Dear Dean and Jean,

I became a member in mid 1999, although I had been receiving light for a couple of years before that. Thank God I was only officially a "member" for the past 8 months of my life. By the grace of the real divine guidance that exists within us all, I found myself staying with some lovely people, who weren't in Mahikari. After having spent a couple of months of being quite involved in a particular Mahikari center and seeing a lot of turmoil in my life as a result.

A couple of things helped me to wake up and snap out of the spell of Mahikari. These things were just triggers to help me realize what was right for me. Without knowing why, I looked up Sukyo Mahikari on the internet and of course I found your web site. Thank you to Dean and Jean for making this information available! I spent 4 hours reading it in disbelief. It was certainly a shock to the system, and it took me a couple of days to get used to the idea that Sukyo Mahikari is not all I thought it was. At the same time, I was staying with a couple of people who kept telling me (without knowing anything about Mahikari) that they felt strongly, intuitively, that something around my neck was "weighing me down" and that through that a lot of my power and energy was being sucked away by a certain man. (Could this be Yoshikazu Okada? Interesting that written inside the omitama is his name). Because of this, they suggested that I do a special ritual to burn omitama and throw the ashes in the ocean, so as to symbolically sever the ties to the organization and regain my own power. Although this sounded extreme (after all the crap we were told about how 'precious' this object is), I realized that I was actually being given some very clear guidance and all the forces in the universe were encouraging me to act upon this. When I really stopped and checked what was true within myself, there was no question but to do this ritual. So I did, and the feeling of relief is enormous! Like a weight has really been lifted from me. Burning omitama may not be the way for others (but it's very satisfying!), but I encourage the individual to do something to empower yourself again, to acknowledge that this organization no longer has any power over you.

I have been very blessed that throughout most of my involvement with Sukyo Mahikari I have remained true to my own heart and divine truth which has led me to travel and live in remote parts of Australia, away from Mahikari centers. But I recently experienced the effect of returning to my home city and spending a couple of months going regularly to the Mahikari center and allowing myself to be more and more "brainwashed" by their often ridiculous teachings, and ways of doing things. I'd always felt that a lot of their practices were too strict and rigid and very "Japanese" and that the enormous fuss made over omitama and wrapping it every month in layers and layers of plastic and paper to "protect" it was just silly. Surely god isn't that boring, surely god has a sense of humor! However I was so convinced that being able to transmit the light was so wonderful that I was willing to accept all the rubbish that went with it. It makes sense now that the "giving of light to the forehead", could well have been merely a feeling of wellbeing created by stimulating the pineal gland (as mentioned in "Questions frequently asked about Mahikari"). It is definitely some form of energy, but I have always known that we all have the ability to give healing energy, without the use of a pendant. In fact I realized that putting all one's faith in an object and an organization, one can easily fall into the trap of giving one's power away to it and forgetting that divine essence of truth and god is within us all.

Suddenly it seems clear to me that the so-called "cleanings" created by the light could have actually been made worse by my involvement with Sukyo Mahikari. As I look back at the last few years of my life, I see a lot of problems and issues that have gone on for a lot longer than necessary.

Now, after making the decision to leave, I am determined to get on with my life and really heal. The weight lifted is truly liberating. It has been a valuable lesson and has strengthened my resolve to remain true only to my own inner true god-self. This is the only reliable thing. I was already aware of this inner truth before doing kenshu, but these last few months have shown me how easy it is to be convinced that an organization is more important than one's true self. I still feel some anger that something that is supposed to be for the forces of good is actually the opposite, but I know this anger is part of the process of letting go and moving on. However I'm sure that in the big picture of things Mahikari was merely playing a role to get me to realize that nothing is higher than the divine power of God within us all.

Now I am making a vow to myself never to let anything like Mahikari have power over me again, and never to stray from what I know, in every cell of my being is truth.

Nicole

I was a member of Mahikari in Los Angeles for 8 years. I was a secondary member, a hancho, dedicated to the mission of Mahikari, and I donated $30,000 after selling my home. I have been out of the organization since 1993 and I am just beginning to deal with the fact that Mahikari is a cult and highly manipulated me. The fact that I am a psychotherapist makes me feel like I should have known better. I feel like I am finally out of denial and dealing with the repercussions.

I get a lot of guidance in dreams and one morning I was directed to go to the internet and type in Mahikari in the search section. Thank God I did go with the guidance.

I wrote you an email in November 1999. It has taken me this long to respond. The pain and recovery of this ultimate betrayal is horrid. I have many experiences concerning Mahikari, i.e. witnessed a suicide, rape of a Japanese member by a English translator of Goseigen, witnessed three doshi having multiple affairs, destroyed my relationships with my daughters, etc., etc., etc.

THANKS FOR MAKING THIS SITE AVAILABLE.

Simone, ex-member in recovery - Los Angeles.

Hi!

I'm very impressed with your website, which so clearly tells the truth about Mahikari. I joined in 1978, and treated the pendant as sacred. But your sentence, that "the strength of the Light depends upon your dedication, concentration, and clarity of your own spiritual relationship with God", perfectly sums up the real reason why the light works. It has nothing to do with the pendant.

I spoke to Garry Greenwood quite a few times throughout my time in Mahikari. He is a very nice person, intelligent, articulate, and very balanced, warm and friendly. I drifted away from the organisation before he did, and I was lucky enough to bump into him again after he had left the organisation. He was still just the same as I have described, except that he appeared to be much happier, as though a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

One of the things that made me feel pressured, within the organisation, was the teaching that handing back the Omitama pendant, which was essential to leave the organisation, was "slapping God in the face". Another major one was the teaching that, it didn't matter how much money you gave, it was the spontaneous love with which you gave it that mattered. This is a very deceptive teaching, because if you try to give spontaneously with love, you end up giving far more money than if you budgeted what you could afford. I frequently gave far more than I could afford, and created many financial problems for myself.

I pray that many Mahikari members will see your website, and that they will be influenced to do something about their nagging doubts about the organisation, and leave it. It does so much harm to sincere but misguided followers of Mahikari, and as you say, they can still radiate light, for everyone is, in some way, an ambassador of God.

Dear Dean & Jean,

Dear Dean & Jean,

Dear Dean & Jean,

Dear Mr. Greenwood,

Dear Dean & Jean,

Dear Jean,

Have made very interesting and strange discoveries on my end. To summarise it all, Lorraine is now not staying at her house now. She feels as though some spirits/unseen forces are disturbing her when ever she tries to sleep. I then took her to see a few different priests and all unanimously said that the spirits from Mahikari are disturbing her (they didn't call it Mahikari but described it as 'the Japanese religion that your family is worshipping/praying to'). They are trying to stop her from getting the family out of the cult. Apparently, the 'Japanese God' that the family is praying to is not the Creator God at all, and neither is the 'ancestor alter' really the ancestor altar. It is something else (wait till the mahikari members hear what they have been praying to - it will shock the hell out of them). Apparently, when the Mahikari people gave them the ancestor tablet to be placed on the altar, they have changed the names of the ancestor. Their rationale for doing so is to say that when the ancestor moves into the astral world, they must not have any attachments hence must receive a different name!!! All these are actually nonsense and this actually paves the way for other spirits to move into the homes of the Mahikari members. Can you imagine this: The parents will give the child a name when he is born, but his descendents will later change it for him when he dies. Then, what about the names inscribed on the tombstones?

Amazing, isn't it?? All of these seem to agree with Garry Greenwood's claims that the founder was actually dealing with spirits and conjuring them up when giving light - which is the underlying reason why he was expelled from SKK. I then questioned why some members who left did not experience such things. I can only conclude that those members who left out of dissatifaction did not bother to dig further and explore this side of Mahikari and did not make any attempts to ask other members to leave. Hence they were left alone, and not disturbed. guess those who dig further and try to expose this side of things will then concern them. What do you think?? Want to verify the above facts?

Take care.

Regards,

As regards the ancestor altar, an advice from the priest is not to just close the altar and dispose of it. The proper procedure would be to invite the spirits to leave the house in a peaceful way. This way, the spirits will not return with vengeance (compared to if they had been forced away - as they have been invited in to stay in the first place!!). Full scale exorcism by a high spiritual priest should only be the final resort if all else fails. As regards Lorraine's parents, they are now beginning to search for the truth opposite the spiritual hauntings as the mom has felt something already.

Will keep you updated on this. Hope my letter is helpful to all out there.

Love,

More Updates - My girlfriend's friend just provided corroborative evidence that the ancestor altar is DEFINITELY NOT the ancestor, but the spirits of Japanese soldiers. The friend's father consulted a temple and was told that by praying to the Mahikari set-up altar purported to be of the ancestor, one was actually praying to the Japanese soldiers who have died - during WW2 presumably.

It is actually getting really weird!

Love,

Dear Mr. Garry Greenwood,

I was a kumite from 1984 - 1994. I was a dedicated kumite serving God (made to believe) with my husband and two children. The only thing I did good during that period was taking up a career, in spite of, countless adverse remarks from kanbu and kumites that I was eager to make money than to serve God. Seriously, the money I made was never spent on any of our comforts except for the endless donations, trips and activities. I was one of the fools who sold my house to visit Suza but with the true God's blessings, I have a home to stay. After the ten year period, we noticed that we had lost our youth (childhood), money, social life, relatives, religion, customs, our precious normal life and everything. We were completely lost like aliens on their first visit to the earth.

In 1986, I heard your study class in Canberra (Australia), when I received Intermediate (kenshu) with my husband. I had a strange feeling that you did not have the "fire." When we heard that you had dropped off, it was like, 'how could you have anyway lasted without the "fire?" I sincerely apologise for judging you and others who did not have the "fire" and considering that we were always the ones "at the top of the world." "How deceiving? " I was an active translator since 1985. I knew the teachings word by word. I used to translate kenshu without a wink. I couldn't believe how I was stuck to this organization, in spite of them judging me, humiliating me, and making me feel that I was a complete idiot. It was gratitude, I suppose. In 1994, my husband, (leader of group leaders, I have forgotten the term and a translator) among his tight schedule was giving okiyome to a Punjabi (Sikh) man who became blind suddenly and he had come from London to Singapore. The father of the man insisted that only my husband should give him okiyome due to the good results. My husband from work used to rush to his home and from there he would go to dojo and then home. One evening, I met him at dojo and we were heading home on his motor bike. On our way, we stopped at 7 Eleven to get some snacks for my children. On the way, a Punjabi old man ran across the road and got hit by my husband's motor bike. My husband was heading at a normal speed on a very quiet road. Until today, we both don't know how it happened. The man died in the hospital. On one hand, my husband was rushing to give okiyome to a young Punjabi man and another hand, an old Punjabi man runs into the motor-bike. I had so many questions in my mind. Am I saving or destroying? Am I doing the right thing? There is definitely something wrong. I couldn't pull myself together and go back to dojo. The hurt and the incident is still fresh in my mind. At the same time there was a big re-vamp in the dojo, changing the dojo-cho and lot of crap and all did not make any sense, except it was clear that ego-fighting and judging each other, was the main cause. Why isn't there any character change in people who had been since Sukuinushisama's time? Nothing made any sense anymore.

I was still making my offering (RHO). My husband was a high-level kumite, according to them but no one, once called to check on our slackness. Then, some practising kumites started giving us printouts from the internet. I realised that this is the answer. The whole thing is nothing but a hoax. As soon as my offering (RHO) stopped, there were numerous calls to prove it is nothing but a moneymaking organisation. That's it. I have had enough. I did not get the opportunity to browse the internet until very recently, and I copied your book "All the Emperor's Men." I read with interest, how you broke your spider web and the joy of burning the literature. I sincerely thank you for all your effort and making it known to this world.

An ex-kumite who wishes to put everything behind and happily carrying on with a normal life.

H. L.