Report from BhakiFest – Balance

Getting into Balance
by Eric B. (aka webmaster)

Last month, (Sept 9-12) was the second annual BhaktiFest.  We had a great time attending this and would like to share the event info with you. At the end you can read some of my personal reflections on the highly memorable event.

Held in Joshua Tree, California, all vegetarian, this four day event with non-stop music, offers an incredible assortment of yoga, bodywork practitioners/ healers, vendors (nutritional supplement companies), and excellent raw and vegan cleansing foods.  Unlike most music festivals, this one was mainly comprised of Kirtan music, which requires the audience to also sing, back and forth with the musicians, rather than take a passive role.  “Kirtan” is a Sanskrit word which means “to repeat” or call-and-response chanting, is common in India’s devotional traditions, though most religions have also something similar. One of the big name performers, Krishna Das, gave an example of that when he sang the gospel classic, “Jesus on the Main Line.”. With two stages, this included over 80 hours of music by notable kirtan performers.

Some of the artists who performed there included Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Deva Premal & Miten, Shyamdas, Bhagavan Das, Dave Stringer, Donna De Lory, & Wah! just to name a few.  About 3000 attendees sang together all day & night with these talented artists and the result was a blissful melody that could be heard from great distance throughout the Joshua Tree National Park. While kirtan practices have been transmitted by various religious traditions from India–Vaisnava, Sikkhism, Hinduism, and Buddhism–it is a heart-opening tool for people of any or no Faith. Like yoga, kirtan is used to align the mind, and, spirit.

Many of the big names of Yoga were there too, with teachers like Saul David Raye, Shiva Rea, Annie Carpenter, and Steve Ross offering classes.  Additionally, there were dance/movement classes like the Shaman’s Dream / Zen Dancing Micheline Berry and others.

The bodyworkers / massage therapist there were divided into two “Healing Sanctuaries”, one outdoors, just near the main stage, and the other indoors, a 10 minute walk down a dessert road. The list of therapists read like a who’s-who of master practitioners, all exceedingly qualified, and each with something unique to offer such as Energy work, Cranial Sacral, Acupuncture, Structural Work, and even Chi Nei Tsang.

In the “Vendor Village”, which zigzagged throughout the center of the festival, were many excellent vegan supplement providers, as well as a large variety of organic and eco-friendly products.

During the festival all plastics, paper and glass was recycled, and only carbon-free, recyclable water bottles were available for purchase.

Finally, and most importantly, an abundance of Live/Raw & Vegan food was available.  Of special note were Lydias Organics, who just opened a new vegan restaurant in Northern California, and the Coconut Bliss folks who do amazingly, scrumptious coconut based ice creams. While a couple of the vendors were not fully vegan (lacto, ovo), the majority were all vegan.  Hopefully next time around they’ll consider this and make the event purely compassionate, plant-based foods.

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Personal take on the event: The weather hot (100F daytime), and the scene was very dusty, which took some adjusting.  Reminiscent of the alleys in Kathmandu, each turn on the little paths brought me to a new scene with interesting things to explore.  Sensory overload came easy, so when attending the second day I was careful to not over do it. I also got sunburn and a splitting headache after the first day which fortunately was gone the next morning.

Most people (especially some of us vegans) are lopsided to some degree in their balance of body / mind / spirit.  For instance, there are those that are heavy into health aspects of veg*nism, but seem to ignore compassion and animal rights. Then there are those in tune with compassion but eat junk food.  To me,  body / mind / spirit balance is essential to a happy life. This event was about coming into & celebrating balance.  While some people might have felt at first glance that a lot of the attendees were out in “lala land”, I sensed a genuinely grounded joy in many of the people there, which made just being at this event very uplifting.

Although it’s probably something different to everyone, for me it was a place to experience balance and live in one’s heart.

Thank you to all those involved in making happen.

More info: www.bhaktifest.com

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