Adjacent to The Food Chakra was the CSS
Headquarters, a space to learn yoga, mantra,
meditation and, in a pre-internet age, access
otherwise obscure spiritual texts. When the
groups got too large, Sri hosted them in his
home. A place of counterculture folklore now
referred to as “The Topanga House.” Those
walls housed traveling gurus, saints, guides,
and teachers. Record companies were forged.
Now-famous kirtan wallahs fixed roofs and
figured out harmonium chords. New Age icons
instructed on Ashtanga and aarti, while cute
yoginis clustered in the kitchen. They cooked
kitchari, made chai, and experimented with the
latest textured vegetable protein.
Sridhar’s eldest son Seth was raised in the
Topanga House. Seth's younger sister Shayne
was born onto a set of Swami Muktananda’s
sheets. Muktananda renamed the child “Mukti”
- after himself. Thirteen years later his son Cody
came into the world. Sri and his second wife
were instrumental in the early tours of the hug-
ging saint, Amma. The mahatma stayed at the
house, receiving students and offering satsang.
It’s believed She gifted the couple with a boon,
the baby of the bunch, “Little Bella.”
A quick-manifesting Aquarian, Sri’s astrologi-
cal chart shows the highest spiritual capabilities
coupled with challenging interpersonal dynam-
ics. A dharmic blueprint confirmed by the
venerable Swami Kaleshwar who came to the
Topanga House and asserted, “It has bad vastu
for relationships; if you want to have a good
partnership you have to move.” Heeding this ad-
vice and “feeling the heat” Sri moved to Joshua
Tree, California. The expansive quality of the
Yucca Valley allowed space for a persistent and
nagging intuition to take shape. With Gen-X’s
popularization of gatherings like Lollapolooza,
the baby boomer kept thinking, “What if we
did this without meat, drugs, and alcohol? What
if people practiced yoga, chanted kirtan, and
learned to meditate?” The prophetic words of
Swami Satchidananda echoed through his head,
“Yes, it would be great if you could do that.”
Silberfein who has become known to many
as “The Godfather” of spiritual life in Los
Angeles, hiked with friends Narayan Mandir,
Chris Morro, and the renowned kirtan wallah
Shyamdas. He decided to share the seed of this
idea. Before Sri finished, Shyamdas exclaimed
“YES” setting the festival in motion.
On September 11, 2009, 40 years and three
weeks after the auspicious exchange on the
Woodstock Stage, Bhakti Fest was born. The
first family-run Yoga and Kirtan Festival in the
US. Its original incarnation was homegrown,
with friends, family and the who’s who of
consciousness contributing their energies to the
collective bhav. The festival’s finale was like a
modern-day We are the World, or Sgt Pepper’s
album cover. The pioneers of yoga, kirtan, and
metaphysical studies in America, singing the
Maha Mantra, at the top of their lungs.
Now in 2018, the festival has extended into
two kirtan stages, three yoga halls, a workshop
hall, a breathwork hall, men’s and women’s
tents, multiple sound domes, endless break-out
sessions, two healing sanctuaries, a Kidsland,
vegetarian vendors, and consciousness consum-
erism. The September Bhakti Fest hosts several
thousand seekers, while Spring’s Shakti Fest
and in some years, Bhakti Fest Midwest, in
Madison, Wisconsin, welcome about half that.
Newcomers routinely have their minds (and
hearts) blown. They take up to five yoga classes
a day. Individuals learn easy and intricate
chants, receive revolutionary bodywork, keep
their channels clean with high-vibe food, and
plug into the power of nature. You’ll often hear
someone say, “Bhakti Fest changed my life...no
seriously....!” And then they ramble into some
tangential story, ultimately proving the power
of dharmic paths.
Within this cosmic container, people regu-
larly spark with soul recognition. Individuals
meeting for the first time frequently exclaim, “I
feel like I know you from somewhere.” Wishes
are spontaneously granted, questions answered,
and lives rerouted. Old hurts surface and
release, hard shells crack, molten skin sheds,
hearts burst with devotion, joy rises, souls meet,
and no one leaves the same version of them-
selves that came.
With some 20+ festivals produced by the
organization, attendees slip into a familiar
rhythm. As the desert moon rises over the
main stage, a former punk rock singer prays
to Krishna before zipping up her merch-booth.
The friends she sees just a few times a year whowere snuggled inside scatter to the showers,
food court, and camp-grounds. Young kids
ages four and seven zip past. Their mom and
dad are about to sing together on stage. An
anesthesiologist from Palm Spring kicks off
his shoes before finding a spot up front. He
"randomly" wandered into the festival a few
years back and since then has taken 500+ hours
of yoga teacher training and opened his own
studio. Back in the green room friends of 50
years skip over the small talk and current event
catch-up to speak of recently deceased partners
and changing times. A new crop of fresh sevites
(volunteers), help the sound crew get the band
set-up.
As the opening prayer of this set begins,
one of Sri’s sons races a golf cart back to
headquarters. The other son tinkers with the
audio-input cord for the livestream audience.
His two daughters stride past with clipboards
in hand. They’re reviewing tomorrow’s crew
list, distributing checks, and cracking up with
laughter. Old-timers, ex-girlfriends, and staff
who have come and gone greet the patriarch
at the front-of-house soundboard. He plunks
down into a precarious plastic chair. Within
seconds a grand-daughter jumps onto each
knee. He closes his eyes, and joins in the mantra
for just a moment.
Those close to him hope he’ll chill here and
watch the thousands in front of him whose lives
he’s affected sing, dance, and chant the names
of God. But before anyone can catch their
breath, he’s back on his walkie talkie, getting
wrap-out reports from security guards about to
go off-duty, checking fuel levels in the genera-
tors, finding out how many coconuts went into
the dumpster despite strict orders to throw
them in compost. He’s reviewing tomorrow
morning’s breakfast menu, today’s ticket sales,
and what was left in the lost and found. Some
teens walk past and point to Sri saying,
“I heard that dude produced a part of Wood-
stock.” And in every crevice of the festival
grounds, the words reverberate, “It would be
great if you could do that.”Join Bhakti Fest for their tenth anniversary
festival in Joshua Tree September 12-17. For more
information, visit: bhaktifest.comNow in 2018, the festival has extended into two kirtan stages,
three yoga halls, a workshop hall, a breathwork hall, men’s and women’s tents,
multiple sound domes, endless break-out sessions, two healing sanctuaries,
a Kidsland, vegetarian vendors, and consciousness consumerism.
The September Bhakti Fest hosts several thousand seekers.