McVeigh, Brian J.

About the author: Dr. McVeigh received his PhD from Princeton University. He is currently Associate Professor at Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor at Chuo University (Faculty of Policy Studies), and Toyo Women's College. He is the author of Life in a Japanese Women's College (Routledge, 1996) and many articles.

Spirits, Selves, and Subjectivity in a Japanese New Religion: The Cultural Psychology of Belief in Sukyo Mahikari

1997 0-7734-8430-2
This volume is an examination of the beliefs and practices of Sukyo Mahikari; an investigation of how this movement, as a product of Japanese culture, shares a normative discourse with Japanese society; and an examination of how culture constructs mind/belief and an examination of ethnopsychological theories of self and spirit possession. Chapter headings include: Mahikari in the Sociocultural Context of Japan's Religious Tradition; The Cosmology of Mahikari; The Spirituality of Being Japanese; The Moral Authority and Power of the Cosmos; The Master Metaphor of Purity - The Symbolism of Authority and Power; Gratitude, Obedience, and Humility of Heart - The Morality of Dependency; Rituals - The Ordering of Sociopolitical Relations; Ancestors and Attaching Spirits - How Selves are Socially Produced and Presented. Appendices include Symbolism of the Divine Crest; Exegesis of the Amatsunorigoto; Additional examples of Kotodama; A Typical Month at the Dojo; Glossary; Bibliography.