How Heaven Works

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-68069-2
Verlag: World Bank Publications

Buch, Englisch, Band 178, 346 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 238 mm, Gewicht: 699 g

Reihe: Numen Book Series / Texts and Sources in the History of Religions

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hartney, Christopher

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Sonstige Religionen: Spiritualität, Mystik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Acknowledgements

Part1 General Introduction and Context

1 Caodaism, Syncretism, and Renovation

1 What, Then, Is Caodaism?

2 Caodaism and Its Millenarian Project

2 The Textual-Historical Divisions of Tây Ninh Caodaism

1 Stage One: 1925–1934

2 Stage Two: 1935–1955

3 Stage Three: 1955–1975

4 A Fourth Stage: 1975–

3 Who Was Ph?m Công T?c and What Constitutes Mediumship in Caodaism

1 Mediumship in Caodaism

2 The Development of the Hi?p Thiên Ðài

3 The Second Period of Scriptural Development

4 Sources of The Divine Path

1 Early Textual Developments at the Dawn of Caodaism

2 Kinh Khai C?u Ð?i Tu?ng và Ti?u-Tu?ng: The Prayers of the Faith

3 Thiên Thai Ki?n Di?n [A Visit to Celestial Realms]

5 The Structure of The Divine Path

1 The Tây Ninh Section (Opening)

2 Approaching the Celestial Bát Quái Ðài (First Orientation Section)

3 The Cloud Cave Interregnum (Sermon Five)

4 The Divine Mother and the White Jade Palace (Second Orientation Section)

5 The Work of the Cung Th? Thiên Hành Hóa

6 The “Tông Ðu?ng” or “Spiritual Family” Section

7 Beyond Nirvana: The “Ð?i H?i Long Hoa” or Great Dragon Flower Assembly

6 Site, Space, Voice, Ritual, and Eventually, Text

1 The Great Divine Temple as Performance Space

2 Ritual, Voice, and Shamanic Suggestion

7 The Purpose of Turning Performance into Text, and Conclusions

1 The Third Period of Text Development or the History of the Present Text

2 The Divine Path as Theological Memory Palace

3 The Ultimate Purpose of the Universe and of the Caodaist Paradise

4 Conclusions

5 A Short Note on the Translation

Part2 The Sermons and Commentary

Translators’ Note

1 What is the Divine Path to Eternal Life? There are Three Methods of Creating a Divine Position

Commentary on Sermon One

2 The Realm of The Th?a Thiên Hành Hóa

Commentary on Sermon Two

3 The Form of the Bát Quái Ðài and the Sea of Suffering: A Sermon Given Specifically for Officials of the C?u Trùng Ðài

Commentary on Sermon Three

4 Entering the Bát Quái Ðài via the Ô-Trì pond, Gender Equality, and the Sea of Suffering

Commentary on Sermon Four

5 The Paradise of Extreme Joy and the Image of the Divine Mother

Commentary on Sermon Five

6 The Power of the Divine Mother

Commentary on Sermon Six

7 The Ngân River and the Animal Nature of Humanity

Commentary on Sermon Seven

8 The Secrets and Mysteries of the Bát Quái Ðài and the Motion of the Eight-levels of Souls

Commentary on Sermon Eight

9 The Dragon Flower Assembly Where Positions Will Be Granted to Worthy Souls

Commentary on Sermon Nine

10 The Secret and Essential Philosophy of the Religion: The Perispirit and Civilization

Commentary on Sermon Ten

11 The All-Pervasive Nature of the Four Sufferings/Four Noble Truths and the Story of the King of Hell

Commentary on Sermon Eleven

12 The Power of Protecting the Souls of Human Beings in the Religion

Commentary on Sermon Twelve

13 How Atheists Debate at the Cung Hi?p Thiên Hành Hóa

Commentary on Sermon Thirteen

14 The Method of Cultivating the Way; Although Each of the Five Branches Is Different, They All Have the Same Aim: To Free Humanity from Suffering

Commentary on Sermon Fourteen

15 The Secret Dharma that Develops an Altruistic Life, Destroys Selfishness, and Elevates Public Life against Individual Desire

Commentary on Sermon Fifteen

16 The Law of Love and the Right of Justice; How to Lead Humanity Towards Union Through Belief

Commentary on Sermon Sixteen

17 The Power of the Law of Love, the Dharma of Justice, and the Agreement Between the Supreme Being and Humanity

Commentary on Sermon Seventeen

18 The True Happiness of Humanity

Commentary on Sermon Eighteen

19 The Supreme Being Devised the Caodaist Religion to Create Happiness for All Humanity and for Peace on this 68th Planet

Commentary on Sermon Nineteen

20 The Image of the Divine Mother on Earth Is the Image of Shiva; The Divine Extended Family of Each Individual Will Meet at Cung Diêu Trì

Commentary on Sermon Twenty

21 The Secret Inherent in What We Have Done, What We are Doing, What We Must Do; The Relation Between the Angel and the Animal in Each of Us and How This Relates to the Court of Heaven

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-One

22 The Philosophy of Civilization

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Two

23 The Desire to Progress on the Path to the Eternal Life Is Limitless

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Three

24 Our Sins Are Recorded by Our Own Perispirit; Therefore, There Is No Way We Can Deny Them

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Four

25 The Ph?c-Linh Realm and How to Preach the Way

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Five

26 The Method of Governing the Universe Lies in How We Govern Ourselves

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Six

27 Our Arrival at the Cung Ph?c Linh and the Secret Dharma That Liberates the Self

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Seven

28 Linh Tiêu Ði?n [The Ng?c Hu Cung] and the Governing Body of the Supreme Being

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Eight

29 The Difference Between the Process of Rising Through Heaven and the Process of Falling into the Dark Realms

Commentary on Sermon Twenty-Nine

30 The Paradise of Extreme Joy: Where We Are Temporarily Liberated; Although This is Not the Ultimate Realm for Souls

Commentary on Sermon Thirty

31 The Supreme Being Preserves Our Divine Extended Family

Commentary on Sermon Thirty-One

32 What Is a Drop of Holy Water? What Is the True Appearance of Nirvana?

Commentary on Sermon Thirty-Two

33 Few People Achieve a Position in Heaven Because Lucifer Blocks the Way

Commentary on Sermon Thirty-Three

34 The H?n-Nguon Thu?ng Thiên

Commentary on Sermon Thirty-Four

35 Lôi Âm Temple, Where Amitabha Buddha Reigns, and Where the Pilgrim Reaches His Lotus Throne

Commentary on Sermon Thirty-Five

Appendix—Preface to the 1971 Edition: An Explanatory Introduction by Caodaist Historian Mr Tr?n Van R?ng

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Christopher Hartney, Ph.D. (2004), University of Sydney, is Senior Lecturer and Chair of Studies in Religion at that university. He has published extensively on Caodaism, sacred creativity, and the nexus between religion and violence.