Bhakti Fest is a yearly experience that can immerse you deep into the channels of love, devotion, community, purpose, and connection with the Divine. This experience is revealed through yoga, kirtan music, inspirational and revelatory talks by spiritual leaders, teachers, yogis, and artists, loving dialogue, scrumptious vegetarian food, dancing on the earth, feeling the rain crashing down on an open concert, and sleeping under the stars on a warm desert night. If you are open to the experience, one might just be surprised with familiar faces in this lifetime or the not so distant past ~ congregating once again to celebrate and express bhav, that is, love in all its forms.
I had the amazing opportunity to offer my hand at BhaktiFest by registering many of the expected 3,000-5,000 people for onsite housing – meeting people from all over the world from as far as Austria, Costa Rica, Australia, Canada, Oklahoma, San Diego, and Los Angeles! Ever grateful for this experience, I reflected on how much I wished for my friends and yogis back home to be there to experience this wonderful festival with me!
(Top: Main Stage with Jai Uttal; Below, Left: LA-based Power Yogi Aree and Swaroopa Yogi Patti from Pennsylvania, man the housing table; Center: 3 amazing yogis come to each other’s rescue! Far Right: Artist Yogi pulls out her crystal ball)
(Top: Main Stage with Jai Uttal; Below, Left: LA-based Power Yogi Aree and Swaroopa Yogi Patti from Pennsylvania, man the housing table; Center: 3 amazing yogis come to each other’s rescue! Far Right: Artist Yogi pulls out her crystal ball)
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There were moments that were truly ineffable…such as when Krishna Das’ concert got hailed on and when hundreds of people huddled for shelter within the nearby vendor booths – a briefly passing rain and hail-fall that brought people literally smack-dab together – then jam-packed ourselves into a small indoor sanctuary hall.. The feeling and body heat generated was so intense and so tight it felt like a prehistoric cave or a womb that was growing and evolving with every note that Krishna Das sang..
Or how later in the evening, MC Yogi bedazzled the crowd with his rhythmic lyrics that by the end of the night had everyone touch the earth, feel like you could take on the world, and chant out loud, “Be the Change” and “Give Love.“ I was struck by his production bringing together visual art on stage, alongside dancers, Radhas and Fantuzzi, and paying homage to peace shakers from the Hare Krishnas to Mahatma Gandhi.
Or, when Deva Premal, with Miten and Manose, so beautifully announced early on that clapping isn’t necessary and that it’s okay to have silence after songs and that it’s in that silence that holds so much meaning…(Check out a clip of the Gayatri mantrafrom last year’s Festival HERE).
Or when Shyam Das and Radhanath Swami shared their insight about living with Bhav and that when we see God in our hearts, we can love everyone, maybe not love what they do, but we can still love them…and all you can feel is undeniable love exuding their Being and circulating throughout the room as everyone exudes this love as well…
Or when Sacinandana Swami (Caption to left: Radhanath Swami with girl) sang his heart out leading devotees and others in the room to the tune of “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Hare Hare Hare” and one can feel the glowing internal light within as the song, harolding the different names of “God-consciousness” takes you into deep meditation… You know that feeling when you’re sitting on a mountain peak or along the pier and you settle into the awe-some image of a sunset and all its brilliant colors…? And you sit in complete silence…? Yup – That feeling. A reverie, of Knowing. That’s it.
No words can really describe this experience, so instead I offer some colorful jpgs and mpegs with descriptive captions. If we get a chance to cross paths in person, I would love to share the stories and beauty of this event. Thank you to the amazing organizers, coordinators, and volunteers who dedicated their time to make this experience possible, and to all the artists, teachers, speakers, vendors, the ancient yogis and gurus, saints, deities, and eternal truth that made the conception of this gathering of human-encapsulated souls even plausible. Perhaps next year, you’ll be able join in the fun? Here’s to living with Bhav, 365 days a year!
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