The culture of Bali is unique. Anyone who has travelled here can comment on the general happiness of the people, their family values, their willingness to help a fellow human being - it seems that smiling is a national past-time. Many people even comment that the Balinese people have reached such a level of contentment that they want for nothing in their lives. It is not an exaggeration that when a Balinese is asked what heaven is like, he or she would say "Just like Bali, only without the mundane worries of life." They want to live in Bali, die in Bali and reincarnate in Bali!
Balinese society is very community oriented ... family life is important, as well as village life. The extended family all live together (mum, dad, kids and all the aunties, uncles and grandparents) in a compound complete with it's own temple, sleeping quarters, veggie gardens, coconut trees and livestock. Even as Bali is exposed to Western culture, they retain their rich heritage of religious customs and traditions, and live close to nature. Their culture is based on a form of Hinduism called "Hindu Darma" (very different from the Hinduism practiced in India) which plays a large role in the family customs and community lifestyle. This is evident in the multitude of rituals performed at various times of the day, month and year, as well as in the local arts and crafts. There is a ceremony for just about every event ... ceremony for the rice harvest, ceremony for the rain, ceremony for the ancestors, for each of the gods and goddesses, every time a new home is built, ceremonies to ward off demons and placate the gods ...
My favourite time of day in Bali is early morning ... seeing household members (usually the women) wearing their "temple attire" making their canang, or morning offerings to the gods. These offerings are presented to the gods along with a small prayer for good health and prosperity, and as thanks for the abundance available to them (even though many of them are extremely poor!) They consist of a banana leaf tray with some rice, fresh flowers, food, a coin and incense. These simple, natural offerings are placed in the important parts of every Balinese home, business, temple and even randomly on the beach. As these morning offerings create wafts of incense that permeate through the streets, I am reminded of the yogic principle of "Ishvara pranidhana" - surrendering to a higher source. Ishvara pranidhana is a "big picture" yoga practice: it initiates a sacred shift of perspective that helps us to remember, align with and receive the grace of being alive.
As Westerners, the concept of surrendering as a virtue may seem strange - it has connotations of giving up, or giving in to someone or something that could dictate our future. But in a yogic context, surrendering simply means letting go of our narrow-minded individual concerns and perspective, our ego-centred approach to life. It allows us to move toward a deeper knowing of our connection to everything in the universe, and to the qualities of our divine nature - grace, peace, unconditional love, compassion, clarity and freedom.
In our yoga practice, we can experience Ishvara pranidhana by treating challenging yoga poses as microcosms of life's own challenges, and offering the moment as an opportunity to reach beyond the ego-self and connect to the higher force that guides us - our own inner teacher. Ishvara pranidhana connects every action to it's sacred source, and allows us to tune our own inner compass to the journey that lies ahead of us on the spiritual path - the journey from our head to our heart, and our acknowledgement of the divine within each and every one of us.
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