I've noticed this happening frequently at events I'm exhibiting at, and I've heard rumors about it, so I'm taking note. It might be necessary to reconsider where I exhibit.

- Some booths have a theme like "Friends with Aliens" at spiritual events, and they lure people into expensive seminars. It's a simplified counseling session that's a "bait and switch" – it's free if you register for their LINE account, but they don't mention that upfront. Then, they use LINE to lead people to a 1,000 yen webinar, followed by a 10,000 yen one-hour session, and then seminars costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of yen on topics like "the laws of the universe" for self-improvement. They also offer "vibration machines" that cost hundreds of thousands of yen individually as a "gift" in these seminars, which is a very strange concept. The person running the seminar seems to imply that those who don't participate are foolish, but then they say something like, "If marketing works, I won't have to worry about money anymore," which feels like a veiled threat. While it's true that they might not have to worry about money if they can extract money from naive spiritual beginners through expensive seminars, I wonder how aware they are that they're accumulating bad karma by doing so. There will come a time when they will suffer the consequences of their actions.

It seems they don't genuinely believe in aliens, but they create funny alien mascots for marketing purposes to attract naive spiritual beginners and get them to attend expensive seminars.

Despite having pictures of what appear to be alien mascots, they explain that "aliens are subatomic particles," which contradicts the idea of them having a physical form. They might say something like, "We're showing it in an easy-to-understand way," but it's clear that they're prioritizing the most effective marketing techniques. While I can understand their reasoning, there are inconsistencies in their words and actions, which raises the possibility that they are a cult or a fake spiritual group. Moreover, if aliens really existed, there would be no need to promote them. The fact that they say "in an easy-to-understand way" is very human-like. It's more likely that they are possessed by low-level spirits rather than being actual aliens. If you don't study these things, you're easily deceived by low-level spirits.

When I asked someone who claimed to be connected to "aliens" what the purpose of "aliens" helping Earth was, the staff member said, "I've never thought about that," which seems incredibly naive. They teach about "the laws of the universe," but they don't even seem to understand the most basic laws of the universe. After pretending to channel a question, the staff member responded that "there is no such thing. Aliens don't have emotions, so there's no reason for them to help." I then asked if there was a "karmic" reason, but it seemed like they didn't understand the concept of karma, and the conversation didn't go anywhere. I then pressed further and asked, "But there's karma even without emotions, right?" The staff member became irritated and repeatedly said, "That's because we said they don't have emotions. Motivation is an emotion, right?" It's clear that they don't really understand karma, and they seem to believe that it's natural to interpret things based on emotions for marketing purposes, which is correct from a marketing perspective but shallow from a spiritual perspective. It seems that this staff member is talking about aliens and the laws of the universe without even knowing the law of karma, which is a lack of knowledge. And yet, they're trying to get customers to attend expensive seminars. They never try to verify the answers, so it's impossible to have a productive conversation. I told them, "Just ask the aliens," and they reluctantly fell silent for a moment before giving an answer that seemed rehearsed: "They said they can't say." That's a different answer than before. It's a low-level spirit trick to say that you can't answer. I don't trust the channeling with "aliens" that has inconsistent answers. They start by saying things like "there's no reason to help," which sounds like 100% goodwill, but then they later say "it can't be said," which is a hidden agenda. They explain that aliens are highly advanced and have no emotions and are subatomic particles, but then they act like human-like aliens who have hidden agendas. The inconsistency in their story is suspicious. It's more likely that low-level spirits are pretending to be aliens.

There is also a way to understand this logically, but if you look at the energy of the people who are doing it, it is immediately clear. People with low energy should not attend such expensive seminars.

In fact, even the people who are doing marketing like that may be ignorant people who are being manipulated. I saw a booth selling energy machines at a spiritual exhibition a few years ago, and it seems that they are leading people to seminars that have developed from that. It may actually be just a salesperson. When you think about it that way, it makes sense that there are so many points to criticize in their stories.

Recently, there are many people who are doing spiritual-like businesses that specialize in marketing. They don't seem to have studied spirituality very much, and if you ask them a few questions, they will quickly reveal their ignorance. However, spiritual beginners may be driven by a sense of compulsion to be deceived and attend expensive seminars. It's sad.

■Other examples:

- Someone said that they were possessed by a spirit and would commit suicide if the spirit was not exorcised, and that suicide was absolutely unavoidable. Exorcism requires a large amount of money. This is a common spiritual scam. And there is a rumor that this is actually related to someone close to the event organizer. What the heck.

■Examples I have written about before:

- They recommend healing as if it were a half-threat, and then they say that you must undergo an initiation in order to achieve spiritual growth, and they make you attend expensive seminars one after another. This is another group that is quietly expanding its influence.

■Summary:

I have heard rumors about fake spiritual groups that use modern marketing techniques to promote expensive seminars, and I have had the opportunity to learn about it firsthand. If that is the case, the strange booth that I registered with on LINE a while ago may be similar. It's a scary time.

I am also surprised that traditional spiritual scams are still being carried out.

People like that exist, which is why true spirituality is misunderstood. If they claim that they do not need money, they should not be taking money. They should only take a small amount of money and do it honestly with commissions. However, "spirituality that does not need money" usually involves the organizers taking a lot of money from the students. When the students disappear, the organizers will be in trouble financially. That is a classic sign of a suspicious seminar. They use the label of spirituality because it is profitable.

In times like these, it may be better not to use the word "spirituality" at all.