Thanks for the thread resurrection, David.
Some folks seem sure that Shioda wrote his books.. but since it is internet post vs internet post, I still wonder.
Regarding terminology and concepts and different aikido styles..
this book, from Ikeda students, seems to refer to Chushin ryoku from a non-yoshinkan source (I'm talking about the title and kanji on cover).
Mark M, it would be interesting to hear how your outlook may have changed in the time since you started this thread. Still think A and B are a prereq for C? I'm starting to wonder if it is the other way around sometimes. Probably they all depend on each other rather than being true prereqs.