One point I must make here and I make it with great joy: This year (1946) marks the beginning of a cycle in which humanity is more closely involved in the Festivals than ever before and in which they can take a much more important part than ever before. The Wesak Festival has long been kept in many countries and-as time goes on and the instruction of the masses proceeds-the meeting held at the time of the May Full Moon* {footnote: * Here, by "May Full Moon" is meant the Taurus Moon (some years it falls in April); and by the "June Full Moon" is meant the Gemini Moon.} will assume great importance but its keynote will be changed. - - - It is the intention of the Buddha and the Christ that in each country there shall eventually be someone who will act as Their Representative at the time of the two Festivals, so that the distribution of spiritual energy from the first great Aspect or Ray will be direct from the Buddha (and later Shamballa) to the Christ and then from the Christ to those disciples in every country who can be overshadowed and so act as channels for the direct current of energy. The same procedure will be followed at the time of the Full Moon of June, except that Shamballa will not be so involved, and with the difference that at the May Festival it will be a first ray disciple who will be overshadowed and at the June Festival a second ray disciple will represent the Christ in every land. This can mean either the soul or the personality ray of the disciple. (Wesak Message 1946)

The Wesak Festival-The Full Moon (Taurus) of the Buddha

The day of the Festival is to be known as the "day of safeguarding" whilst the two succeeding days are called the "days of distribution." These words mean something different to the Hierarchy of Masters than they do to us and it is fruitless (as well as forbidden) to elucidate them in their deepest meaning. They mean, however, five days of a most intensive effort in service, leading to the renunciation of all which could hinder our usefulness as channels of spiritual force. It means that after due preparation, dedication and upward striving for the first two days, on the day of the Festival itself we simply regard ourselves as the recipients of, or the custodians of, as much of that inflowing spiritual force as we can possibly hold. As channels, we must be prepared to forget ourselves in the service of touching, containing and holding force for the rest of humanity. We must regard the Festival itself as a day of silence (I refer to an inner peace and silent solemnity that can be preserved unbroken though the individual may be serving through speech and spoken interest), a day of service carried forward entirely on esoteric levels, and of complete self-forgetfulness in the remembrance of humanity and its need. During that period, two thoughts only will hold our constant attention-the need of humanity and the necessity of providing a group channel whereby the spiritual forces can be poured through the body of humanity under the expert guidance of the chosen members of the Hierarchy.

For two days prior to the full moon, we will hold the attitude of dedication and service and seek to assume that attitude of receptivity to that which our soul will impart which will make us of use to the Hierarchy. The Hierarchy works through groups of souls, and the potency of this group work is to be tested out. These groups in their turn contact and feed the waiting dedicated attentive personalities. On the day of the full moon, we attempt to hold ourselves steadily in the light. We will not formulate to ourselves what will happen nor will we look for results or for tangible effects.

On the two succeeding days, the focus of our attention will be steadily turned away from ourselves but also from the inner subjective planes to the outer world, and our efforts will be to pass on, or to pass through, that measure of spiritual energy that may have been contacted. Our work then in this particular and peculiar field of cooperation will then be ended.

This effort of the Hierarchy is a five days' effort, preceded by a most intensive period of preparation. The work of getting ready for the opportunity starts for the Hierarchy exactly at the hour when "the sun began to move northward." But They tire not as do human beings and it is not possible for the human aspirant to keep up so long a period of preparation, no matter how deep his devotion.

When the Great Lord was on Earth, He told His disciples that successful spiritual effort of a healing nature went not forth except by prayer and fasting. Will you ponder on these words? This is a group effort towards a vast group healing and by prayer (sanctified desire, illumined thought and intense aspirational longing) and by the discipline of the physical body for a short period and for a definite objective, the work can be done.

What is it that should be accomplished at each momentous full moon in May? I shall state the objective sequentially and in the order of their importance, and with as much clarity and brevity as this abstruse subject permits.

1. The releasing of certain energies which can potently affect humanity, and which will, if released, stimulate the spirit of love, of brotherhood and of goodwill on the earth. These energies are as definite and as real as those energies with which science occupies itself and calls the "cosmic rays." I am speaking of real energies and not of emotionally desired abstractions.
2. The fusion of all the people of goodwill in the world into an integrated responsive whole.
3. The invocation and the response of certain great Beings, Whose work can and will be possible if the first of the objectives is achieved through the accomplishment of the second objective. Ponder on this synthesis of the three objectives. By what name these Living Forces are called is entirely immaterial. They can be regarded as the Vice-Regents of God, Who can and will cooperate with the Spirit of Life and of Love upon our planet, the One in Whom we live and move and have our being. They may be regarded by certain thinkers as the Archangels of the Most High, Whose work has been made possible through the activity of Christ and His body of disciples, the true and living Church. They may be regarded by others as the guiding heads of the planetary Hierarchy, Who stand behind our planetary evolution, and Who seldom take an active part in the world activity, leaving it to the Masters of the Wisdom except in the time of an emergency such as this. By whatever name we call Them, They stand ready to aid if the call comes forth with sufficient strength and power from the aspirants and disciples at the time of the May full moon and the June full moon.
4. The evocation from the inner side of a strenuous and one-pointed activity on the part of the Hierarchy of Masters, those illumined Minds to Whom has been confided the work of world direction. A responsiveness is desired and can be effective between the following three groups:
   
   1. The waiting and (at this time) anxious Hierarchy-anxious because even They cannot tell how humanity will react and whether men will be wise enough to avail themselves of the proffered opportunity. They stand, organised under the direction of the Christ, the Master of all the Masters, and the Teacher alike of angels and of men. He has been constituted the direct intermediary between the earth and the Buddha, Who is, in His turn, consecrated intermediary between the entire waiting Hierarchy and the attentive Forces.
   2. The New Group of World Servers, composed at this time of all those sensitive and consecrated servers of the race whose objective is world peace, who aim at the establishing of goodwill on earth as the basis for future living and world expansion. Originally, this group was composed of a handful of accepted disciples and consecrated aspirants. Its ranks have been opened - . . to all those people of goodwill who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the helping of humanity, and who see no separating bar of any kind, but feel alike to the men of all races, nationalities and religions.
   3. The masses of men and women who have responded to the ideas which have been set forth, and who react favorably to the objective of international understanding, economic interdependence and religious unity. When these three groups of thinkers and servers are brought en rapport with each other, and when the three groups can be aligned, even momentarily, much can be accomplished; the gates of the new life can be opened, and the inflow of the new spiritual forces can take place. Such is the Group objective and idea.

May I now make an inquiry? Of what importance is this full moon of May to you personally? Does it seem to you of sufficient importance to warrant your utmost effort? Do you really believe that on that day there can truly come a release of spiritual energy of sufficient potency to change world affairs, provided that humanity plays its part? Do you really believe, and can you stand practically to that belief, that the Buddha on that date, in cooperation with the Christ, and with the Hierarchy of Illumined Minds, plus the proffered aid of some of the Thrones, Principalities and Powers of Light, Who are the higher correspondence of the powers of darkness, stand waiting to carry out God's Plans, when given the right and the permission of men? Your major job at this time is not to wrestle with the powers of evil and the forces of darkness, but to awaken an interest in and mobilise the forces of light in the world today. Resist not evil, but so organise and mobilise the good, and so strengthen the hands of the workers on the side of righteousness and love that evil will find less opportunity.

If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed in what I have told you, if you have staunch belief in the work of the spirit of God and in the divinity of humanity, then forget yourselves and consecrate your every effort, from the time you receive this communication, to the task of cooperation in the organised effort to change the current of world affairs by an increase in the spirit of love and goodwill in the world during the month of May. (Rays II-pp. 687-692)

The Festival of Humanity-The Full Moon (Gemini) of the Christ

The Festival of June which is so uniquely Christ's and which emphasises His relationship to humanity, in reality covers three whole days, each with a different keynote:

1. The keynote of Love in its hierarchical sense, free from sentiment, emotion and personal emphasis-a love that sacrifices and understands, that acts with strength and decision and that works on behalf of the whole and not in the interests of any group or individual.
2. The keynote of Resurrection, emphasising the new note of livingness, of the living Christ and of that "life more abundantly" which the war has made possible by forcing a return to the real values.
3. The keynote of Contact, of a closer relation between Christ and His people, between the Hierarchy and Humanity.

The word "keynote" has been deliberately chosen and signifies the sound which preceded each major inflow at the May festival; these energies will be released at a solemn ceremony on each of the three days. At each ceremony the Christ will say the Invocation alone, and then the united Hierarchy will intone the stanza alone, invoking light, love and the will-to-good (one on each of the three days). Those disciples or initiates who happen to be interested and watching the Triangles or the Goodwill Movement will have them in their minds as they say the first and third stanzas, and the New Group of World Servers will receive some attention when the second stanza is chanted.

I would call your attention, therefore, to the interest shown by the Hierarchy in the embryonic efforts in which you are engaged and which I started; I would point out, however, that the attention paid is not exclusive but that wherever two or three are gathered together in the name of the Master of the Hierarchy, energy will flow; that wherever goodwill is a goal and evokes effort in no matter what form, the energy of the will-to-good will make itself felt, and that the New Group of World Servers is a far larger group than just the few known to you. Today its members are several million.

(Wesak Message 1946)

Relationship of the Two Festivals

At the time of the May Full Moon, the Buddha will sound out a great mantram and become the "absorbing Agent" of the first ray force. He will use the magnetic power of the second ray to attract this force to Himself and hold it steady, prior to redirecting it. The Christ will then-on behalf of the Hierarchy-become the "receiving Agent" of this potent energy and the seven groups of Masters Who work with the human and sub-human kingdoms will (in response to His demand) become the "directing Agents" for the sevenfold expression of this force.

At the time of the June Full Moon, the Hierarchy will, under the guidance of the Christ, let loose this will-to-good upon humanity, producing seven great results, according to the seven sub-rays of this first ray of will or power:

1. Power will be given to the disciples of the world and the initiates among men, so that They can direct efficiently and wisely the coming process of rebuilding.
2. The will-to-love will stimulate the people of goodwill everywhere that hatred will gradually be overcome and people will seek to live together cooperatively. This will take some time, but the inner urge is there and subject to stimulation.
3. The will-to-action will lead intelligent people throughout the world to inaugurate those activities which will lay the foundation for a new, better and happier world.
4. The will-to-cooperate will steadily increase also. Individuals will desire and demand right human relations-a result more general than that produced by the activity of the first three aspects of this ray, but which will be a natural outcome of this activity.
5. The will-to-know and to think correctly and creatively will become an outstanding characteristic of the masses. Knowledge is the first step towards wisdom.
6. The will-to-persist (which is an aspect of devotion and fixed idealism) will become a human characteristic-a sublimation of the basic instinct of self-preservation. This will lead to a persistent belief in the ideals presented by the Hierarchy, and the demonstration ofimmorality.
7. The will-to-organise will further a building process which will be carried forward under the direct inspiration of the Hierarchy. The medium will be the potency of the will-to-good of the New Group of World Servers and the responsive goodwill of mankind.

(Wesak Message 1944)

At the time of the June Full Moon, each year, the love of God, the spiritual essence of solar fire, reaches its highest point of expression. This it achieves through the instrumentality of the Hierarchy, that great group of souls which has ever been the custodian of the principle of light, of enlightened love, and which always-down the ages-focusses its attention upon the race of men when the spiritual influence is at its height. This it does through one of the great Sons of God. The Full Moon of June of 1943 saw this outpouring of divine love reach its highest expression for all time, and at the point of attainment which is, for that particular Son of God, His highest also. Such is the Law. When an embodied Christ in time and space reaches His goal of achievement, recognition of this comes to Him at the time of the June Full Moon, for in that sign of Gemini the complete victory of life over form, and of spirit over matter, is consummated and celebrated.

The love of God, focussed in the Christ, seeks to express itself in some act of peculiarly useful service to humanity. This service has taken different forms down through the ages, but it has always expressed itself through two episodes: One of them, the first, reveals the Christ in His capacity of the God-Saviour, sacrificing Himself through pure love for His fellowmen. The annals of the Hierarchy contain many such histories of sacrifice and service, dating far back into the very night of time. The saving principle of pure love finds its expression at the hour of humanity's greatest need in the work of a World Saviour and "for the salvation of His people, He comes forth." He thus meets the need, and at the same time strengthens the link which relates the Hierarchy to Humanity. The task of the Christ (as the expression in time and space of the second divine aspect) is to establish relationships. Every cyclic Representative of Deity furthers the approach of the Hierarchy to mankind, and seals this service by some final act which becomes the historical nucleus whereby later generations remember Him.

That accomplished, He stays with His people as Head of the Hierarchy until His second opportunity comes, in which as Representative both of Humanity and the Hierarchy, He can relate them both to Shamballa. This He does through a great act of evocation, seeking to bring about a closer relationship between all the three great planetary centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy, and Humanity. He can do this because the development of the Wisdom aspect in His nature makes it possible. The major linking agent in the universe is the energy of Love-Wisdom. Love relates the Hierarchy to Humanity, and Wisdom relates the Hierarchy to Shamballa. Only when Humanity and the Hierarchy are working together in a practical synthesis, can the Shamballa energy be permitted complete inflow through the medium of the two other centres.

To aid in this process of gradual perfecting and an eventual bringing about of a complete alignment, the help of the Buddha must be invoked and accepted. The work of the Christ as God-Saviour can be carried forward by Him alone and unaided. The work of the Christ as God the Preserver needs the united work, as yet, of the two highest Representatives of the second divine aspect when present together upon the Earth, as is the case today of both the Buddha and the Christ. This is the first cycle in the history of humanity when this has been the case. One or the other has been present down the ages, but not the two simultaneously. The reason for this is that the time has now been reached when Shamballa can be contacted and its energy evoked. Hence we have the activity of the Buddha at the May Full Moon and that of the Christ at the following June Full Moon. Their united activity serves to bring about a much closer approach between the Lord of the World and the Hierarchy, via His four Representatives: the Buddha, the Christ, the Manu, and the Mahachohan-the five points of energy which are creating the five-pointed star of Humanity at this time. (The Rays and the Initiations, pp. 88-90)

World Invocation Day

Since 1952 the Full Moon of Gemini has also been observed as World Invocation Day. The Great Invocation, used by humanity since 1945, has become an integral part of the work of the Festivals and of preparation for the reappearance of the Christ.

THE GREAT INVOCATION

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men-
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.