Vaishaka Purnima – April Full Moon

A full moon occurs in Sidereal Libra on Monday, 30 April 2018. This Vaishakha full moon day falls in the pre-winter season in India is known as Hemanta. Vaishaka Purnima is very significant day as it coincides with the festival Vesak, Buddha Poornima and Theravadin New Year, a three day celebration of the Buddhist faith.


Vaishaka Purnima

The Full Moon is always 180° opposite the Sun, and in this Vaishaka month, the Sun is exalted in the constellation of Aries. The Sun represents parts of our persona, our face to the world. It reveals our self-expression, initiative, purpose, ambition and direction. The Moon is ruled by Venus and conjunct Jupiter, a the planet of largesse and multiplying energy and action wherever it its. The Moon conjunct Jupiter over-sighted by Venus can make for a time of positive energies expanding. With the impetus of the exalted Sun we may reach up for the higher universal energy of love in service of our fellow men and women.

Vaishaka is a month that celebrates three incarnations of the Divine: Parasurama, Narasimha – the half-man, half lion – and Kurma, the tortoise avatar. Kurma appears at a time of crisis to restore the cosmic equilibrium. His shewings are either a tortoise, or more commonly as half man-half tortoise. Vaishaka Sukla Tritya is celebrated as Akasya Tritya; according to sacred scriptures, this is the day on which Treta Yuga had begun. Akasya Tritya is a day of punya, merit that has no bad timings; hence many sacred events and commencements are begun on this day.

The greatness of Vaishaka masa was first put across by Sage Narada to King Ambarisha. Vaishaka masam is said to be the most dearest to Sri Vishnu.If a person takes a holy bath in Karthik masam they incur 10 times benefit than taking bath in other months, if a holy bath is taken during Margarshira month they incur 100 times benefit, if taken during Mag masam they incur 1000 times benefit, if taken during Vaishaka masam the benefit occurred cannot be described in one’s life time.

Just as there is no yuga equal to that of krita, there is no masam equal to that of Vaishaka for holy bath. For a period of 144 minutes from 4:00 am all the tirtha deities enter into rivers, lakes, etc. as commanded by the Lord. Their sole purpose is to purify all the beings who take bath during that time.

The four purusharthas, namely, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are attainable with Vaishaka-dharma, i.e., worship and rituals during this month will yield nothing less than the fruits of these highest goals. At a more mundane level, it grants ayu (longevity), yash (fame) and pushti (sustenance) and the unending blessings of Vishnu.

Vaishaka is the month par excellence for doing dana (charity), yagna (fire sacrifice some write yajna), vrata (fasting ritual) and snan (bathing).

 

 

Vesak is a major Buddhist festival and is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists on different days around the world to celebrate the birth of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. His teachings focused on messages about compassion, peace and goodwill. The General Assembly of the United Nations in 1999 acknowledged the contribution that Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world, has made for over two and a half millennia and continues to make to the spirituality of humanity.

 

In 2003, Sri Sathya Sai Baba materialised a Buddha idol made of the holy mud of Lumbini, the sacred place where the Buddha took birth.

 

As we noted earlier, the Sun is in exaltation in Aries. This is made somewhat stronger with the Sun in moolatrikona in the navamsha chart. As mentioned earlier, Moon is conjunct Jupiter. Mars is vargottama in Sagittarius, meaning it occupies the same sign in both the natal and navamsa charts. Mars has passed Saturn by and will soon enter Capricorn where it will be conjunct Ketu, who magnifies the effects of Mars. As Mars is connected to cutting, surgery, furnaces and using heat to shape and divide metals, this will be a cutting time, many things may be cut off suddenly. Mars will go retrograde in Capricorn; the transit of Mars will last from May to November of 2018

Mercury is currently in Fall (debilitation) in the sign of Pisces, and resumes direct motion after the retrograde cycle that kicked off on March 22. With Mars aspecting Mercury during and after the retrograde status a good practice may be to take time; do not haste, waste, worry; remember the Divine and calmly discriminate right and wrong. The one sin the tongue commits in haste which cannot be recalled is that of speaking rashly and hurting others. It is a good time to take time.

In the navamsha chart, the ascendant is in the Rahu-Ketu axis, an axis of affliction. We also note that both Rahu and Ketu are afflicted, somewhat emphasising the haste, waste and rashness mentioned earlier. We would do well to recall the four goals of life – the purusharthas – and how they can be symbolised as the tyres on a motor vehicle; if one tyre is inflated too much then there will be a blow-out and the car will take us off the road and into the ditch, and not where we want to go. Ditto the affliction of the Rahu-Ketu axis, particularly for those over 50 years of age. It is a good time to take time.

 

mars retrograde
retrograde movement of Mars in 2005 – nasa image

 

Many undertake meditation as a spiritual exercise and expend many hours on it, But, in fact, meditation is implicit in almost every act that is done from morning till night. Meditation (in the sense of concentration) is implied in all the daily chores like eating, going to work, attending to business, etc. One is meditating while reading or playing or shopping. Without concentration no activity of any kind can be done. When the concentration is on God, it becomes spiritual meditation. Does such meditation call for a specific time or place? There is no special technique for meditation. By giving meditation some special names, they are forgetting its real significance. For instance, even listening calls for meditation. It has no specific form. No mediation is possible with a wandering mind.

 

 

Full Moon

Full Moons are times when strong and plentiful energy floods the Earth. This energy, directed by the Full Moon – may be taken and used for benefit. Hence, the sacred realms offer us the choice to harness energies for planetary benefit by doing group meditation and directing energy in the form of love, light or healing, wherever there is a need. As there are a plenitude of places where humanity is suffering on Earth in this day … all these places and more benefit from Full Moon Meditation, healing and love.

The Earth has been suffering and showing the effects of climate change, the effects of deforestation caused by corporate greed, and these effects are primarily known in natural disasters. In Israel unseasonable storms bring flash floods and drown teenagers. In Kenya, floods displace 210,000 as dams reach dangerous levels. Western Europe is experiencing rise of winter wave heights and extreme storms. Drought in Afghanistan is expected after the lowers snowfall and rains in years over the 2017/18 winter. Many places will benefit from the service of meditating and sending of love and light all over the Earth.

The Hierarchy have advised us that the times of the Full Moon are times when energy is magnified, and multiplied. Groups sitting together – or individuals sitting alone – in meditation on peace, harmony, goodwill towards all have a manifold affect on the energies surrounding our planet when they do this on the Full Moon day. If it is not possible to do so on the actual day, then, we have been told, the day before or the day after will also serve as days of excellence in sending out positive harmony, peace and helpful energies to all places on our Earth.

Meditating on light can raise the level of light within the individual. Meditating on light for our home, Planet Earth, can raise the level of light in places where this is needed. For LIGHT can be, as you know when you turn on a light in a room it has different voltages in different countries – in some countries it is brighter – sometimes it is darker. In a way, the Light in each individual on this Earth is the same. Sometimes it is brighter and sometimes it is darker. Such meditation is always of help to others.


A meditation on light is available on this website, here (opens in new window)


Focus on Planetary Healing

Another helpful form of group activity on Full Moon days is calling on the Angels, the Spirit Guides, the Star Beings of the Hierarchy, and the different Divinities – for all are but different forms of the one substance we may call GOD – and calling upon them for help. All prayers are answered; all prayers for the Good of All are responded to. It is well known that Divinity in its different names and forms takes the energies of devotion to God, the prayers, the offerings of Love, Harmony, Peace, Light and distribute this to places where it is needed around the Earth. Such meditations and prayers can also be offered on Full Moon days. Many prayers hail the Lord – or God – as a God of Mercy and Compassion. Compassion makes no difference between those who suffer and those who cause that suffering. Compassion is for all and such mercy offered in our prayers and meditation goes out for the Good of the All.

 


An intense explosive sequence took place at Stromboli volcano in Italy on the morning of April 24, 2018. The first explosion took place at 09:05 UTC and emitted abundant ash along with incandescent material and large lava blocks up to 250 m (820 feet) above the crater that fell in the summit area and along the Sciara del Fuoco, INGV said.

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