In August, in the majority of Japan, there is a 3-day festival known as Obon (or just Bon, but with the “O” as an honourary prefix). In some regions, Obon takes place in July, as a result of regional differences which arose during the change from Japan’s old lunar calendar to the Western Gregorian calendar.

During Obon, it is said that the spirits of the departed return to visit their families; lanterns are hung to guide spirits back to their ancestral homes, they visit family altars and their graves, where their living family feel able to communicate with them, update them on the news of this realm, and ask them for their ongoing protection from adverse forces. At the end of the festival, floating lanterns are placed in rivers and streams, and in the ocean, to help guide the spirits back to their world.

In addition to the opportunity for these family-oriented spiritual practises, Obon is a time for celebration, because the offerings made at family altars also represent those which set the spirit of a Buddhist monk’s mother free from an unfortunate state after she had passed; his joy at her liberation is celebrated in the Bon Odori, a hugely-popular festival of dance, which is a national holiday in Japan.

This combination of the opportunity to commune with one’s deceased relatives and make offerings to ensure their support in this world and their well-being in the next, and celebrate the entire process, is a heady mix, with which we are quite unfamiliar in the West. For Kendo, though, Obon is a fine example of a novel way in which Western people can conceive of their ongoing relationship with their ancestors, which is communicative, mutually-supportive, spiritual, and joyous.

Kendo would counsel that perhaps the most important aspect of an Obon perspective is that it is spiritually dynamic: the wisdom and benevolence of one’s pre-deceased family are considered to be ongoing and highly available, able to continue to serve the living as example, motivator, and even counsel in one’s continued striving for the highest expression of oneself on the earthly plane.

During this Obon, Kendo would recommend that you consider thinking anew of your family who have gone ahead of you from this life to the next; think of what they stood for, how they would comment upon your actions and situation now, and how you would make them proud of you. If you still your own mind sufficiently, you will hear them, and not yourself.

However, remember that the wise counsel of an ancestor may not be “all sweetness and light”! It may be that you need to re-think something, shrug-off old ways of acting or thinking, re-consider much, and even cast comfortable yet unproductive circumstances to the flames! During Obon, the objective wisdom of your ancestors could be your best ally in empowering, progressing, evolving your entire life: it’s an opportunity for the most profound and incisive reality-check on who, what, and where you are – the kind of radical approach that Kendo would always encourage.

Belief.

Why should it be that Kendo Nagasaki, an Eastern spiritual guide, should express himself in the West? Well, firstly, the man behind the mask, Yogensha, was born in the UK, so this became his native culture, but as he travelled the world, he always believed that he was meant to impart his message from within the UK, and this gives a strong hint regarding the “big picture” of what Kendo is all about.

If there is a fundamental quality to what Kendo does, it is to build bridges between worlds, and his original belief has found form in the way his website shows many examples of how Eastern mysticism can be seen at work in the West. Entertaining these aspects of “mystical” things from a Western perspective involves taking an alternative viewpoint to the rationalism and reductionism we are taught in the West, and suspending – if we can, if we dare – the disbelief in other-worldly things that seems to be a requirement of our common-sense, down-to-earth, exquisitely-planned lifestyles.

The way that illness turns our well-ordered lives upside down is certainly a powerful reminder that we can’t rationalise everything in life, but find ourselves instead having to have faith that healing will take place, and our freedom to plan and act as we wish will be restored.

Illness is one of several forces in life that challenges our Western immersion in – and reliance upon – reason alone, either by taking away our control of events, or revealing something beyond rationality, such as love, or the appreciation of beauty, to name but two, but there are many more powerful life forces which soar beyond mere rationality.

Those who follow a religion tend to be comfortable with belief, but for the agnostics, atheists, and die-hard rationalists, belief is a problem, one that is made even more unpalatable by the ever-more shiny and mechanistic allure of scientifically-justified reasoning. Why bother with something “irrational” like belief?

Kendo would say that life without belief is but half a life – reliance on reason alone is not enough. There is a vast myriad of things beyond our “ken” which become far more accessible with a nod to belief. For example, as Kendo has pointed out before, we know all the neuroscientific processes involved in how and even why birds sing, but such cognizances are completely beyond the birds themselves. It is by no means unreasonable to suggest that a parallel exists to ourselves – we still do not know how the mind fits into the brain, but this does not mean that it is unknowable – we may yet catch a glimmer of understanding of such mysteries by setting pure rationality in its place, and inviting our intuitive selves to have a say.

Why not? Reason has hit the buffers, and it is a process that we can easily believe in because it is a self-evident fact, so some intuitive suggestions certainly deserve consideration. Would you believe (!) that this is the process that those denizens of reason, mathematicians, rely upon? Until science can prove the ideas that they come up with, they must believe in them; reason itself states that until it can be proven, what they have come up with is not even a theory – it is a philosophy, or even a belief. They are to be congratulated for allowing belief to guide their reason.

In the rationalistic West, much more consideration should be given to what belief can show us. At the very least, we should definitely suspend an active disbelief in things beyond rationality, as such an attitude involves blinkeredness and prejudice, and deprives us of myriad possible insights. The mind is by no means a bad thing, but it needs to know its place.

Those who need healing have been granted a head-start on contemplations involving belief; if the reason for the illness seems unfathomable, if the compromises it has brought seem unreasonable, if the outcome seems uncertain, the bald facts themselves are not the limit of what can be appreciated. Every aspect of every experience has something to reveal, and only when this process is begun can the extent of the rewards of contemplation be appreciated – all that’s needed is to believe that the wisdom will come, and it will; Kendo’s mentoring is always available too.

Kendo has a great deal more to say about belief, including how we all can benefit from Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, a code of life and set of beliefs which are completely empowering (watch the website). In the meantime, remember that a preparedness to believe in forces beyond the grasp of the intellect is immensely empowering.

In Japan, in the middle of June, a celebration is held in commemoration of the birth of an enormously important cultural and spiritual figure in Japan: Kukai, also known by the title of Kobo Daishi, which means “the grand master who spread the word of esoteric Buddhism”.

Known more usually by his title than by his name, Kobo Daishi did nothing less than revolutionise the quality of Japanese society through the means of enlightenment; he was a hugely gifted calligrapher, poet, artist, engineer, inventor, linguist, and, after gaining much political influence, a great reformer, establishing many hugely-beneficial public works projects, the first public school in Japan, and the first university for commoners in Kyoto. One key achievement attributed to him is the development of the Kana, the Japanese system of writing, still in use today.

Kobo Daishi was highly eclectic in his approach to philosophy, right from his first writings blending Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism to challenge established thought and open the mind to new and diverse alternative perspectives. He also went to extreme lengths to make what he found to be one of the most inspiring ancient Buddhist scripts, Dainichi-kyo (the Mahavairocana), accessible, travelling to China to study the original Sanskrit scripts himself, and subsequently making the intuitive fruits of his deep contemplations on this sutra the basis of virtually his every action.

He also established a pilgrimage around the island of his birth, Shikoku, which encompasses 88 temples. A great many pilgrims take the journey around sections of the Ohenro pilgrimage, praying and meditating, some visit all 88 temples, and some embark upon the entire pilgrimage more than once, some even seeking to remain on the pilgrimage for the rest of their lives. Also inspired by Kobo Daishi, the islanders are incredibly supportive of the pilgrims on their journeys.

Known as the father of Japanese culture, Kobo Daishi is perhaps the best possible example of a human being whose meditations, contemplations, and intuitions bore fruit of the highest kind – cultural, moral, and spiritual advancement. Japan rightly celebrates his birth every June, in Shikoku, and in Kyoto, the ancient capital where he wielded so much enduringly positive influence.

Incidentally, another man of influence perhaps closer to home, but also from the island of Shikoku, was Kenshiro Abbe, sensei to our own Yogensha.

Kendo Nagasaki’s healing message for June contemplates the example of Kobo Daishi, an individual who demonstrated immense passion for both plumbing the depths of spirituality and then weaving the revelations thereof into his every outward action, thus transforming the world. Furthermore, Kobo Daishi ultimately wielded great influence despite initially little enthusiasm for Buddhism in general in Kyoto, let along his own esoteric “True Word” variant, but with perseverance, his ways were accepted over the established traditions – with excellent results.

Kendo would say, never underestimate the power of spirituality – the deeper you look, the more you will see, and the more empowered you will become by the power that will flow into you. It is an uplifting, rewarding, and motivating empowerment, with an astonishing momentum, an initiation into which only requires a slackening of the grip on the black-and-white rationalism that we learn from birth in the West. There are other worlds of spiritual empowerment just a thought away – let that thought be: show me, Kendo.

Welcome to the new Blog for the Healing division of Kendo Nagasaki’s web presence.

Here you will be able to read of all the news related to Kendo Nagasaki’s healing activities, and, of course, Kendo’s monthly Healing Blog Messages will be posted here.

Also appearing here will be articles relating to fields inter-related with healing; as many of you will already know, the need for healing has foundations in other energy flows, including karma and destiny, soul evolution and growth, and serving others by example. The dynamics of these interplays will be explored here, to help broaden understanding of the origins, current dynamics, and outcomes of the many forces which come to a focus under the umbrella of healing.

In healing, as in all his activities, Kendo Nagasaki’s actions are in the service of humanity, to bring inspiration, enlightenment, understanding, and empowerment to humanity; we hope that what you read here will give these energies to your life, and so enhance it in its many dynamics, and what follows.

Remember, to experience Kendo Nagasaki, in any of his many forms, including his reflections upon healing, is to be empowered!

Here is a quick reminder that May’s Distant Healing Event occurs on Monday at 13:13 hours, or 1:13 pm.

Be prepared for your intuitive self to reveal subtle messages to you; in healing terms, Kendo’s empowerment takes the form of discovering the energies that have compromised your health, and, in discovering them, understanding how to re-direct them to restore personal balance and potency.

You should reflect upon Kendo’s Healing Message for May (below), and then concentrate on his Hand-Eye-Hexagram Empowerment image, then close your eyes and keep the image in your mind’s eye whilst reciting the Empowerment Mantra to yourself: “It is by harnessing the power of Kendo Nagasaki that I become the samurai master of my life.”

Any contemplation of Kendo Nagasaki is immensely empowering, especially in healing terms, and he wishes deep empowerment to you all.