This transcribed excerpt from Morihei Ueshiba's The Art of Peace stresses the utter importance of practicing peace every day, in every moment, and in that practice, we find can begin to live in true -- and peaceful -- warriorship.
Daily training in the art of peace allows your divinity to shine brighter and brighter. Do not concern yourself with the right and wrong of others. Do not be calculating or act unnaturally. Keep your mind focused on the art of peace and do not criticize other teacher or traditions. The art of peace never restrains or shackles anything. It embraces all and purifies everything. Train hard. Experience the light and warmth of the art of peace and become a true person. Train more and learn the principals of nature. The art of peace will be established all over and it will have a different expression in each place it takes root. Continually adapt the teachings and create a beautiful environment.
In good training, we generate light, that is, wisdom, and heat, that is compassion. Those two elements activate heaven and earth, the sun and moon. They are the subtle manifestations of water and fire. Unify the material and spiritual realms and that will enable you to become truly brave, wise, loving, and empathetic. Practice the art of peace sincerely and evil thoughts and deeds will naturally disappear. The only desire that should remain is the thirst for more and more training in the way. Those who are enlightened never stop forging themselves. The realizations of such masters cannot be expressed well in words or by theories. The most perfect actions echo the patterns found in nature.
Day after day, train your heart out, refining your technique. Use the one to strike the many. That is the discipline of a warrior. Face a single foe as if you are facing ten thousand enemies. Face ten thousand enemies as a single foe. The way of a warrior cannot be encompassed by words or in letter. Grasp the essence and move on toward realization.
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