A Royal Wesak

Besides his concerns for the environmental wellbeing of Earth, the new King is known for the strength of his spiritual belief, his deep sense of service and the inclusivity of his approach to all faiths and social groups.  His interest in and knowledge of the religions of the world means that he is likely to know that the festival of Wesak falls this year the day before his coronation on 6^th May, and that the great energies of this key Buddhist festival will overshadow and augment this the most important event of his life.

For many Buddhists Wesak is seen straightforwardly as a celebration of the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha; but esoteric spiritual philosophy, however, based on the ancient Ageless Wisdoms, speaks of this time of the Taurean Full Moon as being of even greater significance: Lord Buddha returns to a high place in the Himalayas of Tibet to bestow his blessing on the world in a highly ritualistic ceremony involving all enlightened and aspiring souls that has taken place every year since time began. 

On Friday, once again, the spiritual hierarchy headed by Lord Maitreya will assemble to receive Lord Buddha, invite him to bless a bowl of sacred water which will be shared, ceremoniously, with all present before it is given to humanity.  I have written elsewhere with more detail of what takes place and your part in it, but it is a powerful, moving occasion, filled with ritual and symbolic meaning.

The Coronation service has reminders of the Wesak festival in it through the timelessness of the thousand year ceremony, through the intense formality of order, through the use and symbolism of ancient sacred objects, through the practice of invocation and declaration, through precise movement and placement, through the witnessing and proclaiming, and also through the anointing of the King who having pledged his service to his people before God will go forth to deliver it as commanded.  Constitutionally he is king already; this will be his spiritual crowning.

While the energy of Wesak will be a significant addition to the solemnity of the occasion, other factors may play a part too.  On Wesak day itself there will be a lunar eclipse, a signifier of change and new beginnings and possibly with some drama or surprises associated with it.  Mercury continues to be retrograde which could exacerbate the potential for unexpected happenings, or tensions behind the scenes but not necessarily involving the King or Queen, who of course in themselves represent the Sun and the Moon.

Saturday will be a day of history and pageantry, but also enormous symbolism and spiritual meaning.  The King knows it, and whether he remembers the hand of Buddha and the energy of Wesak over him or not, he will feel the spiritual importance of the occasion above all else.

 For all who are part of it and those who are witness it will be an extraordinary day of visual and auditory beauty, an intense sensory experience in every way.  It will be a reminder that, like the King, we too are part of history, spiritual and temporal.  It will be a royal Wesak indeed.