Mr. Sugihara- Conspiracy of Kindness- MUST WATCH!!!
Dear friends around the world,
I am not commenting on the war, the political issues or the fighting. I am simply sharing this beautiful story of Mr. Chiune Sugihara who was just one person who had compassion for others. His compassion didn’t stay intellectual or just at dinner conversations. But he put it into action. Mr. Sugihara did what he did for the sake of humanity as he could not take the untold suffering in front of his eyes daily. It was a great risk to himself and his family. His wife told him she will stand by him even if he ends up with nothing. His family eventually suffered for what he did. He received no financial gain and in the early years not any recognition. The Japanese government did not have a clear policy on the Jews and the refugees escaping death. But the foreign Ministry of Japan was against bringing the refugees into Japan although nothing was firmly decided as Japan was in alliance with Germany and Italy. It was Germany exterminating the Jewish people. He decided to defy his government and issue visas for the Jews in Lithuania to help them escape. From Lithuania with Japanese visas, were able to take the trans-Siberian railway across Russia to the Eastern front and there board a ship to arrive to safety in Kobe, Japan. In Japan the Jewish refugees recounted how kind the Japanese public was to them and treated them with dignity. From Kobe, the Jews were able to eventually resettle in North America, South America and even Shanghai. The 6,000 and more Jews he saved said clearly, if it was not for Mr. Sugihara’s defiance of his government to issue visas for the escape, they would have been butchered. Now nearly seven decades later, the descendants of these 6,000 number into 40,000 people happily living their lives in peace today. I am truly humbled from the depths of my heart with profound admiration for this man and he is one of my heroes. His wife and he himself are really people who represent humanity at their best. Mr. and Mrs. Sugihara gained no financial benefits for this action and in fact suffered for it greatly later in life. He showed the highest human courage and valor.
Mr. Sugihara said just before he passed away:
“I could not help but sympathize with their tearful entreaties. There were elderly people and women amongst the refugees. At the time the Japanese government did not have a consistent policy regarding such refugees. I thought it hopeless to try to engage them. So I decided to act without waiting for their reply. I knew that someone would eventually make a complaint. However I decided myself this was the correct thing to do. What is wrong with trying to save the lives of many people? I think what I did was natural as a human being.”
This is indeed one of the most touching documentaries I HAVE EVER SEEN. It is about how a person used his connection, power and office to save the lives of thousands!! Please take the time to watch this incredible video. Learn about this brave and kind man. Share this with your children and friends. It is very good to expose young people to these types of stories. It helps to build their character, thinking and form their minds to be the best they can. This story transcends race, culture, religion, continents, space and time. I hope one day a top budget movie will be made of this. We need more of this on the screens to offset all the violence, pain, degeneration and horror in movies these days. For now please watch the beautiful documentary I’ve included in this blog post.
Humbly,
Tsem Rinpoche
Miriam Fierberg-Ikar
Mayor of Netanya, Israel“In our Jewish tradition, there are two types of charity, one is ordinary charity and the other is ‘true charity’. Mr. Sugihara did what is called ‘true charity’. True charity is for people he did not know, people of different religions, for those who do not belong to his country, without any connections at all and whom he had never met. Sugihara did this contrary to his own safety. This is the highest act that can be achieved by mankind. He could not look away from the fate of Jewish persecution by Nazi Germany. With the help of his wife, he saved thousands of lives. Eventually history recognized his actions. Later he was honored with the title ‘Righteous Among Nations’ by the efforts of the Jews he saved. However small that symbol, it is the expression of his noblest deed. We all thank him for his highest act.”
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/v204964847qcmWnhG.mp4
An excellent documentary reproduced here for strictly educational purposes. “A Conspiracy of Kindness” is one of the most inspirational documentaries I have ever seen. I highly recommend you to take the time to watch and share.
Chiune Sugihara
Born January 1, 1900, in rural Japan, Chiune Sugihara lived during a period of extraordinary change in his home country. He was a diplomat by profession, and his memory has endured primarily thanks to his actions during a single month of his life in 1940, while serving as Japan’s consul in Kaunas, Lithuania. As World War II escalated in Europe, Sugihara wrote visas, unauthorized by his foreign ministry, permitting Jewish refugees to escape through Japan, even though they did not meet the Japanese government’s requirement for entry, and in some cases, did not even hold passports at all. This decision, which some believe may have cost him his career, ultimately meant a safe escape for thousands of Jews who otherwise would likely have been captured by the Nazis.
Sugihara grew up at a time when Japan was beginning to assert itself as a global power. In his youth, he was exposed to competing cultural influences: his mother came from a long line of samurai, whose traditions stressed loyalty to family and country above all else; yet there was also the lure of more cosmopolitan opportunities, as Japan looked outward, colonizing parts of China and Korea.
An excellent student with an independent streak, Sugihara chose to pursue his own dream of studying English literature, entering the progressive Waseda University in Tokyo instead of following his father’s wish that he become a doctor. He worked odd jobs to pay his way.
Soon after starting university, Sugihara won a scholarship from the Japanese foreign service to study Russian in Harbin, China. Then the capital of Manchuria, Harbin was an international city primarily controlled by Japan. While in Harbin, Sugihara married a Russian woman — whom he later divorced.
Manchuria was also the site of Sugihara’s first assignments after finishing his diplomatic training. As deputy consul, he negotiated with the Soviet Union to win control of the Manchurian Railroad at a favorable price for Japan. However, Japan’s cruel treatment of the Chinese in its quest for dominance was more than Sugihara could stomach. He resigned from his post in 1934 and returned to Tokyo to retrain for assignments in Europe. While there, he met and married Yukiko Kikuchi.
As Nazi and Russian troops poured into Poland in the fall of 1939, Sugihara was appointed consul general to Lithuania and moved there with Yukiko and their young children. While his official assignment was to set up a small consulate in the capital city of Kaunas, his primary responsibility was to monitor Soviet and German troop movements near the border with Russia.
During his time in Lithuania, the Sugiharas quickly became acquainted with many of the local residents, including some Jewish families, who shared with him their fears of the growing Nazi menace. These friendships may have formed at least part of what inspired Sugihara to help the refugees when Nazi troops closed in on Lithuania.
Although his own government would not officially accept such a large number of refugees, Sugihara defied protocol and wrote scores of visas every day throughout August 1940, giving thousands of desperate refugees a chance to escape a terrible fate.
Later that fall, under intense pressure from the Soviet regime, which had annexed Lithuania in June, Sugihara was forced to close the consulate. After traveling to Berlin, he was reassigned to several Japanese consulates throughout Nazi-occupied Europe through the end of the war. Sugihara was serving in Bucharest at the time of Germany’s surrender in 1945, and when the Soviets took control of Romania, he and his family were detained there for over a year in an internment camp. They were released in 1946, but detained again for months in Vladivostok on their journey back to Japan.
Upon arriving back in Tokyo in 1947, Sugihara was pressured to resign from the foreign ministry. He believed that the dismissal was a direct result of his decision to issue the unauthorized visas in 1940, though the official reason was downsizing of the diplomatic corps during Japan’s post-war occupation by the United States.
Sugihara spent the latter half of his life in relative obscurity. At times finding it difficult even to provide for his family, he worked odd jobs as a translator and interpreter, and for many years as a manager with an export company in Moscow. Sugihara never spoke of his actions in Lithuania, never actually knowing, in fact, whether the risk had done any good. His humanitarian deed went almost entirely unheralded until the late 1960s, when he was located by a man he had helped to save.
In 1985, Israel officially recognized Sugihara for his actions with an award ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, where he was declared “Righteous Among Nations” and a tree was planted there in his honor. Since his death in 1986, Sugihara has been further memorialized in his hometown of Yaotsu, Japan, as well as Kaunas (now Kovnos), Lithuania.
In 2000, Japan officially celebrated the centenary of Chiune Sugihara’s birth.
Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/sugihara/readings/sugihara.html
Mr. Sugihara. A shining example of people who selflessly help other people with no agenda. Thank you sir! Thank you very much for following in your conscience.
Mrs. Sugihara who was afraid of the risks, but supported her husband that their conscience must rule!
The young Mr. Sugihara with his family emblem (crest) on this attire
Mr. Sugihara between 1969-1975
Picture of handwritten visa courtesy of the Visas for Life Foundation The Sugihara / Curacao Visa
Handwritten visa by Sugihara
Sugihara’s image is etched on the stone monument and a testimonial to his brave deeds is written in English, Hebrew and Japanese. Beautiful. The monument is located near the Temple's West Roxbury Parkway entrance. The Sugihara Memorial Committee, composed of Temple Emeth members and the Boston area’s Japanese community, organizes an annual program to honor Chiune Sugihara in Massachusetts. In 2008, the Town of Brookline formally honored Chiune Sugihara for his deeds and the city of Tsuruga, Japan, for accepting these families.
Placing flowers at one of the memorials of Sugihara
Mr. and Mrs. Sugihara at the Consulate in Kauna, Lithuania
Sugihara Memorial in Los Angeles
Sugihara Memorial in Lithuania
Japanese Consulate where Mr. Sugihara saved so many in Lithuania. This is the very place where he issued thousands of handwritten visas that save so many.
Film on Sugihara was shot in Poland, reliving the period of 1934-1955, with international cast from Japan, France, Poland, and Russia. Audience will have a chance to enjoy the famous Japanese actor Toshiaki Karasawa’s efforts to portray Chiune Sugihara, who’s story until this very day moves everyone and embodies the values of bravery, humanity, and compassion. Lithuanian audience will recognise actress Koyuki, who portrays Sugihara’s wife in the film, from Edward Zwick’s film “The Last Samurai”.
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/v20496483RB9SNQCe.mp4
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/george-bluman-sugihara-save-jewish-family.mp4
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/sugihara-remebered-jewish-survivors.mp4
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Mr. Sugihar is such an inspiration. He had saved so many lives through his selfless actions. Although it was very dangerous to do what he did, he continued through. He risked his life, his family and his career to help who had come to him. In the end, thousands of lives has been saved because of his.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this lovely story.All of us have been deeply touched and inspired by the extraordinary courage, compassion and humanity of Mr. Sugihara. He will live on in the hearts and minds of people especially the Jews he had saved and their descendants. He did it without caring for any gain; more than that, he knew the dire consequences of helping the Jewish refugees. In the end he and his family suffered these consequences in his losing his career and livelihood. Furthermore, it was only much later that he was recognised.
These words he spoke that hold the very essence of what prompted him to act as he did -“What is wrong with trying to save the lives of many people? I think what I did was natural as a human being”- contain the very values that must be inculcated in people generation after generation.What Mr George Bluman(whose parents had been among the more than 6000 people whose lives had been saved because Mr Sugihara had issued visas to them in defiance of his Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ orders)said at the end of his interview is true. The young especially in Japan must be educated about the values that Mr Sugihara had displayed.Today people must continue to support and uphold these values that should be natural to human beings as breathing in fresh air.
Without these values, people will continue to be indifferent to the plight of other beings.Just think, if Sugihara had been indifferent to the plight of the Jews and had played safe for the sake of his job and his family’s security, the many he had been able to save would have perished in gas chambers.Today the more than 200,000 descendants of those Jewish refugees that he had saved ,continue to remember him and to be grateful. Compassion in action ,like that shown by Sugihara, must be nurtured in all. Quoting Mr George Bluman’s daughter-in-law, “The greatest happiness, as research shows, lies in helping someone else or giving him the money he needs(not in the pursuit of money for oneself)”.
Within Japanese society in those days, obedience to one’s superiors was paramount and absolute. So Mr Sugihara was a pioneer and groundbreaking, amongst Japanese at least. For him to defy convention and do what he did, took a lot of courage, he did the unthinkable by saving strangers. He was indeed a Bodhisattva for the Jewish people.
I just went to see the movie in the cinema. It was very touching indeed and I’m still thinking about it, days later. Mr Sugihara’s kindness and compassion transcended race, religion and culture. Why did he do it? If they were fellow Japanese, it would have been easy to understand, but they were Jews, no money or fame to be gained and no particular vested interest in saving them. He had nothing to gain from his choice of action, but instead he and his family suffered for it. He made his choice, to do nothing and then live with the heavy burden and guilt of turning away the thousands of Jews who came to him for help or take personal risk and take accountability for them.
By doing so, he made sacrifices. It also cost him his job and he was declared persona non grata by his own government. But in the end his conscience was clear.
What struck me about his story is that it was not that he had to decide between saving or killing lives, which would clearly be either positive or negative. The choice would have been more clear-cut. But his was a dilemma between doing nothing (neutral) and doing something (positive). By doing nothing, it was not as if he would have killed thousands by his own hand, but indirectly he would have been complicit to the Nazi’s heinous crime. By doing nothing, it would ultimately be the same as sending them to the gas chambers himself.
This brought to my mind Rinpoche’s karma chart. White karma (virtuous action) and black karma (non-virtuous action) are obvious. But neutral karma (doing nothing) is the tricky one. Neutral karma may seem like neutral outcome, but not so, according to Rinpoche. Neutral karma leads to regret, bitterness, lost chances, death, sickness and unhappiness. The end result is continual states of unpleasant rebirths, not meeting the dharma, wrong view & negative habituations. Therefore, the result of neutral karma is the same as black karma.
So if we’re supposed to be in dharma and are sitting, watching others pass by in their suffering state, and doing nothing about it, that is just as bad as harming them. We cannot sit by and do nothing and expect to face no consequences. Thank you Rinpoche for this powerful learning.
Dear Rinpoche
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story. I have read it over and over again.Mr Sugihara indeed had helped so many people regardless the races. May his story be share and told to the younger generation so as his compassion and act be inspired to all .
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/film-tv-music/mr-sugihara-conspiracy-of-kindness-must-watch.html
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this article. This is a very inspiring article in helping sentient being without agenda.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has estimated that Chiune Sugihara issued transit visas for about 6,000 Jews and that around 40,000 descendants of the Jewish refugees are alive today because of his actions. This got me to have some thoughts. Mr. Sugihara compassionate and skillful acts have save many lives. At that time, maybe he has issued more than 2000 transit visa to the refugees. But, these small figures have got more than 10,000 of peoples survived and have their decedents. A small numbers become big number just by one action. A small act of kindness has save the entire families. This got me to think that, every action that motivated by kindness (Dharma) can actually bring tremendous benefit to people.
Mr. Sugihara knew that his actions might brought him no promising future in the government, people will complaint about him, which is true that he was dismissed by the government after he returned to Japan. His wife Yukiko Sugihara, have said that the Foreign Ministry told Sugihara he was dismissed because of “that incident” in Lithuania. To support his family he took a series of menial jobs, at one point selling light bulbs door to door. He never mentioned on how he have save the Jews. This was confirmed that when the Jews came to Japan to visit him, only his neighbours knew what great action he has done. (This information came from Wikipedia) Mr. Sugihara knew this might risk his family and his life; but, he just did it. He did the actions, just because he wanted to save them. Not wanting their money, not fame, not power, he helps without agenda
His acts inspired me to benefit sentient being without agenda.
Thank you Rinpoche
With Love,
Freon
The story of Mr Sugihara is just so beautiful. He has helped so many people during such a difficult time and not letting others know about it. It is through his actions that shows that he is indeed a hero. He has placed the lives of these people in front of his and his family.
With the actions of being able to give up your own life and freedom shows how compassionate he is to these people that he has never met and will never meet. I can only imagine how grateful these people would be towards him as it is something that no one was willing to do for them at that point of time. Adding on to that, he did not get the agreement from his government, yet he is doing this because he cares. If the government found out at that time, he would be in trouble but he did not care about that, as he feels that the lives of the Jews at Germany are important as well.
It is with the actions of people like Mr Sugihara that will make this world a better place. It is through the care that we have for others that makes us a happier person.
How remarkable that someone who sacrificed his career, expected nothing in return, did what he did for the sake of people whom he barely know. Mr Sugihara put no label to the people he helped. What he had done transcended race and creed. He brought hope to the people who were persecuted in those dark war times. Mr Sugihara’s good deeds went unheard of and did not receive the recognition while he was still alive, in fact, he could not even provide for his family after he was pressured to resign from his foreign ministry position. Yet, he saved 6,000 lives. He is a living Bodhisattva of the time.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this inspiring story with us.
Humbly, bowing down,
Stella Cheang
Mr Sugihara’s story must be told, just like Oskar Shindler’s. These are the very few souls who risked their lives and dared to stand up against the majority evil at trying times where most chose to conform and stay coward for fear of their own lives. It took one person to save 6,000 people, imagine if more people like Sugihara stood up, the war might not even happen in the first place. Quote here the famous saying of Edmund Burke “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Mr. Sugihara is a light in the dark. So many jews or half-jews, opponents of the Nazi regime, had no where to turn in those days and they got murdered without any mercy. The extend of the concentration camps and the atrocities that happened is difficult to imagine.
Most people chose to use the ostrich method and put their head in the sand, pretending to not know what is happing. Mr. Sugihara did not hesitate and used his position to benefit many desperate people by saving their lives from the merciless Nazi-regime.
Thank You Rinpoche, for sharing this inspiring life and actions of Mr. Sugihara and his wife.
P. Antoinette
Where he could have just as easily abandoned the Jews, Mr Sugihara risked his own life and ultimately his career to save thousands of people. His deeds are all the more extraordinary considering the times in which he lived and acted.
The kindest people, the ones whose acts inspire others, are those who act at great personal risk, without a thought for their own safety or reputation, for the benefit of others. Oftentimes their work is done without hope for recognition too, just purely for the sake of others and we only come to find out about their good deeds by accident or when the victims raise awareness.
Without meaning to, Mr Sugihara’s actions are truly an example of activities free from the Eight Worldly Dharmas of hope for happiness and fear of suffering; hope for fame and fear of insignificance; hope for praise and fear of blame; hope for gain and fear of loss.
Dear Rinpoche
Thank you for the article. What Mr. Sugihara did is definitely very inspiring. He used one month of his life to save thousand of lives and by doing that he risked his career and financial security. It is very refreshing to see someone actually do something for others and not so much for the benefit of oneself. I also find it amazing that Mrs. Sugihara was supporting her husband knowing her comfortable life could end considering what her husband did to save the Jews.
This article made me realise that our temporary hardship is not so important compared to the life of many.
Valentina
Chiune Sugihara is a hero who displayed the supreme qualities of humanity: courage, kindness, compassion so rare to find. In the time of madness, he is able to make the right decision calmly knowing clearly the serious consequences that will land him and his family. It is a serious offence especially in the Japanese culture for a government officer to defy the government. Nevertheless, Sugihara-san’s concern was the 6000 lives he managed to save, way more important than his and his family’s.
This kind of courage stems from a genuine care and concern for fellow human beings equally where discrimination and selfish thoughts are non-existence. It is possible for us to do the same as we have all the same nature as Sugihara-san. Sugihara-san is really an inspiration and a good example who died without regret and with dignity knowing he has done great deeds in his life.
Mr Sugihara is indeed very inspirational, he risked his own life to save the 6,000 over Jews, he didn’t have to do it but he chose kindness over fear, he put their lives in front of his. What a great hero.
There are still some people who look down on Japan/ Japanese because during their invasion decades ago, they brutally killed millions and millions of lives. But the thing is that, everything has a pass, what is over is over. People really need to learn how to let go.
Japan is a beautiful country, they have worked so hard to maintain and advance the country, and they have made it. Mr Sugihara is just one of them who did good works to benefit others.
This beautiful story about Mr. Sugihara,, There are many ways to see a hero, as the main figure in a poem, play or story, sometimes as a warrior. To be a hero takes boldness, courage, and dignity. I believe a hero has to have a kind and thoughtful heart in order to achieve his actions. Along with being a hero, it takes a lot of sacrifice. Heroes sometimes sacrifice their career, future, or family, and they sometimes risk losing their lives. Not every one can be a hero, but when someone strives to help another person from danger just like Mr. Sugihara who are inspiration to all of us….
In the face of so much pain and tragedy, Mr. Sugihara choose to be the face of kindness and great courage. It is people like him that did what he did to save so many lives and risk himself getting caught and even possibly getting killed. He is no superman but he is a ‘hero’. It is people like him that shows us that kindness does exist and it is all up to us and the choices we make each day.
Mr. Sugihara is like a Bodhisattva saving millions of lives literally from getting killed and we can see the gratefulness of these people and their family whom he saved and up till today they are still grateful to him. His legacy is not about how many countries he conquered but rather how many lives he saved. One man changed the lives of so many Jewish people whom because of him they are alive.
Looking back at Sugihara’s story, I realize that the upcoming movie is more than welcomed. It is always good to be exposed to such wonderful examples of humanity who would use whatever resources they have to benefit others selflessly.
In today’s materialistic world where selfishness is the norm and such acts of kindness is becoming rarer and rarer. There’s a shortage of real heroes and reading and watching the movie is a rare treat. It is really nice that Rinpoche does so much to spread kindness and compassion in such varied forms on Rinpoche’s blog always. I am inspired to be a sugihara in my small capacity and in whatever what I can as it reflects the teachings, Rinpoche and the Protector.
Mr. Sugihara, a role model of compassion. At that critical time in 1940, Mr. Sugihara only sees suffering caused by the war and people was dying. Out of compassion he decided to do something about it using the position he had at that time. He saved 6000 lives. Without thinking much for himself and his family, which at that time he could be put himself and his family in danger. But he is acting out of his Buddha nature which without agenda, saving those people that came to him for help which he knew he cannot not doing anything out it.
In our daily lives, someone people choose to harm others using their power, fame and money. Some people using the same thing they have but choose to help others.
The greatest happiness is helping someone else.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this amazing works of Mr Sugihara here. His actions are of true compassion. He helped so many people who are not in any way related to him. He did not get any kind of benefit and in fact suffered alot with the repercussions of his decision. However, he still willing to save all these lives even if he has to risk his own.
Acts of true compassion is very rare. His story is inspiring and more people should know this story as it would benefit them.
Humbly ,
Chris
Mr. Sugihara led a very inspiring life and is a shining example of how we should all, as human beings, show compassion for each other. The Second World War is known to be one of the worst atrocities carried out by mankind, and most people around the world are aware of the immense suffering that it caused.
However, even amongst such horror and evil actions, there were people who practiced compassion and Mr Sugihara is one of those shining examples. During the war most people who have only thought about themselves but Mr Sugihara thought about others instead. This is the way to live a good and fulfilled life, that the Buddha talks about in his teachings, and every other Buddhist master since has emphasised.
Within Buddhist teachings it says that we need to practice two qualities that will lead us to the greatest achievement of enlightenment. Known as the ‘Two Wings’ these are wisdom and compassion. Without showing compassion and practicing wisdom we cannot progress in either bettering ourselves and the world or anything higher is aspiration.
Mr Sugihara’s tenacity to so save as many people as he could, without regard for the consequences, shows his true character. His strength of character is something that we should all emulate.
Too often we define ourselves by the role we play. We make decisions that enable us to fulfill this role well.
However, true heroes see themselves not as the job they hold or the title they are given to define their value to an organization. Heroes see themselves as people before anything else. They make decisions on the basis of humanity because humanity is what causes sustainability, inner and outer prosperity, quality of life, world peace and long-term happiness.
Thank you for sharing this post that shed light and hope.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for this post of True Heroism, which is a legacy that never dies.
Mr. and Mrs. Sughihara’s compassion to the Jews during the second World War had multiplied from 6,000 to current record of 40,000 human lives.
Reading such compassion and heroism humbles me greatly and to know that it is never too big nor too small a kind gesture can generate results of greatness.
Dear Tsem Rinpoche:
I am diane estelle Vicari, the documentarian who produced SUGIHARA Conspiracy of Kindness. I thank you for sharing this incredible story with your community. For me, it was a 10 years journey from discovery to delivery. It first aired on PBS in 2005, so you can imagine how happy this makes me to see that the story lives on…We need more of Mr. & Mrs. Sugihara like human in our world today and by teaching and sharing these stories, I am in hope that it will touch someone somewhere out in the world. It certainly changed my life. With gratitude.
Dear Diane,
This response is late but I wanted to thank you for bringing the good deeds of Mr. Sugihara to the public eye. I appreciate works such as yours because we live in difficult times and a time when life is such that it compels human rights to look after themselves, first and last. What you do is inspiring and is food for the soul.
The memory of a good man lives on in your works and that too is remarkable.
I hope to see more of your work and I hope that you will also learn about the great works of my teacher, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche who has touched and saved many people quietly.
Thank you
Martin
What an admirable person! There were many guardian angels during the two world wars that history tell us of, who lent a hand to and for the good of humanity. I just watched a movie about Alan Turing today who was a British mathematician/ pioneer computer scientist. His most prominent work in World War II was to break the enigma code that helped decipher the attacks the Germans were planning to make. He not only helped Britain win the war but caused the war to end quicker and saved a million lives. Mr. Sugihara was another kind being who was giving to humanity. Thank you for this wonderful post Rinpoche.
感謝仁波切與我們分享這真实且感人的事故，Mr & Mrs Sugihara 真實的例子讓我們赞叹！體现忘卻我愛執而成他愛執，如《供养上師儀軌》所说【總之凡愚为自利，能仁專修利他行，了知功罪利害心，自他相換願加持。】也是大悲心的实践吧！
This brings to mind that spiritual enlightenment has no labels attached to it. Any human has the capacity to transcend barriers of race, upbringing, status, faith and all kinds of man made designated labels. In the case of Mr Sugihara, he certainly overcame his fear and his own self preservation instincts to save so many people. He most obviously and certainly knew doing what he did, it was the end of his career and so a certain extend he put his his entire family at risk.
At different periods of time in human history, heroes are needed to shine the way during dark times. During WW2 it was necessary for Mr Sugihara to raise the bar and rise up from his comfort zone to do what was needed at that time.
This is too beautiful… too beautiful.
感谢Rinpoche 分享这感人但又有些伤感的Mr Sugihara 的真人故事。
Mr Sugihara 可以说是在乱世里的其中一位有智慧和慈悲心的外交官。他学会了英语与俄语，沾上优势。
当Mr Sugihara离职为Manchuria副外交官，这呈现出他怀有一颗慈悲心。因为他再不能忍受成千上万的华人被日本人宰杀。他为有离开，然后回去东京接受新的任务。
到后来，当Mr Sugihara要关闭Lithuania, Kaunas 的领事管的时候，大概有两百多名的逃难者，向Mr Sugihara求救，希望可以得到签证，因为这样他们才不会被Nazi 党折磨。。。Mr Sugihara 最后也答应了，因为他相信他可以违抗政府，但他不可以违背上帝。他知道，他这样做是正确的。
Mr Sugihara 所做的一切，未曾要求任何回报。当时，有几个受过Mr Sugihara 的帮助是非常的感恩。他们也相信这世界是有轮转来回。。。
就如Rinpoche 曾经开示过，对别人好，等于对自己好。
Great story thank you for sharing.
Andre
Mr Sugihara show the compassion way by saving life regardless the races! He really brave and show determination to help refugees even though may bring trouble to him and family. He is really a true hero!
Salute to Mr. and Mrs Sugihara, they have a big heart and lending their hands for those needed…
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing with us, Mr and Mrs Sugihara are the real example for us to follow, we must take our first step out hence to generate compassion in ourselves…
Mr Sugihara demonstrated great bravery and put the refugees before himself and his family. I particularly thought his remarks “I may have disobeyed my country. But by not helping the refugees i m disobeying God” was very profound. He had the courage to step up and consequently more than 40,000 people benefited from his act of kindness. One of the form of giving is giving of fearlessness, and he has done that for those refugees.
To develop such great compassion like Sugiharas’, it is said that one, must have a strong feeling for the suffering of all living beings, irrespective! When we have a deep and geniune feelings of love and compassion for all living beings, we will naturally feel close to them and think of them as precious. As such, without exception we will always have the strong wish to remove all their sufferings. Such strong realisation of great compassion, not only purify one’s negative karma very quickly, but also is said to be a fundamental asset to be able to gain enlightenment! May all living beings achieve such realisations! Om mani padme hum.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this amazing and touching post. Mr. Sugihara is truly a hero!!! His compassion is inspired by many people.May more people like him able to help more others !
All Mr Sugihara wanted to do was to help those in desperate need of help to survive from a war, to escape to a different place to live. He may not be a Bodhisattva but he knew what he had to in order to help those in need. He saved lives. It demonstrates that ordinary people like Mr Sugihara can use whatever resources he had to help others. He did not need others to tell him to do that. He felt it was his responsibility to do it.
May his reincarnation be blessed by the Buddhas.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this story. A story of an ordinary man but a hero to many. “The most important part is that, one man can make a difference” I like this quote from one of the person whose live was saved by Mr Sugihara. He was definitely a very very compassionate and kind person whom didn’t expect any form of return from anyone. Risking his own life to save others. Mr Sugihara was a hero to many and his great values should be practiced by all of us.
Thank you for the sharing Rinpoche.A very touching story of a great man who value human lives of others way above his family and his own.For his action at the time might lead to his death which due to the defiance of order from occupying forces during war times.
Mr Sugihara was a compassionate person and never ask for anything in return and there should be more people like him in this world.His descendants would be very proud of his action.Which Mr Sugihara would be a role model to humanity for infinity.
This is truly a man who lives by compassion. So wonderful. I really wish that more people would be able to open their hearts and help others regardless of the situation.
Thank You for sharing, Rinpoche. This is a very touching story.
Dear Lama
I just watched the youtube video and had a hard time controlling my emotion as what Mr. Sugihara did in defying his government and issuing those visas is really courageous. Sometimes, peer presure to conform can be really terrorizing and suffocating at best. This is an incredible man as he did what is right instead of doing what is politically correct.
Regards
Valentina
This story have been shown on Astro before. Actually he was not that famous until those whom he had helped honoured him! Sometimes, conscience does play a role… His story brought along the memory of a little girl, Anne Frank to me. However, I will definitely watch it again sometime later. Thank you Rinpoche!
Omg! This is incredibly touching tale of a rare kind and compassionate man. It’s beautiful that he did all that and gained no recognition and the world would have forgotten about it. Fortunately, he was lauded and honored in his later years because people do remember his kindness and especially when so many lives owe it to his kindness that they are still alive.
Its amazing and I think that the last statement was beautiful because it encapsulates the predicament that he went through and the decided that he followed his conscience and not upon bureaucracy. This is truly something inspirational for all of us to be Sugiharas in our work, friendships, relationship and basically throughout our lives. We just don’t know how much an act of kindness could meet a lot to the other person.
My first thought was this wonderful Japanese gentleman has practiced selflessness. From what I hear from the older generation. They say the Japanese were very cruel people. In Malaysia many people were tortured by the Japanese. The hate Malaysian had harboured for the Japanese lasted for a long time. Sugihara treated the refugees as human beings and did not follow what his country tell him to do. But he has followed what his conscience tell him is right even at the extent of disloyalty to his country. And when he was diplomat has help to free many refugees from suffering by taking the risk of approving visas before it has been approved by the first authority. With this he has shown that he is willing to risk himself one person for the sake of so many thousand refugees he can save.
I have watched the video of Mr. Sugihara’s heroic life. He is aspiration that a hero can arise from pure loving kindness. I the video, Mr. Sugihara went against his jurisdiction and helped many that were in need of his kindness. He basically stuck his head out for strangers of a different race, religion and beliefs. He just knew that these people needed help for their survival. He not just stuck his head out but he also gave all he could physically by hand writing thousands of approvals to allow the refugees to cross the border. If I remember correctly, There was this bit in the story that in order for the refugees to cross the border, they needed 3 approvals from 3 different governments of which one was by Mr. Sugihara. The approvals also had to be given in a sequence where Mr. Sugihara’s approval was second in the sequence. But when some of the refugees came, they did not have the first approval that was needed, but Mr. Sugihara gave them his approval anyways in hope that they will find their way across the border.
From this video, I learned that sometimes, we have to learn to use our hearts over our brains. When we help somebody, we must have hope that they will succeed. Given the case that Mr. Sugihara approved refugees without the first approval that is needed, he just made sure he did his part and hoped that they will be able to obtain the other approvals. He did not once thought that if those refugees he approved whom did not have the necessary approval, his efforts will be in vane. He just kept to the thought that he had to do his part and that was most important. I think that is a showing of giving unconditionally. I highly recommend that everyone watch this video. Very inspirational. Mr. Sugihara became very successful and respected just by being extremely kind.
Wee Liang
This is a stunning story of how just one person can make such a profound difference in the lives of others, no matter what it may cost him. I think maybe of us don’t really believe that we can make any real difference – we think, “But I’m just one person so what can I possibly do?” Sugihara was just one person too; he may even have been removed completely or punished for what he was doing, which would have meant that the people helping the Jews would have gone down to a big fat ZERO. But the very fact that he was willing to take this risk and do whatever he could for that moment, that day, led him to literally saving the lives of thousands.
Imagine if he had just sat back and thought “Oh what if I get caught for this, I better not” or “Oh maybe I should think about this a little bit more and do it tomorrow”. Don’t we all think these things every single day? Imagine if he had too, and all those lives would have perished because of a moment of procrastination.
Rinpoche has often said that even existing and doing nothing is collecting negative karma which ties in very strongly to the quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We may not be the ones authorising the genocide of the Jews, but if it was in our control to do something to help them and we didn’t, then we may as well have been just as responsible as the SS official who authorised the killings and concentration camps.
This is a reminder that we all have the opportunity to do what Sugihara did. It may not be under such extreme circumstances as the holocaust, but every day there is someone out there who is suffering in one way or another, and there is always something we could be doing, no matter how small it may seem to be at the time. So what are we doing?!?!
What a beacon of light in the great holocaust darkness. People like Sugihara are few in this world, but it the works and their contribution to humanity is so GREAT. Can you imagine what this world would be like if we had more Sugihara? More Mother Theresa, More Mahatma Gandhi!
We are very fortunate to have Tsem Tulku Rinpoche amongst us, a life who has reached out to the entire world, bringing lasting happiness to many yet, looked into every detail of his students welfare…if they have enough food and if the wallets they carry around has money! How can anyone not love Tsem Tulku Rinpoche?!
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
This is the same wisdom very similar to what Rinpoche has been exhorting to us all the time. That if we do nothing to alter the cause of our life of attachment to worldly things and sense pleasures, the evil of our mind – our delusions and imprints, will triumph and drag us down to unhappy states of rebirth.
During a dark period like in WW2, when evil triumphs for a short period, it is very inspiring and encouraging to witness acts of courage keeping the banner of goodness and holiness alive to overcome evil eventually.Sugihara’s a true hero of humanism and I am so glad Rinpoche shared this here.
I felt goosebumps reading about how this man risked his family and career for people who were not his blood or kin. It was not even in his job scope to do what he did. Even after he had helped so many he fell into silence and his career was put into icebox. He was one of the top diplomats of his time who outmanoeuvred the Russians during a sales transactions, he had a tremendous future doing if he just did nothing. This man chose to trust his conscience and instincts to help the Jewish families.
We always like to generalize that the Japanese people were totally demons in WW2, well not all are as we can see.
I felt goosebumps reading about how this man risked his family and career for people who were not his blood or kin. It was not even in his job scope to do what he did. Even after he had helped so many he fell into silence and his career was put into icebox. He was one of the top diplomats of his time who outmanoeuvred the Russians during a sales transactions, he had a tremendous future doing if he just did nothing. This man chose to trust his conscience and instincts to help the Jewish families.
We always like to generalize that the Japanese people were totally demons in WW2, well not all are as we can see.
Totally agree with you Wai Meng.
Andre
Dear Joe,
Please watch the videos of Mr Sugihara completely if you have not yet. It is very touching. I like it very much. I posted many other things on my blog. Please look through them slowly and learn one by one over time. Absorb and understand. It will benefit you.
Whatever posts on my blog you have read, seen or watched the videos, please leave a comment of what you have learned and how it affected you. I would like to hear from you, your learning from the post and comments.
I wish you well and to complete your spiritual path.
Thank you.
Tsem Tulku
Dearest Rinpoche,
thank you for sharing this wonderful life story of Mr. Sugihara.
The act of kindness without expecting anything in return, even losing his job and comfort. Choosing to be selfless, he saved many lives which would otherwise suffer a very cruel fate.
Mr. Sugihara has showed us, what it means by, “taking on the suffering of others happily”, how the world can be a much better place if everyone learn to respect, love, cherish, and choose to do the RIGHT thing for other fellow man.
The world is shared by every sentient beings. We can do our part to make more people understand this by adopting Mr. Sugihara’s attitude. That is, to be kind to anyone and everyone. Not only to those who can / will benefit us. Practise kindness and pray that the kindness given, can be practised by the receiver and so forth. Even a sincere smile can be an act of kindness.
🙂