ID23638 - Chương : Bát Quái Ðài
dictionaryEN : ENCYCLOPEDIA of CAODAISM - B
Tác Giả : Lê Kim Liên - Từ Chơn
Bát Quái Ðài
| 八卦臺 |
| The Octagonal Tower. |
Caodaism comprises three parts called Đài (Tower).
- 1. Cửu Trùng Ðài (Nine-Level Tower) is the material part or the Executive Body, led by Giáo Tông.
- 2. Hiệp Thiên Ðài (Communion Tower) is the mind or the Judiciary Body, led by Hộ Pháp.
- 3. Bát Quái Ðài (Octagonal Tower) is the spirit or the Divine Body, led by God.
Human bodies can communicate with spirits thanks to minds. In the same way, Cửu Trùng Đài can communicate with Bát Quái Đài through Hiệp Thiên Đài - in other words Hiệp Thiên Đài works as a medium to help Bát Quái Đài control Cửu Trùng Đài.
In the sermons on the Divine Path to Eternal Life, Hộ Pháp preached :
"Bát Quái Đài, an octagonal tower, is too miraculous for people to describe in worldly languages. There are eight entrances in which everything in the universe emerges in bright haloes. Eight beams of bright light, like bridges, span a vast blue rough ocean. The beam on which humans go to and fro is the most crowded.
Those who can stand on the light bridge can enter Bát Quái Đài. On the light bridge, you will become too weak to walk. Then the bridge moves you forward.
The ones who have committed a lot of sins in their lifetime or are ineligible for a heavenly status will fall into the ocean below. In the blue ocean your appearances become too ugly like a barbarian."
DESCRIPTION OF BÁT QUÁI ĐÀI IN TÂY NINH TEMPLE :
It is a twelve-step octagonal floor, on the top of which The Eight Trigrams are carved. In the center rises a column that supports Quả Càn Khôn (the Universe Sphere).
The sky-blue Universe Sphere is 3,333 meters in diameter and displays 3072 stars, symbolizing the material universe. Its facade shows the Divine Eye on Ursa Major. Below the Universe Sphere is the altar.
