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What is CaoDaism?

CaoDaism, a novel religion originating in Southeast Asia, recognizes God as Source of the Universe and all souls, origin of all religions, Whom manifested differently at different epochs and is called by myriad Names. It is a universal religion which considers all religions One. It teaches human beings, who have all sprung from the same Source, to live in harmony, in love, in justice and in peace, in universal sisterhood and brotherhood, to cultivate themselves to seek and be reunited with God in their hearts.

CaoDaism propounds that God has come and expressed Himself in a new Way, Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do, or CaoDaism, in 1926 in Vietnam. The philosophy of CaoDaism is the essence of many religions united. Cao Dai literally means Supreme Palace or Abode on High (where God reigns). Figuratively, the word Cao Dai is used as God's symbolic name.

Is There A Universal Religion?
Yes, there is. It is called CaoDai. Cao Dai is a temporary name that the Supreme Being has used through divine messages, and it denotes a universal religion with the principle that ALL RELIGIONS ARE ONE AND OF ONE ORIGIN.

How Can This Be, While Current Religions Are So Outwardly Different?
It is simply the truth being seen from different angles. Indeed, CaoDai Holy messages from the Supreme Being have stated: "Formerly, people lacked transportation and therefore did not know each other. I then founded at different epochs and in different areas, five branches of the Tao: Confucianism, Geniism, Christianity, Taoism, and Buddhism, each based on the customs of the race. In present days, transportation has been improved, and people have come to know each other better, but do not live in harmony because of the very multiplicity of those religions. That's why I have deigned to unite all of those religions into one to bring them back to the primordial unity."

How Are Different Religions Really One?
There is always Love and Justice as principles in any of them. Justice is "Do to others what you want others to do to you; don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you". Everyone belonging to any religion ( or none ) has a spirit which is part of the Supreme Being's spirit. This spirit is called by different names by different religions. It is called microcosm by Zoroastrianism, true self by Hinduism, Buddha's heart by Buddhism, God's heart by Taoism, soul by Christianity, Naf-matmainnah by Islam........All religions' goal is to guide human beings to self cultivate in order that the human spirit may become one with the Supreme Being's spirit. In other words, esoteric practice of all religions would lead human beings to the same ultimate goal, which is self realization.

How Did CaoDaism Begin?
In 1925 Ngo Van Chieu had a vision of the Supreme Being, who informed him that all of the world's religions should return to the one from which they originally sprang, and gave this as a message to be delivered to the world. Instructions were given that The Almighty be represented by the symbol of the All-seeing Eye, and that further instructions would be sent by spiritual beings in the service of God.

Ngo, a Vietnamese who was living on Phu Quoc Island south of Cambodia at the time, was instrumental in the spread of the message of Cao Dai throughout Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam. Yet as an esoterist, Ngo would not accept a public role as the leader of the developing hierarchy. A structured religion grew out of the original revelations of Ngo Van Chieu, the headquarters and Holy See of which are located in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam. Despite the structure of Caodaism becoming so regimented over the years, it was essentially and at its heart an esoteric religion, being based so recently on direct revelation from God; and so it continued to be. At the central core of the Caodaist institution exist a group of mediums and spiritualists who continued communication with the Divine.

The philosophy and moral code of the CaoDaists developed from a unification of the most influential schools of thought of the day in Vietnam: Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, Geniism, and Confucianism, and each branch's official costumes differed slightly. For fifty years the movement grew in scope, breadth and influence, but in 1975 the powerful presence of CaoDaism was usurped in Vietnam by a communist-based government as well as being destroyed in Cambodia by the genocidal Khmer Rouge; at the same time, however, the way was opened for awareness of CaoDaism to be spread by the multitude of people escaping Southeast Asia during this upset of power and since. For over 20 years, however, the message of Cao Dai languished relatively unseen and unheard by the majority, waiting for its ordained time. Now as the new millennium dawns, a new impetus is created and new messages are given as to its meaning for new people in new places. Amercicans are beginning to discover the value of the original esoteric form of CaiDaism, and in much the same way as Tibetan Buddhism has been opened to many, CaoDaism begins the process of disseminating its valuable esoterism and closely-held information to the West, little by little. The first temple to open itself to the influx and acceptance of Westerners is underway in Riverside, California. Its leaders have the desire to begin to relate their esoteric traditions in English to Americans, so that the first and main message received from the Supreme Being, that we all are One and must reunite under The One Nameless Divinity, can be delivered, and that a path of esoteric practices toward that end (reunification of the self with God) may begin.

How Do CaoDaists Meditate?
One practices whatever form of meditation seems appropriate to them, but the following exercise describes the form which is usually used by CaoDaists: This exercise is a beginning process to transfer vital matter (visible) into vital energy and then spiritual energy (invisible), so we are beginning the path from the mundane to the sublime in this way. (When our drives are physical/sexual, we create a human fetus; when we focus our drives toward the spiritual, we are working toward creating a sacred (spiritual) "fetus", which will grow into the buddha (spiritually enlightened) state and reunite us with the Creator/Original Source.
  • 1. Sit with spine straight.
  • 2. Inhale, directing the force of your breath past the heart chakra (where it is imbued with the fire principle) to the navel chakra (sacral plexus).
  • 3. While holding the breath two seconds, transfer the energy of the inhalation into the root chakra at the base of the spine.
  • 4. Exhaling, direct the energy from the breath up through the spine into the crown chakra at the top of the head. Along the way the breath is imbued with the water principle, and the "steam" (from the fire principle) helps the third eye to begin to open. Meditate upon your breathing in this way daily. The key to success is absolute sincerity. One should be sincere in their goal, which is to come back to the self in their heart to be unified with the Supreme Being.

Does CaoDaism Worship Jesus?

CaoDaism recognizes the divinity of the Christ and Christianity is one of the original and principal elements of CaoDaism. Many CaoDaists worship Jesus as the Divine in human form.

How Does CaoDaism Relate to Islam?
We wholeheartedly agree with the basic tenet of Islam: "There is no God but God." In other words, God is One, and we are all simply worshipping different manifestations of the same Power.

The Mother Goddess In CaoDaism

In Chapter I of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu states:
The Dao which can be told is not the Universal Dao,
The name which can be named is not the Eternal Name,
The nameless is the fountainhead of the universe;
The named is the Mother of all beings.
In CaoDaism, the Goddess is seen as the manifestation and embodiment of the outer world (yin) including the entire Universe. In other words, we exist within Her form, and without Her, our own manifestations would not be possible, is this not the true definition of a Mother? Her properties and domain is that which is visible and manifest: Our bodies, our world and everything visible which it contains. Every CaoDai temple complex contains her temple, and she is worshipped as our Creatrix. The donning of simple white clothing symbolizes the equality of children in the eyes of a mother (in the West there is no hierarchy of followers), as well as the purity of the esoteric realm we aspire to. Our spirit is from God the Yang Element, the Unseen, the spiritual Almighty. That Spiritual Home is what we strive to reach; yet we are closest to our Mother at this point in which we have physical presense. She provides everything to us until that point of spiritual illumination when we become one with the nil and reach enlightenment; She is the main element of our physical lives until we are retrobirthed back to our Source.

The Tao Te Ching continues:
Having no desire, one can comprehend the Mystery; Ever desiring, one instead sees the manifestations. These two realities spring from the same source but differ in name;
This appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness - The gate to all mystery!
In the West we have pictured the Goddess in many forms, and in CaoDaism in the West we will continue to use all those symbols of worship; for as God is One to the CaoDaist, so is Goddess. As with the myriad names of God, She too is replete with them. In the tradition of CaoDaism, we see All as One; truly both Mother and Father are also one, but we are twin-element beings, dual in our very nature, of two eyes and two brains and two genders, and as a matter of course we will find a way to differentiate all which surrounds us, even unto that which created us. The unadulterated reality is that the All That Is is of that elusive Single Element, of One All-Encompassing Eye, of One Mind, and no gender.
Nam Mô CAO ÐÀI Tiên Ông Ð?i B? Tát Ma Ha Tát


How Can I Learn More?
The best way to learn for yourself the principles and practices of esoteric CaoDaism is to communicate directly with someone in the movement who has learned them. The source for the above esoteric introduction is Dr. Hum Dac Bui, who is in charge of building the temple at Riverside, CA. His address is:

Hùm Ð?c Bùi, M.D.
1608 Smiley Heights Drive,
Redlands, CA 92373

He can also be reached on the internet email:
HumB630@juno.com Or

Ngasha Beck, a volunteer helping to bring CaoDai texts out in English, can be reached at:
P.O. Box 694 Keithville, LA 71047-0694
Internet Email:
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