Year 1: Wesak System & Festivals

What is the Wesak System & Festivals and Why is it in the Program? Year 1 Last Update: Introduction ψ   Every religion has its key days.  Buddhism is no different.  Wesak also pronounced Vesak is Buddha’s Day.  It is the…

What is the Wesak System & Festivals and Why is it in the Program?

Year 1

Last Update:

Introduction

ψ   Every religion has its key days.  Buddhism is no different.  Wesak also pronounced Vesak is Buddha’s Day.  It is the most important day for those of the Buddhist faith.  It is a sacred ritual for its practitioners that is celebrated annually on the full moon of the ancient lunar month of Vesakha, which usually falls in May, or in early June.

On Vesak Buddhist celebrate the Enlightened birth of Lord Buddha Prince Siddhattha Gotama, at his 35^th year when he became the Buddha and his final ‘passing’ into Nirvana at the age of 80.  Buddha’s enlightenment meant that he would not be reborn ever again and he was off the wheel of Samsara.  The Buddhist scriptures tell the three major events that occurred on a full moon of the Indian lunar month of Vesakha.  They are his birth, his enlightenment, and his passing into Nirvana.

According to tradition he was born in 623 BC and was calculated according to the Buddhist calendar which counted down from his final passing that was 80 years later.  And the decision to agree to celebrate Vesak as the Buddha’s birthday was formalized at the first conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists held in Sri Lanka in 1950, although festivals at this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition.

Siddhartha’s Early Life

According to modern academic consensus Gautama Buddha was born 563–483 BCE as Prince Siddhatha Gotama in Lumbini (what is now Nepal) and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu.  He was born into an aristocratic family in the Shakya clan.  Growing up, the Buddha was exceptionally intelligent and compassionate. Siddhartha as a young man grew to be tall, strong, and handsome.  He belonged to a warrior caste and was destined to be great.   As such it was predicted that one day, he would become either a king or spiritual leader.

Siddhartha’s parents were powerful and wanted him to become a mighty ruler for their kingdom.  They believed that the best way to achieve their personal ends was to prevent Siddhartha from seeing the “unsatisfactory nature” of the world. Therefore, they insulated him from the real world and replaced it with every sort of pleasure.

He was given ladies (five hundred attractive ladies) and sporting and gaming opportunities. He completely mastered the important combat training, even winning his wife, Yasodhara, in an archery contest. It was all for his personal excitement and gratification.

At the beginning of his Saturn Return, at age 29, when outside of the confines of his royal lifestyle and for the first time he was confronted with the reality the underclass.  He saw first- hand their suffering and realized the impermanence of life. He saw the desperately sick. The next day, he saw a decrepit old man, and finally a dead person. He became upset when he realized that old age, sickness and death would come to everyone he loved someday. Siddhartha realized that his wealth could not help them, nor could it offer any refuge for them.

Siddhartha’s Awakening

The next morning the prince walked past a man meditating who sat with eyes open in deep absorption. As the story goes their eyes met and their minds linked.  Siddhartha stopped, transfixed. In a flash, he realized that the perfection he had been seeking outside must actually be within the mind itself. As a warrior the world outside is the road to completeness.

But in that one instant Siddhartha’s mind had opened cleared, and for the first time he had a taste of the inner peace that only the mind can offer.  It was a true and lasting refuge, which he knew he had to experience directly himself for the good of all.

 

His Life Would Be Forever Changed

Siddhartha retuned to the Palace.  He eventually he renounced his family and the royal life to take the ascetic path to meditate and study life.

When he was ready left the palace secretly and set off by himself into the unknown. He met many talented teachers and mastered their techniques. They showed him how to master his mind in many ways, but something was missing.  At a place called Bodhgaya, Siddhartha decided to remain in meditation until he knew mind’s true nature. It took him six days and nights of cutting mind’s subtle obstacles.  It was on May’s Full Moon when he reached enlightenment, a week before he turned thirty-five-year-old.

At full realization, all feelings and ideas dissolved, and Buddha experienced the “full presence”.  All separation in time and space disappeared and the past, present, and future, near and far, melted into intuitive bliss. He became timeless, all-pervading awareness. Through his body, he knew and was everything. He awakened to understand the mechanism which keeps people trapped in the cycle of rebirth.  As such he became Buddha, the Awakened One.

 

After Enlightenment

Buddha next went to northern India. There he taught for forty-five years. Everyone was drawn to his him and his teaching. Buddha always encouraged his students to question his teachings and confirm them through their own experience. This non-dogmatic attitude is Buddhist way.

The Buddha taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Indian śramaṇa movement.[12] He taught a spiritual path that included ethical training and meditative practices such as jhana and mindfulness.

 

Buddhism and Death

Through the practices of Buddhism, death is viewed as not the end of life.  It teaches rebirth and differentiates it from reincarnation because Buddhism does not recognize a self or soul that is continually reappearing in a new form. Death for the unenlightened, whose minds are still infected with desire, is followed by yet another life.

Death for the Enlightened who have extinguished all desire, including the desire to be born again, there is no more rebirths. For the Enlightened one celebrates passing into Nirvana.

 

So, What is Wesak Again

Buddha’s Birthday is a special festival that celebrates three major points in Buddha’s life.  It celebrates his birthday May 19^th , his Enlightenment, and his passing into Nirvana.

All practicing Buddhist from South and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia celebrate by assembling in their temples before dawn for the ceremonial hoisting of the Buddhist flag and they sing hymns in praise of the holy triple gem: The Buddha, The Dharma (his teachings), and The Sangha (his disciples). Devotees may bring simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks to lay at the feet of their teacher. These symbolic offerings are to remind followers that just as the beautiful flowers would wither away after a short while, and the candles and joss-sticks would soon burn out, so too is life subject to decay and destruction. Devotees are enjoined to make a special effort to refrain from killing of any kind.

They are encouraged to partake only of vegetarian food for the day. In some countries, notably Sri Lanka, two days are set aside for the celebration of Vesak, and all liquor shops and slaughterhouses are closed by government decree during the two days.

 

Also, birds, insects and animals are released by the thousands in what is known as a ‘symbolic act of liberation’ of giving freedom to those who are in captivity, imprisoned, or tortured against their will. (The practice, however, is banned in some countries such as Singapore, as the released animals are unable to survive long-term or may adversely impact the local ecosystem if they do.)

 

The Purpose of Learning About Wesak in Psionic Circles

All holidays that are religious in nature have inbuilt a special spiritual current that runs through the day.  Wesak is similar.  On this day Lord Buddha is known to pour forth radiant energy to his devotees as a blessing.  On May 19^th we humbly celebrate Lord Buddha’s birthday and on May 26^th we partake in the Wesak celebrations.

In this way we will also enjoy his blessings.  In response we will send out our prayers to bless the earth and the good inhabitants that live on it.  This includes all sentient beings from all Kingdoms of nature.

Also, on this day there are societies that have been praying for the health and safety of all beings on planet earth.  We hope that our prayers may join theirs to make earth and our galaxy a better place for all to live.

 

BENEFITS OF A PSION STUDYING DEITY AND CREATIVE FORCES

1. You will attain an understanding of your true self through Lord Buddha.
2. You will learn the importance of your Thelema as it relates to the Festival.
3. You will learn to walk your Enlightened Path and discover ways of incorporating the energy of Lord Buddha.
4. You will be able to tap into the Buddha’s energies that support you and your Path.
5. You will be able to define and co-pilot your growth and evolution at some level of Festival energy.
6. You will feel your divinity and other Psions on your journey through Celebration.

7. You will experience your personal joy and bliss and radiate from your world to like-minded people.

 

Thank you for Reading!

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Copyright 2021 – 2024 Sabrina Renee Lemire