It has now been almost three years since leaving Sukyo Mahikari, and
I still find it amusing that the leadership of Mahikari denies any
connection with the Emperor of Japan. Recently I was sent a book written
by Brian McVeigh, called Spirits, Selves and Subjectivity in a
Japanese New Religion, which stirred up my interest in the Mahikari
denial.
In an article called 'Seeking to Create a Better World' in The
Canberra Times - Friday March 7 1997, Andris Tebecis the director of
Sukyo Mahikari in Australia said, "Sukyo Mahikari
is not based on the concept of the Japanese Emperor being the supreme
ruler of the world."
I disagree with him and find it strange for him to deny what his
religion Mahikari teaches. We have both attended the same Mahikari
Seminars where these teachings were taught. I will address these
teachings through out this article.
First, I would like to deal
with the quote he made in The Canberra Times, on July 18th 1999.
"The origin of the earth is one, the
origin of the world is one and the origin of all the religions is one."
To do this we need to look at the core foundation of Mahikari:
Shintoism. Following is a Shinto story of creation, Mahikari expands
this story into so called divine (God inspired) teachings and then
declares them as the true history of the world.
Shinto: Story of creation and the origin of
the human race and the first Japanese Emperor:
In the beginning heaven and earth, positive and
negative, were not separated but formed a chaotic egg shaped mass.
Eventually heaven and earth separated, and a kind of reed shoot grew,
uniting them. The reed shoot was transformed into a god,
Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto, "the one who established the
land-eternal." Six generations later Izanagi, "the male who
invites" and Izanami, "the female who invites" were
spontaneously generated. They descended to earth and gave birth to the
islands of Japan and numerous deities. Izanami died in the process of
giving birth to fire. Izanagi followed her into the region of darkness,
death and putrefaction. He realized that "having gone to a hideous
and filthy place, it is meet that I should cleanse my body from its
pollution." A whole new generation of deities emerged from the
clothes he discarded and the parts of his body he washed to purify
himself, among them was Amaterasu (from his left eye) and the Moon God
(from his right eye) who in turn produced another series of divinities,
eventually resulting in Ninigi (Amaterasu's grandson), the father of
Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan.
With the Shinto account the actual descent or creation of the human
race is left completely vague, except for the assurance that the people
of the Japanese islands (located at the centre of the earth) are more
directly related to the gods than the rest of humanity.
However
in Secondary and Advanced Mahikari training lectures, Mahikari members
are introduced to the 'Divine Truth - the correct history of the world'
in detail. I would like to repeat that Andris Tebecis and I attended the
same lectures both in Australia and Japan.
This is the source of Andris Tebecis statement: 'The origin of the earth is one, the origin of the world
is one and the origin of all the religions is one.'
Winston Davis in his book Dojo - Magic and Exorcism in Modern
Japan and also Brian McVeigh's book Spirits, Selves and
Subjectivity in a Japanese New Religion overview these teachings and
they concur with my own notes and textbooks. Davis uses the word
Mioshie for Mahikari divine teachings and Saviour refers
to Yoshikazu Okada the founder of Mahikari.
Davis (1980-p67-69), McVeigh (1997-p73-74)
According to Mioshie, Japan was once part of a continent called
Mu, which now lies hidden beneath the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Japan, the oldest country in the world, will once again become the
spiritual centre of the human race.
In ancient times, dinosaurs swaggered about Japan; others, the size
of an American F-4 fighter jet, darkened the skies. (These winged
monsters were a manifestation of the dragon god, Ryujin, discussed in
the next chapter.) "Ancient documents" reveal that thousands
of these creatures died at the foot of Mount Tsukuba during the great
geological cataclysm that took place in Japan 100, 000,000 - 100, 050,
000 years ago. At that time, lava flows covered their bones, so that
today the Japanese have no dinosaur skeletons of their own to put in
museums. In those days, Japan also boasted mountains that were higher
than the Himalayas or the Alps. As the glaciers of the Ice Age moved
down over Mu, elephants and other animals, including man, migrated to
the south where the weather was less severe. The South Sea Islanders are
the descendants of these migrants. The Saviour maintained that
the "academic theory" that the Japanese are the descendants of
these southern peoples is an out-and-out lie.
According to the Saviour's research and revelations, Mu was a
landmass extending from Japan to Easter Island in the south and to
Hawaii in the east. From east to west it measured 5,000 miles, and from
north to south 3,000. It was in Mu, or ancient Japan, that Su-god first
drew up the spiritual "blueprints" (hinagata) that he used for
the creation of the human race. In order to fulfill various functions,
the first humans were created in five different colors: yellow, red,
white, blue-green, and purple. The colored stripes on the Mahikari
banner carried at all festivals are a reminder of the Five Colored Races
of these five original races, the yellow was dominant. To be more
accurate, the Japanese were dominant; the Chinese and Koreans, the
lesser yellow races, were of a lower rank -- but no quite as low as the
other four.
Ancient Japan was the site of an enormously advanced civilization
that ruled over the entire globe. In order to communicate with human
beings, Su-god sent his descendant Sumera Mikoto to rule as emperor and
high priest over the Japanese. Under his rule, the 2,400 different kinds
of letters used by the peoples of Mu were invented. These "letters
of the divine age" (kamiyomoji or shindai moji) were the origin of
all the ideographs, syllabaries, and alphabets in use today. Thus all
the languages of the human race originated in Japan.
Sumera Mikoto, to hold together his far-flung empire, dispatched
fifteen Japanese princes and one princess to various parts of the world.
The most illustrious were put in charge of the ancient civilizations of
Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and the Incan and Canadian empires. This
divine nobility -- confused by the Chinese with the sixteen disciples of
the Buddha -- first taught mankind how to hunt, fish, build ships, weave
cloth, and make paper.
Relics of the ancient civilizations they established, Mioshie tells us,
yield valuable insights into the life of the peoples of Motherland Mu.
For example, in Egypt the chrysanthemum, symbol of the Japanese prince
Tutankhamen (and still the flower of the Japanese imperial family) has
been found, together with many artifacts from Japan that he deposited in
the pyramids. These pyramids were in fact monuments set up to honor his
"stem family" in Japan. The Savior taught that the pyramids
were first built in Japan. This can be seen, he said, from the etymology
of the word piramido, which should be written with the characters
"sun-coming-spirit-hall." According to Mioshie, the ancient
name for Japan, Yamato, means "nation at the top of the
pyramid."
In
Summary:
These points are taken from hand written notes
from Secondary and Advanced Mahikari training lectures. They confirm
Davis and McVeigh writings.
1. Japan is the oldest country on
earth.
2. Japan was once the spiritual centre of humankind and will be again.
3. The first humans were created in five different colors: yellow,
red, white, blue-green, and purple in ancient Japan.
4. Ancient
Japan was the site of an enormously advanced civilization that ruled
over the entire globe.
5. Su-god sent his descendant Sumera Mikoto
to rule as emperor and high priest.
6. All the languages and
writing of the human race originated in Japan.
"It is not true
that there was no system of writing in ancient Japan. Nor is it true
that no ideograms originated in Japan. It is not true that ideograms
were first brought to Japan during the reign of the Emperor Ojin."
- Okada.
(Mahikari Advanced Kenshu Reference Textbook. 1989 p3)
7. Sumera Mikoto dispatched fifteen Japanese princes and one
princess to various parts of the world. This is how the countries were
named.
8. The ancient name for Japan, Yamato, means "nation at
the top of the pyramid."
Also the meanings of Nihon (Japan)
are Hi no Motosukuni- Land of the origin of the Sun/ Land of the origin
of the positive spirit/Land of the origin of the spirit.
9. Tutankhamen was a Japanese prince and the pyramids of Egypt were
built to honour the Japanese Imperial Family.
Davis (1980-p67-69), McVeigh (1997-p73-74)
The inhabitants of
Mu originally worshiped one god called the Heavenly King, but, not
daring to use his real name, they referred to him simply as Kami, or
God. Open-air temples made of stone were built to worship this deity and
his symbol, the sun. In addition to the chrysanthemum, the pyramids, and
the sun, the official symbols of ancient Japan were the cross, the
snake, the swastika (a symbol of the 'order of the universe"), and
a three-cornered crown. The scriptures of Mu, which were carried by
colonists to all parts of the world, later showed up in Polynesian
legends, in Chinese texts, and in the writings of Plato. The Old
Testament is a Hebrew translation by the Japanese prince Moses of
Zoroaster's Zend-Avesta. The Zoroastrian scriptures were originally
brought to the ancient Near East from Mu by way of India and Burma.
According to Mioshie, Israel and Japan have always had a close
relationship. "Records" still preserved in Japan show that
Moses once visited Japan in his capacity as king of the Jews appointed
by Japan's ninety-fourth emperor. The Koso Kotai Shrine in Ibaraki
Prefecture has preserved a stone on which Moses engraved the Ten
Commandments. The Hebrew language was a gift of the Japanese emperor to
the Jewish people. Documents owned by the same shrine prove that Jesus
Christ came to Japan at the age of eighteen in order to study and
perform austerities. At twenty-three he returned to his own country with
a seal of kingship conferred on him by Emperor Suinin. A picture in the
shrine shows him wearing a robe with three imperial chrysanthemums
embroidered on the front. Once back in Israel, Jesus got into trouble
and just barely escaped crucifixion: his younger brother was executed in
his place. After this narrow escape, Jesus returned to Japan, where he
died at the age of one hundred and eighteen. A statue that he made of
out of the bones of Mary and Joseph is still in the possession of the
shrine.
Okada Kotama also believed that the original Hebrews were called Eda
(branch) peoples, a Japanese word from which we get the word Jew. The
word Israel comes from a corruption of Isuzu, the sacred river that
flows through the Ise shrines in Japan's Mie Prefecture. Once, when some
of the Jews returned to Japan, the country's rulers declared that they
could not intermarry with the local inhabitants. The Tokugawa family in
particular was afraid that if a Jewish emperor were to come to power in
Japan, the shogunate's authority would be shaken. This political
discrimination was the origin of the Eta (Eda), Japan's outcastes.
Under the hegemony of ancient Japan, Mu flourished. Shrine records
show that Moses and Jesus, but also Mohammed, Confucius, Mencius,
Lao-tzu, and the Buddha all visited Japan. The Buddha, for example, came
to the country at the age of fifty-two and was enlightened when he met
the Sun God. To understand the teachings of the Buddha one must
therefore first master Japan's Kannagara no michi (that is, Shinto).
In Summary:
10.
The Old Testament is a Hebrew translation by the Japanese prince Moses
of Zoroaster's Zend Avesta.
11. Moses was appointed king of the
Jews by Japan's ninety-fourth emperor.
12. The Ten Commandments
come from Japan.
13. The Hebrew language was a gift of the Japanese
emperor to the Jewish people.
14. The Japanese Emperor Suinin made
Jesus Christ King of the Jews.
15. Jesus didn't die on the cross,
he always worshiped his brother who died on the cross.
Jesus
returned to Japan, where he died at the age of one hundred and eighteen.
16. The name Jew was originally a Japanese word Eta. Also the name
Israel comes from 'Isuzu', the name of the sacred river that flows
through the Ise shrines in Japan's Mie Prefecture.
17. The Eta
(Eda), Japan's outcastes were originally Jewish immigrants to Japan.
18. Mohammed, Confucius, Mencius, Lao-tzu, and the Buddha all
visited Japan.
20. All American Indians have Japanese ancestors.
21. The Garden of Eden was found in Japan.
22. China destroyed
many treasures of Japan in order to spread Buddhism and will have to be
punished.
McVeigh (1997-p74-75);
The
inhabitants of Mu became arrogant and materialistic, and the moon
deities who emphasized the desirous, materialistic aspect of existence
came into ascendancy. Nuclear warfare broke out between Mu and the other
great continent of Atlantis. Ignoring various cataclysms sent by Su God
as warnings, the wonderful continent of Mu was destroyed in a series of
natural catastrophes. This occurred about 15,000 years ago.
Nevertheless, human kind has not learned its lesson. So Su God has
unleashed the baptism of Fire which, unless we change our hearts,
threatens to completely destroy us. It is the mission of the Japanese to
reunite the Five Races and restore the Japanese emperor to his rightful
place as the earthly representative of Su God. This is why the *Mahikari
gave extensive coverage to *Oshienushisama's attendance at the emperor's
funeral in February 1989. Her presence at such a historical event is
only natural since like the emperor she is thought of as Su God's
representative on earth.*(Japanese Mahikari magazine), *(Kouko Okada-
Mahikari's present supreme leader)
The following quotes are from Ms. Kouko Okada (called
Oshienushisama (holy teacher) by Mahikari members), There is no doubt
that she regards the Emperor of Japan as a God:
Now, in Japan the 'Name of the Era' is used in
addition to the Christian [system]. At present it is only in my country
that uses the name of eras, so naturally, in various countries of the
world, [people] are not familiar with the meanings.
Therefore, I
want to expand on this as follows. The naming of era's in my country has
a history of 1,300 years, since the Nara period [710-784 AD]. After the
Meiji Imperial Restoration [1887-1868], every time there is a new
Sumeramikoto*, whose lineage continues unchanged forever, a new name is
given for the era. In other words, it has been 'A new era name' for each
[Emperor's Reign].
*Refers to the Emperor of Japan. Details
given in advanced kenshu. - (See above notes)
(Mahikari Australia
Journal Vol.7 No.5 May 1989-p2.).
"My most ardent wish is
that in order to achieve the Divine plan, *yokoshi all over the world
will promote the spread of *Divine truth and the correct path with the
power of love and harmony, stemming from unity. On the Twelfth Day of
this month the enthronement ceremony of His Imperial Majesty, the
Emperor, Sumeramikoto will be held in Japan".
(Mahikari
Australia Journal Vol.8 No.12 May 1990-p8.).
*Yokoshi = Mahikari
members.
*Divine truth = Mahikari teachings.
>"To
begin with, the fact that there are separate countries in itself is not
proper. In ancient ages, there were no such things as countries. That's
all there was to it. When you look at the country of Japan, there is no
such thing as the beginning of that country or its establishment as a
country. It was simply that once there was a 'Land of God' and mankind
was created there and then dispatched around the world. Nothing else.
However, the people who we re dispatched devised such things as
countries without knowing the plan of God. Then invasion after invasion
occurred.
In fact, mankind of the five different skin colours has no option but
to return to the condition as it once was in the age of the Gods. If
anyone is to work in the peace movement, he needs to work on removing
the borders of countries. Furthermore, the only way to achieve [peace]
is to spread the great, virtuous politics by the *direct descendant of
God, centering on where he resides, just as it was in the age of the
Gods".
(Mahikari Australia Journal Vol.10 No.2 Feb 1992-p10.)
*Emperor of Japan
In
brief (my notes):
23. Ms. Kouko Okada uses the divine name
or god name Sumeramikoto to refer to the new Emperor Akihito and the
naming of a new era Heisei.
24. She is teaching her Mahikari
followers that they have no choice but to return the world back to how
it was in the land of Mu, when the Japanese Emperor was the Emperor of
the whole world. Only then can the world be at peace.
There is
no doubt for long term Mahikari members particularly those who have done
all three levels of Mahikari training, that the role of the Emperor of
Japan is of vital importance to the successful fruition of Mahikari's
Divine plan. If the importance has been lost to Andris Tebecis as the
head of Mahikari in Australia then he is out of step with his Japanese
colleagues and ultimately his spiritual leader.
McVeigh writes (1997.p156);
As previously mentioned in relation to
Mahikari's cosmology, the emperor plays an important role. The leaders
of Mahikari make efforts to educate *kamikumite about the role and at
the same time seek public exposure for their devotion to the emperor.
This was clearly seen on the day of the Enthronement Ceremony (Sokui no
rei) held on November 12, 1990, the Emperor Heisei. Thousands of
kamikumite from Tokyo dojos gathered along the parade route, efficiently
directed and marshaled by Mahikari officials outfitted with
communication equipment in tandem with security forces. Members, given
small flags of the rising sun (Hi no maru), were checked and incessantly
reminded to wear their Mahikari pins by squad leaders and officials as
they waited for the procession to pass by. In an apparent attempt to use
the mass of assembled kamikumite as a public relations event, the
officials, rushing here and there, repeatedly told members to make sure
their pins were clearly visible.
*Kamikumite = Mahikari member.
Back to the Top
Education and Mahikari
Youth:
The Mahikari pin or badge, represents much of has
been written so far. It can be found on Mahikari buildings, monuments
and adorns the top of the 45 meter tall Mahikari pyramid in Japan. The
divine crest is of the sun race, the ancient Japanese, later it was
given by Japan's ninety-fourth emperor to Moses, who Mahikari claim was
a Japanese prince.
The gold centre represents god
at the top of the divine world, the sixteen lines going out to the
smaller golden disks represent the 15 princes and princess that the
original Japanese Emperor Sumeramikoto sent out to incorporate the
world. The 16-petal chrysanthemum shape also represents the Imperial
emblem of Japan. The red vertical is yang fire god male heaven and the
blue horizontal line is human water female, earth. The white stands for
the astral world and the green for the present world.
There can only be one conclusion; Mahikari is working toward the day
when the Japanese Emperor will once again take his rightful place in
their concept of the correct Government of the world. A spiritual -
theocratic dictatorship. Democracy is demonized in Mahikari.
Mahikari teaches that the Emperor of Japan is a
living god.
Also in the Canberra Times - Friday March 7 1997. Andris
Tebecis said "Some Mahikari educators have
been able to introduce high-level values to the curriculums of a number
of primary and high schools in both Australia and New
Zealand".
Also in the West Australian - Perth
Saturday October 18 1997
"One of the
things we are striving to achieve is to make an international
headquarters in Canberra, the ACT," Dr Tebecis said.
"We've got a block of land given by the
Government for this and that is recognized as a non-denominational
religious institution. It is also an educational institution and also a
community organisation."
Catholic and Anglican ministers
and a Jewish rabbi in Melbourne were members, he said.
The group
had also helped to change the curriculum in some Australian and New
Zealand schools.
"One of our members there (in New Zealand)
has implemented or helped implement a spiritual aspect in the curriculum
for schools and also universities nationwide," Dr Tebecis
said.
Ian Buruma, The Wages of
Guilt (1994-p200) wrote: In 1991, the old imperial hymn, Kimigayo, and
the rising sun flag, despite some vehement protest from leftists and
liberals, were officially declared to be national symbols of Japan. This
decision came not through legislation but in the form of a guideline
issued by the Ministry of Education in approving the revised textbooks,
which included for the first time since the war, favorable passages
about Japanese military heroes. And at least one school, the Nichidai
Matsue High School, had unofficially revived the Imperial rescript. Its
headmaster, Okazaki Isao, insisted that the Rescript be read out loud
every morning, since it was the best text to make you Japanese with true
Japanese spirit.
The headmaster Buruma mentioned, Okazaki Isao is also featured in
Mahikari publications; he is an honoured Mahikari member.
Both
houses in the Japanese Diet invalidated the Imperial Rescript in 1947
and 1948. For 60 years, it was used to generate the national 'virtues '
such as self sacrifice to the state, military discipline, ancestor
worship, to guard and maintain the prosperity of The Imperial Throne and
to resurrect military heroes as cardinal models to follow.
Following is the Imperial Rescript on Education in Japanese.
English Translation of the
Imperial Rescript on Education
Know ye, Our
subjects;
Our Imperial Ancestors have founded Our Empire on a basis broad and
everlasting and have deeply and firmly implanted virtue; our subjects
ever united in loyalty and filial piety have from generation to
generation illustrated the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the
fundamental character of Our Empire, and herein also lies the source of
our education. Ye, Our subjects, be filial to your parents, affectionate
to your brothers and sisters; as husbands and wives be harmonious, as
friends true; bear yourselves in modesty and moderation; extend your
benevolence to all; pursue learning and cultivate arts, and thereby
develop int ellectual faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore
advance public good and promote common interests; always respect the
Constitution and observe the laws; should emergency arise, offer
yourselves courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the
prosperity of Our Imperial Throne coeval with heaven and earth. So shall
ye not only be our good and faithful subjects, but render illustrious
the best traditions of your forefathers. The Way here set forth is
indeed the teaching bequeathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed
alike by Their Descendants and the subjects, infallible for all ages and
true in all places. It is Our wish to lay it to heart in all reverence,
in common with you, Our subjects, that we may thus attain to the same
virtue.
The 30th day of the 10th month of the 23rd year of Meiji.
(October 30, 1890).
(Imperial Sign Manual. Imperial Seal).
Young people from Mahikari Asia region came the
Canberra Mahikari centre to prepare before going to the Mahikari teacher
training school called Kunrenbu in Japan. These young people were
generally well educated and had to learn Japanese. Part of their
orientation to fit into the Mahikari education system was to learn to
recite the Imperial rescript in Japanese. I have a copy of the training
notes given to these young people, my wife taught them.
When they had completed their training in Canberra they were
required to recite the Imperial Rescript in front of Andris Tebecis so
he could determine if they were eligible to go to Japan for further
training. The fact that these young people were Australian, South
African, Malaysian nationals, was irrelevant as long as they conformed
to the education policy of Mahikari. Once reaching Japan and starting
their teacher training, the boys heads were shaved and all students both
Japanese and foreign nationals were required to rise before dawn so they
could sing the Japanese National anthem as the sun rose.
These non-Japanese students and all non-Japanese Mahikari members
represent the four skin coloured races returning to the fold. Back to
the origin of all religions, back to the origin of humankind, back to
the land of the origin of spirit - the golden race, the king race -Japan
and the Japanese Emperor, who Mahikari call Sumermikoto (God).
The Mahikari Saviour, Okada, and the present leader his adopted
daughter and Andris Tebecis all teach as the true history of the world :
The age of the gods existed in a place called Mu
or ancient Japan. Another name they use for Mu, is Lemuria. When Lemuria
sank the Japanese archipelago was the only part to remain above sea
level which makes Japan the oldest country in the world.
Map showing the origin of the five great civilizations and their
development. (Mahikari Advanced Kenshu Reference Textbook. 1989 Chapter
7)
The five great civilizations and the five great
religions all originated in Hinomotosukuni (later known as Japan). Thus,
the need to rewrite world history is very urgent. - Okada.
(Mahikari Intermediate Kenshu Reference Textbook. 1989 p29)
Back to the Top
Following is an alternative view on Mu or Lemuria,
Mahikari's ancient Japan.
by Paul V. Heinrich
http://members
.cox.net/pyrophyllite/Atlantis1.html
The Birth of
Lemuria
The concept of Lemuria was born in the 1860s and 1870s, when a group
of British geologists noted the striking similarity between fossils and
sedimentary strata found in India and South Africa. Geologists like Stow
and Blanford in India and Griesbach in Africa noted that strata of
Permian age, about (245 to 286 million years ago) in India, South
Africa, South America, and Australia were almost identical in the type
of sedimentary rocks, e.g. numerous coal beds. In addition, these strata
on these continents contained the identical fossils of land plants, e.g.
cordaites and "Glossopteris," and land animals, e.g.
Therapsids. Because such land plants and animals could not have crossed
the open sea and continents were thought to be immobile, these
geologists explained the presence of identical fossil plants and animals
on India, Africa, South America, and Australia by postulating the
existence of land bridges and even whole continents that had long since
sunk beneath the oceans. In one case, they postulated the existence a
large land bridge that once connected India and South Africa. In the
"Erdegeschichte" (1887) of Neumayr, this hypothetical land
bridge was called "Indo-Madagascan Peninsula" (de Camp 1954).
Ernest Heinrich Haekel, a strong advocate of the evolutionary theory of
Darwin like Thomas Huxley, found this proposed land bridge of
"Indo-Madagascan Peninsula" useful in explaining the
distribution of animals. Haekel used it to explain the distribution of
lemurs in Africa, India, Madagascar, and Malaya Peninsula. He proposed
that this hypothetical land-bridge had stayed above water long enough
for it to have served as the means by which lemurs spread into these
areas. The English biologist, Philip L. Scalter, named this land bridge
"Lemuria" because of this hypothesized association with
lemurs. Thus, Lemuria was neither named nor conceived of or by
prehistoric people, but by geologists and biologists in the 1800s (de
Camp 1954). When plate tectonics or some other equally prosaic theories
clearly explained the distribution of strata, fossils, and lemurs, it
became clear that Lemuria and other such continents and land bridges
never really existed, e.g. Wicander and Monroe (1989).
The
Reincarnation of Lemuria.
Lemuria was reincarnated as a lost continent by Madame Blavatsky, the
greatest of the modern occultists. Madame Blavatsky incorporated this
concept of Lemuria, in a confused form, together with Atlantis and a
bizarre mixture of scientific, occult, and Hindu religious material,
including the "Rig-Veda," in her book, "The Secret
Doctrine." In this book, Lemuria became a lost continent, although
still in the Indian Ocean, populated by ape-like hermaphroditic
egg-laying creatures. Later writers of occult, lost-continent tales,
e.g. Annie Besant and W. Scott-Elliot, added their own detail and
embellishment to the story of Lemuria, including dinosaurs and 12- to
15-foot bronze humanoids. The final event in the reincarnation of
Lemuria occurred when writers of occult books moved the location of
Lemuria from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean (de Camp 1954). Since
then, mystics and psychics have written innumerable books about Lemuria,
and either tuned into the spiritual essence and vibrations, or channeled
for the spirits of long-departed Lemurians who never existed to begin
with.
When the theory of continental drift was developed, people realized that
it and other more prosaic theories explained the distribution of
animals, fossils, and plants better then lost continents. As a result,
Lemuria was allowed to fade away into obscurity, while eclipsed by more
realistic theories long before there were GEOSAT and SEASAT satellite
data to demonstrate the fictional nature of Lemuria.
(For the
original story read: de Camp, S. L. "Lost Continents: The Atlantis
Theme in History, Science, and Literature." New York: Gnome Press,
Inc.,1954.
Other references: Wicander, R. and Monroe, J. S.
"Historical Geology: Evolution of the Earth and Life Through
Time." New York: West Publishing Company, 1989.)
Relics from Mu?:
In 1985 I attended Advanced Kenshu (training) in Japan for the second
time, displayed at the front were what appeared old relics, broken
pottery and stone with relief patterns and a brass looking object. The
lecturer claimed these were found by the Holy Master (Okada) and were
from the Continent of Mu. The person sitting next to me at the lecture
was Andris Tebecis; I asked him if carbon dating or any method to verify
the age of the objects had been used. His reply to me was "the Holy
Master found them." I didn't get the chance to ask him more
questions, he moved to another seat. I got the distinct impression I was
not supposed to ask questions. If the holy Master, Su Gods
representative on earth said the objects were from Mu then they were
from Mu!
After all these years I can now finally feel at
peace, the objects I saw back in 1985, couldn't have been from Mu. If
they were, the interest worldwide would be bigger than the discovery by
Heinrich Schliemann of Troy. The Mahikari organisation would not pass up
the opportunity to present the proof that Okada was the most credible
authority of the true world history.
If Mahikari could offer substance to claims that the origin of
the world as one, the origin of the earth is one and origin of mankind
is one, they may have a chance of being accepted, even by the most
ardent of skeptics.
One of the main sources of Okada's account
of the true history of the world is found in the books written by
Colonel James Churchward. Who wrote several books about Mu and in the
Mahikari Advanced Kenshu Reference Textbook. 1989, Okada devotes Chapter
4 to selected passages from 'The Lost Continent of Mu'. 1950.
Young People at Risk:
The Mahikari
youth wear a badge or pin that represents the symbol of the sacred four;
it holds the key to the movements and workings of the universe (Ch
4.p14). On their uniform sleeves and blazer breast pockets, they wear
the emblem of the Royal Escutcheon of Mu.
The Royal Escutcheon
of Mu tells us that all mankind on earth were under her rule. (Ch
4.p20).
As we learnt earlier Su-god sent his descendant Sumera Mikoto
(Japanese Emperor) to rule as emperor of Mu.
Once again, an
imperial link is established to the young people of Mahikari. The youth
of Mahikari are the army of Sumeramikoto.
Davis
writes (1980 p.80-p83).
For example, let us take the story of the sunken continent. This is a
theme popular among occult groups in the West, from the Rosicrucians to
the Theosophists. The sunken continent is generally pictured as Eden,
the Gardens of the Hesperides, or the Elysian fields. It was a
primordial paradise and the original home of all later civilizations,
material and spiritual cultures, alphabets, and races.
As such, it
has easily become -- as in Mahikari -- a prototype for the paradisal
civilization of the future. In contrast to scientific archeology, which
views man's history as a "rise' from a pre-civilized to a civilized
state, the theosophical myths of the sunken continent tend to treat
man's present condition as a degeneration of past civilizations.
The Saviour's primary source of information in these matters was the
Anglo-American writer of historical fiction (or better, fictitious
histories) Colonel James Churchward. Churchward's evidence for
conditions in Mu came from such venerable sources as the Easter Island
Tablets, Indian and Mayan Records, the Naacal Tablets, the Traoano
Manuscript, and the Lhasa Record, and from other evidence preserved
"in Certain Monasteries in India and Tibet whose names are withheld
by request." That Churchward could decipher all of these
"ancient records" is explained by his unique method for
learning languages. He simply stared at words for a long time and let
their meaning emerge in his inner consciousness.
Many of the
ideas Okada wove into Churchward's account of Mu were taken from the
"records" and "antiquities" said to be preserved by
the Takenouch family in a shrine in Ibaraki Prefecture. This information
has been set forth by Yamane Kiku in a book called The Authentic History
of the World Secreted Away in Japan. It is from this book -- which the
Saviour regarded as the last word on ancient history - that we learn
that Jesus died in Japan, and that nearly all the other saints and holy
men of the world at least visited the country.
The same book was one of the sources for Okada's idea that writing was
discovered in Japan. I might add that the "letters of the divine
age" (Shindaimoji) were actually a bogus idea popular among Shinto
nativists in the Tokugawa period, for example, in Hirata Atsutane's
Jinji nichibunden and Ochiai Naozumi's Nihon kodai monjiko.
Ban
Nobutomo (1775 -1846), however, disputed the authenticity of these
characters, and by the turn of the twentieth century nearly all Japanese
scholars had ceased to believe in them. In the ultra-nationalist period
preceding World War II, the shindai-moji regained their popularity,
especially in such patriotic and military circles as the Rikugun Shikan
Gakko, where the Savior was educated. The real significance of these
letters was ideological. Modern linguists are convinced that the
shindaijoji were merely fabrications designed to compensate for the
Japanese sense of inferiority vis-à-vis the language and
literature of China and were part of a nationalistic idealization of
ancient Japan. As such, they are another example of the nativism that
runs through Mahikari's gospel.
As Davis mentions, Okada has taken much information from literature most
of which does not stand up to any critical research. After compiling his
research into Mahikari training textbooks, song books and a Mahikari
bible, Okada puts the seal of a Japanese God on them to give them a
divine origin.
Back to the Top
The Australian tax payer helps promote
Mahikari:
In an article in the Canberra Times by
Journalist David McLennan on July 18th 1999, Andris Tebecis makes the
statement " The
organisation tried to help create a better world by improving standards
of life, and was recognized by the Federal Government as an educational
organisation".
A concern I have, is for the wider
community. It is one thing for Andris Tebecis to declare the teachings
of Okada and his daughter as the divine truth and promote it. But to
make the claim it has been recognized by the Australian Federal
Government is another matter.
Anyone can set up a religion in Australia all they have to do is satisfy
the Australian Tax Department;Tax Ruling TR. 92/17
5. A body is
a 'religious institution' if it is instituted for religious purposes.
For a body to be regarded as a religious institution:
(a) its
objects and activities must reflect its character as a body instituted
for the promotion of some religious object; and
(b) the beliefs
and practices of the members of that body must constitute a religion.
6. The two most important factors for determining whether a
particular set of beliefs and practices constitute a religion are:
(a) belief in a supernatural Being, Thing or Principle; and (b)
acceptance of canons of conduct which give effect to that belief, but
which do not offend against the ordinary laws.
Because Mahikari conforms to this criteria in principal, the Australian
tax payer unwittingly provides the financial support for Mahikari to
build a multi million dollar headquarters in The Australian Capital,
Canberra and will support the building of a multi million dollar school
and accommodation buildings in the future. Although the money is
collected from the members the 'donations' attract tax exemption for the
members.
Mahikari: High
risk to children:
I find it a curious contradiction that
the controversial British historian David Irving has been banned from
coming to Australia. His visas were refused on the basis that Mr Irving
was not of good character. He holds radical views on events of the
second world war regarding the Jews.
Yet Mahikari intends building a school to teach their true history of
the world to children. If they remain faithful to their saviours
teachings, the Jewish nation was originally Japanese and Moses was a
Japanese Prince, the Hebrew language and the star of David was a gift
from a Japanese emperor and it was their Karma to be persecuted through
out history.
I think this stuff is more radical than David
Irving views. Yet it is taught to Australians as the true history of the
world when they join Mahikari.
I think the Government Ministers
of Education in both countries should be asking what these high-levels
values are and is the doctrine of Mahikari in the best interest of the
wider community. We are given the choice to see movies with a range of
classifications from 'G' General viewing to 'PG' Parental Guidance to
'R' Restricted. Maybe it is time to look at the effect of groups like
Mahikari on our youth and give it a rating of 'R' Restricted to persons
over the age of eighteen.
It hard enough for adults to suffer the process of deprogramming and
brain washing when they leave Mahikari, the effect on kids who have been
brought up in the Mahikari environment particularly a Mahikari school
can only compound the suffering when eventually faced with actual
historical events documented through the passage of time. The youngest a
child can become a full Mahikari member is 10 years old. How can a 10
year old can know what is fact and fantasy, Mahikari's fantasy is
presented as fact. This type of problem can be researched in
publications from cult experts who have studied cult techniques over
many years.
I find myself with a moral dilemma, I hold freedom
of speech as a democratic right and believe that Australia is one of the
most tolerant nations in the world. However, it disturbs me to see a so
called religion bend the minds of the youth of our country with such a
distorted ideals. As an adult I take full responsibility for my decision
to join Mahikari in 1982, on reflection I am acutely embarrassed now.
But I feel kids caught up in the Mahikari mind set are much more
vulnerable than I was.
I was so convinced that Mahikari had all the answers, I had an edge to
to survive the end of the world, I was a mini Jesus radiating spiritual
power from my hands. In a way, by writing about Mahikari now I am trying
to address the mistake of putting part of my brain to sleep for 14
years. At the same time voice concern from an intimate knowledge of the
organisation.
Many young people who come into Mahikari don't
have the advantage I had of coming into into Mahikari at 28, they absorb
the Mahikari teachings presented as facts and the methods used to
present the 'facts' come across as plausible and believable. Mahikari
youth are given strict instruction from Ms Kouko Okada as the spiritual
head of Mahikari not to listen to any information or believe anything
unless it is first cleared by her. A rule of thumb is, if anything is
said which is critical of Mahikari then it is the work of evil spirits,
or the evil gods who want to destroy the one true religion.
Atlantis, Mu and Aliens.
Following is part of a transcript of the Mahikari Saviour's words from a
taped message, given at the Beginning of the month Ceremony, June 6,
1985 at Suza, Takayama, Japan.
The continents of
Atlantis and Mu once fought a horrible, massive war even using
atomic-hydrogen bombs. Furthermore, there have been battles between the
spirits of Venus and other planets, and humans with physical bodies in
this world.
Thus, those of the spiritual lineage's that lost
such battles have come to hold extremely strong resentment spiritually
towards present humankind. To tell you the truth, it is also such
spirits who are attached to today's human beings, in great numbers.
There are times when attaching spirits do not leave people's bodies
even with the power of God over a long time. And to tell you the reason
for this, to a certain degree it is because in fact battles between the
spiritual lineage's concerning the rise and fall in actual humankind's
history are still continuing even at this very time.
Now, the spirits who have extreme hatred and resentment against present
mankind's building a world of happiness unite themselves as one body. In
other words, they take action in a very organised manner.
Furthermore, such spirits, even from other planets, mingle among today's
humans, having transmigrated into human beings.
As an example,
people from the Atlantis civilisation, which was destroyed by the
continent of Mu, are not only attached ( as spirits ) to today's people,
but in fact, have reincarnated as people in this world. Adding even
more, spirits with hatred attach to such beings 'en masse' and create an
even more horrible world of hatred. This is how it goes.
....We
need to give rise to a new civilisation, but in order to achieve this no
matter what, we need firstly to change our way of thinking to that of
returning to the origin and uniting with the plan of god, forming one
body.
I look upon this as an incredibly great mission for
*Yokoshi from now on.
*Mahikari members
(Mahikari Australia Journal Vol.3 No.8 August 1985 p8-9)
This teaching from the Mahikari spiritual Master just
about sums it up. If people accept it when Andris Tebecis says, 'The origin of the
earth is one, the origin of the world is one and the origin of all the
religions is one'. Then they are in step and following the supreme God,
after all, Mahikari has all the answers at last.
Alternatively
if people are critical of Mahikari and question Okada's sanity, then
they must be possessed by the resentful spirits of those who died in
wars between 'Atlantis' and 'Mu', or could even be possessed by Aliens
from another planet.
References;
Dojo - Magic and
Exorcism in Modern Japan
Winston Davis 1992 edition ISBN
0-8047-1131-3
Wages of Guilt - Memories of War in Germany and
Japan
Ian Buruma 1995 ISBN 0-09-947791-2
Spirit, Selves and Subjectivity in a Japanese New Religion.
Brian
J. McVeigh 1997 ISBN 0-7734-8430-2
Mahikari Advanced Kenshu
Reference Textbooks.1984,1989,1990,
Plus hand written notes of
advanced Kenshu.
Mahikari Secondary Kenshu Reference
Textbooks.1983,1989,
Plus hand written notes.
Mahikari
Primary Kenshu Reference Textbooks.1979,1983,1989
Plus hand written
notes.
The Canberra Times - July 18th 1999, Friday March 7 1997
The West Australian - Perth Saturday October 18 1997
Mahikari Australia Journals and Japanese Mahikari Magazines from the
1970's to 1990's
Mu (lost
continent) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(lost_continent)
The Sunken Kingdom:
The Atlantis Mystery Solved
http://www.knowledge.co.uk/xxx/cat/james/
Imperial Rescript on Education
http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english/intro/education/index.htm
