Bright on Buddhism Episode 31 - What are some notable Buddhist cults? What do they believe? How can one tell if an organization is a cult or not?
Resources: https://cult-escape.com/; Pearce, Thomas H. “Tenchi Seikyō: A Messianic Buddhist Cult.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 21, no. 4 (1994): 407–24. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30234142.; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/sexual-assaults-violent-rages-inside-dark-world-buddhist-teacher/; https://www.rigpa.org/independent-investigation-report; https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/news/abuse/rigpa-investigation-highlights-the-risk-of-unchallenged-ongoing-abuse-within-religious-groups/; https://thewalrus.ca/survivors-of-an-international-buddhist-cult-share-their-stories/; https://lithub.com/my-life-in-a-buddhist-cult-with-the-master/; https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/cpac-japanese-cult-leader-hrioaki-jay-aeb-b1808229.html; https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-leader-of-magical-cult-that-channels-ghost-of-trump-speaking-at-cpac; Astley, Trevor. “The Transformation of a Recent Japanese New Religion: Ōkawa Ryūhō and Kōfuku No Kagaku.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 22, no. 3/4 (1995): 343–80. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30234459.; Winter, Franz. “A ‘Greek God’ in a Japanese New Religion: On Hermes in Kōfuku-No-Kagaku.” Numen 60, no. 4 (2013): 420–46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24644729.; Hotaka, Tsukada. “Cultural Nationalism in Japanese Neo-New Religions: A Comparative Study of Mahikari and Kōfuku No Kagaku.” Monumenta Nipponica 67, no. 1 (2012): 133–57. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41686621.; McLaughlin, Levi. “Did Aum Change Everything? What Soka Gakkai Before, During, and After the Aum Shinrikyō Affair Tells Us About the Persistent ‘Otherness’ of New Religions in Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 39, no. 1 (2012): 51–75. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41495889.; Cornille, Catherine. “Nationalism in New Japanese Religions.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 2, no. 2 (1999): 228–44. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.1999.2.2.228.
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Credits:
Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host
Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host
