"As your training progresses, always remember that the key to gaining the ability for spontaneous and creative technique lies in good ukemi." (Mitsugi Saotome, "The Principles of Aikido", 1989)
"We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth." (Mitsugi Saotome, "The Principles of Aikido", 1989)
"All of life, all universal activity, is process, musubi. A cycle of becoming, it is the process of dynamic movement between the polar extremes of universal law, and the only constant in the universe is change. Nothing stays the same for a day, an hour, or even a second. Night turns into day; the snows of winter bring forth the blossoms of spring. We are born and we die." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"Birth and death, decay and rebirth, the cycle of life - all is change. Change is life, and the ability to change is the essential element of growth. The freedom founded upon the realization and acceptance of this truth, that nothing stays the same, is the source of the power of true creativity." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"All the great spiritual teachers were pointing a way to the top, to the ultimate reality which is the Universal Consciousness. The path is not important, but following and emulating a great spirit, a great teacher, and the sincerity and devotion with which the path is followed are all important." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"Every impression, every idea flows through the distorted filter of individual ego, and humanity is plagued with a nearsighted tunnel vision. We sharply separate harmony and conflict, defining harmony as soft and good, and conflict as harsh and evil; with each person standing in the center of his or her own private universe, we decide what is fair from the limited perspective of one individual participating in his or her own space at his or her own immediate timing. We do not comprehend the all-encompassing harmony of nature, nor truly understand the exquisite justice of the Creator’s universal laws. Harmony does not mean that there are no conflicts, for the dynamic spiral of existence embraces both extremes." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
Conflict is the beginning of harmony as death is the beginning of life. Filled with conflict, the flow of nature remains flexible enough to adapt and change, bringing all of creation back into balance.
"God is fire and water, light and air. He is centrifugal and centripetal, yin and yang. God is dynamic movement and God is unity. From the origin to now, the universe has been continuously creating and refining according to the principles of universal creativity, the principles of opposites. These principles working within the body make life. In order to truly understand this we must empty ourselves of ego, for ego is the boundary that sets limits on the human spirit." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life; it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"Kannagara is a way of intuition. There are no written laws, no strict doctrines of right or wrong. The only laws are the laws which govern natural phenomena and promote harmony. Kannagara is a way of supreme freedom, for the action appropriate to function in harmony with nature occurs spontaneously." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"Only sitting in meditation selfishly awaiting personal satori has no meaning. To truly achieve satori is to understand the great responsibility we have to God, to His creation, and to society. With this understanding, an appreciation for all life will fill the heart, and modesty will replace selfish egotism. True satori is forgetting satori. True satori is understanding responsibility, not selfishness. Many people misunderstand Zen training and think they only have to sit in meditation hour after hour to become enlightened." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"The breath of God, inhaling and exhaling through centripetal and centrifugal forces, stirred the universal plasma. Formed and bridled by the forces of gravity, the stars in the galaxies and the planets from the nebula around the stars inscribed the signature of their orbits into the void. Ki is the essence of that creative energy, the supreme justice that rules that all creation obey the same universal laws." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"The Way of harmony is not an easy path. Truth will not enlighten a lazy spirit. It is a Way filled with the hard work, sweat, and pain of reality, for conflict must be experienced and understood. The physical experience of conflict is frustrating and demanding, but the greatest frustration, the most exhausting demand on the spirit, is the struggle to subdue the ego as you strive for personal refinement and ultimately the refinement of society. But it is also a Way filled with the intensity of challenge as the spirit is made fertile for the joys of growth." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"To achieve satori, enlightenment, means to draw nearer to God, to take away the gap, to tear down the fence between us and the natural world. Our personal struggle for refinement will lead to the realization that our lives and the workings of the universe are one. This is the active and living satori of Aikido training." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"Unity is the power of God and resolves all conflict. The process of the unification of opposites is musubi, the reunion of the two faces of God. Centripetal forces, yang and center-seeking, fused with centrifugal forces, yin and center-fleeing, create the perfect balance of the galaxies. Musubi is movement, for without movement there can be no joining. Its symbol is the spiral perpetually recycling its energy, a process that has no beginning and no end. It is continuity and it is change, a pattern of duality seeking the one, and the one seeking its extreme." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
"Without the experience of conflict we cannot know harmony. Viewed without judgment, conflict is neither good nor bad. It is only the opposite of harmony and a stepping stone to creativity. We must challenge our concepts, grinding the negative edges from our attitude so that negative fighting spirit becomes creative fighting spirit. Aikido training brings this spirit to the surface and exposes it so that it can be examined and refined. Discovering our physical limitations causes us to reflect on the deepest meaning of harmony and conflict and to strive for a level of consciousness above the ego, closer to the Creator." (Mitsugi Saotome, "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature", 1993)
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