lay religious professionals started in the 1950s, when Hòa Hảo's first explanatory works were published. In the 1960s study centers began to proliferate and an elite was fully trained to instruct the populace. State recognition allowed the group to expand its social and charitable activities, as well as publish works, republish and translate Sổ's writings, print portraits of Sổ that became objects of worship, build libraries, and establish educational centers. The độc giảng đường were built, which were roadside edifices that allowed peasants working in the fields to listen to amplified public readings of sacred scriptures. As a show of universal understanding, prayers are said in front of an empty table covered in red cloth. Water as a sign of cleanliness, local flowers as a sign of purity, and a small amount of incense to ward off evil spirits are the only physical offerings. Regular Hòa Hảo rites are limited to four prayers a day: the first to Buddha, the second to the "Reign of the Enlightened King", which is influenced by Western Messianic thought, and the third to living and deceased parents and relatives. The fourth prayer is dedicated to those whom the devotee wishes to have the "will to improve themselves, to be charitable, and to be free of the chains of ignorance". According to Hòa Hảo philosophy, devotees are to maintain the Three Fundamental Bonds: the relationship between the ruler and the subject, the relationship between father and son, and the relationship between husband and wife. The Five Constant Virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness are to be observed. They are to live in harmony with one another above everything else. Hoahaoists began giving community amenities, such as free food, shelter, clothes, medicinal herbs, and rural transportation infrastructure, when the government recognized the religion, according to Thanh Vo-Duy. For the Hòa Hảo, establishing new villages was a meritorious act; in the early 1970s, Hoahaoists were actively creating new villages out of the wetlands in the Plain of Reeds. Despite this, Vietnamese people outside the Mekong Delta know little about Hòa Hảo religious life. Early in the religion's history, Sổ's apocalyptic rhetoric had severe repercussions. Several incidents of human sacrifice by Hòa Hảo adepts were documented; these ritual killings were justified on religious grounds, with some believing that the spirits were thirsty for human blood. Although human sacrifice was not unknown in Vietnam prior to the