To explain the wonderful and complex uniqueness of each of us, it is often said that each of us is a universe.

The term universe holds particular significance in the teachings left by the Founder of Aikido. For such reason, we believe it is important to investigate the term he used, uchu 宇宙, and offer some reflections.

Space-Time

First, let’s take a look at the two kanji:

• 宇 (u) can be translated as space, sky, vastness.
• 宙 (chu) can be translated as void, eternal time.

Thus, uchu conveys the concept of an eternal, infinite space-time -a boundless space that, of course, is not just a physical and scientific construct but also has roots in the very essence of Japanese spirituality.

The continuous becoming

Summarizing the philosophical, religious, and spiritual perspective of Japan into a few lines is impossible. For further study, we refer to the research of L.L. Wynn, who shows how the concepts of space and time in Japanese culture are strongly influenced by Buddhism, and ultimately by the structure of Hindu thought, from which Buddhism originated.

To attempt a synthesis: where the Sanskrit śūnyatā indicated what we can translate as void, Zen expresses it as ku (空). This is a condition of infinite possibilities, thus different from the concept of nothingness.

In the perspective of Japanese spirituality, especially Zen, uchu, the universe, represents the continuous evolutionary dynamism of all that exists. And everything that exists is interconnected through ku, the void, which in this way becomes what makes the universe possible. In this interconnection, the Shinto origin of the Japanese soul is reconciled with philosophical frameworks imported from India and China.

Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido, frequently used the word uchu in his teachings, emphasizing the importance of harmony with the universe.

In comparison

It is hard to think of Japan without referencing its excellence in the field of science and technology. In this sense, in Japanese culture, uchu refers to the physical universe, which encompasses space, galaxies, and everything within it. Modernity and globalization have contributed to spreading a perspective born from the scientific discoveries that first revolutionized Western societies and then the entire world.

After all, when a Westerner uses the word “universe,” he/she is using a term laden with millennia of philosophical and scientific thought. It carries with it Plato and his idea of a universe as an imperfect reflection of eternal ideas. It carries Aristotle and the universe of concentric spheres, with Earth at the center.

It carries a geocentric system where the theology of St. Augustine and St. Thomas could converge with the cosmogony then conceived, preparing the way for the ongoing search to integrate faith and reason.

It finally leads to the development of a scientific mindset of constant inquiry and research, both in the infinitely small and close, as well as, in space missions, the infinitely vast and distant.

Getting lost in the void

Thus, while the Westerner lost their self-referentiality and discovered they were not the center of the physical world, they also began to lose their soul, confusing the immense spaces and vast questions that arose as signs of solitude rather than reflections of unimaginable dignity.

This is when individualism arose, which, the more it fed on progress, the more it amplified the void, seeking meaning in a world that was becoming progressively smaller and interconnected.

It’s no surprise then that we are all drawn to the evocative perspectives of the East.

Ware wa uchu nari — 我は宇宙なり — said Morihei Ueshiba. And the most common translation, “I am the Universe”, became like a dazzling beacon in a night full of moths seeking light.

What could be simpler than quenching the thirst for meaning through external gestures and the practice of a discipline and its codified forms?

An additional perspective

Let’s look once again at the words used by Morihei Ueshiba. In the sentence, he uses uchu 宇宙, the universe. The subject is ware 我, which is a refined way of saying “I.”

While it’s a refined way, ware also has the connotation of ego.

The verb なり (なる, naru) means “to become,” “to transform into something.”

To summarize, it wouldn’t be wrong to translate the phrase as: “I become the universe”, or even “My ego transforms into the universe”.

What exactly Morihei Ueshiba intended, we may never know precisely. And what a Japanese guy might perceive and want to communicate through these words is not so evident.

However, it is quite clear that the practice of the discipline, as it is lived and understood in Japan, has purposes, goals, and principles different from the values attributed by a Westerner to the practice itself.

“I am the universe” is radically different from saying “I become the universe”. which is yet another step from saying “My ego transforms into the universe”.

And this is something a Westerner, precisely because they are Westerner and hyper-logical, should at least remember.

They might, for example, not only remember the content and history of the term they use but also better grasp the transformative characteristic inherent in every discipline.

The ego, in continuous purification, giving space to the dignity of the self and its full manifestation, transforming into what, if allowed to express itself freely, can become.

This is likely to bring them closer to the experience of the founder.

That of discovering that each of us is a universe.

Disclaimer: Picture by Felix Mittermeier from Pexels