Oomoto
Morihei's Spiritual Influence

The Oomoto religion begins with an illiterate Japanese peasant girl, Nao Deguchi, who was born 1837. Nao lived a life of incredible poverty and hardship and never had formal schooling. When she was nineteen years old, she married her cousin with whom she had eight children, all raised in poverty and hardship.

On the last night of winter in 1892, after her husband had passed away from illness, the 56-year-old Nao is reported to have been suddenly transformed into an altered state. While in this trance, she received a divine order to "Pick up a writing brush." The illiterate woman began to spontaneously write Japanese characters on rice paper. By the time she passed away twenty-seven years later, she had written 200,000 pages.

The collected writings became the sacred scriptures of Oomoto. The writings deal with the relationship between God and humans, social commentaries, the mission of the Japanese people, and predictions and forebodings for humanity. These were all transmitted to aid in what came to be known as the "Reconstruction of the Greater World." This was all felt to herald the coming "Kingdom of Heaven on Earth."

Onisabaru Deguchi

Onisaburo Deguchi, was an extraordinarily charismatic individual.  Beginning in 1898, he became the co-founder of a new emerging religion based on the writings of Nao Deguchi called Oomoto (lit. "foundation").   The religion became so powerful that the Japanese government became concerned at the amount of political sway they were developing.  The Japanese were ultra nationalistic at this time and the Oomoto teachings of pacifism, internationalism and universalism did not sit well with them.  In the 1920's the Japanese government launched a campaign to suppress Oomoto.  And in the 1930's they vowed to completely extirpate Oomoto entirely.

By the mid-1940's the Oomoto religion worked out its difficulties through the Japanese courts and were re-established under the name  Aizen-en ("Garden of Love and Virtue").

The Oomoto religion contains Four Teachings and Four Principles.  The Four Teachings are basic rules for humans to live by:  (1) Harmonious Alignment with Life and the Universe, (2) Revelation of Celestial Truth and its Lessons (3) Innate Patterns of Behavior for Man, Society and the Cosmos and (4) Instinctual Creative Drives.

The Four Principles begin to give insight into Morihei's transformation of Aiki-jujitsu to AIki-do.  They are (1) Purity, purification of mind and body, (2) Optimism, believing in the goodness of the divine will, (3) Progressively working for social improvement and (4) Unification, the reconciliation of all dichotomies.

These principles are observed by followers of Oomoto to be inherent properties of nature.  They teach that by aligning with these principles we are aligning with our own true natures and that by following these principles man can create heaven in his own present life.  Morihei taught that Aikido is misogi, a term referring various forms of ritual purification such as fasting, meditating, praying or washing.

The Oomoto religion places great importance on natural food, something that Morihei, a farmer, not doubt took to quite readily.  It also holds that art is the mother of religion and that art brings humans closer to the divine.  Another insight what Morihei intended practitioners of Aikido to aspire to.  It teaches acceptance of the divine will in everyday life.  Morihei taught that "the appearance of an enemy is an opportunity to determine whether we are aligned with the divine will."

The syncretism of two apparently disparate personages, the master martial artist and the spiritual ascetic, both fully present in Morihei.

Morihei's training under Sokaku Takeda combined with his involvement with Oomoto resulted in a transformation of budo (martial arts) as a way of achieving victory over others to a way of achieving victory over oneself.  Onisaburo actively supported and encouraged Morihei in his search for true budo.

Learn more about the teachings of Ueshiba >