Margaret Greenhalgh

Ueshiba made clear reference to stupa symbolism in the diagrams he drew to describe aikido and in his exhortation to practitioners to “Build a Buddhist tower” within themselves. He also referred to the need to “learn to control the universal elements within the human heart”… Ueshiba described aikido as “triangle, square, and circle, with breath.”

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This is a chapter extracted from the MA thesis “Aikido and Spirituality: Japanese Religious Influences in a Martial Art.” Click here to view the entire thesis (7MB).