1. Mahikari teachings are based on
revelations that Okada received from God.
[SM site: Sidebar]
According to Sukyo Mahikari, the entire contents of Goseigen
(almost 500 pages in the Japanese edition), most of the Prayer Book
contents, and other unpublished revelations, were revealed to Okada by
God, and therefore contain absolute truth.
- Numerous religions with differing teachings are based on
revelations. More info
>>
- Details concerning the revelations are inconsistent.
More info >>
- Convincing religious delusions can have physiological causes.
More info >>
2. The teachings are regarded as tools
for spiritual growth, and you
will be encouraged to put Mahikari teachings into practice in your
daily
life. [SM site: Teachings as Tools for Spiritual Growth]
Mahikari teachings are based on the revelations received by Okada,
and
focus primarily on spiritual matters that we cannot see for ourselves.
As such, they cannot be verified intellectually, but must be accepted
on
faith (or rejected). These teachings include:
- Our karma from past lives determines our current
circumstances. More
info >>
- We need to offer food, etc., to our Ancestors.
More info >>
- The world will experience major cataclysms, followed by Heaven
on earth. More info
>>
- We must change attitudes and behavior to conform to the
"righteous path". More
info >>
3. Sukyo Mahikari claims to want to unite
all religions, and that
Sukyo Mahikari is not the only path towards God. [SM site: Cooperation
with Other Organizations]
In its promotional material, Sukyo Mahikari makes claims like the
above,
and stresses that people of all religions can join Mahikari. If you
already belong to another religion, you probably would like to know
whether there will be conflicts between the teachings of Mahikari and
your own religion if you receive kenshu.
- Okada taught that all other religions are only partially true.
More info >>
- Okada taught that Christ did not die on the cross.
More info >>
- The original Mahikari organization has already split into
factions. More info
>>
4. Okiyome (True Light) is the basic
practice of Sukyo Mahikari.
[SM site: Art of True Light]
Mahikari advises that, every day, members should receive okiyome
themselves and give okiyome to at least one person (but preferably
more). One session of okiyome lasts up to 50 minutes. Accordingly,
members devote an awful lot of time to okiyome. If you become a member
of Sukyo Mahikari, you will want to be sure that okiyome is what it is
claimed to be.
5. Donations are voluntary.
[SM site: Membership]
The experience of former members confirms that, except for the
small
monthly membership fee, all donations are voluntary. However, if you
are
observant when you visit a Mahikari center, you will notice that most
members make at least one donation (an okiyome donation) every time
they
visit the center, even if they visit every day. In addition, members
are
strongly encouraged to make the other types of donations, outlined in
the
"More info" section.
- There are about 10 different types of donation.
More info >>
6. Sukyo Mahikari aims to promote family
harmony.
[SM site: Nurturing Young People]
- Family discord results if not all family members belong to
Mahikari. More info
>>
7. Through okiyome, Mahikari claims that
one
becomes aware of the great influence of the unseen spiritual world.
[SM site: Art of True Light]
This is a veiled reference to the phenomena which is known as
"spirit
movement" within Mahikari. These are involuntary movements that people
sometimes experience when receiving okiyome to the forehead. Mahikari
claims that these movements are caused by spirits that are attached to
us.
- Is spirit movement caused by attaching spirits, or something
else? More info
>>
- Spirit movement is used as evidence to support Mahikari
teachings. More info
>>
8. Members are free to leave Sukyo
Mahikari at any time. [SM site: Membership]
The experience of former members confirms that members can and do
leave Mahikari, and that people who have left are not pressured to
return. However, their experiences also confirm that making the
decision
to leave is often highly traumatic, and breaking free of the
after-effects of Mahikari is a difficult process that can take years to
achieve.
- Membership has an extremely high turnover rate.
More info >>
- Experiences suggest that mind control occurs in Mahikari.
More info >>
9. Members revere Yoshikazu Okada and
Keishu Okada (current
leader of Sukyo Mahikari) as messengers of God. [SM site: The
Sukyo Mahikari Organization, History of Sukyo Mahikari]
Various stories are/were told about Yoshikazu Okada and Keishu
Okada
in an attempt to support the claim that they have special divine roles.
However, some of these stories have not stood the test of time
particularly well. Images
of leaders >>
10. Sukyo Mahikari presents itself as
being a non-profit, community service
organization. [SM site: Sidebar]
- The teachings of Mahikari do not condone charitable acts.
More info >>
Perhaps you have met a number of genuinely nice members already,
and
are thinking that you can't go too far wrong with a religious group
that
has such dedicated and altruistic members? Mahikari members are
extremely sincere in their beliefs....and we former members are
extremely sincere in our belief that the teachings of Sukyo Mahikari
are
nonsense.
This puts you, the person who may be considering joining Sukyo
Mahikari, in a very awkward position. Members claim that their own
experiences confirm the truth of the teachings, and that the only way
to
understand Mahikari is to "try it and see". We former members have had
the same experiences of Mahikari, plus many years of experience of life
after Mahikari, and have come to the opposite conclusion. How can this
be?
Mahikari members are discouraged from reading anything except
Mahikari literature, and are too busy to have much contact with
non-members. This creates a fairly closed environment. In addition,
the teachings form a closed system of logic, such that anything at all
that anyone experiences can be interpreted as evidence that supports
the
teachings. We know from our own experience how persuasive this set of
circumstances can be.
Since leaving Mahikari, we former members have spent countless
hours
researching the origins of Mahikari, researching mind control
mechanisms, and analyzing why we believed what we used to believe. We
have the advantage of free access to all information, not just Mahikari
information.
Ultimately, of course, it is up to you to decide what beliefs are
reasonable for you. If you do decide to "try it and see", and join
Sukyo
Mahikari, I ask you to remember just one fact...a fact that appears at
the top of the sidebar on the official Sukyo Mahikari North America
website. Mahikari teachings are based on revelations Okada claimed he
received from God. If Okada suffered from delusions, or lied, then the
teachings have much less authority than our own commonsense.
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