ID50601 - Chương : The Journey of the Soul After Death
Sách : Where Does the Human Being Go After Death?
Tác Giả : Dr. Bùi Đắc Hùm
The Journey of the Soul After Death
The Journey of the Soul After Death
According to the Caodaist Religion, souls burdened with wrongdoing are guided into the Realm of Âm Quang (Yin Dimension) there to receive salvation and moral instruction under the compassionate authority of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva (Địa Tạng Vương Bồ Tát) for male souls, and the Seventh Celestial Maiden of the Jewel Pond Palace (Thất Nương Diêu Trì Cung) for female souls.
They remain there until the day, the Tribunal of the Three Religions at the Jade Void Palace (Tòa Tam Giáo Ngọc Hư Cung) examines the merits and demerits of each soul to determine its rightful destiny.
One must understand that death is not an end, but the beginning of a new life entirely different from existence in the mortal world. When this truth is understood, human beings no longer fear death.
For the living, if we are able to explain the meaning of death, they will receive it with greater ease and serenity.
As for those who have passed on without having comprehended the principle of life and death while alive, they are surely filled with great fear. If formal prayer rites cannot be performed for them, even personal prayers may still help them gain some understanding of death, leading them to accept it and thereby attain liberation.
Concerning the question of where human beings go after death, the Subpreme Being (Đức Chí Tôn) has taught:
“The entire cycle of reincarnation transforms beings from the material realm into vegetation, from vegetation into animals. Humankind must undergo transmigration for thousands upon thousands of lifetimes before attaining the status of human dignity.
Even within humanity on this earthly plane, ranks and degrees are still divided. To stand as an emperor upon this globe does not yet reach the lowest rank of the sixty-seventh world. Within the sixty-seventh world, humankind is likewise divided into many grades.
The preciousness of each world increases unceasingly until the First World, the Three-Thousand Universe (Tam Thiên Thế Giới). Beyond the Three-Thousand Universe lies the Four Great Continents (Tứ Đại Bộ Châu); beyond the Four Great Continents one enters the Thirty-Six Heavens (Tam Thập Lục Thiên).
Having entered the Thirty-Six Heavens, one must still continue transmigrating and cultivating, in order to ascend to the White Jade Palace (Bạch Ngọc Kinh), which is what Buddhism calls Nirvana.”
Regarding Nirvana, the White Jade Palace, union with God, or attainment of the Way — this is the ultimate destination of humankind, across all religions without exception. Such attainment may be realized either after death or while one is still living.
In summary, life is a long path leading the human being toward reunion with God. This long journey encompasses many successive lifetimes within the earthly realm. Each lifetime serves as a classroom, progressing from lower to higher lessons, so that the true soul may continually advance and move ever forward along the path that leads to unity with God.
Through cultivation of mind and character, through a spirit of service to all beings grounded in Love and Justice, when one clears away the Six Desires and Seven Emotions, greed, anger, and delusion, and, above all, has fully repaid karmic debts, then assuredly the human being shall return to be reunited with God.
