Admittedly, I know very little of the Cao Dai religion. Here are the things I do know:
1. Cao Daism originated, and is practiced almost exclusively, in Vietnam. The closest thing it has to a holy city is Tay Ninh, where the Temple of the Holy See is located.
2. The religion itself mixes philosophies and beliefs from the Chinese Confucianism/Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity. These belief systems are represented, respectively, with the colors Yellow, Blue, and Red.
3. The original Christians missionaries to Vietnam must have been tickled pink about this.
4. Every tour in Ho Chi Minh City brings you to the temple during the midday mass, so you have worshippers
And then dozens of tourists snapping pictures from the balconies.
6. This isn't really a list of what I know about Cao Daism anymore.
As a tourist, I have two minds about this experience. The first: knowing what I know about all three (technically four) of these belief systems, Cao Daism intrigues me rather deeply. I found myself wondering how the tenets of each translated into practice--Jesus Christ? Yin-Yang? Humanism? Enlightenment? What sort of weight do each of these beliefs hold in Cao Daism as a whole? The hymns and the music were entrancing, but I didn't understand any of it. The most interesting parts of the temple were parts that I, perhaps rightfully, was not allowed to see up close.
The second: what the hell was I doing there? It was clear that we were being shuttled in just to see the service, and that most people there were there for the photo opp. While I took advantage of this, I felt as though we were an enormous intrusion. Not being a religious person myself, I can still understand others' beliefs to the point where you should respect someone during their practice. I couldn't help but feel that the temple had made some large concessions in order for me to see this practice.
There's not a lot of literature on the religion itself. It's very small, even in terms of what percent of the Vietnamese population practice it (Like, 1 or 3%). In broad terms, I can see how Confucianism and Buddhism and Christianity can blend, but those ideas are all my own. As to what the average Cao Daist thinks and believes about the world around him/her, I'm afraid I can't even hazard a guess.
In other news: Sorry for the delay in posting. I've somewhat reverted to my old ways--meaning I've been working, working, working! They aren't afraid to give you work once you accept it here--sometimes it just keeps coming and coming, to the point where you've got to tell them to back off. Starting next week, I'll have two days off during the week, which feels like a long-forgotten luxury.
For the past month or so, I've been covering for an absent teacher at a Nursery School in District 3 of HCMC, at the recommendation of a teacher from my school, SEAMEO. Really, Nursery School barely qualifies as work--it's more like: Play with these kids, and speak English to them. But it takes a good chunk of time, not to mention energy, out of my day.
Tomorrow, I start a Business English class for my school, which requires me to travel to Binh Duong Province. Where's that, you ask? Good question, I say. I have arranged a taxi, so my plan is to show up, give the driver my map, and hope for the best.
In addition to that, I've picked up some administrative work for my school, helping them coordinate a language project with some linguistics scholars from Hong Kong. Aaaaand, later this month, a Vietnamese friend of mine is opening her own English school, so I've accepted the position of "Content Editor" for her school's website. This is something I'd do for free for friends back home, but I don't think she's going to let me get away with that.
So! I can't complain about the income that will result from this work, but right now things are quite hectic. They'll settle down later this week, at which point I'll try to entertain you with more tales of building cultural bridges with Heineken.
For now, I've got to get to planning. Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back.
