The cherry blossoms have now left us for another year, and, as hoped, they were even more beautiful and inspiring than last year, and have given us new fond memories of their stunning beauty to tide us through the next 11 months.

At the same time, following our slow, mild winter, the rest of the trees and bushes in the grounds of the Retreat are now coming into full leaf, and early summer’s riot of green grows more vivid every day – so, as one spectacle passes, another comes into view.

With such images in mind, Kendo encourages us to always be positive about the experiences into which we find ourselves immersed. The range of human experience is vast, from lives of leisure and art, to lives of intense industry and activity, from lives of casual consumerism, to lives of service and support, the most intense of which is arguable the life of forces personnel.

Kendo points out that it isn’t really appropriate to dwell on what karma may have brought us, or how we may change our circumstances, but rather to consider how we may be the best that we can be, wherever we find ourselves. Kendo also points out that there’s no point trying to second-guess karma anyway – its challenges will endure, so our only choice is, in fact, the enlightened one – rise to those challenges by working on yourself.

It is now widely recognised that in absolutely every walk of life, balance is essential; it’s sometimes described as work-life balance, but in many cases, we need to find balance within ourselves. This can be a challenge over-and-above the challenges that life itself throws at us, but Kendo has wise counsel for us.

Kendo says that we need to accept our circumstances (our karma) so completely that we no longer even think of them – resenting the forces acting on us is like a tree resenting the wind – there is no point: that force is always there to greater and lesser degrees, and the only recourse is to prevail and grow strong enough to continue prevailing. This is more than just gritting our teeth through adversity, however – the ultimate gain is the gradual development of a strength we won’t even be aware of, but will be beyond what we can imagine. Kendo points out that such strength develops significantly quicker in the absence of concerns about whether we can or will be able to cope – just as with the stoney pathways at the Nagasaki Retreat, wherever you find yourself on the path, remind yourself that you have already covered so much of that stoney ground, and you have survived – rejoice in what you have already achieved, and look forward, further down the path, with deserved optimism.

It was not a particularly cold winter here at the Retreat, but it was long, and at times, very blustery, and yet, here in May, as the sun grows ever warmer, the trees are a fine example of how endurance pays off – they have at times had to bend with the wind, and at times flat-out resist it, and their majesty the result of such a blend of adaptability and strength. Kendo says that with the right attitude, it can be so for us, too.

Kendo observes that what follows from this is not only being the best we can be, whatever our circumstances, but also being the best possible example for those around us – like a mighty oak, our evident strength and balance can inspire all whom we encounter.