修行会

103「合気とは筆や口にはつくされず言ぶれせずに悟り行へ。」- 植芝盛平

Original Waka

合気とは
筆や口には
つくされず
言ぶれせずに
悟り行へ

植芝盛平 (Ueshiba, 1977)

Translation

“As for ‘aiki’, by brush, mouth, amongst others, exhausted, it cannot [be]—proclamation spreading [is] witheld, realization [is] enacted!” – Morihei Ueshiba

Waka Translation

As for “aiki”:
by brush, mouth, amongst others,
exhausts, it cannot—

proclamation spread—withheld;
realization—enacted!

Morihei Ueshiba

歴史的仮名遣い（語構成を明示）¹

合氣とは（あいきとは）
筆や口には（ふでやくちには）
盡くされず（つくされず）
言觸れせずに（ことぶれせずに）
悟り行へ（さとりおこなへ）

植芝盛平

Bungo Romanization

aiki to wa
fude ya kuchi ni wa
tsukusarezu
kotobure sezuni
satori okonae

Ueshiba Morihei

Notes

¹ Kyūjitai for 気→氣, 尽→盡, 触→觸 are consistent with pre‑war orthography often used in waka and dōka presentation.

Translation, Notes, Commentary, and Research by Latex G. N. R. Space-Coyote

Ueshiba, M. (2025). 植芝盛平道歌–103: Aiki, not exhausted by brush or mouth (L. G. N. R. Space-Coyote, Trans.; OpenAI ChatGPT-5 Pro, Ed.). Shugyokai.org. (Original work published 1977) https://shugyokai.org/nrzd

合気（あいき; aiki）— in Ueshiba’s usage, aiki is the principle of “harmonizing ki,” not merely the name of the art (Aikidō). In his later writings and talks, he often plays on the homophone ai—“to join” (合) and “love” (愛)—to insist that true martial practice is founded on universal benevolence.

合気と（あいきと; aikito）— variant of aikido (aikito). To is a grammatical “and/with” in Japanese, so in a way, the “and/with” is a grammatical version of aiki, joining concepts together (see kotodama). Also, “to” (と) is one syllable, and “dō” (みち) is two syllables. To helps preserve the syllable count.

合気とは（あいきとは; aikito wa）— 名詞＋係助詞 とは “as for Aiki …” (quotative topic marker); kakekotoba as “as for the fact that (we) have met and come” where the classical -き is a past/perfective auxiliary, so 逢ひ＋き is idiomatic (“met”) and can abut とは; running this together in kana yields the same surface string as 合気とは—a textbook environment for kakekotoba (cf. Brower & Miner, 1961; cf. Shirane, 2005).

筆・口（ふで / くち; fude / kuchi） — writing / speech.

や (ya) – 並立助詞 “parallel / enumerative particle,” linking two nouns; it often suggests a non-exhaustive sample of a larger class (Tofugu, n.d.); the particle effectively is a joining operation on two nouns (echoing izu/structural ai).

筆や口（ふでやくち; fude ya kuchi）— juxtaposes writing (筆) and speech (口).

筆や口には（ふでやくちには; fude ya kuchi ni wa）— 名詞 筆 ‘brush (writing)’ ＋ 接続助詞 や ‘and / or’; 名詞 口 ‘mouth (speech)’ ＋ 格助詞 に ＋ 係助詞 は→ “by brush or mouth”. The construction “XやYには…ず” fits waka concision (cf. Brower & Miner, 1961).

つくされず（つくされず; tsukusarezu）— 動詞 尽くす (yodan) 未然形 尽くさ + 受身助動詞 る 連用形 れ + 打消助動詞 ず 終止形 → “is not (cannot be) fully exhausted (expressed).” (On ず as the classical negative auxiliary and -e imperative for yodan verbs, see Shirane); Verb 盡くす (tsukusu, yodan) + auxiliary る (potential / passive / self‑spontaneous) + negative ず ⇒ “cannot be exhausted/fully expressed.” Poets prefer the -されず shape to shift focus to the thing’s ineffability (potential reading) rather than “not doing it” (simple negation; Shirane, 2005); denies that aiki can be exhaustively conveyed through explanation—“尽くされず, but do not mistake “exhaustively” for “cannot”.

筆や口にはつくされず（ふでやくちにはつくされず; fude ya kuchi ni wa tsukusarezu）— “cannot be exhausted by brush or mouth” pairs brush (writing) and mouth (speech) to assert ineffability: words and letters cannot fully convey the essence. This idiom resonates with a long Japanese religious‑philosophical motif of not relying on words and letters (furyū‑monji, 不立文字) in Zen—i.e., truth is realized through direct cultivation rather than explanation. We’re not claiming Ueshiba is speaking as a Zen doctrinalist here, but the rhetoric tracks that broader cultural logic. Note that Ueshiba is himself demonstrating the difficult way of writing and speech (see 104).

言ぶれ（ことぶれ; kotobure）— public announcement; spreading things by word of mouth.

言ぶれせずに —（ことぶれせずに; kotobure sezu ni）— ‘public proclamation; to broadcast a notice’ (written 言觸れ／事觸れ) + サ変 suru → 未然形 せ + 打消助動詞 ず + 接続助詞 に ⇒ “without making a proclamation, without touting it”; the classical / early‑modern word kotobure (public notice) to caution against announcing or touting aiki; it should not be made into mere talk or publicity; an older expression written 言触れ/事触れ meaning “to spread by word of mouth, make public notice.” Hence “don’t trumpet it / don’t advertise it”; the poem enjoins practice over publicity; 言ぶれせずに｜名詞 言ぶれ／言触れ + サ変動詞 する 未然形 せ + 打消助動詞 ず＋ 接続助詞 に → “without making a proclamation / without broadcasting it”; kakekotoba as ことぶれ (kotobure) straddles “an official / public notice” (言/事＋觸れ) and, kakekotoba by sound, the idea of “letting words fure (touch / spread)”—a compact wordplay that suits waka economy (c.f. Miner et al., Princeton Companion).

悟り行へ（さとりおこなへ; satori okonae） — takes 悟り（さとり; satori）not as armchair “insight” but as performance / practice via 行ふ “to enact / perform,” imperative –へ—“perform realization!” The syntax and morphology are classical (文語); 行ふ （おこなへ; okonau）: “realize (awaken to it) and do it” (This is not “go (yuke) to satori” but “realize—and enact it.”). The collocation underscores embodiment—insight that is enacted; 名詞 悟り ‘realization, enlightenment’ ＋ 動詞 行ふ (okona(u) “to conduct, enact”) 命令形 行へ (okonae): “perform (put into practice) realization.” The –へ spelling reflects historical kana usage for the ha‑row (ha / hi / fu / he / ho) alternations in bungo orthography.

Negative auxiliary ず. Tsukusare + zu is the standard classical negation; the pattern and distribution are treated in classical grammars.

Imperative –e of yodan verbs: 行ふ → 行へ (okonae) is the textbook bungo imperative in historical kana.

Archaic lexeme 言触れ (kotobure). Explicitly classical/early‑modern (“to make a public announcement”), matching Ueshiba’s diction.

Waka diction & compression. 31‑mora phrasing that avoids particles beyond those needed (“や/に/は/に”) is typical of waka’s compact style. Scholarly accounts of waka prosody confirm the 5‑7‑5‑7‑7 on schema maintained here.

Historical kana usage (歴史的仮名遣い). The poem’s orthography—e.g., 行へ (for modern 行え), …せずに—matches historical spelling rules retained in literary texts; government language‑policy materials explain the relation between historical kana and modern kana (and why one preserves historical usage for classics).

Kyūjitai. Using 氣／盡／觸 mirrors pre‑war and literary orthographies common in dōka and waka printings.

“Not by brush or mouth”. Aligns with the embodied transmission of budō: practice and realization over discursive explanation. Anthropological studies of Japanese martial traditions stress the forge of the spirit through disciplined bodily practice, rather than propositional instruction.

言ぶれせずに. sits comfortably within Shintō attitudes to 言霊 (kotodama)—the spiritual potency of words—documented in the Encyclopedia of Shinto and reference works: words are powerful and should be used properly, not cheaply; hence do not proclaim, but realize.

悟り行へ. Also resonates with misogi / harai (purificatory praxis): Ueshiba repeatedly framed Aikidō as embodied misogi; religious‑studies syntheses (Hardacre) and EOS entries detail misogi/harai as ritual acts where purification is achieved through doing rather than saying. 

つくされず. In bungo (classical Japanese), つくされず is the negated potential / passive form of 尽(つ)くす “to exhaust; to express fully.” Morphologically it’s 尽くす（サ行四段） + 助動詞「る」 (potential / passive / self‑spontaneous; 未然形＝れ) + 打消の助動詞「ず」 → つくさ＋れ＋ず. In poetry it means “cannot be exhausted / cannot be fully expressed,” a conventional way to state ineffability (e.g., “not to be put fully into words”). 尽くす = “to use up; to do / express to the utmost; to exhaust (a topic / feeling).” In premodern dictionaries it’s a サ行四段（＝modern 五段）verb; senses include “すべてを表現する,” which is why it appears in phrases like 筆舌に尽くしがたい (“inexpressible”). The auxiliary 「る」 (attached to the 未然形 つくさ): Classical る(conjugation: れ ／ れ／る／るる／るれ／れよ) marks 受身・可能・自発・尊敬. With a following negative, it typically yields the potential reading (“cannot …”), exactly what we have here: つくされず = “cannot be exhausted / expressed.” (Kotobank even illustrates the “る＋打消＝可能” pattern: 忍ぶることもつつまれず). Classical ず is the standard negative auxiliary (活用：［ざら｜ざり｜—｜ざる｜ざれ｜ざれ］ / ［ず｜ず｜ず｜ぬ｜ね｜—］), attaching to the 未然形 of the preceding element; here it follows れ (the 未然形/連用形 of る), giving れず.

Why poets choose つくされず (not just つくさず). つくさず = simple negation of the actor’s doing (“[someone] does not exhaust [it]”). つくされず = negated potential / passive (“[it] cannot be exhausted / fully expressed”). In waka and dōka, this shifts focus away from the speaker to the intrinsic ineffability of the thing (love, grief, dō), a standard topos of Japanese poetics. The proverbial line 「書は言を尽くさず、言は意を尽くさず」 (“writing cannot exhaust speech; speech cannot exhaust intent”) captures the same value. え 〜 ず = “cannot ～” (え < 連用形 of 動詞 得(う)). Classical texts use it constantly (e.g., 土佐日記 帰京 に「え尽くさず」：“cannot write it all”). This is the same semantics as つくされず expressed with え. つ／く／さ／れ／ず = 5 mora, which is why poets like it in a 5‑mora slot (often the 3rd line of a 5‑7‑5‑7‑7). The verb’s sense “to express fully” makes it tailor‑made for lines denying that completion.

Translation note. I present 行へ as the bungo imperative of 行ふ (okona(u)) “to conduct / perform,” yielding “perform realization”, which preserves Ueshiba’s praxis‑first imperative (cf. Shirane, 2005). I read 言ぶれ as 言触れ / ことぶれ, an early‑modern / early‑modernized lexeme for public proclamation (cf. Kotobank).