Part 3 of the Mahikari "First Revelation" posts (translation)

Here, very belatedly, is the translation of Part 3 of the series of Japanese posts, written by phoenix3000, concerning Mahikari revelations.

Authenticity of the "first revelation" supposedly received by the founder of Mahikari (Part 3)

I now return to Item (2), “Raise your hand”.

According to a Japanese-language Internet discussion site (真光関係者集合（４０）ー１６６), the book Sei to Shi (Life and Death), published by the Mahikari organization (Yoko Bunmei Kenkyukai) around 1973, says that Okada’s first tekazashi (raising the hand) experience was immediately after the end of the war.

The story in the Sukyo Mahikari 30-year Chronicle, page 66, “unexpectedly, he raised his hand and saved a dog that was apparently dying”, also places this incident soon after the end of the war. Thus, both of these indicate a similar timing for the first tekazashi. The book Saigo no Iwato Biraki (the last opening of the rock door of heaven) seems to be attempting to reinforce Sukyo Mahikari's claim, using more dramatic expressions.

In Saigo no Iwato Biraki (1997), Toumei Yasaka says that, immediately after the end of the war, Okada heard a disembodied voice say “Raise your hand!”, and when he raised his hand, miracles occurred one after the other. Okada was very surprised, and in desperation to solve the riddle, he delved into studying everything from psychic science to religions and parapsychology. (From 真光関係者集合（４０）ー１６６.) This information, like the information in the book "Life and Death", appears to have been provided by a Mahikari devotee.

According to information on the Internet, the author of the book Saigo no Iwato Biraki, Toumei Yasaka, is actually the third Sukyo Mahikari Oshienushi, Koya (Koshi) Okada (original name, Tairoku Teshima). It is rumoured that he acted as a ghost-writer for Keishu.

According to him, Okada heard a disembodied voice say “Raise your hand”, and he was surprised that miracles occurred one after the other when he raised his hand. However, this is clearly different to what Okada himself said in Gotaidanshu (Interviews with Okada), as follows:

It was 27 February 1959, I think. When I was worshipping God at home, I heard a loud voice say, "Your name shall be Kotama. The world shall enter severe times." [Omitted] …So, I called myself Kotama. Then He said to me, "Raise your hand and cure people of diseases." At first I couldn’t believe that I could do the type of things that saints do. Even a fool wouldn't consider it. To think such a thing would be madness. Wait! Have I gone crazy while concentrating on repaying my debts? I might have been tricked by a fox or badger spirit, I thought. So, for about a week, I was not at all inclined to act on this. However, without planning it, I tried raising my hand to a dog, and this cured the dog. This was the start of it. When someone said he had a headache, I would immediately raise my hand, and he would say that he felt better. [From Gotaidanshu (Interviews with Okada), pages 280-281]

Is Sukyo Mahikari telling lies? Or, did Okada lie to the interviewer in Gotaidanshu?

Incidentally, what I heard when I was a member was that Okada’s first tekazashi was after the “first revelation”, not “immediately after the end of the war”, or “soon after the war”. Accordingly, Okada giving tekazashi to the dog occurred after the “first revelation”.

Let’s look at another reference from Gotaidanshu.

As I mentioned earlier, 15 years ago, God said to me, "Your name shall be Kotama. The world shall enter severe times.", and He also said, “Raise your hand”. By way of explanation, God also revealed that the world would change in ways current humanity could not even imagine. However, I had been head of an aircraft company and was a person of ordinary scientific commonsense. Even though I was told that the power to heal diseases would be emitted when I raised my hand, I couldn’t possibly believe such a thing. I wondered if I was being tricked by a fox or a badger spirit.

I cannot do such a crazy thing, I thought, so at first I didn’t want to do anything. After all, we use commonsense, scientific commonsense, to make judgements, don't we?. However, all sorts of things happened to make me think I had to do this, as if I was being forced into it. When I did try doing tekazashi, the other person was healed, so I had to accept it. [From Gotaidanshu, page 286]

The above story by Okada himself does not match the 30-year Chronicle (or Saigo no Iwato Biraki) at all. It is not just that there are major discrepancies in the timing of giving tekazashi to the dog (equates with Okada’s first tekazashi). There is an inconsistency in the nature of the person portrayed. The person who performed tekazashi before the “first revelation”, and, as a result, studied God and the world of divine spirits does not sound like the person who was ordered to raise his hand in the “first revelation” in 1959 but did not believe it, at first did not do it, and was forced to do it. They don't sound like the same person.

If, before the 1959 "first revelation", a person raised his hand, was surprised to see miracles occurring one after the other, tried to solve this riddle, and started delving into studying everything from psychic science to religions and parapsychology with all his might, would he say, on receiving the "first revelation", "Even though I was told that the power to heal diseases would be emitted when I raised my hand, I couldn't possibly believe such a thing."? This is also inconsistent.

Is it acceptable for there to be such a difference between the picture that Sukyo Mahikari paints of Okada, of spontaneously giving tekazashi immediately after (or soon after) the end of the war, and the picture that Okada paints of himself, of being bewildered by being told to “Raise your hand” in the “first revelation” in 1959?

Okada himself promotes the impression that this was the first time he had heard of tekazashi. What was this stance supposed to achieve?

Probably Okada was trying to start his Mahikari by giving the impression that it was independent of other religions and based on original teachings. Okada’s connection with SKK (Sekai Kyusei Kyo) and his practice of Jorei (SKK’s version of tekazashi) within SKK were a hindrance to promoting this facade. Therefore, he tried to hide those facts and whitewash his religious past in order to present himself as someone who had no connection with existing religions or, in other words, as a “religious amateur” with no particular religious experiences who suddenly was given the teachings of seiho (righteous laws) and Mahikari no Waza (raising the hand) by God. Okada started Mahikari by making this scenario a public claim. If, from the first, Okada had been frank about his personal history in Mahikari publications and made it public both within and outside the organization, what would have happened? Let’s consider some possibilities.

1. Everyone would have known from the outset that Mahikari no Waza was taken from SKK’s Jorei. Therefore, it would not have seemed new and fresh and would have lost its sense of value.

2. The effect of contrast with a world in which “everything is gyakuho” (back-to-front laws) would have been lost. In such a world, Okada claimed he was suddenly given “God’s principles and righteous laws, which have never before been transmitted by even holy people” and also “Mahikari no Waza, which was permitted for mankind for the first time”.

3. People would have immediately seen that he got the idea for his omitama from the Jorei pendant.

4. People would have been able to do a simple comparison of SKK teachings and Mahikari teachings. Then, they would have immediately known that a significant number of Okada’s teachings were taken from SKK.

5. The claim that Okada was a "religious amateur" (with no particular religious past) would be no longer applicable. People would have easily traced his background and found that he was not only an adherent but also a kanbu of SKK.

6. If it had been public knowledge that Okada was an adherent of SKK, some people who were interested in Mahikari would have gravitated towards SKK because it was the founder’s original religion. This would have interfered with obtaining members.

7. People, without much difficulty, would have found out that SKK treats spirit movement as something dangerous.

8. People could have also traced back spirit movement to Omoto, where SKK originated, and found that there were some incidents in which spirit movement made adherents become insane.

9. Okada’s shadowy record in SKK would have easily leaked out. (Okada’s pursuit of an interest in spirit movement, which was contrary to SKK policies, his dismissal from his position as kanbu, and the reasons for his dismissal)

10. The “revelations” given to Mokichi Okada (founder of SKK) and Kotama Okada’s first “revelations” would have been compared and similarities found.

11. It would easily have become known that Okada told people to address him as “Kotama sensei (teacher)” during his SKK era, and that Kotama was not a new divine name given to Okada by God in 1959 at the time of the “first revelation”. This would have cast a shadow over “Your name shall be Kotama” in the “first revelation”.

(Incidentally, according to the Jorei Association, God placed a ball of light (the name “Kotama” literally means “ball of light”) bearing the power of salvation inside the belly of SKK’s founder, Mokichi Okada. Then, in 1950, the highest God dwelt directly in this ball of light. Compare this with the text of the first revelation in Goseigen: The Spirit of Truth has entered your ___. …..Your name shall be Kotama.)

As a result, the claim that a divine revelation was suddenly given to him, which was based only on his own word, was supported by the emphasis on "tekazashi" and by the "spirit movement" induced by "tekazashi". The truth of that claim was not openly challenged, and that claim was securely accepted for almost 40 years after he started his own religious group. Since Mahikari publications do not mention that Okada previously belonged to SKK, there has been little pursuit of that truth. Even some journalists have written articles, accepting the claims made by the organization (in particular, Sukyo Mahikari) without checking. In short, these are the results of concealing Okada’s personal history.

When people see and experience tekazashi and spirit movement without this background knowledge, this produces fertile ground for Okada’s (and Sukyo Mahikari’s) explanations. Without this background knowledge, people may easily be drawn into the Mahikari world, accepting the explanation, without questioning, that Mahikari no Waza proves or seems to prove the real existence of God, the soul, and attaching spirits. Then, even if they subsequently hear that Okada was a member of SKK, this information is only a faint whisper in their consciousness. They tend to think, “So what?”, and easily push it aside into a corner of their minds.

Thus Okada was able to say, I, out of the blue, brought the rightous laws and tekazashi, for the very first time, into a world which has been gyakuho up until now, but the organization has expanded without much opposition. [Mahikari Journal 286, August 1986, page 31]

If you look only at the claims made by Okada and the Mahikari organization, you might think, “Ah. It must have been hard for Okada”. However, when you understand that Okada’s “teachings of the righteous laws” were really a blend of existing SKK teachings, Makoto no Michi teachings, Seicho no Ie teachings, etc., and that the “practice of light” was a follow-on from SKK’s Jorei-style tekazashi, you will see that Okada’s claim that these teachings and practice suddenly dropped from the sky at that time does not match the facts. The statement, “I, out of the blue, brought the righteous laws and tekazashi, for the very first time” sounds valid only if his previous involvement in SKK is concealed.

Sukyo Mahikari, which in the past did not admit, and even denied, the fact that Okada belonged to SKK, will not publicly acknowledge this fact, as this would mean that the sect would have to throw away the "miraculous event" image created by the "first revelation".

- By phoenix3000