September/October 2011 Newsbrief → Announcements

Feast of Tabernacles 011994
 

As this will be the last Newsbrief before the Feast, it is time to officially announce this year's Feast of Tabernacles, symbolizing the coming of the Lord (the time of year when God's Spirit is Greatest on earth)! As the Feast of Tabernacles approaches, and we keep the Feasts of Trumpets and Atonement leading up to it, we should start preparing physically, mentally, and spiritually for this event. This can include focusing more on spiritual practices, reading and contemplating the Scriptures, eating more Satvic food, etc. It might also be helpful to re-read the section in THOTH about Feasts and Holy Days of the Lord.

This year's Feast will begin at sunset on Monday October 10, 2011 (Maya 15, 011994 MC), and finish the evening of Tuesday October 18, 2011 (Maya 22, 011994 MC). The 2011 daily schedule that the Mission Center will follow is mostly finalized, and is now accessible from the Feast Announcement page. It is very similar to last year's, although there are some new additions/changes. Here are the main highlights and announcements related to the schedule:

  • As usual, nearly every event will be broadcast online over Paltalk or GoToMeeting, and all resources will be accessible on the website, so we hope everyone will join us online and celebrate the Feast in their own areas.

  • Maitreya will be available on Paltalk for two sessions to answer questions, on Day 4 and Day 6. This is the only time of the year Maitreya is available to the public for Satsang and answering questions live, so these sessions are a very rare and great privilege. May you use them to ask deep questions that are not already answered in Maitreya's teachings and literature!

    For these sessions, Maitreya prefers to have questions emailed to Him beforehand so He can meditate and contemplate on them to give the best answers possible. Therefore, if you have a question, please email it to us. If Maitreya feels it is a good question and answering it would help people, He will do so in one of these sessions (you must be present at the session to have your question answered). Questions sent in via email will be answered before any questions asked in the room; therefore, the best way is to send your questions in to us beforehand.

  • Some of the planned events are familiar from previous years, such as the Welcome Message and the two lectures; others are new, like the Teaching Session, Discussions, and the Spiritual Stories Night instead of the Talent Night. All of these, and the schedule in general, will be explained in detail at the Welcome Message on the first night. Therefore, be sure to attend on Paltalk if you are planning to come to these events and follow the schedule in your own area.

  • As in previous years, we are now calling for volunteers to fill the various slots of morning and evening readers, giving the Welcome Message (example: 2009 Welcome), moderating the Spiritual Stories Night, etc. (anywhere there is a (__) in the schedule, we need a volunteer). This is a rewarding way to become more involved with the Feast, and a service to the Mission (God) which is part of Spiritual progress, so we encourage all to consider it. If you are interested, please let us know what you would like to do (or if you are flexible, when you will be available). Also email us if you would like more information about any of these opportunities in order to make your decision.

So let us prepare ourselves and by next month be ready to put aside our egos, come together into communities (in person and online), and celebrate this most Holy Feast of God!