The Creation of The Universe

Caodaism believes that the Supreme Being is the origin of the Boundless Universe (Càn Khôn Vũ trụ), and the Divine Mother Goddess is the Creator of all beings.

Regarding the origin of human beings, the Supreme Being taught as follows:

Just as in Christianity, "I and the Father are one" and in Buddhism, "The mind is the Buddha; the Buddha is the mind, I am already a Buddha, and sentient beings will become Buddhas."

Regarding the creation of the Boundless Universe, Caodaism teaches that:

Before the Supreme was established, in that space, there was a state of obscurity with the primordial vital energy, as it was in the time of the original essence.

That space is what we call the Infinite. Within the Infinite lies the wondrous and mystical Natural Principle, as well as a Natural Vital Energy. The Natural Principle and Vital Energy represent the Yin and Yang during the period of the Great Primordial Age.

The Natural Principle and Vital energy repeatedly coagulated and united over countless ages to form a luminous mass full of various virtues.

When the time was right, this mass suddenly exploded with an extraordinary thunderous roar that shook the entire space. From within that explosion, a divine light emerged and swirled in the empty space, radiating a magnificent, dazzling, and resplendent light that illuminated every where.

This is how the Lord of the Boundless Universe transformed and from this point, the Universe began to have a complete Supreme Being, full and perfect, possessing all powers, undergoing celestial transformations, boundlessly vast and infinite.

It held absolute authority, governed the entire Boundless Universe, and utilized the dualistic body to collect the Void to give birth to myriad species and beings.

Caodaism holds that in the Boundless Universe, there are 12 heavenly realms known as the "Twelve Levels of Heaven" among which the highest three are:

• The Chaos Origin Heaven (Hỗn Nguơn Thiên)
• The Assembly Origin Heaven (Hội Nguơn Thiên)
• The Void Heaven (Hư Vô Thiên)

The remaining nine heavenly realms are known as the Creation Heavens and are arranged from low to high. The lower the level, the heavier it is, and the higher the level, the lighter it becomes.

If a person practices inner cultivation during their lifetime, when they pass away, their soul will be light and ascend to the higher heavenly realms. Conversely, if the soul remains attached to worldly desires, it will become heavy and can only reside in lower heavenly realms.

Everything in the Boundless Universe is created by the interaction of Yin and Yang energies. Depending on the balance of Yin and Yang, the soul becomes heavy or light.

A soul with a higher proportion of Yang energy will be light and can ascend to higher heavenly realms (referred to as the heavenly abode), while a soul heavier in Yin energy will reside in lower, darker, and colder realms (referred to as hellish realms or lower planes).

The soul can be compared to a hot air balloon. Worldly desires, lost love, greed, and sins can be seen as sandbags. If one can let go of even a single lowly emotion, it's akin to removing a sandbag, making the hot air balloon lighter and enabling it to ascend higher.

If one can let go of all worldly desires and eliminate all karmic burdens, then a person can ascend to the highest heavenly realm, known as the Nirvana realm.

After the Supreme Ultimate (ngôi Thái Cực) separated Yin and Yang (in the Dual Forces period), the Divine Mother Goddess (Đức Diêu Trì Kim Mẫu) used the energies of Yin and Yang to create the Boundless Universe, with its nine Creation Heavens.

The Ninth Nine Prayer describes the Creation Heavens as follows:

Because there are a total of 9 Creation Heavens, after a Cao Dai follower passes away, prayers are offered for the departed soul 9 times, each time separated by 9 days, to enable the soul to traverse the 9 Creation Heavens.

These prayer ceremonies are collectively known as the "Cúng cửu" ceremonies. (nine requiems recited every nine days)

Two hundred days later, the Ninth (9th) ceremony is the "Tiểu Tường" ceremony (The small ceremony in the middle of mourning) to pray for the soul's ascent to the Hư Vô Thiên Heaven (The Void Heaven).

After the "Tiểu Tường" ceremony, 300 days later, the "Đại Tường" ceremony (The great ceremony in the end of mourning) is performed to pray for the soul's return to the Hỗn Nguơn Thiên Heaven .

Modern science has found that in the Hư Vô realm (Void realm), there are countless particles of energy constantly being created and destroyed, which aligns with the concept of emptiness in Buddhist Prajna-paramita-hridaya Sutra: (Kinh Bát Nhả)

Science also believes that the universe was formed from emptiness, following a significant explosion (the Big Bang), and a large fireball was created, leading to the formation of the boundless universe.

The formula E=mc² demonstrates that energy can be transformed into matter and vice versa. These energies correspond to negative electrons and positive electrons, equivalent to Yin and Yang in Daoism.

Stanford University is still conducting experiments to create matter from negative and positive electrons. This clearly shows that all things are composed of atoms, and these atoms are made up of negative and positive electrons. These electrons are in constant motion, whether in inert matter or living beings.

In summary, both religion and science agree that the boundless universe is created from Emptiness, which religion refers to as the Supreme Being.

All living beings are formed by the Divine Light of the Supreme Being and are known as Minor Divine Light (Tiểu Linh quang).

This Minor Divine Light is encased within a material shell and weighed down by worldly desires. When living beings practice to purify their body and mind, their spiritual essence can reunite with the Supreme Being.