Formation 1986 Type Religious movement Master Ryuho Okawa | Founders Ryuho Okawa Membership over 11 million (2009) | |
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Headquarters 1-2-38 Higashi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0022, Japan | ||
Happy Science (幸福の科学, Kōfuku-no-Kagaku), formerly known as The Institute for Research in Human Happiness, is a controversial new religious and spiritual movement, founded in Japan on 6 October 1986 by Ryuho Okawa, that is widely criticized as a cult.
Contents
History
In the 1980s, Ryuho Okawa read a series of books by Shinji Takahashi, founder of the new religious group God Light Association (GLA). In 1986, he resigned from a position at a prestigious trading corporation to found his own religion. Happy Science became an official religious organization and approved by the Japanese government in Japan 7 March 1991. In the USA, Happy Science has been a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization since 1994.
In February 2008, the official English name for the group was changed from the Romanized Japanese Kofuku-no-Kagaku (literal translation "science of happiness") to the English rendering "Happy Science". Their former English name was "IRH - The Institute for Research in Human Happiness" which is still the name for their publishing company "IRH Press".
Teachings
Okawa claims to channel the spirits of Muhammad, Christ, Buddha and Confucius (among many other beings) and claims to be the incarnation of the supreme spiritual being called El Cantare (エル・カンターレ). Happy Science claims that El Cantare is the true hidden name of the Heavenly Father in the Old Testament, Elohim, known in the Middle East as the God of creation (El) and in other ancient cultures of the world as the Cosmic Tree of Life and the World Tree. Okawa also claims to have direct communication with the "Guardian Spirits" of political figures, with whom he conducts interviews published in the organization's newsletter The Liberty and in book form. He also claimed to have prophesied Brexit in 1990.
The basic teachings of Happy Science are "Exploration of the Right Mind" and the "The Fourfold Path" and El Cantare belief. According to Okawa, in order to obtain happiness one must practice the Principles of Happiness known as "The Fourfold Path", Love that gives, Wisdom, Self-Reflection and Progress. The only requirement to join Happy Science is that applicants must have "the aspiration and discipline to seek the truth and actively contribute to the realization of love, peace and happiness on earth".
At the same time, the organization's political wing, the Happiness Realization Party, promotes political views that include support for Japanese military expansion, support for the use of nuclear power, and denial of historical events such as the Nanjing Massacre in China—see the Japanese-language version of the organization's online news bulletin, The Liberty. Some other views include infrastructure spending, natural disaster prevention, urban development, and dam construction. They also advocate fiscal conservatism, strengthening the US-Japan alliance, and a virtue-based leadership. An April 2013 article in the English-language version of the journal transmits a message from the spirit of the then recently deceased "angel of light", former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher urging Japan to attack China, Taiwan and North Korea.
Object of worship
Happy Science worships a deity named "El Cantare" who they believe was born on Earth as Hermes and then Shakyamuni Buddha, and is said to be the core consciousness of Okawa himself. However, Happy Science rejects monotheism, recognizing a hierarchy in the heavenly spirit world and believing in the existence of many gods, Tathagatas, Bodhisattvas, and other high spirits.
Controversy
Happy Science is one of many Japanese new religions, or shinshūkyō, which are looked upon as "controversial" by the mainstream press and public. According to The Japan Times, "for many, the Happies smell suspiciously like a cult". Not only the domestic Japanese press, but also international media in the United States, Uganda, Indonesia, and Australia have applied the term "cult" to Happy Science.
Happy Science has released promotional videos that claim North Korea and the People's Republic of China are plotting to invade and colonize Japan after first subduing it through nuclear warfare.
In June 2012, Happy Science was blamed for a reservation mix-up at the Ugandan national stadium by the Ugandan athletes preparing for the 2012 Olympics. Some athletes blamed Happy Science for their failure to qualify as they were forced to use the inferior track for time trials, as the national stadium was booked by Happy Science.