This is not an accurate statement, Mary. Your aikido may not be like that. Most everyone else I meet has different concerns.
Note that while Ueshiba was talking about spirituality..he was traveling about defeating people and talking about exerting his will. We can argue about meaning all day long but planting someone and concussing them before the Emperor and tossing them directly in opposition to their entry angle of attack ....is....exerting your will.
I think you have got it all wrong about what blending really means, and his own words support my view. But we never get anywhere with that and I know we never will, so I want to disagree nicely.
Dan