Peter Goldsbury

 

Hello Allen,

Some questions:
Did you know Shirata Sensei well enough to discuss Omoto with him?
It is stated somewhere that Shirata Sensei's family were Omoto 'believers', but I do not fully understand the force of the term 'believer' here. Did he himself have any kind of Omoto creed?
So, to what extent was the doka an expression of 'Omoto' doctrine?
Did Shirata Sensei ever discuss the meaning of the Masa katsu phrase?
As you know, the phrase is the first part of a deity's name, the deity created during his oath-swearing operation between Take Haya Susa no O no mikoto and Ama terasu O mikami. As such the name is quite straightforward, but the most common English translation reduces the meaning to controlling oneself. Is there any specific Omoto usage of this name?
Did Shirata Sensei ever use kotodama-gaku (of the sort that appears in Takemusu Aiki) to interpret the name?

Best wishes,

PAG