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Aum Shinrikyō Discussion Group; Seventh Meeting

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During the seventh gathering of the Aum Shinrikyō Discussion Group the main issues covered in the discussions to that point were recapitulated.
          This discussion group was formed, not in order to condemn the deceitfulness of Aum Shinrikyō or Asahara Shōkō, but to determine how best to help the ordinary Aum followers who had entered the organization for religious reasons. During the six meetings held by the discussion group no one censured Aum Shinrikyō as evil. This is because we, as members of society and as representatives of a Japanese religious tradition, bear a certain responsibility for the Aum Affair, and thus must recognize the “Aum Problem” as our problem. On the basis of this recognition, it became clear that there were two principal issues that we had to address. The first was to determine what immediate steps we must take in order to provide help for ordinary Aum Shinrikyō followers; the second was to reassess what we are at present as a religious tradition and decide what directions we must develop in from now on.
          The prime consideration in any new approach that the Zen tradition takes must be to shift away from its present emphasis on funerals and memorial services and concern itself more with Zen’s original goal of alleviating the suffering of living people.
          To return to Zen’s original goal involves “doing our best to live as Zen monks even in in the midst of personal uncertainty,” as Hirate Seikō Roshi expressed it. It means to maintain the Zen monk’s basic daily practices of sutra chanting, zazen, and samu as we devote our lives to the Buddhist ideal of “seeking enlightenment above, liberating all sentient beings below,” regardless of what our circumstances as Zen priests may be. These are the foundations of the Zen priest’s life, whatever other teaching and social activities he may engage in.
          If we ourselves are to some extent responsible for the Aum Affair, that responsibility is the same as that which we bear toward the essence of our own tradition.