The astral world - a Mahikari "stick"

Sūkyō Mahikari kenshū (introductory course) teaches 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). Okada 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.

Kenshū 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 Sūkyō 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 revelations from God. However, even if we believe Okada was deluded, for example, 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 Sūkyō 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, Sūkyō Mahikari then provides the solution (the "carrot"). Kenshū 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.

Care of an ancestors altar is obviously a very personal and emotional issue. Even if people initially doubt the validity or effectiveness of inaugurating an ancestors altar, the care and time involved in following all the rules and rituals related to its care, with time, makes it all seem "real". 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 Sūkyō 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 of the astral world teachings relies solely on faith in that rather dubious claim.