The 13th day of the month is with us once again, and so, at 13:13 hours GMT, it is the time to set worldly distractions aside, still the mind, and focus upon Kendo Nagasaki’s healing energies. In visualising Kendo’s red mask and his healing hands either side of his Hand-Eye-Hexagram symbol, with every slow, deep breath, the power of the universe will flow out of the symbol and into yourself. Continued for 13 minutes or more, this practice is empowering on all levels, particularly in restoring the balance of the life energies which are depleted, thus bringing about healing.

Kendo’s April Healing Message:

With the advent of the spring equinox, the sun can be seen and felt to be brighter and stronger, and the increased energy one feels can be directed into meditative visualisations of empowerment and renewal, which is the theme of April’s healing message.

In April, the cherry blossoms come out all over Japan. This event is hugely significant for the country, and has been for many centuries, for all strata of society, not least the samurai.

The cherry blossoms last for only a few days each year, but for that short time, present a display of breathtaking beauty. Arguably the most admired is the somei yoshino, which blossoms before producing any leaves, so every April, each tree is a mass of white and pale pink blossoms – one of the most beautiful sites in nature.

That such beauty is present for only a few days each year greatly enhances appreciation of it, and the experience is also viewed philosophically.

After the darkness and chill of winter, the fleeting nature of this spring beauty is much anticipated, and serves as a reminder of the cyclic nature of life – not only of the regularity of the seasons, but also of one’s own fortunes: there is more to be expected from life than wintry darkness, or even the scorching humidity of summer; every spring, promise blossoms anew.

After the end of the warring states period in Japan, the samurai turned their focus and discipline upon the study of aesthetics, and hence were born some of the most incisive art forms in the world, from the martial art sport of kendo, which Miyamoto Musashi himself developed from samurai sword skills, to Japanese calligraphy, to the austere elegance (wabi-sabi) of ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement), and much more.

A welcome insight provided by Western culture into this Japanese phenomenon was seen in one of the poignant back-stories depicted in the remarkable movie, “The Last Samurai”, in which Ken Watanabe plays the ferocious and supremely-skilled yet highly cultured title role: he was fascinated by cherry blossoms, making them the focus of extensive study, and appreciating their perfection until his last very breath.

Kendo Nagasaki is such a comprehensively cultured samurai soul, and he encourages us all to broaden our aesthetic horizons. Just as the stilled mind forms the basis of the finest weapon, opening the intuition to the power, the patterns, and the mysticism of nature and art and meditating upon what is perceived elevates all levels of the self beyond preoccupation with the material here-and-now, and, spring-like, re-kindles promise, possibility, inspiration.

Inspiration is the theme of April’s Healing Message from Kendo Nagasaki; the cherry blossoms represent the re-birth of the promise of the coming year, just as the dawn represents the birth of a new day and all its promise. From a healing perspective, nothing is more important than being open to inspiration from many sources, including the beauty of nature, the simple elegance of an austere flower arrangement, how the brush strokes of calligraphy have their own simple artistic elegance, and also say so much in so few words (as in Japanese Haiku poetry).

Indeed, there is a whole spectrum of inspiration to which Kendo Nagasaki can introduce us, all of it enlightening, uplifting, empowering, and healing. This month, he recommends that we contemplate the buds of spring, and share in their promise of renewal and blossoming.