Saturday, January 30, 2010

真光とスワミ・ラーマ <6>; 光なるもの (Mahikari and Swami Rama < 6 > ; so-called light)

『真光とスワミ・ラーマ <4>』(2009/09)の『御対談集』の引用部分(p306ー307)に関してさらに続けます。

♦『光なるもの』

その光なるものがどこから出てくるのか、これがわからん、とラーマが言った、と聞くと、『光なるもの』が出ている、とラーマも認めた上で、<それがどこから出てくるのか、わからない>と言ったように聞こえますが、これも光玉を通して述べられていることを忘れてはなりません。

もちろん権威者そのものであるかのような、自信満々の光玉の話をラーマもそのまま信じた、とも考えられます。

光玉の言い出したこと-−−真光の研修を受けてオミタマを首にかけ手をかざせば『光』が出る、と教えられ、光が出ると信じて手をかざすのが真光信者(『組み手』)です。『受光者』に霊動と呼ばれる現象が起これば、真光の主張が証明されたと思ってしまいます。手をかざした結果、光が放射されて憑依霊に作用したためにこの現象が起こった、というわけです。

光玉や彼に続く教団がそう言う、自分もそれらしい体験をした、あるいは他の信者の体験談を聞いた、だから真光は本物である、と思い込んでいます。

しかしながら、『憑依』『霊障』はもとより、手をかざせば『光が出る』ということでさえ、実は証明されていません。

『神の光』は高次元の光なので、その域に達していない科学(現代唯物のみの「仮の科学」〔注1〕)ではキャッチ出来ないのである、との説明もありました。つまり、科学では証明できない、と言っていることになります。

<現代科学がそこまで行っていない>というのは実に誤魔化しが効く説明です。

科学的には証明出来ないのが当たり前のように聞こえるし、科学がもっと進歩すればやがて証明されるだろうとの期待を抱かせることが出来ます。同時に、その存在が証明されなくても、<科学がそこまで進歩していないからだ>と、いつまでも信じ続けさせることが出来るのです。

科学は所詮仮の科学で、神の科学ではない、と、科学への不信感、科学的考え方への不信感を植え付けています。真光は神の科学であるのだから、低い次元の科学では確認できないものである、故に検証できなくてかまわないのだ、教団がそういうのだから、そして自分もそう信じるから、光が出るというのは事実である、と信者が勝手に決めつけ、そう確信するよう誘導できます。

ということは、あると確認できないものを『ある』と断定して、信者に『ある』と思わせていることになります。『ある』と確認できないものを『ある』と断言しているということは、実際には無いものを『ある』と言い張っても、真光の世界ではそれで通る、ということにもなります。

手かざしを体験してもらえば、何かあると感じてもらえる、というのも真光信者が期待することです。実際『受光』すると、温かく感じたり、圧迫されるように感じたりする人も中にはいます。しかし、それだからと言って、手から『(神の)光が出ている』との真光の主張が正しいということにはなりません。

暗示による効果ということも大いに考えられます。それに真光以外のところでも、人は目に見えない何かを感じることもあれば、霊動現象と同じような現象が出ることもあります。これらは真光の研修やオミタマや手かざしやその教えとは無関係のものです。〔注2〕

真光信者の中には、光が出ているのが見えた、とか、霊視の利く人には見えるそうだ、と言って、確認されたかのように話す人もいました。

また一方では、神の光は普通は見えないようになっている、それなのに見えるのは霊障、という説明も聞いたことがあります。なにかちぐはぐです。でも、真光の世界では、ちぐはぐなことでも<奥の奥があるから>で済まされて、そこで信者の思考が停止してしまいます。

ネットで下記の書き込みがありました。

  光が見えるのは霊障だそうです。
  高次元な神の光は検証できないそうです。

  つまり見えないのが当たり前で、見えたらマズイもの。

  というか、その前に、
  真光言わんとするところの光が、神の光かどうかも検証できないということです。
  そんなものは信じるに値しませんね。

  たとえそれが「人が本来備えている・ヒーリングパワー」であっても  
  検証できないことをいいことに、
  真光が神の光と言い切っているだけだから。

  それにしても真光の神の光は、
  とことん癒されない光だということだけは、過去の歴史で証明されているね。
  救われた人なんて、誰もいないもの。笑   ーー崇教真光を斬れ!ー真光被害者の会;154


「真光で救われたと思い込んでいる人」はいましたし、今でもそういう人はいることでしょう。しかし検証に耐え得る資料があるものは一件もないでしょう。それでも信者は<手から光が出る、それで人々が救われる>というのは事実である、と信じ込まされています。

真光信者は、信じることや思い込むことと、事実との区別が一般の人より遥かに曖昧で、混乱しています。現実の事実を聞いても、修正が効きません。もちろん修正したら、真光信仰(神向という字を当てはめて誤摩化しているが)は成り立たなくなります。だから、現実の事実を指摘されても、矛盾を指摘されても、真光はそれでも正しいと言い張り、真光の事実や矛盾を指摘する人々を口汚くけなして、かたくなに真光擁護・真光信奉を続けるのです。そんなところも真光の手かざしと教えに染められた結果でしょう。ネットでの擁護派・信奉者の書き込みを見てもわかります。

それにしても変だと思いませんか。真光の業は『神の光』で、霊を浄め、魂を浄める業であると言います。真光で霊魂が浄まれば、病気が治る、不幸に遭わない、人間が善化する、性格が良くなる、争いの心が無くなる、等聞こえの良い効用を光玉は並べました。〔注3〕 病気が治る、不幸に遭わない、等は簡単に言えば眉唾物ですが、それに加えて、真光擁護派・真光信奉者の罵詈雑言は、真光がおよそ「浄める」とか「浄まる」とか「善化」等には縁がないことを示していると言えませんか。<人と対立して言い合ってみたりすることが嫌いな性格に知らぬ間に変わる>(『御対談集』p182、〔注3〕参照)との光玉の弁も、現実からはほど遠い、中味を伴わない陳述だということになるでしょう。

ところで、ラーマは実際に『お浄め』を受けて、『光なるもの』を感じたのでしょうか。それとも自信満々の光玉に感心したのでしょうか。お互いに友人関係になったというわりには、どちらもお互いのやっていることや教えを取り入れたようには見えないのですが。

光玉は、真光の業はヨガの真髄と同じ、と示唆しつつ、ヨガの真髄は何か、ということになると的確な理解は示していないし、瞑想や行は否定しました。〔注4〕一方、ラーマは光玉の説く『霊障』『憑依』を受け入れて信じたようには見受けられません。

ラーマが光玉の言ったことをどのように受け止めたのか、直接知る資料となる彼の著書『Living with the Himalayan Masters』は残念ながら手元にありません。が、「真光とスワミ・ラーマ」(2009/04)」で紹介した、このヨガ行者の弟子のウェブサイトにそのヒントがあるかもしれません。その記事によると、『光』が出ている、と心で思い描く、想像するやり方、との説明がされています。つまり、現代風の言い方をすれば、イメージ療法に相当すると言えるでしょう。


〔注1〕<現代唯物のみの「仮の科学界」>との表現が『初級研修テキスト;第12|真の科学の暁へ』に見られる。
     
〔注2〕例—

*『真光とスワミ・ラーマ <4>』で紹介した、ラーマの健康に関する話のなかに、瞑想も勧めている箇所がある。じっとして目を瞑ると、体が動くが、これは単に体の乱れであると言う。

* 気功師 Chunyi Lin は その著書 『Born A Healer』で、自分の経験を述べている。両膝の痛みに苦しみ、色々と療法をやってみたが、改善せず、有名な気功師の講習会に参加。目を瞑ってしばらくすると体が前後左右に揺れ、やがて転がり回り、それからのどが変な音を立て、突然笑い出し ...等と自分の意思ではない動きや、また寒さ、熱さ、かゆさ等の感覚も体験。この講習会直後、両膝の痛みは消え、再び走ったり跳ねたり出来るようになったと言う。このような体の動きは気の動き、気の反応と説明されている。
  
〔注3〕例—

* 神性化を可能ならしめると不幸とか病気がついでに治ってしまうということです。そういう行き方で人類を善に切り換えてしまう。それが ”真光の業” なんです。 ーー『御対談集』p177

* 問答無用で人間の性格を直して、ついでに病気も治してしまうというのが、今日の ”真光の業” なのです.ーー『御対談集』p178

* 人間が無病化する状態になるとそれだけ悪霊、悪魔がいなくなったということが一つ。だから無病化します。悪魔がいなくなっただけこの人の性質が良くなるでしょ。言い換えますと心が非常に浄まっていく。
  そうすると人の心というものは非常に穏やかになるのです。穏やか、すなわち平和になるわけです。したがって、怒るとか妬む、それから憎む、それから短気がなくなっていく。  
  それで非常にムードが明るい人間に変わってしまうんです。争うということが嫌になってくるわけです。人と対立して言い合ってみたりすることが嫌いな性格に知らぬ間に変わります。そうしようというのではなくて、知らぬ間に変わってきてしまう。 ....  ーー『御対談集』 p181ー182

〔注4〕『真光とスワミ・ラーマ』(2009/04)『真光とスワミ・ラーマ <2>』(2009/06)参照。


ーー火の鳥Phoenix3000

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Mahikari and Swami Rama < 5 > ; Everybody performs miracles?

This is a continuation of the last article (English~ Oct. 2009) about the quote from "Go-taidan-shuu" (p306-307).

◆The secret of yoga

This topic was dealt with in "Mahikari and Swami Rama < 3 >" (English~ Aug. 2009). Okada's words quoted from "Go-taidan-shuu" (p232) imply that Rama said that the secret of yoga and curing diseases by Mahikari-no-waza were the same. His words quoted from the same book (p306-307), shown in the last post, are as follows: Rama said, 'I can cure any diseases like you do, Mr Okada, with my trained power. I even now teach that power to my disciples as the ultimate secret. It is yoga's ultimate secret.'

However, there is no way for the listener to know whether this yogi really said so or not, and even if he said something like that, you cannot tell whether or not he meant exactly the same meanings in the same situation as Okada describes. Therefore, Okada can get away with his own version, coloring and flavoring his story as he likes. It can be safely considered that he said what he wanted to say, borrowing the character of the yogi.

What Okada tries to impress on the listener in those two quotes is: We can cure any diseases by Mahikari-no-waza; This is also the "secret of yoga"; Therefore, Mahikari-no-waza is so great, I'm telling you. In reality, however, 'the secret of yoga' and 'to cure diseases by Mahikari-no-waza' are NOT the same. [Note 1]

First of all, according to Sukyo Mahikari, Mahikari-no-waza is not an art to cure diseases. [Note 2] That means Mahikari-no-waza is even farther apart from "the ultimate secret of yoga", which Okada is presenting as being the same in those quotes. By declaring that Mahikari-no-waza is not for curing diseases, Sukyo Mahikari not only turns Mahikari-no-waza into something obscure, but also annihilates the image Okada creates here.


◆Everybody easily performs miracles here and there.

The way Okada talks gives the impression that Rama confirmed, as a fact, that in Mahikari everyone easily performs miracles everywhere after taking the three-day course. But, think carefully. Okada, even treated facts as lies, and declared his own groundless teachings to be "the right ones" and "divine truth". It was very easy for him to subtly twist events so that they would fit his convenience.

Let's suppose here, for instance, that Okada said to Rama that everyone to whom he had given the three-day course started to easily perform miracles everywhere. Taking that statement in the course of the conversation, Rama asked, "How can you teach people to perform miracles in three days?" This doesn't mean that Rama confirmed Okada's statement as a fact.

By the way, when Rama's disciples describe Mahikari on their internet site, mentioned in the post "Mahikari and Swami Rama" (Japanese~ 04/ 2009, English~ May 2009 ), they don't use such words as "miracle", or "spiritual art" at all. This is just for your reference.

Okada said, "Any diseases can be cured by Mahikari-no-waza", "the instant effect of this art is to liberate the physical body from diseases", and so on. [Note 3] These words of his give the followers great expectations. As for 'miracles', he spoke as follows:

No need for theories!! When you raise your hand, God's light radiates without fail, and so, miracles happen without fail. ---- Japanese Mahikari magazine No.185 {Feb.1978) p30

Okada clearly states that when you raise your hand . . . miracles happen without fail. How promising! But just a moment. When Mahikari says, "No need for theories", it means, 'Don't exercise logic. Don't think in ways other than Mahikari ways.' It tells you not to think with reasoning, but to believe fervently every word of the one who calls himself 'God's representative on earth". That is, here, the followers must believe, no matter what, that when they raise their hands, God's light radiates without fail, and thus miracles happen without fail.

They must not think, for example: if 'miracles' don't happen in reality when we raise our hands . . . doesn't that mean that such a thing as 'God's light' actually doesn't come out?

As seen in Okada stating definitely that when the followers raise their hands, miracles happen without fail, he connected Mahikari's tekazashi with miracles. He also said, "All people will be forced to see miracles" ("Go-taidan-shuu" p14), and "the existing moldy religions, sorry to say but, cannot produce miracles one after another." ("Go-taidan-shuu" p82)

"Mahikari Primary Kenshu textbook - lectured by the founder, Master Okada" has a phrase: the innumerable, amazing miracles . . . . which have been successively experienced by millions of people throughout the world . . . . Also Japanese Mahikari magazines have an introduction entitled "To you who read this magazine for the first time". In there, you read the phrase below:


. . . this booklet introduces, as far as the pages permit, fresh facts of miracles and salvation that Kami-kumite (followers) all over the world produce sensationally everyday by the spiritual art of miracles, Mahikari-no-waza.


Phrases like these create the impression (this can be called illusion or fantasy) as if miracles were occurring like everyday affairs among the followers, in an attempt to attract people's interest by the word "miracles".

However, when people outside Mahikari, including former members who of course had experiences of this 'spiritual art', look into Mahikari, it clearly presents a reality that differs from those Mahikari claims. I quoted only a few comments about miracles of Mahikari from the Japanese internet discussion sites in the post "Regarding the Sukyo Mahikari's phrase in its website, 'Mahikari-no-waza is not an art to cure diseases'" (Japanese~12/2007). I also quoted some in the "addition" in the post "Okada said, 'Any diseases will be cured.'" (Japanese~ 01/2008). I quote some more here from Japanese discussion sites.


Mahikari followers are very obsessed with miracles and take them so gratefully.
They say that in Mahikari there are as many stories of experiencing miracles as stars in the sky.
But, most of those stories are not actually the experiences of the people telling the stories.
They are just hear-say, from other members and other Mahikari centers.

- - - -Mahikari kankeisha shuugou (51), 459

I was involved in Sukyo Mahikari for 20 years, but I didn't see any true miracles in front of my eyes.
All I heard was just hear-say stories, such as a severed finger was put back together . . .
I never checked how much truth those stories had.

- - - - Mahikari-no-waza de kiseki wa okorunoka . . . ; 0

If diseases are cured and miracles occur by tekazashi, which the religious organizations in the line of johrei boast about,
why don't they have the situation of having no sick people?
I have heard quite often about the members who, having relied on tekazashi too much and not having been treated in time, died, like a man related to me.
Therefore, I'm sure no miracles occur.

- - - - Mahikari-no-waza de kiseki wa okorunoka . . . ; 204

Mahikari magazines often report miracles, one after another.
As a trial I asked the Mahikari members among my friends, "Have you experienced anything which you can call a 'miracle' during these several years?"
The answers from several of them were: escaped a possible danger; had sudden extra income; without a hitch, was able to get married, get pregnant, give birth,
find employment, change occupation, and so on. These stories can be used in Mahikari Magazines.
Well, look around. The world is full of miracles without omitama or even without joining Mahikari.

- - - - Kokoga hen! Mahikari no hon!; 18

A Mahikari member I know was forced to read out a story of his (or her) experience which had been rewritten by the chief of the centre, at its monthly ceremony.
He (or She) said, "After that, I cannot trust the experience stories in Mahikari magazines any more."
As for the experience stories in Mahikari magazines, there is no knowing which part is true and which part has been changed.
Mahikari followers who believe them 100 percent look ludicrous. Mahikari is indeed a lying organization.

- - - - Kokoga hen! Mahikari no hon!; 953

In the dojo I belonged to, the members spoke out about their experiences of miracles, which in reality were minor happenings which had been exaggerated and twisted into miracles.
The stories read out at the Main Shrine seem to have been exaggerated, and many of them were actually not so dramatic after all.
In local centers, the kanbu (Mahikari staff) urge the members to report their experience stories in public, so stories are likely to be made up.

- - - - Kokoga hen! Mahikari no hon!; 954

Giving it further consideration, we see that the stories claiming that miracles happened are almost all in the past.
Why do we rarely hear that they have performed miracles straight away in front of other people?
Saying that some followers were able to perform miracles in the past, they use those stories to persuade followers. Well, then,
they should perform miracles on the spot without reservation. But they cannot do that. That's the reality. It is truly strange, I must say.

From "Lucrative religious business" by Ikkyou Tanaka - - - - Kokoga hen! Mahikari no hon!; 255

It was when I was a Mahikari member that an instruction was given to us that it was all right to tell other people's miracle stories as if they were ours, in an attempt to bring in people. It meant
that it was all right to tell lies. I couldn't follow the instruction because there was nobody around me who had experienced miracles! (laugh)

- - - - Mahikari kankeisha shuugou (43); 265

Mahikari people quite often say, "Thanks to tekazashi, a big disaster became a small one." They exaggerate the types of events that happen to even non-members, and present them as being miracles.
Anything goes in this organization.
- - - - Sukyo Mahikari - - tettei touron shiyou; 576

Only the people who happened to have been cured of diseases advertise 'miracles' and recruit new members.
Those who have got involved in the cult sacrifice themselves for the sake of the organization, believing it will achieve their own salvation.

Is there any value at all in believing in such a cult?

- - - - Mahikari kankeisha shuugou (51) ; 395

Even if some of the miracle stories are true, there are lots of people for whom Mahikari didn't work, and lots of people who died.
- - - - Mahikari kankeisha shuugou (51) ; 249


I belonged to a dai-dojo for ten years.
Such a "miracle" as 'liver cirrhosis was cured' DID NOT HAPPEN.

There was a member who became cured of a serious disease, but that person also received an operation.
Furthermore, the case wasn't one in ten, but only one person in over 500 members belonging to that centre.
The people who had an early stage cancer, recovered after a promptly conducted operation, but the rest, all of them, passed away.

In the case of serious illness, few were saved. (Rather, almost none.)
There are definitely a large number of people who passed away. This is the reality of Mahikari.

Well, the diseases which can be cured through the placebo effect might be cured by Mahikari as well.

*To those suffering serious or incurable diseases

I earnestly recommend not to believe No.505's comment.
Mahikari soaks up your time and money, and is not worth taking a risk.
(You will end up with worsening.)

By the way, I'm talking about Mahikari.
I don't know anything about other tekazashi groups.


- - - - Sukyo Mahikari wo kire; 513


There are people who have been cured without doing anything in particular.
Mahikari loudly calls even such cases miracles and importunes its members for donations.
It is a wretched religion.

- - - - Mahikari kankeisha shuugoo (51); 444

The stories of experiencing miracles in Mahikari don't seem to have credibility. I myself didn't witness any happening which could be called a miracle, either. As for other members' stories of miracles, the factual aspects became a blur when I wanted to know more details of them. Certainly many of the stories were strongly based on the members' subjectiveness. I assumed that perhaps an event could be a miracle at least to the person who believed it was. Little did I dream of the possibility of exaggerated and made-up miracle stories for a long time in Mahikari, which was supposedly following the 'righteous way'.

It is true that I felt something strange from time to time and wondered, "What! Is that true?", "Is such a thing considered as a miracle?", "Can that be really regarded as the result from tekazashi?", and so on. I remember reading stories of experiences in a magazine of another new religion and thinking, "Like Mahikari, this sect has stories of miracles, too." That sect didn't have the act of raising the hand, though.

In the world where the information provided by the cult is regarded as absolute, what the cult says is taken as being 'true' and 'correct'. Pursuing and questioning regarding what actually happened are out of the question. The followers are trying hard to adjust their perceptions to what Okada and the subsequent cult say. It is a world where they push away other different views, twisting themselves into believing that those views are the results of manipulation by evil spirits, or activities by evil gods who see righteous gods as getting in their way, or that the people outside of Mahikari don't understand spiritual point of views . . . . and so on. When I look back from the outside of Mahikari, I find that even in the apparently heart-sobbing miracle stories there was plenty of blind belief by the followers and beliefs controlled by the cult and the fellow members.

It is not a fact in realty, after all, that millions of Mahikari members have experienced consecutive occurrences of amazing miracles, nor that there are fresh facts of miracles and salvation which the followers all over the world are sensationally performing everyday by a miraculous spiritual art, Mahikari-no-waza. They are merely decorative words used as advertising, and are quite deceptive.

Okada stated that any diseases will be cured by Mahikari-no-waza, and it liberates the physical body from diseases as an instant effect - - - . [Note 3] Such statements are not reality. Likewise, his statements such as 'when you raise your hand . . . . miracles occur without fail', 'all people in the world will be forced to see miracles' and 'in Mahikari everybody easily performs miracles everywhere' are not reality either.



[Note 1] See "Mahikari and Swami Rama < 3 >" (Japanese~ 07/2009, English~ Aug. 2009)
[Note 2] See "Regarding Sukyo Mahikari's phrase in its website, 'Mahikari-no-waza is not an art to cure diseases'" (Japanese~ 12/2007)
[Note 3] See "Okada said, 'Any diseases will be cured.'" (Japanese~ 01/2008),
"Mahikari and Swami Rama < 4 >" (Japanese~ 09/2009, English~ Oct. 2009) - the main article and 'Note 6'.


- - - - Phoenix3000