Question 74: What is the Bát Quái Đài?  

The Bát Quái Đài is the abode of Đức Chí Tôn and of all the Divine Beings—Gods, Saints, Immortals, and Buddhas.

When Đức Chí Tôn established the Cao Đài Religion, He formed it with three essential divisions:

•  1. The Cửu Trùng Đài is the visible part, belonging to the World — the body of the Dao.

•  2. The Hiệp Thiên Đài is the semi-visible part, half World and half Religion — the spirit-body of the Dao.

•  3. The Bát Quái Đài is the invisible part, wholly belonging to the Religion — the soul of the Dao.

Just as the body must rely on the spirit-body in order to commune with the soul, so too the Cửu Trùng Đài must rely on the Hiệp Thiên Đài in order to be in communion with the Bát Quái Đài.

If the soul wishes to govern the body, it must act through the spirit-body; likewise, the Bát Quái Đài must work through the Hiệp Thiên Đài in order to direct the Cửu Trùng Đài.

• Đức Giáo Tông presides over the Cửu Trùng Đài.
• Đức Hộ Pháp presides over the Hiệp Thiên Đài.
• Đức Chí Tôn presides over the Bát Quái Đài.

The Cửu Trùng Đài attends to the salvation of beings in the world, while the Bát Quái Đài attends to the liberation of souls in the higher realms.