Hey Marlon,
Here is a blog of mine where I address some of the issues I believe you are talking about.
http://www.aikiweb.com/blogs/christo...-as-budo-3398/
I believe what you are talking about is budo, as opposed to bujutsu. Studying martial arts for the sake of self development, vs. study for practical fighting skill.
What I was saying in my first post, was Aikido as a budo; a way of self development, or "enlightenment" seems to be lacking. The reason I say this is because so many of us (I wouldn't exclude myself here) seem to be no more enlightened then the average Joe.