Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Journey Home

We arrived at the airport in Denpensar to find that the Icelandic Volcano had finally effected our travel plans- it seems a large ash cloud had yet again closed the airspace in London and our options were to stay in Bali or take our chances and fly to Hong Kong- we were ready to go home and decided to go for it and if we got stuck, we would explore Hong Kong. Luckily when we reached Hong Kong, the airspace in London had opened and we were able to proceed with our flights home without further delay.
We arrived home to Newark, exhausted with head colds, luggage in tact, and so happy to be back on our home soil yet again! We will be posting our reflections of our journey and it's further impact on our lives in the weeks and months to come. So tune in from time to time to see how this experience continues to shape our lives, work and thoughts!

A Bali Picture Gallery




Bali Reflections


We asked several of our Balinese friends if they traveled much. Few of them had traveled outside of Bali, with the exception of one young woman who traveled to the US with a dance group many years ago. It seems that money for travel is not available, and when there is financial abundance, it is spent on family ceremonies and celebrations so that the entire community benefits and shares in the experience. It was a wonderful honor for us to spend time getting to understand this unique culture of people that live life with a very different value and belief system. We were struck by the feeling that life did not revolve around making money, that these people have great respect for their rituals and spiritual lives and a great deal of time, energy and love go into the making of beautiful art, caring for their environment, and the keeping of their ancient traditions alive. In a rapidly changing global community, we think it is quite extraordinary that one can travel to Bali and still feel a strong connection to the ancient traditions. Perhaps this connection to traditional values is why we never felt unsafe or threatened. What Bali gave to both of us (grander than any mask, wall hanging or memento) was the inspiration of creativity generated from true appreciation and gratitude.

Death and Dying in Bali


Bali was the most interesting culture we had encountered when it came to our discussions of death and dying. We found Bali to be a highly spiritual culture who celebrates the after death and daily blessings, offerings and celebrations of the present moment. There seemed to be little emphasis placed upon the dying process itself. There is no hospice like setting for those dying and they appear to have no ritual for the actual process of dying, however they have month long celebrations for cremations following death. Often the bodies are preserved until the most suitable calendar date arrives, then the cremation ceremonies of many of the deceased may take place.

Visit with a Balinese Healer



During one of our dance lessons our teacher Barbara, discovered that Jubie was a nurse and suggested that we visit one of the traditional Balinese healers living outside of Ubud. In Bali healthcare is private pay, so each individual is responsible to pay for each doctor or hospital visit. Because of this, Balinese still tend to use their traditional healers for most health matters. Jubie called Jakorta Rai , who is also a high priest, and set up an appointment. We were both excited, and a bit apprehensive, as we rode the 20 minutes or so outside of Ubud to our appointment. Upon arriving at the family compound of Jakorta Rai (our healer), we were led to an outdoor pavilion where we sat and talked to a few “students” who gather and witness the daily healings. These “students” came from various countries (Switzerland, Malaysia and Germany), as well as various professions (hypnotherapy, kinesiology, etc). It seems some individuals come for weeks, some for months and they spend hours observing, witnessing and sometimes asking questions or participating in discussions with Jakorta Rye and his clients. We were there only a few minutes before a serious-looking man in a white shirt approached us from the house. He had us sit with him under the pavilion and he asked his first question “Why are you here?” This should have been a question we were easily prepared for, however we oddly seemed to stumble for an answer. Jubie began with an explanation that we were traveling on an expedition of education, experience and joy. Due to the fact that we did not have much to complain about regarding our health, he offered to do a “scan” of our being. He began by sitting behind Jubie with his fingers moving skillfully from the sutures of her skull, around her head to her ears, neck and shoulders. Reminding her of the monkeys preening one another, Jubie instantly broke into giggles. The assessment was predominantly positive, except for a strong sense of sadness that he encountered while fingering the inside of her left ear. How ironic for this diagnosis of sadness to appear on the great joy journey! He further examined her while lying flat, and drew strange designs in the air over her, as well as applying pressure to certain points on her feet. There was no question that this healer-man held special power and energy in his abilities. A wonderful sense of calm, trust and ease seemed to permeate the encounter. Mary was asked to lie flat for her assessment, and Jakorta Rai scanned her feet first detecting a spot that elicited a VERY DRAMATIC response. Mary yelled “ouch” and practically jumped off the ground. It seemed she was “out of balance” according to the healer. He again drew unusual designs over her. Mary, incredibly relieved that it was only a re-balancing that she needed, felt a calm trust in the healer as well. Upon leaving Mary asked if we could "make a picture" with him for our blog. He happily agreed, and even set up a pose for the traveling duo.