3「寸隙なき心魂一如の統一以て誠の人を作り、更に顕幽両界に練り合し世を挙げて大和魂を。」- 植芝盛平
Original
寸隙なき
植芝盛平 (Ueshiba, 1977)
心魂一如の統一以て
誠の人を作り、
更に顕幽両界に練り合し
世を挙げて大和魂を。
Translation
“Through perfect unification of heart-mind and spirit, leaving not the slightest gap, become a person of true makoto. Further, by harmonizing both the visible and the invisible realms, one brings forth (elevates) the world with the authentically sincere brave and harmonious spirit.” – Ueshiba Morihei
Bungo Romanization
Sungeki naki
shinkon ichinyo no tōitsu motte
makoto no hito wo tsukuri
sarani ken’yū ryōkai ni neri‑awashi
yo wo agete Yamato‑damashii wo.
Ueshiba Morihei
歴史的仮名遣い(語構成を明示)1,2
隙もなし(すきもなし)
心魂一如(しんこんいちにょ)
誠びと(まことびと)
顕幽に練り(けんゆうにねり)
やまとのみたま(やまとのみたま)
Bungo Romanization2
suki mo na
shin konichi niyo
makoto bito
ken yū ni neri
yamato nomi tama
Bungo Translation2
Not even a seam,
heart-mind-spirit become one,
forge the true person—
temper seen and unseen realms,
raise the Yamato spirit!
Notes
1 Historical kana are used where appropriate matching bungo orthographic practice (Frellesvig, 2010; Vovin, 2003).
2 Bungo reverse translation into waka/tanka not composed by Ueshiba Morihei; back translation supports critical translation efforts. I render “寸隙なき…” as the native diction 隙もなし to fit 5 mora and preserve the “no gap” force; 心魂一如 (heart-mind–spirit as one) is kept as a Sino‑Japanese compound; 顕幽 condenses 顕界/幽界 (manifest / hidden realms) common in Ōmoto and broader Shintō discourse; やまとのみたま expresses 大和魂 in 7 mora (see §6). On waka prosody and “5–7–5–7–7,” see Carter (2019) and Brower & Miner (1961). (Carter, 2019; Brower & Miner, 1961). “世を挙げて” is absorbed into the teleology of the lower phrase (raise the Yamato spirit), a move consistent with ellipsis and kakekotoba‑like compression in waka (cf. Carter, 2019; cf. Shirane et al., 2016).
Translation, Notes, Commentary, and Research by Latex G. N. R. Space-Coyote
Ueshiba, M. (2025). 植芝盛平道歌–003: Primer-3, heart-mind-spirit inseparable (L. G. N. R. Space-Coyote, Trans.; OpenAI ChatGPT-5 Pro, Ed.). Shugyokai.org. https://shugyokai.org/sgc9 (Original work compiled 1977)
寸隙(すんげき; sun geki)— spare opening.
寸隙なき(すんげきなき; sun geki naki)— “without so much as a hair’s breadth of space”; no gap; seamless.
心魂(しんこん; shinkon)— heart-mind spirit.
一如(いちにょ; ichi niyo)— Buddhist influence; “of one essence” [permutative examination step].
心魂一如の統一(心魂一如の統一; shinkon ichinyo no tōitsu)— “the unity of heart-mind (affective-cognitive) and spirit as one”; merging the mental and spiritual aspects.
誠の人(まこと の ひと; makoto no hito)— true genuine or sincere person; deeply authentic true person.
顕幽両界(けんゆうりょうかい; ken’yū ryōkai)— manifest (visible) and hidden (invisible) worlds; the tangible everyday world and the intangible spiritual realm.
練り合し(ねりあはし; neri‑awashi)— to knead together, blend, unify; careful forging / harmonizing.
大(***)— great (see below, this is a compound with old roots).
魂(***)— spirit (see below, this is a compound with old roots); spirit [which goes to heaven, ascending as opposed to 魄 which descends to earth]; spirit; mood; lofty spirit of nation or people (云 – to say, rain[, cloud]; 鬼 – man with ugly face, tail; overawe, terrorize, to return, to deceive; peculiar).
大和魂(やまとのみたま; yamato-damashii)— sincerity-bravery-harmony; tapping into the spirit of integrity and harmony to elevate society.
顕/幽 (gen/yū). In Ōmoto / Shintō parlance, 顕界 (manifest) and 幽界 (hidden / spirit) are interdependent domains. Ueshiba’s religious formation was deeply shaped by Ōmoto and Deguchi Onisaburō; his dōka often invoke such two‑world metaphysics (Hardacre, 2016; Ōmoto Tokai, 2022; Pranin, 2012).
大和魂 (Yamato‑damashii). From Heian literary discourse through modern nationalism, Yamato‑damashii has signified a normative “Japanese spirit,” variously moral, aesthetic, or ideological. Our reading keeps the ethical‑cultivational sense (resourcefulness / magokoro), not the modern militarist valence (Benesch, 2014; Carr, 1994).
解説
「プライマーの第二原理」で〈対人の合気→武魂の身体化→真善美の統合〉っていう段取りを描いた流れを受けて、このページのプライマーの第三原理は、まず「寸隙なき心魂一如の統一」で「誠(まこと)の人」をつくる、と言い切ってるよ。批判的口語訳にすると――「心と魂のあいだに一切のスキを作らずにひとつにまとめ上げ、その統一で『誠の人』を育てる」――って感じ。ここで「寸隙」は「わずかな隙・すき間」のこと、「一如」は「本来一体/異ならないこと」っていう仏教語法、「誠」は「偽りのない心、まごころ」だね。プライマーの第二原理の「内面化」を、今回はスキなしの統一って言い換えてグッと締め上げたわけだよ。
で、その上で「更に顕幽両界に練り合し/世を挙げて大和魂を」と続けて、稽古の射程を見える領域(顕)と見えない領域(幽)の両面へ広げると読むのがスジ。「幽顕」は「この世とあの世」という日本語の古い対概念で、「両界」は仏教語で「二つの界」を指すことばだ。だからこの一首は、①心と魂を一如に統べて誠の人を作る→②その統一を顕(ふるまい・関係・社会)と幽(動機・祈り・内観)の両面でさらに練り合わせる→③その総合として「世をまるごと上向かせる大和魂」を打ち立てよう――っていう階段を示している、と現代語で読み替えられる。ここまで来ると、第2首の「対人から内奥へ」の矢印が、第3首で「個の統一から顕幽の往復運動へ」ってスケールアップした、ってことだね。
口語要約のひとこと
「心と魂にスキを作らずひとつにして、見える世界も見えない世界も使って『誠の人』を育て、社会まるごとを上向かせよう。」
発話行為理論
オースティン(Austin, 1968)の発話行為理論(Speech Act Theory)の枠で眺めると、植芝盛平の道歌「プライマー-3」における発話行為(locutionary/ロキューション)詩句が表現している文字どおりの内容であり、「寸隙なき心魂一如の統一以て誠の人を作り、更に顕幽両界に練り合し世を挙げて大和魂を。」という言葉そのものが具体的に心と魂の完全な統一とそれを周囲の世界へ波及させることを述べている点に見られる。これは「心と魂を一つにして真実の人となり、見える世界と見えない世界の両方を調和させて大和魂を広げよ」という命題を伝えている。
続く 発話内行為(illocutionary/イルロキューション)は、単なる説明ではなく読者に 内面的統一と両界への調和を実践することを促す意図 であり、修行者に精神統合と社会への影響という規範的な目標を提示している。
また 発話媒介行為(perlocutionary/ペルロキューション)は、この発話によって聴者・読者が 自己統一や精神錬磨の重要性を深く感じ取り、実際の行動や認識に影響を与える という点にある。詩を読む者は、心と魂の完全な一致を目指す内省や見える/見えない世界の調和という価値観を自らの修行に取り入れるよう動機づけられる可能性がある。これら三つの行為レベルを通じて、道歌は単なる詩的表現を越えた 修行的・価値指向的な発話 として機能する。
Proof of Concept
English Translation
Commentary (English Translation)
Picking up from the flow laid out in “The Second Principle of the Primer”—that sequence of 〈interpersonal aiki → embodiment of the martial spirit → integration of truth, goodness, and beauty〉—this page’s Third Principle of the Primer first comes right out and says that one creates a “person of makoto” through “a gapless unity in which heart-mind and spirit are one.” Put into a critically [heart-]minded colloquial rendering, it would be something like: “Leave not the slightest opening between heart-mind and spirit, gather them into one, and through that unity cultivate a ‘person of sincerity.’” Here, 寸隙 means “the tiniest gap or opening,” 一如 is Buddhist terminology meaning “originally one / not different,” and 誠 means “a heart without falsehood, sincerity, true-heartedness.” In other words, what the Second Principle of the Primer called “internalization” is, this time, restated as a no-gaps unity and tightened way up.
From there, the verse continues with “further tempering and blending it in both the manifest and hidden realms / raising up the whole world with Yamato-damashii,” and the natural reading is that the scope of practice expands into both the visible realm, 顕, and the invisible or hidden realm, 幽. 幽顕 is an old Japanese paired concept meaning “this world and the other world,” while 両界 is a Buddhist term referring to “the two realms.” So, in modern terms, this poem can be read as showing a kind of staircase: ① unify heart-mind and spirit as one and create a person of makoto → ② further temper and blend that unity across both the manifest realm, meaning conduct, relationships, and society, and the hidden realm, meaning motive, prayer, and introspection → ③ as the synthesis of all that, establish a Yamato spirit that raises the whole world upward. At this point, the arrow in the second poem, which moved “from the interpersonal toward the innermost depths,” has scaled up in the third poem into “a back-and-forth movement between individual unity and the manifest/hidden realms.”
One-line colloquial summary
“Make heart-mind and spirit one without leaving any gap between them, use both the visible and invisible worlds to cultivate a ‘person of sincerity,’ and raise society as a whole upward.”
Speech Act Theory
Viewed through the framework of Austin’s Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1968), the locutionary act in Morihei Ueshiba’s doka “Primer-3” is the literal content expressed by the poetic lines themselves. This can be seen in the wording: “Through the gapless unity of heart-mind and spirit as one, create a person of makoto; further temper and blend this in the two realms of manifest and hidden, and raise the world with Yamato-damashii.” The words themselves specifically state the complete unification of heart-mind and spirit and the spreading of that unity outward into the surrounding world. The proposition being conveyed is: “Unify heart-mind and spirit, become a person of truth, harmonize both the visible and invisible worlds, and spread Yamato-damashii.”
The following illocutionary act is not merely explanatory. Rather, it carries the intention of urging the reader to practice inner unification and harmony across the two realms, presenting practitioners with a normative goal: spiritual integration and influence upon society.
The perlocutionary act lies in the way this utterance may cause listeners or readers to deeply sense the importance of self-unification and spiritual refinement, thereby affecting their actual conduct and awareness. Those who read the poem may be motivated to incorporate into their own practice the values of introspection aimed at the complete accord of heart-mind and spirit, as well as harmony between the visible and invisible worlds. Through these three levels of action, the dōka functions not merely as poetic expression, but as a practice-oriented and value-directed utterance.
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Appendix I: Change Modification Log
03 JUN 26 - Translated commentary to English.23 MAY 26 - Speech Act analysis updated; citation style updated.21 DEC 25 - Phase V styling applied to original text.07 DEC 25 - Corrected English quotes to Japanese quotes in Japanese commentary; back propagated English "Primer" to Japanese "プライマー" updates for Japanese readability.15 NOV 25 - Changed “sincerity” back to makoto to sign multi-valent word in English.25 OCT 25 - Phase IV completion; added commentary.21 OCT 25 - Phase III completion; in Lab for Phase IV (the blue box is a working GT sorting box).14 APR 20 - Initial notes transferred.

