"Try it and See"/"Don't Think"

Hey all! I covered this briefly in the last post I did concerning a kumite’s review of Winston Davis’ book Dojo: Magic and Exorcism in Modern Japan. Mahikari is often quoted as saying “don’t think, just give okiyome and you will eventually understand” as well as “try it and see”. This is typically used when speaking to potential members who might be reluctant about receiving okiyome or joining Mahikari.

In the novel Davis is quoted as saying that these catch phrases are “manipulative”. The word manipulative means to tamper with or falsify for personal gain. I don’t agree with Davis on this issue, but essentially everything else is an accurate depiction of what it is like to be in a cult like Mahikari. I think the proper word to use here would be “deception” because deception can take place without the perpetrator being aware of it because they, like the victim, are being conditioned to think and say certain things.

From the time you join Mahikari you hear these 2 phrases and you are told to say them to any new members or potential members who might be having doubts or difficulty comprehending the teachings. For Kumite these words are a mechanical response. I can’t even remember all of the times I would ask questions and I would be told,

“Just give light and continue doing meritorious works and eventually the truth will present itself to you.” Or “Just give okiyome and you will eventually understand.”

I always hated that answer…I felt like a child being told by a parent, “Because I said so.” Whenever your mom or dad says that there is a finality that tells you to drop it and just accept their answer. Being the type to question…that was difficult, if not impossible for me. However, eventually I found myself saying this to younger Tai members even though I still didn’t understand. I wonder if any of the members who say that ever really “understand” or if they just say it because they themselves really don’t know how to answer the difficult questions.

The people who have been obediently going to dojo, but have not yet made the leap to join are often told that it is just as important to offer okiyome as it is to receive okiyome and if they want to fully experience the miracles, they must offer okiyome as well. This pretty much forces the individual to join in order to experience the “miracles” that all the other kumite are supposedly experiencing (though I don’t really think anyone in the dojo has ever learned the truth from offering okiyome). Eventually, these potential members get tired of feeling left out of the loop. They get curious and want to know what kumite are supposedly experiencing.
Like I said in my previous post, I really believe that people get so tired of getting told “don’t think, just giving okiyome” when they do not comprehend, that they eventually stop asking and stop thinking because a better answer is never supplied. I never became any more aware of miracles or the truth when I offered okiyome. Most of my miracle stemulai came from the expirience stories which spoke of people healed by the light, but I myself never expirienced anything miraculous.

“Try it and see” can get you in a lot of trouble…because in Mahikari “try it and see”leads to “join the organization if you want to truly expirience the truth” and then if you leave you are ridiculed or deemed “not strong enough/spiritually disturbed/throwing God’s gift in His face”…Kumite will never associate with you again because they are warned that you will pull them down before they will pull you back up. If a Kumite decides to leave Mahikari, as many do because they get tired of the unfulfilling task of giving light and doing constant Gohoshi, they are immediately cut off from the group. It is impossible to maintain friendships with Kumite once you have decided to leave the organization or told them you are not interested. If any of them do remain in contact with you, it is merely to try and coax you back into the organization. As you will find, most conversations between you (the former member) and your friend (current kumite) will consist mainly of ‘how much everyone misses you at the dojo and wishes you would come back’.

Mean while at the dojo you will be labeled either spiritually disturbed or no one will speak of you in order to avoid exposing any flaws within the organization. All members will be told that you are disturbed and therefore they could be influenced by your negative attached spirit if they remain in contact with you…this usually scares most Kumite into submission and prevents them from looking up information that might explain why you departed.

In the end “try it and see” has a heavy price. If you are friends with a Kumite and truly value their friendship, stick with receiving light if you must go to dojo, but NEVER join because when you get out your friendships are mangled and if you’re really unlucky, like myself, your family is torn to pieces. It’s better to observe from the outside if you are interested in Mahikari, and even then I would be cautious.