Âm Quang and Âm Ty.
According
to Cao Đài doctrine, after a person dies, the Chơn Linh (soul) and the Chơn Thần
(perispirit) separate from the body to return to their
original place in the eternal sacred realm. The sequence of the journey is
described through the Tuần Cửu prayers and especially His Holiness Hộ Pháp
recounted it in great detail in 35 sermons on the Divine Path to Eternal Life (collected by the Shorthand Department -
published and copyrighted by the Holy See).
Those
who have done evil in this world must go to a place that people often call
Hell. Currently, the Caodaist Sacerdotal Council explains this place with two
pieces of information.
The
first is the Repentance Sutra in the book Kinh Thiên Đạo Thế Đạo. This sutra
was written by the mediums of Minh Lý Đạo (Tam Tông Miếu Pagoda, Cao Thắng
Street, Saigon). When Cao Đài was first established, there were no sutras to
recite, so the Caodaist Sacerdotal Council requested this sutra to be used as a
Cao Đài sutra according to the order of the Supreme Being. The Repentance Sutra
calls Hell by many names such as Âm Ty, A Tỳ, Âm Đài, Âm Cung, Âm Cảnh and Diêm
Đình. Here, sinful souls are tortured with horrible punishments then
reincarnated as humans or animals to continue paying their debts. In short,
this concept is exactly like the story of the Ten Courts of Hell according to
ancient Chinese folk beliefs that most Vietnamese people know.
The
second is the holy teachings of Thất Nương (May 21, 1934) and Bát Nương
(November 1932). These two articles were written by Cao Đài mediums and printed
in the Collection of Divine Messages. The two Ladies taught that the place is
called Âm Quang (Yin Light), where sinful souls can purify their minds and
examine their sins before reincarnation. This concept does not mention physical
torturers, but the scary thing is that the time spent in Âm Quang is extremely long, possibly up to thousands of
years.
The statue of Evil God in front of the Holy Temple, Tây Ninh.
Obviously,
these two views are somewhat contradictory. However, after a century of
operation, the Caodaist Sacerdotal Council has not yet had any official
explanation for this contradiction. Please note that Thất Nương and Bát Nương
call this place Âm Quang (Yin Light), a new name that no religion has used
before. From now on, Âm Quang would be mentioned in this article instead of Địa
Ngục (Hell).
To avoid the Âm Quang.
Personally,
as an ordinary believer, I think that the paradox of those two hypotheses is
not important. Both have one thing in common: those who do not do evil will not
be stuck there. So to avoid the Âm Quang, you must avoid doing evil in this
life.
However,
this is a difficulty in the Hạ Ngươn (the Last Cycle) because good and evil are
no longer as clear and easily recognized as the two statues of Good God and
Evil God in front of the Holy Temple. Sometimes, in the world, one commits a
crime, but is not punished in the spiritual world, as in the case of Mr. Vương
Quan Kỳ, who founded the Cầu Kho sect. As a result, he is guilty according to
the Eighth Caodaist Decree. However, His Holiness Hộ Pháp said that Mr. Kỳ was
still allowed to freely cross the bridge of light to the Eight Trigrams
Platform. Normally, a sinful soul will fall into the Bích Hải (Emerald Sea)
while crossing this bridge.
The
teachings of Thất Nương and Bát Nương have an additional hopeful element. Thất
Nương Diêu Trì Cung teaches: “…So that place is where to examine oneself. If only all human
beings knew how to examine themselves before their death, then they would
definitely avoid the Âm Quang. After all, even though they commit lots of sins
in their lives, they will still stay away from the Âm Quang if they know how to
repent and ask the Supreme Being for salvation at the last moment…”
(Collection of Divine Messages II)
Good God and Evil God according to Chinese folklore.
In
particular, on the Second Lunar Month 4th, Year of the Buffalo (March 3, 1949),
His Holiness Hộ Pháp also advised followers to examine themselves: “Souls govern themselves. You
should remember that. Especially you, brothers and sisters, must know that
secret to awaken yourself in this world. You must govern yourself first.” And on the Second Lunar Month 12th, Year of
the Buffalo (March 11, 1949), “That is why the noble souls who have attained enlightenment left
a very simple method. People are still following it, but do not know that this
method is very important in self-liberation. That is Ngô Nhựt Tam Tỉnh Ngô
Thân, that is, every day I make self-examination of three things.”
According
to Buddhism, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is present in Âm Quang to help sinful
souls. Now, the Cao Đài divine messages say that Thất Nương Diêu Trì Cung is
also there to help and teach the sinful female souls. Therefore, the key to
avoiding the Âm Quang is to examine oneself and repent before death. If you are
unfortunately stuck in Âm Quang, according to the new teachings of Cao Đài, you
must also examine yourself with the help of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Thất
Nương, without being tortured in pain.
At
first glance, self-examination seems easy. However, it is not easy at all if
you think about it. We ordinary people are only good at scrutinizing others to
find mistakes, but it is very difficult to see our own faults. The Bible says:
“Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log
in your own eye?”
Therefore,
in Âm Quang, self-examination takes hundreds of years, even thousands of years
despite the help of the two Buddhas. So let’s try to find out what people on earth have
thought and done about this method.
Statue of Socrates in Louvre
Self-examination in the West.
In
fact, in the West, the concept of self-examination has been mentioned for a
long time. The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates (470 - 399 BC), who is
considered the founder of Western philosophy, emphasized the importance of
self-examination, for it is the foundation of his philosophy. He is famous for
the statement: "The life without
self-examination is not worth living." (AI
Britannica Chatbot 2024)
He
believes that each individual must examine themselves to cultivate morality and
nourish their soul. Basically, after an action, they must ask themselves what
they did? Was it moral? and then answer themselves sincerely. If the action was
evil, they must repent and promise themselves not to do it again.
For
more than 2,000 years, Western peoples have followed Socrates' thoughts. So
what about today? Let's listen to some contemporary scholars.
Dr.
Michael W. Austin, Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University, USA,
said in a post at:
Self-examination
is one of many traditional practices we should incorporate into our lives. In a
discussion of this, contemporary philosopher James Gould said that
self-examination is “The constant monitoring and evaluation of our own morality.”
The Dalai Lama
Both
ancient and modern people advocate this practice. Note that it should be done
twice a day. In the morning, think about what you have to do next, focusing on
your responsibilities for the day. In the evening, review what you have done.
During the end-of-day review, ask yourself a number of questions and answer
them. An example is Seneca, the Roman philosopher who died in 65 AD, who asked
himself: “What bad habits did I break today?” “What temptations did I
resist?” “How am I better than yesterday?”
We can
also ask ourselves what qualities we have demonstrated: courage, honesty,
compassion or something else. Have I respected others? Have I been fair to
myself and others? Or we can choose a simple question suggested by the Dalai
Lama: “Did I have a kind heart today?”
Self-examination in the East
What
about the East, where major religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and
Confucianism originated? First of all, let me repeat the saying “Every day I make
self-examination of three things” that
His Holiness Hộ Pháp mentioned above. This is a saying of the Chinese sage
Zengzi (505 – 435 BC), one of the four Saints of Confucianism. The original
text is as follows:
Sino-Vietnamese: Ngô nhật tam tỉnh ngô thân: Vị nhân mưu nhi bất trung hồ? Dữ bằng hữu giao nhi bất tín hồ? Truyền
bất tập hồ?
Vietnamese: Every day I make self-examination of three
things: Do I work with all my heart while doing something for somebody else? Do I trust my friends while interacting with
them? Do I completely study what my teacher taught
me? (Online Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary)
Vatican City, Rome, Italy
The renowned British dictionary Britannica
adds that self-examination is an important aspect of many Eastern religions.
Taoism, for example, emphasizes harmony with the Tao, which is the nature of
the universe. Taoist believers are encouraged to examine themselves through
such methods as fasting, meditation and self-improvement. In Buddhism,
self-examination is an integral part of meditation, where Buddhists examine
their thoughts and actions to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the
nature of reality.
Self-examination in Cao Đài.
Obviously,
the method of self-examination has been popular in the earthly world for
thousands of years. Now the Cao Đài doctrine teaches that this method can help
us return to the sacred realm without being stuck in the Âm Quang. So how do we
Cao Đài followers examine ourselves?
First
of all, according to the above quote from the divine words of Thất Nương Diêu Trì Cung, self-examination in Cao
Đài philosophy is a special spiritual act that includes three elements.
Direct
communication with the Supreme Being (God):
During
self-examination, we are in direct dialogue with God, the Lord of the universe.
It is God, not some other divine being, who hears us and decides whether or not
we are forgiven.
This is
proven by the divine messages of April 26, 1926: "I am determined to save you Myself and will not hand over
the true religion to mortal hands... No one on earth is allowed to say that he
represents Myself to rule the souls of mankind."
The
power to rule over souls is the power to decide whether a soul ascends (has
merit) or falls (has sin) in Heaven. Only the Supreme Being has that power.
Therefore, in this world we should not affirm whether someone is righteous or
evil. Ordinary people cannot judge accurately.
In the
history of world religions, there have been times when ordinary people have
wrongly condemned people. At the end of the 16th century, the Holy See of Rome
established the Inquisition to condemn those who spoke against its teachings.
Astronomer Galileo believed that the earth revolved around the sun, which was
contrary to the views of the Holy See. Consequently, he was convicted of heresy
by the Inquisition and placed under house arrest until his death. However,
modern science later proved Galileo to be right. It was not until 2009, nearly
400 years later, that the Vatican recognized that he was right and restored his
honor.
The Cao Đài Holy Temple Tây Ninh, Vietnam
Private
communication with each individual:
It is
true that in this universe there are too many living beings, but the Supreme
Being still communicates with each person. Please read the following divine
message: “In each of your mortal bodies, I have ordered a Chơn Linh (soul)
to preserve
your life. That soul is
impartial and allowed to communicate with all the Gods, Saints, Immortals,
Buddhas and the Perfect Ones in the Ngọc Hư Cung…” (Do
not lie - Selection of Divine Messages II). That soul is a part of the Supreme
Being. Therefore, do not worry that your self-examination will not be heard by
the Supreme Being.
Defense
argument is useless:
The
psychology of the introspective person must be extremely sincere. Since the
ego's innate tendency is to defend itself, it is very difficult to recognize
its own sins. Even when it does recognize them, the ego still thinks of all
kinds of arguments, even very strange ones, to justify itself.
In the
Divine Path to Eternal Life, His Holiness Hộ Pháp said that the atheists’
souls deny their sins when they return to the Palace of Hiệp Thiên Hành Hoá. At
last, they have to give in to the Perfect Ones. Truth destroys Logic.
Therefore, remember that it is not truly sincere to admit your sins while still
having excuses.
What
should we believers examine? Cao Đài teachings are expressed through prayers,
religious rituals, symbols at the Holy Temple, the Caodaist Canonical Codes,
etc. Anyone can study and find out what they need to examine themselves. The
best thing is to find out which virtue you lack the most.
However,
for ease of reference, in this article, I would like to suggest examining
yourself based on the Five Precepts (Articles 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 of the
Collection of the Divine Messages II). That is, every day, examine yourself to
see if you have violated any of these, then repent and correct yourself. For
example, I accidentally drank a few glasses of wine with friends. As a result,
I have violated the fourth precept: “Don’t drink.” So
now, to repent, I voluntarily recite the Repentance Sutra ten times and promise
myself to the Supreme Being that I will never drink alcohol again.
Another
example, seeing that some fellow believers nowadays are doing wrong things, I
went on Facebook and wrote a harsh criticism. In my heart, I hoped that God
would punish these people to their full extent. Nevertheless, today, I suddenly
realized that I had been against God’s divine message: "So, from now on, I forbid you children from hating each other if
you are not affectionate enough to love each other. Understand?" (12 the
12 lunar month, Year of the Snake - January 11, 1930, Collection of Divine
Messages II). Therefore, I prayed and repented for seven nights, promising
myself not to hate anyone anymore.
Summary
If our
self-examination and repentance are successful, meaning that we are approved by
the Supreme Being, then we will not be stuck in the Âm Quang after death.
However, we will only know that result after death. Only those who have
successfully practiced Cao Đài Esoteric Practice (i.e. followed the Cao
Đài third path) or who are extremely
intelligent will know it while they are still alive. However, Esoteric Practice
is an advanced method, which ordinary believers can barely follow.
Without
being caught in the Âm Quang, we will ascend through the nine heavens, as
described in the Tuần Cửu Sutras. Finally, we will reach the Ngọc Hư Cung,
where the Supreme Being resides. From
there we will know what we are doing and where we are going. The Ngọc Hư Cung
has been described in detail in the article Có Gì Ở Ngọc Hư Cung at the following address:
* Từ Chơn.
Sài Gòn November 2nd 2024.
