Happy Science (?????, K?fuku-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.
The Happy Science group includes a publication division called IRH Press, educational establishments such as Happy Science Academy and Happy Science University, a political party called The Happiness Realization Party, and two media entertainment divisions, each of which is called New Star Production and ARI Production.
Video Happy Science
History
Happy Science was founded on 6 October 1986 and was certified in Japan as a religious organization on March 7, 1991. According to Ryuho Okawa, its aim is "to bring happiness to humanity by spreading the Truth". Before its foundation, Ryuho Okawa published various books of "spiritual messages" that claim to channel the words spoken by religious and historical figures such as Jesus Christ, Confucius and Nichiren. In 1987, The Laws of the Sun, The Golden Laws, and The Laws of Eternity were published, forming the core textbooks of Happy Science, along with the fundamental sutra The Dharma of the Right Mind. In 1986, he resigned from a position at a trading corporation to found his own religion.
Maps Happy Science
Teachings
The basic teachings of Happy Science are "Exploration of the Right Mind" and "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 and the comfort women issue in South Korea--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. As of the spring of 2018, the Happiness Realization Party has 21 local councilors.
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. The movement rejects monotheism and claim that there is a hierarchy in the heavenly spirit world and believing in the existence of many gods, Tathagatas, Bodhisattvas, and other high spirits.
Facilities
General headquarters, worship facilities, and missionary sites are located in Japan and other countries.
Worship facilities are called "Shoja (?? or vihara in Sanskrit) or "Shoshinkan (???)."
On January 1, 1994, as the first overseas branch, "Happiness Science USA" was established in New York. The organization has branches in several countries including South Korea, Brazil, Uganda, the UK, Australia and India.
Controversy
Happy Science is one of many Japanese new religions (shinsh?ky?), 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.
In February 2017, actress Fumika Shimizu abruptly retired from her former entertainment production agency while in the middle of multiple filming projects in order to pursue a full-time role in Happy Science, declaring she had been a member of the group since childhood under the influence of her parents, both of whom have been devout believers in Happy Science for a long time.
References
Further reading
- Astley, Trevor (1995). "The Transformation of a Recent Japanese New Religion: Okawa Ryuho and Kofuku no Kagaku", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 22 (3-4), 343-380
- Baffelli, E; Reader , Ian (2011). Competing for the apocalypse: religious rivalry and millennial transformations in a Japanese new religion. International Journal for the Study of New Religions 2 (1), 5-28
- Clarke, Peter B. (ed.) (1999), 'Kofuku-no-Kagaku: The Institute for Research in Human Happiness' in A Bibliography of Japanese New Religious Movements: With Annotations, Surrey, UK, Japan Library (Curzon), ISBN 1-873410-80-8, pp. 149-67
- Pokorny, Lukas; Winter, Franz (2012). Creating Utopia': The History of Kofuku no Kagaku in Austria, 1989-2012, with an Introduction to Its General History and Doctrine. In: Hödl, Hans Gerald and Lukas Pokorny, ed. Studies on Religion in Austria. Volume 1, Vienna: Praesens, pp. 31-79
- Yamashita, Akiko (1998), 'The "Eschatology" of Japanese new and new new religions: from Tenrikyo to Kofuku-no-Kagaku', Japanese Religions 23, 125-42
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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