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Old 05-07-2012, 12:02 PM   #49
jackie adams
Location: CA
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 73
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Re: Does Modern Aikido Teach Enlightenment?

Quote:
Christopher Li wrote: View Post
By the time the Ueshiba was born the Samurai era had already been over for 20 years. Takeda is the one who really crossed over.

If you take a look at "Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development" you'll see that Ueshiba was hardly the originator of the concept of Budo as social and personal reform.

The word "dojo" does have its roots in Buddhism, but not specifically Jodo Shinshu.

FWIW, Ueshiba was educated in a Shingon temple, which is quite different from Jodo Shinshu. He continued to use Shingon terminology and concepts when he spoke, even into his later years.

I'm not sure what your point is with Kamidana, but it's very common in Japanese households to have both Buddhist and Shinto accoutrements.

Dissecting the Founder's enlightenment is very tricky, even in Japanese, and technical instruction is woven throughout everything. I think that it's very difficult to try and dissect it based upon the current uncertain translations, and without a background in the context of what he was speaking about.

Best,

Chris
Hello Mr. Chris Li. Thank you for a kindly response.

Your points are well defined. Yes, the trickiness you speak about is something I see too. The footnote about the dojo and Jodo Shinshu signifies the complexity. In deed, it is tricky because of something that can be explain in an adequate metaphor of an onion having many layers. There is no question this is a complexed issue within the world of the Japanese.

A solution like any problem is to get to the root. What was brought up was the difficultly in getting a definition. It is very clear though the Founder's accounts of his enlightenment his message is peace and love (I prefer the word compassion). He is against war and violence of it / the slaughtering of people. Avoiding more complexity to the issue helps see the root of his message. It is easy to attribute or attach current-issues like abortion, or anger as violence to the Founder's message. Getting at the root of his message makes the issue less tricky. We are lucky his message was clear and relatable. It wasn't a message either that was uniquely his. That helps tremendously in understanding his view of enlightenment. It really is simple, stop being violent as the Japanese where in their past (wars) and be peaceful (stop killing and harming people).

There is more on my blog here.



Thank you everyone and I hope your day is a peaceful one.

Last edited by jackie adams : 05-07-2012 at 12:06 PM.
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