Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese doomsday cult that was active from 1987 until 2000.  The group was created and lead by Shoko Asahara, the self-proclaimed prophet and supreme leader who indoctrinated a unique and extreme religious ideology amongst his followers, the first of whom he originally met through a yoga / meditation group he lead.  The religious doctrine adopted by Asahara and his followers focused on reaching enlightenment through a combination of transcendental forces, including Buddhist meditational practices, the Hindu karmic cycle (with a significant focus on Shiva, the god of destruction), the Judeo-Christian notions of Armageddon, and paradise on earth through the purification of humanity;  Such beliefs contributed to the nature of the group’s organization, behavior, and methods of attack.  Aum worked to isolate itself and its members, encouraging them to cut all ties with professional, personal, and familial connections that were unaffiliated with the organization and therefor deemed impure.  By recruiting unfulfilled and disgruntled, yet established and well-educated elites from several technical and scientific fields, Aum extended the scope of their capabilities from conventional weapons - such as assault rifles and rocket launchers - to those of chemical and biological nature - such as sarin, VX, and anthrax; Aum’s (ultimately unsuccessful) inquiries with post-Soviet scientists and officials about the costs and processes of buying and/or manufacturing nuclear weapons serve to further demonstrate the group’s commitment and ideological extremism.