Editing Aum Shinrikyo (section)

===Early activities===
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Shinri Party (Truth Party)
| native_name      = 真理党
| native_name_lang = ja
| logo             = 
| logo_alt         = 
| colorcode        = <!-- HTML color code (e.g. "red", "#FF0000" or Party metadata color template) otherwise "transparent" -->
| leader           = [[Shoko Asahara]]
| president        = 
| chairperson      = 
| general_secretary = 
| first_secretary  = 
| secretary_general = 
| presidium        = 
| standing_committee = 
| secretary        = 
| spokesperson     = 
| founder          = 
| founded          = 1989
| dissolved        = 2018
| seats1_title     = Candidates in the [[1990 Japanese general election]]
| seats1           = 25
| headquarters     = 
| ideology         = World salvation based on the teachings of Aum Shinrikyo
| country          = 
}}
Although Aum was, from the beginning, considered controversial in Japan, it was not initially associated with serious crimes. It was during this period that Asahara became obsessed with [[Bible prophecy|Biblical prophecies]]. Aum's public relations activities included publishing comics and animated cartoons that attempted to tie its religious ideas to popular [[anime]] and [[manga]] themes, including space missions, powerful weapons, world conspiracies, and the quest for ultimate truth.<ref>{{cite book|title=Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime|last=Macwilliams|first=Mary Wheeler|year=2008|publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]]|isbn=978-0-7656-1602-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/japanesevisualcu0000unse/page/211 211]|url=https://archive.org/details/japanesevisualcu0000unse/page/211}}</ref> Aum published several magazines including ''[[Vajrayana]] Sacca'' and ''Enjoy Happiness'', adopting a somewhat missionary attitude.<ref name=controversial/>

[[Isaac Asimov]]'s science fiction ''[[Foundation (book series)|Foundation Trilogy]]'' was referenced "depicting as it does an elite group of spiritually evolved scientists forced to go underground during an age of barbarism to prepare themselves for the moment...when they will emerge to rebuild civilization".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/aug/24/alqaida.sciencefictionfantasyandhorror|work=The Guardian|location=London, UK|title=What is the origin of the name al-Qaida?|date=24 August 2002|access-date=25 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405110855/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/aug/24/alqaida.sciencefictionfantasyandhorror|archive-date=5 April 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Lifton posited that Aum's publications used Christian and Buddhist ideas to impress what he considered to be the more shrewd and educated Japanese who were not attracted to boring, purely traditional [[sermon]]s.<ref name=lifton/>{{rp|258}}

Advertising and recruitment activities, dubbed the "Aum Salvation plan", included claims of curing physical illnesses with health improvement techniques, realizing life goals by improving intelligence and positive thinking, and concentrating on what was important at the expense of leisure. This was to be accomplished by practicing ancient teachings, accurately translated from original [[Pali]] [[sutra|sutta]]s (these three were referred to as "threefold salvation"). These efforts resulted in Aum becoming one of the fastest-growing religious groups in Japan's history.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall claim that its practices remained secret. Initiation rituals often involved the use of [[hallucinogen]]s, such as [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]]. Religious practices often involved extremely ascetic practices claimed to be "yoga". These included everything from renunciants being hung upside down to being given [[Electroconvulsive therapy|shock therapy]].<ref name=kaplan2>{{cite book|last1=Kaplan|first1=David E.|first2=Andrew|last2=Marshall|year=1996|title=The Cult at the End of The World|place=London, UK|publisher=Hutchinson}}</ref>

In the early days, Aum was able to recruit a variety of people ranging from bureaucrats to personnel from the [[Japanese Self-Defense Forces]] and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.<ref name="WIRED">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/1996/07/aum/ | title=The Cult at the End of the World | magazine=Wired | last1=Kaplan | first1=David E. }}</ref>