Mr. Asahara increasingly has come to emphasize a Manichean vision of the world, in which good and evil are in a constant battle. He sometimes seems to see himself cast as the force that will rise up and destroy the evil --represented by the United States and Japanese Governments -- in order to save the world.
Many of Mr. Asahara's teachings are drawn from Buddhism and the occult, but he also emphasizes a Hindu god, Lord Shiva, whose role in Hinduism may bear an eerie connection to Aum's present interest in poison gases. Shiva is a god of destruction and creation, and his job is to destroy so that life can be renewed.
"Maybe he thinks of himself as a living Shiva," said Shinichi Nakazawa, a professor of religious studies who has met Mr. Asahara several times. "Shiva, you know, has two faces -- one is peaceful and one is destructive."
