Mahikari and Swami Rama <2>: Rama's abilities and the phenomenon of spirits' possessing

What did Okada, who became acquainted with the yoga master, say about him? Read the quote below.

The yogi called Mr Rahmu I mentioned a short time ago - - -he, a high-level yogi who practiced such tremendous gyo, can make himself disappear in front of your eyes, and can lift his body up about one meter from the ground in the motionlessly sitting position. This is not a phenomenon of spirits' possessing. ----"Go-taidan-shuu" p312 [Note 1]

It is unclear whether Okada meant that the yogi had done these things in front of Okada's eyes, or the yogi said that he could do them, or Okada had heard such things somewhere else, but, instead of saying "Some people say - - - -" , he described those things as being definite facts, associating them with the yogi he knew.

He didn't say to the interviewer, for example, "Mr Rahmu made himself disappear in front of my eyes," or "He lifted his body up about one meter from the ground in the sitting position." It is also probably too unrealistic to assume those things were performed without any tricks. Therefore the first possibility that the yogi performed them in front of Okada's eyes can probably be eliminated. However, it wouldn't be surprising if Okada had, without consciously realizing it, come to think in his own mind that the yogi had actually performed those things in front of him. In any case, the problem is, Okada was talking about those things as being definite facts.

Immediately after the quote above, Okada continued as follows, which presents another problem.

However, there are people who can do such things through spirits' possession. For instance, the person possessed by a raven tengu swoops in the room, flapping his hands with his legs crossed, I tell you. We often come across such incidents.
---- "Go-taidan-shuu" p312 [a tengu = a long-nosed goblin]


"Swoops in the room, flapping his hands with his legs crossed" ---- such a thing can be a scene in comics and animations. Yet, Okada is talking as if it were quite a daily occurrence in the real world. Mahikari members will recognize this as spirits' manifestation phenomenon, which occurs during an okiyome session, especially during the 'forehead (No.8)' session.

However, I didn't witness such a phenomenon when I was a member, or so-called 'kumite' , neither did I ever meet another member who claimed to have seen such a thing. I heard, though, in the early period of my involvement in this cult group, someone say, 'I've heard that a person possessed by tengu floats, while sitting with his legs crossed!" and "I've heard that a person possessed by a snake spirit climbs up a pillar effortlessly!" Probably the purpose of those stories was to make the members think that mysterious things could happen. In short, they were just "stories". I was once shown a photo in which a sitting man, probably receiving 'tekazashi' on his forehead, was up in the air. Of course, it hadn't been examined to see whether there was no possibility of its being fake, like a composite photo or something of that kind.

Looking back, I see that the members tended to believe easily in such stories and photos. They had a major presupposition that Okada was telling "divine truth". If things looked matched, even fragmentally, to what Okada said, it always lead them to jump to the conclusion that whatever Okada said was true and right. That simplified pattern of jumping to conclusions had been formed in the followers' mind.

Now, back to the main topic -- I, too, heard the two stories I've quoted below (from a Japanese discussion site) about the yogi.

●Mercury and Swami Rama

There was a story about mercury, a long time ago, among Okada's talks. I don't remember the exact wording, but the outline is like this;
"Yoga sage Swami Rama's body is so purified that even if he takes mercury, it comes out of his body in about 15 minutes.
As for me, I've still got a long way to go."

I describe it again in another way;
Okada talks about a person who has purified his body through (yoga's?) ascetic practices to such a degree that his body rejects and discharges the toxins, which is much more advanced than detoxifying toxins through 'tekazashi'.
Okada himself aims to reach such a stage (through 'okiyome'?)
----Mahikari-no-buttobi-kyougi; 66

●Sweet smell and Swami Rama

This is not a topic to criticize Mahikari about, but the name Swami Rama reminds me of another story of Okada's. It goes like this;
Swami Rama can gather the essence of nice smell which is scattered in the air (cosmos?) close to himself (does this mean around his face and the tip of his nose?).
I (Okada) tried and succeeded, though not so much as Mr Rama.
My daughter (Keishu) said to me, 'Something smells sweet, father.'
----Mahikari-no-buttobi-kyougi; 72


In addition to abilities, such as making himself disappear like instant transportation, and lifting his body in the sitting position against gravity, two more are added to the list of this yogi's abilities; to be able to discharge mercury if he swallows it, and to be able to collect the essence of sweet smell in the cosmos. Okada treated them all as being solid facts.

Of course, Okada couldn't make himself disappear in front of other people, or lift his body up about one meter from the ground in the motionlessly sitting position, or discharge the mercury taken into his body. This has to be made clear.

He claimed he had gathered sweet smell to some extent. He made his story sound as if a third person had confirmed that by stating Keishu's comment. But - - - did he succeed to do so? Or, did he just imagine that he had succeeded a little when he had tried it? Did it happen in his imagination, especially because he himself tried it? It was quite expected that Keishu (Ms Okada), who followed Okada so obediently, would say something to please him. It was beyond her capacity to take an objective third person's view and say to him, 'There is no such sweet smell, father. It's in your mind.'

Or, this may be a story made up by Okada, based on hints from the yogi or somewhere else.

There were some comments on these two stories in the same internet discussion site.

●About the story of mercury;

If Okada still has a long way to go, then, his followers have a long, long, long - - -endlessly - - long way to go.
Doesn't it mean that it will be impossible for them to be able to neutralize the toxins after spending a whole life time?

Then, it means, after all, that yoga is better than Mahikari, doesn't it? (laugh)
----Mahikari-no-buttobi-kyougi; 67

●About the story of sweet smell;

I don't know what kind of smell Swami Rama had, or Okada had, since I didn't smell either of them in reality. Besides, one can make up (or borrow) such a story as one pleases.

Another thing - - - Mahikari cult organization emits absolutely no sweet smell. If it does smell, it's a fishy smell.

One more thing. If Rama's ascetic practices are at such high levels, what Okada said is the same as saying that Mahikari is not so great.
Was Okada an idiot? ----Mahikari-no-buttobi-kyougi; 77


Okada talked about the yogi's "tremendous abilities" as being definite facts, but he himself wasn't able to do these things. (He claimed that he had gathered 'sweet smell' to some extent, though.) This means that the yogi was superior in abilities to Okada, who started Mahikari. Moreover, tekazashi doesn't enable the Mahikari members to perform such abilities. The way Okada talks may lure his followers into the illusion that it is possible, but they need to see the reality.

Even if you hear about spirits' possessing phenomena, such as a person who floats in the air with the legs crossed, or a person who climbs a pillar effortlessly, those are just stories. No phenomena actually happen like the recipient floats in the air in the sitting position during okiyome session or the recipient disappears (not runs away) into thin air in front of the performer of okiyome. Nobody has had an experience of giving okiyome to mercury, turning it harmless, and drinking it, without any harm done. There is no phenomenon which will confirm the relationship between 'spirit realm purification' and sweet smell which can be recognized by everybody.

Okada said the yogi was able to do those things. So the above comments make a relevant point that what Okada was saying was synonymous with saying that 'yoga is better than Mahikari' or 'Mahikari is not so great'. But, the followers, who have shut themselves in the Mahikari world, worshipping Okada, the founder of that world, as the savior, would not see that point.

The following comment may also have a point.

At that time, a person doing yoga was seen as mysterious, noble, and capable of doing mysterious things, I assume.
And since Swami Rama came to him, claiming to be a yoga 'sage', Okada, who became acquainted with him, wanted to be associated with the image of being noble, too?
----Mahikari-no-buttobi-kyougi; 72

It is quite possible. As for Mr Aizawa, Okada seems to have wanted to create the impression that he knew a lot about archeology since he was on good terms with Mr Aizawa. From there, he unfolded his own irresponsible teachings which can be considered as delusional. [Note 2] As for Rama, it is also possible that Okada wanted to create the image of himself being 'noble' and 'mysterious', since he was on good terms with the yogi.

In the previous post, you read Okada's statement that the Buddhist monks and Shinto priests who did gyo are attached by dozens of spirits who were dwelling in the practice spots and that people get possessed by all sorts of spirits when they do Zazen, Kanpou, or mental concentration. He presented a very negative image against "gyo" and those monks and priests who had done "gyo".

Look at some more of Okada's quotes below, from "Go-taidan-shuu".

There are some people among ascetic practitioners who use foxes, to be honest. ----p301

The more they have practiced asceticism, the more spirits of all sorts have attached to them. Therefore, none of them meet a good death. ----p309

To practice gyo, like meditations and such, as done in old days, does harm after all. So I and my followers totally reject it. We find it more difficult to cure the people who have done those things, for example, ascetic practitioners in Mitake, and those who have accumulated practices at more than a dozen spots. There are plenty of facts indicating that those people, in particular, have been affected by more terrible spirits' disturbances. ----p311


'There are plenty of facts indicating that ~ ' -- Okada uses these types of expressions quite groundlessly. This topic has been handled in some previous posts. [Note 3]

Associating Buddhist monks and Shinto priests who did ascetic practices, with spirits' possession, spirits' disturbances, fox spirits, and the terrible ways of death, he projects a negative image of their psychic abilities; harmful, insidious, and undesirable.

Yoga practice is a practice which should be grouped with ascetic practices, meditations and such. Yet, according to Okada, Rama, a yogi of high level, has "tremendous abilities", which Okada suggests have nothing to do with the phenomenon of spirits' possessing.

What are the grounds for that claim? Nothing. Just Okada decided so.

There was the image, I assume, that the yogis, practicing austerities in a pure and mysterious grand nature in the Himalayas, were mysterious, noble, and able to do mysterious things. I myself had such images without knowing the reality. I also felt attracted to the title "sage". It was not until several years ago that I came to know of the existence of a "sage" who does trick-type of things to attract followers.

Okada may have had that nice image of yogis. Then, the tall, imposing yogi came to visit him and made friends with him.

Maybe Okada couldn't put this Indian yogi, who was energetic and well-built, into the same category as "Buddhist monks and Shinto priests". In addition, he couldn't have made use of the image of a sage being mysterious, noble, and capable of superhuman things if he had grouped the yogi with Buddhist monks and Shinto priests, whose "psychic abilities" he put down harshly, stating that their abilities are connected with animal spirits, spirits' possession, spirits' disturbance, being harmful and so on.

By the way, Aum Shinrikyo is still active under a changed name. It claims the phenomenon of floating in the air as being quite common. According to them, it is "super natural power" or "a divine power" resulting from awakening kundalini and developing the chakras. [Note 4]

Okada declared that this type of phenomenon was definitely real. Well, then, would he explain that this phenomenon is caused by a raven tengu possessing the members of the Aum Shinrikyo group? Or, would he say that this is not the phenomenon caused by spirits' possessing?

In the former case, it would mean raven tengus exist in very large number, hundreds of them, and that they possess people quite easily. It would also mean that this eye-catching phenomenon of spirits' manifestation frequently occurs without any connection with "Mahikari-no-waza (=tekazashi, okiyome)". In other words, so-called spirits' manifestation is not a phenomenon which only Mahikari ("true light") can cause.

In the latter case, it would mean this cult organization is far superior, beyond comparison, in its super natural power, to Mahikari, wouldn't it? It also would imply purity of its members, wouldn't it?

One more thing to add. The swami, after staying in Japan, went to the United States in 1969. In the following year, he visited the Menninger Foundation several different times and demonstrated his abilities in the laboratory. His demonstrations included experiments such as making a temperature difference between two sides of the right hand, stopping the heart beat, having his brain waves measured in different states of mind, and so on. [Note 5]

There weren't any demonstrations of making himself disappear in front of the lab people, lifting his body up in a motionlessly sitting position, swallowing mercury, or emitting a sweet smell. His experiment on his psychokinesis was not lifting up his body, or lifting a pencil up in the air. It was moving knitting needles which could have spun just in response to air movement. It seems that the yogi had the initiative and that the contents and progress of the experiments were dependent on his moods and feelings.


[Note 1] "Go-taidan-shuu (a collection of the interviews with Okada)"; published in 1985. This chapter, "Talk with Hiroshi Motoyama", is from p275~320, dated Feb. 1974. Mr Motoyama, according to this book, is a 'Doctor of Literature', but it is clearly seen in this talk that he believes in spirits' possessing phenomena, psychic surgery, and so on, and has deep interest in parapsychology and yoga. He even talks about a machine (a device to diagnose chakras), which he claims he invented.
[Note 2] Okada, the founder of Mahikari and Tadahiro Aizawa <1> and <2> (01/2009, 03/2009)
[Note3] The world of Mahikari - No.5 (05/2007)
Okada's teachings concerning the history of Japan and the world (08/2008)
Okada, the founder of Mahikari, said, 'The super ancient history is being backed up by studies.' (09/2008)
Okada, the founder of Mahikari, and megalithic tools (10/ 2008)
Kotama Okada and the Old Stone Age (12/ 2008)
[Note4] Its new name is Aleph. I'd like to leave it to the individual to search the net.
[Note5] The Menninger Foundation. The report can be seen in the several websites. Here is one of them:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7039151/Swami-Rama-Beyond-Biofeedback


----Phoenix3000