Spiritual Astrology in May 2011 - It's A Happy Buddha Birthday at the Full Moon of Taurus-Scorpio, a.k.a. The Wesak Festival!

by Robert Wilkinson

A Full Moon represents a potentially enlightened state, where the Moon, which symbolizes form, perfectly reflects the greater light of the Sun. It marks a time when the seeds of the previous New Moon begin to manifest. The Full Moon of Sun in Taurus and Moon in Scorpio is a very special lunation, since for millennia it has been celebrated as marking the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, said to be the first human to attain full higher awareness and then teach the truths that show all sentient Beings how to transcend suffering.

The Wesak is said to be the 2nd of the "Three High Moons" of Spring, anchoring the outpouring of life into forms of awareness that can help us transcend suffering as well. This year the very dynamic regenerative Wesak Full Moon falls on Tuesday, May 17, at 4:09 am PDT, 7:09 am EDT, 12:09 pm Greenwich, 5:39 pm in India, and 9:09 pm in Melbourne, Australia. This one falls at 27 degrees of Scorpio and Taurus, marking a point where the light of peaceful wisdom finds focus in us "putting on the show."

I'll go into more detail about the astrological factors of this Wesak Full Moon in the next article in this series, since adding an explanation about the Wesak Festival to the usual elaboration of the qualities of the Full Moon would make this the article that ate Cleveland! So this one can serve to whet your appetites about the Spiritual nature of this Full Moon, while offering explanation about why this is a very special Lunation each year, along with the Aries-Libra Full Moon just past and the coming Gemini-Sagittarius Full Moon, a.k.a. "the Christ Fest."

I've offered explanations of what the Wesak Festival actually is in previous posts. To that end, rather than re-invent the wheel, here's what this global celebration is all about. From the past for the present-future:

Each year the Wesak Festival is celebrated at the Full Moon of Taurus-Scorpio in May. This global festival celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and teachings of Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha, said to be the most enlightened human ever to walk this planet. He taught the doctrine of compassion and the ways to end suffering around 500 BC, and his teachings have spread through the entire world since then. This is the largest spiritual celebration in the world, and has nothing to do with religion, since the Buddha was focused on how to live, not what to believe.

Supposedly when He left the Earth plane, his blessing for all time was a thought-form of “Buddha Nature,” which would renew the loving-compassion on the Earth whenever it was sent forth. It is said that the Wesak Festival is when Shakyamuni, ("Sage of the Shakya clan"), through his eternal Buddha Nature, “opens the treasure chest” and sends out a new global energy form of compassion to end suffering every year. So this is the time when these energies are renewed for another year.

As a friend of the site offered previously, it is said that every Wesak the Buddha actually briefly descends from the Heavens to return to the secret valley in the Himalayas known as Shamballa. There, surrounded by Adepts, Disciples and others, he pours out an annual blessing for all sentient beings on this planet.

He taught the 4 Noble Truths about life on Earth, and the 8 Fold Path as a way to live to end suffering for ourselves and others. While this is not the forum for an exhaustive discussion of the 4 Noble Truths and the 8-fold Path, if you haven't already seen it, (and even if you have!), please get a copy of the extraordinary movie "Little Buddha" to know more about the life of this most amazing man for the ages. His life and teachings were dedicated to shine a light on the Way beyond suffering.

Though there are many ways his teachings have been stated and interpreted, anyone who actually practices the techniques will in fact find they are lessening suffering in their lives, and finding peace in a higher way of doing their Being. To quote HH Dalai Lama, “There is one thing we can all agree on. More suffering is bad. Less suffering is good.” This is the time of the renewal of energies that can lead all of us to less suffering in our life, and maybe be of service in lessening the suffering of others we know.

The Wesak Full Moon is the 2nd of the 3 "Three High Moons." The so-called "Three High Moons" of Spring relate to the teachings of the Tibetan Master D.K. as written by the venerable Alice A. Bailey. Briefly, they are the three Full Moons of Spring each year when the life force reawakens, is poured out, and refined into a higher vision and understanding by the World Teacher.

The Full Moon of Aries-Libra is the awakening of Nature Herself, with life blooming everywhere there is a living process occurring. The Full Moon of Taurus-Scorpio is the Wesak, the anchoring of the awakened life force in a form of compassion that will lessen suffering for all Earth's creatures for the next year. The Full Moon of Gemini-Sagittarius is said to be the "Christfest" where the World Teacher takes the new outpouring and through multiplication and distribution, spreads the teaching in infinitely varied ways according to local conditions.

So these next days meditate, open, feel the global compassion becoming stronger and more evident, and purify your life and consciousness however you need to in order to open to the timeless truths offered long ago by the one who set the pattern for the Ages. A Happy Buddha Birthday to you all, and may you all find a form of Buddha nature which increases your wisdom and compassion throughout the next year!

You can find out more about the Wesak legend and festivities at the Souled Out site here, with even more links to celebrations around the world at Wesak.org.

This celebration is happening all over the world, so enjoy this Happy Buddha Birthday however you can wherever you are. It's all good. Aum Mani Padme Hum!!

© Copyright 2011 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Aquila ka Hecate]

Hey, Robert,

I took part in the international Sacred Fires of Hekate this year: http://sacredfires.co.uk/
For myself, it was a powerful and meaningful way to celebrate this Moon.

Love,
Terri in Joburg

[Morvah]

Blessings all!

[dcu]

We had eleven people at our Wesak Celebration tonight. It was a very nice evening. Thank you Lord Buddha for this wonderful blessing that you are delivering to the world. Our quote for the evening in the spirit of Bodhisattva and the Medicine Buddha was by Shantideva:

"May I be the doctor and the medicine
And may I be the nurse
For all sick beings in the world
Until everyone is healed"

[Micheline]

Awww lovely. thanks Robert..Happy Budha Birthday to you too!!!

[Cris]

Hi Robert,

This is my first time to comment although I have been visiting for the past two or three years.

I re-viewed "Little Buddha" last night. I have been looking for it under "Siddharta" for a long while since its first screening. Because I clearly remember the footage of Keanu scenes but forgotten the main story of the three incarnates of the Lama.

Thanks for all your wonderful blogs.

Buddha bless us all.