Caodaism articulates a detailed moral vision that weaves together classical Eastern teachings with a universalist spiritual outlook. At its core stand the Three Fundamental Duties: responsibility toward God and the spiritual realm, loyalty and service to country and society, and devotion to parents, family, and one’s own moral integrity. These duties are complemented by the Five Constant Virtues—humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness—which shape character and guide conduct in both public and private life. In this way, ethical living is not an abstract ideal but a structured path of obligations and cultivated qualities.

Alongside these virtues, Caodaist practice is framed by the Five Precepts or Interdictions: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxicants that cloud the mind. These prohibitions are understood not merely as rules but as disciplines that protect compassion, honesty, and clarity of consciousness, and they often express themselves in habits such as vegetarianism and moderation. The tradition further emphasizes the purification of body, mind, and spirit—encouraging restraint in physical appetites, vigilance over thoughts of greed, hatred, or jealousy, and a sincere orientation toward the Divine. Moral self-cultivation thus becomes a continuous inner work that supports outer harmony.

Caodaism also places strong weight on social ethics and communal responsibility. Respect for all religions as expressions of a single divine source fosters religious tolerance and a sense of universal brotherhood. Service to humanity through charity, social welfare, and peacemaking is treated as a concrete expression of love and justice, while family harmony and filial piety anchor ethical life in everyday relationships. Obedience to legitimate religious authority and to the laws of the nation, so long as they do not conflict with divine law, further underscores the importance of order and responsibility.

Within this framework, different levels of practitioners may observe these principles with varying degrees of rigor, yet the orientation remains the same: to live with compassion, righteousness, and sincerity. The regular observance of prayer and ritual, periods of vegetarian discipline, and the study of sacred teachings are all seen as means of deepening spiritual awareness. Through such integrated moral and spiritual practice, adherents seek personal purification, social concord, and an eventual return to union with the Divine.