25 Apr The Spiritual Downpour of Wesak

“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.”
Alice Bailey

Legends talk about a valley deep within the heart of the Himalayan mountains, somewhere in Western Tibet, which is surrounded by steep mountains all around. Mountains everywhere, except the northeast. A narrow pathway is open there and it creates a bottlenecked shape for the valley. The neck of this valley opens to the northeast while the width of the valley widens towards the south. A huge, flat rock stands guard at the northern end.

This is the legendary Wesak Valley.

Wesak is the most important of the Buddhist festivals and it is usually celebrated on the full moon of Taurus. This holy day commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha. However, Wesak is not just confined to the Buddhists, as many spiritual practitioners who know the importance of it, make themselves available to participate in this important festival.

According to the Theosophist C. W. Leadbeater, on the day of Wesak every year, a flood of blessing flows down to the physical plane from Gautama Buddha. The Lord Buddha has a special type of force, which pours out when He gives His blessing to the world. This blessing is priceless and unique because, by His nature, a Buddha has access to planes of nature which are altogether beyond human reach and understanding.

The Buddha acts as a step down transformer and draws down to our level these unique forces and makes it accessible and usable to us. Without his mediation, these forces are of no use to us because they are so powerful, and their vibrations so tremendously high, that they will pass through us instantly at the physical level and we wouldn’t even sense them or be aware of them.

Interestingly, just as flowing water instantly finds a channel for itself through which it can pour, these instantaneous blessings also find the proper channel with the right receptivity and purification. They strengthen all the good work and bring peace and illumination to those who are able to receive it.

Without purification, without the proper preparation, these blessings will simply flow through us. This is why the preparation for the Wesak Meditation is as important as the Meditation itself.

All the spiritual practitioners who spend time, energy and effort in preparing themselves for this great spiritual service will receive intensive energies that will last throughout the year. This not only benefits every individual, but also is considered to be a noble way of helping manifest the Divine Plan on Earth.

The Full Moon of Wesak

The full moon of Wesak is believed to be the most powerful one of the year, and is conducted on the exact time of the full moon of Taurus. Near the time of the full moon, the Wesak Valley starts to fill with pilgrims and spiritual aspirants, lamas and teachers and they position themselves in the southern and middle parts, leaving the northeastern portion free. In this way all the people of good will and the will to do good, who are active parts of the Divine Plan on earth, gather. These groups of spiritual workers are the main participants of the Wesak celebration in the physical plane.

According to the legends, these people then arrange themselves in a special geometrical pattern in the northeastern end of the valley, and prepare themselves for meditation and service. This geometrical pattern is composed of a five-pointed star surrounded by concentric circles.

It is believed that the three world teachers stand in front of the altar rock – Buddha Maitreya (united in spiritual oneness with his brother The Christ) stands in the center, with the Manu on his right and the Mahachohan on his left. These three great souls face the rock upon which a great crystal bowl, full of water is located.

Behind them stand the spiritual Masters, Arhats, initiates, adepts and senior workers. All of the world’s disciples and aspirants stand at their various grades and groups, either with their physical body or without it. These are believed to be the new group of world servers. The ones who are not in the physical body are gathered in the spiritual form or in the dream state to participate in this great world service.

The Moment of Wesak

When the exact time of Wesak full moon approaches, a deep state of stillness and calmness settles down upon the crowd. They arrange themselves in the pattern of the five-pointed star with the Christ standing at the highest point of the triangle, facing the altar rock. Certain spiritual movements and rituals are followed then and divine mantras are chanted. The Masters move in symbolic forms and chant verses in the ancient Pali language.

The group works as a united whole due to the tremendous energies generated and the collective vibrations experienced. They are readied to receive the higher spiritual energies and distribute it to the world. The three words that describe the atmosphere at the time of the Wesak celebration are believed to be demand, readiness and expectancy.

When the exact time of Wesak approaches, the chanting and rhythmic weaving grow stronger and the participants look at the sky in the direction of the narrow path where they can see a tiny speck, which comes closer and closer. The form of the Lord Buddha then appears sitting in his lotus-posture with his saffron-colored robe, full of light with his hand extended in blessing.

Leadbeater describes the Lord Buddha as a gigantic figure with a brilliant aura, from which a glorious ultramarine is emanated, then golden yellow, crimson, pure silvery white and scarlet, with brilliant rays of green and violet shooting out from these spheres of light. These colors are described as the colors of Buddha’s aura in ancient Buddhist scriptures.

When Buddha arrives at the point exactly over the great rock and the crystal bowl of water, an invocation is recited by all the people participating in the Wesak festival. This sets a great vibration with a great potency on all the people present. The entire world, united in a moment of intensive spiritual effort and invaluable service to humanity, experiences an intensive spiritual downpour with effects that last throughout the succeeding months.

The blessings poured by Buddha last for only eight minutes every year during the time of the Wesak festival, and the whole ceremony takes about 30 minutes. The ceremony ends when the Buddha holds up His right hand in blessing, as He slowly recedes, and is seen again as a tiny speck in the sky. When the Lord Buddha disappears and the meditation finishes the crowd slowly disappears, heading back to their lands, to continue the service to mankind.

The effect of this great invocation is universal and links humanity with the cosmic consciousness and the supreme force, from which all Creation is originated.

The Effects of Wesak

This energy and blessing is released from Shamballa upon the earth through the Buddha and is then poured forth and the Christ/ Maitreya as the representative of humanity receives it for distribution to all. The water in the crystal bowl is then held up and blessed by Him as the participants come forward one by one to sip the water. Participants also have their own water containers to receive blessings during the whole ceremony and especially at the final blessing.

It’s crucial, therefore, that the days leading to the actual meditation be spent in purifications, self-healing and preparing the system to be able to receive the intense vibrations released during the Wesak meditation and to remove any negative thoughts and emotions in the aura that can hinder the usefulness of practitioners as channels of spiritual force. 2 days after the Wesak is considered the time for distributing the received spiritual energies to every person and every being on earth.

It is suggested that during the 2 days of purification before the Wesak festival, spiritual practitioners hold an attitude of dedication, service and receptivity that enables the Hierarchy to use them as instruments more effectively. During the 2 days after the Wesak meditation, further group meditations and blessings are conducted to help in distributing the spiritual energies and divine blessings to a greater number of people throughout the world.

“Wesak links east and west, Buddha and Christ, Shamballa and Hierarchy, purpose and love.”
Alice Bailey