Cooperating with other religions
Here is a rather interesting excerpt from the Sukyo Mahikari Europe & Africa official website (click on Aims in the sidebar, then click the co-operate link):
"Since the core of each religion is one, that is, Creator God, Sukyo Mahikari does not consider itself the only path leading to God, nor the only way to get closer to God. [Really?! I certainly had the impression that Mahikari considers itself to be the one true path, etc.....but I'm interrupting. Sorry.] One aim of Sukyo Mahikari is to encourage dialogue between different religions, and to work with others to introduce the universal principles to more people around the world. Persons who become members of Sukyo Mahikari are free to pursue their own religious practice."
Don't you think the above sounds just a little bit deceptive? Maybe whoever wrote the above official publicity for Mahikari needs to re-read the founder's words in Sunkyo, pages 25-26. He said the following:
"The various religions of today have even come to be called religions for the handling of funeral services, faiths of sacred music and dancing that use God, or just sight-seeing enterprises. They have lost their power to perform spiritual miracles and give salvation and cannot save mankind or solve the world's problems. The more you support such religions and traditions the more you will be standing in the way of the progress of the divine plan. The time has come in the history of mankind's religions when such practices will be cast aside."
I would not have thought that an official spokesperson for Mahikari would want to "stand in the way of the progress of the divine plan", even if doing so does make Mahikari sound more palatable to the general public.
Don't get me wrong. I'm perfectly in favor of cooperation between people who happen to hold different beliefs. I'm just not too impressed by deceptive advertising.
posted by Anne at 4:04 AM
3 Comments:
Hi Anne,
I find your Blog an interesting read. It supplements my own research into Mahikari and helps me put things into perspective. I've added a link to your Blog from mine. Hope you dont mind.
CZ
Hi CZ!
Of course I don't mind. I've just added a new post to my blog, inspired by yours. I hope YOU don't mind!
That's the sales pitch, Anne. Mahikari has proved it is not below lying and withdrawing statements if it means getting new members. Dr. Tebecis book...Thank God for the Answers at Last is a prime example. When first published, it stated that Jesus Christ was burried in Japan and was never cruxified, and indicated that all other founders of religions studied shintoism. His book has recently been republished and revoked that comment. The whole chapter was deleted as though it had never been there. Lets face it, the most prominent religion in the world today is Christianity. Mahikari can't afford to scare away Christians by making statements that completely alter their religion and make it out to be a lie. Their membership depends on whether they can suck Christians in. I believe that now a little over 50% of the world is Christian. Kumite told me the same thing when I first attended. They said that religion didn't matter, that everyone was welcome. They told me okiyome was the only thing that mattered. Not until secondary kenshu, when you believe everything they say and have truly 'stopped thinking and just give okiyome' do they even mention any other religions. It makes me really wonder about Kotama's character. He was so power hungry that he rewrote history and made himself a messiah to replace the messiah's of all the world's religions. He wanted to be renowned as a God. Well...there's a little tale in the Bible about a man and a woman named Adam and Eve. Eve wanted to know everything God knew, she wanted to be like God...well, the serpant told her to eat that apple and look what happened. I'm not even a Christian anymore, but that fable has an interesting similarity to Kotama and Keishu. Let's just hope the outcome isn't the same for them.
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