Library - Theology - Đạo Cao Đài

Atheist Frontier - Questioning what's Real

Đạo Cao Đài (a word meaning "the highest place where God reigns" in the Vietnamese language, sometimes written as Dao Cao Dai, Caodaism, and Caodaiism) is a contemporary polytheistic religion that originated in 1926 CE in the southern Tây Ninh city in Vietnam. "Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ" is the full name for this religion, which means "great religion of the third revelation-and-salvation period."

Deities: Supernatural agents: Beliefs: Traditions:

God the father, and creator deity
Mother Buddha (less important than God)

Spirit of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen
Spirit of Victor Hugo
Spirit of Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm
Spirit of Joan of Arc

Before God existed, there was only Tao (from Tao Te Ching) which is nameless, formless, unchanging, and eternal
The Big Bang was the birth of God
God created the universe, and Yin and Yang

God is responsible for all Yang
Mother Buddha is responsible for all Yin

Mother Buddha is male because she is a part of Yang

Non-violence
Prayer
Vegetarianism
Veneration of ancestors

The three levels of spiritual attainment are taught through the Three Teachings, in the order of least difficult to most difficult: Saints, Sages, and Buddhas (only Buddhas are exempt from the birth-to-death cycle). Various stages of spiritual development are in the order of Human (con người), Angel (Thần), Saint (Thánh), Sage (Tiên), and Buddha (Phật).