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Posted in Music To Live By on May 03, 2007 at 1:18 AM
Current Mood: mellow

What a gorgeous full moon - Sun in Taurus, Moon in Scorpio - and Venus is in the western sky after the sun goes down. I love astronomy and astrology; the night sky is so beautiful and puts things into perspective. The sky and earth are timeless. I did notice drivers being in a careless state yesterday and driving too fast. There is some intensity out there. This full moon is a good time for setting new goals!

This is the time Wesak festivals take place. Humans are able to take in a great deal of spiritual energy during this time of year. The full moon of Aries-Libra is the first of the Wesak season, with the third one next month at the time of the Gemini-Sagittarius full moon.

WESAK - from BBC co.uk website

"Wesak is the most important of the Buddhist festivals and is celebrated on the full moon in May. It celebrates the Buddha's birthday, and, for some Buddhists, also marks his birth and death.

Buddha literally means 'one who is awake' and has become enlightened. It is a term that denotes a person who has attained the supreme wisdom and compassion of Enlightenment.

To Buddhists Enlightenment is a blessed state in which the individual attains Nirvana - the transcendence of desire and suffering.

Many of Buddha's disciples have attained Enlightenment, and there have been many other Enlightened teachers.

The celebration of Wesak is a chance to remember the story of how the Buddha gained Enlightenment, and to reflect on what it might mean for individual Buddhists to move towards Enlightenment themselves.

The festival is celebrated with much colour and gaiety. Homes may be cleaned and decorated. In Thailand, for example, special Wesak lanterns are made of paper and wood, and often there a large ceremonial releases of caged birds.

In many countries during the festival, Buddhists will visit their local temple for services and teaching, and will give offerings to the monks of food, candles and flowers.

Chanting and praying are an important part of Wesak. The 'Bathing the Buddha' ceremony is also often included. Water is poured over the shoulders of the Buddha and serves as a reminder to purify the mind from greed, hatred and ignorance.

Chinese Buddhists incorporate elements of their country's culture into their religious celebrations like the traditional dancing dragons.

Gifts are taken to an altar to be offered to the Buddha statues. This shows respect and gratitude to the Buddha for his life and teachings.

If there is food it is usually vegetarian as Buddhists try not to harm animals."

This time of year reminds me of some fun times of my life! Forty years ago, a friend and I were "working" as go-go dancers in San Francisco. I was 14 at the time. Music Machine played at Longshoreman's Hall where we danced! 'Talk Talk' remains one of my favorite songs of all time. My family moved back to Southern California on the weekend of the Monterey Pop Festival, so I missed that but I saw some great bands up in the Bay Area. Once we were back here, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, and Buffalo Springfield played here. I got to see Hendrix twice, in fact. The first time, I just remember him playing the guitar with his teeth, the guitar on fire, and some guy sitting in back of me repeating, "Hendrix is God, Hendrix is God", the entire night.

Two years later, Led Zeppelin's first LP was outrageously popular! I had just started going out with a certain guy and we listened to those songs a lot! I always think of the guy when I hear 'Dazed and Confused'. I saw Led Zeppelin during that previous winter, along with Jethro Tull. Everyone was mesmerized by the guy playing guitar with a violin bow! Jimmy Page is still my favorite guitar player although I also really like Joe Satriani, Jake E. Lee, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, and Yngwie Malmsteen, among others...Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, I could go on for a long time! I HEARD Slash, too. He sounded awesome. Velvet Revolver played here 2 seasons ago at an outdoor amphitheater. The place is a few blocks from our apartment, thankfully!

My 12 year old son received an ipod for his birthday on April 20. My 16 year old uses his a lot, too. So far, Naruto songs and Pink Floyd are on the new ipod but I expect him to wind up with many different rock music styles in his collection, like his brother. It's cool to see them both grow up with music being such a huge part of their lives, as it is for me. From piano lessons as a 7 year old and on through Beatles, music is a steady companion in my world. My older son plays keyboard and guitar, currently playing with his high school jazz band. It is very meaningful for me to see him as "attuned" to music as he is.

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