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The Monistic Theory
by Nhân Tử Nguyễn Văn Thọ
TOC |
Preface | Chapters:
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9
10 11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19
Chapter 19
Caodaism
and the Monistic Theory
Caodaism was officially
founded through a medium system by Cao Đài or the Supreme Being in 1926.
The message was first given to a group of South Vietnamese elates,
administrators or secretaries in the Cochinchina government: Ngô Văn
Chiêu, Cao Quỳnh Cư, Phạm Công Tắc, Cao Hoài Sang, Lê Văn Trung, etc.
One of the Spirits revealed Himself first under the pseudonym AAA (first
three letters, with different accents, of the Vietnamese alphabet), then
gradually under the pseudonym Cao Đài (High Tower), or Cao Đài Tiên Ông
Đại Bồ Tát Ma Ha Tát (His Highness The Very Great Immortal). The Spirit
afterward was symbolized by an Eye, image of the Universal and
Individual Conscience. Caodaists call this Spirit God himself.
Caodaism spread rapidly in
South Vietnam. Its main Temple is now in Tây Ninh (South Vietnam), a
very beautiful architectural monument. Its pantheon of Saints includes
such diverse figures as Buddha, Lao-tzu, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Li Tai
Bai (Lý Thái Bạch), Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, Sun Yat Sen (Tôn Dật Tiên)
etc..
Its followers now number
around 2 million.
It has a temporal pope, Lê
Văn Trung, and a spiritual pope, Li Tai Bai (Lý Thái Bạch), the famous
poet of the Tang dynasty (Nhà Đường) (701-762).
Caodaism tries to be,
esoterically, a synthesis of all religions in the world, but
exoterically, it is now a syncretism of Buddhism, Taoism, and
Confucianism.
Caodaists are very divided
among themselves. Most of them are exoterists, some are esoterists. An
exoterist Caodaist tries to live a normal family and social life, to
practice good and to avoid evil. He doesn't make harm to any creature,
considered as participating in the Divine life, and conducts himself in
a brotherly fashion believing that "God is you, and you are God".
An esoterist Caodaist
belongs mainly to Ngô Văn Chiêu's sect, called Chiếu Minh Vô Vi, is
strictly vegetarian, cultivates his personal holiness, endeavors to
eradicate his inferior self, and develops the divine element within. The
ultimate aim is to be united with Cao Đài or with God.
All the messages that a
Caodaist receives from the Spirits, come from "table tipping", or from
"basket with beak" (Ngọc Cơ) seances.
In California, there are now
at least three small Caodaist Temples: One in San Jose, one in Perris,
and one in Anaheim.
As an outsider, I was
non-plussed by its existence. I didn't know why there are now so many
religions in the world, and God still likes to create a new one.
Therefore, I liked to spend some time studying this new religion. I
began first to study all the spiritual messages given through the
mediums. I tried to meet all of them. They are girls or boys from 13 to
17 years old. They are very simple people. But all the messages are
given mostly in poems surpassing by far their intellectual level. These
messages were obeyed in earnest by all the elders, and carefully kept in
the archives. So, I ruled out cheating. I never attended any seances,
but I read all their contents and tried to find out the best teaching in
them.
I marveled also at the rapid
spreading of the new religion: 2 million in 66 years! Gradually, I found
that Caodaism tries to make a synthesis of all religions. Caodaists are
taught to study all the religions existing in the world, to find out
what is best in them.
In Caodaism, there is a
slogan: "All religions derive from one Principle."
Confucius said: "My doctrine
is that of an all-pervading unity."
Mencius also said: "When we
examine those sages, both the earlier and the later, their principles
are found to be the same."
Ramakrishna said: "All
jackals have the same cry; All the sages have the same teaching."
What is this one principle?
It is the Monistic Theory.
What is the highest of man's
attainment? It is Mysticism.
Buddhism calls it Nirvana,
Confucius calls it Union with God (Doctrine of the Mean, Ch. 26),
Lao-tzu calls it Possession of the Tao, or Union with God (Tao Te Ching,
Chap. 68).
As a man who has spent
already almost 40 years in the study of comparative religion, I am
convinced that the Monistic Theory and Mysticism are the two facets of a
true religion. I tried therefore to investigate if Caodaism has these
two main facets. I will present my findings afterward.
Actually, we can say that
there are three kinds of philosophy leading the world.
1.- The
spiriritualist philosophy or the Creationism philosophy
The Creationism philosophy
is based on the Bible, and teaches that this world was created ex nihilo
by an eternal God. And the Creation roughly began on 4004 B.C. (this
date is calculated by Bishop James Usher (1581-1656) of the diocese
Armagh (Scotland) and by Dr. Lightfoot of Cambridge, a contemporary with
Usher).
After 1701, the King James
version of the Holy Bible has put the year 4004 in the middle of the
first page of Genesis.
The Bible predicts also that
the world will come to an end soon.
In Europe, some hundred
years ago, any writer or scientist who liked to conserve his honor
endeavored to have his findings fit with the teachings of the Church. In
1744, Buffon, in his Histoire Universelle, sustained that the world was
created 70,000 years ago. This was considered a blasphemous action, and
his book was put in the Index and barred from circulation by Catholic
authorities.
When Darwin died
(1809-1882), people still declared that this world was created in 4963
B.C., and the Larousse Dictionary declared that this date was the only
one accepted in all schools.
As for the end of the world,
the Bible emphatically declared that it would happen very soon: "For the
Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and
then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto
you. There be some standing here which shall not taste the death, till
they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (Mat. 16, 27-28).
Or: "For verily I say unto
you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of
Man be come." (Mat. 10: 23)
Or ; "But in those days,
after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall
not give her light. And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers
that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of
man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he
send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four
winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven...Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass,
till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my
words shall not pass away. (Mark 13: 24-32; Mat. 24: 29-35 and Mat. 24:
6-30).
All the great Apostles such
as Peter, Paul and John professed the same thing. In I Peter, 4:7, it is
written: "But the end of all things is at hand..." (See also, II Peter,
3:10)
In I Thessalonians 4:16-18
it is written: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive, and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
In Revelation 6: 12-17, the
end of the world is described in a vivid manner: "And I beheld when he
had open the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the
sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven
departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places. And the Kings of the earth, and
the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty
men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens
and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks,
fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come;
and who shall be able to stand? "
In the last chapter of
Revelation, it is written: "And, behold, I come quickly..." (Rev. 22:
12), and: "Surely I come quickly..." (Rev. 22:20).
But now, science has
demonstrated that the world has existed at least 10 billion years. And
man has made his appearance about 1 million years ago.
Now, few Christians dare to
say that the world will end soon, except the followers of Seventh Day
Adventists and of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Christianity is now on the
defensive, and is very embarrassed.
We see also that, now, one
finds many errors in the first 8 Chapters of Genesis, concerning the
Creation and the Flood. We can see that the cosmogony of the Bible is
geocentric. The Earth stands immobile in the midst of everything (terra
in aeternum stat. Ecclesiaste, 1: 4), while the Sun is turning around
it. Galileo (1564-1642) was solemnly condemned for saying the contrary.
It is said in Genesis that
God had spent the whole second day to create the firmament. What is then
the firmament? It is a solid vault, provided with gates which can be
opened in case of the Flood, for instance. (Cataractoe coeli apertoe
sunt: and the windows of heaven were open: Biblia Sacra, Vulgata, and
King James, Gen. 7:11). All of us now know that there is no such vault
in the sky. According to Job, the firmament is made of something which
is strong and as a molten glass. (Job, 37: 18). In the version of the
Vulgata, the same phrase is translated as: Tu forsitan cum eo fabricatus
es coelos, qui solidissimi quasi aere fusi sunt. The firmament is then
made up with solid brass. The Revelation compared it to a scroll that
can be departed at the end of the world. (Rev. 6: 14). Sun, Moon and
stars are under this vault. The throne of God is above it. (Ps. 11:4) It
is called the sky (Gen. 1, 18). It is sustained by many columns (Job 27:
11). The earth stood firmly on water (Ps. 136), and has also many
columns (Job 9, 6).
One can't understand, also,
what the Light created on the first day is, nor why trees and grass etc
can be created before the Sun and the Moon.
Furthermore, if we compare
the first Chapter of Genesis with the Second one, we will see that the
order of the creation is totally different.
Adam, instead of being
created on the sixth day at the same time with Eve, now appears as the
first creature. Afterwards, God created a garden for him, and did then
only he create trees. Then all mammals, all birds were created, and God
brought them to Adam to give them a name. As Adam was not satisfied with
all the mammals, and can't find any mate among them, God then created
Eve with one of Adam's ribs etc (Gen. 2: 1-23)
As for the Flood, we run
also into many unsolved problems. It is strange to see that there are
two stories of the Flood: one version is now called version P, another
is called version J. According to version P, Noah must bring in the Ark
a couple of animals for each species (Gen. 6: 19-20), and the duration
of the Flood is 150 days (Gen. 8:3).
According to version J, Noah
must bring in the Ark, 7 couples for each clean species, and a couple
for each unclean species (Gen 7:2), and the duration of the Flood is
only 40 days (Gen 7: 17. 7:4).
One never can understand
also why Noah can roam through the five continents (?) to bring all the
species in the Ark. The number of species is now around 5,000,000. And
we know that the Ark was only 150 yards long, 25 yards wide, and 15
yards high with three stories (Gen 6:16). The Ark had only one small
window (Gen. 6:16). How could all these animals live in so small a place
for 150 days. How they could be fed, and why didn't they die?
Since 1960, there have been
many scientific associations in the States that believe in Creationism.
To be members of these Associations, one must be a post-graduate from
some University. Members must firmly believe that all the teachings of
the Bible, concerning the Creation and the Flood are true. They militate
to have the Creation taught in school. These associations are:
The American Scientific
Association (ASA) founded in 1941, having 3000 members.
The Creation Research
Society, founded in 1963, at Ann Arbor Michigan. It has around 500
members.
The Creation Science
Research Center (CSRC). It organized many trips to Mount Ararat, Turkey,
hoping to find the Ark.
The Institute for Creation
Research (ICR), founded in 1970, in San Diego. It has published 55
books, and has a magazine called Acts and Facts sent to 60,000 readers.
The Genesis School of
Graduate Studies at Gainsville, Florida.
The Bible Science
Association.
The Scientific Creationism
Association of Southern New Jersey.
The Creation Research
Science Education Foundation Inc. in Ohio.
The Triangle Association for
Scientific Creationism in the Research Triangle, close to Raleigh, North
Carolina.
The Missouri Association for
Creation.
In England, there are also
some of such Associations:
The Evolution Protest
Movement (EPM) founded in 1932, in England.
The Newton Scientific
Organization 1973 in England etc.
The aim of these
organizations is to advocate the teaching of Creationism at school,
parallel with the Evolution theory. They like also to control all the
teaching material so that Evolution can't be taught crudely.
Since 1921 to 1929, they
maneuvered to have 37 States ban evolutionism from school. We have for
instance the Mississippi Law (1926), the Arkansas Law (1928), the Texas
Law (1929), but the Supreme Court based on the Separation of the State
from the Church declared that these laws are unconstitutional.
On the side of the
government, we have these committee having the responsibility to prepare
the teaching program:
The National Science
Foundation (NSF),
The Biological Sciences
Study (BSCS),
Man: a course of study
(MACOS),
The Education Development
Center (EDC),
The American Institute of
Biological Sciences (AIBS),
The National Association of
Biology Teachers (NABT),
Biological Sciences
Curriculum Study (BSCS)
Besides, we have also The
American Civil Liberty Union aimed to defend Americans' liberty etc.
Both sides are against each
other, and the Creationists have brought suits many times against the
Board of Education, but the Creationists lose the suit all the time.
Once, the Creationists in California filed a suit against the Board of
Education because it had offended the liberty of creeds of their
children. They brought their children to Court to testify that they are
taught to be descendants of the ape. The Board of Education invited
eminent scientists to defend them and the Evolution Theory. The judge at
this time, Mr. Irving Pertluss, advised the Board of Education to be
flexible and careful in dealing with the genesis of man. The
Creationists consider this as one of their advantages etc.
And the battle will continue
for ever.
The Spiritualist Philosophy
sustained that man has only a Soul and a Body. At death, Soul departs
from Body, and goes to Hell, Purgatory or Paradise. At the end of the
world, every body will be resurrected, and the Body will again be united
to the Soul, for everlasting happiness or misery.
For it, God is exterior to
all creatures, infinitely different from them, and transcendent to them.
He is in the sky and is there to derogate any natural laws. He created
the Flood and sent many tribulations to Egyptian people, for instance.
Man can't be united with
God, can't be divinized. They can only communicate with God. After
death, a holy soul can only contemplate God. This is called Beatific
Vision.
All souls are created by
God, and are immortal from conception. They will go to Paradise,
Purgatory or Hell according to their deeds.
The spiritualist philosophy
teaches love of our neighbors. As for other creatures, we can dispose of
them at will, because we are created to be their Kings.
The spiritualist philosophy
is upheld by exoterist Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam.
The spiritualist philosophy
practices Monotheism.
2.- The Materialist Philosophy, or the Atomic
Theory
The Materialist Philosophy
accepts only Matter as the root of everything. It denies God, Spirits
and Souls. It claims that this world is made of atoms. These atoms in
their revolution, meet other atoms by pure hazard, act upon each other,
and gradually create sun, moon, stars, inorganic and organic elements.
Organic beings must adjust themselves with the environment, and in their
struggle for life and in their adaptation to the environment, evolve
from invertebrates to vertebrates and finally end up in mankind.
We see that the main key of
this philosophy is the Theory of Evolution by natural selection.
This Theory is elaborated by
Darwin (1809-1882) in his famous book On the Origin of Species,
It was also expounded by
Lamarck (1744-1829) with his theory that adaptive responses to
environment cause structural changes capable of being inherited, by De
Vries (1848-1935) with his Theory of Mutation, by Mendel, Weissmann
(1834-1945), Morgan (1866-1945), and Spiemann with their works on
heredity, and is propagated by Spencer (1820-1903) and Hoeckel.
It is worth noting that the
Evolution Theory is also used to explain the origin of all the stars, of
the solar system, and of the new stars. And we can refer to the works of
famous astronomers, such as Laplace, Lemaitre, Eddington, Fayes
Ligondes, Seeliger, Ham, See, G. H. Darwin, Norman Lockyer, Arrhenius,
Belot, etc.
The best that Evolution
Theory has given us is that it has extended by far the length of time
for the existence of the world. Instead of 6000 years, the world is now
at least 10 billion years old; living things appeared on earth in the
Cambrian period, about 6 billion years ago. Man appears on earth as
prehistoric man, such as Piltdown man, one million years ago, and as
Homo Sapiens, about 30,000 years ago. These figures are only
approximate. So, instead of Adam and Eve living somewhere in the
Mesopotamia, we have now new ancestors, very much older, and coming
perhaps from Africa. And many Christian dogmas, such as the Original
Sin, the coming of Jesus Christ to save the world from the Original Sin,
are no more valid.
After strong opposition to
the Evolution Theory, the Church became suppler in its attitude. In one
encyclical letter, in August 1950, the Pope Pius XII declared that it is
permissible to study the evolution theory in so far of finding the
origin of the body in a preexisting matter existing before it.
Many exegetists begin to
explain that the six days of creation are six geological periods, and
pretend that the word Yom in Hebrew means not only a day but also a
long period. But other exegetists, such as Louis Pirot, or Georges
Crespy are against this interpretation.
Leo XIII, in his Encyclical
Letter Providentissimus Deus asserts that: "The sacred writers had no
intention to teach people what is not necessary for their salvation;
therefore, instead of pursuing a scientific work, they describe things
with metaphors or talk according to the common language in use at their
time.
The Biblical Committee, in
its decision of the 30th of June, 1909 pertaining to the historical
characters of the first three chapters of Genesis, affirms that "the
intention of the sacred author is not to teach in a scientific manner
the intimate constitution of things and the order of the creation, but
to talk according to the popular knowledge in conformity with data given
by the senses, in the language of his time."
It is strange enough that
the Church waited until 1909, to declare these things. Before, it
solemnly affirmed that the teachings of the Bible are historical truths.
We can refer to the trial of
Galileo (1564-1642), to know the attitude of the Church at that time
We can say that for many
centuries, the European people and people in the Mediterranean area have
considered the Creationist tales and the Flood as the very exact history
of the world. Now, most of the people who venerate the Bible,
Christians, Jews, or Islamic, see in the Genesis only divine allegories.
We can say that the
Evolution Theory has now many scientists as its proponents, and is now
taught in schools, while the Creation Theory is not. But The Evolution
Theory has many vulnerable points:
It can't explain why life
appeared on earth.
There are still many
"missing links" in the long chain of living things.
One can't understand why
there are now so many insects, micro-organisms and bacteria. If the
Theory is true, micro-organisms must disappear and not dinosaurs.
One doesn't know why
tortoises and crustaceans have skeletons outside their bodies, while
fish and mammals have them inside, and their habitat is the same sea.
Only mammals can give some
verification to the Evolution Theory, but we know nothing about their
derivation, if there is any, from Reptilians, from Fish and from
Invertebrates.
It is very hard to sustain
that everything happens by hazard or by pure chance.
We can say that the
Evolution Theory is only a Theory and not a truth.
The Evolution Theory
sustains that there is no God (atheism), no souls, no after-life.
They declare themselves
agnostic, or skeptical or atheist.
For them, man has only Body
and no Soul. Soul is a product of the Body, as bile is produced by
gall-bladder.
The Communist party is
partisan of The Materialist Philosophy, it tries to destroy all
religions in the world, but in vain.
If we take time to think it
over, we see immediately that the Parts cannot create the Whole, hazard
can't create order, hierarchy, and a sense in the Evolution. The
struggle for life, the survival of the fittest can't explain the
existence of the organs of sense, of the blood, the complicated system
of nerves, and all our internal organs such as liver, lung, heart and
kidneys. The Evolution theory can't explain why there are reproduction
organs, nor why some species lay eggs why others give birth directly .
One can't imagine, also, why
micro-organism without brain, lungs, without nostrils, without ears and
eyes can evolve into a human being with a very complicated nervous
systems of 14 billion neurons.
In the States, there were
some lawsuits against the Evolution Theory: The lawsuit of John Thomas
Scopes in Tennessee in 1925, and the lawsuit of Susan Epperson in
Arkansas in 1966. First, fundamentalist people like to bar the teaching
of the Evolution Theory in school, but their attempt fails, and very
soon, their claim is declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Jean Serviers, professor of
ethnology and sociology at the Faculty of Montpellier (France) declares:
"I believe that the Evolution Theory is a creed, a philosophy of white
people, aimed to give them good records of their aggression, oppression
and crimes. In fact, nothing comes to support the Evolution Theory
presented as a dogma. We are in the midst of a great scientific
falsehood."
In the French Encyclopedia
published in 1938, Paul Lemoine, a famous geologist and director of the
Museum, declared that the Evolution Theory would be soon abandoned. It
is like a dogma in which the priests had no more belief but still
conserved for the masses.
Bertrand Russell declares
that the Universe is made of fragments, and of leaps; there is no unity,
nor continuity, nor order, nor cohesion in it.
3. The Monistic Theory
This Theory sustains that
this world and all its beings derive from one Cosmic Stuff, that All is
One and One is All. This Cosmic Stuff can be compared with a central
Sun, while all beings are its rays. We can't call the One as spiritual
nor materialist, but Spirit and Matter are only aspects of It. It
pervades the world, gives birth to everything, but is immanent in
everything. The One is then the Essence of everything, and everything is
phenomena that reveal this Essence. Beings are garments, or skins
protecting the One.
Everything proceeds from the
One, always in the mood of perpetual change, but at the end will return
to the One. The Theory, therefore, can be summed up as: "From the One,
proceeds everything, and to the One everything returns." Oriental people
talk about the Return to the Root, or the Return to the Ground.
We can say that all Saints
and Sages in this world, since time immemorial, have professed this
theory. The four great Religions in Asia: Brahmanism, Buddhism, Taoism,
Confucianism develop it. The Yi Jing promotes it also. Kabbalah,
Freemasonry, Rosicrucians, Alchemy, Theosophy, Plotinus, Pythagoras,
Hermes Trismegistus in the West deal also with the same subject.
Interestingly enough, many
scientists such as Fritjof Capra, begin to profess the same idea. The
spiritualist and materialist philosophy declare that Spirit and Matter
are different entities; the Monistic Theory propounds that Spirit and
Matter are two aspects of the same thing and can derive from each other.
Einstein in his famous equation E = mc2 has demonstrated that Spirit and
Matter are interchangeable.
But, we must admit that this
theory has not many proponents. Few people are on the level to
understand it. But its proponents are the most famous: We have for
instance, Buddha, Lao-tzu, Confucius, Mencius, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda,
Hermes Trismegistus, Plotinus, Meister Eckhart, Boehme etc
This theory, if well
developed, will become the most complete and the most advanced
philosophical theory in the world.
For it, the One initially
can't be a God, separated from all beings. All the names that we give to
God are not his own names but only human terms superimposed upon the
Ultimate Reality, each term coined in accordance with the linguistic,
social, cultural and personal properties of a respective social group or
person.
The One is Immanent in
everyone and can be found only by introspection and contemplation. It is
everywhere, therefore The Monistic Theory can be labeled as Pantheistic,
meaning that God is everywhere and in everything.
The world is not created "ex
nihilo", but emanates from one Essence by emanation and by division. So,
in the West, the Theory is called The Emanation Theory.
The Monistic Theory is
linked with Mysticism. So the highest level that man can obtain is Union
with God.
It sustains that man has
Body, Soul, and Spirit. The Soul is not immortal, only Spirit is
immortal. The Soul must reincarnate, to become purer and purer, and
finally can become united with God.
So, the Spiritualist
Philosophy sustains that man is only Body and Soul, the Materialist
Philosophy maintains that man is only Body, while the Monistic Theory
affirms that man has Body, Soul and Spirit.
Caodaism
and the Monistic Theory
My research revealed that
the Monistic Theory is inherent in Caodaism. As said previously,
Caodaism was spread mostly by medium messages. In Vietnam, I had a
collection of almost all these messages. A few of them shall be used to
prove my view.
In the Book Đại Thừa Chân
Giáo it is said:
Why we
must adore the Celestial Eye?
Because
it represents The Root of everything.
It is a
Perfect Being,
The
Principle that gives birth to every being by transformation.
It is said in the Collection
of Holy Teachings in the year of 1966-1967, p. 39: (Thánh Giáo Sưu Tập)
Before
the existence of Heaven and Earth,
There is
a Rotating Primordial Globe,
Endowed
with great mysterious power,
We can
reluctantly call it The Great Tao .
This is
the Purest Energy,
Invisible, nameless,
And is
in fact the Tai Ji, the Principle,
It
creates the Yin and the Yang,
And
gradually, the world takes form.
This
Principle gives birth to Heaven and Earth,
And the
Five Elements that evolve,
And
create the four seasons, and all the changes.
All
beings participate to the same law of change,
And
multiply themselves by eggs, by fetuses, by humidity, and by mutation,
Therefore, in the world we see everlasting pictures,
And
Heaven, Earth, and every being,
That
belong only to the same Principle.
We see immediately that this
is a paraphrase of the Yi Jing in that it said: "Therefore there is, in
the Change, the Great Primal Being (Tai Ji). This generates the two
primary forces (Yin and Yang). The two primary forces generate the four
images. The four images generate the eight trigrams."
Therefore, all beings in
their essence are similar to the Tao, and all men partake of the Essence
of the Tao.
In the Collection of the
Holy Teachings in the year of 1968-1969, on page 35, it is said: "The
Tao is the Primordial Point and the Master of everything. It is also of
the same essence with everything."
In the Collection of the
Holy Teachings in the year 1968-1969, on page 200, it is said: "Because
you are one of all beings, and all beings partake to the essence of the
Tao, and the essence of the Tao is my own essence. Therefore, if you
love each other, you, in fact, love me."
In page 186, it is written:
God says only one thing: "I am you, and you are me, it means that every
one has the same essence. Although the external appearance and the
calling are different, everyone is One, without exception.
In the Đại Thừa Chân Giáo,
p. 65, it is written: "This is indeed mysterious: God and Man are one in
essence. There is no difference."
In the Collection of the
Holy Teaching 1966-1967, on p. 36, it is written:
"You are
a Spiritual Being on Earth,
Sharing
with me my spiritual light essence,
Thus you
are given the key of the kingdom,
So you
can be in the mundane plane, or in the Celestial kingdom, at will.
On page 229, it is written:
Man and
God being of the same essence,
If we
persevere in our endeavor,
We can
become as God.
Therefore, the goal of
Caodaism is to show us that we have God in our self.
In the Collection of the
Holy Teachings, 1968-1969, on page 86, it is written:
"I have
my residence in the heart of every one,
Let each
of them be aware of this, and know how to cultivate them.
Let them
love each other, without distinction."
It is repeatedly said in the
Collection of Holy Writings that under the cover of Human Nature, man
has also a Divine Nature.
This Divine Nature is
called:
Holy Heart, Spiritual Heart
(Thánh Tâm, Linh Tâm) (Collection of Holy Teachings, 1972, p. 48).
Celestial Nature,
Buddha-Nature (Thiên Tính, Phật Tính) (Ib, p. 72)
The King of the Heart (Tâm
Vương) (Ib. p.137-138)
The Heart of the Tao (Đạo
Tâm) (Ib. p. 99)
The Heart of Buddha (Phật
Tâm) (Ib. p. 112)
The Golden Body (Kim Thân)
(Ib. p. 128)
The Golden Body, The Body of
Buddha (Kim Thân, Phật Thân) (Ib. 129)
The Original Body of
Tathagata (Như lai Bổn Tạng) (Ib. 118)
The Original Body (Căn
Nguyên Bổn Tâm) (Ib. p. 24)
The Real Self, The
Bhutatatatha (the Immutable) Original Body (Chân Ngã, Chân Như Bổn Thể)
(Collection of the Holy Teaching 1970-1971, p. 83-87)
This Self is to be
distinguished from the Common Self, the Ego (Phàm Tâm), that is the
Limited and Narrow Self, existing on the surface of our thoughts and
feelings. This is called also The False Self (Giả Ngã). (Collection of
the Holy Teachings 1970-1971, p. 83, 87 and 134; 1972-1973, p. 99 and
105)
"It
means that our New Born Baby's Heart (Tâm Xích Tử),
Is
perfect and enlightened, and is under all phenomena..."
(Collection of
the Holy Teachings, 1972-1973, p. 130).
Oriental philosophers
considered the New Born Baby Heart as the ideal moral condition of
humanity.
Chu Hsi (Chu Hi) said: "The
mind of the great man comprehends all changes of phenomena, and the mind
of the child is nothing but a pure simplicity, free from all hypocrisy.
Yet the great man is the great man, just as he is not let astray by
external things, but keeps his original simplicity and freedom from
hypocrisy. Carrying this out, he becomes omniscient and omnipotent in
the highest degree."
Interestingly enough, Jesus
Christ has also said: "Except ye be converted and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." (Mat. 18, 3,4;
Mk, 10:15; Lk 18: 7; Jn 3:5)
In the Collection of The
Holy Teachings, 1972-1973, on p. 130, it is said: "Bearing visible
features, you forget that inside you, you have already the Creator."
It is also said: "The Tao
not born and Immortal, is already in our Golden Body." (Collection of
the Holy Teachings, year 1972-1973, p. 128)
Illumination happens when
the Common Self finds the Celestial Self. "And what is the Real Self? It
is the Celestial Self under the Common Self. If the Common Self can't
find out the Celestial Self, then until when one can understand what is
said: I am You, and You are me?" (Collection of the Holy Teachings,
1970-1971, p. 134.
Therefore, Religion and
Philosophy aim only toward the finding out of our Real Self. Our Real
Self is the pivot of man, and of the universe. To find our the Real Self
is to find the Cosmic Consciousness, or the Cosmic Center.
"To
become Immortal or Buddha, is to die for mundane affections,
We are
then above right and wrong, I and Thou,
There is
then only one Heart, the Cosmic Heart,
Apart
from all visible features, and we return to our Original Spirit.
"The
Original Spirit is eternal and devoid of all storm,
It
radiates as a pearl in the bottom of the water,
When our
mind is without any thought, then we are illuminated,
And we
will see our Original Self, the Root of everything.
"This
Self is common to everyone,
It is
great, immense, and omnipresent,
It seems
to be non-existent, but exists in fact,
It
exists as a Point in the Circle."
(The Collection of the Holy
Teachings, 1972-1973, p. 78.)
Caodaism sustains that we
must return to our Root, to our Origin, that is, the One.
In the Đại Thừa Chân Giáo,
p. 124, it is written:
"The
Principle is split into two ways: Introvert and extrovert.
If we
follow the introvert way, we can attain immortality,
Few
understand the Great Way of God,
If it is
understood, man will reach The Celestial Palace."
As we have demonstrated, Tao
or God or Celestial Eye, or Buddha-Nature is already hidden in our
Heart, to serve as pivot, as the original essence of man. Then being
introverted or going back to our Root is going deep in our Soul to find
the Tao or God. This is also one main assertion of Caodaism.
In the Collection of the
Holy Writings, 1972-1973, on p. 67, it is said that going back to our
Root is being introvert.
In the Collection of the
Holy Writings, 1970-1971, on p. 53, it is written:
"The Tao
is in your heart, Buddha is in your heart,
If you
search it outside, you are in error,
Everyone
has in him the Tathagata Nature,
To
possess this Nature, you must be very powerful."
In the Collection of the
Holy Writings 1965, on p. 51, it is said: "The Tao is always present in
our Soul, but because we are lacking in our endeavor, we do not study
enough so we can't find out the clue of it."
In The Đại Thừa Chân Giáo,
on p. 118, it is written:
"All of
you must understand and remember
That the
Tao is within you,
Who has
good luck and good fate,
Will
encounter a teacher who will show him this mystery."
In the Collection of the
Holy Writings, 1972, on p. 165, it is written:
"The Tao
resides in the middle of your heart, and is not far,
If you
are determined, you can find It.
Buddha
or Immortal or God are then very close,
The
distance depends only on you."
Caodaism has shown us very
clearly, the residence of God in our body.
In the Collection of the
Holy Writings, 1968-1969, on p. 5, it is written:
"The key to unlock all the
mysteries, God has put in the highest place in each of you, dear
Disciples."
Where is the highest place
in us? It is our Third Ventricle, our Ni Wan Gong (Nê Hoàn Cung)
situated in the middle of our head. The Celestial Gate is there, God is
there, the Celestial Eye is there. The Paradise is there.
In the Đại Thừa Chân Giáo,
on p. 61. it is written: "What is the Mysterious Gate? It is The
Celestial Eye situated in the Ni Wan Gong, and is in fact the True
Religion..."
In p. 56, it is said: "What
is Caodai? It is the summit of the Mount Kun Lun (Côn Lôn Đỉnh), or the
Ni Wan (Nê Hoàn)... It belongs to the Celestial Realm...What is the
Celestial Gate? It is the Ni Wan Gong (Nê Hoàn Cung).
When the Soul can break
through the Celestial Gate, it will come into the realm of the Original
Spirit."
If The Celestial Eye resides
there, then The Tagathata Buddha is also there, Paradise is there. The
King of the Heart is there. It is then the meeting point of God and
man...
It is said in the Đại Thừa
Chân Giáo, p. 66:
"Everyone has the Bhutatatatha nature (The self existent pure Mind; Tính
Như Lai),
If it is
found, one will see that Paradise is in one self."
In the Collection of the
Holy Writings, p. 138, it is said:
" The
King of the Heart resides in man,
This is
also the place that God and Man meet together."
Caodaists believe that men
come from The Great Spiritual Light, and that they must cultivate
themselves to return to their original seats, to their original native
land.
It is said in the Collection
of The Holy Writings, 1970, p. 87, 185, 195, 198, 199, 200:
"You are
Spiritual Beings coming in this Transitory Realm,
To
transcend the position of Buddha and Immortal,
Man is
not destined nor withstanding all his attractions,
To stay
eternally in the earth."
Caodaism therefore accepts
Reincarnation, or Metempsychosis because everyone should evolve to
return at last to the One.
To evolve, the Soul must
pierce the Shell of Ignorance, called Avidya, or Maya that surrounds the
Spirit, and separate the Soul from the Spirit. The opacity of this Shell
vary with each individual.
Caodaism, being monist,
believes that everything proceeds from the One, therefore proclaims
universal love. A Caodaist must love man, and all other beings.
(Collection of the Holy Writings, 1972-1973, p. 24)
In the Collection of the
Holy Writings, 1972-1973, it is written:
"The Tao
being everywhere in the world,
It
proclaims only one word: Love,
Love of
other people, of oneself, and of everything,
In that
case only, true religion can thrive."
A true Caodaist is strictly
vegetarian, for the same reason.
Caodaim and mysticism.
What is then the highest
attainment of self-cultivation? It is the deep insight of the spiritual
void inside and the regaining of the perfect religion. (Collection of
the Holy Writings, 1972-1973, p. 157)
The highest attainment of
self-cultivation is then to become Immortal, Buddha or God.
"Tao is
nothing but God,
God is
Immortal, Buddha and Man,
Man when
illuminated become Immortal and Buddha,
Immortal
and Buddha, having Small Self, will be again on Earth."
(Collection of the Holy Writing,
1972, p. 170)
According to Caodaism,
self-cultivation aims toward becoming Immortal, Buddha, or God.
In the Collection of the
Holy Writing, 70-71, on p. 134, it is said:
"Self-cultivation aims toward becoming God,
We are
not destined to be men indefinitely..."
Therefore being in
possession of the Tao, is to return to the Point of the Tao in man.
"When we look at all beings,
we see that they are different in forms and names, but all of them
possess the Point of the Tao. This is God omnipotent, this is the Root
of mankind, this is Saint, Sage, Immortal, Buddha." (Collection of the
Holy Writings, 1970, p. 95)
This is called also
'possession of the One ', or 'union with God '... (Collection of the
Holy Writings, 1970, p. 207-208).
This is what we call using
the One to explain everything. The One is then the essence of the world,
the mechanism of all changes, and at the end of the world, man must
return to the One. This is the quintessence of the Monistic Theory...
"One is
All, dear Son,
If you
know how to sum it up: Everything pertains then only to one Principle,
Then you
can apply it to everything,
If not
this becomes only a kidding."
(Collection of the Holy Writings,
70-71, p. 210).
Caodaism aims toward
bringing Vietnam back to this Root.
"Where
are you going, Vietnam?
You must
go back to your God, your Original Root."
(Collection of the Holy Writings,
1970-1971, p. 215)
In dealing with Caodaism, I
study only its esoteric side, and neglect purposely all its exoteric
features.
Different aspects of
religion.
Religion is in fact a very
complicated phenomenon. But we can decompose it in many factors and
study it accordingly.
Every religion has its own
Ceremonies or Rites. Ceremonies are always based on prayer, incense,
music, and gesture. We can also consider all Sacraments as Ceremonies.
They are everything that pertains to our Five Sense organs. They are
therefore very childish.
Every religion has its own
Dogma. These Dogma try to satisfy our Intellect. They try to give us the
truth. They explain why we are here, and where we will go, after death.
Dogmas are false or true. But for the followers they are true.
Every religion has its own
morale...It deals with our ethical sense, or with our Soul... It tries
to give us a sense of right and wrong. It varies with all religions we
study. Christians for instance, keep Sunday as holiday, Islamic people
have their Friday. Buddhists show respect to the First and the Fifteenth
of a lunar moon and so on. If a Catholic doesn't attend mass on Sunday,
he commits a mortal sin, and goes to Hell, if he dies in this condition,
without being absolved by Penitence etc ... Morale pertains to the Soul.
Because it varies with the religion in question, it can't be the truth.
Every religion has its own
Esthetic. It aims to bring Beauty to religion. Each religion has its own
architecture. It talks to our esthetical sense.
Every religion has its
Mystical Life. It consists of a purest life, a life united with God or
in communion with God. It pertains to our Spirit. Mysticism varies with
religion. The true mystical life is a life in unison with God and
nature. A lesser degree talks only about communion with God, and not
Union. Some consider it as a long pilgrimage, some say that it is not
far from us, and is already in our self.
Caodaism has all these
different aspects of religion. Here, I try to emphasize only on its
Mystical aspect. All other aspects can be deduced because they are
artificial.
I study Caodaism on its
Monistic Theory and on its Mystical aspect, hoping that these two main
features englobe what is highest, noblest, and purest in its doctrine. I
have tried also to show that the Monistic Theory, and Mysticism are two
beams of the scale leading us to a true religion.
I hope, also, that the
Monistic Theory, because it can unify many religions and sects in the
world, will be used as the link between East and West and will show what
is the true religion for man.
See James Legge, Confucian Analects, Book Four, Ch. 15.
James Legge, The Work of Mencius, Li Lau, Part II, Chap. II, 4,
p. 317.
L'Enseignement de Ramakrisna, p. 256.
Dorothy Nelkin, The Creation Controversy, W. W. Norton and
Company, New York, London, 1982, p. 73-83.
Ibid. pp. 100-102.
Que Dieu soit reconnu pour vrai, p. 95.
Louis Pirot, La Sainte Bible, texte latin... avec un commentaire
exgénétique et théologique, p. 127.
Ibid. p. 127.
Ibid. p. 127.
Larousse, Pour connaitre la nature, p. 10.
Revue Planète, Edition Retz, No 18, p. 10.
Rene Sudre, Les Nouvelles Enigmes de l'univers, Payot, Paris, p.
220.
Andre Lamouche, La destinée humaine, p. 174.
Wilhelm/Baynes, The I Ching, Bollingen Series XIX, Princeton
University Press, p. 318.
James Legge, The Work of Mencius, Book IV, Part II, ch. 16.
Ibid. Book IV, part II, Ch. 16, p. 322.
TOC |
Preface | Chapters:
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9
10 11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19
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