As we approach the end of the year, it’s a good time to follow the Japanese tradition of inclining our awareness towards new beginnings, and this time, Kendo suggests taking a particularly meditative perspective.

In seated Zen meditation, Zazen, we let everything fall away – body, mind, everything – so that all that remains is an eternal, timeless peace. Whilst exquisite in itself, this process has the effect of breaking un-necessary connections to potentially negative energies, and consequently opening the vision to new possibilities, which may otherwise have been obscured by unproductive (and actually unnecessary) worries.

Such persisting connections to worry are very real examples of attachment, which Buddhism encourages us to let go of: let go of attachment, and you let go of suffering. It’s more subtle than these words convey, though – even having an enduring opinion about ourselves or our situations or the world around us can effectively freeze us in a state where our greatest asset – the dynamism of intuition – is excluded, shut out, unable to penetrate the walls of worry which we erect.

Kendo states that understanding this dynamic can make meditation an immensely more powerful process – once we come back from the oasis of meditative peace, our minds have been “re-booted”, and are not weighed down with ongoing trails of concern, and this is the important part – allow those things which are important in life to rise in profile in your awareness, but you don’t need to take up the attitudes towards them which have formed over time – allow your clean and clear consciousness to re-assess them on their own merits, in this new clear light. One can hardly avoid the pressing immediacies of life, but by casting off the negative ways in which they attach themselves to us, we see them anew, gain a fresh perspective on them, and new possibilities present themselves to us.

The New Year is traditionally an opportunity to look at life anew, but those who meditate enjoy this liberating and empowering process regularly, and consequently, their lives are blessed by optimism, inspiration, and opportunity. Kendo would recommend that even if you don’t meditate, consider the example of the New Year’s “new broom” approach to our whole lives as being a process which we can use much more frequently, and the benefits of doing so will yield astonishingly positive results, in every area of our lives. (…you should seriously consider meditating, though!)

Here’s to a great New Year for all, and a newly enlightened and empowered outlook on life every day!

This message was posted in Kendo’s “Healing Blog” for October. Its theme is the energies which can be derived from the blending “synctretism” process in Buddhism, namely the fact that Shinto gods are considered to be powerfully-supportive Bodhisattvas in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. Enjoy!

Every October in Kyoto a huge festival is held at the Heian Shrine. Celebrating the history of the city, characters in costumes from the 1100 years that Kyoto was Japan’s capital form a parade which takes over 2 hours to watch from beginning to end! It’s truly spectacular, but, as with so many festivals in Japan, the celebrations are held at a shrine because thanks are given for blessings received, and prayers are offered for future positive things in life.

As Kendo has pointed out elsewhere, there are many things which we simply cannot know on an intellectual level, and this is why so many people have faith. Kendo has also given the example of being eclectic, considering multiple view-points in order to broaden and deepen our understandings, and this is one of the main reasons he brings Japanese religion to the West.

For example, Japan has both temples and shrines, the former associated with Buddhism, and the latter associated with Japan’s unique indigenous religion, Shinto. Shinto encourages harmony with nature and society, and there is nothing wrong in asking the Shinto deities to grant you health, safety, and success for yourself and others; the blessings which Shinto offers apply to the here-and-now, and it’s absolutely fine to ask for them. Buddhism can perhaps be described as dealing with understandings beyond this world – enlightenment which transcends consciousness.

From a healing perspective, Kendo recommends that we see ourselves as part of a dynamic system of inter-related energies; the spark of one’s own life is surrounded by many others in nature, and they should all be considered as supportively as we would wish to be. We have just as much right to health and happiness as any other, and it’s ok to ask for positive energy to flow to ourselves, as long as we are ready to give it out ourselves. Kendo has mentioned the power of symbolism, and the imagery he describes here is more important for its symbolic meaning than as an intellectual concept, so we must be ready to let go of the restrictions of rationality alone.

Based on all the foregoing, Kendo’s healing message for October is to let ourselves be open to all possible perspectives of energy, of spirituality, to be grateful for what we have, to be ready to ask for more in this life whilst being ready to give more, to have the humility to appreciate the majesty of nature and the universe around us, and even to celebrate the good things we have achieved. If we can be positive in all these ways, all the unseen energies around us will reciprocate, and support us.

This message was posted in Kendo’s Healing Blog for September. Its theme is the unique energies of Yakushi, the “Medicine Buddha” – enjoy!

One of the lesser-known things about the spirit guide Kendo Nagasaki is something that perhaps should be obvious – as a samurai in his past lives in ancient Japan, he was a Buddhist. In both of the two past lives he has described, he found himself on the path to enlightenment characterised by Zen Buddhism, most dramatically during his life in Kamakura, when Zen was new in Japan and evolved expressions particular to the samurai. In contrast to the peace of seated meditation also existed challenging the consciousness with the sheer intensity of existence, with loud and physical expressions of spontaneity, and, of course, with the unfathomable koans.

As diverse as Zen is, that of Buddhism is even greater, and one of its most fundamental aspects is its ancient healing tradition. This was one of the first aspects of Buddhism to develop in Japan – Yakushi Nyorai, or the Medicine Buddha, came to be revered throughout Japan, not only for the well-being of individuals, but also for the whole nation. This influence continues to this day – of the 88 temples on the Shikoku Ohenro pilgrimage, the second greatest number of temples dedicated to a particular aspect of the Buddha are those dedicated to Yakushi, after Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy.

With his characteristic medicine jar in his left hand, Yakushi became a Buddha beseeched for relief from and protection against ailments, but his right hand also expressed something of great importance in healing – the affirmation to “Fear Not”. Modern science has shown that worry elevates cortisol stress-hormone levels, which is not good when you are trying to heal – in favouring our fight-or-flight capacity, cortisols impede peripheral blood-flow and cell regeneration, and inhibit the absorption of nutrients from food, so we should certainly be as peaceful and un-fearful as possible when seeking to heal. Yakushi has been imparting this essential wisdom since as long ago as the 6th century AD…

Kendo will be telling us much more about Yakushi the Medicine Buddha in the future, but for the time being, it will help all in need of healing to imagine a peaceful seated Buddha, a small medicine jar resting on his outstretched left palm, and his right hand raised, palm towards you, gently assuring you to fear not. Even the mighty samurai occasionally needed healing, and they sought the Medicine Buddha’s dual gift of healing and secure peace.

Kendo’s healing message for September is, therefore: draw positive energy from the image of Yakushi – be well, and fear not.

This message was posted in Kendo’s Healing Blog for August. Its theme is the Buddhist “Obon” festival, held every August throughout Japan – enjoy!

As the Obon festival is celebrated every August in Japan, it’s appropriate that it’s re-visited here in Kendo’s Healing Blog, considered this year with some reflections from a different perspective.

Kendo points out that the fundamental Buddhist consideration regarding Obon is the return to the earthly plane of the souls of our ancestors, and the feeling that we may once more be close to them and feel their wisdom and influence. In Japan, witnessing the ways in which people relate to their ancestors during Obon can be both surprising and delightful – there is a typically Japanese reverence towards and respect for the ancestors (filial piety – remember your Bushido!), but they are also told the family’s news in a familiar and matter-of-fact way, as if they were still actually physically present, and offering opinions.

This latter aspect is very healthy, as it allows the supportive dynamic of the relationship that existed during the relative’s life to continue as if unbroken, and, in a spiritual sense, this really is the case. In the west, there is a tendency to feel that following the “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” ritual, our relatives are somehow out of reach, but spiritually, this is not the case.

There’s no denying that moving on from the sense of loss of a loved one’ passing takes time and requires growth and evolution of the self, but what they still have to give should not be overshadowed by that sense of loss. It’s the right thing to do to see that sense of loss for what it is – a temporary hurt – and allow it to drift away, and to remember instead the enduringly positive things about our departed relatives, considering them to be as dynamic as they ever were, as involved with our lives as they ever were, and for their wisdom and inspiring perspectives to be as available as they ever were.

This Obon, Kendo recommends that we respectfully welcome the souls of our ancestors back to the earth, and then have a good chat with them! This way, they will never actually die, but will continue to inspire and motivate and empower us.