Church of World Messianity

OK, Grove, Headstone Symbols and Meanings, Church of World Messianity

THE CHURCH OF WORLD MESSIANITY -  The Church of World Messianity (世界救世教 Sekai Kyūsei Kyō in Japanese), abbreviated COWM, is a Japanese new religion founded in 1935 by Mokichi Okada.  The religion's key concept is johrei, claimed to be a method of channeling divine light into the body of another for the purposes of healing.

Members believe that, in 1926, Okada received a divine revelation and was empowered to be a channel of God's Healing Light (johrei) to remove illness, poverty, and strife from the world and inaugurate a new Messianic Age.  Okada's teaching is represented by the scripture, Johrei, which has been edited and translated by the Society of Johrei, an offshoot of COWM.

According to anthropologist of religion Winston Davis, Mahikari groups are comparable to Church of World Messianity and follow basically the same healing ritual.