Keishu Okada

The following is my personal speculation. I am not liable if the name of Keishu Okada gets smeared through this post. I have stated that these are my personal assumptions based on my knowledge of Mahikari and the history of Keishu Okada and Kotama Okada.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made…” Genesis 3:1

The bible uses the symbol of the serpent in the Garden of Eden to represent Satan. In the Bible, snakes are used to symbolize evil and deceit throughout its teachings. As I have been reading other blogs, talking with former Mahikari members, and sucking up all the latest Mahikari news…I have come to find that in my mind, much like Satan was the villain of Christianity, so too is Keishu Okada the villain of Mahikari.

Not necessarily an obvious villain; just as Satan pretended to be a friend of Adam and Eve’s when all the while he was plotting to make them fall from grace by disobeying God…paradoxically Keishu pretends to be God’s representative on earth, praying for the lives of mankind, while in reality she is well aware that she has no more power in deciding the fate of the world than you or I.

Throughout this post I plan to point out and examine all the lies surrounding Keishu Okada’s past. I will tell you her version of events and then my own version. This is strictly speculation, but you have to admit it is speculation that makes sense.

Alright…here we go….

Keishu Okada was born in 1925, which would make her 81 years old. Since becoming the head of the Mahikari faith, Keishu has said little, if anything about her past. Where she was born, who her parents were is a complete mystery. How she met Okada is an even bigger mystery. In most biographies she isn’t even mentioned until Okada falls ill and needs a replacement. There is a reason for that, I’m sure. Mahikari likes to keep anything scandalous or incriminating under wraps. Many websites wouldn’t dare say anything negative about her; for fear that someone might hit them with slander charges. Well…I am going to say how I feel. In the United States we are protected by freedom of speech, which means I am allowed to say whatever I want, about whomever I want, and the target of my article can’t do a thing about it. Here is my version of events…

Keishu Okada was born in 1925 in Japan. Her family were members of a religious group called the SKK: Sekai Kyusei Kyo or Johrei if you live in America (founded in 1935 when Keishu was 10.) The SKK is an organization which practices a healing technique in which the hand is raised a few inches in front of the forehead or any other various points, in order to heal a person through a spiritual energy.

(Sound familiar?)

SKK members remember Keishu and her family well. When Keishu had just turned 30, she met a married SKK priest named Yoshikazu Okada. They formed a friendship and soon a sexual relationship. Around this time Yoshikazu was relieved of his duties as a member of Kanbu in the SKK due to sexual misconduct and unorthodox teachings.

I have read everything I could find on this particular subject and the articles never seem to reveal the woman’s name with whom Yoshikazu was sexually involved with. Having experienced the ugly side of sexual misconduct in a Japanese religion (check out my Memoirs of a Kumite blog for details on that), I can say that Kanbu is not kind to members who take part in sexual activities outside of wedlock. I can only imagine the repercussions for a member of Kanbu.

How shameful.

I would be willing to guess that the woman was Keishu Okada. When Yoshikazu was kicked out of the SKK he was enraged. In his anger he created a new religion called Mahikari, when he was 58 years old. Keishu soon left the Johrei as well and was one of the first to join Yoshikazu, or Kotama as he was being called by then, on his religious quest.

You never hear about any of this in Mahikari…why? Because Yoshikazu chose certain verses from the Bible and from Buddhist teachings to prove that he was the one true Messiah. The Buddhist teaching states that, 3000 years after Buddha’s death, a layman with no previous religious experience will rise to show everyone the true path. Yoshikazu wanted everyone to believe that he was this layman in the prediction. Therefore, some of his history had to be eliminated in order to achieve this illusion.

Mahikari has just recently fessed up to the fact that Kotama was a member of the SKK among other religions. Eventually there was so much evidence contradicting the supposed truth that Keishu’s representative made a statement to explain that Kotama had been involved in other religions whilst on his spiritual quest. It only took Mahikari 30-something years to admit it. What is also funny to me, Anne pointed this out recently, how Yoshikazu wanted to denounce all other religions as pseudo-truths, but yet he sure did use them quite frequently to credit himself. Of course Mahikari members will say that since he was a Messiah he had the ability to differentiate from what was true and what was false…completely brainwashed, I repeat, completely brainwashed. God gave you common sense, people, use it. I feel like an idiot for believing any of this garbage.

Back to the story…Keishu and Kotama continued their relationship, but for some reason neglected to get married; probably because Kotama was already married at the time. Eventually his wife caught wind of what was happening, so she divorced him and took their two children with her. After that scandal there was no way Kotama could marry Keishu; his reputation would be ruined and everyone would know why his marriage ended in divorce court. They continued to keep their relationship a secret, however, former members have been quoted as saying that the relationship was quite obvious, but no one questioned their great savior’s judgment. Eventually Kotama legally adopted Keishu in order to have an excuse for her constant presence.

After the adoption Keishu’s life became rather quiet. We hear nothing else from her until she is involved in the infamous legal battle. When Kotama passed away, it was assumed by everyone that his best friend, and second in command, Sekiguchi, would take his place. He had made that clear when he was well enough to speak and communicate his wishes. Because of this clarity, he felt no need to leave a last will and testament restating the fact. Despite this, Keishu remained by her “fathers” side while he was dying. When he passed she left his bed chambers and told several Kumite that her father had anointed her the new spiritual leader. No one was in the bedroom; no one heard the conversation…though many have said that in his state of sickness and delirium, Okada couldn’t have relayed such a message. Keishu took Sekiguchi to court, but in the end there were too many witnesses stating that Sekiguchi was supposed to be the new leader, and not Keishu. In her anger, she split off the supposed one true religion and created Sukyo Mahikari (a carbon cut copy of Mahikari, but with her as the leader).

After she started her own organization, she made sure that much more emphasis was put on donations and gratitude. She also began referring to herself as God’s representative on earth. In later years, she set her sights on expanding to other countries besides Japan. She saw dollar signs $$$$ in her new religion and she wanted to utilize it. Many members followed her when she created her own religion, believing her tales of her father changing his mind at the last possible minute. However, many stayed with Sekiguchi.

I suppose I find it hard to understand how people can believe someone who lied about so many things. How can you believe a word that comes out of her mouth after she had been proved a liar time after time after time? She has a silver serpents tongue…it a shame that so many people are blind to that fact.