Susanna Felder

Wesak is celebrated at the full moon in Taurus, and it has long been a spiritual highlight of the year for advanced initiates. With the New Age already underway, and the Earth becoming a Sacred Planet, Wesak is beginning to be recognized in the West, and it has been prophesized that it will be celebrated worldwide once the New Age is firmly in place in the awareness of a majority of humans.

In India, Nepal, and Tibet, Wesak has been celebrated for centuries, as the time when Buddha received Enlightenment. The Wesak Valley, also called the Valley of the Masters, is located in a remote area of Tibet. It is surrounded on all sides by high mountains, except at the northeast end, where there is a narrow opening through the mountains. Near this end, there is huge flat rock.

As the precise time of the full moon approaches, pilgrims begin to gather, coming from all over the world, in the physical, or in the dream state, or in their etheric bodies. These are adepts, aspirants, initiates, and the New Group of World Servers. The Masters and Great Contemplatives that hold the Divine Plan for Humanity and the Earth gather at the northeast end, and prepare themselves for a great act of service. In front of the rock stand the Christ, the Manu (the Lord of the Living Forms), and the Mahachohan (the Lord of Civilization). They face the rock, upon which rests a great crystal bowl full of water.

About one half hour before the full moon climax, the crowd comes into stillness, the masters and disciples of all ranks take up symbolic positions, and begin to form a series of sacred geometrical patterns on the valley floor. The crowd chants mantrams, and a vibration moves through the whole assembly, focusing and blending the energy into one united whole. All look toward the northeast, a few minutes before the full moon, and a tiny speck appears in the sky, becoming clearer and clearer as it approaches the ceremonial gathering, until the form of the Buddha, seated in lotus position, clad in his saffron robe, radiant with divine light, and with his hand extended in blessing, is seen flying through the air. He speeds toward the rock, and as he comes right over the heads of the Christ, the Manu, and the Mahachohan, he stops, hovering. The Great Invocation swells up from the whole assembly at the exact moment of the full moon, setting up a potent vibration that reaches to God, marking the supreme spiritual effort for the year. The positive effect of this moment vitalizes the spiritual aspirations of all of humanity for many months thereafter. Then the Buddha recedes into the distance, and disappears just as he had come. From his first appearance, to his fading from view, takes about eight minutes.

The water in the bowl, symbolizing the Aquarian Age, has been magnetized by the combined focus of the Masters, the crowd, the Buddha and the Christ, and carries virtues of a healing and illuminating nature. The people have all brought their little cups and vessels, and The Christ distributes the water to everyone. Then silently, the Masters and the assembled crowd disperse, returning to their homes, renewed for another year of world service.

The above account of the Wesak ceremony is excerpted from a pamphlet written by Alice Bailey in the 1940s, called The Wesak Festival. Bailey tells us in that pamphlet that the Wesak, and the two full moon periods before and after it, will be celebrated worldwide by spiritual aspirants in the New Age. The full moon in Aries is already celebrated as Easter in Christian countries, and in the New Age the full moon in Aries will become the Festival of the Risen Christ. The full moon in Gemini will be celebrated as the Festival of Humanity. The World Goodwill Foundation (a spinoff of the Lucis Trust, which keeps the Alice Bailey books in print and publishes a long list of other materials for lightworkers) presently organizes Festival of Goodwill events in various parts of the world at the full moon in Gemini.

The Masters tell us that this series of three full moons will become more and more powerful, and everyone will begin to recognize them as times of spiritual blessing and stimulation, when the aspirations of humanity will be vitalized and the love and wisdom of God can flow more powerfully to the world. Once these festivals are recognized as the great gateways of illumination that they are already becoming, humanity will develop a Science of Approach to the deeper truths and forces of life which are as yet hidden from most. The three festival times will provide ever-greater clarity and support for group at-one-ment, every year, until all of humanity is consciously unified at the level of the group soul, the Christ. This is beginning now as part of the Aquarian Age. These full moons are also times when higher guidance from the Masters is more available, and visioning for the future can be more clearly cognized. Bailey also says astrology will be restored as the science it really is, as more and more people recognize the importance of solar and cosmic influences for humanity and the Earth.

The Masters have also suggested that the full moon period, year round, be used as a time of group spiritual work, whether as meditations or gatherings of some sort, where the focus is world peace, goodwill and spiritual awakening for all of humanity.

Joshua David Stone has done a lot to introduce the Wesak period in the West, with his annual gatherings on Mount Shasta. This event is attended by over 1000 people every year, and fills up the only building in the small town of Mount Shasta that is big enough to hold them (the gymnasium of the College of the Siskiyous).

But anyone can organize a Wesak Festival, or the whole series of festivals for the three full moons of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, in their own area, and you can be sure the Masters will support this work, especially if you make an effort to educate the public where you live and draw in more people to the spiritual path.

The Wesak Pamphlet, from the Lucis Trust, offers help for anyone wanting to organize such festivals. They also supply the Great Invocation in many formats (bookmarks, handcards, posters, flyers, etc.) and a pamphlet on Full Moon Meditations. All these materials are free from: The Lucis Trust, 120 Wall St. 24th floor, New York NY 10005. All of their work is funded by donations, so they appreciate a donation if you are ordering a large amount of material.

The Divine Unity Foundation offers a Wesak "Gathering of Light" each year. This year the event will be May 5-7, at their Retreat Center in Victor, Montana. This gathering is for seekers on the spiritual path who would like to get to a new level of functioning. The Solar Angels are calling to everyone, and the new frequencies coming into the Earth are nudging everyone into soul consciousness. Call 406-961-0007 for more information.

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