T H E M E
N e w R e l i g i o u s M o v e m e n t s
I I A S N E W S L E T T E R # 4 7 S p r i n g 0 0 8
the Regional Headquarters Bucho. Male applicants should be no older
than 35 (younger for females) and doshi trainees are expected to be single
because they must live in the ‘bachelor’ dormitory accommodation at the
Training Institute in Takayama and then be posted for practical training to
any centre in the world for two years. The living conditions at the Train-
ing Institute are spartan, living expenses are provided by Oshienushisama
and their personal income thereafter is minimal. About ten percent of
each class are non-Japanese. Women slightly outnumber men as doshi
trainees, but they are required to resign from the role after marriage. It
is considered impossible for them to be able to manage the duties of
both doshi and female family roles together. After marriage and mother-
hood, many remain active members of Mahikari centres and assume the
role of junkambu (administrators assisting the centre chief). Male doshi
often remain unmarried until their late thirties or forties, and live a spar-
tan existence in the dojo itself, serving God 24 hours a day, giving Light
to members, helping the centre chief, maintaining the centre and looking
after the Goshintai.
Doshi, being of all nationalities, play an important linking role in the global
organisation and may be transferred, often at intervals of about three years
across national boundaries. For instance a former doshi at the Melbourne
centre was a South African, there have been two Japanese doshi serving in
the Canberra Regional Headquarters and Australian doshi has been posted
to the International Division in Takayama and to a centre in India.
Within the dojo there are different group leaders, coordinators and other
personnel who coordinate such groups as the Parents’ Group, Educators’
Group, Older Youth Group, Primary Students’ Group, Kindergarten Group
and so on. There are also various leadership roles relating to the Youth
Corps, Yoko agriculture (a horticultural project based on organic and spir-
itual principles) and medicine. In these systems, spiritual elements and
modern bureaucratic principles are combined. For instance, the appoint-
ment to a leadership role in one of these groups is officially made by
Oshienushisama on the basis of the individual’s spiritual qualities, yet the
size of the group, its hierarchical structure and the communication and
recording procedures mirror aspects of the large organisations found in
modern society.
A global cultural system
Membership in Sukyo Mahikari organises the lives of its followers on a
daily, monthly and annual basis. In daily terms they are required to give
and receive Light to family, members of the public both at the dojo and
outside. They are required to offer small receptacles of food and drink to
the ancestors at their home’s ancestral shrine. If they have had a Goshin-
tai shrine inaugurated in the home, this requires even more care, since it
cannot be left unattended for long periods. There are no dietary codes or
dress codes for members, but interaction patterns tend to follow Japanese
standards of politeness and respect, and especially in the dojo, remov-
ing shoes, washing hands, bowing when passing in front of the centrally
placed Goshintai, necessitate mental and behavioural adjustment away
from prevailing cultural norms in most non-Japanses societies. Gradu-
ally one’s social interactions tend to revolve around other Mahikari mem-
bers and membership becomes a total life path. When visiting Suza on
pilgrimage or other centres overseas, the organisational culture is such
that members feel no social or cultural distance between themselves and
other nationalities. Thus Mahikari can be said to be truly a global cultural
system.
In this paper I have argued that the distinctive organisational style of
Sukyo Mahikari has facilitated its rapid expansion overseas, and the main
element of its spiritual culture, the ritual practice of radiating True Light
has been a powerful factor in establishing uniformity in value systems and
behaviour of members in diverse cultures through the process of purifi-
cation of their innermost attitude (sonen). Moreover the occurrence of
miracles associated with the True Light has been the main reason for its
global spread. Thus it has been useful to look at religious organisations
from the perspective of globalised coporate practices and corporate styles,
even though they are located in the spiritual realm in the first instance.
Just as corporate cultures are understood in terms of theories of religion
and ritual, so may the rituals and belief systems of NRMs be analysed as
corporate cultures, as religions globalise and are forced to take on the
attributes of large modern organisations to handle their global staffing,
their cross-cultural memberships and maintain and control the orthodoxy
of beliefs and ritual practices.
Wendy Smith
Director, Centre for Malaysian Studies and Senior Lecturer, Department of
Management, Monash University
Wendy.smith@buseco.monash.edu.au
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The Sukyo Mahikari Main World Shrine