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Old 06-27-2015, 03:06 PM   #1
Cnaeus
Join Date: Dec 2013
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"Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

Hi,
I have stumbled upon this mysterious sentence while reading - and trying to make sense of - the Takemusu Aiki material. Does anybody have some clue as to what this sentence could possibly mean, or refer to?

In japanese, it says:
三千世界一度に開く梅の花
Meaning something like: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one."

Osensei explains that it means how "the Spiritual will appear in accordance with The Floating Bridge of Heaven in all the three thousand worlds". And that this is the essence of Aikido... But this explanation just left me even more baffled...

any clues or ideas?
thank you in advance!!
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Old 06-27-2015, 04:43 PM   #2
Erick Mead
 
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

Quote:
Peter Lang wrote: View Post
Hi,
I have stumbled upon this mysterious sentence while reading - and trying to make sense of - the Takemusu Aiki material. Does anybody have some clue as to what this sentence could possibly mean, or refer to?

In japanese, it says:
三千世界一度に開く梅の花
Meaning something like: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one."

Osensei explains that it means how "the Spiritual will appear in accordance with The Floating Bridge of Heaven in all the three thousand worlds". And that this is the essence of Aikido... But this explanation just left me even more baffled...

any clues or ideas?
thank you in advance!!
It is drawn from the Lotus Sutra by Zhi-Yi and expounded by Nichiren, who viewed the interconnectedness of all things " three thousand worlds in one thought," as the essence of Buddhism. A footnote in an edition of the Takemusu Aiki lectrues says:

Quote:
Sanzen Sekai. Lit., "Three Thousand Worlds," an Indian Buddhistic concept of the World or the Universe. At the center of the world there is a high mountain called Shumisen, and the world that surrounds the mountain is this very world where we live and it is called one Shumi Sekai. Sanzen Sekai refers to Daizen Sekai, which is Shumi Sekai multiplied by one thousand three times over. Therefore, the actual number of worlds is not 3000, but rather 1,000,000,000.

Cordially,

Erick Mead
一隻狗可久里馬房但他也不是馬的.
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Old 06-27-2015, 07:55 PM   #3
Sojourner
Location: Adelaide
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

Quote:
Peter Lang wrote: View Post
Hi,
I have stumbled upon this mysterious sentence while reading - and trying to make sense of - the Takemusu Aiki material. Does anybody have some clue as to what this sentence could possibly mean, or refer to?

In japanese, it says:
三千世界一度に開く梅の花
Meaning something like: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one."

Osensei explains that it means how "the Spiritual will appear in accordance with The Floating Bridge of Heaven in all the three thousand worlds". And that this is the essence of Aikido... But this explanation just left me even more baffled...

any clues or ideas?
thank you in advance!!
Remember that O'Sensei taught in his own time period and that even in the short time that has has passed language and interpretation of language has continued to change and to evolve.

Its is important here to recoginse that O'Sensei favoured no religious system over another and "made room for them all" in his own words. Yet his religion of Oomoto focuses on Monotheism not unlike Christianity-Judaism-Islam, with the caveat that he recognised sub deities under the Creator.

I would suggest that the appearance of the "Floating Bridge of Heaven" is consistent with the beliefs in Christianity-Judaism of the return / arrival of the messiah and in Islam the return of the hidden inman.

This article does well to articulate my point from a purely Christian point of view, I hope this proves to be of some help. - http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/apo...jesus-returns/
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Old 06-28-2015, 04:00 AM   #4
Cnaeus
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

Thank you Erick, your comment was very helpful.
I looked up flower similes in the Lotus Sutra and indeed there is a flower called Udumbara that is said to bloom only once in ten thousand years. It is used as a simile for enlightenment, signifying its rarity.

In this context though I guess the translation should rather be:
"Plum flowers bloom in the 1,000,000,000 worlds only once"

I have also found this quote allegedly coming from Osensei:

"In my younger days, I became a convert of a certain religion, and in one of its songs I discovered a phrase concerning "the plum flower that blossoms once in three spiritual worlds." First, the five petals of the plum blossom represent the five forms of universal energy: earth, water, fire, wind, and sky. If you think of the plum blossom in this way, you will discover in this phrase a lesson about the universe itself. You can see the plum blossom as an actual manifestation of the universal spirit. Also, in the way that the plum blossom opens once and never again you can see the reflection of the unique beginning of creation. Looked at differently, the opening of the plum blossom represents the opening of the rock door of heaven told of in Japanese mythology."
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Old 06-28-2015, 04:34 AM   #5
Cnaeus
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

Quote:
Ben White wrote: View Post
I would suggest that the appearance of the "Floating Bridge of Heaven" is consistent with the beliefs in Christianity-Judaism of the return / arrival of the messiah and in Islam the return of the hidden inman.
Thanks Ben, I agree with you in that the appearance of the Floating Bridge is somehow tied to Osensei's escatological tinking, though I would rather say, according to my current understanding, that the Floating Bridge rather symbolizes the axis of the world or the human body, on which the messiah "stands". But then since Osensei said many times that true Aikido is "standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven" - I think the "messiah" is not a single unique person but rather the practitioner of Aikido.

I think now that the phrase means we live in a very unique time in which true Aikido can be revealed and practised, and eventually - through training - it can give us the ability to manifest heaven on earth, that is to build a paradise here and now.
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Old 06-28-2015, 08:41 AM   #6
jurasketu
Dojo: Roswell Budokan
Location: Roswell GA
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

Aha. O' Sensei is a Shadow Lord*. That explains everything!

* - See "Chronicles of Amber" by Roger Zelazny

All paths lead to death. I strongly recommend taking one of the scenic routes.
AWA - Nidan - Started Aikido training in 2008
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Old 07-08-2015, 06:06 PM   #7
Riai Maori
 
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

interesting

Motto tsuyoku
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Old 07-23-2015, 01:08 PM   #8
Mary Eastland
 
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

The now is here and true and every aspect of life appears clearly.

Mary Eastland

Dare to Tenkan
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Old 07-23-2015, 06:12 PM   #9
Scott Harrington
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

Phrase pops up in an Omoto book in 1920,

Religious remark not Daito ryu it seems.

Scott Harrington
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Old 07-24-2015, 08:47 AM   #10
Scott Harrington
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Re: "Plum flowers bloom in the Three Thousand wolds all at one"

A great research day!

The phrase regarding plum flowers pops as a chapter heading in a 1953 book by a Japanese author with the great title. "Japan is crazy: analysis of postwar abnormal psychology."

Japan unfortunately has had a bad case of 'isms' in a small 'hothouse' of geography and restricted population. Swinging back and forth from Authoritarianism to rampant Capitalism, moving into Colonialsim with great success (Taiwan) to great disaster (Nanking), Fascism (hey, it;s the latest latte!), to Defeatism, Communist barriori-sm, to who knows what now.

Scott Harrington
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