BURNING MAN 09

The Black Rock Desert, Nevada

Spirit DreamCafe

This year one of our teachers, Charity, was invited to go and be part of the team at the Spirit DreamCafe at Burning Man - below is her report of what she encountered there.

 Burning Man is a festival in the desert that attracts 50,000 people each year, they are called ‘Burners’. The Playa is an extremely flat part of the Black Rock Desert.

www.burningman.com

I was so torn when deciding to go to Burning Man, what an invitation! But….it sounded so hot, dusty, scary, uncomfortable! But then….the assignment sounded so daring, exciting and the team so interesting, wild and up for it! My Mission Impossible inclination won out. Perhaps the best adventures in the Spirit are the ones that look impossible anyway.

It was really hot, unbelievably dusty and low on sleep thanks to neighbours who preferred cheesy techno at 4am. Oddly, that just seemed an element of the adventure with a team of the very best of people you could hope to face a challenge with. Their hearts were rich, there were no layers of religion and empty small talk to work through. It was as if we arrived on the same page, writing new ones together, full of mystery, depth, colour, fun and life.

The Burners loved the Dome filled with cool music, iced lattes and creative expressions of the Spirit in art, dance, music and conversation….we needed all the cool we could get, it was 100oC. The Spirit infused the laughter and calm, using the culture of ‘gift giving’ on the Playa as a way for us to lavish the Burners with the Creator’s heart.

They were professionals, students, seekers, mothers and fathers. They came to Burning Man to be ‘free’, to cast off social restrains and expectations. They came to discover their spiritual journey or travel another mile in one well travelled. Many find some fulfilment in the community and adventure of it all but some have met with the mighty Creator of heaven and earth on the Playa……..

Sometimes they drifted from the Dome to the Encounter Tent seeking more of the amazing presence and peace they were feeling. Sometimes they came directly with purpose; waiting in the heat; they had heard from others…… ‘it was worth the wait’.

We experienced a level of depth and power in these encounter such as I have seldom felt. A quick sweep of the room would reveal people crying everywhere, tears of healing, tears of joy, of depth. There were people being restored, lying on the floor lost in the love of their Creator. There were people filling with light, meeting with the source of all truth face to face, more tears, so many hugs, so many visibly changed, expressing their astonishment at what had just taken place.

Many returned repeatedly bringing friends………they heard ‘it was worth the wait’.

I have returned rarely having felt more changed in heart and Spirit by just one week in life; but in the dust and the heat, in the extreme expressions of spirituality and humanity I have seen and felt the transforming power of the Sprit in an undeniable way. No one who came to our camp seemed able to disallow something wonderfully tangible there, something powerful, peaceful and pure. As a team, we still feel the Playa as if we could walk through an open door beside us and return to that magical place where the glory dwelt so richly, able to laugh together again and discover more of His wonder: despite the heat and the dust. Although I cannot, I do know I was given precious jewels to bring back, seeds to release new life. Let the adventure continue…..