Spiritual Astrology in April 2016 - It's A Happy Buddha Birthday at the Full Moon of Taurus-Scorpio, a.k.a. The Wesak Festival!

by Robert Wilkinson

We have a very important Full Moon coming soon! 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.

So this year, we’ll kick off the Buddha’s birthday now, which can help you prepare for the great global celebration called “the Wesak Festival,” or in some places, “the Vesak Festival.” To me, any birthday celebration should be a span of time, and certainly in celebrating the Buddha’s birthday we can take more than a day to be At-One with this very special energy. At the end I’ve included some links that may help elaborate on what’s happening, and what’s going on around the world.

While some believe that the Wesak is always the Full Moon of May, because of its associations with the Buddha, it must be the Full Moon of Sun in Taurus and Moon in Scorpio. So while it was in late April in 2013, and in May in 2014 and 2015, this year it happens in April again. To note, there is always a dispute between Eastern astrologers and Western astrologers when this Full Moon occurs. That’s why some sites are saying it’s happening in late May rather than now.

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. This particular Full Moon is one where there is a great teaching sent forth, helping the world to become wiser in some way throughout the rest of the year.

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 April 21 at 10:24 pm PDT, April 22 at 6:24 am BST.

This one falls at the 3rd degree of Scorpio and Taurus, marking a point where the light of a more natural and inspired self-expression finds focus in cooperative building enterprises, whether within ourselves or with others in the outer world. Clearly this one will bring illumination from some Jupiter in Taurus truths we opened to between Summer 2011 and Summer 2012 that will acquire focus related to Saturn in Scorpio lessons we learned between late 2012 and Autumn 2013.

I'll go into more detail about the astrological factors of this Wesak Full Moon in the next article in this series. Hopefully this article will 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. I’ll do another article elaborating on this subject soon.

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.

Buddhanet – The Significance of Vesak

Buddhamind – How to make Vesak Lanterns

Vesak in Sri Lanka

Lucis Trust – The Teachings of Alice Bailey and her Tibetan Master D.K.

Wesak in Italy

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 2016 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[sue]

To stand in this Healing and know GOD exists...
To swallow all suffering and still feel the bliss

[Mel]

Wonderful again. Happy Wesak my brother. Interesting that this year it also falls on Earth Day! How appropriate. Love to all.

[Marie Molloy]

Hi. My partner and I are planning to get married next year, and Wesak/Vesak day would be especially meaningful for us, as our birth signs are Taurus and Scorpio, and we both are learning about Buddhism. Could you tell me when this day will occur in 2017? Many thanks, and love to all.

[Robert]

Hi sue - Yes, if there is such a thing as "the rapture," it's knowing that we are Eternals living here, loving here, being here, at one with Life.

Hi Mel - Blessings to you! And I'll be the first to wish you a happy and merry Solar return coming in just a few weeks!

Hi Marie - The Full Moon Wesak in 2017 is 10:42 pm BST May 10, 2017. (I believe you want the UK time). I tend not to go with Full Moons for marriage, for a multitude of reasons. A quick look gives a much better time at 4:25 pm on May 7 in London. And congratulations on finding your way to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. If you go to the link to "The Voice of the Silence" on the bottom left side of this site, that work was written by Arya Asanga, one of the greatest lights of Buddhism. That translation comes from HP Blavatsky, who was a Tibetan Buddhist and was responsible for the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka as well as all over India.

[Marie Molloy]

Thankyou so much for your reply. Could you give me a brief outline of why it's not a good idea to have a marriage at time of the Full Moon? Or point me in the right direction of some good reading on this? Many thanks. :)

[Robert]

Hi Marie - I have been a professional astrologer for over 40 years, and have been hired to create marriage charts for many dozens of clients over the decades. In my experience with countless clients who got married before finding me, when they asked me about their previous relationships and I got their marriage dates, I have yet to find one who got married on a Full Moon that lasted. I'm sure there are some, but I have yet to meet one in 45 years.

I suspect it has to do with the opposition factor in a Full Moon. All oppositions create a very strong push-pull. I also have found that launching any project or contract (a marriage is both) on a Moon in Scorpio leads to strong relentless emotions being a factor in the situation, and unless there are a large number of mitigating factors, that sort of emotional intensity is not helpful for a balanced, reasoned approach to the inevitable differences and challenges that arise in any project or contract.

As for something to read, I really don't know any works that go into the timing on marriage, though I have been asked to write one from a lot of people. All marriage charts involve complex principles of electional astrology. I have studied it since the early 70s, and there just aren't many works out there, since it's an entirely different branch of astrology than natal. Very complex, which is why so few astrologers are good at it.

To note, the date I offered is not necessarily the "best" day of that period of time, but I only took a quick glance at the Wesak chart, and offered you one of several possible days and times near then that would be better than the Full Moon. Obviously, there are others, but that takes research.

[Marie Molloy]

Thankyou so much for your time and your advice, I really appreciate it. It's fascinating stuff! Would you be able to give me a rough idea of how much you charge to create marriage charts for couples? (You could send me an email if you prefer to keep this private.) Thankyou! :)