Reflections from Bhaktifest 2011

The round, silver glow of the moon in the sky is reflective of my inner state of fullness from this past weekend at BhaktiFest in Joshua Tree, California.  I arrived a bit busy in mind, hard around the edges and feeling overwhelmed by the continuous stream of emails and unfinished projects.  My nervous system was raw, edgy.  I was sensitive to sound and irritable.  Soon after arriving, the energy of Love from the collective gathered there began to crack through my outer casing.  I began to settle IN and relax.

There is so much in our world that pulls us off center, dulls our senses and distorts our mind.  It is vital to have times where we come together and remember that at the heart of all things is Love.  This lies at the heart of Bhakti Yoga, The yoga of devotion.  When we take pause, and come together in the spirit  of love, we remember its presence within all things and our attention shifts to it.

Bhakti Yoga is the glue that connects all yoga for if you search deeply enough you will find devotion at the core of all dedicated practitioners.  It is this devotion, this love for what we do that brings us to the mat day after day, year after year.  Perhaps the devotion is simply to stay thin and fit, perhaps it is to cultivating peace of mind, or to use the practice as a way to worship and pray.  In the words of the great Bhakti Yogi, Shyam Das, “Put bhakti at the center of all activities and you will be successful.”

My favorite translation of Bhakti is “sharing in divine love.”  My experience of Bhakti Festival was just that.  In every moment, someone was singing the name of God, expressing their love for someone, or practicing yoga in such a way as to remind themselves of their connection to the Earth, to each other and to the Source of all things.

Reflecting on the experience, I am deeply aware that we are the fortunate ones who can come together in this way and celebrate love.  Indeed, simultaneous to this happening there is war in other parts of the world, some are hungry and others are without homes.  All the more reason to be committed to Love in every moment of every day.  What does it cost us to live from a place of compassion and to put love before our petty differences or the need to be right?  It is the moment to moment choice to live in Love that creates the experience of compassion and the circumstances for peace.

So as we become elevated on any level, we have a greater and greater responsibility because we can do more good to the world or we could do more damage to the world.           – Radhanath Swami

One BhaktiFest highlight was listening to Radhanath Swami who shared a story about a simple, yet compassionate Indian woman.  The parable taught that the simple day to day acts of kindness and compassion are what really matter.  A powerful reminder that “how you do anything is how you do everything.”

There is so much mystery around the word and practice of Tantra, yet modern translations can offer profound insights into this most precious of teachings.

Tan is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘expansion or stretch’ and Tra signifies ‘instrument or technique.’ Think of it as a practice that elevates us as human beings, expands our minds, leads us from the crude to the subtle, from bondage to liberation. Sounds high-minded, yet the techniques are actually pretty simple! The history of Tantra is intertwined with the development of civilization in ancient India and is said to date back to the second millennium BC.

A ‘Tantra’ typically takes the form of a dialogue, it outlines a conversation between The Goddess, the Creative Power of the Universe, and The God, the Consciousness That Permeates Everywhere. Many refer to it as Shiva and Shakti, Devi and Bhairava or lover and beloved.

Meditation is about focusing on something and going deeper and deeper into it. Tantric techniques encourage us to enter life fully from where-ever we are – ‘to go right into our hunger, or desire, and enter into the awareness of that with total abandon, so that you may go with it right into the root of the movement of the universe’ (Lorin Roche).

One of my favorite translations of an original Tantric script is The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche. This translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra is accessible and beautiful to read. For a sample please read on…

The Radiance Sutras A version of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra by Lorin Roche

One day The Goddess sang to her lover Bhairava,

Beloved and radiant Lord of the space before birth,
Revealer of essence,
Slayer of the ignorance that binds us,

You, who in play have created this universe
and permeated all forms in it with never-ending truth.
I have been wondering . . .

I have been listening to the songs of creation,
I have heard the sacred sutras being sung,
and yet still I am curious.
What is this delight-filled universe
into which we find ourselves born?
. . .

The One Who is Intimate to All Beings replied,

Beloved, your questions require the answers that come
through direct living experience.

The way of experience begins with a breath
such as the breath you are breathing now.
Awakening into the luminous reality
may dawn in the momentary throb
between any two breaths.

The breath flows in and just before it turns
to flow out,
there is a flash of pure joy -
life is renewed.
Awaken into that.

As the breath is released and flows out,
there is a pulse as it turns to flow in.
In that turn, you are empty.
Enter that emptiness as the source of all life.

A sample from the DVD of  the 4-4 breath meditation is available! Click here to learn this powerful and energizing breathing technique.