Strength in Weakness.

This is a picture of my birthday present from my good friend and his wife. I have a fairly large collection of Buddhas in my collection and I now have this beautiful one to place out in my garden. 

One of the parts of my garden that I have been wondering what to do with it will now be transformed as I prepare it for this beautiful Buddha. 

So I hope to turn an unsightly part of the garden into something more peaceful and calm, from a weakness to a strength.

There is a true story of the boy Kim who had a terrible accident and it resulted in the loss of an arm at a very early stage in his life.

When the accident happened he was unconsolable. No matter what his parents tried he was devastated and defeated.

One of the things he had always wanted to do as a young boy was to learn Judo. His father thought that he should still pursue this ambition and sought out a judo school that would accept him. His father hoped this would make him happy.

When he arrived at the judo school for the first time everybody wondered how he could possibly manage to learn judo with only one arm. The judo master gave him a lesson on a difficult stroke in judo and told him to practice this until he had it to perfection. 

Kim did just this for month after month he practised the stroke, the master correcting and helping him as much as he could. Kim always worried that he would never be any good at judo only knowing this one stroke. 

He did not complain he did as his master said and continued to practice and learn. 

The national championships came along and the master entered him much to the surprise of all who knew he only knew one stroke. The entrants who did not know him made fun of him prior to the start of the competition.

In spite of the taunting Kim beat the first six opponents fairly easily though he struggled in the semi finals. 

He had reached the finals and everyone was more than surprised. The final match began and he was up against a worthy and strong opponent. 

At one point the referee wanted to call the match to a halt because it was obvious that although not getting beat Kim was beginning to suffer. 

Time wanted to stop but the master said no. he told him to keep watching and use his stroke.

 Eventually he got his opportunity and he pinned his opponent in a losing grasp. Kim won the match.

The master said to him, "Kim you only have one good stroke, but it is the hardest stroke in judo to defeat. You see the only way to defeat this stroke is but grasping the left arm of the opponent. The fact that you have no left arm means your stroke cannot be beaten in you. Your weakness is your strength."

It is always possible to change what you consider a weakness into an asset and a strength. If you have the will.

Have a marvellous day and thanks to all again who wished me well on my birthday.