Today millions of people are celebrating Wesak – the Enlightenment of Buddha (May 04, 2015, the full moon in Taurus ). At the same time millions of people are awaiting the coming of the new Buddha – Maitreya – who will bring a new Enlightenment, a new Mandala of the Universe. Preparations for meeting Maitreya Buddha have been underway for hundreds of years.

In the first half of the twentieth century the great Tibetan Buddhist guru, Tomo Geshe Rimpoche, started actively preparing the space for the coming of the new Buddha – Maitreya Buddha.  He erected statues of Maitreya in many other places and made the followers of the Buddha-Dharma conscious of the fact that it was not sufficient to bask in the glories of the past, but that one must take active part in the shaping of the future,  and  thus make it possible for the coming Buddha to appear in this world by preparing our minds for his reception. (Lama Anagarika Govinda, The Way of the White Clouds, Rider & Co., London, 1984, p. 10.) 

Tomo Geshe Rimpoche himself had a very inspiring vision anticipating the coming of Maitreya. A disciple of Tomo Geshe, Lama  Anagarika Govinda, in his book The Way of  the White Clouds (quoted above), compares his guru’s vision of Maitreya to a similar vision, said to have taken place in the presence of Buddha Sakyamuni-Gautama, which is described in the Surangama Sutra:

‘The Blessed Lord, sitting upon the throne in the midst of  Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from all the ten quarters of the  universe, manifested his transcendental glory, surpassing them all. From his hands and feet and body radiated supernal beams of light that rested upon the crown of each Buddha and Bodhisattva assembled here. And equally from the hands and feet and bodies of all those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten quarters of the universe went forth rays of glorious brightness that converged upon the crown of the Lord Buddha, and upon the crowns of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and Saints present. 

The Sürangama Sütra vision is a vision of the glorious, breath-taking Buddhist Mandala which reveals the mystery of Creation from a Buddhist point of view.  

Now, in the light of the New Genesis, we could imagine the One who sits on the Throne, making everything new (Revelation 21:5) changing the world by radiating His/Her transcendent Light. From each of the twelve quarters of the Universe (i.e. the twelve gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem - see  Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem), the Divine Masters of humankind – Krishna, Hermes, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad and others – radiate Divine Light with dazzling brightness which converges upon the crown of the Lord God. Similar to the Buddhist Mandala, each Divine Master has his own place in this Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem. He appears in a unique posture, with specific cosmological characteristics such as element, colour, symbol of initiation and others which symbolise his particular initiation.  Each Divine Master is accompanied by his Feminine Counterpart who plays an important role in his mission. So, by meditating on them we will receive their initiations and we will enter into the Heavenly Jerusalem through their respective gates. 

The structure of the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem is explained in the Holy City. This Mandala presents only four of the Divine Masters - Krishna, Buddha, Christ, the Master Beinsa Douno – at the cardinal points. Obviously all other Divine Masters and their Feminine Counterparts have their place in the Mandala, radiating from one or another of the Gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem. The Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem is the Kingdom of God with many Mansions. This is the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth where humankind will continue its new Cycle of Evolution. 

The celestial images of the Divine Masters appearing at the twelve gates of the Holy City are emanations of the Lord God Almighty. At the same time each one of them reflects the light of all the others in accordance with his own image and spiritual essence. This is the glorious appearance of all the Divine Masters simultaneously from the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem. Radiating from the Divine Centre, they reflect the essence of each other, keeping however their own unique identity. 

 

The Masters are surrounded by the souls of enlightened followers - the Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, Prophets in Judaism, Apostles and Saints in Christianity, Gnostics in Islam. The Light emanating from the Divine Masters opens the gates of initiation into the ultimate reality. So, if we imagine this staggering vision of the Light radiating from the Centre and manifesting Itself through the images of all the Masters simultaneously, we will have an idea of the totality of the Kingdom of God in the form of a colossal Mandala revealing the Heavenly Jerusalem.  

The living experience of so many different initiations in one single act of consciousness is the new type of illumination expected from the new Buddha – Maitreya Buddha. This illumination can take the form of a new revelation (following the great Christian visions), of a new Enlightenment (in accordance with the Buddhist tradition), of a new cosmology (Kabbalism), of an integral yoga (Hinduism), of a fulfilment of the Islamic prophecy, but whatever the form, the new illumination has to integrate and balance in absolute ideal harmony the cosmological features of all sublime religious visions.  Here we can recall the magnificent balance and harmony between all polarities seen from Tifereth in the Middle Pillar of the Sefirothic Tree. Now the ideal harmony is between the different aspects of the whole Universe revealed by the world religions. 

The work on the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem is like a New Vajrayana practice. In Buddhism, Vajrayana, or the Diamond Vehicle, is an esoteric tradition, the initiation ceremonies of which involve entry into a Mandala, a mystic circle or symbolic map of the spiritual universe. With the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem, we have something like a new Vajrayana which provides a basis for receiving the initiations of all world religions. 

 At the same time the Mandala of the Heavenly Jerusalem serves as a basis for the integration of all religions showing their unique place and importance in the spiritual life of humankind. It is easy to imagine the enormous amount of metaphysical ideas, archetypes and spiritual structures related to the various initiations and their interconnection within the system of co-ordinates of this celestial Mandala. In the end, this is the Heavenly Jerusalem where humankind will live in an enlightened state of consciousness, in the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth. 

 

From this perspective the Celestial State on Earth offers a new Vajrayana where we will be able to contemplate, meditate and merge with the Light of the Divine Masters and the Personifications of the Divine Feminine. Naturally, these are only the first glimpses and a lot of joyful work lies ahead. The purpose of the Community Celestial State on Earth is to discuss the new metaphysics of the world, the foundations of the new Heavenly Jerusalem civilization and how to shift from the contemporary Babylonian type civilization to the new one. 

So dear friends, celebrating Wesak, let us link in meditation with the Divine Masters and Personifications of the Divine Feminine from the various traditions and experience the glorious world of Living Light emanating from Them. This could be a wonderful celebration of Wesak 2015, praising the Enlightened One, Gautama Buddha, and anticipating the coming of the new Buddha - Maitreya.