WESAK & The Three Full Moon Festivals

The writings gather together in this article about Wesak are all from the collected works of Alice Bailey published by Lucis Publishing Co. These extracts are publised with the permission of Lucis Trust, which holds copyright. All copyright laws should be respected in relationship to the following material.

I have ordered the material in a way that I hope will be informative and interesting to those seeking to know about Wesak. While the Bailey work was written earlier in the century, I believe that it still holds valuable thoughts for today's Wesak. While some of the hierarchal structure has changed, (such as the Buddha taking the office which Sanat Kumara has held for long), the down pouring of love and light, and the hope for the further enlightenment of mankind remains the same.

I have made no changes in the text. I have only selected passages which I feel speak to the spirit and meaning of Wesak, and the full moon festivals of April and June. I have indicated the selected passages with a number which corresponds to the text on the CD which Lucis sells.

May each of us in our own special way know and live from the divinity which we are. Blessings. Namaste

The Silent Watcher

17088 The "Silent Watcher," that great Entity Who is the informing life of the planet. From the standpoint of our planetary scheme, this Great Life has no greater, and He is, as far as we are concerned, a correspondence to the personal God of the Christian. He works through His representative on the physical plane, Sanat Kumara, Who is the focal point for His life and energy. He holds the world within His aura. Once a year, at the Wesak Festival, the Lord Buddha, sanctioned by the Lord of the World, carries to the assembled humanity a dual stream of force, that emanating from the Silent Watcher, supplemented by the more focalised energy of the Lord of the World. This dual energy He pours out in blessing over the people gathered at the ceremony in the Himalayas, and from them in turn it flows out to all peoples and tongues and races.

17091 The Lord of the World, the One Initiator, He Who is called in the Bible "The Ancient of Days," and in the Hindu Scriptures the First Kumara, He, Sanat Kumara it is, Who from His throne at Shamballa in the Gobi desert, presides over the Lodge of Masters, and holds in His hands the reins of government in all the three departments. Called in some Scriptures "the Great Sacrifice," He has chosen to watch over the evolution of men and devas until all have been occultly "saved." He it is Who decides upon the "advancements" in the different departments, and Who settles who shall fill the vacant posts; He it is Who, four times a year, meets in conference with all the Chohans and Masters, and authorises what shall be done to further the ends of evolution.

Wesak

12136 There is an increasing emphasis being given in the West by esotericists to the Full Moon of May, which is the Festival of the Buddha and is held at the time when He makes His annual contact with humanity. This emphasis, which will continue to increase for years to come, has not been brought about in order to impose recognition of the Buddha upon the Occident. There have been two main reasons why, since 1900, this effort has been made. One was the desire on the part of the Hierarchy to bring to the attention of the public the fact of the two Avatars, the Buddha and the Christ, both upon the second Ray of Love-Wisdom, Who were the first of our humanity to come forth as human-divine Avatars and to embody in Themselves certain cosmic Principles and give them form. The Buddha embodied the Principle of Light, and because of this illumination, humanity was enabled to recognise Christ, Who embodied the still greater Principle of Love. The point to be borne in mind is that light is substance, and the Buddha demonstrated the consummation of substance-matter as the medium of Light, hence His title of the "Illumined One." Christ embodied the underlying energy of Consciousness. The one demonstrated the height of the attainment of the third divine aspect; the other that of the second aspect, and these two together present one perfect Whole. The second reason was to initiate, as I have earlier said, the theme of the new world religion. This theme will eventually underlie all religious observances, colour all approaches to the divine centre of spiritual life, give the clue to all healing processes, and-using light scientifically-govern all techniques for bringing about conscious unity and relationship between a man and his soul, and between humanity and the Hierarchy.

11686 Many people the world over have for years been trained to recognise two things. First, the importance of the Wesak Festival at the time of the Full Moon of May, because it not only objectively links the major Eastern religion with the major Western faith, but because it esoterically provides the key to the open door between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, between the purpose of God (still unidentified by man), and the method of God, which is love; it provides also the link between the Buddha, temporarily embodying will-wisdom, and the Christ, embodying love-wisdom, and also between humanity, focussed in consciousness through the Christ, and the Hierarchy, focussed in consciousness through the Buddha.

11857 At the time of this Wesak Festival, I would call your attention to the fact that the annual return of the Buddha to bless His people everywhere and to convey the message of wisdom, light and love to humanity-coming as He does from the very Heart of Deity Itself-is the outer evidence and guarantee of inner divine guidance and revelation in this present world cycle of 2500 years. Year by year He returns. For a brief minute He reminds us that God exists and ever loves; that He is not unmindful of His people; that the heart of the universe is unalterable compassion, and that man is not alone. To bring this recognition about and to make this appearance possible, a living Triangle of Energy is created and focussed through three great spiritual Individuals, Who evoke recognition both in the East and in the West. They are known to believers of every faith and all nationalities. These Three are:

1. The Lord of the World, the Ancient of Days, Sanat Kumara, the planetary Logos, Melchizedek, He to Whom Christ referred when He said, "I and My Father are One."

2. The Buddha, the Illumined One, the Revealer of the light and the wisdom which come to us from sources far greater than our planetary Life, a Messenger of the Gods.

3. The Christ, the Son of the Father, the World Saviour, the Redeemer. He Who has remained with us and Who is gathering His sheep into His fold, the Lord of Love.

In these Three, Whose nature is radiant love and light, humanity can grasp in some measure the nature of divinity. They are greater than is known or realised; human intelligence and aspiration can only sense Their essential nature; Their spiritual potency has to be stepped down if mankind is to bear the pressure of the impact of the energy They wield and seek to transmit. It is this stepping down process which takes place at the time of the May Full Moon, and it is brought to a "focus of transmission" by the massed intent of the Hierarchy and the massed demand of the world aspirants and disciples-itself drawn forth by the massed need of the people of all lands.

23299 As many millions in the world know, each year (at the time of the Wesak Festival at the May Full Moon) Buddha communicates with humanity, via the Christ and the assembled, attentive Hierarchy. He acts in this way as an agent bringing about relationship between the "centre where the will of God is known" and the "centre which we call the race of men." These two descriptive phrases are used advisedly because all the work now being done by these two great Sons of God is concerned with the distribution of energy-the energy of light and the energy of love. It is through the Triangle, earlier mentioned, that the energy of will eventually will be distributed and one of these divine distributors is the Buddha.

11387 The Spirit of Peace Who is invoked in the second phrase, Let the Spirit of Peace be spread abroad, is that mysterious and divine Entity with Whom the Christ came into touch and Whose influence played through Him at the time that He earned the right to be called the "Prince of Peace." As I have elsewhere told you in my earlier writings, the Christ embodied in Himself the cosmic principle of love, the expression of which in manifestation will work out as "glory to God, peace on earth and goodwill towards men." To this the angels testified at His birth. When He expressed this principle of love in His life and world service, He definitely linked up our planet and humanity (in particular) with the Source of the light, love and life to which we refer in this second phrase. This was the world salvation which He brought-a fact which is as yet little realised and which will not be widely recognised until this powerful Invocation has taken due effect.

When the world aspirants and disciples use this Invocation, the first phrase takes the consciousness to the Hierarchy of Light, which is the intermediate centre between Humanity and Shamballa. It serves then to emphasise and establish a close rapport, blending and fusing the human and the hierarchical centres. When this has taken place, the Hierarchy can then use this Great Invocation with greater potency and can carry the relation to a higher state still and produce a blending with the Shamballa centre, where the Forces of Light are found as embodied Presences and where Their focussed energy serves to provide great reservoirs of light and love. These have hitherto not been made available for planetary distribution, owing to the lack of established relation between the three centres: Humanity, Hierarchy and Shamballa. That relation is now becoming somewhat established; the inflow of light and love to humanity is now possible if the disciples and aspirants of the world can be led to make the needed effort to stand in spiritual being and, from that poised attentive attitude, to invoke these great Entities. It was to this possibility that the story in the New Testament refers where reference is made to the pool which was stirred at times by the Angel and thus a condition was produced which led to the healing of the sick. The Angel of the Presence, the soul of humanity, as embodied in the Hierarchy and those who are consciously endeavouring to function as souls can now stir these reservoirs of force and light upon etheric levels in Shamballa so that a definite "healing of the nations" can take place.

When the thought behind the Great Invocation can be carried high enough in the consciousness of those using it through a joint effort of the world disciples and the Hierarchy of Light-as well as being reinforced by the Forces of Light-then the Spirit of Peace can be invoked.

On a lower turn of the spiral, you will note that the Wesak Festival enacts a similar invocation and process. It is a re-enacting and training process. There and at that time, the three Representatives of Shamballa within the Hierarchy-the Manu, the Christ and the Mahachohan-invoke the Buddha, Who in His turn is the transmitter of still higher Forces. He is invoked by a special mantram and transmits the appeal to the One Whose agent He is. If this Great Invocation which we are studying can be rightly said, the three great planetary centres can be related in a similar manner. The Lord of Civilisation, the Master R., representing humanity, the Christ representing the Hierarchy and the Lord of the World, linked through the Manu and representing Shamballa can be brought into a close relation so that the result will be the setting up of such a potent vibration and note that the Spirit of Peace will be invoked and contacted. By the voiced appeal His attention will be forced to turn itself towards our planet. The consequences will be significant and potent but as to the form which they will take it is impossible for me to say. Perhaps it will lead to some peculiar and powerful demonstration of the meaning of peace as the expression of universal and planetary love; perhaps it will produce the sending of an Avatar or Messenger of Peace to lead the nations to right action; perhaps some happening will take place of such significance that its import will be immediately recognised by humanity as a whole, leading them to take all the needed steps to restore right human relations. The nature of the activities which the Spirit of Peace will institute is not our responsibility. Our duty is to learn rightly to contact the Hierarchy, via our own souls; rightly to use the Great Invocation as souls, and rightly to render ourselves responsive to and sensitive to the resultant effects. Ponder on the above.

It might, therefore, be noted that the Forces of Light express Themselves through the Hierarchy of Light and Their major effect is the illumination of the minds of men with love and light. This precipitates upon the mental plane. The personality or the form aspect of humanity is thereby pervaded and illumined. Thus the third great planetary centre, Humanity, becomes creative and magnetic, and two divine aspects-intelligence and love-will reach fruition upon the physical plane, making it possible for the first aspect and the will of God (understood by humanity as the Plan) to be consciously carried forward on earth in conformity with the activity instituted at Shamballa. The will of God is purpose and this is, for the first time, to be recognised consciously by man.

The Spirit of Peace will, when the right time comes, vitalise the responsiveness of humanity, via the influence of the Hierarchy, to the will of God which has for basic intent the bringing of peace on earth. What is peace? It is essentially the establishing of right human relations, of synthetic rapport with its resultant cooperation, of correct interplay between the three planetary centres and an illumined, loving understanding of the will of God as it affects humanity and works out divine intent. It is for this reason that the Christ, Who established for the first time in planetary history a contact between the Hierarchy, Humanity, Shamballa and the Spirit of Peace in His Own high place, in His first recorded utterance said that He must be about His Father's business and then at the end of His life, reiterated the same thought in the words: "Father, not my will but Thine be done," thus carrying the thought up to the highest plane for He addressed the Father, the first Aspect of Divinity. He then focussed in Himself the two major divine attributes and aspects-will and love (atma-buddhi)-and because of this, His consciousness became extra-planetary as is the consciousness of the Lord of the World, and He could then touch certain heights of awareness and contact certain solar Agencies which had never before been contacted by man. This achievement enabled Him to put Humanity in touch with the Spirit of Peace. He thus Himself became the Light of the World and the Prince of Peace.

In this manner, Shamballa and the Hierarchy were brought into a close relationship and two great streams of force were blended and a definite interplay set up between them. The Buddha, through His achievement of illumination, established the first major link with the Forces of Light. The Christ, through His ability to express the will of God in love and as world salvage, established the first major link with the Spirit of Peace.

If you will study the above information with care, you will find that the importance of the Wesak Festival at the time of the full moon of May will assume increasing importance in your minds. It is the festival at which three factors of importance to humanity are brought into relation:

1. The Buddha, the embodiment or agent of the Forces of Light can then be contacted and that which They seek to transmit to humanity can be consciously appropriated.

2. The Christ, the embodiment of the love and the will of God and the agent of the Spirit of Peace, can also be contacted and humanity can be trained to appropriate this extra-planetary type of energy.

3. Through the Christ and the Buddha, humanity can now establish a close relationship with Shamballa and then make its own contribution-as a world centre-to the planetary life. Pervaded by light and controlled by the Spirit of Peace, the expression of humanity's will-to-good can emanate powerfully from this third planetary centre. Humanity will then for the first time enter upon its destined task as the intelligent, loving intermediary between the higher states of planetary consciousness, the super-human states and the sub-human kingdoms. Thus humanity will become eventually the planetary saviour.

18884 When an entire concourse of people is thus animated by a single high desire, when their auras blend and form one united channel for the downflow, the effect is tremendously intensified and can be world-wide in its radius. You have an instance of this in the wonderful Wesak festival, kept so universally in India to this day, when the Hierarchy forms itself into a channel for the transmission of power and blessing from the levels on which the Buddha may be found. He acts as a focal point for that power, and-passing it through His Aura-pours it out over mankind by means of the channel provided by the assembled Lords, Masters, graded initiates and disciples. This channel is formed by the use of sound and rhythm simultaneously employed. By the chanting of a certain mantram by means of the slow, measured movements that accompany that chanting, the funnel is formed that reaches upwards to the desired locality. The geometrical figures formed in the matter of the plane higher than the physical (which are the result of the geometrical movement of the concourse gathered in that Himalayan centre) form themselves into wonderful avenues of approach to the centre of blessing for the inhabitants, deva or otherwise, from any particular plane. For those who can clairvoyantly view the scene, the beauty of the geometrical forms is unbelievable, and that beauty is enhanced by the radiant auras of the Great Ones Who are gathered there.

12141 Do you see, therefore, the imminent and vital possibilities? Do you recognise the urgency of the opportunity? The two Full Moons form one complete cycle of work and should be prepared for in line with these statements of mine, both now and in the years which will follow. As you prepare your own hearts, remember that the Full Moon of May is the time in which the New Group of World Servers and all the esotericists and spiritually oriented people of the world must work in full cooperation with the Buddha, and that the Full Moon of June is the opportunity for the men and women of goodwill-aided by the New Group of World Servers-to arouse people everywhere to make a great appeal, and by this appeal enable the Christ to invoke for them the needed aid.

The Three Festivals

22951 Let us indicate the possibilities of such a spiritual happening, and prophesy the nature of certain of the future worldwide Festivals. There are three such Festivals each year which all men could and would normally and easily keep together, in unison and with a uniformity of approach which would link them all closely together. These three Festivals are concentrated in three consecutive months and lead, therefore, to a prolonged annual spiritual effort which should affect the entire year. They would serve to unite in closer spiritual ties the Eastern and the Western believer; they express divinity in manifestation through the place where the will of God is known, through the spiritual Hierarchy where the love of God is fully expressed and through humanity whose task it is intelligently to work out God's plan in love and goodwill to all men.

I. The Festival of Easter. This is the festival of the risen, living Christ, the Head of the spiritual Hierarchy, the Inaugurator of the Kingdom of God and the Expression of the love of God. On this day, the spiritual Hierarchy which He guides and directs will be universally recognized, man's relation to it emphasized and the nature of God's love registered. Men everywhere will invoke that love, with its power to produce resurrection and spiritual livingness. This Festival is determined always by the date of the first Full Moon of spring. The eyes and thoughts of men will be fixed on life, not death; Good Friday will no longer be a factor in the life of the churches. Easter will be the great Western festival.

II. The Festival of Wesak or Vaisakha. This is the festival of the Buddha, that great spiritual Intermediary between the centre where the will of God is known and the spiritual Hierarchy. The Buddha is the expression of the will of God, the embodiment of Light and the indicator of the divine purpose. Men everywhere will evoke wisdom and understanding and the inflow of light into the minds of men everywhere. This Festival is determined in relation to the Full Moon of Taurus. It is the great Eastern festival and is already meeting with Western recognition; thousands of Christians today keep the festival of the Buddha.

III. The Festival of Humanity. This will be the festival of the spirit of humanity-aspiring to approach nearer to God, seeking conformity to the divine will to which the Buddha called attention, dedicated to the expression of goodwill which is the lowest aspect of love to which Christ called attention and of which He was the perfect expression. It will be the day pre-eminently on which the divine nature of man will be recognized and his power to express goodwill and to establish right human relations (because of his divinity) will be stressed. On this festival we are told Christ has for nearly two thousand years represented humanity and has stood before the Hierarchy as the God-man, the leader of His people and "the Eldest in a great family of brothers". This will, therefore, be a festival of deep invocation and appeal; it will express a basic aspiration towards fellowship and for human and spiritual unity; it will represent the effect in the human consciousness of the work of the Buddha and of the Christ. It will be held at the time of the Full Moon of Gemini.

If in these early days of restoration and of the inauguration of the new civilization and of the new world, men of all faiths and all religions, of every cult and all esoteric groups were to keep these three great Festivals of Invocation, simultaneously and with understanding of the far-reaching implications, a great spiritual unity would be achieved; if they unitedly invoked the spiritual Hierarchy and sought consciously to contact its Head a great and general inflow of spiritual light and love would occur; if they together determined, with steadfastness and understanding, to approach nearer to God, who could doubt the stupendous results which eventually would be seen? Not only would an underlying unity between men of all faiths be attained, not only would brotherhood be recognized as a fact and not only would our oneness of origin, of goal and of life be recognized but that which would be evoked would change all aspects of human living, would condition our civilisation, change our mode of life and make the spiritual world a dominant reality in the human consciousness.

God, in the person of Christ and His Hierarchy would draw nearer to His people; God, through the instrumentality of the Buddha, would reveal His eternal light and evoke our intelligent cooperation; God, through the spiritual Hierarchy and through that centre where the will of God is known, would bring humanity to the point of resurrection and to a spiritual awareness which would bring about goodwill towards men and peace on earth. The will of God transcendent would be carried out through the medium of God immanent in man; it would be expressed in love in response to the work of Christ; it would be intelligently presented on earth because the minds of men would have been illumined as the result of their united invocation, the unity of their effort and the oneness of their understanding.

It is for this that humanity waits; it is for this that the churches must work; it is these qualities and characteristics which will condition the New World Religion.

12298 Putting it very simply, the Hierarchy is today getting ready for a Great Approach which will have two results:

1. It will bring about a closer relation between those great Lives Who embody the will of God and are the Custodians of the divine purpose, and Those Who embody the love of God and are the Custodians of the immediate Plan for humanity. This relationship can be established at the time of the May Full Moon at which time the Buddha will embody in Himself the powerful downpouring of energy-the dynamic energy of the divine will. The Christ, at the same time, will embody the outpouring dominant demand of the spiritual aspiration of mankind, plus the demand of the Hierarchy for the needed aid at this time of crisis.

2. It will also bring about a closer relation between mankind and the Hierarchy. At the time of the June Full Moon, the Christ will focus in Himself the spiritual energies of the Hierarchy, plus the energy which the Buddha distributed at the time of the Wesak Festival; the New Group of World Servers will focus the spiritual demand for life and liberation, voicing the "massed intent" of humanity.

12412 Let me indicate the possibilities of such spiritual events, and prophesy the nature of the coming world-wide Festivals. There will be three such major Festivals each year, concentrated in three consecutive months, and leading therefore to a prolonged spiritual effort which will affect the remainder of the year. These will be:

1. The Festival of Easter. This is the festival of the risen, living Christ, the Teacher of all men and the Head of the Spiritual Hierarchy. He is the Expression of the Love of God. On this day the Spiritual Hierarchy which He guides and directs will be recognised, and the nature of God's love will be emphasised. This festival is determined always by the date of the first Full Moon of spring, and is the great Western and Christian festival.

2. The Festival of Wesak. This is the festival of the Buddha, the spiritual Intermediary between the highest spiritual centre, Shamballa, and the Hierarchy. The Buddha is the Expression of the Wisdom of God, the Embodiment of Light, and the Indicator of the divine Purpose. This will be fixed annually in relation to the Full Moon of May, as is at present the case. It is the great Eastern festival.

3. The Festival of Goodwill. This will be the festival of the spirit of humanity-aspiring towards God, seeking conformity with the Will of God and dedicated to the expression of right human relation. This will be fixed annually in relation to the Full Moon of June. It will be a day whereon the spiritual and divine nature of mankind will be recognised. On this festival, for two thousand years, the Christ has represented humanity and has stood before the Hierarchy and in the sight of Shamballa as the God-Man, the Leader of His people and "the Eldest in a great family of brothers" (Romans VIII:29). Each year at that time He has preached the last sermon of the Buddha before the assembled Hierarchy. This will therefore be a festival of deep invocation and appeal, of a basic aspiration towards fellowship, of human and spiritual unity, and will represent the effect in the human consciousness of the work of the Buddha and of the Christ.

These three festivals are already being kept throughout the world, though they are not as yet related to each other, and as part of the unified spiritual Approach of humanity. The time is coming when all three festivals will be kept simultaneously throughout the world, and by their means a great spiritual unity will be achieved and the effects of the great Approach so close to us at this time will be stabilised by the united invocation of humanity throughout the planet.

The remaining full moons will constitute lesser festivals, but will be recognised to be also of vital importance. They will establish the divine attributes in the consciousness of man, just as the major festivals establish the three divine aspects. These aspects and qualities will be arrived at and determined by a close study of the nature of a particular constellation or constellations influencing those months. For instance, Capricorn (December) will call attention to the first initiation, the birth of the Christ in the cave of the heart, and indicate the training needed to bring about that great spiritual event in the life of the individual man. I give this one instance to you in order to indicate the possibilities for spiritual unfoldment that could be given through an understanding of these influences, and in order to revivify the ancient faiths by expanding them into their larger undying relationships.

We have, therefore, the following:

Shamballa Will aspect of God Wesak May Full Moon (Taurus)

Hierarchy Love aspect of God Easter April Full Moon (Aries)

Humanity Divine Intelligence Goodwill June Full Moon (Gemini)

The remaining nine Full Moons will be concerned with the divine characteristics and their development in mankind.

Thus the twelve festivals will constitute a revelation of divinity. They will present a means of bringing about relationship, first of all during three months with the three great spiritual centres, the three expressions of the divine Trinity. The minor festivals will emphasise the inter-relation of the Whole, thus lifting the divine presentation out of the individual and the personal into that of the universal divine Purpose; the relationship of the Whole to the part and of the part to that Whole will be thereby fully expressed.

Humanity will therefore invoke the spiritual power of the Kingdom of God, the Hierarchy; the Hierarchy will respond, and God's plans will then be worked out on Earth. The Hierarchy, on a higher turn of the spiral, will invoke the centre of God's Will, Shamballa or Shangri-Lha, thus invoking the Purpose of God. Thus will the Will of God be implemented by Love and manifested intelligently; for this mankind is ready, and for this the Earth waits.

Preparation

38829 In connection with these Festivals every May, I am presenting you an opportunity to serve and to bring about the desired objective of peace. It is possible for us, each of us,-in our small measure to cooperate in the intended Plan, and therefore what I have to say takes on another aspect and lays the responsibility of materialising that Plan upon the earth upon the shoulders of each and all of us. The work has been brought about through an intensive effort in two directions,-one the effort of the Hierarchy to impress that Plan upon the minds of men and to convey the needed power and understanding to effect the intended work, and secondly the effort of all disciples and aspirants to respond and bring through into manifestation that which is waiting on the subjective side of life.

38832 The Buddha has a special function at this time as an interplanetary mediator, and in this capacity (at the coming May Festivals) He will attempt to bring certain Spiritual Beings into touch with our earth Hierarchy. They have expressed Themselves as willing to aid in the present crisis. That aid, if the effort prove successful, will come in the form of a much increased spiritual inflow of energy of a kind more potent and of a quality somewhat different to any at this time pouring into and through our planetary life. Those aspirants and disciples who can train themselves to the realisation of an increased spiritual responsibility and can preserve an inner quietness and a focussed esoteric attentiveness can be swept into this tide of spiritual force and can then and thus serve humanity's need. As transmitters they meet that need; as interpreters they increase the capacity of the human being to respond and to understand.

In order to effect this transmission of force, a peculiar interchange of ideas and of cooperation is going on between the Lord Buddha and the Lord Maitreya, and They are subjecting Themselves to a most definite form of training in order to present to these interested Spiritual Beings Who are seeking to help the planet, more adequate channels of service. Three Masters from each of the seven ray groups of Masters are in Their turn attempting a closer cooperation with the Great Lords in preparation for the opportunity to be presented. These twenty-three spiritual forces are banded together to act as a group channel of service on the day of the Wesak Festival and particularly at the hour of the full moon.

A call has been sent out to the entire Hierarchy of Masters to prepare Themselves for an intensive "Holy Month" of accelerated service, and all of the Masters on the Seven Rays-no matter what Their departmental work may at this time be-are getting into immediate cooperation and close contact with the three Masters on Their particular Ray who are acting as the ray intermediaries. The service is new and peculiar and as to its particular nature there is no need for me to explain as I should not be understood.

In Their turn, the Hierarchy of Masters is calling to all working initiates and disciples and to all aspirants of mental focus to cooperate as fully as they can in an intensive effort to increase the receptivity of humanity to the new forces which can be released to perform their benevolent synthesising work during the month of May.

To this intensive cooperation we are called. Should the two Great Lords and the focussed and attentive Hierarchy succeed in producing What might be regarded as a form of planetary alignment and the needed open channel through which these extra-planetary energies can pour, it still remains for the disciples of the world and for the New Group of World Servers to act as the medium of transmission and communication between the world thinkers and this inner spiritual group of Workers. We have, therefore, the focussed Hierarchy in deep attentiveness under the group composed of the two Lords, the twenty-one chohans and the Masters of the seven rays. We have the disciples of the world and the New Group of World Servers given the opportunity to focus in their turn and act as a channel of transmission. We have also the unhappy and bewildered world of men, waiting in eager expectancy for an event which can take place if the aspirants of the world measure up to the opportunity.

38837 The period of the Wesak Festival on the inner planes in 1936 and 1937 was extended to cover five days,-two preceding the Festival itself, and two succeeding the Festival. The Wesak hour is of momentous import. The two days of preparation are to be known as "days of renunciation and detachment". The day of the Festival is to be known as the "day of safe guarding" whilst the two succeeding days are called the "days of distribution". These words mean something different to the Hierarchy of Masters than they do to us and it is fruitless (as well as forbidden) to elucidate them in their deepest meaning. They mean, however, five days of a most intensive effort in service, leading to the renunciation of all which could hinder our usefulness as channels of spiritual force. It means that after due preparation, dedication and upward striving for the first two days, on the day of the Festival itself we simply regard ourselves as the recipients of, or the custodians of, as much of that inflowing spiritual force as we can possibly hold. As channels, we must be prepared to forget ourselves in the service of touching, containing and holding force for the rest of humanity. We must regard the Festival itself as a day of silence (I refer to an inner peace and silent solemnity that can be preserved unbroken though the outer man may be serving with his speech and spoken interest), a day of service carried forward entirely on esoteric levels, and of complete self-forgetfulness in the remembrance of humanity and its need. During that period, two thoughts only will hold our constant attention,-the need of our fellow men and the necessity of providing a group channel whereby the spiritual forces can be poured through the body of humanity under the expert guidance of the chosen members of the Hierarchy.

Remember, no matter who we are or where we may be placed or what is the nature of our environment, no matter how isolated we may feel or apart from those who may share our spiritual vision, each of us can that day and for the period immediately following and preceding it, work and think and act in group formation, and function as a silent distributor of force.

For two days prior to the full moon, we will hold the attitude of dedication and service and seek to assume that attitude of receptivity to that which our soul will impart which will make us of use to the Hierarchy. The Hierarchy works through groups of souls, and the potency of this group work is to be tested out. These groups in their turn contact and feed the waiting dedicated attentive personalities. On the day of the full moon, we attempt to hold ourselves steadily in the light. We will not formulate to ourselves what will happen nor will we look for results or for tangible effects.

On the two succeeding days, the focus of our attention will be steadily turned away from ourselves but also from the inner subjective planes to the outer world, and our efforts will be to pass on, or to pass through, that measure of spiritual energy that may have been contacted. Our work then in this particular and peculiar field of cooperation will then be ended.

2714 For you, as for all your group brothers, must come concentration upon the work of preparation for the Wesak Festival. Pure channels and released minds are the major requirement at this time, and I call you all to a preparatory purification and mental discipline. It is the growing inner momentum of aspiration and devotion and the increasing "lucidity" of the mind which must constitute the goal for all of you during the next few months, for it is the demand of the disciples of the world which will bring in that which the world needs, and the intensification of light in which the real light can be seen. There is occult power in the words: "And in that light shall we see light." The light of the disciples of the world is sorely needed at this time by the Hierarchy. Yes, needed, my brother.

38853 May I now make an inquiry? Of what importance is this full moon of May to you personally? Does it seem to you of sufficient importance to warrant your utmost effort? Do you really believe that on that day there can truly come a release of spiritual energy of sufficient potency to change world affairs, provided the sons of men play their part? Do you really believe, and can you stand practically by that belief, that the Buddha on that day, in cooperation with the Christ, and with the Hierarchy of Illumined Minds, plus the proffered aid of some of the Thrones, Principalities and Powers of Light, Who are the higher correspondence of the powers of darkness, stand waiting to carry out God's plans, when given the right and the permission of men? Your major job at this time is not to wrestle with the powers of evil and the forces of darkness, but to awaken an interest in and mobilise the forces of light and the resources of men of good will, and of right inclination in the world today. Resist not evil, but so organise and mobilise the good, and so strengthen the hands of the workers on the side of righteousness and love, that evil will find less opportunity.

If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed in what I have told you, if you have staunch belief in the work of the spirit of God and in the divinity of man, then forget yourselves and consecrate your every effort, from the time you receive this communication, to the task of cooperating in the organised effort to change the current of world affairs by an increase in the spirit of love and good will in the world during the month of May.