Groton Bali 2013: 08-13-13 pak performing + memorial

Day 10 8.13

In the morning we attended to a closing ceremony for temple blessing in our neighborhood. Most of those ceremonies look similar at first; they take place everywhere and happen all the time in Bali. After spending ten days in here and going to ceremonies like this one almost every day, I started to enjoy being a part of the community and understand why Balinese never get tired of it. The ceremonies are not only about rituals or rules that were passed down from their parents; they are the way that Balinese socialize, communicate with each other, as well as practice their beliefs. During the ceremonies I hear more laughter, see more chitchats, rather than sitting quietly in a solemn temple and listening to the priest. Because of that, religion becomes more joyful, natural and accessible to Balinese; wearing their traditional clothing, making offerings, and praying, all these daily are less like a burden to them especially to the younger generation. Kadek, the 18-year-old daughter, for instance, like all other Balinese women, does offerings every morning and evening. I can always see her dressed in pakian adat (traditional clothing) walking back and forth to the family temples and making offerings quietly when I wake up. This process, lasting for about half hour, is a daily duty of every Balinese woman. Teenagers in Bali like Kadek, still carry on the traditional rituals, while they enjoy modern technology brought from western world. That’s why in Bali I don’t see any rituals growing extinct, but rather adjusted traditions being passed to the younger generation.

In the meanwhile Pak and Desak invited me to attend a memorial to be held for Nyoman Sura, a young teacher who just died from cancer. He was a professor/dancer in his 30s and taught choreography in ISI, the same university where Pak Catra and Ibu Desak teach. He used to be a student of Ibu Desak. Everyone was shocked by his death. I can tell from the effort his students put into this memorial what a great person he must have been. Students voluntarily collected videos of his dance, invited singers or celebrities he used to dance with, and danced the pieces he had choreographed, dressing like him. Nyoman Sura had his distinguished personal style. His dance is modern, mixed Balinese elements, including traditional clothing with modern adjustments. Although we didn’t have any previous knowledge of Sura, I was awed by the performances and his videos. He wore masks and dressed all in white in his most classic dance; although the music was playing and everything else was loud, his movements brought a sense of complete quietness. It almost felt like Zen, finding peacefulness in the middle of a large crowd. At that time I was sitting in the audience, feeling deeply touched. This reminds me of not long ago on saraswati day, when pak was teaching me how to make a prayer in the Balinese Hindu way, dogs were barking and it wasn’t completely quite at that time, but none of this could disturb the calmness in my heart. In Bali, nothing is ever quiet – dogs are always barking, roosters crowing, birds calling, and gamelan playing… so Balinese learned to find their own type of peace, not by being in a physically quiet space, but mentally, through prayers and meditations.