The Aum Shinri Kyo was a destructive, doomsday cult centered in Japan. Their name was a combination of Aum which is a sacred Hindu syllable, and Shinri Kyo which means "supreme truth". It appears to have been a syncretistic religion, founded in 1987, and combining elements of Buddhism with Christianity. It has been rejected as a legitimate Buddhist faith group by Buddhist leaders in Japan.
Its leader, Shoko Asahara was born in 1955 as Chizuo Matsumoto, the son of a tatami straw mat maker. He was partially blind at birth, and attended a school for the blind. As an adult, he was an acupuncturist. In the early 1980's, he opened a folk medicine shop. Later, he established a school for yoga. Then he traveled to the Himalayas to study Buddhism and Hinduism. This led him to organize the Aum Shinri Kyo in 1987.
Asahara is regarded as Christ by his followers. Using the book of Revelation from the Christian Scriptures, and the writings of a 16th Century Christian astrologer, Nostradamus, he has predicted major disasters to occur in the final years of this millennium. His group reached a peak membership of about 20,000 worldwide. Many of them were drawn to the group because of a promise that they would develop supernatural powers; others were attracted by the group's rejection of the corruption and materialism which they saw throughout modern Japan. Many arbitrary, strict rules of behavior were enforced on the membership. They were explained as being part of an ancient tradition. Supreme Truth emphasized a siege mentality: that outside groups, including the national governments, were intent on destroying their organization.
Asahara claims that he has traveled forward to the year 2006 and has talked to people who have survived World War III. Asahara called for the group to fight in a final world revolution against the enemies of Japan, including the US. The group established a number of chemical factories and stockpiled various chemicals, as preparation for this Armageddon. There have been allegations that Asahara had ordered the assassination of at least one of his followers.
) susretao se sa raznim ljudima i odjednom...
