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The Words of Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido
“Aiki is the way of harmony. It is a manifestation of the natural form of all beings in which all of mankind and the universe are united as one. In other words, there is only one center in the universe, and it is the movement of this center that governs the world. The entire universe is one family. It [Aiki] eliminates fighting, conflict, and war from the world. It is a world of love—the world of the emotion of divine love expressed by the creator. Without love, nations, the world, and ultimately the universe will meet with destruction. Heat and light are also generated by love. It is Aikido that brings to realization this ideal in the actual spiritual world.”
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What is Shūgyō?
Yesterday, while listening to a broadcast on Japanese radio of a recital of poems written by children, I received a strong impression from one particular poem. It was written by a five-year-old child and here is a summary of it: “Inside me I have good hearts and bad hearts. There are about two hundred of them and they are always fighting. When my bad hearts win, my mother gets mad at me, but she doesn’t know that inside me my good hearts are saying I’m sorry.”
Despite its brevity, I think that this poem is wonderful in that it really manages to directly convey what goes on in people’s hearts. It demonstrates that even the heart of a child of five feels the internal struggle between right and wrong, and at the same time a drive toward self-searching and self-reflection. Since childish acts and misbehavior are usually just part of the process of children’s development of their abilities, one often need not get upset. Yet, what about adult parents doing the scolding? Littering of public places with trash, empty cans, cigarette butts, etc., occurs daily. Looking at simple acts like these, one can’t help but think that such things are manifestations of adults who should know better than children (succumbing to their “bad heart”) and are further evidence of a lack of self-reflection on their part. 88 Recently, there are many problems in the world that have drawn my attention and made me think further about the meaning of shūgyō. The word “shūgyō” was in the past a Buddhist term explaining the discipline, training, and aesthetic practices of the Buddhist priesthood, as well as the cultivation of the Buddhist teachings of benevolence and the practice of carrying this out through performance of good acts. Later, this word came into everyday use in Japanese to describe extensive training of any type, including in the martial arts. Like many other words, it has moved far away from its original meaning. The word shūgyō that is in common use today connotes something far less difficult than in ages past.
Giving further thought to the concept of “shūgyō,” I feel that it applies throughout our lives as we contemplate the importance and meaning of existence and put our thoughts and beliefs regarding this into actual practice. If each person truly has a purpose and mission for which they are given life on this Earth, but they fail to clearly define it, living their lives selfishly doing only as they please, then the world will be thrown into disorder.
Today, in the modern world, thanks to such things as laws, contracts, treaties,
pacts, etc., we have reac hed a point where some stability is finally being maintained. However,
we must keep in mind that such stability may not last forever and can collapse
without warning at any time. The continuous conflict that occurs in some
parts of the world is evidence of this. Human beings, as fellow inhabitants
of the same planet, must have a collective purpose. This purpose must be
none other than to build an eternal paradise here on Earth. All things
should move toward this goal and through education nurture each individual,
giving life to their respective abilities to bring to this endeavor.
Therefore, returning to the concept of shūgyō, I believe that the true goal of shūgyō is to foster and strengthen the good heart inside each of us. This makes it habitual through instantaneous self-reflection to judge the good from the bad, to conquer our bad heart through our good heart, and to make the performance of benevolent acts a part of our daily lives. |
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■Furimiru
The fact that we have food to eat today is proof that we are given life.
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| These passages are taken from "Enlightenment Through Aikido" |
Journal Number [01],[02],[03]
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