Peace at Pantai Mas
Starting out the trip in Pantai Mas was a strange experience for me. I was expecting to be doing things all day every day, without much downtime. I’m not very good at having downtime. I don’t tend to enjoy being left alone with my thoughts, because there are things I like to avoid, that make an appearance when I don’t have something to distract me. The time at Pantai Mas was an exception to that. Especially after the ceremony, I was able to at least start to think about some things without being terrified and just doing something else. I find the amount of spirituality in all aspects of life here in Bali to be refreshing. The spirituality isn’t obnoxious, or pushy, like I’m used to. It doesn’t force itself at you, or demand anything from you. There is never the sense of “I’m right and you’re wrong, and you have to do this.” I find that extremely refreshing. People are so happy to share their spirituality, and it isn’t necessarily important to them if you believe the same thing as them. They only care that it helps you. That idea of spiritual healing without conditions is so wonderful and inviting to me. As I said in my last post, I wish I could say that I had some sort of spiritual healing happen to me. However, I did feel more at peace than I have in a very long time.
The concept of doing good things to balance out the bad is seen in so much. Seeing people take time out of their days to put together offerings, and driving past beautiful, ornate family temples shows how much spirituality is really engrained in everyday life. There is so much more thought put in to the shrines, and the family temples and the offerings. I say so many family compounds that were so run down (from my perspective anyway), but the family temple was in pristine condition and decorated beautifully. It really shows where the priority is. In balancing every day life, in Bali there seems to be much more focus on spirituality than in any other culture I’ve experienced. I found the shrines outside every house to be extremely fascinating. I found out from talking to people that they represent the three levels of “the cosmos” that need to be kept in balance. The three levels are represented by parts of the body. The head represents heaven, the body represents earth, and the feet represent hell. This is why the upper body of a human is considered much more sacred than the lower half (and why Sarah H had to change where she was getting her tattoo). The shrines and the offerings are to help keep the three levels of the cosmos in balance, or dharma. I find it fascinating that this is such a huge part of Bali life.
