Full Moon Meditation May
Full Moon Meditation May / Wesak Festival
The full moon of May is an important time in our meditation calendar. This particular full moon is known around the world as The Full Moon of the Buddha or The Wesak Festival.
We meditate together in groups at the time of the full moon because together we have access to higher spiritual energies, than we would individually. The full moon in May is said to be the day of greatest spiritual opportunity in the year.
For Buddhists the Wesak festival is the time of the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. However, this is an annual day of meditation for people of all spiritual traditions. What can a non-Buddhist learn from the Buddha? The Buddha taught us about ‘light’ - the ‘light of mind’, illumination – these are all synonyms. The Buddha also taught us about finding the middle path between the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain. In addition, he taught us that all of life is suffering if our desire and fear remain uncontrolled. Desire makes us cling to things we haven’t got and fear makes us feel aversion to things that might happen – this means we live at odds with the reality of the moment unfolding before us. In other words, we are not ‘Present’ or living in the ‘NOW’ under these conditions.
In the ageless wisdom teachings it is said that the Wesak Festival is a living event where blessings are poured onto the world by the Buddha.
These blessings vitalise all people aspiring to the highest and best expression of themselves. We use this event to aid in the distribution of the Buddha’s blessing (or spiritual energies) coming through to us. But how do we distribute these energies? By aspiring to let go of the personal self’s constant need for everything to be about ‘I, me and mine.’ To live in a decentralised way where our impact on the whole is always considered and by learning to let go of our desire to have things as we want them – after all there are 7 billion other people to consider!
Our spiritual opportunity in meditating around this event is that we can imagine ourselves linking in mind, heart and imagination with all those around the world in meditation at the same time – we see ourselves as a woven web of interconnected light.
What other symbols can we draw on at the full moon in May?
We can look at this full moon to the energies of Taurus. The full moon of Taurus is known as the transmitter of the Light of the Path. But what is this spiritual Path written about in the ageless wisdom teachings? It’s the distance between the personal self and the higher self. Remember that when we are operating as the Higher Self we are in harmony with each moment and the unfolding beauty of our experience. It’s worth asking ourselves whether we are living this way. It can seem like a monumental challenge – but it is the hard work of letting go of the personal self that will lead us to living the joy of experience. The good news is that the path from our suffering (in the personal self) to the joy (of the Higher Self) is shorter than we think.
So the task for us in Taurus is to manifest the inner beauty of the True Self and become the Path for others. This is when we can truly begin to lead by example.
The Labours of Hercules are an allegory of our spiritual evolution.
Hercules second task was to capture the sacred bull, kept on the island of Crete. This gives us our lesson for the month of May. Hercules crossed the seas to the island (the personal self) made his way through a maze (illusion) to find the sacred bull. Alone he sought the bull, chased it to its lair, and captured it and mounted on its back and rode it like a horse (controlled his desire nature).
His task was to take the sacred bull to the mainland (symbol of the Whole/Oneness where the Higher Self resides) where lived the 3 Cyclops (One Eyed – operating from the Higher Self/Third Eye). They were 3 great men (Initiates) watching and waiting for the return of Hercules. Hercules delivered the bull to the Cyclops. The King of Crete, Minos wanted to sacrifice the sacred bull. But Hercules gave it to the Cyclops saying, take the bull into the Holy place and save it from death. (The bull wasn’t killed – we don’t kill out our desire nature we control it and learn to use it).
Another way to look at the energy of desire is through the Law of Attraction
The key to this labour in the sign of Taurus is the law of attraction. The Law of attraction is a magnetic force, of which desire is a subsidiary energy. Desire creates a magnetic pull. Desire or the law of attraction compels the higher self/soul to incarnate or create a physical body. The law of attraction concerns the relationship between the two poles – positive and negative (eg they attract each other in a magnet); between spirit (soul) and matter (body). The law of attraction/desire is about duality and the pairs of opposites.
So our lesson in the month of May from the Buddha and Hercules is to control (let go of ) desire by traversing the middle path between fear and desire, so we can become distributors of the light of wisdom.
Free Full Moon Meditation are held each month at Fairfield Wellness, if you would like to be notified about up and coming meditations please email us at info@fairfieldwellness.com.au
References
Wood, L. Lucas, D. 1986 Full Moon Meditation, An Evolutionary Journey. Khuti Foundation Publications
Bailey, AA. 1974 The Labours of Hercules. New York. Lucis Publishing Company
Lucis Trust. Full Moon Meditations https://www.lucistrust.org/
Saraydarian, Torkom. 1988. Symphony of the Zodiac. Saraydarian Institute.
.