Originally published May 28 2008
Tribal Healing and Happiness by Raw Food Festival Founder, Happy Oasis
by Kevin Gianni
(NaturalNews) This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni's Raw Food Summit which can be found at (http://rawsummitarchives.com) . In this excerpt, Happy Oasis shares what she's learned from other cultures about healing and happiness and the exciting details about The Raw Food Festival.
Raw Food Summit Excerpt with Happy Oasis, the founder of The Raw Spirit Festival.
Kevin: We have a few more minutes. I would like to just briefly touch on the medicines. You said water was one medicine. But what are other notable medicines from one or
two tribes that you were with, what do they use for certain ailments?
Happy: Singing is a very important aspect of health and recovery. Singing is used as a preventive medicine in many cultures that I lived with. Singing everyday, again at sunrise, at sunset, singing throughout the day, the people who I live with up in the Himalayas, they're Muslim actually, and when they harvest their food, the little boys to the old men go out with baskets on their heads and on their backs, and they sing praises to Allah.
A thanksgiving for the food, for the corn that they're throwing into the baskets. So there are different kinds of songs -- harvest songs, morning songs, spring time songs, basket songs. There are songs that women sing while they are making clothing for their children out of the wool of the various animals. There are songs for deep healing, for somebody who is born, for when somebody dies. There
are so many songs, the traditional songs and some of them they just mixed them up.
Kevin: That's cool.
Happy: Just like we do. And so, if somebody is ill, singing to them is really important. Now, something else that is very important is that this story of my name, it is Happy Oasis. When I was traveling to Bangladesh on a bus, I was the only foreigner as an adventure anthropologist. And it was pouring down rain for days and days and I had never been to Bangladesh and being an American, I didn't know a whole lot about it. And it's a very flat country. It's raining on the ocean and Bangladesh is above sea level at a height of three feet.
Kevin: Wow!
Happy: And so, after weeks of rain, it's very common that at the end of the rainy season, much of Bangladesh is under water. And when that happens, the farmers, the million and millions of people, they go to the highest spot they can find, and so our bus got stuck on one of the highest
spots, because there were thousands of people who'd gather there and there was a little bit of hamlet of a village made mostly out of straw houses. And in the pouring rain, I saw thousands of people lying down around me. And they were dying, and I had a thought, 'oh, I can get cash from the travel checks. I will buy everybody a meal'. And then I realized there is no bank. And then I thought I know I have a few hundred dollars of currency equivalent in Bengali. I will buy everybody something, and then I realized there is no food in the whole village.
It kept pouring down rain, and I thought, 'Oh, the Red Cross will come, something will happen', but it just kept raining. I was sitting on the bus profoundly hopeless and wondering what to do, and I just started gently weeping. When a man came up to me, very weak, and he was a leper. He had no fingers and he looked and he took his none fingers and he brushed my hair, very blond hair I have and blue
eyes. And he has very, of course, very dark skinned, almost African. And when he looked into my eyes, I realized he had already passed over.
His soul was so profoundly there. But, he must have seen me as some kind of illusion, maybe an angel. And he walked off the bus and he lay down, he died. Shortly, thereafter there was another man who came. Another elder, who must have been about 35 or just an elder in Bangladesh at that time; and he walked straight up to the bus with a big smile on his face, and then we was extremely exceedingly skinny, starving as well and barefoot, and just had a dodie on, but he had this radiant smile. And I was so sad that I was angry. Have you ever noticed that anger is like concealed sadness, and so I
was very upset with him and then I said, "How can you smile in this circumstance?" And he said in perfect Queen's English, as if he weren't in Bangladesh at all, "Madam", he said, "Come, come with me, smiling is all I have to give. Let us go and smile on these people". And so we went and we sang. He sang Muslim chants, and I sang Christian summer songs, and we touch people's feet and we caressed their forehead gently and we looked into their eyes, like a mother looking at a child as they
died.
And it deeply changed my life to do this hour after hour in the pouring rain, because the effect this had on each individual was that they pass away with loving kindness. Is that they pass away with the sense of peace and ease. I vowed after that experience and many others to always be cheerful, to
radiate gladness if I am ever in any situation that is left dire in that situation. And that is it. That is the beginning of the name Happy Oasis, because I am about to be a happy oasis for everybody on the planet whenever it's possible. What happened is, after living with many tribes, I've walked into seven different battles. And most of the people who I know, my closest friends all along the planet are tribal people and they have been disenfranchised and they have died due to the disenfranchisement and due to genocide.
I became weary after more than a decade of living with various tribal people who I love, which has just disappeared. And I've realized upon coming back to America, to this really blessed country, I love America, and I love Americans so much more than I ever would have and could have had I not had these experiences, that I would like to be part of a tribe that's going to be around for a while.
At least to be a part of a tribe that is just coming up through the mud. Instead of one that is on the edge of extinction, and so I thought to myself, who are these people who are going to be around, and those people are raw, organic, vegetarians who are enthusiastic about seeking out equal sustainable solutions and embracing our international community and co-creating world peace on earth, because we can live in heaven on earth if we are committed to the blissipline that results
as Blissian Forth. That is our main blessing that we offer here at the Happy Oasis Retreat and Raw Spirit Festival World Headquarters. Bliss Forth.
Kevin: That's amazing. That was insightful and fantastic. Why don't you tell everyone a little bit about the Raw Spirit Festival that is coming up?
Happy: Well, let's see. Last year there was one complaint that was repeated about the festival. And that was that, "I wish this festival didn't last for only a weekend. I wish this festival was happening everyday of the year".
Kevin: Wow!
Happy: And so, we are right now focusing on perhaps procuring land so that we can create a Raw Spirit Community. So, that Raw Spirit Festival is going to be held once again at a lovely creek side resort and we have a maximum capacity of 10,000 people over a thousand who have already registered.
It is located in its tall trees inverted lawns and ponds and its right next to the national forest in the wilderness area; however, it can be relocated to a single zip right into Sedona if you prefer. It is a track team, so many well loved celebrities that I won't mention all their names, but you can go
to rawspirit.com to find out about that. There are going to be ancient wisdom and the latest cutting edge findings from the greatest minds and eco healthy living. We are going to have ongoing educational vendor booths, indoor and outdoor main stages, a sacred exercise area where people can, all day long, practice Yoga, Meditation, Chi Gong, pneumatics, African dancing and singing. There are going to be ongoing workshops that are interactive that people can really communicate with each other and get to know their neighbors.
There are going to be raw organic food demonstrations all weekend long from people who are the top chefs in America and around the planet. There is a children's program that is developing, that has never happened before at this level.
So, all weekend, children of all ages are encouraged to join us for the very family oriented event and at the same time, it's equally singles oriented and couples oriented. For example, for the first time ever, we are featuring a raw food singles speed dating game, so the people can get to know each other fast. There is also a cuddle booth. There is also quite a number of healing practitioners from shamanic to massage, to chair massage, to reflexology, to you name it. Anyway you would like
to heal yourself in that regard, it's available. There is also world class music, because dancing and singing, as I learned from the tribal people are essential to practice everyday. There is a sharing leadership circle so that those people who are new to the raw food movement can come and share and show their new found discoveries.
There are wild plant walks, wild edible walks, and herb walks. There is a nature hive. There are seven organic raw vegetarian feasts included in the ticket price, which is right now only $295 until the end of August, and the best part of all is there are fabulous friends.
Kevin: So, that's great. Happy, I truly appreciate your time and I want to thank you so much for sharing this insight with us. It's a lot different than some of the other calls that we had so far. So, it's extremely valuable, the information that you have given.
Happy: Well, it has been a delightful treat and surprise to be able to communicate with you in such a way that is so inspiring.
To read the rest of this transcript as well as access more information on raw foods and the raw food festival just like Happy Oasis, please visit (http://rawsummitarchives.com) .
About the author
Kevin Gianni is a health advocate, author and speaker. He has helped thousands of people in over 85 countries learn how to take control of their health--and keep it. To view his popular internet TV Show "The Renegade Health Show" (and get a free gift!) with commentary on natural health issues, vegan and raw food diets, holistic nutrition and more click here.
His book, "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution," is a step-by-step guide to optimum health for the time and energy-strapped. To find out more about abundance, optimum health and self motivation click here... or you're interested in the vegan and raw food diet and cutting edge holistic nutrition click here. For access to free interviews, downloads and a complete bodyweight exercise archive visit www.LiveAwesome.com.
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