourteenth of the Tenth month of the Binh Dan Lunar year (November 18, 1926) the Caodaism Advent was solemnly celebrated at Tay Ninh in the presence of significant adepts hastily rushed up from all Cochinchinese provinces. It was so the birth of Caodaism got officially recorded. We were in the year Mau Dan. The new religion actually went round the twelve year cycle of the lunar calendar; it is thirteen years old.* Within that relatively short interval of time, it has won several hundred of thousands of devotees and if severe restricted measures had not hindered its intensification, it could have been stepped up in the whole of Indochina and accounted with millions of worshippers
TIIE UNIYERSALITY OF CAODAISM
How Caodism could so set crowds into powerful fascination. That is because it is gifted with universal features that allow it to fit into every spiritual level of mankind. Caodaism is the synthesis of five religions, say the "Five branches of the Great Way" : Confucianism, Shintoism, Christianism, Taoism and Buddhism. At moral viewpoint, it reminds Man of his obligations towards himself, towards his family, towards the community which is an enlarged family, towards mankind, the universal family· At philosophical viewpoint, it preaches contempt of honours, wealth, luxury, in a word, the unbinding of materiality constraint to find the full peace of mind. At religious viewpoint, it recommends God worship, our Father of us all and the devotion of higher Spirits who build Address given in 1939, official birth of Caalaism in 1926. up the August occult Hierarchy. Allowing the ancestors' cult. it however prohibits meaty offerings and use of votive paper. At spiritualistic viewpoint, it confirms and agrees with other religions along with spiritualistic, psychic philosophy systems, the existing of soul, its survival from the physical body, its evolution by successive reincarnation, the posthumous repercussions of human deed sorted out by Karma laws.
THE RELIGIOUS UNITY
If the caodaic canon is, in greater part, extracted from ancient religions, it sounds that for fulfilling the religious unity, it made one's own the recognized principles as being of eternal truths, the assertion of the Divine Law. It is to these eternal truths that Caodaism has similar dogma; but there where certain truths have been misunderstood or distorted by a false interpretation, the new religion takes it upon itself to reestablish them into their real sense. Did Christ not say: " Many things that I tell you, you cannot understand them, and I shall have lots of others to tell to you that you would not understand; that is why I tell you by parable, but later, I will send you the Sympathizer, the Spirit of Truth who shall reestablish everything and shall explain overall to you "? At the time when Buddha got free from materiality, and was going to reach the Nirvana, Ananda, his favourite disciple, holding back his tears, asked the Blessed : " Who shall teach us when you will be away ? " And the Blessed replied him : " I am neither the First Buddha coming on earth nor shall I be the last one... In due time, another Buddha will rise in the world, one Very Holy, one Supreme Illuminated...one matchless Leader, one Master of Angeis and mortals. He will reveal you the same eternal truths that I have taught you. He will preach you his religion, glorious at its origin, glorious at its apogee and glourious at its end, in his spirit and in his letters. He will proclaim one religious life entirely perfect and pure..."
THE FAITH
Today more than ever, the sympathizer, the Spirit of truth the Leader announced by Christ and Buddha is necessary to the anxious mankind, in waiting for terrible eveThe Reason and the Science that the people, proud of their refined intelligence through culture, had tried to substitute for the religion, has successively failed. At this moment in time, the distraught humanity, racked by a growing fear, is in the state of mood of the man who, in the grip of adversity or distress, rediscovers his childhood faith which was also that of the first years of the thinking humanity. But if that faith is unchanging in its principles, it gave rise to different interpretations. It was once and for all to saints but it does not appear that it had been, once and for all, entirely understood by the saints or by anyone. Would it have been explained by hundreds of different ways, the Truth could have never been expressed completely and we need several instructors to
let us understand its numerous aspects.
THE EVOLUTION OF MANKIND
By mankind evolution through centuries, our intelligence expands and our love broadens and deepens in such a way that we are presently able to understand the great truths a bit better than our ancestors could never have done so. On the other hand, what was suitable for the needs of the world there are 2000 or 2500 years, can be obviously no longer entirely appropriate to our present requirements to our knowledge more wide-ranging of the nature. The religion should be really in harmony with and must act in accordance indeed with all what we see around us. Therefore, we need a new Instrructor, not to give us a new learning but to profess once more the same ancient truths by showing them with new apparels, with a new magnificent expression that could impress and convince the contemporary spirit.. The different Holy Scriptures pass on us the Great Instructors' teachings but we know those are only stories of what they are assumed to get told. Most of the stories were worked out longtime after the era where they are living and more or less coloured in accordance with their author's intelligent and cultural levels. That author has so transmitted to us, not what the Great Instructor had said, but what he had understood and remembered the Master's teachings. In good faith, he could have made an incomplete or inaccurate account of it. The eternal truths are unchanging and we cannot alter its quintessence but we can review the statement which is a human work and without amending its content, to present its newversion in harmony with our nowadays knowledge.
THE EXPLANATIONS
At last, a new statement of those truths is necessary, because in the course of centuries, they could have been distorted and disturbed up to a point to become hardly recognizable, and the sense of original teaching was darkened by the superposing of contradictory or erroneous commentaries about rites and ceremonies. It is true that we do not still have to begin putting the whole in practice, to live after the ancient teaching which is valid and true for all times. The reason is we evade our responsibilities in saying that when the Great Instructors came on earth, they were not aware of the modern Ilivilization complications and were not in business with any I,f our contemporary and complex living problems; and that consequently so fine as their teachings can be, they are impracticable for our today busy, bustling world. Moreover, though there are many individuals who do their best to settle their lives on their eternal precepts, there is not a nation which puts them in practice in its relationships with other ones.
THE UNIVERSAL FRATERNITY
On its side, each class renounces, by its actions, the principles it confesses from its lips. Since these last years, social reconstruction, civilization renovation have been much talked. Most certainly, polities, sociology, philosophy can all be guided but they cannot generate the impetus that will set the movement swinging. We cannot draw our own energy and inspiration necessary to convert the words into abounding acts. Just as well we must have an Instructor to show us how to put the eternal principles into practice in this modern world with its problems and complications in order to give us the inspiration making us capable to turn ancient truths into a practical guide for our lives, teaching us Universal Fraternity, telling "the peace word that can stop quarrels between peoples", saying the "word of fraternity that let fighting casts and classes understand they are one" and to carry out Union, Peace, Fraternity, - not at the state they are presently found but in the midst of a brotherhood united by the same religious faith, but in a huge communion of peoples unifying and spiritualizing both nationalities and various religions.
THE TRUTH
That modern time Great Instructor is CAO-DAI, the Third Revelation of GOD. Addressing to a more developed humanity, Cao-Dai needs not show itself to it under an earthly creature of outward appearance; it conveys to that humanity with the aid of mediums. Thanks to IT, man knows from where it comes, where it goes, why it is on earth, why it suffers temporarily and it sees God justice everywhere. It knows that the soul constantly progresses through a string of necessary existences. It knows that all souls, having the same departure point, are created equals with the same progressing ability in accordance with their free arbiter, that all of them are the same essence and that there is only among them, the difference of accomplished progress, that all of them have the same destiny and reach the same goal.. It knows that there are neither deprived creature nor some more favoured than others, that God never creates who is privileged, there is not any being perpetually doomed to evil and suffering. It knows that the condition of its progress is dictated by its words: Love God over everything and your neighbour like yourself; it is there all the law and the prophets; there is none other." What makes newness, the originality of Caodaism, that it is God, invisible and omni-present, is for man a guide who teaches, who advises, who comforts, who consoles in hardship hours. Cao-Dai says to all: "Come to me, I will console you, I will make your life happier, the hardships more bearable. I will light with a powerful ray your twisting path. To those who suffer, I give hope, to those who seek light, to those who doubt and despair, I bring certainty and faith." Faith of the past, science, philosophy, religions, Cao Dai enlightens of a new beam all that light up and instruct peoples, it shakes off their old shrouds and ashes covering them to give them an increase radiance, one new beauty. Listen to the revealing voices from Very High: they bring us a revival of the thought with the beyond secrets, that man needs to know to live better, to behave better and to die better. Let us go toward the future, toward the ever-rejuvenating life, by the limitless way, horizonless that a regenersted and purified spiritualism opens to us. Translated from NGUYEN PHAN LONG 's French
Translator: Prof. Le, Van Luong , Vancouver B.C. Canada
Editor: Ha, Phuoc Thao or Peter Ha
email: ha@in.tum.de Chapters1. The Cao-Dai religion