Caodaism
What is Caodaism?
After Buddhism and Roman Catholicism, Caodaism (Dao Cao Dai) is the third largest religion in Vietnam with 7 to 8 million members in Vientam and 30,000 all over the word. Cao Dai means "High Palace" or the supreme palace where God reigns.
Caodaism is a newly revealed religion which encompasses elements of other religions of the world such as Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Islam.
Tay Ninh, about 60 miles (100km) North West of Saigon, hosts the religious center of Caodaism.
Kindness Towards Animals
"“For we entrusted with duties of fraternity toward men who are our brothers in the universal family, we also have duties of goodness towards animals who also are our brethren behind us in the way of evolution. We must then take care of those destined to our service, treat them with gentleness and avoid making them suffer needlessly. All animal life must be respected as much as possible for in harming it, we delay the evolution of the victim. So all Caodaists conscious of their duties will submit to a vegetarian die at to avoid being part to multiple crimes daily committed to the prejudice of his inferior brethren.
"Between pity toward beat and kindness of soul”, said Schopenhauer, “there is a close link: we may say without hesitating, that when an individual is cruel toward beats, he will not be a just man." - History And Philosophy Of Caodaism - Re-edited in 2011 by Anh Sang Phuong Dong Magazine. Pages 48-51.
Goodness Towards Plants
"“Nobody is ignorant of the services rendered us by all kinds of trees, Silent benefactors of man, not blaming either his ungratefulness, or his cruelty, they shelter, with their shade, all who come and sit at their feet, a tired traveler as well as a wicked wood-pharmacy cutter. The sandal wood, it is said, perfumes the axe that strikes it.
“Plants constitute a true natural pharmacy from whence is drawn all proper panacea to heal every disease. How many lessons of goodness and sacrifice can we draw from it for our profit!
“The recent scientific experiments of Sir Bose, a scholar of India, have shown that plants live much like man, that some particularly sensitive ones, possesses a nervous system more sensitive than ours to physical impressions. What do we think then of him who amuses himself by chopping a branch from a tree or uprooting a plant? If the necessities of material life oblige us to use vegetables, the goodness we owe these “candidates for animality” recommends us never to mutilate, not needlessly destroy them." - History And Philosophy Of Caodaism - Re-edited in 2011 by Anh Sang Phuong Dong Magazine. Page 51.