Editing Aum Shinrikyo (section)

==Doctrine==
{{Expand Japanese|langcode=jp|section=yes}}
{{Expand section|date=September 2025}}

Aum Shinrikyo is a [[Syncretism|syncretic]] belief system that draws upon Asahara's idiosyncratic interpretations of elements of early [[History of Buddhism in India|Indian Buddhism]] and [[Tibetan Buddhism]], as well as [[Hinduism]], taking [[Shiva]] as the main image of worship; it also incorporates [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Millenarianism|millennialist]] ideas, the theory and practice of [[yoga]], and the writings of [[Nostradamus]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Aptitude for Destruction: Case Studies of Organizational Learning in Five Terrorist Groups|url=https://archive.org/details/Aptitude_for_destruction_2/page/n25/mode/2up|last1=Jackson|first1=Brian Anthony|first2=John C.|last2=Baker|year=2005|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|isbn=978-0-8330-3767-1|page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Am Shinrikyō|first=Ian|last=Reader|year=2000|publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|isbn=978-0824823405|pages=[https://archive.org/details/religiousviolenc0000read/page/66 66–68]|url=https://archive.org/details/religiousviolenc0000read/page/66}}</ref> Its founder, [[Shoko Asahara]] (born Chizuo Matsumoto), claimed that he sought to restore "original Buddhism" but employed Christian millennialist rhetoric.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_AumShinrikyo_SecondEdition_English.pdf|title=Aum Shinrikyo Insights into How Terrorists Develop Biological and Chemical Weapons|first1=Richard|last1=Danzig|first2=Marc|last2=Sageman|first3=Terrance|last3=Leighton|first4=Lloyd|last4=Hough|first5=Hidemi|last5=Yuki|first6=Rui|last6=Kotani|first7=Zachary M.|last7=Hosford|year=2000|publisher=[[Center for a New American Security]]|page=10|access-date=14 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316122438/http://www.cnas.org/files/documents/publications/CNAS_AumShinrikyo_SecondEdition_English.pdf|archive-date=16 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1992, Asahara published a foundational book, declaring himself to be "[[Christ (title)|Christ]]",<ref>{{cite book|title=Deadly Cults: The Crimes of True Believers|last=Snow|first=Robert L.|year=2003|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-0-275-98052-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/deadlycultscrime00snow/page/17 17]|url=https://archive.org/details/deadlycultscrime00snow/page/17}}</ref> Japan's only fully enlightened master, as well as identifying himself as the "[[Lamb of God]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Re-Enchantment of the West: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture, and Occulture|last=Partridge|first=Christopher Hugh|year=2006|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-0-567-04133-3|page=300}}</ref>

Asahara's purported mission was to take upon himself the [[sins]] of the world, and he claimed he could transfer spiritual power to his followers and ultimately take away their sins and bad deeds.<ref>{{cite book|title=The War on Terrorism and the Terror of God|last=Griffith|first=Lee|year=2004|publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]]|isbn=978-0-8028-2860-6|page=164}}</ref> While some scholars reject Aum Shinrikyo's claims of Buddhist characteristics and affiliations with [[Buddhism in Japan|Japanese Buddhism]],<ref>{{cite book|title=A cultural history of Japanese Buddhism|last1=Deal|first1=William |last2=Ruppert |first2=Brian |year=2015|publisher=Wiley|isbn=9781118608319|page=237}}</ref> other scholars refer to it as an offshoot of Japanese Buddhism,<ref>{{cite book|title=Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence|first=Mark|last=Juergensmeyer|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003|page=103|isbn=0-520-24011-1}}</ref> and this was how the movement generally defined and saw itself.<ref>{{cite book|title=Poisonous Cocktail: Aum Shinrikyo's Path to Violence|first=Ian|last=Reader|publisher=NIAS Publications|year=1996|page=[https://archive.org/details/poisonouscocktai0000read/page/16 16]|isbn=87-87062-55-0|url=https://archive.org/details/poisonouscocktai0000read/page/16}}</ref>

Their teachings claimed a [[Nuclear holocaust|nuclear apocalypse]] was predicted to occur soon, as the result of a conspiracy involving Jewish financiers, Freemasons, and war profiteers. The United States would lead a Western nuclear attack on Japan in 2000 or 2006, and [[World War III|WWIII]] would start. It would be fought with [[Particle-beam weapon|particle beam weapons]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Doomsday Reader: Prophets, Predictors, and Hucksters of Salvation |title-link=A Doomsday Reader |date=1999 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1908-4 |editor-last=Daniels |editor-first=Ted |location=New York |pages=155 |chapter=10. Aum Shinri Kyo and the Politics of Terror}}</ref> According to [[Robert Jay Lifton]], an American psychiatrist and author:{{blockquote|[Asahara] described a final conflict culminating in a [[nuclear war|nuclear]] '[[Armageddon]]', borrowing the term from the Book of Revelation {{bibleverse-nb||Revelation|16:16}}"<ref name=lifton>{{cite book|last=Lifton|first=Robert Jay|title= Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism|place=New York|publisher=Macmillan|year=2000}}</ref>}}

Humanity would end, except for the elite few who joined Aum.<ref name=kaplan2/> Aum's mission was not only to spread the word of [[salvation]], but also to survive these [[Eschatology|End Times]]. Asahara predicted the gathering at Armageddon would happen in 1997.<ref name=kaplan2/> Kaplan notes that in his lectures, Shoko Asahara referred to the United States as "[[The Beast (Revelation)|The Beast]]" from the Book of Revelation, predicting it would eventually attack Japan.<ref name=kaplan2/> Asahara outlined a doomsday prophecy, which included a [[World War III|Third World War]] instigated by the U.S.<ref>{{cite book|title=How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns|url=https://archive.org/details/howterrorismends00audr|url-access=limited|last=Cronin|first=Audrey Kurth|year=2009|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-0-691-13948-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/howterrorismends00audr/page/n41 23]}}</ref>

In the opinion of Daniel A. Metraux, Aum Shinrikyo justified its violence through its own unique interpretation of Buddhist ideas and doctrines, such as the Buddhist concepts of [[Three Ages of Buddhism|''Mappō'' and ''Shōbō'']]. Aum claimed that by bringing about the end of the world, they would restore ''Shōbō''.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Metraux|first=Daniel A.| journal= Asian Survey| title= Religious Terrorism in Japan: The Fatal Appeal of Aum Shinrikyo| volume= 35|number=12|date=December 1995|page=1153|doi=10.2307/2645835|jstor=2645835}}</ref> Furthermore, Lifton believes, Asahara "interpreted the Tibetan Buddhist concept of ''[[phowa]]'' in order to claim that by killing someone contrary to the group's aims, they were preventing them from accumulating bad karma and thus saving them".<ref name="lifton" />{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} In Aum's terminology, phowa is spelled "poa" ([[:ja:ポア_(オウム真理教)|ポア]]). Asahara himself said:

<blockquote>For example, let's say there's a person named A who was born accumulating good karma, but then became arrogant, and from then on accumulated bad karma, and by the time he died, he would have accumulated so much bad karma that he would end up in hell. If the accomplished person kills person A, person A will be reborn in heaven. (omitted) Knowing all this, if left alive, A will accumulate evil deeds and fall into hell. At this point, the person decided that it would be better to end A's life and performed a "poa" (a ritual to kill A).

What kind of karma has this person accumulated? Is it killing, or has he performed a good deed that will allow him to be reborn into a higher realm? From a purely human, objective perspective, this is killing. However, if we consider the Vajrayana philosophy, this is a noble act of purification. And a wise person—and wisdom is the key here—if a wise person observes this phenomenon, they will see that both the murdered person and the murderer benefited. However, if an uneducated person, an ordinary person, observes this, they will see that "that person is a murderer."</blockquote>

The name {{nihongo|"Aum Shinrikyo"|オウム真理教|Ōmu Shinrikyō}}, usually rendered in English as "Aum Supreme Truth", derives from the [[Sanskrit]] syllable ''[[Om|Aum]]'', used to represent [[Universe|the universe]], followed by the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] ''Shinrikyo'' (meaning, roughly, "Teaching of Truth") written in [[kanji]]. (In Japanese, kanji are often used to write both [[Sino-xenic]] and native Japanese words, but only rarely to transcribe direct borrowings from other languages.)

In January 2000, the organization changed its name to "Aleph", a reference to the [[Aleph|first letter]] of the  [[Hebrew alphabet]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sims |first1=Calvin |title=Japan Sect's Name Change Brings Confusion and Fear |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/24/world/japan-sect-s-name-change-brings-confusion-and-fear.html |access-date=3 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=24 January 2000 |quote=the name change from Aum Shinrikyo to Aleph, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Aum cult blames leader for gas attack |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/608770.stm |access-date=3 April 2021 |work=BBC News |date=18 January 2000 |quote=Aum also said it would change its name to "Aleph" – taken from the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet – and rid itself of part of its doctrine which has been interpreted as condoning murder if it benefits the cult.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ouchi gets eight years for role in cultist killing |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/11/07/national/ouchi-gets-eight-years-for-role-in-cultist-killing/ |access-date=3 April 2021 |work=The Japan Times |date=7 November 2000 |language=en |quote=In January, it claimed it had about 1,200 followers and stated it was changing its name to Aleph, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet.}}</ref> and it also replaced its logo.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Fumihiro Joyu |title=Outlook on the AUM-related Incidents and Outline of Drastic Reform |url=http://english.aleph.to/pr/01.html |website=english.aleph.to |access-date=3 April 2021 |language=en |date=18 January 2000 |archive-date=14 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514044020/http://english.aleph.to/pr/01.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>