What's new

New religion

Might you consider combining Shinto with a second New religion?

  • No

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

ourview

Registered
5 Feb 2016
3
0
11
Hello there,
My name is John.
I would like to start by saying, that I have attempted to create a new religion that can be used alongside Shinto.

I need to know how I can attract followers of the Shinto religion to follow my religion. I will disclose some details about my religion.

My religion has a name, but this will be kept secret for now. It means "The Harmony Of Unravelling."
It attempts to challenge the Shinto notion of no doctrine or preaching, through creating its own doctrine. It states that because no doctrine is allowed, and there is demand for no doctrine in Shinto, an outside challenger is required. This challenger is me.

I saw the attainable flat line. I saw that I could create doctrine where this flat line exists. Next to the line, is the mountain of Shinto practice. The religion of "The Way" and practice.

After the hard work was done creating the doctrine, I knew one thing. The easily attainable is the unattainable. I may have created a doctrine, but there is still space on the other untouched side of the mountain. This side, on the right of the mountain, I call foundations.

And so will exist new rules for Shinto followers to look at and try and practice, and they will find existential flaws in these rules. For, once came hard work that was easily attainable according to unattainability laws, and then the foundations were left anew for flaws to be detected. If you imagine a diagram of a mountain in the middle and on the left is a flat line at the bottom. On the right, is no line. The hard work is the flat line. Your Shinto practice is the mountain that I have not climbed and will not climb in favour of my doctrine being a suitable challenge. On the right, is empty foundations; no line drawn. This is where I create the second (new doctrine) of rules for Shinto followers to test, before they accept the original doctrine of hard labour, which is 140 pages long and possibly may end up being 150.

I hope people can give me some advice on how to go about setting my plans into motion, and any questions are welcome. I see Shinto as a religion of peace and a way forward. The new way can be "the harmony of unravelling," and it is a way of establishing doctrine in Shinto.

Thankyou, respect, peace and harmony.

-- John.
 
The problem is that there are very few followers of Shinto in the traditional sense.
Many Japanese follow Shinto-rooted customs as a matter of tradition but are not adherents in the way you might be imagining.
So really the question comes down to attracting followers of a new religion in general. For that my opinion is that you need that special personality that attracts people to follow you. If you don't have it, it might be difficult to get it, but you could try studying people who have done it such as Asahara Shoko, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Warren Jeffs, etc. I'd say L. Ron Hubbard is the most successful of modern times considering that his religion has outlived him.
 
You got all your knowledge of Shinto from American kids who in years past would have seen themselves as vampires, goths, or the like?

I can't imagine how wide a net one would have to cast in Japan to have a chance of snaring even one person who could tell you what the "doctrines" of Shinto are or who "practice" it in anything even remotely approaching what most could consider as a religion.

That being said, Japanese are often quite susceptible to new religions. Peddle your woo to your heart's content. What's your personal title and function in this new hobby of yours?

L. Ron Hubbard couldn't carry Joseph Smith's stovepipe hat.
 
You got all your knowledge of Shinto from American kids who in years past would have seen themselves as vampires, goths, or the like?

A valid point. I would say to this: The intellectual property rights of the group that I subscribe to, must be honoured, hence, I consider myself a follower of intellectual property and not of any flashy group.

The problem is that there are very few followers of Shinto in the traditional sense.
Many Japanese follow Shinto-rooted customs as a matter of tradition but are not adherents in the way you might be imagining.

Thank you for the useful input. I can see what you mean. I think, if the religion is about practice, then there can be no harm to saying that there are no rights or wrongs to the practice, only the willingness to take part. I would advocate my religion to a Japanese person and then wish to watch it spread. But maybe this is the problem; asserting the rights and wrongs of a practice: When people believe in something, they believe in it due to some level of righteousness.

An interesting point to consider, thank you.

Thank you both for your replies. Although, I won't comment on special authors or cult leaders just yet until I've gone through other matters first.
 
Thinking about this , in my two years in Japan , I never once heard religion discussed. I did see many homes with the small shrine for a deceased family member , but never saw anyone go to a cemetery.
 
I did see many homes with the small shrine for a deceased family member, but never saw anyone go to a cemetery.

We are living close to a huge cemetery, and it's quite busy (in a spiritual as well as a recreational sense); even more so during obon and the days around spring and autumn equinox when people pay respect to their ancestors.
 
L. Ron Hubbard couldn't carry Joseph Smith's stovepipe hat.

Good point. Joseph Smith was so successful, he's not even top of mind. Mormons are mainstream now. At least mainstream enough to almost make it into the white house without anybody batting an eye.

Thinking about this , in my two years in Japan , I never once heard religion discussed. I did see many homes with the small shrine for a deceased family member , but never saw anyone go to a cemetery.

As thomas said, shrines/temples are very busy as people go there for various blessings and to pray for their dead. You can tell it's working out for the monks when you see them driving around in BMWs. In terms of practicing religion, just one time I saw somebody -- a friend's Dad I think -- doing some sort of buddhist chant in his home.
Certainly Japan is ripe for cults. When I was there in the mid-1990s there were young people who would stop you on the street and ask to pray(?) for you, holding up the palm of their hand aimed at your forehead. They disappeared a few years later (I wonder if they had anything to do with Aum Shinrikyo).
 
Last edited:
When I was there in the mid-1990s there were young people who would stop you on the street and ask to pray(?) for you, holding up the palm of their hand aimed at your forehead. They disappeared a few years later (I wonder if they had anything to do with Aum Shinrikyo).

I don't know if they were Aum, but I would bet the Aum nonsense and backlash played a role in their disappearance. (Aum, under a different name, is still active and still attracting converts).

I remember some of those guys you're talking about wanting to so their bit on me one time. I told the one who accosted me he could do it, but only if I stood several meters away from him. He insisted he had to lay his palm on my forehead for God's blessing to flow through him to me. I asked him how it was his God could fling his power all the way across the universe to him and make the trip....only to peter out in the last ten feet. Didn't impress me as much of an omnipotent being. It's amazing how the human mind can twist what is self-evidently an act of total self-aggrandizement and dress it up as humility and doing God's work.
 
The Mormons are pretty active in Japan.

I sometimes stop and pretend to be interested just because it warms my heart to see the joy they have due to finally having someone to whom to proselytize. They get seriously excited, and they're terribly nice people.

Meh, why not give them 15 minutes of happiness?
 
Certainly Japan is ripe for cults. When I was there in the mid-1990s there were young people who would stop you on the street and ask to pray(?) for you, holding up the palm of their hand aimed at your forehead. They disappeared a few years later (I wonder if they had anything to do with Aum Shinrikyo).

I remember those too. They were/are called Mahikari; and seemed to be at every train station and major shopping centre for a year or two in the 90s.
Mahikari - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I remember some of those guys you're talking about wanting to so their bit on me one time. I told the one who accosted me he could do it, but only if I stood several meters away from him. He insisted he had to lay his palm on my forehead for God's blessing to flow through him to me. I asked him how it was his God could fling his power all the way across the universe to him and make the trip....only to peter out in the last ten feet. Didn't impress me as much of an omnipotent being. It's amazing how the human mind can twist what is self-evidently an act of total self-aggrandizement and dress it up as humility and doing God's work.

I think I allowed it 2 or 3 times. They never put their hand on my head, just in front of it. One time I said 痛い、痛い! to his surprise. I think for a split second he thought he had some real mojo before he realized I was joking.

To the original poster, you should take a look at that Wikipedia page. It talks about some of the "new religions" in Japan, all of which incorporate some aspects of Shinto. Maybe yours can be the next one.
 
After the hard work was done creating the doctrine, I knew one thing. The easily attainable is the unattainable.
Circular thinking (I won't even call it reasoning). Frankly, this whole idea of a "new religion" sounds awful and little more than a scam, intentional or otherwise, perhaps just to gain a visa that you couldn't get otherwise and maybe even to make money and avoid paying taxes.

This is where I create the second (new doctrine) of rules for Shinto followers to test, before they accept the original doctrine of hard labour, which is 140 pages long and possibly may end up being 150.
This is the clearest you have been in attempting to describe this thing, and it falls flat on its face, IMO.
#1. work hard
#2. we haven't figured out this yet, work in progress

It means "The Harmony Of Unravelling."
It attempts to challenge the Shinto notion of no doctrine or preaching, through creating its own doctrine. It states that because no doctrine is allowed, and there is demand for no doctrine in Shinto, an outside challenger is required.
Gobbledygook. Assertion. Foundationless babbling.
And so will exist new rules for Shinto followers to look at and try and practice, and they will find existential flaws in these rules.
At best, you are describing philosophy, not religion, and badly at that.

You can't even explain this well to native English speakers. How in the world do you expect to sell this to Japanese?

I hope people can give me some advice on how to go about setting my plans into motion, and any questions are welcome.
My first advice is to reconsider what it is you are actually doing. Ninety-nine percent of all religions have had a deity. Does yours?
If you are still in the process of writing the doctrine itself, but have completed 140 out of 150 pages, why don't you express it in 1 or 2 sentences for us to examine and critique? If you can't do that (or if you feel you have already done so), you're not going to get anything across to Japanese, whether they are the staunchest followers of Shinto or (as Mike explained) mere casual "followers".
 
Now I'm even more curious to see this 140 page document - what kind of customs and god(s)/kami it introduces. Is it just a list of rules, or is it in story form like existing holy scriptures? What do you mean by "unravelling"? (It doesn't sound like something you'd want to do to someone's body *or* mind)
 
Back
Top Bottom