Annual Wesak Celebration: May 8-10, 2020
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A message from a Wesak 2015 attendee
I felt inspired to share with our community a beautiful highlight from our annual Wesak event this past weekend of May 1st to the 3rd, 2015. I have been attending Wesak since its inception for over 20 years and for the past 5 years, we have been graced to have Spring Hill Nursery loan us plants of our choice for setting up the Wesak hall of events. This includes presenters, musicians, Kirtan, guests and volunteers.
This year we had something noticeable take place that to my knowledge has not happened any other year to this degree. This year when I went to pick up plants from Spring Hill Nursery, I wanted bring as many blooming plants as possible to brighten the effect up on the stage. The nursery is very generous year after year to provide our event with plants for loan with the provision that we state they are for sale, and that they come from Spring Hill Nursery. They also state that if there is any damage in transport or during our event, we agree to buy them.
We had a smaller group this year, and I first had concern about the fact that the plants we were loaned were more in tight buds and the leafing plants were tucked in so to speak. The stage we put the plants on was darken so no natural light came into contact with the stage except for a few string lights.
As the weekend progressed I noticed something which I had never witnessed before. Up on stage I could almost watch the flowers start to bloom in a slow motion fashion and by the end of the weekend with all the speakers have given their talks, the musicians and Kirtan play their music and the guests really being present for this event, the plants responded actively in a like manner. The spiritual light was such that ALL of the plants came to full bloom, expansion and were literally bursting forth in chorus. What a joyous surprise to witness and partake in. The flavor of our deep relationship with nature and the plant kingdom was thriving. Whoever buys these plants are receiving the most high, in terms of natural allowance and maximum in plant growth.
Again, I deeply want to thank all participants who made Wesak a wonderful event and especially thank Spring Hill Nursery for the opportunity to share their beautiful plants with us at Wesak.
Bright Blessings for us all,
Andrea Miller
Check out our Wesak attendee photos page!
VENDORS:
There will be no vendors this year.
Description
Human beings operate in so many realms, above and beyond the miraculous but relatively mundane physical, mental, emotional, and energetic. But what is it that connects us, what are the virtues and substance of our true natures, as individual “consciousnesses” and as the infinite, magical, mystery of which we are all part? And as our world changes, as time seems to speed up, as our minds and bodies and technologies evolve, what remains true and essential? Has this changed? Surely our relationship to it has, as we grow in awareness. With so much changing so fast, how do we stay attuned and aligned to live our part consciously, both personally and universally?
Mount Shasta’s Wesak festival is a “spiritual family reunion” begun, in what some consider one of the holiest places on this earth, by the late Dr. Joshua Stone and now under the direction of Dawn Fazende (editor of Mount Shasta Magazine).
Wesak is named for the legendary convergence of Buddha, Christ and other Masters in the hallowed Wesak Valley in the Himalayas during the Buddha full moon occurring in May each year. The convergence is celebrated variously in cultures throughout the world, including annual pilgrimages to the original site. The Mount Shasta Wesak Festival, however, is an event whose scope extends far beyond the Buddhist holiday with whom many associate the term Wesak.
As one of the seven sacred mountains in the world, Mount Shasta is uniquely suited for this annual North American Pilgrimage. The very atmosphere here is charged with powerful energetic currents and a profoundly restorative silence. The mountain is considered alternately as the Heart Chakra or the Head Chakra of the planet. The I AM Activity, a religion based on instructions dictated by St. Germain in the 1930s on Mt. Shasta, states that this is the place where Christ energy enters the planetary grid.
Local Native Americans believe Mt. Shasta is where God lives and Creation began. Many believe there is a city under the mountain and that Mt. Shasta is a portal between dimensions. It is said that the lenticular clouds so frequently seen here are generated when a vehicle moves between dimensions. Tibetan Buddhists, who are building a monastery here, have 28 specific criteria a mountain must meet to be called sacred. Mt. Shasta is the only one in the USA that meets all 28. People have been drawn to be present with Mt. Shasta’s pristine and beautiful natural environment for years. They come to renew their souls and spirits and, at Wesak, to hear the best teachers available anywhere who assist with their personal development.
With every century, people see things differently. A 21st Century worldview is emerging — of oneness, interdependence and the primacy of consciousness — but calcified institution stay stuck in the limitations of 20th Century thinking. Our job is to be the presence of the Alternative wherever we are, always presenting another way to see the world whenever love is not put first.
— Marianne Williamson
If we make consistent effort, based on proper education, we can change the world. We are selfish, that’s natural, but we need to be wisely selfish, not foolishly selfish. We have to concern ourselves more with others’ well-being, that’s the way to be wisely selfish. We have the ability to take the long-term benefit into account. I think it is possible to make real change in this century.
— HH Dalai Lama
Wesak is an Eastern Tradition
Years ago our local Buddhist Abbey contacted us about the fact that we were using the wrong date to celebrate Wesak. They reminded me that Buddha was born a Hindu, under the Vedic (or Sidereal or Eastern) Astrological system. I checked online and virtually all the Buddhist countries celebrated Wesak at a different time than we were.
So I contacted a Vedic astrologer who cast the Wesak dates back to the time of Christ and found they Wesak was ALWAYS on the full moon of MAY which, in the Vedic system is Taurus. It seemed westerners had again taken an eastern tradition and made it conform to our specifics by using the Tropical (Western) Astrological system.
I looked into this very carefully and came to the conclusion that Alice Bailey made a typical western centric mistake — normal for her time and culture — and assumed Wesak was a western creation, under a western zodiac, the one with which she was familiar. She was told to celebrate on the Taurus Moon (and we all know it’s really the Scorpio moon, Taurus sun.) I believe she went with what she knew — the western sun sign of Taurus running from April 21 to May 21.
Many of the descriptions given by various western spiritualists — including I am told Bailey herself — say that the festivals of the three moons are EASTERN in origin. The Buddha full moon is a Vedic tradition — an eastern tradition. (Remember DK is the Tibetan.) The down pouring of the Wesak blessing has always been tied in with Buddha’s birth/death/enlightenment, according to Dr. Stone. Wesak is the date of this birth, death and enlightenment. This is celebrated by Buddhist countries as the first full moon in May. The Vedic system shows Taurus at varying times — because it actually calculated when the constellations are directly overhead — but roughly mid May to mid June.
Sun in Taurus, full moon in sun sign Taurus, occurs twice in a year — once in the Tropical and once in the Vedic systems. We decided to used the Vedic system as it seems to be more in keeping with Buddha’s heritage and traditions.
Where two or more are gathered the Ascended ones will attend, no matter what the dates may be. It is only we on this plane who are constricted by such measurements. We are fully in touch with Wesak’s spiritual energies. Our participants fully receive the outpouring being offered by the Ascended Masters. While doing that they also receive information to allow them to incorporate that energy into their lives.
Mt. Shasta Herald Article:
“Mt. Shasta: its origin as mecca for spiritual seekers”
This year’s event is also a fundraiser for our local Meals on Wheels Auxiliary. Part of the proceeds from Wesak 2020 will be donated to the program.
Meals on Wheels needs a wheelchair accessible van capable of carrying at least 4 wheelchairs. The cost on these is quite substantial — upwards of $50,000. Grants may cover part of the expense but they require matching funds from the program. We are counting on Wesak to provide a descent part of the those funds.