As Russia’s President Putin militarily intervened in the Crimea Peninsula and is now trying to annex it, a comparison of him to Hitler of the Nazis has been made, especially in the West. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe too is frequently being called Hitler by the opposite camp, as he is strengthening defense capability and is aiming to amend Article 9 of the Constitution, which renounces war. Of course this includes China’s President Xi Jinping who is continuing with military expansion, and North Korea’s First Secretary Kim Jong-un, who is intimidating neighboring countries with nuclear weapons.

In this way, there are many leaders in the world who get treated like a “prospective Hitler”. Which ones among those so judged are legitimate and which ones are off? “Hitler-like leader” is a convenient label to put on someone, and is easy-to-use, and there is no doubt that the value judgment has become confused.

Master Ryuho Okawa of Happy Science Group has hitherto summoned the guardian spirits of high-profile leaders and their relevant spirits and revealed their true thoughts. This time, the Master had called up the spirit of the German philosopher Heidegger who is said to have cooperated with the Nazi regime. The Master had the “person involved in Nazi” directly talk about the nature of “totalitarianism” and the “Hitler-type person”.

Recently, in the publishing industry, the “super liberal translation”, which grasps the author’s intention and translate it in an easy-to-understand manner, has been causing a buzz. Heidegger’s spirit “freely interpreted” his own arcane ideas, making it easy for the audience to understand, and even talked about his involvement with the Nazis, which he had not talked about whilst he was alive.

The True Motive for Heidegger’s Involvement with the Nazis

Martin Heidegger’s philosophical influence is immense. In the field of philosophy, he made a huge impact in areas such as existentialism, structuralism, post-modernism, and hermeneutics. His influence reached to even theology, art theory, and psychiatry.

Especially with his main work, “Being and Time,” those thinkers and artists who were influenced by Heidegger include Sartre, Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, Levinas, Rorty, Arendt, Marcuse, Gadamer, Black, Blanchot–and the list goes on. Even those who are not fond of Heidegger must admit that, in terms of influence, he was “the greatest philosopher of the 20th century.”

Heidegger was also an expert in the history of philosophy, and he reflected back on the whole history of philosophy since Socrates and criticized it. He said that concerning something already existing, the traditional philosophy had asked “What is it?” but had not asked “What does it mean for anything to exist in the first place?”, and he aimed to build his own “ontology”. Coupled with his unique writing, his style caused a sensation in the intellectual world, and Heidegger suddenly became a “person in the limelight”.

However, in critiquing Heidegger, there is an issue that must not be ignored. That is the fact that he collaborated with Hitler’s Nazi regime. Heidegger was appointed president at the University of Freiburg in 1933 when the Nazi regime came to power. Shortly thereafter he joined the Nazi party. Not only did he praise Hitler and the Nazis in a number of lectures, both inside and outside the university, he tried to reform the university along the plans of the Nazis. He has been criticized for what he did to this day (in the end he had to step down as president for taking responsibility for the confusion caused by the reformation).

Furthermore, even after the evils of Nazism such as the holocaust (massacre of the Jews) became evident, he hardly voiced a word of regret, and many people came to distrust him. There have been so many arguments made about Heidegger’s true thoughts that there is even a genre known as the “Heidegger controversy,” but finally with this spiritual message, the Heidegger himself talked about his true intention..

The spirit of Heidegger first spoke about how the German people harbored feelings of frustration as the victorious nations treated Germany harshly after they lost the First World War. “I had the same kind of frustration, so there was an undercurrent of desire to support (the Nazis who wanted to rebuild Germany). And as I was appointed the president of the University of Freiburg, there certainly was a part of me that wanted to step in the same direction of the state,” he stated. He also recalled his feelings then, citing the philosopher Fichte who inspired the Germans, “there was something similar in my feelings.”

Apparently, Heidegger felt that he should help in the work, having sympathized with the Nazis that wanted to rebuild Germany that had been beaten down. However, even if the large-scale persecution of the Jews happened a few years later, the violent and racially discriminatory nature of the Nazis was already evident by the time Heidegger was the university president. If he thought that it was not a big deal and that he could lead the Nazi into the right path, then he deserved criticism for not being able to see through the evils of Nazism.

On this point, the spirit of Heidegger stated the following.

“When people criticize me for participating in the Nazi’s activities and that I could not see through their true identity, I have to accept the criticism…”

In this way, he clearly accepted his own responsibility. Furthermore, he admitted his ignorance of Hitler being spiritually influenced by the ancient Germanic religion that was destroyed by Christianity. He also spoke on his regrets concerning how he couldn’t rebuild his thoughts and how he lived in frustration after the war. Perhaps some light has been shed on much of what remained speculative even amongst researchers concerning Heidegger’s true thoughts.

The Characteristics of Hitler-like Dictator–Evaluation of Xi Jinping, Putin and Prime Minister Abe

Turning to modern times, when the topic came to what he sees as “totalitarian movements,” Heidegger exhibited a unique perspective. When asked, “How to tell the difference between a Hitler-type dictator and a world leader who is not of that type?” Heidegger answered, “Perhaps that depends on whether they are internationally cultured people.” Then he went on to evaluate the current world leaders.

Regarding Xi Jinping, he stated that he lacks the wisdom to lead his 1.3 billion citizens, and wondered if he even understands the concept of rule of law, condemning him as being the same as Hitler, an uncultured person.

On the other hand, concerning Mr. Putin who is causing a stir around the world at the moment, he pointed out that he is not trying to “revive the former Soviet”. In terms of the military invasion of the Crimea Peninsula, Heidegger showed some understanding of his judgment because his action made sense, saying that, “I think he thought that if left alone, the Russians in Crimea who make up 70% of the population would be massacred.”

How about Japanese Prime Minister Abe, whose national defense policy and diplomatic policy are in line with those of Happy Science? Heidegger cautioned that, “ancient Shintoism might come forth,” and that, “He thinks he is proceeding with the same thinking (as Happy Science) politically, but actually may be not, so be warned.” He said that, unlike the ideas of Happy Science, Prime Minister Abe lacks a global perspective, and that he shows the aspect of reversionist. Master Okawa is trying to connect Japan’s growth to the prosperity of the whole world, but Prime Minister Abe’s perspective is narrow as he is bound by a nationalistic perspective.

His evaluation of Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi Jinping is in accordance with the opinions of high spirits who have appeared so far in the spiritual messages. When it came to Prime Minister Abe, aside from spirits who took a hostile attitude toward Japan, many high spirits pointed out his “weakness in carrying out his actions”, even though they basically supported his policy of reinforcing and substantiate the national power. In this context, we might say that the spirit of Heidegger looked at Prime Minister Abe from a slightly different angle.

In any case, Heidegger was also of the opinion that China’s leadership is “today’s Hitler,” and endorsed our policy that Japan should make an ally of Russia.

Heidegger Talks about the Greatness of Happy Science

When asked about the “aim of philosophy,” Heidegger replied that, “the aim of philosophy is to have questions about what hides the truth, what is intentionally hiding the truth, or what is hidden, and to remove the veil that covers the truth.” He said that if journalism acts based on such philosophy, it is justified. That sounds like Heidegger who developed his thoughts on “Truth” as well as “Being”.

During his lifetime, Heidegger analyzed the being of “human”, as a preparatory step to “ontology,” which inquires about the nature of existence. Ontology itself is said to be incomplete, but the analysis on human has made a huge impact on the ideas all over the world.

However, his ideas are riddled with difficult technical language such as “Dasein,” “existential understanding,” “projection,” “thrownness,” “being-in-the-world,” “transcendence,” and unfortunately is not readily accessible by the ordinary people. However, with the “super literal interpretation of the spiritual message,” Heidegger himself explains his philosophy in easy terms, and even gives his opinion on how it relates to the teachings of Happy Science.

Heidegger summarized his own thoughts saying, “Humans are thrown into this world. Their existence is one of being thrown in, but has to project himself into the future as if it is a gamble.” He explained the “excellence” of the ideas of Happy Science saying, “He (Master Okawa) teaches that humans can choose their own future by learning how to control their mind and governing the kingdom within, and that by gaining the ability to choose their future on their own, they can get out of the muddled stream of the fate. He has religiously transcended my philosophy.”

Happy Science teaches that human beings reincarnate again and again into the Earth for a soul training. That is, it reveals what Heidegger could not explain, namely, “the meaning of humans being thrown into the world.” Furthermore, it teaches that humans return to the spirit realm according to how they lived their lives, so they should refine their souls for spiritual growth so that they can return to the higher level of the real world. Happy Science teachings have transcended Heideggerian philosophy in clearly explaining the purpose and meaning of life.

On the other hand, it differs from such shallow positive thinking as “if you think about it, it will come true.” It teaches “the creation of future” after understanding everything about the mechanisms of fate and environment that Heidegger analyzed. In this sense, Heideggerian philosophy can be said to be the flesh and blood of Happy Science teachings.

The spirit of Heidegger also stated that he has high hopes for Happy Science on the political front as well. He likened the huge confusion that will be brought about by China with the “Pandora’s Box.” He clearly said that when this happens, the “creation of freedom” will be necessary and that Happy Science who opposes totalitarianism will be indeed the “hope”. It is all the more significant as these words are spoken by Heidegger who regrets having been complicit in totalitarianism.

In the spiritual message, the following points were also touched upon. For philosophy researchers and intellectual fans, any one of these points will prove to be precious information and is a must listen. Listening to this spiritual message will certainly deepen your understanding of Western thought and history.

• How did Hitler use Heidegger’s philosophy?
• Still something wish to be said to Jews?
• Possibility of worldwide confusion due to China
• Message to the people of Germany
• The problem with the intellectual nation that is France
• Left-wing and right-wing are essentially the same?
• Feelings towards Arendt who was a disciple and lover
• Master Okawa was a romantic rival?
• The delicate relationship with Augustine who is a soul brother
• Heidegger’s previous life was a famous mystical thinker