Experience the Luminous Lotus Journey
The Temple is open:
Sunday, Aug 29th at 10am PDT — Sunday, Sept 5th at 7:59pm PDT
On this page, we will explain how to experience the Luminous Lotus Journey, the symbolism and meaning imbued into it, and the different stages of transformation available to you.
To learn how and when to download the application, the technical requirements for an optimal experience, and how to adjust performance settings within the application, visit this page.
To learn how to create an Offering, visit this page.
You are about to experience the Luminous Lotus Journey in which geometries, symbols, sound, and light are orchestrated to hold space for your introspection and connection. The journey in the “above” of the Temple will pave the way for your exploration of the “below.”
Your exploration starts on the playa, where your Avatar appears, wearing your Temple outfit, in the presence of the Luminous Lotus Temple. You will Journey across The Temple Playa, Pebble Circles for Connection, The Petal Layers, The Temple Hall — The Above, and then teleport in the realm of your shadow emotions, The EmoSphere — The Below, where you can connect with them, allow them to communicate with you, and gift your emotions to the Temple as Offerings.
As a reminder, we encourage you to use headphones to fully appreciate the guiding narration, meditations, and soundscapes.
Create your Avatar
The first stage of the Luminous Lotus Journey begins with the creation and embodiment of your digital twin, your Avatar. You can customize your Avatar by uploading a personal photo.
Each Avatar dons a specially designed Temple outfit — inspired by elongated Lemurian beings — creating a sense of togetherness as we embark on this individual and collective transformative journey.
Arrive Home on the Playa
Your journey begins with your Avatar appearing on the Playa, a short distance away from the Luminous Lotus Temple. As you walk across the Playa, the Temple stands tall and ready to welcome you.
You may also choose to take a break along your walk and meditate on the Playa with the full Temple in view. Just click on the “Lotus” pose at the bottom of your screen, and your Avatar will take their seat in the lotus position (as illustrated in the image).
Witness the Temple
The Temple has many layers: some that are visible, and some that are hidden, waiting to be discovered by you… The Lotus design, created by Artist Roger Carr, comprises 30 petals total — 10 outer petals, 10 middle petals, and 10 inner petals. Look closely at the 10 outer petals, and you will notice effigies of Burning Man‘s Ten Principles. Navigate your way through the layers of petals to enter the heart of the Luminous Lotus.
Enter the Temple Hall
The Temple Hall is the area circumscribed within the 10 inner petals. It is designed for contemplation, meditation, and private journeying. Although you might be surrounded by others, here is where your private journey of self-discovery unfolds. No one but you can hear the content of your interactions with the Temple. Metaphorically, the Temple Hall represents the order of the material reality we are born into. It represents how energy presents itself to us through colours, shapes, sounds, cardinality, numerology, and polarity — synthesized by the 7 portkeys arranged throughout the Temple Hall.
7 Portkeys
The 7 Portkeys are energetic portals that each carry unique healing vibrations. Each Portkey is made of a Head and a Pedestal. The Heads represent the major geometric solids; the Pedestals represent the major energy centers in our bodies, known to many as “chakras,” that contribute to the creation of our perception of reality.
The 7 Portkeys are your Portals to Your Inner Self. They teleport you into your emotional dimension, the “EmoSphere,” where you can leave your Offerings to the Temple. The Portkeys act as an emotional thermometer: let your intuition guide you to the portal that resonates most with you… Feel which colour, shape, and sound you gravitate towards, identify with, and want to engage with. What is your choice trying to tell you?
Each Portkey has its own nature and personality, characterized by its color, gemstone, geometrical shape, and corresponding soundbath. Visit the page below, where we discuss each Portkey in depth.
Metatron
On the floor of the Temple Hall lies a purple Metatron. The Portkeys are encircled at its 6 vertices, in correspondence with the major cardinal positions. The Metatron is a potent symbol within sacred geometry. The Metatron represents all things that exist in the known universe, no matter how great or how insignificant, and the unending flow of energy between everything in the universe.
The Metatron is often used as a meditation aid. Following the lines of energy through the pattern can be relaxing and help clear the mind. In this state of calm and tranquillity, the meditator is then able to go deeper within themselves and gain greater self-awareness. Within sacred geometry, the Metatron is also thought to both conduct and repel energy. It is believed that if you focus on the symbol and imagine it rotating clockwise, it will allow you to disperse negative energy and also pull positive energy from the universe into yourself.
Mandala
Converging in the centre of the Temple Hall, below the center Portkey representing the Lotus Bud, lies the Live Mandala, a mosaic of digital tassels and a live artpiece that will evolve throughout Burn Week. The Mandala in this Hall represents the Divine and Collective Consciousness. Mandalas are geometric configurations of symbols and may be employed for focusing attention, for establishing a sacred space, as a spiritual guidance tool, and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. A mandala generally represents the spiritual journey, starting from outside to the inner core, through layers.
With each Offering that is created in the Temple, the energy of expression contributes to the co-creation of the Live Mandala. Your Offerings are weaved into the mosaic of the Mandala as additional coloured tassels — hence the name “Live Mandala.” The metaphor is that every individual action, here symbolised as the Creation of an Emotional Offering, creates energy that ripples expansively into the Collective Consciousness.
Once you have explored the Temple Hall and have chosen a Portkey, you can activate it by entering the Metatron circle enclosing the Portkey. Upon activation, the Portkey will talk to you to reveal itself and the journey that is about to unfold. As you listen to their words (a 20 second introduction), you can just relax as you are or in Lotus Pose. Then, you can click on the Pedestal (as illustrated in the images), Namaste to your emotions, and select the “Teleport” button to journey into the EmoSphere.
Discover your Emotional Sphere,
the “EmoSphere”
The EmoSphere is where you gift your emotions to the Temple. It is a safe space designed for you to see your Emotional Shadows, reflect on the ones that are predominantly with you in a given moment, and engage in the Ritual of the Emotional Offering Creation to gift your “Shadow Emotional Overtones” to the Temple. By giving voice to your shadow emotions, embracing them, and participating in the Ritual of Creation, you will regain your Emotional Sovereignty and Creative Power.
The EmoSphere is a purely emotional dimension at the intersection of multiple dimensions. It is a toroidal space with chambers corresponding to the different Portkeys and a central passage that teleports you upwards once you have dealt with your shadows and are ready to re-emerge as a luminous being. When you land into the EmoSphere of a specific Portkey, you enter a chamber that carries the vibrations of the Chakra associated with the Portkey: the colour, sounds, tone, and character of that space will guide you through the process of acknowledging the depth of 6 main emotional shadows connected to the Chakra you are exploring. The emotional shadows will appear before you, in writing, and the inner voice of the Chakra will guide you through an aligning meditation to help you choose the emotion you want to embrace and offer to the Temple.
Create your Offerings
To start the Ritual of the Offering for the emotion you have chosen, click on the hand-shaped Altar above the emotion (illustrated in the image) to give it your energy and voice. A soundscape will then begin that is expressive of the character of the emotion and contains affirmations that are preemptive to the Offering Ritual.
After the soundscape concludes, you can write your Offering and upload an accompanying audio file, video file, PDF, or image.
When you are done making your Offering, you may make other Offerings related to other emotions, whether in the same Chamber or in other ones. You may also browse other Offerings in the Chambers by clicking on the “lotus” symbol above each emotion (illustrated in the image). Any Offerings that have been created will illuminate for you to witness them. And when you feel ready, you can approach the centre of the EmoSphere Hall, and click on the centre sphere (the crown chakra) to teleport back to the Temple Hall.
Your Offering has contributed to the creation of the Live Mandala in the Temple Hall… Every act of individual creation is indeed an act of the collective consciousness. Each Offering will carry the energy of that chamber and the colour of that emotion when they become part of the Supreme Consciousness, as pixels of the Live Mandala mosaic that forms in the Temple Hall and will be visible on Burn Night.
To learn more about the Offering Creation Ritual, you can view our Offering Tutorial below.
Connect with other Avatars
There are several ways to interact with other Avatars and share in your Temple experience together.
- Pebble Circles for Connection. Located along the outer petals as well as within the inner petals of the Temple, you can find circles of pebbles for you to connect and engage with a group of people in private conversations. While in these circles, your Avatar can express themself with gestures and facial expressions. You can invite your friends to join you at a pebble circle, or find a Temple Guardian stationed at a pebble circle to support you in any way that’s needed. Each circle can accommodate 8 persons at a time.
- Serendipitous Chat Messaging & Calling. Perhaps you’ve just met a new friend or run into an old friend, you can send a “friend request” to them to enable the text and voice chat features and walk around the Temple together in a timeless exploratory experience.
- Group Meditations & Talks. You feel grateful and open to sharing a few breaths or words and intentions with your fellow burners. Invite them to teleport where you are for an impromptu meditation/talk. Gather in circles or whichever fashion suits you, take a seat in lotus pose by clicking on the “Lotus” icon at the bottom of your screen, and create a group call to share wisdom and breaths together.
- Solo Meditations. And of course, if you feel the need to process and integrate on your own in the presence of the Luminous Lotus Temple, just click the “Lotus” icon, relax, and let your healthy breath take you where you need to be…
Receive Emotional Support
For this year’s Virtual Burn, the Temple Guardians, Rangers, Harm Reduction, and Playa Info have teamed up to form the Virtual Event Support Team (VEST). They are a global group of volunteers who are committed to improving the safety and wellbeing of the greater Burning Man virtual community.
If you find yourself in need of emotional support, assistance, or general guidance, we invite you to reach out to an online VEST member in the Temple. They may be stationed at different Pebble Circles around the Temple. They are here for you to create a safe, supportive space and to provide a listening ear. Please do not hesitate to reach out to them if you feel overcome by grief, sadness, anger, or any intense emotion.