Aum Shinrikyo Essay

The famous group known as Aum Shinrikyo was founded by Shoko Asahara, and he combined selected parts from Buddhism, Christianity, teachings of Nostradamus, meditation and yoga to create the religion of Aum Shinrikyo. The group was established in 1984 but did not officially become a religious organization prior to 1989. Aum Shinrikyo stems from Japan and from 1989 the group grew tremendously before then 1995 Tokyo attack. The group began as a nonviolent group but progressively it turned it’s attention elsewhere and stated that the apocalypse was unavoidable, but that anyone who became a member of Aum would be saved. Aum Shinrikyo ultimately gained international reputation when it carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995. By 1995 after the attack on the subways the Japanese government terminated Aum Shinrikyo as a religious organization. In 2007 the group eventually split into two different groups that are now called Aleph and Hikari no Wa. Aum Shinrikyo is considered to be a terrorist organization in several countries, including Canada, Kazakhstan and the United States.1 2

The doctrines of Aum Shinrikyo have changed all throughout its existence, and little is known of the doctrines used in the later years. In the beginning Asahara taught an inner-directed form of Indian-style kundalini yoga
with the goal of achieving spiritual liberation. In order to attract new recruits the movement focused on the salvation of others rather than the individual spiritual liberation. The organization gained great wealth by creating electronics companies and restaurants. The movement focused on recruiting young and smart university students and graduates. These recruits often came from elite families, seeking a more meaningful existence. They often signed their estates to Aum, giving the yet more wealth and power. Asahara created a theory that the world was in imminent danger if not a large enough number of people devoted themselves to Aum Shinrikyo in order to avert disaster. After a while the movement stated that the apocalypse was inevitable, but that anyone who turned to Aum would be saved, and at this time the movement started turning away from any contacts from the outside world. Asahara predicted that the apocalypse would occur in 1996 or between 1999 and 2003. He further stated that the US would hasten the apocalypse by declaring war on Japan thus creating WW3.

Asahara pictured himself as the only fully enlightened master and he preached to his followers that the end of the world would come when the US military started world war 3 with Japan. According to Asahara, the only way to survive and reach salvation, was to follow him. Aum Shinrikyo kept their religious practices a secret to the outside, reducing the information to be found. However, what is know is that they practiced sufferings like electroshock therapy and hanging upside down during long periods of time. They also practiced teachings that involved different hallucinogens.

According to Jenny Lee and her study “The Evils of Aum Shinrikyo and Japanese Society”, Aum Shinrikyo was similar to the Japanese society.
She states that the collectivist thought and the structure of the hierarchy was the same. The followers of Aum Shinrikyo met the society as a group, they had their own society and they were the inhabitants of it, just like the people in a different society. People in a different society would follow the laws and regulations of that society, and the members of Aum Shinrikyo would follow the leadership of Asahara. Jenny Lee also states that people joined Aum Shinrikyo due to the lack of characteristics in the Japanese
society.3

Asahara had a special way of “leading” the group. He used the PSI method (Perfect Salvation Initiation). Which meant that he made all new recruits wear a wired helmet, and he meant that this would align their brainwaves to his own. According to Asahara this would bring them a better understanding of his teachings. Since Asahara saw himself as a form of Messiah, he wanted to be treated like one. He made all of his followers go to public places wearing homemade masks of his face as a proof of his deity.4

During 1995, Aum Shinrikyo was at its biggest ever. In Japan alone they claimed to have over 9000 members and looking worldwide they had as many as 40,000, where 30,000 of those were located in Russia. Today it has changed. There are no longer any real numbers of how many members there are worldwide. However the estimated number in Japan is today around 1,500 members and with 300 hundred living in Russia.5

Aum Shinrikyo has been acknowledged for being involved with several acts of violence which makes the group destructive and dangerous. The groups violence started early 1980 before the sarin attack in 1995. The Japanese people were given several warning signs about the group via the media. Journalist warned the authorities about Aum Shinrikyo about how dangerous they were, but of course the authorities did not take the journalists seriously. The group has been accused for killing and touring people. Once the group became a religious organization in 1989 the group was exposed of its method of practice by isolating its followers from civilization. The group was also accused of the disappearance of Tsutsumi Sakamoto who was a lawyer working alongside one of the parents whose child was part of Aum Shinrikyo. By 1994 Aum Shinrikyo did there first major attack with sarin gas in the town of Matsumoto. The group is famously known for what happened on March 20 1995. The members from Aum Shinrikyo released sarin gas into the Tokyo subway system which ultimately killed 12 people and left several others injured. This attack on the Japanese people has made the group a terrorist organization. Aum Shinrikyo even tried to create biological and chemical weapons. After the attack on the Tokyo subway system the group wanted to use hydrogen cyanide to attack the Tokyo subway system and they did on May 5 1995 but the chemicals unsuccessfully did not mix properly in the device. Fortunately only four people were injured in this attack. Even after the atrocious crimes committed by Aum Shinrikyo the group continues to be active and can be a grievous challenge in the near future.6

Many have questioned if members of Aum have brainwashed into following Shoko Asahara-
The organization has been said to have used brainwashing techniques when it came to the recruitment of new members. They used mind-altering drugs throughout their member initiations, and used other techniques such as sleep deprivation and isolation therapy. These techniques have been confirmed by former members of Aum. They were very successful when it came to the recruitment of people in the military, the government and large biological and technological institutions. Looking at it now, several years after the Tokyo subway attack, it is quite evident why they focused on the recruitment of university students, scientists and military. What strikes the world as a bit odd is the fact that these are people who generally are seen as quite intelligent, so why would they join a sect such as the Aum? It is known that the Aum blackmailed a lot of people and conducted kidnappings. Perhaps, Aum kidnapped members of these peoples families and made them join that way. This makes us believe that the members are, or at least were, brainwashed.7