Their plan of salvation included spiritual healing to cure physical illnesses, positive thinking to improve intelligence, and living by ascetic practices. Virtual networks have proven to be one of the most useful tools in the recruitment of terrorists, as it allows them to form relationships with like-minded individuals, as well as serves to validate and support the beliefs of an individual (Dornbierer, 2011). The Om is to Hindus As the cross is to Christians. Aum Shinrikyo conducted a deadly nerve gas attack on a Tokyo subway in 1995. It was founded by Shoko Asahara, who professed himself to be both the first “enlightened one” and Christ. The attack left thirteen people dead and thousands injured from the effects of the nerve gas. Unfortunately, police were unable to determine that the cult was behind the attack. Much of the impetus for this new religion rested in issues in the Jewish religion, including a long-standing belief in the coming of a Messiah and rigidities that had developed in the Jewish priesthood. have caused many deaths due to their beliefs. It's more what you do, than what you believe. Two hundred cult members were convicted on charges related to the subway attacks, and thirteen of them – including Asahara – were sentenced to death. Under the control of a partially blind guru, Shoko Asahara, cult members willingly cut all ties with their families and friends, leaving a normal life for one of little sleep, intense spiritual training, and meager meals. 5 brainwash them into believing and doing whatever they desire in order to feel power. Aum Shinrikyo: The Japanese Doomsday Cult Several of the trains continued on for multiple stops before anyone realized what was happening. However, in 1989, Aum Shinrikyo won their appeal and was granted legal recognition as a religious order. Back in Tokyo, he launched Aum Shinrikyo, which took parts of Buddhism and mixed it with Millenarianism and Christianity. AUM SHINRI KYO (SUPREME TRUTH) Sponsored link. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/aum-shinrikyo-japanese-doomsday-cult-4171578. Hinduism is practiced by more than 80% of India’s population. Within a few years, he was charged with practicing pharmacy without a license. Shinrikyo Aum is a syncretic belief system that draws upon Asahara's idiosyncratic interpretations of elements of early Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Hinduism, taking Shiva as the main image of worship and incorporating millennialist ideas from Christianity, Yoga, and the writings of Nostradamus. References Pg. The Split Pg. They can Asahara was born into a large and impoverished family in the Kumamoto Prefecture. This is a belief of guru-based yoga systems, where the guru has divine or semi-divine status. The group remains under regular surveillance by authorities. He had limited vision in one eye, but was considered legally blind, and his parents enrolled him in a school for the blind. Victims of the subway sarin gas attack in a hospital waiting room. Thus, this means that their narratives are forever intertwined. The fundamental teachings of Hinduism, which form the foundation of all its different sects, are contained in the concluding portion of the Vedas, and are therefore known as the Vedanta (the "end or concluding portion of the Vedas"). It appears to have been a syncretistic religion, founded in 1987, and combining elements of Buddhism with Christianity. An earlier iteration of the group was called Aum Shinsen no Kai, or Aum Mountain Hermit’s Society, based on a prophecy that survivors of the coming apocalypse would be benevolent shinsen , or mountain hermits. In Aum, a believer can "remove bad karma" by enduring various sufferings. Aum Armageddon: Shiva Meets Sarin The Staff was also told by authorities that the cult was fixated with the Hindu god... 3. Whether or not Christianity was created by God, as Christians believe, the early stages of the religion focused on cleansing the Jewish religion of stiff rituals, accelerating the recruitment process. Founder Shoko Asahara received the death … In 2016, the Russian government declared them to be a terrorist organization, and banned them from activities in the country. Following Asahara's arrest and trial, the group reinvented itself under the name Aleph, and currently has about two thousand members. Asahara was tipped off about the police investigation and decided it was time for a distraction. Firstly, it is important to know Aum Shinrikyo means “supreme truth.” The cult began in the early 1980’s as a set of spiritual beliefs mixing both Hindu and Buddhist teachings. their beliefs are seen as extreme and/or dangerous. Recruitment Pg. On March 20, 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo working under Asahara's orders released a chemical nerve agent into the Tokyo subway system. Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese doomsday cult led by Shogo Asahara. Aum Shinrikyo. In the early 1990s, Asahara published a book in which he declared himself to be Christ. Wigington, Patti. Syncretism Pg. Aum Shinrikyo (now known as Aleph) is an apocalyptic Japanese religious cult. Al Qaeda: Origins It is the world’s third most popular religion with around 750 million followers. This paper details the spiritual beliefs of the … At its peak, Asahara had tens of thousands of followers worldwide. https://www.learnreligions.com/aum-shinrikyo-japanese-doomsday-cult-4171578 (accessed April 21, 2021). Members use this idea to justify the abuse of other members (Shimazono: 386). [6] Aum appears to refer to the “ohm” sound yoga practitioners make; Asahara (then Matsumoto) called his yoga school Aum, Inc. Shinrikyo means teaching of truth. A lawyer named Tsutsumi Sakamoto, who had been representing families of cult members, disappeared in 1989 along with his wife and toddler son. Millenarianism is essentially a belief system that foretells a coming upending of world order and implies that current political and social systems are irrevocably corrupt. It operated under the front of being a yoga-style organization, and its teachings were a conglomeration of Buddhist, Hindu, and apocalyptic beliefs. They bought a used airplane from the Russian government for $1 million and used it to train. In … Table of Contents Abstract 4 people, POLICY PAPER After the subway attack, police raided several of the group's compounds. Learn Religions, Aug. 27, 2020, learnreligions.com/aum-shinrikyo-japanese-doomsday-cult-4171578. Instead, it was shaped into one over time as the religion slowly began on the path to introversion and eventual shunning of the greater society as whole, generating a following that was skeptical of the dominant society, and held the power, At first, the religion of Shoko Asahara, Aum Shinrikyo, now the cult Aleph was not the dangerous and threatening organization its image is associated to be now. She is the author of Daily Spellbook for the Good Witch, Wicca Practical Magic and The Daily Spell Journal. "Aum Shinrikyo: Doomsday Cult That Attacked the Tokyo Subway System." Aum Shinrikyo was founded in the early 1980s by Asahara, a partially blind man from an impoverished background who had suffered discrimination because of his disability, and who had sought solace in religion. Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma which means eternal religion. Aum Shinrikyo was a New Religious Movement that was cast into the public spotlight after members of the group took part in a religious terror attack in Tokyo in 1995; however, as violent this act may have been, Aum Shinrikyo did not begin as a violent religion. Founder Shoko Asahara received the death penalty and was executed in 2018. Aum Shinrikyo also incorporates a fervent belief in the coming of Armageddon, a term from Christian theology describing an ultimate battle between good and evil in which the known world is destroyed and replaced by a spiritually pure world. Merriam Webster, a cult is a religious group that is not part of an accepted religion because Hodgepodge though it may be, this universe of belief has deep roots in the Buddhist, Shinto, and folk religious tradi-tions of Japan, and forms one of their contemporary expressions. Patti Wigington is a pagan author, educator, and licensed clergy. Returning now to Aum Shinrikyo, rather than exploring the specific beliefs of the organization in depth, I’m going to focus on the experiences of its adherents, as described in their interviews with the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami and detailed in his book Underground (2001). Aum Shinrikyo recruited mainly young elite graduates that had to go through an initiation ritual. Asahara claimed that only those who joined him in his new group, Aum Shinrikyo, would survive these end times. The Spiritual Beliefs Of The Aum The Religion Of Shoko Asahara. Thirteen people were killed, and thousands were injured. The attackers brought liquid sarin, carried in plastic bags and wrapped in newspaper, onto five separate subway trains during peak rush hour. We have been in contact with them and we don’t even realize it. Cults have carried out many attacks and However, the Aum Shinrikyo faith, as well as Asahara, had been obsessed with some of the philosophies of the Bible, the Book of Revelation in particular, and had an unfortunate turnaround, which resulted in the, everywhere. Many Saudis, Background Information Hinduism began around 4000 years ago with an ancient people known as the Aryans or “noble people” in India. Two decades later, many of the survivors say they still have vision problems as a result of the sarin exposure. Aum's teachings are a combination of Buddhist scriptures, Hindu yogic sutras, and Taoist writings. Cult leaders are the controllers that have the reins to their followers’ minds. In 1989, Japan awarded Aum Shinrikyo official religious organization status and Asahara began to gain global popularity. 6 Once the trains arrived at pre-determined stations, they punctured the bags of sarin with the umbrella tip, then departed from the subway, leaving the sarin to leak out into the train cars. the Hindu god responsible for both destruction and rebirth. The police arrested hundreds of members of the group and apprehended Asaraha himself two months later. "Aum Shinrikyo: Doomsday Cult That Attacked the Tokyo Subway System." Abstract Pg. He also wrote a detailed manifesto outlining his doomsday prophecy, which included a third world war started by the United States. Aum Shinrikyo planned on using the Ak-47 as a model for creating their own guns. In March 1995, police were about to close in on Asahara and his followers for their role in the murder of Kiyoshi Kariya, the brother of a cult member who had escaped. In October 1995, the Japanese government officially stripped Aum Shinrikyo of its status as a religious group, but the group continues to operate as a non-incorporated religion. Thirteen people were killed, and thousands were injured. Organizational Goals and the Means of Achieving Them Pg. This belief emerges slightly altered in Aum Shinrikyo belief system. The most important symbol in Hinduism, it occurs in every prayer and invocation to most deities begins with it. Aum, as it was often referred to, was officially recognized in Japan as a religious organization in 1989. This, Christianity It also raised numerous questions about why highly educated young people (as Aum’s senior figures were) could be persuaded by seemingly extreme religious beliefs and so convinced of the evil nature of the world that they were prepared to cause mass destruction, all the while seeing their deeds as spiritually meaningful acts and part of their sacred mission to transform the world. Summer 2015 – Dr. Paul Gill Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times wrote: A single drop of sarin is enough to kill an adult. In 1987, Matsumoto changed his name to Shoko Asahara. Besides, each of the group’s members had to form integrity with the guru, which was achieved by means of drug usage and mantras. This. Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教) is an active Japanese new-age religious cult-like movement founded in 1987. Aum Shinrikyo’s Rise, Fall and Revival Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses Volume 10, Issue 8 | August 2018 1 In March 1995, the Tokyo subway attack by Aum Shinrikyo signaled the emergence of a new global trend in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism. A 30-year-old engineer created the sarin manufacturing plant. Two hundred Aum Shinrikyo members were convicted following the attacks. The early years: 1984-1989 Pg. Shoko Asahara was sentenced to death by hanging in 2004 and was executed in 2018. Their name was a combination of Aum which is a sacred Hindu syllable, and Shinri Kyo which means "supreme truth". Asahara founded Aum Shinrikyo in 1984 and quickly attracted thousands of disciples, combining forecasts of a coming apocalypse -- which would come after … Aum Shinrikyo gained official status as a religious organisation in Japan in 1989 and picked up a sizeable global following. Aum Shinrikyo Key Takeaways . 12 At first, the religion of Shoko Asahara, Aum Shinrikyo, now the cult Aleph was not the... Cults And Its Effect On Society. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined, make the sound Aum or Om. Aum Shinrikyo The Japanese religious sect Aum Shinrikyo ("religion of supreme truth") represents the clearest contemporary case of an apocalyptic movement that mobilized for a violent encounter with the host society. 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