“2012” by Ryuho Okawa

The end of the world? Not if Ryuho Okawa has anything to say about it! And he has quite a bit to say, as usual. Although this time most of the talking is done by the spirits of Montezuma and Quetzalcoatl. That’s how they appear in this book, at least.

The book 2012 is one of two I recently discovered on Smashwords. I tend to buy any books from Happy Science, although I have had a couple disappointments, even they have been interesting at least.  Happy Science is a Japanese new religion. Technically it is a cult, in the same way as Christianity, a religion centered on one man who is believed to be divine. Unlike Jesus Christ, Japanese author Ryuho Okawa is neither dead nor resurrected, but he obviously has some other qualities to inspire his followers. Like having written over 800 books in less than 30 years. This is one of them.

The book is a bit overpriced compared to its length. This seems to be a trend now that IRH press has taken over publishing the English versions themselves rather than licensing them to overseas spiritual publishers. Perhaps they feel that people should be expected to pay this much for books by a god? Or perhaps they just are unfamiliar with the price level in the English-speaking market. This is quite possible. I know from my own homeland, Norway, that book prices here are several times higher than in America, so much so that I prefer buying Norwegian books in English translations. Perhaps the same is true for Japan? Japanese anime certainly is expensive compared to American cartoons, so that may explain it. Anyway, prepare your wallets, I paid around 15 bucks for some 25000 words. Of course, being Norwegian, I don’t have a problem paying 15 dollars for a book, but your economy may vary.

Now for the book itself. It is sold as non-fiction, but I think some will disagree.

***

There is a prophecy that the world will end in 2012, more exactly on December 22. This is because the end of the Mayan calendar happens at this time. That seems a pretty flimsy excuse for ending the world. The world of the Mayans has already ended, so to speak, when their kingdom dissolved shortly after the year 900, even though their descendants still live in the area. The Aztec empire was to some extent inspired by the Mayans who preceded them. The Aztecs lived further north, in today’s Mexico.

Earlier this year, a calendar was found that included the next cycle, showing that Mayans did not actually expect the world to end this year after all. But the book I review was written in 2011, so this information is lacking.

Ryuho Okawa may be considered the greatest god on Earth, but even gods can’t know everything when they are incarnate. So he used his powers as the world’s greatest spiritual medium to place a general call to the spirit world, asking for whichever spirit was most involved with the 2012 prophecy. He then acted as host for the spirit, while his assistants interviewed it. They got quite a surprise. The spirit was that of the last Aztec king, Montezuma. But more worrying, he claimed to now be the guardian spirit of Barack Obama, and planned to use him to fulfill the Mayan curse in December 2012.

The book includes the full interview with the spirit of Montezuma. He does not seem all that impressive to me, and probably not to the Japanese either. He insisted that he did not want revenge on the Caucasians or the Christians, he just wanted to get the karma back to the middle by ending their dominance. He spent a good deal of his time talking about aliens and an expected alien invasion, but the connection between this and what he said before about ending the Christian calendar was pretty vague. All in all, for a great statesman he did not seem all that enlightened.

The more the contrast to the second interview in the book, where Okawa summons Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god, whom Montezuma had mentioned a couple times. Montezuma believed that Quetzalcoatl was actually Jesus Christ. Now, a while after the previous interview, Quetzalcoatl had contacted Okawa saying that he wanted to give a message. This happens from time to time. So Okawa let the spirit of Quetzalcoatl enter his body and let his assistants interview him.

This was a very different and somewhat hair-raising read. The spirit of Quetzalcoatl appears far more intelligent, coherent and spiritual. First, he confirmed that he was Jesus, but did not make an issue of it. In fact, he seemed surprised that he had lived a long life without being killed this time.

(In the lore of Happy Science, there are ten 9-dimensional spirits or Saviors, of which Amor (Jesus Christ) is one and El Cantare (Ryuho Okawa) another, but due to the vast spiritual power of these beings they can only pack up to 1/5 of their consciousness into one mortal body at a time. They can however send less, and there is also a difference of how “core” the personality is that they incarnate. Okawa is the very core of El Cantare, the most exact representation of his being and the most powerful. Jesus Christ was supposedly something similar for Amor. Still, it seems to have baffled everyone that Jesus would send even a fringe incarnation to Meso-America without telling his good friend Ryuho Okawa. There is no mention of this in The Golden Laws, which details the appearance of the Great Spirits in human history. Then again, Japanese generally don’t consider Latin America and Africa “human history”, more like pre-history I guess. Actually Quetzalcoatl took them to task for that.)

Quetzalcoatl does not consider the aliens much of a problem. His worry is something else entirely: Japan is about to get destroyed by a human army, and Okawa’s life is in danger. It is of the utmost importance that Okawa completes his message to the world before he dies and gets it to Latin America, where it will survive after the fall of Japan. Quetzalcoatl scolds Okawa’s disciples for their lack of devotion, saying that they treat Happy Science as a business and don’t see the importance of saving souls. He also takes the religion to task for its focus on material progress. God does not particularly care about material progress, says Quetzalcoatl: People are often more likely to seek salvation in hard times. Civilizations rise and fall because that is the way they were designed to work. To the gods, this is comparable to a washing machine, that shakes things up and down to get rid of the dirt. So there are good times and hard times, you cannot escape that. You need to save the souls, that is the purpose of religion, not to run a successful business.

Quetzalcoatl also states that the failure of the Happiness Realization Party to win political influence in Japan was due to the poor quality of Okawa’s disciples, they are 20 years behind the curve and it may be too late to save the country now. Thus his invitation to bring Happy Science to Latin America, where he will watch over it after Okawa is gone. You are only thinking about Japan, he scolds the Happy Science staff: We are trying to save souls in countries you don’t even know the name of!

Okawa seems taken aback after the end of the interview. Still, the afterword of the book states once again that the future will be bright if you believe in him and improve your mind. As humans, we have the divine ability to create, and together we can create a better future.

But it does not escape my notice that he has just this summer released a movie in Japan detailing the invasion by a superior Asian military power, and how in that case the nation can only be saved by spiritual means. I look forward to seeing it. Is this the legacy of Quetzalcoatl?

7 thoughts on ““2012” by Ryuho Okawa

  1. So Japan is about to be destroyed? Well, there’s a turn up for the books; last I heard from this “re-born Buddha”, Japan was to become the world’s next super-power. In fact, back in the day (1991, I believe), “Master” Okawa/Jesus/Hermes/Ophealis/El Cantare – or, let’s be honest, failed financial non-entity Takashi Nakagawa – was telling his followers that “[i]n the 21st century, there will be no enemies for Leviathan [Japan]. It will slash throats of the old eagle and the exhausted red bear, and laugh at the aging Europe. It will use China as a slave and Korea as a prostitute.” About the only people made “happy” by such rhetoric would be those hard-core right nationalists who want Japan to re-arm with nuclear weapons and undertake a unilateral first-strike against North Korea; unsurprisingly, that includes Okawa/Nakagawa himself, if the party’s election speeches from 2009 are anything to go by. This guy changes his “predictions” about as often as he changes his underwear.

    Okawa is a con-artist of the first order. For a start, he claims to have written over 500 books – 52 in the last year alone – one every week! He would have to be a god to have written all of them on top of the whirlwind number of appearances he makes in various locales; more likely, he keeps a gaggle of ghost writers in one of his mansions or in the basement of one of the increasing number of huge temples the sect builds filled with giant gold statues of him – rather odd behaviour for the re-born spirit of the Buddha, one of the strongest advocates for a life without possessions. But then of course, he’s also the re-born spirit of just about every other major religious figure, both actual and mythological; maybe one of the others was a rapaciously greedy, power-hungry war-monger and he’s still got the hangover.

    His latest forays in Uganda have thrown up his real agenda – making more money out of the gullible. He claims masses of followers in India and South America, though it’s hard to know what the figures are, since HS keeps that kind of information under wraps; the numbers are fudged by HS regularly claiming those who have simply signed up for the monthly e-newsletter as members. Tellingly, his cult is much less successful in the West and in his home country of Japan – hence the dire “predictions” by Quetzalcoatl and the admonitions to his followers to try harder to convert the masses. Naturally, the fact that his enterprise is running out of steam in those countries is not his fault – it’s all the doing of his lazy followers and those pesky demons that also keep interfering with his “predictions” and making this turn out differently.

    He has also explained away his recent divorce from wife Kyoko – formerly “the reborn Aphrodite and the bodhisattva of wisdom and intellect”, but now (according to Okawa/Nakagawa) ex-wife of Lucifer – yes! really! – who is still influencing her thoughts and behaviour. Well, that would have to be right, since what women in her right mind would choose to leave a marriage to a god? This explanation is right up there with the claims he makes about all the ancient civilisations that have come and gone (and which he, of course, ruled in their golden ages) in the geologically recent past. It seems there have been quite a number; Atlantis was – naturally – one of them. These extensive, highly technologically advanced civilisations rattled along just fine until whichever incarnation Okawa/Nakagawa was died. After that, they fell apart in a few generations and sank into which ever ocean they happened to be near.
    Except that this is impossible. The geo-tectonic forces needed to make an entire continental landmass, or even a large island, sink into the ocean are enormous; they would register 10+ on the Richter scale. Events like that haven’t been seen since the early days of the earth’s formation; we know this because such events leave distinct evidence of themselves. Okawa/Nakagawa claims that all these civilisations came and went in the last 250,000 years; to someone with no education in geology that would seem like a long time – in terms of the earth’s history, it is yesterday. To give you some perspective; the recent earthquake that caused the devastating Tsunami in Fukushima registered 9+ on the Righter scale. It was one of the most powerful quakes on record; it was so strong that it shifted the earth’s axis – our day is fractionally shorter as a result. And the only geophysical outcome from this event? One small island off the coast of Japan moved about 1.5 cm closer to the shore. Somehow, the idea that that large, highly complex civilisations vanished without a trace beneath the ocean waves seems less likely, don’t you think?

    I find it difficult to believe that anyone could take Okawa/Nakagawa and his mishmash of new-age, quasi-religious nonsense seriously, but clearly many do; the guy is as rich as Croesus. I just wish I lacked integrity to the same degree he does; I might not be happy with myself, but at least, as Mark Twain said, I could be miserable in comfort.

    • Welcome back! Yes, writing a book each week is certainly amazing, even for the reincarnation of the god of speed. I wish I could write that fast! Well, I guess I could go at least part of the way, if I were allowed to do the same thing he does. You see, the ghost writers are almost certainly not in his temples or palace. They are *in his head*. Ghosts, spirits, voices in his head, whatever you call them – they are doing most of the heavy lifting for him. As in this book, almost all the text comes from the two ghosts. His recent frenzy of books has been largely filled with messages from various such spirits. I have some experience with the power of the subconscious, so I have no problem believing that he can channel entire books, at least if they are as short as this one was.

      The plethora of sinking continents is not Mr Okawa’s invention even, although it seems he has added a few of his own. Atlantis, Mu, Lemuria at the very least have been discussed for a long time, and various smaller civilizations have their own stories of sinking worlds. My Viking ancestors had their own legend of a global flood. I suspect all of these stories ultimately lead back to the sudden end of the previous ice age, and the melting of the polar caps which at that time reached all the way down to Paris or thereabout. That’s a lot of water, although it took generations rather than days for the previous coast lines to become the bottom of the sea. I rather doubt the Cro-Magnon had airship either, although the legends spoke about such things centuries before the Wright brothers pulled their stunt. Well, we may soon find out. With global warming now past the point of no return, coming generations are likely to find out how much of OUR advanced civilization will survive once London, New York and Tokyo all lie safely under the sea. Interesting times indeed.

      Well, I doubt any Happy Scientists will step up to defend him from your attacks, much as I’d love to watch them discuss with you. And I really belong to a competing religion. But at least the guy is interesting. I have got a lot of great ideas from him over the last few years. He is doing wonders for my fiction too. Imagine that. ^_^ Thanks to Happy Science, I can now reliably write 50 000 words in one month. That’s still far behind a book each week, but then I make no claim to be a god either, so far. Long may it last.

    • Hi Helen. If you are still there I would appreciate your help trying to get over the cult influence that Happy Science put me under over the last five years. After seeing Okawa in person it became clear to me that he is a fraud, I just don’t know how much. Your words helped me process it further. I would appreciate more evidence of his not writing any of those books. The books are full of beautiful teachings mixed in with his twisted conceit. Do you think he had a ghost writer(s) write most or all of his books. After hearing him speak I wouldn’t be surprised if he did not write any of it.

  2. I happened to come across your blog while I was surfing the net. I am Japanese and am living in Japan. I used to be an avid reader of Okawa. I would subscribe Happy Science magazine long time ago, but I wasn’t his believer. I wonder how you guys above know so much about the details, such as his divorce because I don’t guess you guys read Japanese.
    You mention his 52 books. Do you know what they really are? I don’t think they are translated in English. His books are, in a word, ghosts books. To be exact, guardian spirits tell him, for instance, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Kim Jong Il, whoever living or dead. What kinds of people believe him, except for his followers? In Japan, nobody pays attention to him, and his books. His books are a waste of paper. He made their own political party, but no single one has chosen. You can see clearly how unpopular Happy Science is in Japan.
    Speaking of his divorce, he complained his ex-wife’s bad breath. What kind of terrible ex-husband he was? You say Okawa is a con-artist. I agree with you. I can add more. He is Japan’s shame. How embarrassing.
    Because of my poor English reading skills, it is a bit hard for me to read your writings. I will try, if I have time.

    • Thank you for reading!
      I would think Okawa must be somewhat popular in Japan since he has several temples there? It surprises me that people build temples to him but not vote for him. After all, building a temple is quite expensive.

      • He has many temples because he can afford to build them from the sales of all those books + a lot of member donations.

  3. Self-correction. I should have written “no single one has been chosen”.
    Thank you for your reply. Let me try to explain the temples. I can think of two reasons. One is, since Happy Science is a religious organization, they don’t have to pay tax in Japan. The other is Happy Scientists “must” donate lots of money. I’ve heard of lots of sad stories. So many Happy Scientist families have been broken. Some are in debt. What a pity. What the heck is El Cantare? What kind of Buddha steals your money? Okawa is not reborn Buddha at all, but could be reborn Hermes because it is said to be a god of “thief”. In Japan, people often say that Happy Science is Unhappy Science. I am glad to know that you are not Happy Scientist. You can be richer and happier. I hope you stay there. Just read his books and watch his anime. You must not cross the border.

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