Light Works: The Ultimate Mind-Control Trap
Today Kara said something to me that made me stop and think. She said: The reason I remained in Mahikari despite my doubts was because light seemed to work. I know there have been thorough investigations on other blogs, discussing what okiyome is and why it seems to work. For me okiyome was the aspect that kept me bound and believing in Mahikari all 17 years of my life. I naturally assumed that because okiyome worked, Kotama Okada had to be telling the truth. Basically I had come to the conclusion that because one part of his doctrine seemed to be true the rest must also be true without a second thought. I didn’t question whether or not everything else was legitimate, okiyome worked and that was good enough for me…at least at the time. Now I have been doing a lot of thinking about why or if okiyome works and why it seems to be so easy for people to just accept that light works and rearrange their lives to fit the Mahikari mold.
The first thing that came to mind was whether or not I was even a good judge of whether or not okiyome worked. I was born into Mahikari, my mother and father offered me okiyome from the time I was born. I was going to the dojo ever since I was a few months old. I knew all the people at the dojo, I was friends with their children…the point I am trying to make is that I was never without Mahikari and okiyome; so therefore how would I even know what life without okiyome was like? I had always assumed that light healed and made me feel better, but that was because I had been told by my parents my whole life that okiyome has those sorts of effects. Until recently I had never gone without okiyome. What I have found now that I have left Mahikari is that I feel the same way I did when I was a member receiving light. To me, okiyome is kind of like meditation. I have been practicing meditation as a way of calming myself and leveling out. In order to explain to those of you who have never meditated what it like I will first need to explain to you what okiyome is like.
Okiyome is very relaxing. When the Amatasu Prayer begins you close your eyes and focus on relaxing your body and absorbing the light. While receiving #8 (okiyome to the forehead) your eyes are closed and you do not speak. In Mahikari we are taught that this point is where the soul resides behind the third eye, therefore it is absolutely imperative to remain quiet in order to avoid damaging the soul. The person offering okiyome will alternate between their left and right hand periodically as their arms will get tired from holding them up. This part of okiyome can be uncomfortable both for the receiver and the giver as they are both expected to remain in Japanese Seiza sit. Your legs quickly become numb and for the rest of the time you are waiting for this portion of the session to be over. You receive this point for 10 minutes and then you move onto points in the neck, there is no mandatory sitting position for this so you get to relax. Then the lungs, kidneys, legs etc, all while lying down on a mat and pillow. While you receive light from the other points, the person offering okiyome will use their fingers to search for warm or hard spots, they are taught this is where the toxins have built up, and where the light energy must be focused. Kumite will message these points periodically to work away the toxins and also to feel if the spot has cooled off or softened.
The sensation of this is much like receiving a massage, it feel good and relaxes you, especially after you have been sitting in Seiza for the first ten minutes of the session; it feels good to lay down and relax. Many people fall asleep and take a short nap, as a full session can take about an hour. When the session is complete you feel calm and relaxed, which is usually what gives people the impression that okiyome has worked. Mahikari teaches that if you feel better than before the session that the toxins have melted. If you feel sick or have a headache then the toxins are melting away, but you still have some build-up. Mahikari teaches that pain is positive because it means that you are suffering and therefore also clearing away sins and impurities. On the flip side, a relaxed body after okiyome is also positive. If you feel nothing then the toxins and impurities are so built-up that you need to receive light as much as possible, which is always good for Mahikari business.
For a long time I assumed that okiyome worked because I felt good after I received. However, if I took an hour long nap the way I did during a light session, I felt just as rejuvenated. The same goes for meditation.
During meditation you sit somewhere comfortable with your legs out in front of you, your hands on your thighs, palms facing the ceiling. It helps to play some music that relaxes you. Then you focus on your toes, focus on them relaxing, then you move onto your feet, and focus on them relaxing, then you your ankles, and so on and so on, until you have relaxed your entire body. Once this is done you simply sit there and pray if you feel it is necessary, but focus on something positive or a change you want to come into your life. You do this for about an hour. Once this is complete you feel relaxed and rejuvenated exactly how you feel after okiyome.
The point I am trying to make is that if the only indication we have of whether okiyome is working is whether or not we feel better afterwards, then should we assume that everything that gives us that relaxed after effect is spiritually cleansing? Or should we assume that maybe okiyome doesn’t do what Mahikari says it does regardless of how we feel? As Anne said, “It is stupid to assume A caused B just because B followed A.” Mahikari works in a double-standard kind of way.
For example, I once knew a girl who started going to dojo because she had cancer. The girl was about 13 or so and had been going through chemotherapy. Eventually she was cancer free and the dojo used her story as experience propaganda, despite the fact that she had been going through chemo the entire time. Kumite assumed that because the cancer went away (A), after the girl started receiving light (B) that the cancer (A) must have gone away because of okiyome (B). However those variables could also be rearranged like this…the cancer (A) went away, after the girl went through chemotherapy (B), because the cancer (A) went into remission while she was on chemo (B). Notice how Mahikari likes to use these experiences without presenting all of the information. During the experience story at the ceremony, the fact that the girl was on chemo was downplayed or not even mentioned. So Kumite, before you buy into those stories, make sure that the person was not on any other form of medication or therapy besides light therapy.
On the other hand, when light does not work, Mahikari tends to avoid talking about the subject. Here is another example, a man I knew at the dojo, whose mother passed away…her death was hardly mentioned. However, weeks before she died the Kanbu were talking about how much better she was doing with the aid of okiyome and how light was so miraculous that it could bring her back from even this terrible condition. When she was getting better it was the work of the light, when she died nothing was said. Prayers for her mourning family were at the very end of the prayer requests that ceremony.
Same with my mother…whenever something negative happened to me; my mother naturally assumed it was because I was not doing enough divine service. Negative things (A) happened because I did not offer enough divine service (B). It wasn’t that shit just happens… for Mahikari there is always a spiritual reason; lack of effort, money, or service, etc. After a while I started adapting that mindset…that all my misfortune was because I wasn’t putting enough time into Mahikari. For at least a month after I left Mahikari everything negative that occurred was because I had left Mahikari, at least in my mind. Their mind control worked. They had convinced me that the world would come crashing down on my head for leaving. They also had me thinking that everything negative that happened to Kara was because she was not a member and hated Mahikari with such a passion. It was like a Mahikari curse, a plague on anyone who left the organization…it is the very thing that has so many kumite trapped in Mahikari now. This almost made me go back…almost. I still struggle with that…I find myself thinking that way whenever life doesn’t go right.
The thing I finally realized is that even when I was a kumite life didn’t go my way 24/7…I don’t know why I was assuming that it would after I left Mahikari. Life isn’t perfect, shit happens. I know now that I can’t blame everything on the Mahikari curse. The fear of the curse was holding me back, preventing me from living…I have to admit, Mahikari is deranged and wrong, but in a very smart way. They truly have thought of all the angles to make sure that their members remain within the organization and continue to pay. Fear is the ultimate way to control a person. Mahikari makes you fear God, and it is impossible to love someone you fear. I will save that for a new post, but for now it’s food for thought.
Today Kara said something to me that made me stop and think. She said: The reason I remained in Mahikari despite my doubts was because light seemed to work. I know there have been thorough investigations on other blogs, discussing what okiyome is and why it seems to work. For me okiyome was the aspect that kept me bound and believing in Mahikari all 17 years of my life. I naturally assumed that because okiyome worked, Kotama Okada had to be telling the truth. Basically I had come to the conclusion that because one part of his doctrine seemed to be true the rest must also be true without a second thought. I didn’t question whether or not everything else was legitimate, okiyome worked and that was good enough for me…at least at the time. Now I have been doing a lot of thinking about why or if okiyome works and why it seems to be so easy for people to just accept that light works and rearrange their lives to fit the Mahikari mold.
The first thing that came to mind was whether or not I was even a good judge of whether or not okiyome worked. I was born into Mahikari, my mother and father offered me okiyome from the time I was born. I was going to the dojo ever since I was a few months old. I knew all the people at the dojo, I was friends with their children…the point I am trying to make is that I was never without Mahikari and okiyome; so therefore how would I even know what life without okiyome was like? I had always assumed that light healed and made me feel better, but that was because I had been told by my parents my whole life that okiyome has those sorts of effects. Until recently I had never gone without okiyome. What I have found now that I have left Mahikari is that I feel the same way I did when I was a member receiving light. To me, okiyome is kind of like meditation. I have been practicing meditation as a way of calming myself and leveling out. In order to explain to those of you who have never meditated what it like I will first need to explain to you what okiyome is like.
Okiyome is very relaxing. When the Amatasu Prayer begins you close your eyes and focus on relaxing your body and absorbing the light. While receiving #8 (okiyome to the forehead) your eyes are closed and you do not speak. In Mahikari we are taught that this point is where the soul resides behind the third eye, therefore it is absolutely imperative to remain quiet in order to avoid damaging the soul. The person offering okiyome will alternate between their left and right hand periodically as their arms will get tired from holding them up. This part of okiyome can be uncomfortable both for the receiver and the giver as they are both expected to remain in Japanese Seiza sit. Your legs quickly become numb and for the rest of the time you are waiting for this portion of the session to be over. You receive this point for 10 minutes and then you move onto points in the neck, there is no mandatory sitting position for this so you get to relax. Then the lungs, kidneys, legs etc, all while lying down on a mat and pillow. While you receive light from the other points, the person offering okiyome will use their fingers to search for warm or hard spots, they are taught this is where the toxins have built up, and where the light energy must be focused. Kumite will message these points periodically to work away the toxins and also to feel if the spot has cooled off or softened.
The sensation of this is much like receiving a massage, it feel good and relaxes you, especially after you have been sitting in Seiza for the first ten minutes of the session; it feels good to lay down and relax. Many people fall asleep and take a short nap, as a full session can take about an hour. When the session is complete you feel calm and relaxed, which is usually what gives people the impression that okiyome has worked. Mahikari teaches that if you feel better than before the session that the toxins have melted. If you feel sick or have a headache then the toxins are melting away, but you still have some build-up. Mahikari teaches that pain is positive because it means that you are suffering and therefore also clearing away sins and impurities. On the flip side, a relaxed body after okiyome is also positive. If you feel nothing then the toxins and impurities are so built-up that you need to receive light as much as possible, which is always good for Mahikari business.
For a long time I assumed that okiyome worked because I felt good after I received. However, if I took an hour long nap the way I did during a light session, I felt just as rejuvenated. The same goes for meditation.
During meditation you sit somewhere comfortable with your legs out in front of you, your hands on your thighs, palms facing the ceiling. It helps to play some music that relaxes you. Then you focus on your toes, focus on them relaxing, then you move onto your feet, and focus on them relaxing, then you your ankles, and so on and so on, until you have relaxed your entire body. Once this is done you simply sit there and pray if you feel it is necessary, but focus on something positive or a change you want to come into your life. You do this for about an hour. Once this is complete you feel relaxed and rejuvenated exactly how you feel after okiyome.
The point I am trying to make is that if the only indication we have of whether okiyome is working is whether or not we feel better afterwards, then should we assume that everything that gives us that relaxed after effect is spiritually cleansing? Or should we assume that maybe okiyome doesn’t do what Mahikari says it does regardless of how we feel? As Anne said, “It is stupid to assume A caused B just because B followed A.” Mahikari works in a double-standard kind of way.
For example, I once knew a girl who started going to dojo because she had cancer. The girl was about 13 or so and had been going through chemotherapy. Eventually she was cancer free and the dojo used her story as experience propaganda, despite the fact that she had been going through chemo the entire time. Kumite assumed that because the cancer went away (A), after the girl started receiving light (B) that the cancer (A) must have gone away because of okiyome (B). However those variables could also be rearranged like this…the cancer (A) went away, after the girl went through chemotherapy (B), because the cancer (A) went into remission while she was on chemo (B). Notice how Mahikari likes to use these experiences without presenting all of the information. During the experience story at the ceremony, the fact that the girl was on chemo was downplayed or not even mentioned. So Kumite, before you buy into those stories, make sure that the person was not on any other form of medication or therapy besides light therapy.
On the other hand, when light does not work, Mahikari tends to avoid talking about the subject. Here is another example, a man I knew at the dojo, whose mother passed away…her death was hardly mentioned. However, weeks before she died the Kanbu were talking about how much better she was doing with the aid of okiyome and how light was so miraculous that it could bring her back from even this terrible condition. When she was getting better it was the work of the light, when she died nothing was said. Prayers for her mourning family were at the very end of the prayer requests that ceremony.
Same with my mother…whenever something negative happened to me; my mother naturally assumed it was because I was not doing enough divine service. Negative things (A) happened because I did not offer enough divine service (B). It wasn’t that shit just happens… for Mahikari there is always a spiritual reason; lack of effort, money, or service, etc. After a while I started adapting that mindset…that all my misfortune was because I wasn’t putting enough time into Mahikari. For at least a month after I left Mahikari everything negative that occurred was because I had left Mahikari, at least in my mind. Their mind control worked. They had convinced me that the world would come crashing down on my head for leaving. They also had me thinking that everything negative that happened to Kara was because she was not a member and hated Mahikari with such a passion. It was like a Mahikari curse, a plague on anyone who left the organization…it is the very thing that has so many kumite trapped in Mahikari now. This almost made me go back…almost. I still struggle with that…I find myself thinking that way whenever life doesn’t go right.
The thing I finally realized is that even when I was a kumite life didn’t go my way 24/7…I don’t know why I was assuming that it would after I left Mahikari. Life isn’t perfect, shit happens. I know now that I can’t blame everything on the Mahikari curse. The fear of the curse was holding me back, preventing me from living…I have to admit, Mahikari is deranged and wrong, but in a very smart way. They truly have thought of all the angles to make sure that their members remain within the organization and continue to pay. Fear is the ultimate way to control a person. Mahikari makes you fear God, and it is impossible to love someone you fear. I will save that for a new post, but for now it’s food for thought.
posted by Asher Kennedy at 1:42 PM
5 Comments:
Hi Ash,
That's a really informative post. Your description of what happens when one receives okiyome is useful information for people who have never been Mahikari members.
Kanbu tend to say that people need to have long-term experience of okiyome to come to appreciate its benefits. Well! You received okiyome all your life, so you obviously know what you are talking about when you report that you feel just as good after a relaxation session as you used to after an okiyome session.
It's easy for Mahikari to claim that only okiyome can purify us spiritually...nobody can see or feel spiritual purification (if there is such a thing). I'd like to see them try and prove it though!
Well...in their minds Kanbu have already proven okiyome works...not just because a lot of members feel better afterwards but also because of the teachings Keishu sent out regarding giving light to one half of a lemon and not to the other half and see which remains fresher longer.
But once again members are assuming that because one side of the lemon remained fresh (A) after receiving okiyome (B)that the fresh lemon (A) must have stayed fresh because of okiyome (B).
Kumite are so trusting they don't take into account the fact that these expiriments are done by amateurs without controlled conditions. More dust might have fallen on one side of the lemon, a member of Kanbu might have switched the lemons depending on which remained fresher, there are all sorts of unforseen variables that take place when the conditions are not controlled perfectly.
I'd hate to say it, but many Kumite think they are being faithful, but in reality they are being gullible. I don't blame them, I trusted everything I saw at the dojo too, but after a while you have to question...
Gulible is appropriate. Wonderful and passionate, but very gulible.
I think people just want so badly to find the truth. If they find something that seems even slightly accurate they pour themselves into it and before you know it they're buying into everything without thinking.
For most people okiyome working is key. You're right Ash, they assume that everything else is true if one thing is.
Great post. Someday I will regale you all with the negative side of receiving okiyome, and let the world know what THEY don't tell you when you join. I would have never joined if I knew of the spirit cojuring and witchcraft that it really is...
By the way I recommend everyone read Winston Davis' book "Dojo" because it really sheds insight on the whole okyiome experience. I wish I would have read it before I joined. It contains the true history of SM and Okada, as well as an on the mark description of so many of the SM experiences that it is almost comical. You can find it used on-line.
just remember...Lucifer was a light bearer....
You are SO right Ash - I stayed in for so long because I thought the okiyome worked. I really wasn't happy as a kumite after the first 2 years, but I kept punishing myself and making myself try harder to be a good little kumite, because I kept thinking the okiyome worked.
They certainly have it both ways - if you feel worse and get cleansing, the okiyome worked. If you feel relaxed and better, the okiyome worked. If you don't get any better or feel any change, the problem is in your sonen and karma, but the okiyome still worked. Didn't it?
I once did an experiment with okiyome, back when I first joined Mahikari. I used yeast in solution, and gave okiyome to a series of flasks for different amounts of time. This enabled me to study millions of organisms at once, as there were millions of yeast cells growing in each of the samples.
Some flasks received okiyome every day, others only received for a short time, and others received none, as a control. After a week or so, I was able to get to use equipment in a biology lab to analyse the samples. ALL of them had grown at the same rate - there was no significant difference.
Because I had just joined, and didn't want to see this sort of result, I threw them out and ignored the results. DUMB DUMB DUMB. I sure am kicking myself now!!
Mahikari banned kumite from doing experiments with okiyome some years before I left... we weren't supposed to be 'testing God'. Hmmmm.
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