May 2005 Newsletter
The following articles are reproduced from the May 2005 Newsletter to members. Non-members may or may not be able to relate to the contents.
The Lord Buddha
“I will first say that there can be no Planetary Spirit that was not once material or what you call human. When our great Buddha — the patron of all the adepts, the reformer and the codifier of the occult system, reached first Nirvana on earth, he became a Planetary Spirit; i.e. — his spirit could at one and the same time rove the interstellar spaces in full consciousness, and continue at will on Earth in his original and individual body. For the divine Self had so completely disfranchised itself from matter that it could create at will an inner substitute for itself, and leaving it in the human form for days, weeks, sometimes years, affect in no wise by the change either the vital principle or the physical mind of its body. By the way, that is the highest form of adeptship man can hope for on our planet.”
The Master K. H.
The Great Wesak Blessing
We learn from our theosophical books that the Lord Gautama Buddha, instead of devoting Himself wholly to other and higher work after His Mahaparanirvana, has remained sufficiently in touch with our world to be reached by the invocation of His successor when necessary, so that His advice and help can still be obtained in any great emergency. He also undertook to return to the world once in each year and shed upon it a flood of blessing.
The Lord Buddha has His own special type of force, which He outpours when He gives His blessing to the world, and this benediction is a unique and very marvellous thing; for by His authority and position, a Buddha has access to planes of nature which are altogether beyond our reach, hence He can transmute and draw down to our level the forces peculiar to those planes. Without this mediation of the Buddha these forces would be of no use to us here in physical life; their vibrations are so tremendous, so incredibly rapid, that they would pass through us unsensed at any level we can reach, and we should never even know of their existence. But as it is, the force of the blessing is scattered all over the world; and it instantly finds for itself channels through which it can pour (just as water instantly finds an open pipe), thereby strengthening all good work and bringing peace to the hearts of those who are able to receive it.
The occasion selected for this wonderful outpouring is the full moon day of the Indian month of Vaisakh (Wesak), and usually corresponding to the month of May, the anniversary of all the momentous occurrences of His last earthly life—His birth, His attainment of Buddhahood and His departure from the physical body.
In connection with this visit of His, and quite apart from its tremendous esoteric significance, an exoteric ceremony is performed in the physical plane at which the Lord actually shows Himself in the presence of a crowd of ordinary pilgrims. All Members of the Great Occult Hierarchy, except the Lord of the World and the three Kumaras, usually attend this ceremony.
The place selected for this stupendous occasion is a small plateau surrounded by low hills, which lies on the northern side of the Himalayas, not far from the frontier of Nepal, about 400 miles west of Lhasa. This location is commonly referred to as the Wesak Valley and the occasion is referred to as the Wesak Festival. Bishop C. W. Leadbeater gave a first-hand account from his personal participation and the Wesak Festival is described in great detail in his book The Masters And The Path which was first published in 1925. Geoffrey Hodson verified the account of the Wesak Festival, as described by CWL, when he attended it on May 30, 1949.
Normally this day coincides with the 15th (full-moon) day of the Fourth Month of the Chinese Lunar calendar, which is always a public holiday in Singapore. We shall hold our traditional annual Wesak Day celebration on the actual Wesak Day, which falls on Sunday, 22 May 2005 at 11 a.m. We shall give an account of the Wesak Festival and also show a documentary film by an Australia TV station on the pilgrimage to the Wesak Valley.
White Lotus Day
Madame H. P. Blavatsky has always been a tremendous source of inspiration for all students of occultism. Not only was she well loved and remembered by members of the original Theosophical Society, she also had many friends and followers outside of the T. S. Indeed, many movements were founded outside the T. S. to study her teachings. Even today, more than a century after her death, new movements are still being formed pledging personal allegiance to H.P.B. and faithfully adhering to her original teachings. This is especially true in the cyberworld of the Internet. We could almost say that many people are fiercely loyal to our founder, Madame Blavatsky.
We join all these followers and students throughout the world to commemorate the passing of Madame H. P. Blavatsky on May 8. This is the 114th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest occultists in recent history. We call this day White Lotus Day to remember with gratitude the founder of the Theosophical Society. White Lotus Day was declared by the co-founder and President Col. H. S. Olcott in 1892 as a Day of Remembrance to “express the feeling of loving regard for her who brought us the chart of the climbing Path which leads to the summit of knowledge”. For the convenience of members, we shall celebrate White Lotus Day one day earlier on Saturday, 7 May at 5 p.m.
The Life of Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky
In memory of our great founder, we will be screening a video, The Life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, on our White Lotus Day observation, Saturday, May 7, 2004 at 5 p.m. after our commemoration programme. The video produced by The Blavatsky Trust is a revealing Drama-Documentary portrait of one of the most remarkable and fascinating women of modern times—the 19th century Russian mystic, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Members and friends are all welcome to see the video.
Wesak Celebration
The esoteric Wesak Festival and the Wesak Day public holiday normally coincide. This year, although Monday is the public holiday, the actual Wesak Day falls on Sunday. We believe there will be a tremendous outpouring of beneficent forces on 22 May 2005 as millions of people―a great portion of the world’s population―will be celebrating Wesak on that day. This, we understand, is in line with the law of nature that divine forces will take advantage of great congregations of devotional people as useful channels for the outpouring of blessing.
On Sunday, 22 May at 11 a.m. we shall celebrate Wesak Day as we normally do, with a talk giving a detailed account of the esoteric Wesak Festival including a video recording made by an Australian TV station of pilgrims gathering at the legendary Wesak Valley. We will then have a group meditation for 30 mins. A vegetarian buffet lunch has been kindly sponsored by Bro. Kam Chai Heng for the benefit of participants.
Basic Theosophy Course
In line with our mission to spread the theosophical teachings, we shall again be conducting the Basic Theosophy Course (BTC) for non-members, free of charge.
The next Basic Theosophy Course will be conducted on Friday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. commencing on 3 June 2005. Spread the word and help popularize a knowledge of theosophy by getting more friends to enroll for the free course. (Note that enrolment is necessary.) Click for the schedule of the Basic Theosophy Course.
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