Three Festivals which we all could benefit from.
There are also many forms of energy and many spiritual potencies which are not as
yet generally recognized but to which the church Festivals of all religions
bear witness; these are released at the period of the Festivals. It is not
possible in this book to deal with this subject in any detail. But we can
indicate the general line of thought which will produce and condition the New
World Religion, which will link it with all of the good which the past has
given, which will make it spiritually effective in the future and which today
will slowly condition man's approach to God––an approach which for the first
time in history can be organized on a worldwide scale and consciously
undertaken. This indicates that because of man's desperate need, because of
the crisis through which humanity has just passed and is now passing, men and
women of vision and of inclusive thinking in all the churches of every world
faith will end their doctrinal differences, agree on the essential religious
truths and then proceed unitedly and with some uniformity of ritual and
ceremonial to approach together the center of spiritual power.
Is this too much to expect and to ask of humanity in the hour of man's need?
Cannot the enlightened members of the present great world religions in the
East and in the West get together and plan for such an invocative undertaking
and thus together inaugurate the mode of spiritual Approach which will serve
to unify their efforts and establish the seed at least of the New World Religion?
The establishing of a measure of uniformity of procedure will not prove so
difficult once a measure of unity on the spiritual essentials has been
achieved. This carefully determined uniformity will aid men everywhere to
strengthen each other's work and enhance powerfully the stream of thought
energy which can be directed towards those spiritual Lives, working under the
Christ, Who stand expectantly waiting to come to the aid of humanity. At
present the Christian religion has its great Festivals; the Buddhist keeps
his particular set of spiritual events, and the Hindu has still another list
of holy days, as has also the Mohammedan. Is it not possible that in the
world of the future, men everywhere and of all faiths will keep the same holy
days and unite in honor of the same Festivals? This will bring about a
pooling of spiritual resources and a united spiritual effort, plus a
simultaneous spiritual invocation. The potency of this is surely apparent.
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 center 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 preeminently 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.
From The Problems of Humanity by Alice A. Bailey, 1947, pages 161-4,
Festivals.pdf.
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