Hi Ron,
I'm not advocating brain dead training, far from it. But I have heard my teacher more than once say "you are thinking too much, just do it, don't think!"
In my experience the questioning mind can be both useful and it's own worst enemy. If you ask yourself good questions, fine, if you formulate bad questions then you get correspondingly bad answers. Sometimes trying to see the structure of the make up of the paint prevents you from seeing the beautiful picture.
The use of 'mind' in aikido is not the same as thinking, a fast attack does not allow enough time to think, as I'm sure you are aware, action has to be instinctive, which improves through constant training.
Knowing on an intellectual level is not the same as truely 'knowing'. There are plenty of people who read and digest the aikido philosophy of non resistance, but not so many who can actually do it.
I don't think we are at odds Ron, I too always want to know the reason why something works, but my primary focus is on making something work for my benefit, before trying to understand it.
When we get mind, body and spirit to work together ....hooray!!!
cheers
Mark