observations

nyoman, the chef at the resort i am at, is very kind, talented, intelligent, friendly and fluent in english....so it was a perfect match for me to try and get to know the meaning behind the surface here. she is happy that i am interested in hinduism and humbly shares her understandings about it all with me. she also has invited me to partake in her family ceremonies so that i could get an insiders view. what fascinates me is to see the similarities with my kabbalah studies, not that i plan on turning hindu, but rather seeing how all truths are the same.


she is married and the mother of two girls (8 and 6 months). she also is my co-teacher in the english lessons i am giving the staff here. she explains to them what i am saying in balinese, and also joins me in sample conversations to demonstrate how to communicate with the guests, but adds alot of her own knowledge of english from a balinese viewpoint, explaining to them the differences and idiosyncrasies of english, so it is great all round with her.


the galungan ceremony was today for all of bali. in nyomans words "it celebrates the winning of the war of the good over the evil, which means inside of us." all of bali is on foot or wheels, either car or motorbike (and its lucky not too many have cars since there aren't enough parking lots or room on the roads for them) bringing numerous offerings to tens of temples in each village. since this invariably means a huge output of funds to buy all the fruits, pigs, chickens, and sweets to put in the offerings, other than the $10 per family contribution to the temple for the costs of this production, it is acceptable to "combine" celebrations and save on costs. so, when her baby was 3 months old there was a celebration, but she didn't have enough money to do it "with all the generosity of an offering of this type (like dotting the i's and crossing the t's) so this was an opportunity to do it again, in combination with her sister-in-law that also had a baby and didn't have enough funds, and to combine it with the huge ceremonial costs for the galungan offerings....so...that said...today was THE day.


she told me to be by her at six in the morning for it. already by five the priests and chanters could be heard all over the village on the loud speakers as people were already bringing their offerings in order to avoid the crowds and manage to get to as many temples as their "pockets" allowed them to. poorer people only made offerings for a few, richer, for more...all to bring pleasure to god. i left my room in the dark of pre-dawn morning with a little bag with flowers i picked for the prayer ritual and some incense sticks i found the other day while collecting garbage around the temple next door, and some matches....as i walked along the unlit path in the pitch dark, i could see silhouettes of women with offerings on their heads, or men in sarongs walking by me, but it didn't include the usual "hello" since we couldn't see each other. i arrived at her family compound at 5:50 only to find them all just waking up and getting dressed. they typically live in small bedrooms one next to the other, an open patio for all the rooms, and a tiny dark kitchen and tiny bathroom with a bucket of water and a plastic bowl to pour it over you. if you are a married woman it means you have moved into your in-laws compound and left your family, who turn into invited guests ...today, her family was not invited for the ceremony.


the women of bali used to go topless, even in the 20th century. i think a "carry over" of that is their very casual approach to walking around family and strangers with only their bra on. her mother-in-law, just kind of moved around the complex from kitchen to bedroom to patio with her bra and sarong on. i have also walked along the road after a ceremony and passed by houses where everyone (some 10 people of the extended family of all ages) now relaxing on the patio and the women are just standing there undressing with everyone. another surprise for me is also pulling out their breast from the neckline of their blouse whenever their baby needs to nurse, regardless of whether it is in the middle of a ceremony with the priest standing there in front of them, or even the whole village at the temple with them. they don't wear any special clothing that would enable a discreet way to nurse a baby and allowing some privacy for the mothers body, there is no sense of sexuality or curiosity towards womens breasts here, as far as i could see. so, everyone was just kind of entering and exiting rooms in a variety of clothing including pajamas along the sidewalk to go buy something at the kiosk. her father-in-law had buttoned his white temple shirt, incorrectly, and by the time he reached his neck he had an extra button left...his other daughter-in-law saw him trying to figure it out as she passed him and giggled whole heatedly as she pointed it out to him. this is very typical. the silliest things make them giggle like little kids...they are always laughing at each other and themselves about mistakes made. when nyoman came out of a room to meet me, she was wearing her chef uniform (white blouse/black pants)_ and i was surprised! i said "you're not going to work today are you?!" and she said that no, she just has been getting her daughter dressed first. then i realized that you only put the sarong and sash on when you are ready for the ceremony or anything that has to do with the temple, including working in the temple garden to clean it up for the ceremony, or setting up tables there, etc...all in temple clothing and as soon as it is over they are removed before continuing with other activities. i had deliberated for a few minutes in the morning about what color combination of sarong, see-through brocade blouse, bra, and sash i wanted to wear for the occasion, but i saw that she just grabbed a blouse and sarong that were in a basket and didn't bother much with impressions or self aggrandizement. i wouldn't be surprised if there isn't even a mirror anywhere, including the bathroom. and together with that, everyone looks very cool in their temple clothing, men and women alike. her baby who is now 6 months old was allowed to be placed on the mat now that she has come of age that she can touch the ground, and i was surprised to see that the grandfather, as soon as he had gotten dressed, just sat down on the steps and picked her up, even though she didn't cry, emphasizing for me this inborn habit to hold babies in your arms all the time, and to pass them from one to another, with all family members very naturally playing with them and caring for them at all times. common property....no need to be only by mom or dad....


the priest arrived a little while later in his white sarong and sports coat and bandana and his beautiful finely little woven reed purse that holds the sacred accessories he will need for a typical ceremony; bell and bowl that it sits in, and the holy water holder that is a varnished coconut with a base so it can stand, or a silver vase... all the rest of the ceremonial necessities (cotton thread to tie on wrists, a bunch of rice stalks tied and folded which are used to sprinkle the water on everyone and everything, incense...are provided by the person who invited the priest to come perform the ceremony. he was also wearing a pouch, and after a pre-ceremony in the family temple at the complex, we returned to the patio where three tables were piled high with tens of offerings. there he would perform the same ritual again, but first he took out four silver rings from his pouch with huge stones and put them on his hands... nyoman said the stones have power, and that the ring is just to hold the stone while he does the ceremony, inferring that it is not a form of jewelry. this is a typical explanation by nyoman, and i love the way she says it, so simple and unpretentious. just stating the facts, never any doubt, whether she is talking about the evil spirits or whatever. total commitment, belief, faith, without any asides. when we were sitting at one of the praying rituals (there were three) and i asked why we were doing this again for a third time, she said that now it is for the ceremony itself, not for the people, or the ancestors, and that there are ceremonies for everything; for dogs, cows, trees, flowers, babies, teeth, houses, cars, computers....whatever is in their daily life, there is a special day, or days, when this has its specific ceremony in which you make offerings that it will function well, or flower abundantly, or be healthy....i thought about the fact that there is something very interesting here with the animals....even though there are tons of dogs,,,i haven't seen any dog crap anywhere! dogs and cats do not chase each other, nor chickens, and they all just seem to be quite content in each others company, including the dog that just wandered in and out of the temple courtyard during the ceremony, non pulsed by all the piles of grilled chickens that were being offered to god. i wondered if praying for them all the time has something to do with the complacency....


the actual ceremony was quite uneventful....it is the same routine always, and no one was excited or saying congratulations or making a big deal of the baby whose ceremony it was in honor of, other than dressing her in a sweet little pink and white dress. once the ceremony was over the semi priestess who knew all the rules of how many offerings and what was in each little basket and in what position etc. gave the okay to now take all of the piles of offerings back to the patio and dismantle them....hours and hours of work the day before by 10 women and 10 men preparing it all, and now, once it has been offered, it gets divided into food for humans (fruits, cakes, eggs) for chickens (uncooked rice ) pigs (little bamboo packets of cooked rice inside) and little cones of sticky cooked rice "for whoever wants it". not sure who got the chickens...maybe the people, or the dog, and the pigs were for them too i believe.all of the intricate hand made "paper cut" like decorative holders from the palm and banana leaves that we worked on for hours along with the banana leaf bowls and plates, were thrown out and life in the compound returned to normal.


when i had seen the 10 men all coming with their little cut tree trunk cutting boards and big knives for cutting all the spices for the pig meal yesterday, i asked who they were. family members...and do they mind not working today in order to help? " no, they know that a ceremony is important and on a specific day, and work can be done any time." we are talking about minimum every 6 days there is a ceremony in bali! but that really is their priority. by the time we finished it was 8:30 a.m. the priest had already been at another baby ceremony at 3 in the morning and had come here afterwards....and was on his way to another one. but not in a hurry, and always laughing, having a smoke, amused by me participating, and just very unpretentious and easygoing. i am amazed that they are not bored repeating this same ritual for hours and hours everyday....a treat for me was hearing nyoman chanting at the ceremony ("making a pathway for the prayers to go to god") . she learnt it in high school but would like to continue and learn the more difficult songs, but has no time for it. since she is the breadwinner (a typical salary is $3 a day .....) and her husband stays home with the baby...


i left, thinking i would go into a few temples on my way home to see the celebration that is symbolized by the wealthy putting a long live bamboo branch in front of their house all decked out like a christmas tree on the thinner taller branches with hanging sweets and pineapples and decorations and material waving on it symbolizing the battle that has been won by the good. but, as i reached the sidewalk outside her house i found non stop motorbikes with women on the back with their big baskets full of offerings, and the men in their white shirts and temple kerchief on their forehead, driving their spouses to the temples, and trunks of cars being opened up to take out the quantities of offerings for each altar...when i reached the main road i looked ahead of me and since the road had a slight incline to it i could see quite a distance...it reminded me of what it was probably like when the holy temple in jerusalem was still part of jewish life, and everyone dressed in their special clothing bringing the offerings for shavuot. the entire village (11,000, let alone all of bali!) going about for hours. i realized i had had my fill....i needed some quiet time for myself and decided to return to my resort and rest. so i went to the pool, and as i laid there the loud speakers from several temples were going at the same time, each with their own chanter, and priest reciting the prayers, not in unison....a cacophony of ritual. this continues for the next 2 days with renditions of the ramayana being performed by masked dancers at the temple each day. i don't know where they get the energy for this. really. part of the day i sat and gazed out at the sea and many temple goers passed by, and this is the crux of their life. this is the source for their well being. and it is all done together with each other.


as i prepared the paper cut baskets from the palm leaves and bamboo pins to hold the offerings yesterday, i realized how even the simple act of making them is the summation of balinese life: there is the up side and the down side to the palm leaf, and the decoration is made in order to please god first of all, not in order to decorate and please us. so it is meant to be beautiful and symmetrical. and made up of many small parts, each placed underneath the piece in front of it. and the bamboo pin (or stapler for those like me that just can't get that bamboo in without making a mess of things or because it is quicker) has to be inserted on the back side, and as you slowly add each leaf, forming a circle or half circle, the pins must also form a circle. all the women sitting around together making these in a way passed down from generation to generation. each shape symbolizing something. each leaf placed in a certain direction. ( i wanted to help nyoman at one point with filling banana leaves with the different contents and as i placed the leaves in a row, she quietly explained to me that the leaf goes in the other direction because the outer edge of it is like the top of the head, and it needs to be pointing to god). each item set down in a certain order and place on the leaf even though a second later it will be closed with a pin and no one sees the contents....and after the ceremony it is thrown out.... the moment i have finished making it, it is filled with an assortment of symbolic rice, fruits, leaves, spices, nuts, and is put in a basket...no one sees the pins or staples in the piled up offerings. except for god. and you, when you have made it. only once i tried to imitate them did i begin to realize how many layers and layers of symbols and attention and intention is put into each action. it reminds me of the kabbalah...that the goal is to unite, to form one whole, with others, by placing them above you, just like the whole that is formed by placing each leaf behind the one in front of it, and going round and round each time, like the music they play, no beginning, no end.... and all with the sole purpose of bringing pleasure to god. i don't sense their ego in any of this...just like my understanding of the kabbalah activities, which are just an excuse to try and unite and see how difficult it is with our egos....i felt that all of this ritual is also just an excuse for them to be the strong unit that these balinese people are among themselves and towards god.