PL Kyodan

PL Kyodan, or the Church of Perfect Liberty (パーフェクト リバティー教団 Pāfekuto Ribatī Kyōdan?), is a Japanese Shinshūkyō (new religious movement) founded in 1924 by Tokuharu Miki (1871-1938), who was a priest in the Obaku Sect of Zen Buddhism.[1] The stated aim of the Church of Perfect Liberty is to bring about world peace.[2]

Contents

Teachings

PL teaches that "Life is Art" and that humans are born to express their own unique individuality in everything they do — "creating true art".[2] To assist them in improving their lives and overcoming hardships, church members are taught why they have these problems and are guided in solving them by the Patriarch, Oshieoya-sama and church ministers.[2]

Precepts

PL does not have a holy book, it has 21 PL Precepts which were announced by Tokuchika Miki on September 29, 1947. These became the basic teachings of the Church.[1]

The 21 PL precepts are:[2]

  1. Life is art
  2. Man's life is a succession of self-expressions
  3. Man is a manifestation of God
  4. Man suffers if he fails to express himself
  5. Man's true self is lost when swayed by feelings and emotions
  6. Man's true self is revealed when his ego is effaced
  7. All things exist in mutual relationship to one another
  8. Live radiantly as the sun
  9. All men are equal
  10. Strive for creating mutual happiness
  11. Have true faith in God
  12. There is a way (function) peculiar to every "name" (existence)
  13. There is a way for men, and there is another for women
  14. All is for world peace
  15. All is a mirror
  16. All things progress and develop
  17. Comprehend what is most essential
  18. At every moment man stands at the crossroads of good and evil
  19. Act when your intuition dictates
  20. Live in a perfect unity of mind and matter
  21. Live in Perfect Liberty

Membership

The church claims to have more than one million followers worldwide and 500 churches located in ten countries.[3]

Most of the parishes are located in Japan, but due to the active missionary work in the 1960s PL was established in South America and the United States as well. In the 21st century it also has a presence in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru. The Oceanian headquarters was founded in the 1990s in Brisbane, Australia. Small communities exist in Europe as well, especially in France, Portugal and Hungary.

1970 saw the construction of the 600-foot-tall (180 m) PL Peace Tower, a monument to all the people who have died in war, from the beginning of time.[1]

Organization

PL's spiritual leader, the Patriarch, is called Oshieoya-sama, (English: Father of the Teachings). The third and current Patriarch of the church is Takahito Miki.[1] Miki is also the vice president of Shinshuren, the Federation of New Religious Organizations of Japan.[4]

The second Patriarch Tokuchika Miki three times visited the Holy See, and met two Popes to improve inter-religious cooperation.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Church of Perfect Liberty (July 11, 1996). "PL History". http://web.perfect-liberty.or.jp/history.html. Retrieved 2007-11-02. 
  2. ^ a b c d Church of Perfect Liberty Canada (January 31, 2003). "What is PL?". http://www.perfectliberty.ca/whatispl_c.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-02. 
  3. ^ Church of Perfect Liberty (September 27, 2007). "PL Home Page". http://web.perfect-liberty.or.jp/index.html. Retrieved 2007-11-02. 
  4. ^ Rissho Kosei-kai (December 2004). "RK World News Archives 2004". Archived from the original on 2007-11-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20071116065241/http://www.rk-world.org/news/newsarc04.html. Retrieved 2007-12-06. 

External links