New Religious Movements as Transnational Providers of Social Support

Analysis of the functioning of new religious movements (NRMs) as transnational organisations is a relatively new academic field of enquiry (Smith 2008a). Indeed, many NRMs operate in the same way as transnational corporations (TNCs), ¹ with the same scale of personnel (members), property holding (centres, headquarters, pilgrimage shrines), staffing issues (posting qualified administrators internationally), budget (donations and sales of spiritual literature and artefacts), and the same transnational, cross-cultural management issues, minus the profit motive. But while the focus of organisational life in TNCs is the maximisation of monetary profit, the focus of NRMs is a spiritual one and their aim is to provide tools, here designated ‘spiritual technologies,’ for the spiritual development of individuals and the good of the wider society through an ethos of service. It is therefore meaningful to re-examine the research on NRMs for insights into the way they function as providers of social support to their members and others. This chapter will examine the institutions and practices of a transnational NRM, Sukyo Mahikari (henceforth Mahikari), based in Japan, which provides care and support to its members.