Theos-Talk Archives (July 1994 Message tl00055)

Dear Brenda,

     I don't recall ever saying that Wesak came from Tibetan
Buddhism, In fact, I believe that I had expressed doubts as to
the authenticity of the festival, and doubts as to its
originating in Tibetan or any other form of classical Buddhism.
As I understand it, the description of the Wesak festival was
first introduced into the E.S. by Annie Besant, no earlier than
1908, and was finally made public in C.W.L.'s book ~Masters and
the Path~.   Alice Bailey's description of Wesak is essentially
the same as C.W.L./Besant's E.S. description, so I asserted the
opinion that Bailey got the information concerning Wesak from her
E.S. studies during the time she lived at Krotona in Hollywood.
Any connection that I had made between Wesak and Tibet, would
have been because C.W.L. himself places the ceremony in there.

     As for whether or not Wesak's origination can be found in
texts of Buddhist history, I have not seen anything either.
However, I would be very interested in learning of any evidence
that would prove its existence.  My reading of Buddhist history
is limited to a few books- certainly I have not read everything
on Wesak in any of them.  But, my own collection of books on
Buddhism is a little less than 200 volumes, and subscription to
only one journal devoted to the subject.  This is a drop in the
bucket compared to what is available these days.  However, if
Wesak is treated historically (assuming it really has a
historical existence outside of C.W.L.'s invention), it must be a
very obscure subject, since it is not covered in the general
histories that I have seen, and even his Holiness the Dali Lama
denies its existence.

     Good luck on your baby making project.  When my daughter was
in the making, we went to a doctor in Glendale who was big on
diet.  That was 21 years ago now, so he is probably retired, but
I think the concepts concerning diet are worth considering.
Suggest you check around for someone who really knows nutrition.

Best

Jerry