Happy Science

Happy Science
Kōfuku no Kagaku
Happy Science logo
Formation 1986
Founders Ryuho Okawa
Type Religious movement
Headquarters 1-2-38 Higashi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0022, Japan
Membership
11 million (claimed)[1]
Ryuho Okawa
Website happy-science.org
Formerly called
 The Institute for Research in Human Happiness
Ryuho Okawa, Feb. 15, 2015

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 has been criticized as a cult.[2][3][4]

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, which are called New Star Production and ARI Production.

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.[5]

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".[6] Among other teachings, they believe in reincarnation[7] and aliens.[8]

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.[9] Some other views include infrastructure spending, natural disaster prevention, urban development, and dam construction.[10] They also advocate fiscal conservatism, strengthening the US-Japan alliance, and a virtue-based leadership.[11] As of the spring of 2018, the Happiness Realization Party has 21 local councilors.[12]

Object of worship

Happy Science worships a deity named "El Cantare" who they believe is the "Highest God of Earth, the Lord of all gods" which is synonymous with Allah, the Father of Jesus, and was first born on Earth as Alpha 330 million years ago where Africa would be today, Elohim, Odin, Thoth, Ophealis(Osiris) Hermes and then Shakyamuni Buddha, and is said to be the core consciousness of Okawa himself. The movement accepts both monotheism and polytheism. They explain that there is a hierarchy in the heavenly spirit world and believing in the existence of many gods, Tathagatas, Bodhisattvas, and other high spirits.[13]

Facilities

General headquarters, worship facilities, and missionary sites are located in Japan and other countries. Worship facilities are called Shoja (精舎 or vihara in Sanskrit) or Shoshinkan (正心館). On January 1, 1994, as the first overseas branch, "Happiness Science USA" was established in New York.[14][15] The organization has branches in several countries including South Korea, Brazil, Uganda, the UK, Australia and India.[16]

Controversy

Happy Science is one of many Japanese new religions (shinshūkyō), which are looked upon as "controversial" by the mainstream press and public.[17] According to The Japan Times, "for many, the Happies smell suspiciously like a cult".[18] 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.[19][2][3][4]

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.[18]

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 Summer 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.[20]

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.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Fumika Shimizu to retire from entertainment to devote herself to cult". Arama! Japan. February 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  2. 1 2 Musasizi, Simon (21 June 2012). "Clerics call for probe into Happy Science". The Observer. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Happy Science, a new cult offers celebrity guide to heaven". The Jakarta Post. 22 July 2012. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 Donnelly, Beau (2 November 2015). "Blooming 'Happy Science' religion channels Disney, Gandhi, Jesus and Thatcher". The Age.
  5. ↑ Shimazono, Susumu (2004). From Salvation to Spirituality: Popular Religious Movements in Modern Japan (English ed.). Melbourne, Vic.: Trans Pacific. p. 267. ISBN 1876843128.
  6. ↑ "Happy Science - About Us". Happy Science Singapore. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Eternal Life and Reincarnation". Happy Science.
  8. ↑ "Alien Invasion: Can We Defend Earth?".
  9. ↑ "The Liberty Web" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  10. ↑ "Happiness Realization Party". Happiness Realization Party. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  11. ↑ "Happiness Realization Party". Happiness Realization Party. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  12. ↑ About Japanese 50 new region (Japanese ed.). Takarajima. 2017-04-19. ISBN 978-4800270443.
  13. ↑ ben griggs (2012-09-12), The end of monotheism and religious conflicts., retrieved 2016-03-31
  14. ↑ 『「幸福の科学」教団史2008 法輪、転ずべし』p57
  15. ↑ 「月刊 幸福の科学」1994年2月号p50
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ Muhumuza, Rodney (10 July 2012). "Happy Science, Controversial Religion From Japan, Succeeds In Uganda". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  18. 1 2 McNeill, David (4 August 2009), "Party offers a third way: happiness", The Japan Times, retrieved 6 August 2009
  19. ↑ Sylla Saint-Guily, "Happy Science Is the Laziest Cult Ever," Vice (magazine), 3 October 2012.
  20. ↑ "Uganda athletes anger at Happy Science Olympic mix-up". BBC News. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 2015-12-13.

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

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