Lâm Tấn Đức’s house in Hà Tiên province
II. CHIÊU’S PATH TO CAODAI GOD
1. Attending spirits
evoking séances
His religious bent showed
early in his childhood. His Chinese uncle in Mỹ Tho province built a shelf at
home to worship Quan thánh;[1] therefore, Chiêu
gradually got familiar with everyday incense offer and recitation of a
scripture titled Minh thánh kinh.[2] This
thin booklet appeared as one of Daoist morality books ([3]) bestowed by Quan thánh at a spirit evoking
séance during the Qing 清 dynasty (China). It has long
been popular in Cochinchina under different titles as well as in various
Vietnamese versions.[4]
Besides, the little boy
also observed two vegetarian days every lunar month, on the first and the
fifteenth days. Chiêu did not stop reciting Minh thánh scripture until 1920
when he was on Phú Quốc island and was instructed to practise meditation by
Caodai God.
Ngô Văn Chiêu trusted in
spirit evocation at the age of twenty-four. Before his initiation into
Caodaism, he attended several séances in various situations.
In 1902, to pray for his
mother’s longevity, Ngô Văn Chiêu participated in Minh Thiện evocation séance
held at Thanh An pagoda in Thủ Dầu Một province. An immortal bestowed him a
four-line poem.
In 1917, because of his
mother’s serious illness, Ngô Văn Chiêu attended an evocation séance held at
Hiệp Minh, Cái Khế, Cần Thơ province.[5] When he
arrived, the séance had started and a spirit was preaching through a medium
using a beaked basket. He had to stay outside. Unexpectedly, the spirit allowed
him to enter. Then, he was granted two divine poems and his mother a
prescription. The first poem, which was a 6-8-word verse, consisted of fourteen
lines. Later, perhaps obeying a divine command, Ngô Văn Chiêu added four more
lines to turn the poem into a spirit evoking prayer.
Two years later (1919),
when his mother got seriously sick, Chiêu returned to Hiệp Minh séance once
more, but the spirit bestowed only a long poem, not a prescription. Then he
attended Minh Thiện evocation séance in Thủ Dầu Một province and Quan thánh
spirit bestowed a four-line poem, still not a prescription. At the end of the
year, his mother paid her debt to nature.
2. Hearing the name
Caodai the first time (1920)
Circa January or February
1920, before his transfer to Hà Tiên province, Ngô Văn Chiêu often held
evocation séances with some Tân An province inhabitants like Đoàn Văn Kim
(1868-1946), Lê Kiển Thọ (1868-1946, village registrar), Nguyễn Văn Vân
(1893-1981, elementary teacher), Trần Phong Sắc (1873-1928, elementary teacher,
playwright, and prolific translator of Chinese novels into Vietnamese).
During those séances,
their tasks were as follows:
- Pháp đàn (séance
protector): Trần Phong Sắc (writing magic symbols to protect an evocation
against evil powers).
- Đồng tử âm (yin
medium): Lê Kiển Thọ. Đồng tử dương (yang medium): Nguyễn Văn
Vân. (Together the couple held a beaked basket to write words on a table top
surface.)
- Điển ký (jotting-down
person): Đoàn Văn Kim (jotting down a spirit’s message received through the
couple of mediums holding the beaked basket).
- Độc giả (dictating
person): Ngô Văn Chiêu (watching the words written on the table top surface
with the beaked basket and dictating them to the jotting-down person).
During a séance at Ngô
Văn Chiêu’s house, an immortal descended under the name of Cao Đài Tiên ông.[6] He asked Trần Phong Sắc to correct a line of the
spirit evoking prayer (Ngũ chơn bửu khí lâm trần thế). Sắc was
disobedient, so the alternative was Chiêu, whose correction (Bửu chơn ngũ
khí lâm trần thế 寶真五氣臨塵世) was praised by the immortal.
Wondering about the
immortal’s identity, they asked who he was and then received the response as
follows:
Cao Đài ứng hóa theo
lòng chúng sanh,
Đố ai biết được cái
danh Cao Đài.
(Caodai God’s revelation
depends
on all beings’ wish,
Guess what Caodai means.)
Variants are often
found in spirits evoking prayers handed down from Chinese Daoist scriptures,
one of which is Vạn pháp quy tông.[7] Quite
similar to Chiêu’s correction is line 9 (Ngọc chơn bửu khí lâm trần thế 玉真寶氣臨塵世),
which can be found in a forty-six line prayer provided by La Thành Đầm, a
customs house clerk, in his booklet titled Thần chú thỉnh tiên (Immortals
evoking incantation), printed by Phát Toán (Saigon 1907, pp. 3-4).
3. Hearing the name
Caodai the second time (1920)
After the one-hundred-day
memorial service for his mother, Ngô Văn Chiêu was transferred to Hà Tiên
province. There, he used to ascend to Thạch Động mountain to evoke spirits. A
lady immortal named Ngô Kim Liên sent him two spirit messages in verse advising
him to begin a religious life.
Together with Cao Văn Sự
and Nguyễn Thành Diêu, on Sunday night 26 September 1920 (mid-autumn), Ngô Văn
Chiêu held a séance at Lâm Tấn Đức’s house. Then, Caodai God bestowed them a four-line
poem including their given names.
Childless Lâm Tấn Đức
(1866-1934, style Hữu Lân) was elder brother of Lâm Tấn Thoại, who was father
of Đông Hồ Lâm Tấn Phác (1906-1969), a famous poet from Hà Tiên province.
4. Studying meditation
(1921)
Ngô Văn Chiêu left Hà
Tiên province for Phú Quốc island on Tuesday 26 October 1920.
On this island, he
usually held séances on Dương Đông mountain, at a Minh Sư priests’ pagoda named
Quan Âm [8] about half a kilometre from his
residence.
Pagodas of Minh Sư are
called Phật đường.[9] Ignoring this, in
their reports, French colonials’ secret agents and inspectors often referred
Minh Sư as đạo Phật đường. Quan Âm pagoda belonged to a Minh
Sư sect named Hoằng Tế.[10]
During a séance at the beginning of 1921, a hidden-named immortal descended,
asking Ngô Văn Chiêu to become his disciple. The spirit also advised him to
stop reciting Minh thánh scripture. Until then, Chiêu still kept two vegetarian
days a month. Therefore, when the immortal told him to have ten vegetarian days
a month in order to practise meditation, he was reluctant for fear that his
social position might keep him from observing vegetarianism.
On the first day of the
new lunar year (Tuesday 08 February 1921), at Quan Âm pagoda, he had no chance
to express his worry because the immortal commanded, “Chiêu, perpetually
follow vegetarianism for three years!” He could say nothing but begged for
his spiritual master’s assistance.
Members of Caodai Chiếu
Minh, who follow Ngô Văn Chiêu’s meditation method, have chosen the first day
of each new lunar year to celebrate his commencing perpetual vegetarianism for
meditation practice.
The other three
anniversaries are as follows:
- The seventh of the
first lunar month (his birthday).
- The fifth of the third
lunar month (in commemoration of his first spirit message given at a Cần Thơ
séance while still physically staying in Saigon ).[11]
- The thirteenth of the
third lunar month (his decease).
After that new year day,
Ngô Văn Chiêu was initiated into the hidden-named immortal’s meditation method.
As a beginner on the esoteric path, besides the invisible master’s
instructions, he was helped by Thái lão sư Tùng Ngạc, a Minh Sư high-ranking
dignitary, who was also an expert in meditation practice.
During a séance at Minh
Đức meditation house (Vũng Tàu city) on Thursday 13 March 1980, this event was
confirmed by Great immortal Ngô Minh Chiêu as follows: “Caodai God
chose me as His first disciple. Depending on my background, social life, and
age, Heavenly Father sent a friend to assist me in meditation practice. The
method has been handed down since time immemorial but it is now modernized and
called Caodai new meditation. It provided liberation from samsara for me, the
first Caodai God’s disciple in the Third Universal Salvation.”
Two years later, also at
Minh Đức meditation house, on Friday 23 July 1982, a spirit named Minh Đức Đạo
nhơn brought the fact to light, “Due to invisible master, a physical
helper is still required. For instance, in the earliest days of Caodaism, God
also needed Thái lão sư Tùng Ngạc, who helped Great immortal Minh Chiêu with
meditation techniques during His lifetime.”
5. The God Eye’s
appearance (20 April 1921)
The hidden-named immortal
advised Ngô Văn Chiêu not to reveal anything about his meditation practice. He
did not know any specific ritual devoted to his spiritual master. One day, the
immortal ordered him to devise a sacred symbol for the new faith. Chiêu first
suggested a cross.
The Book of Change (the
Great Commentary, part I) has this line: 一陰一陽之謂道 (One yin and one yang are
called Dao.) To symbolize the conception of Dao in the way of harmonious
combination of yin and yang, the oriental mystics have traditionally adopted a
cross. The horizontal stroke stands for yin; the vertical, yang.
However, the immortal
asked Chiêu to think of another symbol because the cross is an emblem of
Catholicism. He asked his master for a one-week delay, but he could not conceive
anything at all.
On Wednesday morning 20
April 1920 (the thirteenth of the third lunar month), around 8.00 a.m., sitting
in his hammock slung at the rear of his residence and looking at the open sea,
suddenly he caught sight of a large lifelike left eye which was encircled by
radiant beams in the sky and full of splendour.
Frightened by such a
vision, he hid his eyes in his hands. After a while, he lowered his hands and
still saw the same sight. Then, he joined his hands praying to the immortal for making the eye disappear if he was ordered to worship it.
Strange enough, thereafter, its brightness waned gradually and finally faded
away.
But, in his heart, he
still had some hesitation. As a result, the same eye came to sight again some
days later and it would not disappear until he prayed and promised to worship
it.
6. Hearing the name
Caodai the third time (April 1921)
A few days after the
second happening of the Divine Eye, Ngô Văn Chiêu attended an evocation séance
at Quan Âm pagoda. The immortal instructed him to draw what he had seen for
worship.
On this occasion, the
immortal revealed his great name Cao Đài Tiên ông Đại bồ tát Ma ha tát,
i.e., Caodai the Immortal Mahabodhisattva Mahasattva,[12] and
ordered Chiêu to address Him as Thầy (Master).
Chiêu heard the name
Caodai twice in Tân An and Hà Tiên provinces (1920). Furthermore, the term
Caodai was mentioned whenever he recited the spirit evoking prayer in
Sino-Vietnamese, a line of which was Cao Đài tiên bút thư văn tự 高臺仙筆書文字 (The
Caodai immortal pen writes sacred words).
Using Ấu học
Quỳnh Lâm [13] to learn
Chinese, the Cochinchinese were familiar with the term Caodai. Originally
compiled by Cheng Dengji 程登吉 under the Ming 明 dynasty
(1308-1644), the book was supplemented by Zou Shengmai 鄒聖脈 under
the Qing 清 dynasty (1644-1911).
Quỳnh (qiong 瓊) is a
kind of red jade. Quỳnh Lâm (Qionglin 瓊林, i.e., jade forest) was the garden
where Song 宋 emperors held banquets in
honour of new tiến sĩ.[14] The author implied that
the children using his textbook would become tiến sĩ and attend the royal
banquet at the Quỳnh Lâm garden.
In the autumn of 1912, a Shanghai
7. The significance of
the séance at Quan Âm pagoda
Ngô Văn Chiêu heard the
name Caodai the Immortal Mahabodhisattva Mahasattva at the April 1920 séance at
Quan Âm pagoda. The séance, therefore, is very significant because it
established indispensable elements of a religion. In other words, the séance
helped to confirm that Caodaism, as a latent religion, was shaped right in 1921
with initial elements as follows:
- Founder (spiritual):
God, under the name of Caodai the Immortal Mahabodhisattva Mahasattva.
- First disciple:
Ngô Văn Chiêu.
- Doctrine:
esoteric teaching or meditation method, also called Caodai new meditation (tân
pháp Cao Đài).
- Holy icon:
the God’s Eye.
- Philosophy:
the name Caodai the Immortal Maha-bodhisattva Mahasattva presents the
syncretism of Confucianism (Caodai), Daoism (Immortal), and Buddhism
(Mahabodhisattva Mahasattva).
- Literature:
Some prayers recited before the altar four times a day.[20]
Thus, several important
events occurred at Quan Âm pagoda. It was built by Huỳnh Đăng Khoa [21] and Đỗ Minh Châu (also called Cả Bốn). The
latter handed it down to his son Đỗ Kim Cự, who later passed it down to Đỗ Văn
Đồ (also called Tám Gia).
Due to his abnormal
temperament, Đỗ Văn Đồ disturbed some evocation séances. Hence, after half a
year at Quan Âm pagoda, Ngô Văn Chiêu moved to Sùng Hưng pagoda owned by
Buddhist monk Thích Ngộ Tiên (1885-1946), about 200 metres from Quan Âm pagoda.
Lacking care, Quan Âm
pagoda gradually fell into ruin. In order to preserve a historical vestige of
the Caodai earliest days, in 1961 some Caodai Chiếu Minh followers built a
temple named Cao Đài Hội thánh (Caodai church) on the old foundation of Quan Âm
pagoda.[22]
8. Three years under
Caodai God’s instruction (1921-1924)
On Phú Quốc island,
during the three years under Caodai God’s instruction, Ngô Văn Chiêu devoted
himself to meditation.
In mid 1924 he was
transferred to Saigon . Caodai God
bestowed a twenty-line poem in praise of His first disciple, for example:
In three years long,
faithfully following Me,
Despite innumerous
difficulties,
You have practised
meditation perfectly.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Now that Your Master has awarded good
marks for your deep merit,
In the future you will
ride a dragon back to the origin.
9. A hermit life in Saigon
Leaving Phú Quốc island
on Tuesday 29 July 1924, Ngô Văn Chiêu arrived in Saigon the
following day. His family was still in Tân An province. First, he stayed at Bá
Huê Lầu hotel on Pellerin
street Pasteur street Paul
Bert street Trần Quang Khải street Espagne street Lê Thánh Tôn street Saigon was
at 110 Bonard boulevard (today Lê Lợi boulevard). He stayed on the second floor
and a Chinese resident (from Hainan 海南 island)
ran a grocery on the ground floor.[23]
He had good relationship
with a few Minh Sư priests on Phú Quốc island. While living in Saigon, he used
to visit a Chinese pagoda named Ngọc Hoàng điện (Yuhuang dian 玉皇殿),
originally owned by a Minh Sư priest.([24]) Besides,
he led a hermit life in Saigon .
At the beginning of
February 1926, Caodai God instructed Ngô Văn Chiêu to start introducing the new
faith. First, he helped the following four civil service employees:
- Vương Quan Kỳ
(1880-1939), from Chợ Lớn province, graduating from collège Chasseloup-Laubat,
working for the second bureau at Gouvernement de la Cochinchine (the same
bureau as Chiêu, in charge of commercial affairs).
- Đoàn Văn Bản
(1876-1941), from Biên Hòa province, principal of Cầu Kho elementary school
(district 1).
- Nguyễn Văn Hoài, a
high-ranking clerk, working at a court of justice in Saigon .
- Võ Văn Sang, a high-ranking clerk in Saigon .
HUỆ KHẢI
[1] See footnote 1.
[4] On the scripture titled Minh
thánh kinh, see: Lê Anh Dũng, Quan thánh xưa và nay. Hà
Nội: Văn hóa - Thông tin pub., 1995.
[5] After having controlled Western Cochinchina (1867), French colonial rulers
split An Giang province into six provinces: Bạc Liêu, Cần Thơ, Châu Đốc, Long Xuyên,
Sa Đéc, and Sóc Trăng.
Tông Hoằng Tế: Hongji
zong 弘濟宗.
[11] See His attainment to
Dao, p. 90.
[14] Tiến sĩ: jinshi 進士, i.e.,
successful scholars who just passed an advanced civil service examination.
[20] Lê Anh Dũng, Lịch sử
đạo Cao Đài thời kỳ tiềm ẩn 1920-1926. Huế : Thuận hóa pub.,
1996, p. 72.
[21] Huỳnh Kim Chung (?-1939) was a
Minh Sư priest whose religious name was Huỳnh Đăng Khoa.
[22] The old foundation was
discovered in 1960 by Nguyễn Minh Truyện, member of a Chiếu Minh séance named
Long Hoa, located at 113 Bùi
Viện street Saigon ,
not far from Cơ quan Phổ thông Giáo lý (the Organ for Universalizing Caodai
Teaching). After fulfilling legal formalities of transferring her
land-ownership, Huỳnh Kim Chung’s daughter (named Huỳnh Thị Kính) voluntarily
donated the land to Chiếu Minh followers.
[23] Cơ quan Phổ thông Giáo lý, Lịch
sử đạo Cao Đài. Vol. 1, p. 355.
[24] In 1863, under the reign of
king Tự Đức, the fifteenth patriarch of Minh Sư left China for Vietnam 73 Mai Thị Lựu street
