Happy Science

Kofuku-no-Kagaku (幸福の科学), also called The Institute for Research in Human Happiness (IRH), is a sect in Japan. Kagaku was founded in October of 1986 and there are currently over 10,000 Kagaku adherents. Kagaku considers itself an "advanced religion" based on Buddhist teachings taught by Kagaku founder Ryuho Okawa.

Okawa was born on July 7, 1956, in Japan. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he joined a Tokyo-based trading house. While working at its New York headquarters (located in World Trade Center in New York City), he studied international finance at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Okawa claim to have attained enlightenment on March 23, 1981 and renounced his business career in the 1980s after being awakened to the hidden part of his consciousness, El Cantare.

According to Okawa, he then received revelations from various angels and consequently realized that his true mission in life was the salvation of all of humanity. He has since partaken in many lectures and written over 400 books in order to spread his enlightenment. He claims that when writing, he receives "inspiration from subliminal consciousness" and that some greater power is the one who actually writes the books, with Okawa merely acting as a messenger.

Kagaku adherents have faith in Lord El Cantare, Eternal Buddha, who guides humanity throughout eternity. In the past, the consciousness of El Cantare was incarnated as Shakyamuni Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) in India, and as Hermes in Greece. They believe that his core consciousness has descended on earth as Master Ryuho Okawa and that he preaches the truth.

Teachings

The basic teachings of Kagaku are "Exploration of the Right Mind" and "Principles of Happiness". The latter consists of modern Fourfold Path (Love, Wisdom, Self-Reflection, and Progress).

The following explanations are from the website of Kofuku-no-Kagaku:

Liebe

The principle of love is the teaching of “love that gives,” giving love to others. This is similar to “loving your neighbor,” taught in Christianity, but essentially it is the teaching of compassion that runs through the center of Buddhism.

Wisdom

The principle of wisdom indicates the importance of learning the truth. In learning, it is important first to acquire knowledge of the truth, then through accumulating actual practices and experiences, transform it into wisdom that is as precious as a diamond.

Self-reflection

The principle of self-reflection is the teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path that is restructured in a form that is understandable for modern people. It is important to get rid of any mental impuritie, and restore the state of mind that attunes to the heavenly world while on earth.

Progress

The principle of progress implies the main feature of Mahayana Buddhism; it is also the revival of Hermes' teachings of development and prosperity. It teaches not only the ways to achieve the happiness of a peaceful mind, but it also teaches ways to a positive happiness gained through experiencing success, as well as the path to the creation of a utopia on earth.

Prediction of the future

Within the next 100 years the United Nations will collapse and there will be war in the Middle East. Japan will become a religious center just as Mecca and Jerusalem are now. In 2050 Angel Gabriel is re-incarnated in Bangkok.

From the years 2100-2200 one in ten people will visit outer space. During this time we will also attempt to construct space stations. The book goes on to describe these space stations in detail. We will also have a device that can connect us to the spiritual world so that we no longer have to rely on spirit mediums. During this time part of the United States will sink because it angers the gods. Canada and the rest of the Americas are still there, but the states will sink. Just after he makes this prophecy he also states that this is not a definite prophecy, if enough people convert then the states will not sink.

From 2200-2300 robots will run almost all of our industries and people will only have to work four hours a day at the most. Half of Russia and East Asia will fall off into the ocean. Because Russia has fallen this causes disruption within the earth's core, so the earth decides to re-create (it was a lost continent a very long time ago) the continent of Mu. This new continent will be at approximately the current location of Indonesia.

In 2300-2400 the new continent of Atlantis will be recreated as a result of the United States sinking. After this is complete, Martin Luther and Nichiren will be re-incarnated and they will lead a new huge religious movement.

During the years of 2400 through 2500 Jesus will be re-incarnated. Another important event is that the extraterrestrials that visited the Earth in the 1980s return. They now have more than 10 races and we communicate with them. Unfortunately the aliens have a different “concept of property” than humans so the aliens disagree on many things and “Earthlings” force the aliens to leave because of this disagreement.

Summary

People who are in the religion are constantly trying to do good deeds so that they can obtain higher levels of enlightenment. In this institute, in order to obtain happiness you must practice the four principles of happiness; they are, love, knowledge, reflection, and development. Another way to obtain enlightenment is through meditation of the eight fold path. In order to join the Institute for Human Happiness the only requirement are that the applicant must have, "the aspiration and vision to seek the way and contribute to the realization of love, peace and happiness on earth".

Further reading

• Clarke, Peter B. (ed.) (1999), 'Kofuku-no-Kagaku: The Institute for Research in Human Happiness' in A Bibliography of Japanese New Religious Movements: With Annotations, Surrey, UK, Japan Library (Curzon), ISBN 1-873410-80-8, pp.149-67

• Yamashita, Akiko (1998), 'The "Eschatology" of Japanese new and new new religions: from Tenrikyo to Kofuku-no-Kagaku' in Japanese Religions, Vol. 23, January 1998, NCC, Kyoto, Japan, pp.125-42

External links

• KOFUKU-NO-KAGAKU The Institute for Research in Human Happiness

• KOFUKU-NO-KAGAKU EUROPE (IRHH EUROPE), The Institute for Research in Human Happiness, Europe