the source

it has taken a bit of getting used to abundant flowing water all the time; watering paths, cement walls, stones, watering the street, watering the gardens with an abundance of water, hoses left on laying on sidewalks, an open air bath house that has water flowing 24 hours a day, kids playing with the hose for hours and just watering mud, water pipes broken and water just flowing in gutters, washing the cow, and the pigs..in short, lots of water and inexpensive too. water floods the orchards by means of narrow dirt canals that connect everybodys land and you can sign up for irrigation once every nine days and pay $1 for an abundant stream of water for an hour at night.

so living near the sea, along with this abundant water flowing and being used so freely is very refreshing! things just kind of flow...and are fresh and alive. as if everything is breathing and thirsty (sidewalks, streets...) and are given water to drink, to clean them, purify, cool them off, refresh...and two times a day i bless the drinking water and the water from the faucet, leaving a small offering and blessing of gratitude for the miracle of it all (along with the other elements of earth, fire, air, metal...) and several times a day i shower pouring lots of cold water on myself and feeling renewed before making the offerings.

the first time i heard the communal irrigation system working was the night i arrived and i was sleeping outdoors and suddenly heard such a woosh of water that i thought the main pipe must have broke and i went running into the garden in the dark to try and find someone that could help me stop the flood of water, only to find the neighbor there, arranging the rocks and palm tree stumps in order to irrigate certain areas and close off other parts of his land. yesterday my friend warned me that if i hear tons of water rushing by my window, i should know that his brother will be watering the forest at 11 at night, and not to panic. i asked him what the source of all this water is ? 

he said that lake batur is in the mountain above the village and that there is a small hole in the basin of the lake from over 1,000 years ago that enables a constant flow of water for the entire village. the hole has never gotten larger than it originally was, and the lake is always full of the rainwater from the mountains that flow into it. the villages next to ours are not so lucky to have a major waterway of nature to allow the villagers to water their trees and make earn a living, from this free flowing water. it is considered a very special blessing for the village and once a year all of the thirty some priests go to the temple by the lake, and stay there for one week, out of respect, devotion and gratitude for this miracle of abundant flowing water. it is a vow they made many years ago to never take it for granted that the village can enjoy such abundant water. during this week they will be praying and performing ceremonies accompanied by music and dance by the villagers.

suddenly it all made sense. i knew that in a few days i along with all 35 women from my gamelon orchestra are traveling to a temple in a village 90 minutes away in order to perform. i wondered why another village so far would invite us to come. and now i understood that we are part of the many performers/devotees that will be playing temple music as part of the weeks intentions. i was so honored and grateful, since i feel so inept at thanking god enough for all of this wonderful water.  we will be going to the source to give gratitude.