PL Kyodan
 PL Kyodan (short for "Perfect Liberty Kyodan"), or the Church of Perfect Liberty (パーフェクト リバティー教団, Pāfekuto Ribatii Kyōdan), is a Japanese shinshūkyō (new religious movement) founded in 1924 by Tokuharu Miki (御木徳一; 1871–1938), who was a priest in the Ōbaku sect of Zen Buddhism.[1] The stated aim of the Church of Perfect Liberty is to bring about world peace.[2] It is headquartered in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. TeachingsPL teaches that "Life is Art" and that humans are born to express their own unique individuality in everything they do, "creating true art".[2] To assist them in improving their lives and overcoming hardships, church members are taught why they have these problems and are guided in solving them by the Patriarch (known as oshieoya-sama, 'teacher-parent') and church ministers.[2] In PL Kyodan, God is referred to as Daigenrei (大元霊) (lit. 'Great Original Spirit') or Mioya Ōkami (大元霊) (lit. 'Great Parent God'), both of which are different readings of the same characters (大元霊).[3] PreceptsPL does not have a holy book, but it has 21 PL Precepts (PL処世訓21ヵ条) which were announced by Tokuchika Miki on September 29, 1947. They became the basic teachings of the Church.[1]
Other texts used by PL Kyodan include PL Gaido Bukku (PLガイドブック) [PL Guidebook] and PL kyōten (PL経典) [PL Prayer Book]. Membership The church claims to have more than one million followers worldwide and 500 churches located in ten countries.[6] Most of the parishes are located in Japan, but due to the active missionary work in the 1960s PL was established in South America and the United States as well. In the 21st century it also has a presence in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru. The Oceanian headquarters was founded in the 1990s in Brisbane, Australia. Small communities exist in Europe as well, especially in France, Portugal, and Hungary. 1970 saw the construction of the 600-foot-tall (180 m) PL Peace Tower, a monument to all the people who have died in war, from the beginning of time.[1] OrganizationPL's spiritual leader, the Patriarch, is called Oshieoya-sama ('Father of the Teachings'). The third and current Patriarch of the church is Takahito Miki (御木貴日止).[1] Miki is also the vice president of Shinshuren, the Federation of New Religious Organizations of Japan.[7] The second Patriarch, Tokuchika Miki, visited the Holy See three times, and met two popes to improve inter-religious cooperation.[1] ActivitiesEvery year on August 1, the PL Art of Fireworks is held to commemorate the two founders of PL Kyodan.[3] References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Church of Perfect Liberty.  Wikiquote has quotations related to PL Kyodan.
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