Medieval
illustration of Hellin the Hortus deliciarum manuscript by Herrad of Landsberg
(c. 1180)
START
Religious
descriptions of the afterlife are very different. Of course, all of them are
hypotheses without any solid evidence, so it is impossible to say which one is
the most accurate. People who have had near-death experiences do report what
they saw, but these are not scientifically recognized. In general, most of what
they tell reflects their level of education and culture.
For
example, Vietnamese people will see the Ten Kings of Hell, a story they have
heard since childhood. Americans will see sinners being tortured in a blazing
fire, an image they know from the New Testament, etc. Stories of death and
resurrection are now widely seen on YouTube. Cao Đài followers should use a
middle way, that is, learn everything and compare to find similarities. From
there, a way to practice for themselves can be deduced.
Generally,
most religions present two realms: one is heaven, where the souls of good
people enjoy unlimited happiness. The other is hell, where the souls of sinners
are punished. Religions that do not preach reincarnation say that happiness or
pain will last forever. On the contrary, religions that believe in
reincarnation say that it only lasts for a short time, after which the soul
must be reincarnated as a human or an animal depending on the sins committed in
the previous life.
Some
religions say it is simply a place without reward or punishment, reserved for
all souls continuing their lives on earth. Some religions believe souls must
undergo a final test. The winners rise to a higher heavenly position and the
losers fall to a lower one. Finally, some religions have no concept of Hell at
all, such as Judaism, Hinduism or primitive Taoism.
Heaven and Hell, according to Christianity.
FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST.
Britannica
AI Chatbot (the artificial intelligence chat application of the Britannica
Dictionary) provides a few detailed examples as follows.
The
New Testament of Christianity says that Hell is a place of eternal punishment
for the wicked. There is an unquenchable
fire that burns day and night and there is no presence of God. The
duration and nature of the punishment are explained in many different ways.
Islam
calls Hell Jahannam. The Quran describes it as a place where punishment is
based on each person’s sins while they are alive. Only God (called Allah in
Islam) forgives sins and exempts souls from punishment.
In
Chinese mythology and religion, the concept of Hell combines Buddhist, modified
Taoist and folk beliefs. Hell is described as a ten-palace feudal court. Each
palace has a king, under whom are hideous demons with human bodies and animal
heads carrying out physical tortures depending on the severity of the sins
people committed in the previous life. After suffering punishment, the soul
will continue the cycle of reincarnation by being reincarnated in another body.
In short, most religions agree on the most important point:
the soul must be punished in Hell if it has violated moral laws in the previous
life. How it is punished depends on the culture and religion of each locality.
Statue
of King Yama in Quan Âm Phật Đài
Pagoda in Nhà Mát Ward, Bạc Liêu (Vietnam)
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Strictly
speaking, the above hypotheses have long formed both advantages and
disadvantages for human society.
Advantages.
On
the beneficial side, the concept of Hell is a very effective deterrent for
those who intend to commit crimes in society. They will not dare to do evil
things that their religion or community does not allow. Sometimes it forms a
good moral habit for the whole community. For example, the story of Moggallāna.
According
to Northern School Buddhist legend, Moggallāna successfully practiced many
supernatural powers, thanks to which he knew that his mother was punished to be
a hungry ghost in Hell because of many evil deeds during her life. He asked
Buddha about a way to save his mother. Buddha taught him to prepare offerings
on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month and mobilize lots of monks to
join in praying for her to be freed from her sins. By following Buddha's words,
his mother was liberated.
Buddha
also taught that those who want to show filial piety to their parents should
follow this method (Vu Lan Bồn Pháp). From there, the Vu Lan festival was born
(Wikipedia 2024). In countries like Vietnam and China, on the 15th day of the
seventh lunar month, people hold ceremonies to show filial piety to their
deceased parents and visit the living. This is a commendable custom because it
at least brings joy to the elderly in their final days.
Disadvantages.
In
terms of disadvantage, people gradually get used to it, so they are no longer
afraid of Hell. If somebody can be absolved from their sins by mobilizing lots
of monks to pray, then just hold a grand ceremony and that's it. Nowadays, a
lot of powerful people can financially afford to mobilize thousands of monks to
chant sutras continuously for a whole month.
A paper car is being burned to send to the dead
Not
only that, the view that in Hell bribes are also accepted as in the mortal
world is gradually formed. They cite the story of Journey to the West by Wu
Cheng'en. Having received the Buddhist scriptures, the monk Xuanzang opened
them only to see that there was no writing. In the end, he had to give the
Buddhist disciples Ananda and Kasyapa his golden alms bowl to receive the
scriptures with writing. Although the story of Journey to the West is
fictional, lots of people believe it is true.
In
fact, Wu Cheng'en alluded to a much deeper Buddhist philosophy. That is, to
attain wisdom (Buddhist scriptures), one must give up material value (the
golden alms bowl). However, most readers only rely on what they are used to
seeing in their daily lives. That is bribery, an uncontrollable practice in
poor and illiterate societies where officials have absolute political power.
Therefore,
people also applied it to the spiritual world by spending tons of money on
large funerals. The ancient Chinese also buried money, property, concubines and
servants with the dead. Later, they found this barbaric and too costly, so they
burned fake money, paper objects, or paper figures (joss paper or votive paper)
instead.
From
that perspective, the custom of burning votive paper was first formed in China,
during the Tang Dynasty around 618, and then gradually spread to neighboring
countries. It is now an extremely profitable production and business industry.
In Vietnam, this custom has developed to the point that there is even a place specializing
in trading it, Hàng Mã Street in Hanoi. Votive paper now includes life-sized
modern items, such as villas, expensive cars, new phones, etc. This custom has
been criticized by many Vietnamese Buddhist monks as not good, but the results
have not improved much.
However,
the serious harm lies in the fact that the spiritual realm is looked down upon
and equated with the mundane world. Thus, gradually, the ranks of religious
dignitaries, even the sacred positions such as Genii, Saints, Immortals and Buddhas,
will be easily bought and sold. People will find every way, even cruel ones, to
make a lot of money and then buy Buddha positions for themselves or their loved
ones.
The court of the King of Hell
In
fact, Cao Đài teaches that although they are praised as Buddhas in this world,
they cannot deceive the Perfect Divine
Beings when they return to the Cung Hiệp Thiên Hành Hoá (Palace
of Celestial Alliance of Education) in Heaven. They do not understand that all
realms have different laws, so the laws of this world cannot be applied in
Heaven (The Eternal Sacred Path - by Đức Hộ Pháp).
CAO ĐÀI
In
Cao Đài religion, there is also the concept of hell. It is mentioned
sporadically in the holy words, sutras or many sermons under many different
names. The most important information is concentrated in the following three
places.
Repentance Prayer.
This
is the longest prayer of Cao Đài religion (444 verses). The prayer does not
mention where Hell is, but it is called by many different names: Âm Ty, A Tỳ,
Âm Đài, Âm Cung, Âm Cảnh and Diêm Đình. This place is governed is by a king
called Diêm Đế (Yama). Under his authority are the Yakshas and Wuchang (the
demons who take souls of the dead to Hell and torture them).
Punishments
for souls who committed crimes include being shackled, having their tongues cut
off, being beaten, being ground, sawed, burned or pounded, having their bellies
cut open, being boiled in a copper cauldron, being slashed or stabbed, having
their bodies hung on sharp hooks, being dismembered by ferocious dogs, being
thrown into a hot pond, being tied to a hot copper pole and being eaten by
ferocious tigers. There are also punishments for the next life, such as being
reincarnated as a horse, a buffalo or a dog.
Tortured souls in Hell
The
Cao Đài repentance prayer is nothing more than a version of the Chinese legend
of Hell that has existed for thousands of years. The punishment is a copy of
the cruel torture of the tyrants of ancient times. Anyone who hears it will
feel scared to death.
Only
those who are a little observant will wonder whether these terrifying
punishments have any effect on the dead! Because according to Cao Đài doctrine,
after death, the perispirit and the soul leave the body to return to the
Eternal Divine Realm. No holy words have ever taught that the perispirit and
the soul are tortured as painfully as the body!
His Holiness Hộ Pháp’s sermon.
On
the Third Lunar month 8, Year of the Buffalo (April 5, 1949) at the Holy
Temple, His Holiness Hộ Pháp promised: “One day I will
describe everything to you because I have not been allowed to go to the Palace
of Hell. The Supreme Being has promised when I leave my body, before returning
to the sacred realm of eternal life, I will be allowed to pass by there to free
the souls of those who have suffered injustice and sin unable to ascend. The
Supreme Being and the sacred beings have explained to me what that scene is
like so that one day I will go there without feeling strange or afraid.”
However,
after that, there was no sermon in which His Holiness Hộ Pháp described the
Palace of Hell. This is a great loss for the sincere believers. He had already
performed an astral journey to the Eternal Spiritual Realm and described it,
but not the Palace of Hell. Anyway, through the above statement, it can be
temporarily understood that place is called the Diêm Cung. Lots of souls who have
sinned or died unjustly are stuck there and unable to return to Heaven. His
Holiness Hộ Pháp can free them if he passes by there.
The Holy Words by Thất Nương and Bát Nương.
The
holy teachings of the 9th of the Fourth Lunar month, Year of the Dog (May 21,
1934) by Thất Nương Nữ Phật (the Seventh Buddha Lady) and the Tenth Lunar
month, Year of the Monkey (November 1932) by Bát Nương Nữ Phật (the
Eighth Buddha Lady) explain in the most detail the concept of Hell in Cao Đài
religion (Thánh Ngôn Hiệp Tuyển II). Here is a summary of the main points of
the teachings:
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
- This is the rest
stop called Âm Quang (Light of Yin), located halfway between
Heaven and the earthly world for souls to disintegrate (leave the body, that
is, die) and enter a new body (that is, reincarnate).
- Souls stay here to examine themselves to see whether they
have done good or bad things in their past lives. The time for self-examination
can be several hundred years, even
thousands of years. Souls fear this station most because they cannot continue to go to Heaven owing to getting stuck
there.
- The old names such as Âm Cảnh, Ðịa Ngục, Diêm Đình, Phong Đô,
Địa Phủ, etc., along with the punishments were invented by superstitious
ancient people.
- Here, there are two sacred beings, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
and Thất Nương
Nữ Phật, who are responsible for helping and educating the souls.
- It is possible to avoid Âm Quang by examining oneself,
repenting, being vegetarian and praying to the Supreme Being while still alive.
Thanh Tịnh Đại Hải Chúng (Sea of Tranquility)
In
Cao Đài teachings, besides Âm Quang, there is another equally important term.
That is Thanh Tịnh Đại Hải Chúng (a tranquil place for pure souls). Information
about this place includes.
According
to Cao Đài Dictionary by Hiền Tài Nguyễn Văn Hồng - Đức Nguyên, this is the
place for souls waiting for the Toà Tam Giáo (Three Religion Court) to decide
whether they have enough merit for a divine position or not. For example, Mr. Hai Chiếm of
Phạm Môn had to wait here before being appointed as Thần Hoàng (City God) in
Ninh Bình. Another example is Tiên Nương Đoàn Thị Điểm also waited here until
she finished writing the book Nữ Trung Tùng Phận before being able to return to her old divine
position (October 26, Year of the Cat - Hộ Pháp’s Sermons).
Tam
Tông Miếu Pagoda, Cao Thắng Street, Saigon, Vietnam.
In
addition, there is a comment from His Holiness Hộ Pháp in the petition for
redemption for Mr. Võ Văn Đợi by his fellow believers at Vạn Pháp Cung: “…
Đợi was dethroned because he refused the Twelve Divine Levels. Today, according
to Thiên Điều (Divine Law), he must reincarnate and practice from scratch
again. If he can stay in Thanh Tịnh Đại Hải and practice in the Spiritual
Realm, it will be a blessing for himself…” (Cao Đài Dictionary - Hiền
Tài Nguyễn Văn Hồng)
From
the above information, it can be inferred that the Thanh Tịnh Đại Hải Chúng is
one level higher than the Âm Quang. Âm Quang is for all sinful souls while the
Thanh Tịnh Đại Hải Chúng is for the souls who are about to receive a mission or
achieve a certain divine status. However, in both places, Thất Nương
Nữ Phật teaches and helps them.
An opinion on the inconsistency.
At
this point, perhaps everyone can see the inconsistency between the Repentance
Sutra and the teachings of Thất
Nương and Bát
Nương. The Repentance Sutra mentions terrible tortures whereas
the two female Buddhas teach that after death, the souls only remain in Âm
Quang for self-examination.
According
to Cao Đài history, the Repentance Sutra was given to Minh Lý Đạo (Tam Tông Miếu)
through its mediums. When the Cao Đài religion was first established, the
Caodaist Sacerdotal Council did not have any sutras to recite, so they followed
the order of the Supreme Being to request it to be used as the sutra of Cao
Đài. Therefore, when the religion had just been established for a few years,
some Northern intellectuals suggested that the Repentance Sutra be removed
because it was full of superstition and was not written by Cao Đài mediums.
However, the Caodaist Sacerdotal Council did not agree and still keeps it to
this day (Khái Niệm Về Địa Ngục Trong Kinh Điển Cao Đài Có Liên Quan Đến Bài Kinh
Sám Hối - Hiền Tài Nguyễn Long Thành).
Thus,
it can be concluded that the concept of Hell in Cao Đài is explained by two
hypotheses. The first one is according to the traditional viewpoint through the
scriptures of Minh Lý Đạo - Tam Tông Miếu and the second is according to the
holy words of Thất Nương and Bát Nương. According to the mundane mind, these
two hypotheses create a paradox even though they both talk about the same
issue. Up to now, there has been no official document of the Caodaist
Sacerdotal Council to resolve this paradox.
SUMMARY
Whether
or not it is necessary to resolve the above paradox is the responsibility of
the Caodaist Sacerdotal Council. As for us ordinary believers, we should
consider it a koan for practice. Whoever can answer this koan will attain a
certain level of enlightenment through the testimony of the divine beings.
The
important thing is this paradox should not incite you to fall into any conflicts
by defending one view or attacking the other. Conflict will eventually lead to
forming sects as some of our predecessors have mistakenly done in the past.
This is certainly not pleasing to the Supreme Being at all.
In
my personal opinion, the similarity between the two hypotheses is that the
guilty soul must be in Âm Quang or Diêm Đình for a period of time. Thus, my
goal in religious practice is to try to avoid committing crimes, not to find
arguments to prove whether Âm Quang or Diêm Đình is right. After all, everyone
will definitely know which point of view is correct. For those who believe that
there is no Hell, I'm afraid it will then be too late!
*
Từ Chơn.
Sài Gòn 21 Oct 2024.
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