It’s no secret that Joshua Tree, CA has long been an inspiration AND destination for dreamers, renegades, hippies and spiritual seekers from all walks of life. Tucked away in the high desert, just thirty minutes from Palm Springs, they come for silence, endless, magical landscapes, unique rock formations, star filled night skies and of course, our quirky Joshua Trees and desert vibe.

With over 2.8 million visitors per year, this place has become a Mecca for artists, musicians, hipsters, visionaries, radicals and yogis alike. It’s also become a hub for alternative music events and festivals, most of which come from out of town, but a few have now come to call this dusty paradise home. One of those is Bhakti Fest and its founder, Sridhar Silberfein.

Bhakti Fest is celebrating its 10 year anniversary this September (12th -17th) and features world famous yoga teachers, Kirtan music stars, wisdom workshops, lectures, sound baths, vegan food, conscious vendor, eco-friendly marketplace and healing sanctuary.

It’s an immersive, six day, yoga, sacred music (Kirtan) and meditation festival that embraces ancient and modern, sacred wisdom and traditional and non-traditional spiritual practices. Its core mission is simple: “To provide a platform where people can gather as a heart-centric community focused in love, devotion and conscious living.”

Sridhar has an incredible 50+ year history with some of spirituality’s rock stars…the Absolute A-list. From Sri Swami Muktananda to Ram Dass to “Amma the hugging Saint”, Sridhar has been instrumental in cultivating Eastern spirituality and yoga in the west.

He also co-founded a recording label (Triloka) with Grammy winner, Krishna Das and helped launch the careers of many world music and kirtan artists including Grammy nominated, Jai Uttal, Bhagavan Das and others. 

He opened “The Food Chakra”, one of the first natural foods stores in Topanga, California, went on to create a natural cosmetic company called, Desert Essence, and in his spare time, produced the docudrama River of Loveabout the life of Amma, which raised money for many of her charitable projects. What spare time? This guy is part Yogi, part mover and shaker!

Originally hailing from Long Island, NY, Sridhar began his spiritual and Kundalini yoga studies with teacher, Albert Rudolph, AKA “Rudi”  who was the only Western disciple of the Indian Guru, Bhagavan Niytananada and a devotee of Niytananda’s successor, Swami Muktananda.

While Sridhar continued his heart-opening, Kundalini teachings with Rudi, he simultaneously studied Hatha Yoga with Indian master, Swami Satchidananda and eventually became one of main yoga instructors at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City.

In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, Sridhar was asked by the producers of the legendary music festival, “Woodstock”, in Bethel, New York, to incite a ‘spiritual invocation’ to a crowd of half a million people. That scene is even in the director’s cut of the 1970 feature film, Woodstock!

In the film, just after Richie Havens gives his epic, opening performance, Sridhar escorts Sri Swami Satchidananda on to the stage where Swami congratulates the American youth on their spiritual awakening, explains the power of mantra and proceeds to lead more than 500,000 attendees chanting “Hari Om” and “Ramaramarama.”

At the end of their segment, Sridhar whispered to Sri Swami Satchidananda, “Swami, wouldn’t it be great to bring this amount of people together to chant the names of the Divine?” Sri Swami Satchidananda smiled and said, “Yes, it would be great if you could do that…” And the rest, as they say, is history.

A few years later, Sridhar embarked on a U.S. tour with Sri Swami Muktananda and Ram Dass, one of the most influential American, spiritual leaders of our time and author of Be Here Now. Om Namah Shivaya! What I would have given to be on that road trip!

In 1973, after settling in Topanga, CA, Sridhar established The Center for Spiritual Studies (CSS), a non-profit foundation formed to unite a voice for yoga and chanting in the United States.

Through the center, he hosted many of the eminent Indian saints and teachers such as, Kalu Rimpoche and as mentioned earlier, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi “Amma”, who made annual visits for 17 years.

But, in 2003 Sridhar could see Los Angeles was getting busy and congested and decided it was time for a big change. He happened to have a house in Joshua Tree that he had bought in the 70’s and decided to make the move to the high desert.

At that time, Bhakti Fest wasn’t even an idea! Then in 2009, exactly 40 years after that auspicious invocation at Woodstock, Sridhar’s lifelong dream (dharma) came to be. He organized and gathered thousands at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center to chant the names of the Divine for the first Bhakti Fest!

The Joshua Tree Desert Retreat Center is the oldest and largest retreat center in the Western U.S., located on a sacred site complete with vortices, a walking labyrinth, fountains and a swimming pool. Just sayin’ 🙂

Formerly called, The Institute of Mental Physics, it was founded by Edwin John Dingle, an English journalist turned mystic and spiritual teacher, who purchased the land in the 1941 specifically for the high frequency, electromagnetic energy found in that area.

The retreat center buildings were designed and built by legendary architect, Frank Lloyd Wright and later his son, Lloyd Wright, and specifically placed on existing Earth ‘ley lines’; lines of energy inside the planet that connect us to it.

To this day, Bhakti Fest is a family-friendly festival, hosting the world’s most renowned yoga teachers, kirtan wallahs, workshop leaders and spiritual sages. Speaking of spiritual sages, this year’s special guest is Deepak Chopra!

Deepak Chopra, M.D. is the co-founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, CA, the founder of the Chopra Foundation and a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. He will be doing some events and workshops, as well as, leading a global meditation from the main stage.

Known as “The Spiritual Woodstock of the Millennium, the festival’s tagline is, “Be in the Bhav”, so I asked Sridhar, “What does being ‘in the Bhav’ mean exactly and how can I get there?!

“We’re in it right now! He said. “It’s being in the moment. The Bhav IS the moment, the ecstasyof the moment. What else is there? We spend so much time NOT in the moment, because we’re afraid. The mind is not set up to deal with the moment. The mind is set up to be jabbering all the time, this and that, here and there. It’s best to get back to the moment all day long. The moment is NOW. It’s always now. There is no past and no future…and how do we get there? We get there using the breath. It’s all we really have…”

I’m down and would like a one way ticket, but this is much easier said than done. In our modern day of schedules, headlines and connectivity, one can get Nomophobia (fear of being without one’s mobile device) in a matter of minutes…which is why we need….Mantra. Remember? Sri Swami Satchidananda demonstrated the importance of mantra at Woodstock!

Mantra,a central part of the Bhakti experience,is a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation. It can be spoken aloud, whispered or said silently.

One usually gets a mantra from a teacher or guru and some popular Sanskrit ones you may recognize are: Hari Krishna, Guru Om, Sat Nam and Om Namah Shivaya.

“You can also just pick one out for yourself, one that you resonate with like, ‘I am peace’, ‘I am love’ or simply, “I am”.

Mantra quiets the mind and keeps it focused so we can still our thoughts and not think about our phones, social media, or the never-ending list of TO DOs.

Mantras, which can also be chanted, have many health benefits! They increase immune function, lower blood pressure and evict negative thoughts from our heads. When negative thoughts quell, the mind relaxes, restoring mental well being and evoking peaceful, positive thoughts. This is WHY people come (and keep coming) to Bhakti Fest!

“The six day festival is an experiential immersion of music, yoga and bliss and most people don’t want to leave! They come here to get out of their lives and into ‘the Bhav’ and they love it.”

A drug and alcohol free event, Bhakti Fest is dedicated to spreading love and consciousness to the world and bringing people together from around the globe to: practice yoga, chant and dance and learn to raise consciousness. There are three music stages and over fifteen yoga classes a day. Bhakti programs are accessible to all levels and “together we celebrate the ancient tradition of Bhakti, which also means love and LOVE is all there is!”
The festival encourages people, especially high desert locals, to get involved and there are so many ways to participate or attend. They give ticket discounts to locals, seniors, active military and veterans, plus Sunday is free for ANY of our current and former servicemen and women. I salute that! 

 Families are welcome and children under the age of 13 attend free. There is something for everyone at Kid Land in Family Village and it’s a great way to get some quality, family bonding time at the heart of the festival in Sacred Grove. Choose from Yoga classes, art & crafts, workshops, sing-alongs, puppet shows and remember, there is a pool on the property so don’t forget the floaties.

Bhakti Fest is largely run by volunteers or Sevas and work exchange opportunities available. They also accept submissions from new performers, yoga teachers and artists, as well so visit Bhakti Fest website to get in touch.

Festival passes includes everything, except accommodations and pre/post Festival Intensives. Intensives take place on Wednesday September 12 and Monday September 17th and require a separate ticket. Festival goers can camp at the Retreat Center for a nominal fee or stay in any of the area’s hotels or Airbnb rentals.

Not up for Intensives after the main festival? Take a day or two to decompress in Joshua Tree National Park, one of three Mojave National Land Monuments in the area (Sand to Snow, Castle Mountains and Mojave Trails) or visit one or all of the six Joshua Tree Gateway Communities; Joshua Tree, 29 Palms, Yucca Valley, Landers, Pioneer Town and Morongo Valley, all with their own unique events and interesting attractions, including restaurants, grocery stores and accommodations. The California Welcome Center in Yucca Valley is also great resource for free information, trip planning ideas, maps and souvenirs!

In parting, I asked Sridhar what he hopes festival goers take away from the Bhakti Fest experience….“I hope they take away this love, compassion and spirit of community and share it in their lives with family, friends and loved ones around the world.”

Well, our world could really use that right now, Sridhar, so thank you for creating and growing a gathering that cultivates love, light and good vibes. Namasté, everyone!
See you in the Bhav! BHAKTI FEST September 12 – 17, 2018 – Joshua Tree, CA.

©Rossana Jeran, 2018, Joshua Tree Gateway Communities

ABOUT BHAKTI

Bhakti Fest is a festival series that celebrates the devotional path that has its roots in yoga, Kirtan, and meditation. It embraces ancient and modern sacred wisdom and traditional and non-traditional spiritual practices. All the artists, presenters, and vendors embody, practice, and share the spirit of Bhakti in a variety of ways. This includes continuous Kirtan, yoga, meditations and prayer, workshops, fire ceremonies, an eco-friendly village, holistic marketplace, healthy vegetarian cuisine, and a healing sanctuary including massage, bodywork, energy work, intuitive readings, and other unique life enhancing modalities. Bhakti Fest encourages the spirit of service and offers a work exchange program. The festival donates proceeds to a variety of non-profit organizations that provide food, education, and environmental beautification programs around the world.

Bhakti Fest Events would not be possible without the support of generous sponsors. 

Find out more and to purchase all types of tickets click here.

For press information please contact Susan von Seggern at susan@susanvonseggern.com or 213-840-0077.