Editing Aum Shinrikyo (section)

== Doctrine ==
Aum Shinrikyo/Aleph is a syncretic belief system that incorporates Asahara's idiosyncratic interpretations of Yoga with facets of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, and even the writings of Nostradamus. In 1992 Asahara published a book, within which he declared himself "Christ", Japan's only fully enlightened master and identified with the "Lamb of God". His purported mission was to take upon himself the sins of the world, and he claimed he could transfer to his follower's spiritual power and ultimately take away their sins and bad karma. He also saw dark conspiracies everywhere promulgated by the Jews, Freemasons, the Dutch, the British Royal Family, and rival Japanese religions.

Ultimately, Asahara outlined a doomsday prophecy, which included a World War III instigated by the United States. Asahara described a final conflict culminating in a nuclear "Armageddon", borrowing the term from the Book of Revelation. Humanity would end, except for the elite few who joined Aum. Aum's mission was not only to spread the word of "salvation", but also to survive these "End Times". Asahara predicted Armageddon would occur in 1997. He named the United States as The Beast from the Book of Revelation, predicting it would eventually attack Japan.<br />