darkfalcon21 said:Do you believe in angels? If you look at the original Greek and Hebrew, the word actually translates to a messenger or someone sent on a mission. Supposedly, they serve God (or various gods). The Bible and the Quran mention them, along with other sacred texts that describe these winged, divine beings. People say the wings represent freedom and protection. But do you really think they have physical wings? They’re considered androgenous—essentially genderless, neither male nor female. And while they are supposedly overflowing with unconditional love, they don't carry human emotions. It's just pure love. They're also described as being absolutely beautiful and gentle. Do you think there are different tiers of angels? Like archangels, for instance? Or do you believe in fallen or evil angels?
Personally, I believe we each have an Angel Guardian watching over us. In fact, I think everyone does. They act as our guides through this life. And I'd like to think they actually do have feelings—though, naturally, nothing malicious. Just love, kindness, and plenty of understanding. Since I don't believe in Satan, I don't buy into the idea of evil angels either.
So, I'm curious to hear what you all think... 🙂
Yeah, I believe in them. They’re sweet, they’re kind—just our constant, invisible guardians watching over us.
Jacob Johnson56 said:It isn't about nature. It's about our capacity. Specifically, our stage of spiritual growth. As spiritual beings—Souls—once we gather enough experience in this world, we start to grasp and accept the reality of previous lives. Then, we reach a point where we can actually peek back at those past lives to see what needs fixing with certain people so we can outgrow specific problems.
The lady here mentioned the journey of souls, which is a term used for conscious travel to higher realms, where you can glimpse your own lives through the causal world while dreaming. To be precise, it’s a method for the conscious expansion of awareness, which is a spiritual category, not an intellectual one.
So, nature isn't hiding past lives from us. It's our own mental sensor protecting us from facing higher truths and realities before we are spiritually ready.
I'd say there's a slim chance hypnotic regression would reveal the most painful moments, or at least the ones where we were the cause of the trouble. That's how the sensor protects us if we aren't capable of taking responsibility yet. Usually, people still prefer to see someone else as the culprit. Because of that, instead of regression, it might be better to try a solid spiritual exercise using dreams to help solve certain issues before we are truly ready to face the actual cause from the past.
Yeah, looks like we were reading from the same playbook. 🙂 The difference is—even with my own experiences in this field—I can't quite claim it's all 100% settled truth like you can. Maybe you just took that extra step further than I did. 🤷 Still, that doesn't change the core of my question regarding motivation—that drive to uncover past lives—or the fact that some people aren't spontaneously "gifted" with that knowledge. Honestly, maybe they aren't given those answers for a good reason. [Whether you call our "inner mental compass" part of nature or something else that hides—or reveals—past lives remains the question.]
"I'm frustrated" because that post was actually a response to mine—which, aside from one sentence in the P.S. (that was technically off-topic, though indirectly), stayed strictly on subject. The follow-up post, which quotes me and claims to be "responding," spends the first half ignoring the actual topic entirely to go after me personally and spin wild theories about Makaji and those idiots. That’s pure off-topic noise. If the moderator was already watching the thread and moved quickly to scrub my off-topic remark, I don't get why she didn't do the same for that post after I sent her a PM.
Here's my dilemma: if I engage with that off-topic nonsense, then I'm also breaking the rules, which usually just leads to getting my posts deleted and a strike on my account. but if I stay silent, the off-topic garbage stays up—and it’s not just irrelevant; it's throwing out false accusations about me and my friends.
Basically, my question is: should you even bother responding to off-topic posts if the mods haven't flagged them yet? (Because if I do respond, it triggers a debate about Makaji in a thread where that doesn't belong—it's funny, really, how new life keeps bringing that up and pointing fingers at me when I haven't given them any reason to do so for months, if not longer.)
Chris Peterson53 said:It’s not like this is the first time you’ve gone off on an interpretation. mine Just write it down—however you see it fits—to show what's actually happening and what their real intentions are.
Yeah, that's spot on. Round two. I've been hanging around this forum for seven years now—enough time to know how to read between the lines of your posts. Honestly, I think this is the first time I’ve actually started a thread here, unless you count that one time I had a post moved over from another board at my own request. I’m not trying to psychoanalyze your posts—I'm just asking you and everyone else—what's the actual difference between my "mild" off-topic comment (which got nuked instantly) and that long-winded, total mess in the next post that’s still sitting there? What exactly do you think I'm up to here?
Chris Peterson53 said:Since you’re only sharing a fraction of what the President said—clearly knowing that dropping the whole thing here is against the rules—I guess I'll follow your lead and recount just a piece of it my way: Look, I told you—I’m not the only one moderating this PDF sub—and I don't spend my entire day babysitting a single thread... etc. That was exactly what I meant by nitpicking!
I laid out the most important parts of the President's message—without violating his privacy, obviously. But here’s the kicker, even after you added those extra details: the main issue is that you're letting this whole off-topic mess about me and my friends just sit there. You know perfectly well it has nothing to do with the actual thread, yet instead of cleaning it up, you're just hiding behind the "I'm too overwhelmed" excuse. Instead of just doing your job as a moderator, you’d rather take this out on me—as if picking a fight is somehow "easier" than actually moderating. Honestly, I'm bracing myself for a long one here—maybe weeks, maybe years of this back-and-forth series. You did the exact same thing when I tried my first "interpretation" of your writing style.
Chris Peterson53 said:And what kind of timeframe are we even talking about here? Is he moving too fast, or am I just being way too slow? So, what exactly are you looking for here? So, what—you need a permit to kill someone before you actually go through with it? Wait, am I getting permission to post an off-topic thread before I've even written it?
Like I said, it’s great you caught my massive off-topic tangent so quickly—if only all the moderators were this on the ball. So, what’s stopping you from just handling that other off-topic thread I mentioned? It’s been 42 hours since the notice went out—honestly, if you'd just dealt with it right away, I wouldn't even have to be typing this all out.
So, I’m asking you. If that New Life post wasn't considered off-topic, then logically—unless I'm missing something obvious here—my direct response to it shouldn't be off-topic either, right? Or am I just being optimistic?
I actually meant to post this in the thread. Post edited by a moderator.Yeah, the feedback was pretty much the same—but by the time I actually got a response, they’d already shut it down.
On topic. Switzerland just banned minarets. kao odgovor na sledeci post:
I can't make sense of that. Could you clarify what you mean? said:Maybe you're right, maybe you aren't—it’s hard to say. But usually, when you start stripping rights away from a specific group, it doesn't happen all at once. It starts small—restricting which colleges they can attend, then eventually banning them from school altogether. We saw that history play out with Jews in certain countries. Sure, we don't have A. H. or Nazism around today, but it's entirely possible for new laws to pop up that target minorities just to push them out of Europe. We'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.
I wrote this next post—mostly just trying to be a little ironic about the ridiculous idea that the situation for Muslims in Switzerland is somehow comparable to how Jews were treated in Nazi Germany:
casualtiger2 said:Spot on. Things are getting pretty tense here in Switzerland—there's definitely more pressure being put on Muslims lately. I guess that’s why their numbers just keep climbing—between the birth rates and the constant influx of immigrants.
They even picked up Gaddafi's son in Geneva—not because he beat his own servant or maid, but simply because he’s Muslim.
Only 14 minutes (!) after I posted—just 14 minutes—and moderator Chris Peterson53 wipes my comment because it was "off-topic." All I did was mention that the upcoming vote in Switzerland regarding pensions is actually way more important than that whole minaret situation, and that turnout is going to be massive compared to the other one.
Look, strictly speaking—that was off-topic. Though, I guess it does give you some insight into how those bans on building minarets actually play out—even with low turnout, a 50% plus one vote doesn't necessarily mean the majority of voters were actually in favor of the ban! Anyway, I’ve got nothing against the mods deleting it.
What really bugs me is the reply following mine—half of it feels completely off-topic. It’s mostly just directed at me personally, along with all this speculation about my friend Makaj and that spiritual group... by the way, most of those Swiss people in the group actually voted against the ban.
Starting over. A whole new life. said:I can't say I'm surprised you voted for him—honestly, it tracks. Your worldview is pretty much black and white—it’s either this or that. I guess that’s why you're such a fan of Switzerland. It seems like the perfect spot for someone like Makaj—with his massive wealth and those trendy new social elites—to live where the government, and especially the courts, can't touch him regardless of how much money he has. Let's be clear—I don't have anything against Aba Aziz, really; if anything, it's true that Switzerland maintains a very liberal worldview. All he needs to do is finish his European integration and open up some banks—likely filled with suspicious cash acquired through the same shady methods you'd see from Belgians or Dutchmen. It’s easy for people to take aim at Americans, who—let's be honest—usually built their capital through blood and sweat after the first couple of generations; the old-money aristocracy over here has a much different tradition. Look, let's get back to your voting record: if you cast that ballot just to support some New Age nonsense, then fine—I've got nothing against it. It just means I can easily see you doing the same thing with pagodas, cathedrals, or Jewish shrines. When people ask about your religion, just tell them you're a Komaj. Your nationality? You're a Swiss man. If you ever get the chance to take over moderator duties here again, maybe you can actually show us what you're capable of.
Look, if we're talking about long-term disasters, we need to look at both sides of the scale—Ehud’s statements can basically be filed away next to Nazi rhetoric. The terminology might vary slightly, but the result is the same: providing cover for killing innocent Israeli civilians, or those Muslims on the front lines, or Palestinian mosques. Let's be real for a second: Switzerland has realized they don't rely on Islamic capital quite as much as they used to. There are four mosques in Switzerland—the ones with minarets, anyway. Let’s be honest, that’s hardly a significant display of faith; even the presence of a minaret is debatable, as you'd barely recognize them architecturally. Actual, serious democracies handle this by tightening borders against radical newcomers. Plenty of major European countries could have done it given the level of threat—the US certainly could have—but they haven't. And you know why? Because the US is already at its limit with immigration, whereas places like Germany, France, or Switzerland would lose their entire workforce in certain mid-to-small business sectors if they didn't have workers from Turkey, Afghanistan, or Pakistan—not to mention all the under-the-table labor. But hey, as long as they keep working, they can speak whatever language they want in schools for all it matters... It’s pretty undeniable that certain Muslim groups are radical and struggle to articulate their goals, much like many other minority communities in Europe—Hindus, various African groups, different tribal clusters, etc. Still, meddling in someone else's diplomacy is completely illegal; the Gaddafi case was just a convenient excuse.
I flagged this for the PM moderator, Chris Peterson53, but she thinks I'm just splitting hairs. So, forty hours later, the post is still sitting there untouched.
Bonus question (mostly for ZgSasha): will my direct response to this post—which the moderator clearly doesn't think is off-topic—be labeled as off-topic itself?!
Isn't it pretty obvious that we've all been answering this "hypothetical" question for a long time now? And honestly, it’s probably going to stay that way.
I don't think anyone—not even the kind of person who would actually be expected to answer this—has ever asked, or will ever ask, "would you go back?" The ones who've racked up enough karma to deserve it "have" to return—to settle their debts and enjoy what they've built, simply because they made that choice themselves. They didn't get a chance to change the rules of the game mid-play.
As for those who truly have a choice in the matter? We barely know anything about them.
Jacob Thompson76 said:I have to disagree. steelridge58 is a pretty subpar moderator—mostly because she doesn't even understand the subject matter she’s modding 🙄
Isn't there some unwritten rule that if you've only put out 32 posts—this one included—and most of them are just a bunch of emojis, you don't really get a say in judging how a moderator like steelridge58 does her job?! 😠👎 PS Calling her "stubborn" and "arrogant" says everything we need to know. Honestly, she deserves a warning
rowdyhawk10, stop lying. Your fake friendliness is making me sick.🤮
Today, swiftorca57 caught you in a lie and got banned immediately.
Quote: swiftorca57 says: I know you're corrupt and a hypocrite. People hate Muslims and Islam because of people like you. You're a liar, and giving out bans with fake excuses is just pathetic... Did the Quran teach you to be a liar? If it's as "honorable" as you claim, then you must have read it well enough to think it's okay to lie for the sake of faith. What a hypocrite... Where in my previous post did I mention anything about tearing someone apart? And here is the part about the ban..
Tearing apart [CAPS LOCK] Expires 03:50 05.02.2009. Left By rowdyhawk10 03:50 06.01.2009.
It's a sad state of affairs when a religion has hypocrites and liars like you in its ranks, and even sadder when a forum puts crooks in charge of moderating...!!!!
And just so we're clear, I'm not insulting you; I'm just telling the truth...!!!
So there you have it. And please, stay out of my business. Look, every single moderator has dealt with this at least once. The "trolling" tag is just the default setting when you open the penalty page. If you want to pick something else—something specific—but you don't change that default fast enough, you end up issuing a "trolling" card (which is usually a much "cheaper" way to go than an official reprimand).
So yeah, that argument of yours is pretty ridiculous.
casualmaker13 said:Well, I'm glad you're owning up to it; it definitely shows in your writing.👍 I suppose anyone who admits it deserves to be taken seriously.😲
It just seems weird to me that the mod lets these kinds of diagnoses slide while deleting stuff that's actually funny.🙄 If you're going to be a moderator, maybe just do the job properly for once.☕
You aren't in any position to judge how I handle my moderating duties. I’ll let it slide this time without a warning, but next time? You're getting a strike. Edward Flores4 didn't personally insult anyone—he was just pointing out the "schizophrenic" tendency people have when they split everything into body vs. spirit, sacred vs. profane, lower vs. higher self... Even if that terminology feels right to me (and plenty of others in certain spiritual circles), his critique is valid and deserves a polite, reasoned response. If there's any interest in having one, that is. [ Your own writing, though, tends to veer into personal attacks quite often—and he seems like the type who’d happily hit back, which won't work out for you here while I'm running things. ]
And, assuming Edward Flores4 actually wants to answer politely and logically, he can tell us if he’s in continuous meditation—since that’s the only kind of meditation that actually counts. If he’s up for it, obviously.
Like I said, I'm not trying to make everything relative here, but different perspectives on the same thing will inevitably lead to different conclusions and theories... And there’s nothing wrong with that.
I’m backing up wiredbear2 here—let’s actually talk about symbols, what they mean, and how we use them, rather than debating whether someone is grounded, clueless, a jerk, empty-headed, or just plain lacking a brain.
Since I haven't been following this thread closely, I'll leave those insults exactly as they are, regardless of who threw them, but any further attempts at "diagnosing" or psychoanalyzing other users will be deleted and tossed in the trash—as per usual.
PS Since my appeals clearly aren't working on some of you, I've trimmed the fat from this discussion, and that’s how it’s going to stay moving forward. If you’re just here to pick fights and prove how stupid or uninformed everyone else is—go find somewhere else to hang out.
@ Joseph Moore4 If God took His place within Jesus—which apparently happened at the latest during His baptism—then I don't get why He would cry out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I mean, what’s the logical link between that and "descending into hell" right after death (before "ascending to the Father") just to deliver the Word to "unbelievers in hell" (or "spirits in prison")? Especially if we assume Jesus is one single person within the Trinity. Was He basically saying He abandoned Himself? Who knows, but it seems like this specific line has caused quite a headache for plenty of theologians.
That thing you described—this cleansing process, shedding old habits to become someone searching for God—that definitely rings true. (Actually, I was going to start a thread about the obstacles and crises on the spiritual path, but Bruna decided on this more poetic, prettier title instead). Still, it feels like something that happens to everyone right at the start, and it isn't actually that terrifying—assuming your motives are solid and you have enough discipline to sort things out relatively easily. It's nowhere near what people call the dark night of the soul.
Like I said before, none of my own crises come anywhere close to what I consider TND. The connection I mentioned regarding Jesus comes from the books by A. Bailey, specifically "fra Bethlehem to Calvary - The Initiations of Jesus" and "Inititation human and Solar," as well as general theosophical teachings that just click for me.
Obviously, these are just theories—things I've only been able to partially verify—but out of everything on the "theoretical marketplace," they seem the most plausible to me. They rely on what I see as a logical analysis of the human structure (physical, emotional, mental, budding, atmospheric, monadic). Even if Jesus wasn't a historical figure (some claim he's just an ancient myth), it still holds that certain stages of human development are similar, if not identical—think birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. It’s comparable to various stages of samadhi in a yogi, or achievements in Hinayana Buddhism: the shrotaapanna ("one who has entered the stream"), the sakridagamin ("one who returns only once"), the anagamin ("one who does not return"), the arhat, and the asekha; or as the Hindus say, the jivanmukta ("liberated while living"). By the way, only this last stage (which isn't actually the final one) can be called a Teacher or a master—though they say reaching the third stage is enough for earthly lessons, making new incarnations unnecessary. Of course, to someone starting from a different set of assumptions or beliefs, this might all sound absurd, and that's perfectly fine. For instance, you seem to operate on the assumption that God is something separate from man, whereas I find it more intuitive to think that we are (at our core) actually that God—that Consciousness. For some reason, a part of God wrapped itself in the veils of matter and narrowed its consciousness by identifying with one of the physical bodies. In that light, spiritual development is essentially a homecoming—a process of de-identification. And as you move through certain stages, you hit these psycho-energetic "explosions" and systemic restructuring—initiations.
In this field, you can really only prove anything through your own experience. So, even though I love talking about this stuff, I find it much less valuable than those tiny, ordinary steps and sincere efforts made in everyday life.
wiredbear2 said:What exactly do you mean by that? I would truly love it if you could expand on that thought just a little bit... 🙂[/I]
Yes, casualtiger2, please do elaborate 🙂. I have some familiarity with the concept of the "Dark Night of the Soul," but I don't quite see how it relates specifically to that energetic shift...
Nov 24, 2008 - This is such a fascinating subject that it really deserves its own dedicated thread... Yes, casualtiger2, please do elaborate 🙂. I have some familiarity with the concept of the "Dark Night of the Soul," but I don't quite see how it relates specifically to that energetic shift...
Nov 24, 2008 - This is such a fascinating subject that it really deserves its own dedicated thread... Yes, casualtiger2, please do elaborate 🙂. I have some familiarity with the concept of the "Dark Night of the Soul," but I don't quite see how it relates specifically to that energetic shift...
Nov 24, 2008 - This is such a fascinating subject that it really deserves its own dedicated thread... Unfortunately, I can't speak from personal experience—every Crisis I've dealt with so far has been pretty surface-level. The Dark Night of the Soul is likely just another version of that—a crisis occurring when you shift from one level of consciousness to the next. In Christian terms, Saint John of the Cross describes it as Dark Night of the Soul.
You can find similar ideas in this book, where the author references Assagioli—he was basically the pioneer of transpersonal psychology and focused heavily on spiritual crises and stages of development.
And here’s a more modern, and honestly quite authentic, description of the process (it's all in German, unfortunately, and my translation skills are non-existent).
It’s essentially that moment where Jesus cries out during a crisis, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" The old personality has dissolved, but God hasn't taken His place in the soul yet—so the person is left "alone" in the "darkness." Probably a pretty brutal experience. 1. initiation—moving from the root to the sacrum 2. from the sacrum to the navel 3. from the navel to the solar plexus 4. from the solar plexus to the throat (which would correspond to the crucifixion) Each of these transitions brings its own share of crises, pain, and joy. At the heart level, we're still working on personal achievement, which tends to be pretty unstable. Throat energies align with devotion to the divine—that feeling of being moved, awestruck, or stunned by the mystery of life; that's what we feel right in that center.
That’s it! That is exactly what I want to see more of on this thread. Real experiences—thinking through the different stages, questioning the actual purpose behind the techniques and skills, the philosophy, the lines and points, even that initial cluelessness regarding how to align your body and mind during drills... You hit on a lot of vital points and spoke some real truths there.
Obviously, nothing happens without hard work—everyone has to put in the sweat equity—but since we can't exactly run full drills here. I'd love for those who have been at this longer, the ones with more experience, to chime in with some insight or advice—basically, to teach us just how much depth we can actually reach through this kind of discussion.
For me, the suggestion to focus on the *hara* (your center; similar to *puja chakri* in yoga, maybe?) is fascinating. [In Aikido, I've heard people talk about "holding the point," which sounds like it could just mean physical balance, but I suspect it’s something much deeper than that?] It’s such a contrast to most meditation schools where they tell you to focus on the heart center—at least initially, anyway—since very few systems suggest focusing on the brow center right out of the gate.
Also, what determines—theoretically speaking, not during a live roll—whether you apply an *omote* version or an *ura* version of a technique? In a real situation, things probably happen spontaneously and subconsciously in a split second, but is there an underlying principle for choosing one over the other? Personally, I find the use of circular and spiral movements in Aikido fascinating—redirecting the attacker's energy exactly where you want it (if they push, you pull; if they pull, you push 🙂)—and using the attacker's own momentum to "resolve" the conflict, rather than the direct confrontation and "breaking" style you tend to see in Karate.
I also really appreciate the emphasis on partner work and training together; it seems way more central here than in other BVs. I did Judo as a kid back in the day at the same school that produced the junior champion Yu, and honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of that vibe.
PS If Paul Campbell3 is right about *ki* being essentially the same as *prana*—which I think he is—then meditation is a perfectly legitimate way to strengthen your *ki*. When we talk about *prana*, though, there are two distinct things at play. One is etheric energy (that level between the physical and astral planes, crucial for physical health; those little tingles you sometimes feel moving through your body), and the second is the energy of all levels of existence, which is a much broader concept.
You can probably develop that first type quite effectively—getting it to flow freely—right there on the mats during training. But to truly grasp the second one, you likely need some deeper reflection and exploration through various types of practice.
Hopefully that clears things up a bit?! We’re looking at Aikido principles—the psycho-physiological impact, the energy aspect (if we’re even calling it that), health benefits, social dynamics... basically everything else you could potentially spin into "spiritual growth" through martial arts training. Though, honestly, it feels like some of those elements might be a little less emphasized in things like Karate, Judo, or Jiu-Jitsu?
PS It just reminded me of this massage I got after a session back in the States. I actually lucked out and had one of those black belts work on me. Hands down, the best massage I've ever had. 👍
Nicole Thompson76 said:As far as I can tell, we're talking about a martial art here, not a meditation course. Not sure why you decided to quote me with that, though—I never actually said anything against meditation in the first place. For those of you putting way too much weight on meditation while basically ignoring the actual "taijutsu" side of things, just be careful you don't end up looking like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEDaCIDvj6I
Look, meditation isn't the main event in any martial art—it's more of a supporting act, and that goes for everything, not just aikido. Its whole purpose is to help you find some calm, learn how to breathe properly, and stuff like that... it's not meant to be some way to conjure up devastating internal energy or whatever mystical powers people dream about.
Is anyone here actually offended by this?
For those of you putting all the weight on meditation while barely touching "taijutsu"—just be careful you don't end up with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEDaCIDvj6I
We've got a YouTube channel ready for the race. 😍 Ueshiba Ueshiba Ueshiba Looks like even the master wasn't exactly keeping a close eye on his own training results at the end. 😉
Meditation isn't the main event—it’s more like a supporting act for all martial arts, not just aikido. At its core, it's there to help you find some calm and actually learn how to breathe properly—not to unlock some devastating internal energy or any other mystical superpower.
And again—was someone actually claiming that meditation is the core element of BV? Then again—how can you be so sure you actually know what it's for? Maybe for some people, aikido is actually just a gateway to meditation? I even get the feeling that, after a certain point, it became incredibly important to Ueshiba—he actually mentions his daily rituals in one of the videos. Or do you honestly think the old man just wanted to spend his entire life defending himself against bullies and teaching people some basic self-defense moves? this one ?
Anyway, here are a few of his own descriptions of where all that relentless, grueling training and the obsession with becoming the strongest man alive actually led him:
The actual birth of Aikido came as The result of Three instances of spiritual awakening that Ueshiba experienced. The First happened in 1925 , after Ueshiba Had defeated a naval officer's wooden sword attacks—completely unarmed and without landing a single blow—and then just wandered out to his garden to have a massive spiritual epiphany.
“ It was like the whole universe just shuddered under my feet—suddenly, this golden spirit erupted from the earth, wrapped itself around me, and turned my entire being into gold. Everything felt weightless. In that moment, I could actually hear what the birds were whispering, and there was this sudden, crystal-clear connection to the mind of God, the creator of everything.
That’s when it finally clicked for me: the true heart of budo is divine love—that deep, protective instinct for every living thing. It isn't about using brute strength to take someone down, nor is it some weapon meant to drive the world toward ruin. True Budo is about aligning yourself with the rhythm of the universe—maintaining global peace while nurturing, protecting, and helping everything in nature truly flourish. ”
Then there was the second breakthrough back in 1940, when
"It was about 2 am, right in the middle of my misogi practice, and everything just... vanished. I completely blanked on every single martial technique I’d ever mastered. Suddenly, the moves my teachers taught me felt entirely different—they weren't tools for tossing people around anymore. They became ways to nurture life, wisdom, and character."
Finally, in 1942—right in the thick of the most brutal fighting of WWII—Ueshiba Had a Vision of The " Great Spirit of Peace".
"The Way of The Warrior Has been misunderstood. It isn't some tool meant for killing or destruction. Honestly, anyone looking to turn this into a competition to outdo their neighbor is missing the entire point. Breaking, hurting, or destroying someone? That's the lowest thing a person can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter—it’s an Art of Peace, powered by love."
Nicole Thompson76 said:I’m honestly not even sure if I’m reading a thread about a martial art here. Morihei Ueshiba called it the "peaceful art" because you can actually defend yourself without causing massive, unnecessary damage—unlike those old-school styles where the whole goal was basically just to kill someone with a single strike if you got lucky. It wasn't meant to be some mystical way to meditate all day, conjure up transcendental energy, or shoot energy balls out of your palms to knock people out.
But man, everyone in here seems so full of themselves and their "ki." It’s like everyone’s already achieved total enlightenment and tapped into the universal cosmic flow just by sitting around meditating 24/7, while Morihei Ueshiba himself was humble enough to say things like, "I've only realized a small part of it."
At the end of the day, if you don't actually carry that spirit of peace within you, practicing Judo isn't going to magically develop it for you.
Yeah, you're definitely reading a martial arts thread—just one with a heavy focus on philosophy and the potential for spiritual growth through training. That doesn't mean all this philosophizing replaces actual practice; it just means you can't physically train on this specific topic, you can only talk about it. If you're not into the chat, that's fine, but let others talk if they want to.
Morihei called it an art of peace because it can be used for defense without causing excessive harm (unlike a lot of older styles where the goal was to kill someone with a single strike), not because you're supposed to meditate, generate transcendental energy, or shoot energy blasts from your palms to disable opponents.
Different people interpret what Morihei did and said in all sorts of ways. Even among his closest associates and students, there are wildly different interpretations and various evolutions of aikido styles—which, again, are built on specific ideas regarding the philosophical, energetic, and spiritual foundation of the art. I don't know where you got the notion that you alone know exactly what Morihei thought about the relationship between meditation, transcendental energy, the "art of peace," and aikido.
Stripping the philosophical, energetic, and spiritual aspects away from aikido—to me, that's just gutting it. If you do that, it’s not even worth mentioning; it becomes just another "skill" focused on how to most efficiently hurt someone—and if we're talking efficiency, a handgun is probably a much better tool.
Everyone here is so full of themselves and their "kiai"—they act like they've all found themselves and tapped into universal cosmic energy through meditating all day, while Morihei himself would simply say, "I understood a part of Ikkyu."
Where exactly did you see everyone being "full of themselves"? And how do you know someone hasn't actually found themselves or tapped into some universal cosmic energy? Who told you that?
If someone doesn't carry the art of peace within them, practicing aikido certainly won't develop it.
So, according to this, there are only two kinds of people in the world—those who carry the art of peace inside them and those who don't?!
Since it looks like there's a bit of a debate going on regarding the topic here—and I honestly don't have the bandwidth right now to write a novel—please, let's keep the off-topic chatter and bickering to a minimum.
1. Look, this isn't a contest over whose bokken is bigger, whose ki is stronger, or whose dad is more impressive. It doesn't matter. 2. Obviously, you need to actually train aikido physically, but we can't exactly do that on an online forum. 3. There are plenty of different styles out there, and sure, some might be better for self-defense, but we're focusing on the philosophical and spiritual foundations of aikido here—so let's stick to that if we can. 4. I’d love to hear your personal stories about how practicing aikido has actually affected your life. 5. Is there a fundamental difference in approach between, say, aikido and karate (aside from the actual techniques)? ...
jademarlin26, you guys seem way too obsessed with the word "sectarian"—you practically slap that label on every single person or group in almost every post. Now it's Ki Aikido's turn. Is this just your way of stirring the pot?! (It's tempting to ask, "So, which sect do you belong to?" 😁, but we actually have a specific thread for all that sectarian nonsense!)
Technically, Ki is already baked into Aikido (though Ai-Ki-Kai exists), but from what I've seen—and Paul Campbell3 confirms this—it’s entirely possible to train Aikido for years without ever actually "scratching beneath the surface." A lot of it ends up being nothing more than simple levers, wrist twists, and basic mechanics.
I first ran into Aikido back in New York City, over twenty-five years ago. There were about ten black belts there who had been training for 10–15 years—mostly under L. Vracar (who was apparently the big shot in the US and did a lot to push the sports side of Aikido in the States)—but they actually gave up those black belts when they met a Ki Aikido instructor and started a new club. So, my very first real encounter was actually with Ki Aikido. After a few months, they started demonstrating what they used to practice, and the difference was night and day. Regardless, with 8 to 10 instructors for maybe 15 or 20 students, I definitely learned more in those few months than I would have training somewhere else for years. From the very first sessions, they insisted on proper (stable) sitting, walking, and applying the four principles: maintaining center, dynamic relaxation, dropping weight, and the flow of Ki. We'd start Aikido training with a brief breathing meditation. Then the instructor would move from person to person, checking our posture—pushing us back, to the side, or pulling us. If you tried to counter them—whether consciously or not—you'd go down like a sack of potatoes. It wasn't until you actually found your center and anchored yourself in it that it became hard to knock you off balance. Around that same time, I was starting Hatha Yoga, so I was already working on relaxation. However, in that yoga relaxation, there was no energy flow; my arms felt like limp rags. Through Aikido, I finally saw the distinction between passive and dynamic relaxation. Almost every training session, you could feel that Ki flow (something I haven't really experienced in other schools or with different teachers, or at least very little), and it was fascinating to see how a technique would "work" or "fail" depending on whether you were forcing it or actually following the energy flows. Even after class, I’d feel this tingling sensation through my body and a pleasant sense of relaxation, kind of like the feeling after a hot shower.
The original Aikido taught by Ueshiba is naturally modified by the character—both physical and mental—of his students, and their students' students. There's no reason to label any of these variations as "wrong" or "sectarian." The beauty of Aikido lies in its openness to life, the freedom of movement, improvisation, acting in the moment, creativity, and exploration... there is plenty of room for discussion here, rather than wasting time on dogmatic wars and criticizing schools just because they aren't the ones we know. You can find a little history and an overview of various Aikido styles (sadly in English) right here. As Paul Campbell3 already pointed out—and because this topic falls under spirituality regardless of who we train with (which is a great part of Aikido, the partnership and the sense of community that connects people worldwide)—at the end of the day, it's all about us. PS I have to admit, while I'm mopping the floor, I don't quite achieve that same union of mind and body or that Ki flow I get from Aikido or meditation. I guess that only comes at higher levels (though, honestly, when I'm peeling potatoes, I get pretty close to a meditative state 🙂).
