• Our karma from past
lives determines our current circumstances.
Sukyo Mahikari teaches that reincarnation occurs, and that
our karma from previous lives determines our circumstances in this
life. Perhaps you believe in these concepts, or perhaps you don't.
These teachings are key concepts in Okada's teachings, to the extent
that I don't think anyone can believe Sukyo Mahikari teachings without
accepting these beliefs. However, reincarnation and karma must be
accepted simply on faith, or rejected (or put in the "I don't know"
basket).
If you do believe in reincarnation and karma, then read on,
because these concepts are key elements in the manipulation of members'
perceptions of the effectiveness of practicing Sukyo Mahikari.
Sukyo Mahikari teaches that putting the teachings into
practice and regular okiyome (True Light) leads to spiritual growth,
spiritual purification, and a rise in spiritual level. In practical
terms, Okada's teachings in primary kenshu promise that people who
practice Mahikari diligently will achieve health, peace, and material
well-being. He said that even the slowest people would notice improved
circumstances within 3 to 5 years after receiving primary kenshu (the
course for new members). He did not say that disasters will not occur,
but he said that big disasters will become medium disasters, medium
disasters will become small disasters, and small disasters will become
no disasters.
So, after kenshu, if someone receives a pay rise, for
example, the person will think that his improved financial position
resulted from practicing Mahikari and thereby erasing his spiritual
impurities. But what happens if, for example, someone loses his job?
Does this mean that Okada's teachings are not true? Well, no...that is
where the teachings concerning past lives and karma come in.
If someone loses his job despite practicing Mahikari
diligently, it is assumed that he has a lot of negative financial karma
from a previous life. Incidentally, the loss of the job is also
regarded as a blessing, because God is arranging for him to erase this
negative karma by losing his job. Accordingly, the person is encouraged
to apologize to God for whatever he did in previous lives, and also to
express gratitude for the financial "purification" he received.
You'll notice this is a win-win situation for Sukyo
Mahikari.
The person who lost his job may start to doubt the
effectiveness of Mahikari, because his fortunes have declined despite
the promise of material well-being he heard in kenshu. If so, he'll be
told that his karma is so bad that he should have lost his job and had
his house burn down as well, for example, but that he received a medium
disaster rather than a big disaster because he was practicing Mahikari.
Does that sound reasonable? It has a certain logic...if you
believe in reincarnation and karma. However, even if you believe those
concepts, Sukyo Mahikari's claims still cannot be proved because there
are two unknown variables in the above scenario, and only one
objectively observable variable.
Firstly, we have no way of knowing what we did in past lives
(if they exist), or how bad our karma is...Sukyo Mahikari simply
regards our current circumstances as evidence of our degree of karma.
Secondly, we have no way of knowing if practicing Mahikari
raises our spiritual level...Sukyo Mahikari simply claims that
practicing Mahikari purifies us spiritually (raises our spiritual
level), and that therefore our circumstances improve. (Sukyo Mahikari
seems to equate spiritual level with degree of karma, with our
circumstances being the indicator of our karmic level/spiritual level.)
So, if we have a medium-sized disaster, do we assume we have
lots of bad karma, but practicing Mahikari has erased some of our
spiritual impurity, resulting in a medium disaster? Or, do we assume
that we have really good karma, and that practicing Mahikari has created
spiritual impurity, again resulting in a medium disaster? Or do we
assume that we have medium karma, and practicing Mahikari does nothing
at all to our level of karma, so we had a medium disaster?
Since we don't know what our karmic/spiritual level is (what
size disaster we "deserved"), we obviously can't conclude anything
about the effectiveness of practicing Mahikari on the basis of one
disaster.
However, the Sukyo Mahikari teachings on these matters also
factor in time as a variable. They claim that our karmic/spiritual
level rises over time as we continue to practice Mahikari, and that
there will be observable improvements in circumstances in 3 to 5 years.
So, perhaps we need to make objective observations that compare
members' circumstances when they join Sukyo Mahikari with their
circumstances 3 or 5 years later.
If members' circumstances have in fact improved over that
time (if the size of disasters has progressively decreased), can we
assume that practicing Mahikari does indeed raise members'
karmic/spiritual level? At first glance that would seem reasonable.
However, as indicated above, Sukyo Mahikari also teaches that
experiencing disasters or misfortune in itself erases negative karma.
Supposedly, each misfortune or disaster that occurs erases some karma
and raises the person's spiritual level. If this teaching is true,
shouldn't we expect subsequent disasters to become progressively
smaller and the person's circumstances to improve? If so, we would have
no way of knowing how much (if any) of the improvement in circumstances
was due to practicing Mahikari, how much (if any) was due to karma
being erased by experiencing the disasters, and how much resulted from
unrelated factors.
Life is not quite that orderly though. Typically, people
don't experience disasters in decreasing order of size, or any other
pattern. If karma does cause our disasters and misfortunes, it seems to
apply itself at whim, with random timing and random changes in disaster
size.
Perhaps, the disasters and misfortunes we receive, just like
the happy occurrences and good fortune we receive, are determined
simply by a combination of good/bad luck and good/bad management in our
current lives. Do we really need to look to reincarnation and karma to
explain why things happen?
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• We need to offer
food, etc., to our Ancestors.
Okada taught in kenshu (the Sukyo Mahikari introductory
course) that there are three worlds: the physical world we see and in
which we currently live, the astral world (invisible), and the
spiritual world (also invisible). He taught that the spiritual world is
inhabited by gods and by high-level spirits who do not reincarnate
anymore. He taught that, when we die physically, we go to the astral
world where we receive training to prepare for our next reincarnation.
He said that people are supposed to reincarnate roughly every 300 years
until they are sufficiently purified to stop reincarnating, at which
time they go to the spiritual world.
Kenshu paints alarming images of the astral world. According
to Okada, the astral world has many levels, with the highest level
involving comparatively pleasant training, but with increasingly
gruesome forms of training towards the lower levels. Since he claimed
most people go to some level or other of the astral world when they
die, members of Sukyo Mahikari tend to assume that the majority of
their ancestors are receiving training (suffering) in the astral world.
Given the reincarnation cycle of roughly 300 years, members are likely
to assume that any immediate family members who have died are suffering
in this astral world.
Getting worried? Well, I think it suited Okada's purpose to
have us worry. Nobody wants to think that their beloved
grandparent/spouse/parent/child is suffering in the astral world. Nor
do they want to think they themselves might end up in one of the lower
levels of the astral world. Of course, nobody can see the astral world
(if it exists), or know for sure what happens there. There's no reason
at all to believe these teachings, unless of course you believe Okada's
claim that he received his teachings in revelations from God. However,
even if we think Okada may have been deluded or telling lies, since we
can't see the astral world, we still have no way of being 100% certain
that the teachings concerning the astral world are not true.
In a carrot-and-stick scenario, the astral world teachings
are part of the Sukyo Mahikari "stick". I think it is a particularly
insidious and emotionally manipulative stick, since we cannot prove
that these teachings are wrong. We don't necessarily need to believe
these teachings...just the possibility that they might be true
makes it easy to be emotionally manipulated.
Having created a worry, Sukyo Mahikari then provides the
solution (the "carrot"). Kenshu teaches that practicing Mahikari
elevates us spiritually, thus improving our chances of going to one of
the less unpleasant levels of the astral world when we die. It also
teaches that, as we rise spiritually, this somehow rubs off on our
families and ancestors (exactly why was never quite clear to me), so
any family members who have already died will somehow benefit too.
More specifically, we are taught that we can help our
ancestors cope with their astral world training more easily by
inaugurating an ancestors' altar and placing offerings of food and
drink in front of the altar daily. We are taught that ancestors can
absorb the spiritual energy of the food so that they won't feel hungry.
There are an awful lot of detailed rules about how to set up the altar
and name tablets, how to clean them, how to make food offerings to
ancestors, how to greet them respectfully, which teachings to read to
them, how much okiyome to give them, where to place flowers, etc., etc.
You can probably imagine some of the emotions that come into
play regarding ancestors. In my case, my Dad had only been dead for a
few years when I joined Mahikari, and I still missed him dreadfully. I
wanted to believe I could help him in the astral world by inaugurating
an ancestors altar. I felt like he was "there", and I could say things
to him (even if he couldn't reply!). I used to think how happy he must
be that I was now a member of Mahikari and becoming more spiritually
purified. We had always had a special bond, and I could believe that
that bond was still there.
When I left Sukyo Mahikari, I stopped believing the
teachings, I stopped giving okiyome, and I stopped wearing omitama.
However, I kept my ancestors altar for several years "just in case". If
there was the slightest chance that my Dad was going to suffer by me
not having an ancestors altar...
Anyway, I eventually burnt my ancestors altar and name
tablets. Obviously, I still loved my Dad just as much as before, but by
then I felt quite sickened by the way my beliefs and emotions had been
manipulated by...by what? Ultimately, the only authority behind the
above teachings was Okada's claim that the teachings of
Mahikari were revealed to him by God. Belief in the teachings
concerning ancestors and the astral world stands or falls with the
validity of that claim.
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• The world will
experience major cataclysms, followed by Heaven on earth.
In the section of Goseigen (the book of revelations)
entitled Dreams in Life, dated January 15, 1963, Okada claims
that God said the following:
You should visit the traces of the great convulsions of
the earth. The ever-existing Great God (OHOKAMU) will execute the great
cleansing (OMISOGI) since the divine spiritual world and the human
world have become completely corrupted and chaotic to the extent that
there is no other solution left. The Time of Heaven is extremely near
when I must change the surface of the earth into the sea of fire and
sea of mud again.
This is just one of many references to the so-called Baptism
by Fire, which Okada claimed was a necessary means of purifying the
world in order to enable establishment of a heavenly civilization in
the twenty-first holy century. However, the details are somewhat
inconsistent. The above quote sounds like nobody will survive the
Baptism by Fire. Other sections of the "revelations" say that people
who make sufficient effort to serve God will be saved, and will be the
"seed people" for the heavenly civilization. In essence, Okada really
seemed to mean that only Mahikari members would be seed people...but
only those members who succeed in becoming sufficiently purified.
Okada described the Baptism by Fire as being a very grave
time for people who do not "reform", but a wonderful time full of
amazing blessings for members who serve God altruistically. However, he
also talked about members experiencing severe trials and training
during this time in order to become more purified. Okada claimed the
Baptism by Fire began with comparatively mild phenomena, in 1962, but
was increasing in intensity and would eventually reach a peak involving
horrendous suffering.
The above inconsistencies left members of Mahikari sitting
on the edges of their seats, not knowing what to expect...or when.
During the 1980s, Mahikari members were instructed to prepare emergency
packs, containing survival gear, emergency food, water, and spare
wrappings for Omitama, in readiness for the peak of the convulsions.
These days, Sukyo Mahikari spokespeople deny this, but I remember that
most members did prepare some sort of emergency pack at that
time.
In Mahikari: Thank God for the Answers at Last,
first published in 1982, Tebecis said, The peak will occur before
the turn of the century according to Sukuinushisama's [Okada's]
teachings (before the year 2000). Tebecis went on to say that, near
its peak there will be an increasing incidence of earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions...conflict and chaos of all kinds. Apparently, the convulsion
will be unimaginably severe. Incidentally, this book was translated
into Japanese so that Keishu could read and approve it before it was
published, so this embarrassingly wrong prediction cannot be dismissed
as one man's misconception of Okada's teachings.
In Tebecis' more recent book, Is the future in our hands?,
published in 2004, he again discusses the Baptism by Fire, in the
section Predictions and trends (pp 43-45). There are the same
predictions concerning an increase in natural disasters, conflict,
etc., but in this book Okada's prediction that the peak would be
"before the turn of the century" has disappeared. Instead Tebecis
attributes predictions concerning the dating of destruction, disasters,
and catastrophic changes to other religious prophets,
scientists, economists, and so on, and the timing has been changed to
"around the turn of the century onwards".
You might wonder how Tebecis can get away with this type of
sleight-of-hand cover up of Okada's failed prediction. To external
observers who compare both books, this clearly is just another of the
failed millennium-type predictions. So, why do Sukyo Mahikari members
continue to believe that Okada knew what he was talking about?
To be honest, I can only speculate, since I left Mahikari
well before the year 2000. However, in general, the teachings are so
constructed as to be almost impossible to disprove, and the baptism by
Fire predictions are no exception. Members are taught that the fate of
the world rests in their hands...that if they make enough effort, then
the peak of the Baptism by Fire can be delayed a little, and even made
less severe. Members are told that Keishu continually prays to God to
delay the Baptism by Fire so that more people can be saved. We were
taught that building Suza was essential...without it, nobody would be
saved. Since the peak of the Baptism by Fire did not arrive on time, I
suppose members could well be congratulating themselves that their
efforts are having an effect!
I've been told that members are still expecting the peak of
the Baptism by Fire sometime in the future. They are still being told
that they must increase their efforts in order to delay or reduce the
extent of the cataclysms. I seriously wonder if Sukyo Mahikari would
survive as a religious organization if it did not have this threat to
motivate and unite its members.
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• We must change
attitudes and behaviour to conform to the "righteous path".
The first sentence in the Teachings as Tools for
Spiritual Growth section of the US site says, Sukyo Mahikari
teachings are about universal principles rather than rules. The
exact same wording also appears on the official Europe/Africa Sukyo
Mahikari site.
This statement has been bothering me for some time. It
implies that Sukyo Mahikari does not try to control people's lives by
long lists of rules. My subjective impression from 10 years of
experience of Mahikari was that Mahikari rules govern every aspect of
life...surely it must be false advertising to imply there are no rules!
The US site talks about the universal laws God
established at the time of the Creation so that all things in the
universe can prosper eternally. Kenshu (the introductory course)
teachings draw an analogy between these laws and our need for oxygen.
Regardless of whether or not we believe we need oxygen, without it we
will die. Doesn't that mean that these universal laws/principles are
even more rule-like than ordinary rules?
According to Goseigen, not following these laws leads to
experiencing deadlock or being "beaten to a pulp". The teachings of
kenshu refer to the "grand arrangements of God for creating all things
of the universe and allowing them to flourish and prosper". Kenshu
teachings say that these arrangements of God are God's "laws" (okite),
and that any unhappy occurrences we experience are an indication that
we have been "doing the wrong thing".
The analogy with oxygen seems designed to convince us that
these universal principles or laws simply are, and that these
principles apply whether we believe them or not. However, like most of
Sukyo Mahikari's analogies, it simply muddles our thought processes.
Our need for oxygen is an observable and provable fact. Okada's
"universal principles" are supposed facts that he claimed God
revealed to him. They are neither observable nor provable.
So, what are these laws or principles? A few of them are:
- law of spirit first, mind follows, body belongs
(upstream-downstream)
- principle of misogi harahi (cleansing/purification of our
spiritual and other impurities)
- principle of the cross (cross formed by the spiritual
energies of fire and water)
- principle of balance
- law of being sunao (obedient to God)
- law of being grateful for everything, good and bad
- law of aganahi (experiencing suffering as a means of
compensating for negative karma)
At first glance, most of the above principles might appear
to be just explanations (not necessarily correct explanations) of how
the world works. Perhaps this is why people who believe Okada's claim
that these are the laws of God describe these as being "universal
principles rather than rules".
However, I see two main problems with that. The first is
that the term "universal principles" tends to obscure the fact that
these are not observable provable natural laws...they are just based on
the revelations Okada claimed to receive from God. The second problem
is that, even though these "principles" might not sound much like
behavioural rules on the surface, they are the basis of an enormous
number of rules that do affect every facet of the daily lives
of Sukyo Mahikari members.
For many people these days, the notion that women should be
subservient to men is archaic. However, Sukyo Mahikari's "principle of
the cross" turns back the clock on this point. Fire is regarded as
spiritual, vertical, and male. Water is regarded as material,
horizontal, and female. We are taught that, in order to conform to this
"principle", husbands must be dominant and wives must obey them.
Next there is Mahikari's emphasis on a vertical hierarchy,
rather than horizontal equality. I'm not sure if this notion derives
from the above principle of the cross, or from the spirit first, mind
follows, body belongs principle (upstream-downstream). Either way, it
gives rise to anti-egalitarian behavioural rules. There is a strict
hierarchy within Mahikari: God, Keishu, divisional and regional
leaders, Mahikari center staff, group leaders, then members. Within the
ranks of center staff, there are precise rankings such that practically
everyone is higher or lower than someone else.
If there is a decision to be made, a person is supposed to
consult his or her immediate superior and follow the advice received.
The use of initiative and problem solving skills is not regarded as a
virtue. Discussion or debate of the advice received is also not
acceptable. Anything advised by one's superior is supposed to be
followed without question. Members are taught that, even if the advice
given is actually "wrong" in some sense, the correct thing is still to
follow that advice, and God's protection will somehow magically make
that advice "right".
The above hierarchical approach is less strict amongst
ordinary members. However, ordinary members are encouraged to accept
the advice of Mahikari center staff, children are expected to respect
and obey teachers, workers are expected to respect bosses, etc. The
ultimate "rule" derived from this hierarchical approach is the teaching
that we should be striving for a world-wide theocracy, headed by God
and his chosen representative on earth, rather than democracy.
Next, according to primary kenshu, the principle of balance
is the basis for a rule about people being as they should be. This rule
says that men should behave and dress in a manly way, and women should
behave and dress in a womanly way. Okada did not go so far as to define
exactly what "womanly" clothes are, but when I was a member, this was
interpreted as being modest feminine dresses or skirts, rather than
pants.
The principle of balance also applies to marriage. Okada
taught that people are only able to marry if they are spiritually
balanced with each other. In other words, you get the partner you
deserve. Okada taught that divorce is not permitted. Unhappily married
people are supposed to think that they are paying off negative karma
(law of compensation) by staying with a spouse who mistreats them. They
are also supposed to feel grateful for the chance to compensate for
their karma in this way (the law of being grateful for everything).
Then, there are rules about sex itself: no sex outside
marriage, no contraception, and no homosexual activity. When I was a
member, people were not allowed to receive kenshu if they were "living
in sin". They needed to either separate, or marry, if they wanted to
receive kenshu.
Anyone who has ever been a member of Sukyo Mahikari will
remember hundreds of detailed rules relating to the care of omitama,
ancestors, and goshintai. There are detailed rules about how to give
okiyome and how to behave at dojo...wear socks, wash hands, greet God
first, don't cross spiritual lines, don't put the palms of the hands or
prayer books on the floor, and don't race off home before closing
ceremony. Go to dojo at least 3 times a week, don't miss the monthly
ceremony, go to study periods, and re-attend kenshu as often as
possible.
Next, there are rules concerning eating and health...no
vaccinations for your kids, no medication, and no herbal remedies.
Avoid artificial food additives, avoid really cold food, avoid
massages, and avoid microwaved food. Don't use chemical fertilizers,
pesticides, or herbicides, and eat organically grown food. Give light
to all your groceries, and eat with gratitude.
The rules that are emphasized most are those that dictate
the way members are supposed to feel...always be bright and positive,
don't complain, don't judge others, be humble and obedient, burn with
enthusiasm to serve God, be altruistic, don't be stingy, and be
grateful for everything.
In addition to the above rules that I remember (and I'm sure
there are more that I've not thought to mention), I was recently told
that Sukyo Mahikari issued the following list of rules in 2004, and
these are now displayed at Mahikari centers:
The ten points for practice to become a God centred
person are:
1. Diligently practice the art of True Light
2. Do your best to spread the light and teachings to
others
3. Offer gratitude for God's blessings in concrete ways
4. Follow the will of Su God in an accepting manner
5. Become a practitioner of genuine humility
6. Make mutual concessions and acknowledge the help of
others
7. Maintain purity of the body and soul as well as the
physical environment
8. Maintain cleanliness and tidiness
9. Avoid waste and use materials efficiently
10. Conduct yourself in a calm manner and do things in an
orderly fashion.
If Sukyo Mahikari teachings are about universal principles
rather than rules, then what are all the above?
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