Kriti volunteered to write her first experience joining The Inner Lights Festival in Burlington

My Experience – The Inner Lights Festival 2025 (an article by writer Kriti M.)

I walked into the Art Gallery of Burlington on a rainy Tuesday evening with wet shoes, a full heart, and a tiny knot of nervousness in my stomach…I was going to be a part of one of the most unique events of the city, for the very first time!

This was the 10th Edition of The Festival of INNER LIGHTS, presented by 100 Seeds of Joy (Sahaja Yoga Meditation Network of Halton volunteers). Weeks of preparation was going to take flight tonight.

Three of my friends were also coming to the event upon my invitation.

One is Buddhist.

One is Hindu.

One is Muslim.

Three different faiths.

One shared curiosity: “What is this festival of inner lights you have been talking about so much?”

Setting up the space, settling into the spirit

After months of planning, calls, WhatsApp messages, lists, and re-lists, the day had finally arrived. Under the loving leadership of Ioana, we, the Sahaja Yoga volunteers, gathered a few hours early to transform the gallery into a space of warmth and welcome.

At first, it was just… chaos:

Boxes of materials everywhere.

Wires and extension cords snaking across the floor.

Banners being adjusted and readjusted.

Tables shifting, easels unfolded.

People calling out for tape, scissors, lights, posters.

And yet, there was a quiet joy under it all.

As we strung lights, arranged chairs, set up the stage, placed little touches of beauty here and there with spontaneity, something subtle started happening.

The outer lights were being set up.

But our inner lights were quietly switching on too.

In about two hours, the hall was ready. The Art Gallery of Burlington looked prepared.

As if the walls were in on the secret that something special was about to unfold.

As guests began to arrive, I spotted my three friends. Two of them had brought their kids too.

I felt a flutter of emotion watching them walk in… umbrellas in hand, all smiles, eyes taking everything in, with the question:

What exactly will happen?

What kind of soul music will be performed?

Will it be a serious event with deep things like meditation?

I didn’t give them any answer right then.

I just knew one thing: Sahaja Yoga has given me so much joy over the last four months,

I wanted them to experience it too.

When music becomes prayer, healing, and celebration 

And then came the moment everyone had been waiting for – Rachelle Jeanty stepped onto the stage.

From the very first note, the air changed. Her voice filled hearts and eyes.

As a powerful performer, she moved effortlessly between her own soul-stirring compositions to iconic classics by The Beatles and timeless songs by Simon & Garfunkel!

In between her songs, the hall full of people took part in a guided meditation. The cool energy of Mother Kundalini seemed to flow across the entire space. Infants were miraculously quiet, fidgety toddlers forgot to move, and teens could calm their minds.

Then came Rachelle’s second set. The hall was alive with a new burst of pure energy. The walls reverberated with music, claps, foot tapping, finger snapping. The rhythm began to weave us together — strangers, friends, elders, parents, children — into something bigger, softer, lighter.

What began as individual awareness turned into one big collective dance of joy.

My friends, each completely absorbed in the experience.

And I thought,

This is what collective joy looks like.

This is what it feels like when our outer differences dissolve into inner oneness.

By the end of the evening, I turned to my friends, curious and a little vulnerable as I had invited them to something that I hold sacred to my heart.

“How did you feel?” I asked.

They each expressed it differently, in their own words, in the language of their hearts and their traditions, but it all distilled down to the same essence:

“I felt pure joy.”

“I felt wonderful within.”

“It was a magical time.”

Three faiths.

Three lives.

One shared experience: inner joy.

In that moment, I was reminded that the language of the Spirit does not need translation.

The feeling is its own proof.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (Mar 21, 2021 – Feb 23, 2011) – the Founder of Sahaja Yoga Meditation on May 5th, 1970 continues to Inspire us through Her Teachings and Living Example of Self-Realization

And behind it all, like a silent, loving presence,

was the blessing of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the founder of Sahaja Yoga Meditation.

It is through her simple method of Sahaja Yoga Meditation that we learn to:

Turn our attention inward

Feel our own subtle energy

Experience self-realization not as a concept, but as a living, joyful state.

On that rainy Tuesday, Burlington hosted a living, breathing experience of unity, joy, and inner light.

When the chairs were folded, the cables packed, and the last goodbye said, we were tired — but it was a beautiful fulfilling kind of tired.

Each of us, volunteers, performers, guests, and my three dear friends walked back into the rainy night carrying something intangible yet undeniable:

A lighter heart.

A brighter inner lamp.

A quiet realization that joy doesn’t have to be chased — it can simply be awakened within.

That is, and will always be, the true gift of the Festival of INNER LIGHTS.

Kriti’s article has reached its end. We only “decorated” it with photos and videos collected from our 100 Seeds of Joy volunteers.

However, as always, there is either a “continuation” or even a “new beginning”, therefore, explore it further if you wish!

You must watch all the video-clips shared in this article!

We selected only a few from the playlist dedicated to this year’s festival! The other songs will be shared in another article.

A Peek into the Flames that Speak of Inner Lights (2024)

Burlington City appreciates our Cultivators of Joy as its own Inner Lights

More about Kriti who felt Inspired to write this Exquisite Article for our Blog

Kriti joined only a few months back the Burlington free weekly classes where she had her self-realization experience.

Ever since she brought her children, family (and now her friends and their families too!) to our creative “Cool Kids and Parents” meditation workshops, as well to our “Shakti” sahaja yoga meditation seminars.

This was her first participation to a big Sahaja Yoga Meditation public program, however she volunteered in the fall with our outdoors events as well actively helped with this festival’s preparations; then, she expressed her desire to write about her unique experience from the Festival of the Inner Lights 2025.

Kriti wrote another beautiful article sharing her experiences from Rachelle’s first visit in the Halton region, when she performed at the Summer Afro-Caribbean Festival in Oakville, take a look:

(click!) My experience at the Afro-Caribbean Waterfront Fete

More videos, photos, interviews and experiences from our amazing Free Festival of Inner Lights 2025 will be shared in another article. Until then, we say Good Bye and invite you to drop a comment. Kriti and our team will be happy to get it!