Caodaism
The full name of the religion is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (chữ Hán: 大道三期普度 'The Great Faith [for the] Third Universal Redemption').
[2] Adherents engage in practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism with the goal of union with God and freedom from saṃsāra.
[9][10] An additional number of adherents in the tens of thousands, primarily ethnic Vietnamese, live in North America, Cambodia, Europe and Australia as part of the Cao Dai diaspora.
Adherents maintain that Ngô Văn Chiêu, a district head of the French administration in Cochinchina, was the first to worship and receive messages from Cao Đài in 1921.
These three figures were to play an essential role in the growing religion as the three founding spirit mediums of the Hiệp Thiên Đài or "Palace Uniting Heaven and Earth".
[12] On 7 October 1926, Lê Văn Trung (a former elected official of the Colonial Council of Cochinchina and a member of the Conseil de Gouvernement de l'Indochine), and a leading group of 27 Caodaists, the first disciples of Cao Đài, signed the "Declaration of the Founding of the Cao Đài Religion" and presented it to the French Governor of Cochinchina.
Officially called the "Great Way of the Third Time of Redemption" (Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ), it became popular in its first few decades, gathering over a million members and converting a fifth to a fourth of the population of Cochinchina by 1940.
[7] Ngô Văn Chiêu, who had never intended Cao Đài to become a mass organization, left the movement and eventually established in 1932 an independent, esoteric branch known as Chiếu Minh, headquartered in Vĩnh Long, which still exists and only admits a limited number of committed adepts.
[14] The official name of the Cao Đài religion (or Caodaism) is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ.
According to Cao Đài's dogma, this Third Period will be of intense religious activity which will unite God and humanity in ways not yet imagined.
This Covenant between Heaven and Earth is written and presented to humanity by the Venerable Saints Victor Hugo, Sun Yat Sen, and Trạng Trình Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm.
"[17] "Cao Đài" refers to God the Father (also known as the Supreme Being, Creator, and "Ultimate Reality of the Universe," as well as the Ngọc Hoàng).
[19][need quotation to verify] According to Caodaism, God permeates all things in the Universe, both living and inanimate, reminiscent of Panentheism.
The unique name for the Caodaist deity is intended to capture the development of God's revelation throughout evolutionary history: Cao Đài Tiên Ông Đại Bồ Tá Ma Ha Tát, Chaos, Taoism, Ông Trời, Thượng Đế, Đấng Sáng Tạo, Allah, Tathāgata, Atenism, Brahma, Yahweh, Great Spirit, God of the gaps, Waheguru, etc.
Caodaists adopt the traditional Chinese idea of âm (yin) and dương (yang) duality constituting the harmonious balance of the universe.
Đức Phật Mẫu is venerated as the Mother of the universe, responsible for giving visible forms, consciousness and emotions to all life.
[citation needed] In terms of the cosmos, faithful Caodaists believe there are heaven and hell, which are the main destinations for souls after death.
The Cao Đài pantheon counts three main prophets, as illustrated on a plaque at the entrance of the Tay Ninh Temple: Victor Hugo (to please the French), since he gave many teachings and also the text of a number of important prayers.
Cao Đài has been described from five different points of view:[citation needed] Believers worship God the Father, Holy Mother, and the Divine Beings with all their heart.
In spirit and in pictorial representation, the Eye serves to remind Cao Đài believers that the God witnesses everything, everywhere, constantly.
[25] In accordance with the religious mission, the three colors of Cao Đài banner represent the three main non-Hinduistic Asian religions of the world; yellow stands for Buddhism, blue for Taoism, and red for Confucianism.
Under the Divine Eye is the religious emblem which also represents the essence of the three religions; the bowl of charity for Buddhist compassion and asceticism, the feather duster for Taoist purification; the Spring and Autumn Annals for Confucianist virtue and love.
Some of those belonging to the Holy See of Tây Ninh are: Kinh Thiên Đạo Và Thế Đạo ("Prayers of the Heavenly and the Earthly Way"),[26][need quotation to verify] Pháp Chánh Truyền ("the Religious Constitution of Cao Đài Religion"),[27] Tân Luật ("The Canonical Codes"), [28] and Con Đường Thiêng Liêng Hằng Sống ("Divine Path to Eternal Life").
[citation needed] This scripture sets out the rules and boundaries for different aspects of the religion, from a believer to the Pope, from education to marriage, etc.
There are ten sections in the scripture with the following content: The Pháp Chánh Truyền (The Religious Constitution of Caodaism) was delivered to the religion as a series of divine messages.
The council is the invisible part, made up of the Divine Beings, and directed by Duc Cao Dai (God the Father).
The former takes charge of the administration of the Religion and its missionary activities, while the latter oversees legislation, jurisdiction and communication with God or Divine Beings.
Twice a month, the first and the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, the believers must meet at the Thánh-Thất of the local area to attend the ceremony and listen to the teachings.
[28] Located 90 kilometres (56 mi) north-west of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in Tây-Ninh Province is the Caodaist Holy See.
Ngô Văn Chiêu founded Chiếu Minh when he left the original church structure, refusing his appointment as Caodaism's first pope.
