21
Easter Class Address
THE ASALA FESTIVAL
At the time of the full moon in the month of Asala, which is our July, the Great Lord Divino the present Buddha, formerly known as the Lord Maitreya, honors the anniversary of the first sermon given by his great Friend and Teacher, Lord Gautama, now Lord of the World, when Lord Gautama became the Buddha many centuries ago. Each year Lord Divino gives forth the exact same sermon to the Brotherhood and their chelas who gather in the garden of his home in the Himalayan Mountains, adding to it a short address of his own.
The radiation goes forth for twenty-four hours before, and twenty-four hours after this ceremony takes place, and the wise students will turn their attention to Lord Divino and Lord Gautama at some time during July 8th, 1971, and draw back into their own worlds and environment the illumination and blessings released.
This wonderful sermon is very simple so that the original disciples who hear it could remember it. It stresses following the Middle Way; that of living a good life in the outer world, rather than either the extreme of becoming an ascetic, or following the worldly life of the average individual. Again and again the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path which Lord Gautama presented are given forth for contemplation:
1. The Appearance of Sorrow or Suffering (which must be removed);
2. The Cause of Sorrow;
3. The End of Sorrow - or escape from it;
4. The Way which leads to the escape from Sorrow; Right belief, Right thought, Right speech, Right action, Right exertion, Right remembrance, Right means of livelihood, Right concentration.