Burning Man: A Yogi's Perspective

Kurt Johnsen (YogAnonymous.org, Sept. 9, 2011)

First, the most common question: “It’s not a concert, so no one is headlining.”

Second, “No, it’s not a Hippie Fest like a Dead or Phish show.”

So what is it?

This weeklong art event, which creates a temporary city of 50,000 in one of the harshest places on Earth, is an experience. It’s a trip!

For sterile stats on its origins (1996 and on a California beach), see Wikipedia.

The location is one of the most unlikely places to party on the planet, a desert of fine almost wispy white sand. It is three hours outside of Reno, Nevada. Nothing, and I really mean nothing (neither plant nor animal) is there most of the year.

Then the Burning Man crew comes in, weeks before the event. They lay out a clock-like grid for the temporary city, which partially wraps around a playa of art, a wooden man who stands ready to burn, and a temple that makes me cry each time I enter it. More

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Sold out "Burning Man" begins (watch live)

Madeleine Brand (KPCC)

Nighttime glimpse of Burning Man 2010 (Michael Holden/cc by-nc-nd/Flickr.com)

BLACK ROCK CITY, Nevada - Economic austerity? Not when it comes to entertaining distractions. More than 50,000 people are converging this week at "Burning Man" for the annual arts festival. It reaches its zenith on Labor Day. Among the attractions are a 15 foot tall Pez Dispenser with a giant yellow chicken head and a giant fire breathing dragon that doubles as a Viking ship.

WATCH LIVE

The festival culminates with the torching of an enormous effigy. For the first time in the festival's 25 year history, tickets are sold out. Scalpers on EBay are charging as much as $800 for tickets [for those afraid to show up and get in for free or for much less], causing some to suggest that capitalistic interests are overshadowing this year's communitarian gathering.

Jessica Bruder joins Madeleine Brand from the desert. Bruder is the author of Burning Book: A Visual History of Burning Man, writing about the gathering's growing pains for the New York Times.

• LISTEN: "Burning Man" begins!

More

• Burning Man (official website)
• Burning Man Buddhists
• Lotus in a Sea of Fire: Burning Buddhist Questions
• While reflecting on Buddhism and Burning Man, I learned of a wildfire encroaching on a meditation retreat. It's an analogy... Of the many things for which San Francisco is notorious, Buddhism and Burning Man are undoubtedly near the top of the list. Home to the first Buddhist temples in the US, the city has attracted several waves of Asian immigrants, a handful of Zen masters, and a bunch of Beat writers that together have fostered dozens of sanghas representing an array of Buddhist traditions (Reality Sandwich).
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• Buddha Camp: Bringing (Nichiren) Buddhism to Burning Man since 2007: They're baaaack for their fifth year on the Playa! Their 2011 address will be the block of 4:30 and Coming Out (approximately). All chanting is done American Gongyo style. BuddhaCamp@theLotusDome is a Burning Man theme camp that was started by a small group of Burner Buddhists in Seattle, Washington.

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(LARising/Facebook) RATM.com

People are fed up. So the powers that be, in their corporate boardroom wisdom, have found a solution: Pumping fists at a massive and pricey concert in the middle of the summer, when the jungle fever drives the urban youth berserk. Not to be too cynical, this is an amazing line up: Rage Against the Machine reuniting, Muse landing their starship on stage, Lauryn Hill belting out enchanted blues-rap, and Rise Against playing their one hit -- who could ask for more? The only thing that's missing is making it free or affordable. (Tickets are $82.50-$113.25 to sit in the stands). It would be nice if System of a Down were on the bill. What will Chicago's Lollapalooza (featuring Muse, Eminem, Deadmau5, My Morning Jacket, the Foo Fighters, and some band called Coldplay) think about the competition? Or the L.A. leg of the annual pop-punk romp Warped Tour? Or the Southern California desert Bhakti Fest?

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