Gentlemen,
First, let me thank Prof. Goldsbury for beginning this thoughtful conversation and for being an example of willing openness for the benefit of all.
The mention of Tantric Buddhism made my ears perk. Being personally involved, I would hasten to point out that, becoming "spiritually possessed" in thought, word and action is the Tantric aspect, identifying "who, what, where, when and why this can and does take place is the Buddhist aspect. In other words, once one achieves "spirit possession" of even the highest order, the question remains, "Who is it that is possessed?" This inherent self-nullification of practice and practitioner keeps the practice in the real of Buddhism.
Thread drift aside, here is a thought for you all to put through the gristmill: One aspect that all individuals mentioned so far may share in-common to one degree or another is Shinto in general and Shinto ritual practice in particular. Takeda learned ‘something' from his Shinto-Priest relative (whether or not that ‘something' has anything to do with Aiki, I wouldn't know.), Ueshiba, Kodo, Takuma, Sagawa learned something from Takeda. Deguchi was versed in Shinto practice and he recognized something unique in Ueshiba while Ueshiba recognized something unique in Deguchi beyond what he got from Taked. They interfaced on the level of Shinto.
Each individual that "got it" did develop uniquely as individuals. However, one common possible core commonality between the Budoka (Takeda, Ueshiba, Takuma, Kodo) and the Religionist (Deguchi) is the Shinto ritual. Now, I'm not arguing for the ritual alone otherwise the power of "aiki" wouldn't be so unique and deserving of extended conversation. What MAY be true is that the "aiki" may have been taught by those "in the know" within the context of Shinto ritual. (Which BTW is virtually identical with Tantric Buddhist practice with the vocabulary being changed.)
It would seemingly make sense that one enamored with the mystical aspects of Shinto ritual and practice would understand his practice and the results of his practice in this manner and thereby seek to communicate them in the way in which he understands.
It would also seemingly make sense that those more focused on the more (perhaps) expediently/practically developed and applied aspects might consciously or unconsciously dump the more (seemingly) irrelevant esoteric aspects.
This seems to me not so terribly unlikely given many other art's streams giving "the goods" in the context of some for of esoteric practice or another. Also, in common is the phenomena of these "streams" running dry after a while. While the past stream bed remains identifiable and a future stream bed body can be continued the "living water" is gone.
In either case, Budoka or Religionist, the ability to do and ability/willingness to teach, are not necessarily assured.
I had some other thoughts but they are gone now. A sick two year old and a healthy three year old that both need attention will do that to you!
Best,
Allen Beebe
