真光の世界とはーその６：超太古日本ムー大陸 (World of Mahikari, Part 6)

Part 6 of the world of Mahikari series, contributed by phoenix3000, discusses ultra-ancient Japan, the continent of Mu.

真光の教祖岡田光玉（より正確に言えば、世界真光文明教団の創設者。『崇教真光』は光玉の死後、二代教え主の就任をめぐる裁判で敗訴した恵珠によって１９７８年に設立された教団）も、すっかりチャーチワードの話法に乗せられてしまったようです。『上級研修用テキスト（昭和５８年版）』には、全部で７６ページのうち１３ページが『第四 ムー大陸』に割り当てられています。ここにはチャーチワードの本、『失われたムー大陸』からの引用が載っていますが、『トロアノ古写本』『ラサ記録』『イースター島碑文』からの引用文も含められています。これらに根拠がないことについては前回で扱いました。

世界最古の人類発生地は日本である、というのが光玉（良一）の主張です。元々は竹内文献といった類いから持って来たものと思われますが、光玉はその出所を明らかにしないので、ここでは『光玉』としておきます。

チャーチワードは、ムー大陸こそ人類誕生の地である、”エデンの園”のムー大陸、と述べています。（上級研修テキストP２０）そこで光玉は、ムー大陸の西端を日本にまで延長、ムー＝日本としています。これまでに引用した部分の中でも、光玉は言っています。

　　ムー大陸は約一万二千年前に、一夜にして太平洋に没したとあります。すなわち、日本の国の東の大部分がちぎれて、今日では太平洋に陥没しているのです。　ーー『神向き讃詞解説』P２９４−２９５
　　ムー大陸はレムリア大陸と続いており、今日の日本とも一体で、　．．．．ーー『神向き讃詞解説』　P２９５
　　日本の太古文献でミューといっていた日本はムーだったといえます。ーー『神向き讃詞解説』　 P２９６

ムー＝日本とすれば、人類の発生地＝エデンの園＝ムー大陸＝日本＝天国（アマグニ）＝高天原、と繋がります。ただし、これは現実の事実上の繋がりではなく、あくまで「お話（ファンタジーの類）」の上での繋がりです。

また、｛「人間が地上に最初に現われた所はムー大陸であり、そのために特に　”クイの国”　（女神マヤの生地の意）とも呼ばれた」『トロアノ古写本』（上級研修テキストP２０）｝とチャーチワードが言っていることに呼応させて、光玉は次のように言っています。

　　太陽帝国といっているムーは、また「クイの国」ともいっております。ムー大陸の本の中にもクイという部分が出てきます。それで非常におもしろいと思うことは、法滅尽経の中に、釈尊がクイガ国（拘夷郡竭国）にあったということが出ていることです。このところは、大僧正や仏教学者に聞いてみても一向にわからないところですが、「クイガ国」とは、つまりは日本のことなので、そうすればこれらの経文の謎も解けてくるわけです。　　　　 　　ーー『神向き讃詞解説』　P２９７

『ムー帝国』では、色々な人種が平和に暮らしていた、エデンの園だった、人種的差別は一切なかった、とチャーチワードは言っていますが、同時に白人種が中心になっていた、としています。一方光玉は、神代の天国と言いつつ、オオビト、即ち、『霊の元つ国の日本人』を『本家』として世界人類（五色人）の頂点に置いています。光玉の『神』も『御聖言』の中で、五色人の創造と、日本人の、この特別な意義について語っています。日本人を示すオオビト（黄人）に『王』という字さえ使われています。

　　二つには、神初め五つの色人をつくりなせしを知らせあるべし。黄、赤、白、青、黒（紫）人なり。然して、黄人（きびと）に更に本家（もとけ）分家（えだけ）とや申すべき、黄人（おおびと）と黄人（きびと）あり。汝が住む日本（ひのもと）と申す地は霊の元つ国にて、　（略）．．．ここには黄(王）人を置き、全世界五色人（いろびと）を枝・支人（えだびと）と致して分け派（つか）わし配り弘ごらせ、スベルのみ役（スメラ）を現界統治　（このよとうち）の神代行者（かみかわり）として置きし不二の地なれば、五色人（いろびと）に対（むか）いて霊籍（ひせき）の基人（もとびと）なりしを、　．（略）　　ーー『御聖言』 （昭和４８年発行）---人類よ霊籍を明かなとなせ　P４５７ー４５８

チャーチワードの『ムー帝国』では「国王を選出」（上級研修テキストP１９）、国民によって選ばれた者は、やがて最高の神官ラ・ムーとなり、宇宙を創造した天帝の代理者となるが、あくまでも神ではなく、聖なる存在ではあったが、神ではなかったから、神として崇拝することは禁じられていた、（上級研修テキストP２０、２１）とあります。

国民によって選ばれる、ムー帝国の国王と、『現人神』である、と光玉が崇拝する、万世一系の天皇（スメラミコト）と、どういう関係で結びつくのか、はなはだ疑問です。全く性質が違います。スメラミコトは「国民の選出」などとは全くかけ離れた世襲制のものです。スメラミコトに関する光玉の教えの一部を見てみましょう。ムー帝国の国王と共存させるのにはひどく無理がありませんか。

　　天照日大神様は、．．（略）．．この神様の時代において、人類界を統治するためのスメラミコト＝今日でいう天皇を、地上にただ一人おくことを定められております。ーー真光誌２６４　昭和５９年 （１９８４）９月号P２７
　　．．．天日豊本葦牙気皇主身光大神(あめひとよもとあしかびきみぬしみひかりおほかみ）様は、皇統第一代のスメラミコトにご即位され、はじめて現人神としてのスメラミコトが誕生されたわけです。　ーー同上P３０
　　皇統は、この第一代のスメラミコトから現在の天皇まで連綿として続いて来ておりまして、現在の天皇陛下は、実は皇統の千二百数十代目の天皇になっておられるのです。ーー同上P３０


神が自分を選んだ、として、自分を『天地創造神の地上代行者』にしてしまった光玉は、自分を神と人類（実際には信者）との間に位置付け、天地創造の『ス神』と通じていて、神の奥の奥の世界を知る、絶対権威者である、と信者に描いて見せ、己を神格化していきました。その彼を崇教真光では神として、あるいは神々と同列に扱っています。『スの大御神（親神）様』の次に、『御祖師・救い主様』と、ことあるごとに並べ、『師恩』を強調して、光玉を崇めさせます。普通に言えば「亡くなった」ということですが、光玉の死亡になると、『神幽（かみさ）った』『天界に帰った』（真光誌３５６ P１７）と表現しています。１９９２年には彼のために中南米の「ティカールの神殿」を模倣した奥津城を建て、ティカールは光である、という光玉の言葉遊び（光玉はこれを『言霊』と呼びましたが）を取り上げて、『光神殿』とさえ名付けました。

本題に戻りましょう。『霊の元つ国日本』を掲げる光玉は、チャーチワードのムー帝国を取り入れようとしていますが、どうもしっくりきません。結局は、根拠のないものを、根拠があるように見せている別の根拠のないものを借り入れて、根拠があるように見せようとしているからではないでしょうか。

ある方はこんなふうに言っています。

　　ムーの存在は仮説に過ぎない。仮説を事実と仮定して作った話に信憑性はない。ーー真光関係者集合（４４）-７１

光玉が一番利用したかった部分は、「花咲き乱れる、天国のような理想国家、ムーが、神の怒りに触れ、一夜にして、大洋の水泡と消え去ってしまった」との部分だったのかもしれません。つまり、平和と崩壊が大きな対比をなし、破壊されることへの恐怖が一層強まる効果です。実際に起こった出来事である、との触れ込みの『大天変地異』を取り込んで、神の怒りが原因で『大天災』が起こった、神の怒りにより、同じような大天災に人類は向かっている、と信者に語ることで、信者の恐怖心を奥深いものにし、そこに、真光こそ、『唯一の救い』と深く植え込む効果をねらったのでしょう。

恵珠もそれを引き継いで、その教えの中に使っています。

　　　　トンデモムーに満ちている光神殿
　　　
　　　「栄光の光神殿　岡田恵珠（聖珠）師御教示選集II」述者　岡田恵珠（聖珠）師　編集　崇教真光　発行所　（株）Ｌ・H陽光出版　平成五年四月 十日　初版発行

　　　　P１１８　昭和六十一年度六月度　月始祭 神の光は太平洋を越えて
　　　　救い主様のお示しのごとく、超太古日本ムー大陸から全世界に派遣されましたマヤ人は、次々と太陽神を祀る太陽神殿・日（霊）来神堂を建設していったわけでございます。

　　　　P１８５−１８７二十七周年秋季大祭　霊主立体文明建設へ
　　　　一万二千年前、人類の我と慢心の結果、太平洋に沈没した幻のムー大陸は、今日の人類界の様相と酷似しておりました。このまま現代社会が唯物文化を押し進めてまいりますならば、遠からず大自然は破壊し尽くされ、ムーやアトランティスの悲劇を繰り返してしまうことになりましょう。

　　　　ムー大陸が沈没した時、その子孫のマヤ人は、ヤマトの日本にも中南米にも逃げのびまして、新たなマヤ文明を建設したのでありますが、やがてそのマヤ文明も戦いによって失われ、今日、”澆季末世”　”混沌混迷の世”をむかえるに 至っております。ーー真光被害報告掲示板　５０６７　

ムー大陸は想像の産物と見るほうが現実的、客観的な見方でしょう。この架空の大陸から全世界に派遣されたというマヤ人、そしてこの架空の大陸の沈没時に日本や中南米に逃げ延びたというマヤ人と、実際に中南米に存在したマヤ人とが、真光では一緒くたになっています。マヤ文明やピラミッドを含めたマヤ遺跡が実際にどういうものであったのか、などという現実の世界に即した考証は真光の世界では必要がないのです。「今も謎に包まれている」のであれば、光玉や教団（教え主）が勝手なことをいっても、信者にはそれで通るのです。そして信者は、『アトランティス人の集団霊障』とともに、ムーやアトランティスの架空の『悲劇』に怯え、『その悲劇を繰り返さないように』手かざしに頑張り、『スの神』に仕えなくてはならない（＝教団に奉仕する）．．．ということになるのです。

崇教真光で『救い主』というのは光玉のことです。日本は人類発祥の地であり、最も古い文明を持った国である、日本＝ムー大陸、といった光玉の教えに基づいて、恵珠はその教示の中に『超太古日本ムー大陸』と一繋がりにした表現を用いています。随分華々しく聞こえますが、『超太古』というのは曖昧で、実体はありません。『超古代』についての光玉の記述の一部をここに紹介しておきましょう。

　　超古代というのは、その初めは何百億年もの以前と思いますが、人類の歴史としては、古文献などからみても、まず百億年とみればよいのではないかと思います。ムー大陸を基準にしても、一億数千万年前ということになります。　ーー『神向き讃詞解説』P５７４

億という単位が使われ、壮大な歴史を述べているように聞こえるかもしれませんが、この記述のどこに現実味を伴った事実が含まれていますか。信者なら、「よくわからないけれど、深遠なことが語られているのだろう」と思い、それ以上考えないでしょうが、真光色で染められていない人には意味を成さず、「この人、正常？」と疑いたくなるような記述だと思いませんか。

初級・中級研修を再聴講し、様々な名目でお金を教団に『奉納』することにも慣れ、一生懸命真光の世界に人を勧誘し、受講資格を得るのに必要な『お導き（勧誘）人数』の条件を満たし、高額のお金を納めて、上級研修に辿り着き、『許されて』受講すると、こういったトンデモ類を聞かされることになります。そこに達するまでに相当マインド・コントロールが進んでいます。史実と神話・おとぎ話との区別も曖昧になってきています。『本当のこと』と『嘘のこと』も光玉の教えによって逆転さえしています。そして、一般の人が知らないこと、奥義を学んでいる気にさせられます。金もたくさん出しているし、相当な努力をして研修までこぎ着けた、という思いも手伝います。

周囲の信者は一様に感激しているし、その集団の雰囲気に飲まれてしまいます。教えを疑ったり、異議を唱えれば、『霊層が低い』『邪霊の仕業だ』『我が強い』『人知で考える』等になってしまいますから、変だという内なる声があっても押さえつけます。次から次へと浴びせられる、「おめでとう」という言葉に励まされ、結局、『御み霊昇格が許された』ことに気を良くすることになります。［東京が一億年前にトウキョウと呼ばれていた、というトンデモないことを聞いた、金返せ］というふうに目覚めるのはそう簡単ではありません。

ところで、上級研修の時会場に展示される『ムーの遺跡物』とやらは、あれは何だったのでしょう。

光玉にとって、それらが本物であるかどうかなど、どうでもよかったのではないか、『遺跡物である』と言って、信者を印象付ければよかったのではないか、と今は思います。彼自身も、自分が信じて、こうだと言えば、それが『事実』になる、と思い込んでしまったのかもしれません。光玉の主張通りに、真光の業を、神の光である、神や霊、霊障の実在を証明するものである、と信じ込んで付いて来る信者たちは、光玉が『神の地上代行者』である、との前提が出来ているから、彼の『ことば』をそのまま受け入れ、それ以上は考えない、だから、今で言うところの、とんでも類だって、何だってかまわなかった、自分の主張に都合の良いものを都合の良いように取り込んで、『これが実は本当の話である』と説いたのではないでしょうか。

ーー火の鳥Phoenix3000

Mahikari in context (3): Imperialism and military indoctrination

Part 2 of this series of posts looked at the Japanese tradition of psychic research into "divine" matters, from Wasaburo Asano and Omoto in the early 1900s, through to the post-war Chidori-kai group. You may have noticed that several of the people mentioned in that context were high-level Japanese Navy personnel. This prompted me to consider the possibility of some sort of military influence on the course of Japanese psychic research, or vice versa, or a bit of both. This question is especially relevant since Yoshikazu Okada himself was an officer in the military.

As mentioned in the previous post, Asano (who founded his psychic science group in 1923) was an instructor at the Japanese Naval Academy, and his brother was a Vice-Admiral. Due to their joint influence, many high-ranking military officials joined Omoto. Omoto had at one stage banned the practice of Chinkon Kishin, whereby the practitioner hopes to be temporarily possessed by the spirit of a deity, but Onisaburo Deguchi revived this practice due to Asano's interest in this technique, and taught it to Asano in 1916. Yutaro Yano, who eventually founded the Shinsei Ryujinkai group, was another instructor at the Naval Academy. He became interested in Omoto when he received the Chinkon Kishin ritual from Asano in 1917. Was it just coincidence that these men were Naval Officers? Why were they so interested in psychic divination mechanisms?

Let's look at what else these men did. Remember, by this time, Japan had already had one war with China, which ended in 1895, and had colonized Taiwan and Korea. Japan already had troops stationed in mainland China, and was intent on acquiring influence, territory and resources there.

Yano resigned from his position in the Navy in 1923, and later went to China where he became am arms merchant for the Japanese military. He was also involved in planning a trip that Onisaburo Deguchi and Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) made to Manchuria in 1924. Ueshiba was an Omoto devotee and the founder of Aikido. He gave Aikido instruction to numerous high-level military people he had met through Deguchi, and also became a martial arts instructor at the Naval Academy. According to this Aikido Journal article, Ueshiba, too, was originally attracted to Omoto out of interest in the Chinkon Kishin ritual, in 1919. The details are not clear, but it seems Deguchi and Ueshiba's trip was part of some sort of a military scheme towards establishment of a Japanese state in Manchuria, and Yano was the intermediary between Omoto, the Japanese military, and regional Chinese military leaders. This attempt failed, but the military later concocted an "incident" which gave them an excuse to invade Manchuria in 1931, and led to the establishment of a puppet government there under Japanese control.

So far that is four people who were reportedly very interested in the Chinkon Kishin spirit possession technique, and who also happened to be, or have connections with, high-level military personnel.

As mentioned in Part 2, Masaharu Taniguchi, the founder of Seicho no Ie, originally was a member of Omoto, but he left Omoto and joined Asano's psychic science group soon after Asano established it. The present Seicho no Ie website makes no mention of this background. H. Neill McFarland, in The Rush Hour of the Gods (1963), p.151, on the subject of Taniguchi's motivation for establishing his group, says that the orthodox explanation is that in 1929, Taniguchi received the divine message that the material does not exist—there is only "jisso" (reality), the divine life of the mind, the original and essential character of man. McFarland makes no specific mention of Asano's psychic research group. By the time McFarland was researching Seicho no Ie, in the early 60s, perhaps Taniguchi was already downplaying his connection with Asano. McFarland says of Taniguchi, He attended a seance of a spiritualist medium, and while he knew that the whole show was faked, he was much surprised and impressed by the eloquence of the medium.

Now, this is interesting. Did Taniguchi tell McFarland personally that he knew the whole show was faked? Once Taniguchi had established a reputation as a person who channelled the words of God whenever he put pen to paper, did he perhaps wish to discredit the "revelations" other people received within psychic research circles? The content of the Shinri Kenkyukai website gives the strong impression that Taniguchi (and the founders of other new religious groups) believed that these psychic activities were genuine, and a legitimate source of "divine truth". Did Taniguchi actually know it was fake?

This raises the interesting question of whether any of the core practitioners and promoters of psychic research into spiritual matters actually believed what they were doing was genuine. Perhaps they did. After all, the involuntary speaking that occurs during so-called spirit movement and spirit investigation in Mahikari centers can appear to be proof that spirits exist and can talk through people. When one considers alternate possible explanations of such phenomena, such as the ideomotor effect, this "proof" is not so convincing, but many practitioners of Mahikari seem to believe the spirit explanation.

The other possibility is that core figures, such as Asano, Oda, and Ogiwara, did deliberately fake the whole thing. If so, why?

It occurs to me that the spokespeople for "divine spirits" and "gods", during seances or similar, had the potential to wield enormous power, provided of course that they could convince people that their "revelations" were genuine. If the spokespeople themselves were fooled by the ideomotor effect, for example, into thinking that they did channel divine words, then their own beliefs would naturally shape the content of those words. If the attitudes of these people had already been shaped by cultural factors, such as military expansionist propaganda, Emperor worship, and nationalistic Japanese Buddhist doctrines, then it would not be surprising to find nationalistic elements in their "revelations". And we do find that.

Numerous of the new pre- and post-war religious groups, including the ones discussed here, have some sort of notion of a divine plan, in which the world is due for a renewal and rebuilding process, possibly involving the advent of a messiah and apocalyptic events, after which worldwide peace will prevail under a theocracy headed by Japan and the Emperor. Sukyo Mahikari teachings give the impression that this sort of scenario was revealed only to Y. Okada, rather than that he was just one in a long line of leaders who promoted remarkably similar doctrines.

At first glance, this may seem to have little connection with military propaganda, but Japan's military expansion into Asia was promoted as being a "holy war", waged for the purpose of achieving world peace. The Imperial rescript concerning the Tripartite alliance, in 1940, began with, It has been the great instruction bequeathed by Amaterasu that our grand moral obligation be extended in all directions and the world unified under one roof…. We believe that to let all nations seek their proper places and myriad peoples enjoy the piping times of peace are enterprises of unexampled magnitude.

According to The Way of the Subjects, an official document distributed by the Education Ministry and made compulsory reading, until East Asia and the world are united as one on the basis of moral principles, Japan's indefatigable efforts are sorely needed….. Japan's mission of constructing the world on a moral basis originated in the empire-founding itself. ...[Japan] is based on this theocracy: the Emperor rules and reigns his state with a solemn mind of serving the Gods.

Part of the war policy, approved by the Emperor, Cabinet, and Chiefs of Staff around 1941 was The Imperial Government is determined to follow a policy which will result in the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and world peace, no matter what international developments take place. (McFarland, pp. 245-249)

You'll notice that the avowed ultimate aim in all the above is world unity under a Japanese theocracy, and world peace. Is this the same sort of world peace that the post-war religious groups all talk about?

The people of Japan were encouraged to believe that they were a superior and benevolent race, and that the people of the rest of Asia would be grateful for Japan's moral and civilizing effect, and glad to be liberated from Western colonial rule. (That last part may have been correct, if it weren't for the millions of deaths and incalculable suffering caused in the process.)

The religions of Japan, including the Zen Buddhists and many of the new religions, not just Shinto, actively supported the war. Given the extent of censorship and suppression of dissent, they would not have survived as religions if they hadn't. Even so, I can't help wondering who influenced whom. Did the nationalistic environment in which Japan's new religions arose shape the "revelations" they received? Or, were military figures specifically attracted to the various psychic research groups because they recognized the potential for using "divine truths" (faked or otherwise) to achieve popular support for their expansionist aims? The world's bloodiest wars have been (and are) religious wars.

Certainly, religious teachings were used to spur on the armed forces. Any man killed in active combat was assured a place in the Yasukuni Shrine as a kami (god). Combatants were taught that karma is inescapable…if they were destined to be killed, they would be, regardless of what they did….and that the best way to die was in service to the Emperor. If they died that way, their families could rejoice in the guarantee that they would be reincarnated as humans within Japan (rather than in a lesser country). The notion of karma makes life way too cheap for my liking.

But I have digressed. I was talking about what various religious groups and leaders actually did. Seicho no Ie distributed its magazines at factories, where they apparently reduced anti-war sentiment and increased productivity of goods essential for the war effort. Taniguchi wrote and distributed slogans which stated that Japan would win the war, since he believed that words had the power to control events. In 1939, Taniguchi's group established the Seicho no Ie East Asia Mutual Harmony Society to send missionaries to spread his teachings in China and Manchuria. At the time, according to McFarland, the government was trying to make religious organizations propaganda agencies of the militarist effort, and since Taniguchi seems to have been an excessively vigorous advocate of militarism and Emperor worship, his missionary activity was allowed (or encouraged). As with other missionaries, part of their role was to promote pro-Japanese sentiment in occupied areas, and possibly also to double as military informers.

In post war years, Seicho no Ie has vigorously supported various nationalist causes, such as the movement to revise the constitution and restore the sovereignty of the Emperor. Wikipedia lists the post-war basic tenets of Seicho no Ie here. For what it's worth, some of these sound rather like Mahikari doctrine. This site also shows their pre-war logo, which has that "rotating" reverse swastika, like the one on the Mahikari Tai badge. Their logo is now a white dove with the words "International peace by faith". Let's hope they've also changed the way they think world peace should be achieved.

As mentioned above, Yutaro Yano was originally a Naval Academy instructor, and had close connections with Asano, Deguchi, and Ueshiba. According to Michihito Tsushima, in Emperor and World Renewal in the New Religions, Yano closely studied the revelations of Nao Deguchi, as well as those of other groups peripheral to Omoto, and the revelations which his own wife received. Yano thus continued to consolidate his own novel religious thought regarding rebuilding and renewal of the world, but he was also greatly influenced by Amatsukyo and the Takeuchi document.

The Takeuchi document was supposedly written in divine-age characters (kamiyo moji), and recorded the lineage of Japanese Emperors back to the beginnings of time. The significance of this, according to Tsushima, was that the Takeuchi document claimed that the Japanese emperor was ruler not merely of the nation and people of Japan, but of all the peoples of the entire world. It is thus not at all strange that this movement showed itself able to attract the attention of certain nationalists and military figures who were sensitive to the issue of a "crisis of legitimation". This was one the "ancient documents" that Y. Okada supposedly stumbled across after he started receiving "revelations" from God, and he cites it as evidence of the "true history" of the world, including his claim that all civilizations began in Japan. Serious scholars regard this document as a fake, but numerous people studied it eagerly in the 20s and 30s, so it is quite likely that Y. Okada was aware of it at that time.

Yano came across the Takeuchi document in 1930. In 1933 he established the Shinpo Hosankai (Sacred Treasures Service Association), with headquarters in his Yotsuya (Tokyo) home.....the association was dedicated to educating and eulogizing regarding the true nature of Japan's "national polity" (kokutai), thus lifting Japan from its current national crisis and contributing toward the achievement of world peace. Then, in November 1934, Yano established the Shinsei Ryujinkai. Its members included Count and Countess Uesugi Kensho, Akaike Atsushi (a member of the House of Peers), retired army colonel Takashima Misaku, viscount Tajiri Tetsutaro, and navy commander Kaseda Tetsuhiko.…and probably Nobuo Shioya.

Despite the fact that the Takeuchi document, and the resultant doctrine adopted by Yano and Takeuchi, supported the notion that the Emperor was divine and the rightful world leader, Shinsei Ryujinkai and Amatsukyo were both suppressed on grounds that they were disrespectful to the current Emperor. Yano died in jail, but Takeuchi revived his group (under the name Dainichikyo) in the post-war climate of religious freedom. Even in that climate, in which hundreds of new religious groups were allowed to form, this group was ordered to disband in 1950 because of its advocacy of ultranationalism, according to the Encyclopedia of Shinto.

In the early post-war years, Shioya and Ogiwara established the Chidori-kai research group, and its meetings were attended by many Seicho no Ie and SKK members. As noted in the previous post, it is possible that these included Y. Okada, but we don't know. Okada's association with Shioya may have begun later (or earlier). We do know that Shioya's "revelations" received from the spirit known as Omine Rosen at this time included the prospect of purification of the world via a major cataclysm, followed by world renewal, then world peace under a theocracy centering on the Emperor. The cataclysm details may have been new "information", but the concept of world renewal under the Emperor certainly wasn't.

We personally don't have a lot of information concerning Makoto no Michi, but various contributors to Japanese Internet discussion sites mention that many ex-military people were attracted to Makoto no Michi (which grew out of the Chidori-kai group), and that the membership of the split-off group, Makoto no Michi Kyokai (established by Shioya), was particularly strongly right-wing. One of its members was Kafu Nakada, at whose house the Tenjo investigation of Okada's soul reportedly took place. It seems fairly certain, as discussed earlier in this series of posts, that Y. Okada was associated in one way or another with one or both of these groups.

One discussion site contributor reports that Makoto no Michi Kyokai is mentioned often in the early editions of the The Mahikari magazine, and that a 1962 copy of the Makoto no Michi Kyokai magazine, Seiwa, refers to Y. Okada as a Yo person and leader of the "Mahikari" group of Makoto no Michi Kyokai members. Incidentally, this was two years after Okada claimed (according to the Mahikari secondary kenshu textbook) that people of the Shinto sects not specifically connected with the Yokoshi tomo-no-kai (the name of Y. Okada's original group from 1959 till 1963) had confirmed his role of Yo, and it was one year before Okada changed the name of his group to Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan. This is odd.

I've often wondered why I've not been able to find any information in the Shinto Encyclopedia for example, or elsewhere, about the Makoto no Michi Kyokai group, or any evidence of the continued existence of this group. Did Shioya simply disband this group? According to one contributor, it was public knowledge amongst early Makoto no Michi people that some of the Makoto no Michi Kyokai people, including their so-called "Mahikari" group of members, recombined as Okada's new Yokoshi Tomo no Kai group. Another contributor claims to have heard from an old member of the Yokoshi Tomo no Kai group that some of their members came from Makoto no Michi Kyokai, and that Tenjo (fu ji) was practiced in the early days of the Yokoshi Tomo no Kai group.

I certainly hope that someone with access to original resources will be able to check all the above information from Japanese discussion sites sometime soon. If all this information is correct, then this means that Y. Okada was still a member of Makoto no Michi Kyokai as late as 1962, that is, for several years after founding his Yokoshi Tomo no Kai group in 1959 (supposedly in response to the first revelation in Goseigen). In other words, it was a group that he currently belonged to, not some disinterested party, that performed the Tenjo investigation of his soul in 1960. It would also mean that Okada simply used the name of a specific group of Makoto no Michi Kyokai members, known as the "Mahikari" group, when he changed the name of the Yokoshi Tomo no Kai group to Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan (commonly abbreviated as simply "Mahikari") in 1963 when he registered it as a religion. If correct, the above information might also explain what happened to the Makoto no Michi Kyokai group. Perhaps part of it simply morphed into being Yokoshi Tomo no Kai, then SMBK.

So, who were the other right-wing members of Makoto no Michi Kyokai, apart from Shioya? If the above information is correct, perhaps these were the ones who followed Okada into Yokoshi Tomo no Kai. I wonder if these people included Okada's military academy classmates, Matsudaira and Tomomori, who later became SMBK kanbu, and ultimately became influential leaders within Sukyo Mahikari. Does anyone know when these two joined SMBK (or Yokoshi Tomo no Kai)?

Y. Okada claimed that the doctrine he taught was sourced from divine revelations that he personally received, starting in 1959 (SM secondary kenshu textbook, pp. 1-2). I've been trying to think if Okada's core concepts include anything that I've not seen in the doctrine of earlier religious groups, such as Makoto no Michi, Omoto and SKK, or in Buddhist military propaganda, or in the Chidori-kai Omine Rosen revelations, or in the various "ancient documents", such as the Takeuchi document. Perhaps the 27 okiyome points were new? Perhaps the heavy emphasis on the daily practice of okiyome was new. For a moment I thought that the instruction to build Suza was new, but then I remembered that, in 1934, Yano had begun construction of a "Temple for the Harmonizing of the Deities of Heaven and Earth". Of course I don't know every word of Y. Okada's teachings, so there might be something else of significance that was original.

In short, the content of Y. Okada's teachings, and especially his explicit citation of revelations from Omine Rosen (via Shioya) as valid explanations concerning his role of Yo, and his citation of the Tenjo "proof" that he was the person who had the role of Yo, firmly place Okada in the context of Japan's tradition of psychic research into divine matters. Where does Okada fit in terms of the threads of this current post, namely the military, the war years, world peace, world renewal, Japan, and the Emperor?

The SM organization refers with obvious pride to Okada's military career as an officer. We actually know nothing about what Okada did or did not do in terms of military combat, since he reportedly happened to develop health problems on the two occasions he was sent to combat zones, and was sent back to Japan. However, there is no hint of criticism or regret from Y. Okada concerning Japan's wartime activities. When he was retired from the army for health reasons in 1941, Okada was told he had only three years to live. His response to that news was to reflect that God had made his body, and that he should therefore discard all medical attempts at a cure and leave everything up to God. He decided he should devote what was left of his life to serving God. At this point in the story, the first time I heard it, my cultural background meant that I more-or-less expected to hear "he then devoted himself to feeding the poor", or something similar. In fact, the story ends with the statement that Okada then converted his family's textile factory into facilities for manufacturing war planes.

As recently as 2006, in his monthly teachings, Koya Okada (the current acting leader of SM) referred to when most of the countries of Asia suffered under the colonial rule of the Western powers. As an Asian country, Japan tried to liberate these countries. The English edition of these teachings (I don't know about the Japanese edition) was subsequently edited to remove "of the Western powers" and the final sentence. That he made this statement at all indicates that the leadership of SM still promotes a very distorted version of Japan's wartime activities. In addition, it is compulsory for all doshi trainees at SM's kunrenbu to learn to recite from memory the Imperial Rescript on Education. This applies equally to non-Japanese trainees, most of whom have little or no understanding of the words they are reciting.

In Yano's writings about the divine plan and world renewal, he was quite explicit that Japan's Emperor would rule the world after world renewal. Shioya stated that the world peace after the predicted cataclysm would have the Emperor as its "center". I don’t recall anything quite that explicit in the SM teachings available in English. Y. Okada did teach that all civilizations emanated from Japan, that Japan was the "head" country and other countries were "branch" countries, and that the Emperor ruled the entire world in ancient times. He also taught that the Emperor was divine, that the heavenly world after the Baptism of Fire would be a theocracy, that the whole world would be united, and that there would be world peace.

The question is, what sort of "world peace" did Okada mean? Is this the sort of world peace that non-Japanese members of Sukyo Mahikari might assume he meant…some sort of war-free world where each country retains its autonomy and culture, without impinging on other countries, and where perhaps equality and individual freedoms are the norm? Or, did Okada mean the type of "world peace", under the Japanese Emperor, that Japan's military leaders were aiming at when they were attempting to seize control over Asia?

I hate to think that the enthusiasm displayed by non-Japanese members of Sukyo Mahikari, concerning striving to achieve the world peace promised by Y. Okada, might be based on a huge cultural misunderstanding about what Okada actually meant by the word "peace".

真光の背景（１）： 心霊研究、千鳥会、大峰老 仙、天杖

Phoenix3000 has kindly provided this Japanese translation of Part 1 of the "Mahikari in Context" post from May 29.

アンさんのポストの翻訳で す。ーー火の鳥Phoenix3000

崇教真光では、岡田良一（光玉）のヨのみ役を説明した、ということで、塩谷信男博士の名と大峰老仙という霊の名を挙げています。研修テキストにある説明は「昭和２３年１２月２４日に大峰老仙より塩谷博士が神示受けされていた説明である」と、崇教真光の初級研修用テキストにあります。

崇教真光の中級研修用テキストには、良一のヨのみ役と天杖について、

救い主（岡田良一）のご神命については、御神示をいただかれた救い主ご自身が驚かれたほどですから、いわば正統を任じている、神道界の一部の方々が驚嘆したのも、無理のないことでした。．．． 「救い主の『み魂』や『み役』について神伺いしてもよいか」との提議がなされ、．．．救い主のご神命について、「天杖」（棒に筆が付いていて自動書記を行う）の御神示の一部を基にして、概要だけを記させて頂きます。

と書かれています。この引用部分は、塩谷信男（１９０２−　）と荻原真（１９１０−１９８１） （「真の道」創始者）によって、１９４７年頃設立された心霊研究グループ「千鳥会」と良一とが関係していたことを明白に示す証拠です。

以前のポストでも触れましたが、「真の道」という団体は、戦後の日本における新興宗教の一つで、天杖という占いの方法を用い、大峰老仙と呼ばれる霊より『神示』を受け取りました。日本の新興宗教について論じる様々なウェ ブサイトで、この「真の道」と良一との繋がりが言及されています。また、１９６０年６月に良一の「み魂伺い」の天杖を行ったのは、「真の道」の人々である、との証拠が真光関係のインターネットサイトで示されています。

なぜ良一が新しい宗教の設立を決め、何が彼の教えを形成したのかを知ろうと情報を探し続けていくなかで、塩谷信男、大峰老仙、天杖についての情報も探してきました。その過程において、真光というグループが起こった、歴史的社会的背景に関する情報に出くわしました。様々な人物と宗教との数多い繋がりを扱うには一連の書き物が必要です。この初回では、千鳥会と大峰老仙に焦点を当てましょう。

「神理研究会」というグループの代表によって維持されているウェブ・サイトに役立つ資料があります。ここは、特定の宗教に偏らない、と言っていて、日本の様々な宗教の教祖達によって書かれた資料から広範囲に引用がなされています。このウェブ・サイトによると、千鳥会は塩谷信男と荻原真の二人により、心霊を研究する目的で設立された会で、霊界のことを学び、神霊の導きを得るために、霊媒や天杖を含めた、心霊的手段を使用した研究に焦点があったようです。千鳥会それ自体は宗教の形式をとらず、その集会参加者には、世界救世教や生長の家といった、様々な新興宗教の信者がいました。

岡田良一が千鳥会の集会に出席したというはっきりとした証拠はありませんが、可能性としては考えられます。良一は千鳥会が設立された頃（１９４７年頃）世界救世教の信者でした。

このウェブ・サイトには、荻原が意図的にトランス状態に入り、彼を通して大峰老仙の『神霊』が話し、塩谷の質問に答える様子を描いた記述があります。この大峰老仙が様々な人物に様々な方法で『啓示』を与えた、ということです。（この『霊』の影響について、もっと書いていく予定です。）さしあたって手短かに言うと、１９４７年から１９５５年の８年間に渡って、この霊から神示を受けた、と塩谷は言っています。岡田良一が世界救世教の信者であったことを否定する富田氏の手紙（英語／日本語訳はここ）の中で、彼が手かざしの実践者として名を挙げている福田くらも、大峰老仙から神示を受けたと言っています。それに加えて、五井昌久も大峰老仙からの神示を基に、白光真宏会を設立したそうです。千鳥会そのものも、荻原を通して啓示された神意に沿って設立されたということです。

岡田良一のヨに関するみ役についての説明を大峰老仙が伝えたと崇教真光の研修用テキストにあることはすでに知っています。ヨニマス大天津神の働きを現界にて代行する役、神業を手伝うヨニマスハラの役、悪の世から善の世に作り変えんとするカラマラの働き、神の理想通りの真の大和世界を打ち建てんとするためのヨニマス大天津神。

ここに述べられているのは大変重要な事柄です。大峰老仙とは、たとえばキツネの霊といったものではなく、神霊である、とはっきりした確信がなければなりません。

この時点で、脇道にそれて、このサイト（英語）を 見ることを提案しましょう。ここでは、観念運動（自分でやったのではない、と心より思える行為）に対し、超常現象で説明すると、いとも簡単にだまされてしまうことについて述べられています。

話を元に戻します。岡田良一のヨのみ役についての説明は、１９４８年１２月２４日に大峰老仙より塩谷博士が受けたと研修用テキストにあります。しかしながら、良一は、宗教活動というより、戦争時の負債を返済するのに忙しかった、彼が立教に関する最初の啓示を受けたのは１９５９年２月だった、と崇教真光では言っています。ヨのみ役について神が良一に告げたという啓示は１９５９年５月１５日の日付がついています。これはどういうことでしょうか。１９５９年５月１５日の後で良一は塩谷に連絡を取り、ヨの意味について何か知っていないか、尋ねたのでしょうか。塩谷は、あとで誰か知る必要が出て来た場合のために、大峰老仙からの神示の詳細を記録し、日付を書き込んでおいたのでしょうか。

良一と塩谷との関係は良一が世界救世教の幹部職を解雇された後、すなわち、早くても１９５３年の後で始まった、と最近まで思っていました。世界救世教の信者が千鳥会の集会に出席していたことを知る前のことでした。ひょっとして良一は千鳥会の集会に１９４８年という早い時期にすでに出席していたとも考えられないでしょうか。

良一と千鳥会の活動とをつなげる直接の証拠は見つかっていません。塩谷の影響は後のことであるとも充分考えられます。でも、塩谷が大峰老仙より受け取った、他の『神示』も見てみることには興味をそそられます。

下記は１９４７年頃大峰老仙より授かったと塩谷が言う神示の一部です。（以下四つの引用部分は神理研究会ウェブ・サイトから）

「あのな、人間はな、長いこと間違ったことをやり続け、魂も肉体も汚れてしまった。ところが『時』が来て、この罪汚れがごしごし拭い落とされることになっ た。また、地球も汚してしまったから、これも洗い浄められ、修理されることになった。ここでいろいろな天変地異が起こってくる。人間もたくさん死ぬが、こ の大禊で魂も肉体も浄められた人が生き残る。そしてきれいになった地球に本当の和の天国を創ることになる」

聞き覚えがあると思いませんか。良一の教えと全く同じ言葉ではありませんが、世界の未来に関して意味するところは良一の教えと全く同じものです。

別の箇所では、大峰老仙からの神示として、塩谷は次のように言っています。

「その大動乱後に本当の平和な世界が産まれる。国境はなくなり、世界は一つになる。ところで本当の平和の世界には中心は一つしかない。また、中心のない世界には本当の平和はない。その中心に推されて立たれるのは今の皇太子だ。今の皇太子がお生まれになった時、天に異象が現れた。」

良一の教えのなかに、このような内容のものを見た覚えはないのですが、天変地異によって世界が浄化されたあとは、日本とその天皇が中心となった神政政治のもとに世界が一つになる、という良一の教えと一致しています。

ついでながら、大峰老仙から告げられたという塩谷の予言によると、２０００年と２００５年の間に、大天変地異は起こるはずでした。別の箇所では、ピークは２０００年と２００９年との間に予想されると塩谷は言っています。もし、このような世界の破滅の話で、次の二年間が不安になる、というのであれば、このサイト（英語）をご覧下さい。紀元前 ２８００年から今まで、起こらなかった世界の終末の予言の、非常に長いリストがあります。

神理研究会のサイトには福田くらが大峰老仙より授かったと言う次の神示も見られます。

「アイウエオ五十一音(二度出ている字が三つあるから、実 際は四十八音)には、その一音一音に意味があり、またア行カ行というように、その行にも意味があります。この五十一音には大変深い意味がありまして、これ を解くことによって、人類の過去の歴史もわかり、将来の世の様をも予言できるのであります。人類の歴史は五十一音の順序で発生し展開されてきまして、現代 は荒魂時代の<ラリルレロ>の時代に入っております・・・」

別の霊から受け取った神示として、福田くらは次のことも言っています。

「ア行で世が開いて、カ行で神々が出現し、サ行で作物がつくられ、タ行で戦いの歴史となり、ナ行で何でも凝った文明となり、ハ行で繁栄への知識を広め、マ行で真と魔あるいは聖と俗の葛藤、ヤ行でやっと神のご計画わかるも、ラ行で終末の乱れが激しくなり、荒々しい天変地異が起こり、その試練を経て、ワ行ですべてが和す。めでたし、めでたしの世界になる」

このような教えをどこで聞いたのか正確には覚えていませんが、とても似ているものがあったのを覚えています。崇教真光の研修会でのことだったと思います。この５１音（５０音という人もいます）についてのほかの書き物もこのウェブサイトに載っています。１９５０年に塩谷信男も同じ教えを受け取ったと、このサイトの著者は述べています。

ここで引用したものは、聞き覚えがあるけれど、受け取ったのは良一ではなく、別の人々だったという神示のほんの一部です。それでもたくさんの疑問が出てきます。良一が受け取ったと言う『啓示』の基は正確には何だったのか、誰だったのか、何処から来たのか、『啓示』を受け取るという経験は何処から来るのか、等です。


「真の道」に関する注釈：塩谷と荻原が二人で設立した「千鳥会」は、「真の道」と名を変え、後に真の道から塩谷は離れ、「真の道協会」という自分のグループを１９５５年に形成。何が起こったのか定かではありません。真の道のホームページでは、荻原によって設立された、とあり、設立者は二人ではなく、荻原だけです。真の道は千鳥会に替わって出来たというより、汎宗教の千鳥会と平行して宗教団体として創設されたのでしょうか。千鳥会と真の道とでは、やっていることやその影響に多くの共通点があることは確かです。

Mahikari in context (2): Origins of psychic research in Japan

In the previous post, I started with the information in Sukyo Mahikari printed material concerning Dr. Shioya and the Omine Rosen spirit, and worked backwards towards Makoto no Michi and the Chidori-kai psychic research group. Ironically, working backwards in this way, SM's connection with psychic mediums seemed like a new and rather startling discovery (shocking, even, given Y. Okada's strong criticism of such practices in his teachings). However, now that we are looking for information on websites that discuss the history and influence of psychic research, it seems we are simply the last to know about this connection! One site simply states that Okada's Mahikari group developed from Makoto no Michi as if this were common knowledge.

In this post, I am going to have a look at the connections between earlier pre-war Japanese psychic research groups and Chidori-kai, and see what influence these may have had on the emergence of new religions. [Since there are many unfamiliar names of different groups and their founders, I've color-coded the names in an attempt to help keep track of everyone. For example, Omoto and Deguchi are dark blue, Asano and his psychic research group are purple, etc. Not sure if it helps much!!]

Incidentally, in the West, "psychic research" usually implies some sort of attempt to scientifically test claimed paranormal abilities. However, the "psychic research" practiced by Chidori-kai and earlier similar groups seems to have been the use of "psychic" methods to "research" the nature of the spirit world and "divine truths".

As many scholars have noted, there is a strong shamanistic element in the new religions of Japan. The founders of many of these religions claimed to have received revelations in some form or other; via automatic writing, dreams, or through being possessed by spirits (spirits of dead people, divine spirits, and gods) who spoke through them. Sometimes these "possessions" were spontaneous, and at other times there were deliberately induced via trance-producing ascetic practices in order to ask spirits or gods for information. Many of these founders also practiced some form of spiritual healing, such as tekazashi.

The information conveyed by psychic means was sometimes quite mundane. However, in cases where the person receiving the spirit communication believed that the source was a messenger god or a divine spirit, the information was regarded as revealing important divine truths and became part of the religious doctrine of the relevant religious group.

In Japan's long history of shamanistic, divination, and psychic practices, Omoto, founded by Nao Deguchi (1836-1918), is a relative newcomer. Deguchi had a "spirit dream"…and thereafter became possessed (kamigakari) by a spirit that began to speak through her…she began to record the deity's words in automatic writing. Due to her reputation for prophecies and faith healing her followers grew in number. Later she collaborated with Onisaburo Deguchi to establish a system based on her automatic writings and his spirit studies (a method of mediated spirit possession). After Asano Wasaburo (a teacher at Japan's Naval College), joined the group in 1916 and began proselytizing activities on its behalf, various intellectuals and high-ranking military officials began to join its ranks.

Apparently, the main thing that attracted Asano to Omoto was a practice called Chinkon Kishin: chinkon refers to the procedures for healing and directing spirits; by extension, it also refers to joining a deity's spirit [with a human subject]. Kishin means possession by the spirit of a kami [god]. One type of kishin is abrupt and spontaneous while another is humanly induced through the process of chinkon.. According to the Aikido Journal, when Onisaburo Deguchi introduced this technique to Omoto, A variety of people began practicing chinkon kishin, but as they began to experience divine inspirations, the Omoto order was thrown into somewhat of a pandemonium. You see, during such divine inspirations most spirits will appropriate the name of some other more “correct” spirit, which the inspired person will believe to be its true name and identity. The little country town of Ayabe was beset by a sort of divine rush-hour. Deguchi therefore banned this practice, but revived it again in 1916 and taught it to Asano.

Several sites mention that Asano's influence within Omoto was so great that it was debatable whether Asano belonged to Omoto, or the other way around. According to the Nihon Shinrei Kagaku Kyokai site (日本心霊科学協会 – Japanese Psychic Science Association), Asano was arrested along with other Omoto staff members in 1921 (the "first Omoto incident"), which led to him leaving Omoto and returning to Tokyo, where he established this psychic science group in 1923.

This section of the Encyclopedia of Shinto states that the introduction of Western occultism and Theosophy (about 1905 to 1910) lead to the development of psychic research, as promoted by Wasaburo Asano. These investigations of the spirit realm were carried out through the actions of spiritual mediums and clairvoyants.

Another imported influence was the Fu Ji divination technique (Tenjo). Fu Ji was practiced by the Chinese Dao Yuan group, founded in 1921, and was introduced to Omoto via the charitable arm of Dao Yuan, the World Red Swastika Society. The Shinri Kenkyukai site has this to say about Tenjo:

Tenjo is the term used for divine words produced by the action of spirits. This is called Fu Ji in China, but in Chidori-kai we call it "Tenjo", because this means "stick of heaven" (ten no jo). Using this, we can learn all things: the true principles of the universe, the real state of affairs, the past, the present, and the future.

The ends of a T-shaped stick are held by two people who sit facing each other and concentrate. A brush hanging from the center of the stick moves automatically and writes very quickly, but the direction of the writing is not obvious. One day, we were given the Tenjo "真鈴真喜", but the brush moved freely, writing from the top, then the bottom, so that at first we could not understand what was being written. We didn't know what had been written till after the writing was finished.

As you probably know, Mokichi Okada, the founder of SKK, was originally a member (and a missionary) of Omoto. According to the book Okada Mokichi Meshiasama to wa, quoted on the Shinri Kenkyukai website, Mokichi Okada attended a Fu Ji (Tenjo) session at the Omoto headquarters in March 1930. On that occasion, the word "Jo" (purification) was written in large writing, and alongside in small writing was "Okada Mokichi". This could be seen as implying his mission to purify and save the world. He started his own healing center, but did not actually leave Omoto and start his own group until 1935. Perhaps the idea to do so began with this divination.

The founder of Seicho no Ie, Masaharu Taniguchi (1893-1985), was also originally a member of Omoto. He left Omoto in 1925 and joined Asano's psychic science group. In 1929, Taniguchi received a revelation which told him to "Arise now!", which he interpreted as meaning he should start publishing his spiritual doctrines in a magazine, called Seicho no Ie, and eventually led to the establishment of his religious group. Several sources, including the Encyclopedia of Shinto, say that Taniguchi was a member of Asano's psychic research group but, perhaps not surprisingly, I've found no mention of this particular influence on Taniguchi on any of the English sites I've seen so far that promote Seicho no Ie.

Wasaburo Asano's name pops up again as an influence on Yutaro Yano, who founded the short-lived Shinsei Ryujinkai (Theocratic Dragon Deity Association) in 1934. Yano was also an instructor at the Japanese Naval Academy, and became interested in Omoto via Asano and Asano's brother, who was a Vice-Admiral. Yano visited the Omoto headquarters in 1917, where he received the Chinkon Kishin ritual from Wasaburo Asano. In 1929 Yano's wife Shin began to experience divine possessions and to produce "revelations" (shinji)……[other] conditions were also influential in his eventual organization of a shamanistic religious group.

Yano was strongly influenced by yet another factor, namely his encounter [in 1930] with the religion Amatsukyo and the so-called Takeuchi Document (Takeuchi monjo) which the group possessed. Amatsukyo was a religious movement led by Takeuchi Kiyomaro [1874-1965], priest of the Koso Kotai Jingu……the "Takeuchi Document" claimed that the Japanese emperor was ruler not merely of the nation and people of Japan, but of all the peoples of the entire world..

Yano's Shinsei Ryujinkai lasted less than 18 months, and as of May 1935 had only about 60 members, but these members included members of Japan's nobility, a retired army colonel, and navy commander Kaseda Tetsuhiko. According to information (not yet verified) on one of the Japanese Mahikari discussion sites, Nobuo Shioya was also a member. Shioya, too, was rather well-connected. He ran a flourishing medical clinic in Tokyo, and claimed that he successfully treated the Empress using some form of tekazashi.

So, what was it that led Shioya and Ogiwara to establish the Chidori-kai psychic research group after the war? Were they also perhaps influenced by Asano's psychic science group? The Encyclopedia of Shinto says this of Makoto Ogiwara (1910-1981), who eventually founded Makoto no Michi: Having experienced paranormal powers since before World War II, Ogiwara began participating as a psychic in a spiritualist research group in 1947. In time, Ogiwara and medical doctor Shioya Nobuo (1902- ) together founded a spiritual cultivation society called Chidorikai in response to the divine will revealed through Ogiwara.

This Encyclopedia of Shinto entry gives no further details of Ogiwara's pre-war experiences or of the group in which Ogiwara participated after the war and before founding the Chidori-kai group. According to information on this site, Ogiwara went to Manchuria and the Japanese colony in Korea, where he became famous for his spiritualism meetings. He returned to Japan at the request of Hideto Oda (1896-1989), who had founded a psychic research group called the Kikka-kai (chrysanthemum society), and met Asano in 1936.

Information quoted on the Shinri Kenkyukai site indicates a close association between Ogiwara and Oda. A younger psychic who participated in Oda's group, Mitsutomo Takeuchi, also participated in psychic endeavours with Ogiwara and received training from Ogiwara. (I don't know if this Takeuchi was part of the family who possessed the Takeuchi document or not.) The above site also indicates a close association between Oda and Asano, and says that Oda's Kikka-kai group was financially sponsored by Omoto.

Asano died in 1937, and his group ceased activities during the war, but this group began functioning again, as the Japanese Psychic Science Association, soon after the war ended. Nobuo Shioya's younger brother, Tsutomu Shioya (1911-1998), was an advisor to this group. Tsutomu Shioya published a number of books, including "Rei wa Ikiteiru" (spirits are "alive") in which he described a psychic research meeting he attended where Oda and Mitsutomo Takeuchi demonstrated various paranormal phenomena, transmitted "guidance" from spirits, and so on.

The exact relationships between all the people mentioned above are not all that clear but, despite the disruption of activities during the war years, there seem to be several different chains of influence stretching from Asano and Omoto in 1916, through to the post-war Chidori-kai. Ogiwara's supposed channelling of the voices of spirits appears to be a continuation of Asano's tradition of using psychic means to seek "divine guidance".

According to the website of the current Makoto no Michi group, Ogiwara established the Chidori-kai psychic research group in 1948. They held meetings for communicating with spirits, and began receiving the "revelations" from divine spirits which form the basis of Makoto no Michi teachings. Chidori-kai was registered as a religious body in 1949, with Ogiwara as its first Oshienushi. Chidori-kai was renamed as Makoto no Michi in 1952.

You'll notice that there is no mention of Nobuo Shioya. I imagine he was "written out" of Makoto no Michi history (much like Sekiguchi has been written out of Sukyo Mahikari history) after he formed a separate group, called Makoto no Michi Kyokai, in 1955.

Its not clear at what point Chidori-kai stopped being a "research group", attended by members of other religions such as SKK and Seicho no Ie, and started being a separate "religious group". Before that change, however, at least one other new religion was born, as noted in the previous post.

According to the Encyclopedia of Shinto, Masahisa Goi (1916-1980), the founder of Byakko Shinkokai, originally practiced some form of faith healing. After the war, be became an instructor in Taniguchi's Seicho no Ie and, at the same time, he also attended meetings of the Chidori-kai, a group engaging in psychic experiments, and he experienced paranormal phenomena so frequently that leading an ordinary life became impossible. In 1949, he left Chidori-kai and began week-long fasts, after which he became one with the divine. The next day he experienced union with Shakyamuni and Jesus. This led to Goi leaving Seicho no Ie, and his followers established a group of supporters in 1951. This group was later registered under its current name, in 1955.

On the Shinri Kenkyukai site, Goi himself is quoted as saying that the Chidori-kai Omine Rosen spirit encouraged him to leave Seicho no Ie and train to develop his spiritual abilities. On this occasion, too, Omine Rosen supposedly materialized his voice via the ectoplasm of the spirit medium Ogiwara.

So, what is the relevance of the above to Yoshikazu Okada and his Mahikari groups?

The first consideration should be whether or not any psychic phenomena are genuine. The quack-watch people do a pretty good job of exposing such things as mere smoke and mirrors. Next, we should ask if the apparently involuntary actions involved in automatic writing, channelling of "voices", Tenjo, etc., are produced by the practitioners subconscious via the ideomotor effect, rather than by spirits. Anyone who does consider such things to be the work of spirits should then question whether the source of such communications can be trusted. Are such communications "divine" guidance and teachings, or are they from some lesser source?

Regardless of which of these options seem believable to us, the people who attended the psychic research meetings conducted by Asano, Ogiwara, and Shioya appear to have believed that these men were sincere, and that the information they transmitted was legitimate. This information appears to have contributed, at least in part, to the decisions to form several of the new Japanese religions, and has shaped much of their doctrine. The founders of these religions, between them, have managed to convince millions of people (temporarily, at least) that the teachings of their particular founder were divinely inspired. That is a frightening amount of power! What if the spirits speaking through these men were fox spirits? What if it was all smoke and mirrors?

As stated in the previous post, we do not know if Y. Okada actually attended Chidori-kai meetings. We do know, however, that he quoted Shioya and the Omine Rosen spirit in his kenshu textbooks. We know that he claimed that the Tenjo investigation of his soul was proof that God had given him the role of Yo. Thus, regardless of whether or not Y. Okada participated personally in psychic research activities, we know that he considered communications from the Omine Rosen spirit to be reliable and legitimate. This places the Mahikari groups firmly in the context of the Japanese tradition of psychic research outlined above.

In the preface of Goseigen, Y. Okada claims: These holy words contained in this collection of holy words are revelations that have been given to me by Su God, the Creator of heaven and earth, through a messenger deity….Following God's guidance, I have started to transmit and propagate the teachings.

Who was this "messenger deity"? Shioya and Ogiwara regarded Omine Rosen as a "divine spirit", rather than a deity, but they did apparently regard him as transmitting divine truths about matters of grave importance. Would Okada have "twisted the truth" a little and used "messenger deity" to refer to Omine Rosen? Is it possible that Okada, too, was encouraged to start a new religion by Omine Rosen or some other spirit? (Or should I say, encouraged to do so by a psychic medium who appeared to transmit the voice of a spirit?)

This of course is just speculation…there could well be some other explanation for the similarities between the teachings of Y. Okada, Ogiwara, Shioya, Kura Fukuda, and the pre-war Shinsei Ryujinkai group. (More on the latter group in the next post…)

Incidentally, for me personally, it would make more sense if Okada had claimed that a divine spirit called Omine Rosen had told him, "Rise. Your name shall be Kotama. The world shall enter severe times", back in 1948, rather than that God had told him that in 1959. At least the "Kotama" part would then predate Okada's use of that name when he was an SKK staff member.