There are many ways to be a tourist. For example, one can remain in one’s own vacation bubble, as is necessary sometimes for recovery and rest from daily toils, or one can break through and be immersed in the world and culture on site.
I tend to like cultural experiences and usually try to discover the lives and customs of the local people. What is their reality like? How do they think? Et cetera, et cetera… I can’t pretend that I immerse myself completely, like those who would walk on foot and visit neighborhoods, shops, and houses, but at least I can ask questions to the people I interact with and to the local tour guides.
But in Bali, it is very hard to ignore its cultural and religious artifacts, since they are simply in sight everywhere you turn. Temples are ubiquitous, and the locals’ belief system is visibly displayed not just in their Hindu ceremonial precessions, but also in their architecture and daily customs. I would say it even dictates Bali’s economy and weighs in on Bali’s social progress vis-à-vis modernity and secularism.
For example, every morning the Balinese put out sesajens, or small offerings composed of flowers, rice, and salt in bamboo leaf trays all over the place. You would find them by the streets, statues, in front of houses, restaurants, counters… basically everywhere. These offerings, in oversimplified terms, are to please the gods and prevent their wrath upon them.
Sesajen
Every house and building in Bali has its own altar, whether small or big, which is put at the front of the house near the entrance gate. Bridges would have statues of some manifestations of Hindu gods on both sides of each end, to protect the space and prevent evil spirits.
Many statues, poles in buildings, pillars, and even trees would have sashes of a particular kind around them. The motif is called poleng. It is a piece of cloth with black and white squares, a symbol of balance, akin to the Chinese yin and yang. But it’s not just any generic notion of balance; it particularly symbolizes the balance between good and evil. The alternating black and white signifies good and evil that coexist everywhere; one cannot be present without the other.
This concept, it seems to me, is very Hindu, for a lack of a better description. The three main deities that compose the Trimurti in Hinduism (kind of like the Trinity), Brahma, Wisnu (Vishnu), and Siwa (Shiva), are the creator god, sustainer god, and the destroyer/transformer god, respectively. The destroyer god is feared the most, but he is not seen as evil, since his work is necessary to get rid of old things and transform them to a newer state.
Poleng around an altar.
Though I do not subscribe to the Hindu belief system, I admire its cohesiveness and pervasiveness in the Balinese society. Believing in something means that their whole lives revolve around it and it’s publicly displayed, even if their motives may be combined with fear of the gods. Their religion is not a private matter. It dictates how they spend their money, their daily activities, how they deal with birth, marriage, and death, and every aspect of life. There is not one thing that is purely secular. Take the economy, the emblem of development and modernity. If every building needs to have an altar, it means that every building project in Bali must needs to budget to build the altar, no questions asked. It is not a small matter, optional, or of a low priority, because in their minds, they simply would not tolerate an unprotected house or building.
It is refreshing to see something that is systematic and consistent in a world that is increasingly subscribing to a buffet style belief system. In a way, this is the kind of integration that I yearn for with my own belief system. I mean, the fact that every house has an altar is so mind-blowing to me. What would it look like if every Christian had the same regard for sacred things in their houses… to see their belief as central and pivotal to daily activities…
Yea, I agree that it takes time and actual effort to reflect and self-evaluate. I think time for reflections is so essential to living. We can get so caught up in doing things here and there, forget about who we are and who we want to be.
I understand what you mean.Personally its difficult when I have my own internal battles along with struggles with outside pressures trying to cause me to doubt myself along with the fact I’m always re-evaluating,re-prioritizing and changing. It takes a lot introspection to figure what you believe, what your actions say you believe, selecting which belief takes priority, whether any are contradictory and to align all of it.
Thanks for the clarification.
For example, a medical practitioner wouldn’t give the same prescriptions to a patient who is hypoglycemic and to another who is obese. The principle of service and healing is the same, but in one case leads to giving sugar, and the other refraining sugar. Because the same substance can kill or heal in different circumstances. Similarly in humanitarian activity, giving people money is not necessarily the humanitarian thing to do in all circumstances. Sometimes it helps a lot, sometimes it can paralyze people’s potentials. So the consistency should be on the principles-level, not necessarily in the actions-level (applications).
“There are consistent principles that lead to different applications to various circumstances”. What does that mean?.
What I meant by the non-buffet style is not a uniformity of religion for everyone and thus reducing the need for tolerance. What I meant was on a personal choice basis, an integrated religion means that the worldview informs one’s life in its entirety, whether it be spiritual or secular activities in whatever sector. I think sometimes there are cases where one would subscribe to two fundamentally (in principle, not in application) contradictory things, adopting one in a situation, and the other in another situation. There are consistent principles that lead to different applications to various circumstances. I’m wishing for an internal consistency in each person, that he/she would be consistent in all of the things that he/she believes as fundamentally true.
The buffet style we have makes it even more important to have that support from your church, family and friends. They will help create that atmosphere of total integration of faith into daily life.
Even though its takes more discipline, I appreciate the buffet style approach as it promotes tolerance of other people. It helps us to learn to love others no matter how different they are. A society of only one religion results in a easier and more happy life only if you subscribe to that religion. Otherwise it only promotes discrimination and persecution of anyone different and doesn’t force people to grow and come to love people despite their differences.
At the end of your life, how would you have like to have affected the world? What contribution would you like to be remembered for?