The Caodai New Law (1927)
II. THE FIVE PRECEPTS IN
THE THIRD UNIVERSALISM
1. The Five Precepts in Tân Luật (The New
Law, 1926)
According to The New Law, Chapter IV, Article
Twenty-four, the Caodai disciple is to observe the following precepts:
- Firstly, not killing.
- Secondly, not stealing.
- Thirdly, not committing
wrong sex.
- Fourthly, not drinking
alcohols or eating meat.[1]
- Fifthly, not making
wrong words.
2. The Five Precepts in Thánh Ngôn Hiệp Tuyển (An Anthology of
Holy Sayings, 1928)
According to Thánh
Ngôn Hiệp Tuyển, vol. II, in 1928 Caodai God explained the Five Precepts as
follows (abridged):
Not killing
You should understand that any living creature has come from
God. Where life is, God is.
(. . .)
He who kills a living creature will definitely receive karmic
retribution.
‚ Not stealing
When avariciousness penetrates a man’s heart, his heart loses
morality. When avariciousness enters a family, the family has not got any right
teachings. When avariciousness permeates a state, the state is no longer
rightly governed. When avariciousness overwhelms the whole world, the world no
longer has divinities. Needless to say, avariciousness may urge you to be guilty
to God, committing lots of sins. Thus, avariciousness is a great sin.
ƒ Not committing wrong sex
Why is it a great sin to commit wrong sex?
(…)
A drop of blood contains a true soul. If you indulge in sex,
that true soul is killed.
When you die, those true souls will sue you at an afterworld
court, and you cannot deny. You must observe this precept very strictly.
„ Not drinking alcohols
Why do you have to refrain from drinking alcohols?
(...)
When alcohol enters your stomach, it permeates your five
viscera (liver, lungs, heart, kidneys, and spleen) and other organs like stomach,
gallbladder, large intestine, small intestine, urinary bladder, etc. Your heart
is thus badly affected, and it has to work excessively to pump blood. As your
lungs lack time to purify blood, dirty blood circulates back in your body,
making organs unhealthy and killing them gradually. Many drinkers suffer
hemiplegia due to alcohols only.
(. . .)
Your brain is affected so much that your confused spirit
loses control of your body. Many drinkers therefore act like animals. One loses
human dignity, let alone attain divine positions. Again, when your spirit is
confused, evils easily penetrate, urging you to commit sins and you will be
reborn forever.
Therefore, I prohibit you to drink alcohols. Obey Me, please!
… Not making wrong words
Why is it forbidden to make wrong words?
I have told that I bestow upon each body of yours a true soul
to preserve your life. Needless to say, you do understand that the true soul is
impartial and can communicate with all divinities in the Heavenly Palace Heavenly Judging Court
Therefore, Confucian sages and saints say, “Lying to others means lying to conscience.
He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray.”
If you tell a lie, before lying to others, you have lied to
your conscience, say your true soul.
As I have told you, that true soul submits every word of
yours to the Heavenly Judging
Court
Before the Heavenly
Judging Court
You all should keep what I said in mind.
3. The Five Precepts in Đại Thừa Chơn Giáo (The Great Vehicle of
True Teachings) of Caodai Chiếu Minh (Cần Thơ province, 1936)
On 05 November 1936, Caodai God said:
Why do I compel all
meditation practitioners to observe the Five Precepts strictly? Because it is
not easy to practise meditation. If you break the rules, violate the Precepts,
you will never attain divine results.[2]
4. The Five Precepts in Thánh Huấn Hiệp Tuyển (An Anthology of
Holy Teachings) of the Caodai
Tiên Thiên
Church
Caodai God says:
You should observe the
Five Precepts
To avoid wickedness.
You had better not
neglect the Precepts
To fulfill yourselves
cultivation.[3]
‚ The Supreme Patriarch of
Dao (Laojun) says:
Consequently, the Five
Precepts are very important. Cultivating yourselves to attain liberation of
reincarnation, you must strictly observe the precepts.[4]
ƒ Caodai God says:
Be always faithful with
love
„ On 13 June 1961, Spiritual
Pope Lý Thái Bạch (Li Taibai) said:
The Three Precious Ones,
namely the Five Precepts, the Four Great Rules, and the Lesson on Love, are the
three planks of wood that Caodai Master gives each disciple so that he or she
can build a prajna boat with heart and soul, using it to cross the stormy sea
of suffering.[6]
5. The Five Precepts in Tam Thừa Chơn Giáo (The Three Vehicles
of True Teachings) of the Caodai Church in Central Vietnam
(Bình Định province, 1961)
On 07
October 1960, Holy Mother Lê Sơn said:
Consequently,
the Five Precepts are compared to a morality mould to shape your heart and
soul, perfecting and purifying them. You all should understand.[7]
6. The Five Precepts in Thánh Truyền Trung Hưng Giáo Pháp (Holy
Teaching on Meditation) of the Caodai
Missionary Church
At Meditation Hall (of the Caodai
Missionary Church
The precepts are the road I
have paved to lead you back to Me. They are a ladder rung helping you climb up
to Paradise . If you are unwilling to step
forward, you cannot get there. If you step backward, neither can you. They are a
miracle to expel all evils out of your bodies so that you can achieve Buddhahood.
If you still preserve that miracle, evils will avoid you from a distance. If
not, evils will come close to you, and then you will become evils.
From past to present, no one neglecting the precepts
can become an Immortal or Buddha.
‚ At Meditation Hall (of the Caodai
Missionary Church
For secular world, gold is the most precious; likewise,
the precepts are the most precious for those who are cultivating
themselves. The precepts are like a boat to cross the river of
delusion; on the way of self-cultivation, therefore, he who wants to reach the
other shore (say, enlightenment) must rely on the precepts. The precepts are
the legs helping you to come to God. Neglecting the precepts, you are like a person
who wants to cross a river but lacks a boat, or who wants to walk but has no
legs.
Once upon a time, Sakyamuni Buddha was going to
enter nirvana and His followers expressed deep sorrow and grief. Then, Buddha
said, “After my entering nirvana, you all should observe the precepts to
cultivate yourselves. The precepts are your master in this world.” Obeying His
last recommendation, all Buddhist adepts past and present have attained
Buddhahood.
As a result, the precepts are made to rescue you
from falling into sins. If one has fallen into sins, he is forever to sink into
the river of delusion or the sea of suffering.
ƒ At Meditation Hall (of the Caodai
Missionary Church
I see that lots of you still live in errors and
delusions, neglecting the proper cultivation of your soul and conduct. Letting your
soul and conduct freely wander out of the precepts, you will get
no satisfactory results in your whole life although you are called people practising
self-cultivation.
„ At Meditation Hall (of the Caodai
Missionary Church
Naturally, observance of the precepts
makes each of you experience some hard restrictions. Nevertheless, such temporary
endurance will result in your everlasting glory, not only in heaven but also on
earth. If you firmly observe the precepts, you win the glory of a divinity on
earth. If not, dharma protecting gods will blame you, devils will despise you,
and religious disciples will scorn you. If so, you are worth nothing; your
secular life is ruined, and so is your religious life. (...)
From past to present, relying on the precepts, all
people attain Buddhahood or Immortalhood, etc. Going beyond the precepts, no
one can achieve Buddhahood. (...)
You should be delighted to put yourselves within
the frame of the precepts; I will send gods close to you for protection of the
true dharma. (...)
From now on, you all should be determined to
cultivate yourselves, and put yourselves within the frame of the precepts so
that you can satisfactorily enjoy boundless blessings.
… At Meditation Hall (of the Caodai
Missionary Church
The precepts are a set of keys
helping our sisters open the heaven’s gate to be in one with our Master and
Golden mother. If the precepts are violated, you are like a person who wants to
enter a house but has no keys.
† At Meditation Hall (of the Caodai
Missionary Church
My children, the precepts are a
treasure on which you can rely to return and reunite with your Master and Me.
(...)
You should know that the precepts are a miracle
healing for dying people. (…)
On your way of self-cultivation, if there were no
precepts, what could you rely on? For long, most of you have committed sins due
to violating the precepts. (...)
I promise that if you strictly observe the
precepts, I will definitely save you right in your present life.
‡ At
Meditation Hall (of the Caodai
Missionary Church
If there
were no precepts, what could one rely on to climb up the ladder
of virtues? (...) No salvation religions neglect precepts. If not necessary,
why did our Master (God) establish the Decalogue for Jewish? Besides the
precepts established for bhiksus and bhiksunis (monks and nuns), Buddha said,
“The precepts are Me on earth [after my entering nirvana].” (...) On the way of
self-cultivation, no one can come to his success without precepts as they are
the way on which he steps.
7. The Five Precepts in Thánh
Giáo Sưu Tập (A Collection
of Holy Teachings) of Cơ Quan Phổ
Thông Giáo Lý (the Organ for Universalizing Caodai Teaching, Sài Gòn, 1966-1975)
At Trúc Lâm
Meditation Temple
If your mind fails to master
your six desires and seven emotions,[8] you will
consequently violate the Five Precepts, and then fall into alcohol,
sex, money, drugs.
‚ At Nam Thành holy house
(Nguyễn Cư Trinh street Saigon ), on 25 September 1967,
His Holiness Nguyễn Trung Hậu
said:
… in our faith, the New
Law is the compass for Caodaism practitioners; the Five Precepts,
the Eightfold Path, and the Four Great Rules are the same for people practising
self-cultivation.
ƒ At Ngọc Minh Đài holy
meditation house (Nguyễn Khoái
street Saigon ),
on 13 June 1970, His Holiness Hiển
Thế Đạo Nhơn (Phan Văn Thanh) said:
If a disciple strictly
observes the Five Precepts and the Four Great Rules, shows proper
conduct and behaviour as well, then secular people will have nothing to
criticize.
„ At Kim Thành Long holy
meditation house (Định Tường province) on 22 March 1973, the Jade Pond Golden
Mother said:
You are thoughtful enough
to observe
the Five Precepts
and the Four Great Rules.
When you prudently commit
no violation,
Your conduct and
behaviour are perfect.
… On 09 June 1973, at holy
meditation house Ngọc Minh Đài (Nguyễn
Khoái street Saigon ),
Great Immortal Lê Văn Duyệt said:
To help the disciple lead
a righteous life in the Third Universalism, Caodaism has placed such golden
regulations as the Four Great Rules, the Five Precepts, and the Eightfold Path.
† At Ngọc Minh Đài holy
meditation house (Nguyễn Khoái
street Saigon ),
on 29 June 1974, Great Immortal Lê Văn Duyệt said:
Observe the Five Precepts
to preserve your true nature.
‡ At Vĩnh Nguyên Tự temple
(Long An village, Cần Giuộc district, Long An province), on 19 July 1974, Great
Immortal Lê Văn Duyệt said:
The Five Precepts should
be always recited…
ˆ At Vĩnh Nguyên Tự temple
(Long An village, Cần Giuộc district, Long An province), on 09 March 1975, Her
Holiness Bảo Hòa Thánh Nữ said:
Staying at the pagoda,
everyday you must worship, recite the Great Four Rules and the Five Precepts…
8. The Caodai Five
Precepts and the Confucian Five Virtues
In the Second Universalism, Sakyamuni Buddha taught His
lay disciples to observe the Five Precepts: Not killing; ‚ Not stealing; ƒ Not committing wrong sex; „ Not making wrong words; … Not drinking alcohols.
Made in 1926, the Caodai New Law swapped
the positions of the fourth and the fifth precepts, and added not eating meat [9] to not drinking alcohols.
This rearrangement makes the order
of the Caodai Five Precepts mutually correspond to the order of the Confucian
Five Virtues.
The Five Precepts are not only interrelated
with the Five Virtues but also with the Five Elements, the Five Stars, the Five
Directions, the Five Climatic Factors, the Five Colours, and the Five Viscera. In
other words, there is the relation between man and the universe because man is a microcosmos and the universe is the
macrocosmos.
Based on the holy message by the Supreme Patriarch
of Dao at the Organ for Universalizing Caodai Teaching on 18 March 1973, the
correlations between the Five Precepts and these groups of five are shown as
follows:
Precepts
|
Not killing
|
Not stealing
|
Not committing wrong sex
|
Not drinking alcohols or eating meat
|
Not making wrong speech
|
Virtues
|
Benevolence
|
Righteousness
|
Propriety
|
Wisdom
|
Sincerity
|
Elements
|
Wood
|
Metal
|
Fire
|
Water
|
Earth
|
Stars
|
Jupiter
|
Venus
|
Mars
|
Mercury
|
Saturn
|
Directions
|
East
|
West
|
South
|
North
|
Center
|
Climatic Factors
|
Warmth
|
Coolness
|
Dryness
|
Cold
|
Dampness
|
Colours
|
Green
|
White
|
Red
|
Black
|
Yellow
|
Viscera
|
Liver
|
Lungs
|
Heart
|
Kidneys
|
Spleen
|
HUỆ KHẢI
