Sridhar Steven Silberfein

Sridhar (Steven) Silberfein began his spiritual path in the early 1960s with the New York-based teacher Albert Rudolph, aka “Rudi,” who was a disciple of Bhagavan Nityananada, the guru of Swami Muktananda. Sridhar studied hatha yoga with Swami Satchidananda and had the idea to have the swami open the Woodstock festival in 1969 with a benediction and chant. That event gave Sridhar the idea to bring large amounts of people together to chant kirtan. 40 years later, after many spiritual and entrepreneurial adventures, he created Bhakti Fest in Joshua Tree, California, which has brought together renowned kirtan wallahs, yoga teachers, workshop leaders, and spiritual sages for the last nine years. Known as “The Spiritual Woodstock,” Bhakti Fest has grown to three festivals annually. Sridhar’s interviews with the iconic Ram Dass have been transcribed and published as a book, Conversations with Ram Dass. We spoke about Bhakti Fest, the upcoming festival in September 2017 and what Sridhar has learned on his adventurous path. Learn more about Sridhar Silberstein and Bhakti Fest here.