The Cao Dai Holy See · The Nine-Tiered Platform Beneath the Divine Eye

The Cao Dai Holy See at Tay Ninh folds Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Catholicism into one doctrine, and its object of worship is the Divine Eye — an eye painted on a sphere.

The teaching holds that many people will be born again in the flesh to receive revelation, and among those named are Victor Hugo and Sun Yat-sen.

There is a chanting service at noon each day, men and women climbing to the hall by two separate staircases. Photography of the nine-tiered platform in the hall is not allowed. The keeper explains it this way: while the eye is watching, do not stare back at it.

Folklore / Tay Ninh · Vietnam / 1926