The Aum Shinrikyo Report: Assessment of a Terror Cult

Profile of Aum Supporters

The first members of Aum were Japanese individuals that attended yoga and meditation classes lead by Asahara.  Prospective members were often attracted to these classes by the spiritual aspects of his teachings, and his unique combination of religious doctrines.  Followers believed that, through meditation and purity of self, Asahara had reached enlightenment and therefore elevated him to the status of supreme leader and sought to achieve similar levels of understanding.  Many people attracted to the group sought spiritual answers and religious guidance, aiming to alleviate existential crises rooted in the profession-based orientation of Japanese society and its emphasis on success.  This aspect of Aum was vital to its campaign to recruit well-educated and professionally established members whose experience could facilitate obtaining and processing conventional, biological, and chemical weapons.  Many of these individuals were relatively wealthy due to their line of work, yet failed to achieve prominence or prestige in their fields, contributing to their sense of disenfranchisement from society.  As the organization gained traction amongst populations of young adults seeking religious / spiritual answers, two tiers of membership became evident:  The new recruits that were attracted to Aum’s message and meditational practices, and the senior members that were wholly devoted to Asahara’s will.[1]  The latter were assigned administrative roles that resembled those of the Japanese government’s ministries, and sought to exploit the resources and devotion of newer members striving to climb the ranks.  

The major cell of Aum was situated in Japan, although it was successful in recruiting members to cells in other countries.  The most notable of these was Russia, where the appeal of Eastern religion was strong amongst the post-Soviet population.  The largest portion of Aum followers outside of Japan were found in Russia.  The Russian branch originally drew even more followers than the Japanese branch did, however the culmination of a raid on Aum’s Moscow offices, the revoking of Aum’s status as a religion in Russia, and the damage done to Aum’s supposedly peaceful reputation by their involvement in the sarin gas bombing, served to diminished the group’s strength and presence in the country.[2]

 
  1. Brian Jackson, Aptitude for Destruction: Case Studies of Organizational Learning in Five Terrorist Groups. RAND Corporation, 2005
  2. Ibid
 

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