Reflections on Vesak: A Heart Overflowing
This year’s Vesak celebrations were nothing short of extraordinary with four days steeped in sacredness, love, and a deep sense of spiritual homecoming. It wasn’t just a celebration it was a soul anchoring experience. One that stirred something ancient within me and wrapped every part of my being in reverence, gratitude, and awe.
From the very beginning, even before the official events began, there was something holy in simply showing up to help. Each preparation folding, arranging, sweeping, offering became a quiet act of devotion. Every task felt like a prayer in motion, and each moment was a reminder that service itself is a sacred offering. With every breath, every movement, I felt the energy of something far greater flowing through me.
Making my personal offering during the ceremony was both humbling and deeply moving. It was a pause in time a sacred moment to honour this path, this life, this heart and to pour my gratitude into form. I offered two crystal spheres into the hands of the monk one of clear quartz, symbolising purity, clarity, and divine light and the other, sodalite, representing inner wisdom, truth, and spiritual insight. These crystals weren’t chosen at random they had been with me in my healing space for years, silently holding space through countless sessions, ceremonies, and moments of transformation. They had absorbed prayers, tears, intentions, and love. Offering them felt like offering a part of my own journey.
To watch as these sacred spheres were gently placed into the stupa the very heart of this sacred structure was a moment I will never forget. Knowing that they now rest in the inner chamber alongside the Buddha’s relics felt like an honour beyond words. It wasn’t just a physical offering it was a transmission of energy, of devotion, and of everything I have walked through to arrive here.
In that moment, I felt the presence of lineage, both behind and before me. I felt the hands of my teachers, the whispers of my ancestors, and the quiet knowing that this act was woven into something far greater than myself. These offerings carry not only the intentions of my heart, but the healing of many who have come through my space. And now, they are part of something eternal.
I will carry that moment within me always as a reminder of what it means to live in devotion, to give from the soul, and to be held by something sacred and timeless.
But perhaps the most moving part of the entire celebration was having my beautiful family by my side. To take them up to the stupa and into the sacred chamber where the Buddha’s relics will soon rest was a moment that pierced through the noise of everyday life and brought us into a shared stillness. Watching their faces soften in quiet awe seeing their hearts touched by the energy of the space moved me to tears. It was a reminder that this path of healing and awakening isn’t just mine… it’s woven into the legacy we pass down, the love we live, and the presence we share.
And then, to gather with our beautiful community for the aerial flower offering what words could possibly do it justice? As the petals rained gently from the sky above the stupa, it felt like blessings were falling from the heavens. The air was charged with beauty, love, and collective intention. We stood in silence and prayer, wrapped in the presence of each other, and of something so vast and kind it can only be felt, not spoken.
Sharing these sacred days with my family, friends, and the beautiful community has changed me. It has deepened my commitment to this path and expanded my heart in ways I didn’t expect. I feel softened, grounded, and held by something so real and ancient and true. Vesak reminded me that devotion is not in grand gestures it’s in the quiet, consistent opening of the heart.
I carry the light of this Vesak in my being now. It continues to flicker gently within me, guiding me with peace, devotion, and grace. And I know, in every cell of my body, that I will return again and again not only to the stupa, but to the still, sacred place within.
Joy x
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