Shoko Asahara - Birth of Aum Shinrikyo

Birth of Aum Shinrikyo

In 1984, Shoko Asahara officially changed his name and applied for government registration of the group Aum Shinrikyo. The authorities were initially reluctant to accord it the status of a religious organization but eventually granted legal recognition after an appeal in 1989. After this, a monastic order was established and many of the lay followers decided to join. He declared himself "Christ", Japan's only fully enlightened master and the "Lamb of God". His purported mission was to take upon himself the sins of the world. He outlined a doomsday prophecy, which included a Third World War, and described a final conflict culminating in a nuclear "Armageddon", borrowing the term from the Book of Revelation 16:16.