Each year a special full moon occurs in May. If there are 2 full moons, it is the second of these and declared the celebration of Wesak, or Buddha’s commemoration. The name Wesak is derived from the Sanskrit name for this particular month.
Buddhist temples, decorated with the appropriate flags and flowers, are visited before dawn. Hymns are sung to celebrate the Buddha, his teachings (the Dharma), and his disciples (the Sangha). Processions with candles light up the evening.
During Buddha’s life, he told his followers to commemorate his life by living his teachings of compassion, peace, and good will, and by devotion to the service of humanity. Thus, at this time Buddhists give extra energy to performing noble deeds: observing vegetarian diet; offering donations of money and food to people and charity organizations in need; there are blood drives; and wild animals are released back into nature.
Buddha was born in 623 B.C. in India. It is believed that he attained enlightenment during the full moon in May, and that his final liberation from this material world was on the same day. Buddha’s birthday is also celebrated as being on this day by his millions of followers.
Buddha gained enlightenment while meditating under a tree (Ficus religiosa), called peepalin India. It has heart-shaped leaves, and is used medicinally. This kind of tree is said to live over 1500 years. A cutting from the original Bodhi tree was planted in Sri Lanka and is claimed to be over 2200 years old. In Burma, during Wesak, Bodhitrees are watered to ensure their survival through a dry summer.
•by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•In our self-conscious state of mind, we often think our Creator is so far away, someplace other than within us. We think: “Maybe It’s out there in space…” or “He’s on a mountaintop.”
The Divine’s consciousness inhabits the space between each atom, between each subatomic particle in our bodies. Meditation is so important to each of us, becausein the silence of our beings we can find this space where the Divine is. Just sit and be still. Pray that God will reveal himself, herself to you.
When we can perceive the center of our own consciousness, that smallest of all places within us, we can perceive God. We can hear the perpetual chant of AUM, of HUM. We can then perceive the Divine’s voice speaking to us—a real conversation with God. We hear words, actual replies to our questions.
What a wondrous thing it is that we have the ability within us to communicate with the Divine. So few really practice it! Yet, nothing on Earth is more important.
Jesus said: Seek first the kingdom of God, and: The kingdom of God is within you. How can we find it within us? We find it through true prayer and meditation.
O beloved Mother,we dedicate this day to your beautiful Earth, your garden floating in infinity.What a jewel it is! We dedicate our energy and our lives todayto helping preserve your garden here for your children, now and in the future.It is a blessing to be a caretaker of your Earth,so full of your Spirit.
We love you Father! We love you Mother! Open our consciousness to your presence. This day, let us all become warriors of light and truth, that we may go forth in your will and your guidance to help your world and your children.Amen
•by Jake Collier (with Dawn King)• The bodies we inhabit are incredible creations, more sophisticated than any supercomputer. Part of the Creator’s plan is that vital actions in these bodies can be carried out without us having to think of them every time they’re needed (like breathing). The original purpose for this was to perpetuate happiness, joy, and closeness with our Creator.Because we have free will, the downside is that we can easily establish habits, including ones that aren’t good for us.
A new study tells us that it takes about 66 days of effort to start (or break) a habit. Meditation is a wonderful tool that can help us establish good habits and get rid of any negative ones. It can even help us reflect and realize that we have a habit that doesn’t serve us. Kriya meditation actually helps us burn up the karma of negative habits.
Association with people who are living the ideals you aspire to can help you attain your goals. Another factor is willpower. Paramahansa Yogananda recommended that we find some pursuit or goal that would be challenging, then strive continually toward it, until we achieve it. This builds willpower, as well self-confidence and strength of character.
Our evening meditations are the best time to reflect on our thoughts and actions of the day, and to make resolutions for the next day. We want our habits and actions to lead us into a state of spiritual ecstasy. The energy of our Creator permeates this whole creation. The more we draw it in, drink it, consume it, the stronger our will becomes. We want our habits to lead us toward illumination, to feel the joys of increased life, and the indescribable comfort of being embraced by love divine.
•by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•To have God present in our lives every day, we tune in before we go outward to do our work. To meditate in the morning with the rising sun is to bring the sweetness of God’s presence into our life for the whole day; to receive instruction mentally and visually. We arrive at the right time and the right place for the right thing to happen for us, not too early or too late, missing the great benefits. When we are on God’s time, patiently meditating and praying every morning, wondrous things begin to happen in our lives. We see God fulfilling our selfless desires, and freeing us up for the journey ahead.
To spend half an hour, or even fifteen minutes with God in the morning every day before work, and again before you go to sleep at night, even if you have to miss some sleep, is to receive angelic, illumined beings who desire to help you on your journey. This is why I meditate, and why I encourage others to do so. It is your birthright to see and know God as your best friend. Your Divine Father-Mother exists in this immensity, even as your earthly father and mother exist.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” saith the Christ, who is ever patiently waiting. We have to open the door on the crown of our head and invite Christ, I Am That I Am, into our temple. The right and left hands of God, moving in dual vortexes, descend as softly as a dove and land on the crown of our heads. This is the anointment, the baptism of divine fire, which you can see and feel with the love and presence of Christ within.
by John McCaughey•The other day it was a bright sunny day at the ranch, and I was washing off a piece of equipment near some pine trees. I’ve been particularly fond of these trees and knew I could take the time to give them a bath and a drink at the same time. I aimed the water high into each pine. Every branch moved with the force of the water.
When you give a bath to a little baby who can’t even sit up, you can tell how much it appreciates the touching and caring. It giggles with joy, and then smiles as you hold it in a towel next to you. That was the feeling one of those trees conveyed to me; it appreciated the attention. How beautiful the pine branches were while wearing water droplets sparkling in the sunlight!
In an instant, a number of feelings passed through me. I pondered the creation, and a point before time, when all that existed was the slumbering I Am That I Am in the smallest of all places. What incredible power had to be so focused at that point. When I try to understand, I’m brought to my knees. It’s so amazing…and I seem so insignificant.
But Jesus said, “These things that I do, you can do also, and far greater things.” This has stayed with me and encourages me.
Now the trees I had sprayedwere shaking in the breeze. I realized that the way our eyes see the world is one thing, but the way it really exists is another. All the cells of my body were mingling with the atoms in the air, and the air was touching the cells of the trees. My feet on the ground were mingling with the atomic structure and magnetism of the Earth in one huge collage of energy, atoms, cells, vortexes of magnetism and light. Truly, we can just reach out and touch anything, because we’re all connected to everything.
Looking back, it always seemed to me that the path home to Spirit was uphill—sometimes really steep, sometimes more gradual, but always uphill. Recently, however, it came to me that each one of us crosses a threshold of knowing that there’s no turning back on the spiritual path. Once we are truly rooted in our spirituality, the path is not uphill, and we know that when everything is right we’ll collide head on with our Creator and experience the joy of knowing who we truly are.
Each one of us has a personal relationship with Spirit, completely unique, completely dependable, totally real. We should all be encouraged…should allow our hearts to be light and open. We are all children of God, and I Am That I Am is alive in every place…in every point in the universe. Each one of us has been blessed with the desire to be one with that energy and given the tools to attain that goal.
•by Dawn King•Sometimes we find ourselves swept up in the frantic pace of today’s demands. It can throw us off center, make us feel out of sorts or overwhelmed. Each moment we have the opportunity to bring our consciousness back to the calm center of simplicity within. Just take a conscious breath.
Like a deep-sea diver, breath is our life line to existence here in a physical body. Without breath we lose our connection not only to here and now on planet Earth, but to our own spirit as it’s functioning here. Spirit will go on after the body loses breath, but in life we regain our spiritual connection and strength each time we take a conscious meditative breath. Yoga teaches us a lot about breath.
In our daily practice, we can combine frequent conscious breaths with consciously calming and centering ourselves—remembering we are spirit inhabiting this body for only a short time in eternity. This is exactly what we do in meditation, which can lead us to life-changing revelations, feelings of complete love and joy, states of ecstasy.
When I take a conscious breath during a busy day, I recall the peace, or the joy, or some other tremendously comforting experience from a meditation. It could be from an experience I had many years ago. These experiences are precious gems that can develop like illuminating crystals within us if we continue to honor and recall them.
Brother Lawrence wrote: One way of easily recalling the mind is not to let it wander during the day. I keep myself in God’s presence by simple attentiveness and a loving gaze upon God which I call the actual presence of God. Or to put it more clearly, an habitual silent and secret conversation with God. The more we keep our minds on God during the day, the easier it will be to do so during meditation.
Your own spirit wants to lead your life, to give you all the wonderful insights and experiences that would inspire you to find joy in each day. You only need to take a breath with complete desire and openness to experience the unconditional love your spirit truly knows as its own.
