Just wanted to share this information with the group.
Rachael
www.rachaelhertogs.co.uk

Wesak is the celebration of Buddha's birth & enlightenment, & in some
traditions also his death. As the most important figure in Buddhism
his life is celebrated and revered. Gathering to chant and pray are
an important part of a traditional Wesak celebration.

It is said that Wesak is that time at the Full Moon of May in which
the Christ gathers the entire Spiritual Hierarchy together in
meditation to invoke the forces of Shambhalla. The Buddha,
representing those forces, appears and blesses humanity.


The Buddha is the expression of the Wisdom of God, the embodiment of
light and the indicator of divine purpose.

Wesak - the Sun in Taurus Full Moon, is the most powerful Full Moon
of the year. The Sun's transit through Taurus exalts the Moon and
Taurus is ruled by Venus, the spiritual ruler of Earth. Venus is
identified with Mary, the World Mother. May, the month of Taurus, is
the month of Mary. Venus appears in the west as the feathered serpent
god Quetzalcoatl who brought enlightenment to the Mayans; in the east
she is Maya, mother of the Buddha.

The lunar cycle is a wave of creation that comes to fruition when the
Moon is full. Each Full Moon brings revelation and possibility for
healing body, mind, and soul. The Moon is the Mother whence comes
reflected Light of the spiritual Sun to nurture, support, protect,
and bring to flower the seeds of creation.

The Full Moon is like a pitcher pouring out a healing elixir. The
celestial dispensation continues for three days following the day of
the Full Moon. Calm and balance, deep breathing, meditation, yoga,
rhythmic music and dancing help for receiving the blessings of heaven.

This Sun in Taurus Full Moon is called Wesak (WE-sock). Mystics say
that the Buddha returns now to help regenerate the Earth.

According to metaphysical tradition, the Buddha was born, attained
enlightenment, and left Earthly incarnation under the Full Moon of
Taurus. And the Buddha returns at this time each year to bring new
light to the world. Spiritual leaders gather in Wesak Valley, a
mythic place high in the Himalayas. Here initiates led by the Christ
arrange themselves into a great pentagram (the Venusian emblem of
world soul) while the Buddha hovers over those gathered radiating
light. This cosmic alignment occurs during the eight minutes centered
on the moment of the Wesak full moon.

Significance of Wesak

As channels, we must be prepared to forget ourselves in the service
of touching, containing and holding force for the rest of humanity.
We must regard the Festival itself as a day of silence (I refer to an
inner peace and silent solemnity that can be preserved unbroken
though the individual may be serving through speech and spoken
interest), a day of service carried forward entirely on esoteric
levels, and of complete self-forgetfulness in the remembrance of
humanity and its need.

During that period, two thoughts only will hold our constant
attention-the need of humanity and the necessity of providing a group
channel whereby the spiritual forces can be poured through the body
of humanity under the expert guidance of the chosen members of the
Hierarchy.

For two days prior to the full moon, we will hold the attitude of
dedication and service and seek to assume that attitude of
receptivity to that which our soul will impart which will make us of
use to the Hierarchy. The Hierarchy works through groups of souls,
and the potency of this group work is to be tested out. These groups
in their turn contact and feed the waiting dedicated attentive
personalities. On the day of the full moon, we attempt to hold
ourselves steadily in the light. We will not formulate to ourselves
what will happen nor will we look for results or for tangible effects.

On the two succeeding days, the focus of our attention will be
steadily turned away from ourselves but also from the inner
subjective planes to the outer world, and our efforts will be to pass
on, or to pass through, that measure of spiritual energy that may
have been contacted. Our work then in this particular and peculiar
field of cooperation will then be ended.


When the Great Lord was on Earth, He told His disciples that
successful spiritual effort of a healing nature went not forth except
by prayer and fasting. Will you ponder on these words? This is a
group effort towards a vast group healing and by prayer (sanctified
desire, illumined thought and intense aspirational longing) and by
the discipline of the physical body for a short period and for a
definite objective, the work can be done.

Wesak has been traditionally associated in eastern civilization with
the Buddha, divine intermediary between the highest spirtual center
on the planet, Shamballa, and the Hierarchy. The Buddha is the
expression of the Wisdom of God, the embodiment of Light and the
indicator of divine purpose, cooperating at this festival with his
brother the Christ, who represents the Hierarchy. The Buddha embodies
the Principle of Light, and because of this illumination humanity was
able to recognize the Christ, embodiment of the still greater
Principle of Love. Each year at the time of Wesak, two great streams
of energy - one focussed through the Buddha and the other through the
Christ - are fused and blended, and it is the task of world servers
to precipitate this combined energy into the waiting world.

Wesak is indeed a great spiritual event, with a powerful effect upon
humanity. Groups of aspirants can at this time become channels for
the higher energies released through the medium of the two focal
points - the Buddha, who represents the overlighting essence of
subjective realities, and the Christ, representative of aspiring
humanity. This is symbolized in religious rituals where the priest
acts as the focal point; here, however, the priesthood in this great
ceremony of contact is not a separate entity. All can be priests, the
single qualification being the capacity to align oneself and be en
rapport with the soul, and thus be able to cooperate with other souls.

Wesak is a time of unusual inflow of life and of spiritual
stimulation, serving to vitalize the aspiration of all humanity.
Through the united effort of the Christ and the Buddha working in
closest cooperation, there is opened a channel of communication
between humanity and deity through which an approach can be made to
Those Who guide our planet, so that aspirants and disciples can
contact energies not otherwise easily available.

In mutual service to humanity, the Buddha and the Christ bring about
a linking that blends East and West, uniting the world's major
religions in a shared holy day in which religious distinctions
disappear. In the beautiful water ceremony of communion is portrayed
the symbol of the new age which is upon us, the Aquarian Age, the age
of the Water Carrier.

During Wesak the Buddha becomes the "absorbing Agent" of Will. He
uses the magnetic power of Love-Wisdom to attract this force to
Himself and hold it steady, prior to redirecting it. The Christ then -
on behalf of the Hierarchy - becomes the "receiving Agent" of this
potent energy and the groups of Masters Who work with the human and
sub-human kingdoms (in response to His demand) become the "directing
Agents" for the sevenfold expression of this force.

So at the time of the Wesak expansions of consciousness are made
possible that are not possible at other times. Those of goodwill are
stimulated spirtually to take initiation, in order to penetrate more
deeply and consciously into the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
These reveal more about the wonder of our divinity, and about the
Plan to which humanity is conforming. Each year, the Wesak marks the
beginning of a cycle for the New Group of World Servers, that
comprise three-year cycles of crisis, tension, and emergence.

At Wesak we may honor the Buddha, as well as ourselves, as dedicated
transmitters of the energy that can be contacted at the full moon in
Taurus. The greater the number of people who meditate at this time,
the stronger the magnetic field of the group heart and its
invocative, indrawing power. It's up to each of us to attune with
ever greater clarity to the note being sounded - to quiet the mind
and transmute individual desires that only cause confusion and chaos,
into desire for the greatest good of all.

The focussed interplay of many minds working together in meditation
produces a unity of thought powerful enough to reach the Great Lives
watching over and guiding our planet. And the combined aspiration,
consecration, devotion and intelligence of the group carries everyone
to greater heights than could be attained alone.

We know where we are aligned ... with the Source of all that is. That
Source provides uniquely and cooperates with All who are tuned to Its
Note of Life.

The Legend of The Wesak
According to tradition, at the time of the full moon in Taurus, the
Buddha comes to the Wesak Valley of the Himalayas to bring the
powerful spiritual energy of Shamballa to the assembled masters,
initiaties and disciples of the Hierarchy, for the assimilation and
eventual distribution of this Shamballa force throughout the world.

The Wesak Valley, lying at a rather high altitude in the foothills of
the Himalayan-Tibet ranges. It is surrounded by high mountains on all
sides except towards the northeast, where there is a narrow opening
in the mountain ranges. The valley is bottle-shaped in contour, with
the neck of the bottle to the northeast, and it widens very
considerably towards the south. Up towards the northern end, close to
the neck of the bottle, there a huge flat rock. There are no trees or
shrubs in the valley, which is covered with a kind of coarse grass.

Approaching the time of the full moon of Taurus, pilgrims from the
surrounding districts begin to gather. The holy men and the lamas
find their way into the valley and fill the southern and the middle
parts, leaving the northeastern end relatively free. There, so the
legend runs, gathers a group of those great Beings Who are the
Custodians on Earth of God's Plan for our planet and for humanity.



Thus, so the legend runs, The Buddha returns once a year to bless the
world, transmitting renewed spiritual life, through The Christ.
Slowly then The Buddha recedes into the distance, until again only a
faint speck can be seen in the sky, and this eventually disappears.
The whole ceremonial blessing, from the time of the first appearance
in the distance until the moment The Buddha fades out of view, takes
just eight minutes.

The Buddha's annual sacrifice for humanity (for He comes back only at
great cost) is over, and He returns again to that high place where He
works and waits. Year after year He comes back in blessing; year
after year, He and His great brother, The Christ, work in the closest
cooperation for the spiritual benefit of humanity. In these two great
Sons of God have been focussed two aspects of divine life, and They
act together as Custodians of the highest type of spiritual force to
which our humanity can respond. Through The Buddha, the wisdom of God
is poured forth. Through The Christ, the love of God is manifested in
humanity, and it is this wisdom and love which pour forth upon
humanity each Wesak full moon.