GLOBALIZATION AND ESOTERICISM IN

CAODAISME

* by Chris Hartney

" I have spoken with Mr Giao and also Tam, and I have done a bit of research on the topic of GLOBALISATION AND ESOTERICISM. The following points are directed towards an ACADEMIC approach and their relevance needs to be discussed further. Also I have kept in mind the need to hint at the state of the religion in Vietnam at the moment, which is why I repeatedly link into esotericism in Vietnam, or I should say the lack thereof, because of the lack of administrative control in Vietnam " .

1. Caodaist Esotericism - in theory.

PRINCIPAL ONE: As long as an adept meets certain requirements of the Religion, the attainment of enlightenment is possible within Caodaism. Moksha or "release" or "attainment" is often referred to by Caodaists as "returning to God the Father." This is emphasised by the Ho Phap’s numerous journeys in order to receive instructions on how to realise the Religion on earth.

Note the Ho Phap’s first sermon "Divine Path to Eternal Life." Where he explains how his vocation as a medium finally led to his journey back to Duc Chi Ton who explained the ways of meditation to him. The Ho Phap on his astral-travels was also able to bring back many boons for the religion such as the spirit protecting Kim Mau Hao (dragon-dogs) that guard all Caodai temples.

PRINCIPAL TWO: This liberation or return to God is structured. This means that over a certain period an adept attached to a meditation centre can "Attain the Way." This attaining was said to have taken around 100 days for the Ho Phap (- is this the same for others?) It was made clear to many adepts that though they may not return back to the Godhead in their lifetime, they could be spiritually accompanied by the soul of the Ho Phap who would lead them to the "book without words" - which would give an account of their spiritual merit. The account kept in this book could then encourage adepts to increase their spiritual/religious responsibilities or change their life in order to increase their spiritual merit.

PRINCIPAL THREE: Esotericism that has astral travel/meditation (tam tinh) seems designed to make adepts familiar with the structure/layout of the afterlife. The Ho Phap describes the afterlife in his first sermon so that adepts will know where they sh

ould go when they die.

The soul when released from its mortal body is conceived of as something that can be easily confused and desirous of remaining with familiar things on earth. In the way that religions such as Orphic cults in the Roman Empire revealed the plans of the underword to its initiates, so too does Caodaism. However secrecy is not so great an issue. The gateway to the path that leads back to the Godhead starts in the Great Divine Temple, or its equivalent in the spiritual realm.

After passing through the first temple - or Hiep Thien Dai - the soul must make its way up the nine steps of the Cuu Trung Dai. Each step should take nine days, and so there are Caodaist prayers to be said by the family of the dead on each nine days after death, up to the 81 days after death. On each step the soul confronts a divine being who confronts or challenges the soul. Each step also has a female buddha - one of the nine handmaidens of Quan Yin (Boddhisattva of Mercy) the soul is encouraged to appeal to these buddhas for help. The female buddhas can offer salvation. If the soul has enough merit to pass beyong the nine-steps of the Cuu Trung Dai, it may enter the eight-sided Bat Quai Dai. Only by passing through the correct side can the soul then continue upwards. The other seven sides lead downwards back into the cycle of rebirth.

PRINCIPAL FOUR: Although "return to the Godhead" (Duc Chi Ton) can be couched in Buddhist terms as "liberation" or "buddhahood" there is much that is Taoist/Chinese folk-religion about this process. A soul that has attained enlightenment does not proceed to the sort of "nirvana" that Gottama Sidatha attained - one where there is no return or no connection between this world and "heaven." Once a soul has been united with a Godhead this soul can be sent back down. Either to pass through and observe life, to help, or carry out a particular mission.

In this way great souls are conceived of as the mandarins of the Great Emperor in the sky "Cao Dai". If a great soul fails to lead a correct life when sent back to earth they can again be trapped in the cycle of rebirth. This process of attainment by return to God the Father and after this, return to earth to carry out a mission continues until the coming of Maitreya Buddha, who will chair the "Great Meeting" where the great souls will be assessed in a kind of "final judgement" that seems to imply the end of time, or at least the end of our planet (which is number 68 out of 72 different earths in the Caodaist cosmology). Maitreya Buddha is thus seen as a millenial figure.

PRINCIPAL FIVE: When an adept is able to try to attain liberation, he or she must be supervised by both a master and a helper. An example of a master would be the Ho Phap himself who through astral-travel accompanied the souls of many adepts as they journeyed out of their bodies to visit and become familiar with the spirit realm.

2. Caodaist Esotericism - in practise.There are three practical ways of "returning" to the Godhead.

Through the Cuu Trung Dai - or administrative hierarchy of the religion.

Through the 12 levels or celestial grades - being the Charity/Good works branch connected to the Hiep Thien Dai.

By being connected to a Meditation Centre.

To join the Cuu Trung Dai, The Charity Branch or to be admitted to a meditation centre, one must be pure of heart, agree to all of the basic rules of Caodaism and fulfill, to the best of your ability, the Tam Lap or three duties of the Religion. These duties are: To uphold virtue; To do good deeds, particularly for the religion and to speak the virtuous words of the religion.

Furthermore, entering the esoteric side of the Religion requires a dissasociation from the mundane world. Adepts are allowed to remain married, but one has to be free of any family responsibilities, or any problem in the family or in life, anything that would cause a disturbance to the adept. The adept must be free of any secular requirements. And be accepted into a meditation house.

Thus "liberation" is based on two assumed models of living. The first model is directed at those who early on dedicate themselves to the administration of the religion and/or its Charity branch. It is implied that serving the religion to the best of your ability as an administrator at the higher levels will lead to liberation - particularly as the nine levels of the Cuu Trung Dai and the nine levels of the Cuu Trung Dai Hierarchy are modeled on the nine levels of the immediate afterworld.

The second life-style model is based on the adept who chooses "the way of humanity." This adept works to establish a household and a family.

Towards the end of his/her life, if he or she is able to distance themselves from their life and family, that may be permitted to enter a meditation house. (is this dissociation from the family easier for men?) If an adept has been unable to provide for his/her family, it would be considered irresponsible for them to enter the esoteric side of the religion.

What currently prevents Caodaists from entering the esoteric side of the religion is not only familial responsibilities but political and historical effects.

There are three major meditation centres in Tay Ninh. The first is the "Tri Hue Cung" sometimes referred to as the Pope’s retreat. It was here that the Ho Phap and other members of the hierarchy instructed adepts in the ways of meditation.

The "Tri Giac Cung" is a meditation centre under the jurisdiction of the charitable body.

The "Van Phap Cung" is referred to constantly as the third meditation retreat, but currently it is no more than a hut where a farming commune is based.

The "Tri Hue Cung" is the most famous of these meditation centres because of its association with the spirit of the Ho Phap who was the master without parallel in the Caodaist world. But I am yet to find out more details about these centres. The most significant problem for esotericism is a lack of masters. After the Ho Phap’s death, no significant esoteric leaders seem to have rising in the Caodaist ranks.

And the situation of esotericism in Caodaism was drastically changed in 1975.

For some time the religion was closed down by the Communist Government. But slowly adepts brought some of its institutions back to semi-official life (does Sergei know what has been happening in the above mentioned meditation centres in the meantime?).

1975 also saw the start of the massive Caodaist diaspora that spread the religion around the world and gave it its truely global aspect.

But here we have the spread of a religion around the world that dutifully looks to the centre - Tay Ninh - for leadership. It is a community that considers deeply what the leadership in Tay Ninh might want, but of course that leadership is not there, because of the current political situation. The Holy See in Tay Ninh cannot officially help the Caodaist global community. Help and advice comes instead from members of the old hierarchy who remain in Tay Ninh carrying out a delicate game of balance between what the religion hopes to achieve and what the Vietnamese Goverment will permit, particularly as it speaks through the management committee, which is established to control the religion. This committee has no spiritual authority.

An "underground" network of informal contacts has been established to address the esoteric life of the religion. And those Caodai adepts who feel they need to investigate the esoteric side of the religion do so on their own. So for example in Tay Ninh I saw evidence of trance-state meditation leading to automatic writing. Such an activity was not encouraged by the religion before 1975. All official seances and automatic writing were to take place in the Cung Dao of the Great Divine Temple. But one small group of adepts pass esoteric writings between themselves as they are developed from automatic writings. Also in Sydney there are some who practise "tam tien" but very warily and with great care. The problem is that currently all these people are denied access to a meditation centre, and denied access to a master.

Thus - esoteric globalisation in Caodaism has been effected by the political situation in Vietnam. Caodaists around the world denied the meditative structure established by the religion, continue to practise esotericism, but this is done personally and normally without contact with others involved in the same pursuit. In Vietnam and around the world the exoteric practises of the religion continue in full view of any observer. Esotericism, however is a different matter.