My fixation with Religion

[spiderpig]

250 words is really too little to talk about anything - even concisely. I feel so restricted by these 250 words. I know that the word limit is to prevent rambling and excessively long essays that the tutors have to read, but still 250 words is not enough to concisely talk about an argument. It's going to be so superficial! Like what I've been writing!

Now, I have a thing for religion. I like to attack crazy Christians and Catholics (ahahah Benjamin! Remember how in J1 I used to hound you about God?) and well, so far it's the Christians and Catholics who have been after me. Buddhists tend to be more subdued haha. Still, I'm intrigued by religions in the world and how they are all similar (that's what I'm really looking at).

In particular, since I'm going to become some crazy academic in Japan (;__; I am increasingly aware that my Japanese is HORRIBLE), I'm kinda fixated on the whole Aum Shinrikyo and other 'new' religions popping up in there.

So anyway, here's my 250 worded (I think I went over by a bit) horrible and disgustign analysis of Reiyukai and Aum Shinrikyo. I think Dr. H will keel over and die after seeing it. First of all, hahah AUM SHINRIKYO. She's going to think that I'm some kind of CRAZY PERSON because my first reaction paper was a comparison of the Meiji Restoration and Wagashi!

Reiyukai and Aum Shinrikyo: A Short Comparison

Reiyukai, when compared to other ‘new religions’ such as Kurozumikyou and more militant ones such as Aum Shinrikyo, appears to be much more entrenched in traditional values of Buddhism. Of course, Reiyukai makes Buddhist philosophy much more relevant to our current modern society by in a way, simplifying religious rituals and incorporating them as a way of life.

One key difference that I have noticed, between Hardacre’s description of Reiyukai and the general depictions of Aum Shinrikyo, is the perceived ‘control’ leaders have over its followers. While both religions share a core similarity of  promising an enlightenment that would “solve” problems, there is a stark difference of how the leadership in both religions are represented.

Hardacre presents the Reiyukai leadership as ‘caring’ parents who teach followers ‘the habit of obedience’ . It is the followers themselves who ultimately make the choice to devote themselves to the religion: usually in the form of religious epiphanies. On the other hand, Aum Shinrikyo appears to be a much more tightly controlled and perhaps even totalitarian form of religion that stretches top-down. There is almost no room for negotiation in Aum Shinrikyo, and it is steeped in complex rituals that govern an individual’s life. Comparatively, Reiyukai’s form of worship seems more ‘relaxed’. Sutra recitation is shown to be the mainstay of ‘cleansing’, and an individual’s actions account for their karmic bonds.

Of course this is a superficial glance at the two religions, but it is interesting to note how similar yet different they can be – by simply examining their ritual processes.

References:
a. Hardacre, Helen. 1984. “Witnessing and Healing” Chap. 5 in Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan: Reiyukai Kyodan. 155-187. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
b. Murakami, Haruki. 2000. “The Place That Was Promised” in Underground : The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. 247-346. New York: Vintage Books, Random House Inc.

Now wasn't that kinda painful? Like an injection?