In September of 2000, Saburo Sakai, a Buddhist of more than 50 years, passed away. Becoming a Buddhist
in the late 1940’s, Sakai lived nearly his entire life as an Acolyte – a strict practicing Buddhist who believed
in the sanctity of life as it applied to all living things. In other words, Saburo Sakai would not harm any living
thing, be it man, or beast. Saburo Sakai was so cognizant of the preciousness of life that he would not even
harm a fly! If a fly landed on or near him, Sakai would simply consider it as a sign from God, reminding him
that he is not the only creature for whom God spent a manner of time in designing and creating.
This practice of pacifism is quite different from that, which we see here in the United States. Here we have
our humanists, but they generally do not carry their disposition as far as Sakai did his pacifism. Here in the
United States We have our ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and our
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), and there are others. But none of them carry their
docile message of man’s need to be humane to non-human creatures to quite the degree as Saburo Sakai
did.
I know that I carry my pacifism a little further than that with which I was raised, but I must admit that I will
swat any fly that lands on a counter top in my kitchen, and I will kill any wasp that builds its nest under my
carport.
But Saburo Sakai swore and oath, and as far as it is known he kept his oath and never knowingly and on
purpose caused the untimely demise of any living creature, no matter its species, until the day of his death.
And for that, although we may not exactly understand him, we can commend him. He is, after all
commendable, is he not? His disposition toward God’s creatures is a commendable disposition, is it not? It
is. Or, might we say, it was. Or actually, that is the way it became.
Became? Yes, I said, became. You see, Saburo Sakai had not always been so gentle and such a pacifist.
Saburo Sakai had for the first couple of decades of his life led a different sort of existence. Sakai became a
monk sometime during the 1940’s, but Saburo Sakai had been born in August of 1916, somewhere around 30
years before he became a Buddhist. And it is what he did during those 30 years that makes him of interest
to us here today.
No, I am not going to tell you that Saburo Sakai was a serial killer or something like that, but Saburo Sakai
was responsible for the death of several human beings in his life. As a matter of fact, although the exact
figures are unknown, Saburo Sakai is credited with the deaths of at least 54 human beings! It may be that
he is responsible for many more than that, but in all the research that has been done into Sakai’s life, 54 is
the only number I can find that has been somewhat verified.
But we cannot fault Sakai for what he did. Saburo Sakai had been born into a simple farm family, and as
such had been raised with a keen awareness of the sanctity of life and of the importance of preserving life.
Saburo’s father had instilled in him a keen awareness of his responsibility to preserve the dignity of others,
and to respect them, and that respect must be extended not only to other human beings, but to all the other
living creatures as well.
But Saburo Sakai had been born into a world of chaos and confusion. Japan was in a time of terrible
confusion on the political front, and most of his adult life would find the Japanese under domination of
cruel and ruthless militarists.
Saburo Sakai would join the Japanese navy when he was 16 years of age, and because of his extreme
intelligence and capabilities, Saburo was ushered into the service of the flying wing of the Japanese navy.
Saburo Sakai would eventually become a Japanese Zero fighter pilot. As a fighter pilot, Saburo Sakai would
be forced to fight against his fellow man, and when it came to fighting, Saburo was very good …, and
apparently very lethal.
The Japanese did not put much emphasis on personal accomplishments, so strict records of individual
achievement were not kept, but the best estimate is that Saburo Sakai accounted for the shoot down of
between 50 and 75 enemy planes.
In addition to his victories in the air, Saburo Sakai is also responsible for much havoc that he wreaked on
the ground and against enemy shipping.
Saburo Sakai would only be forced from active fighting duty by a severe wound he himself received during
his last fighter-to-fighter engagement. Sakai would receive terrible wounds to his face and eyes and would
be forced to retire from flying a fighter plane.
Saburo Sakai was the Japanese’ leading fighter ace to survive the war. Unfortunately for Sakai, the
Japanese lost the war, so for him there would be no hero’s welcoming when he returned home.
But after the war, Saburo Sakai, lethal killer of the enemy, was allowed to continue his previous pursuit of
living the life of a gentler, kindlier individual.
And we are glad.
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