I just came back home from a life-changing one-month stay in Bali. My existentialist self is still processing and integrating the what-is-it about Bali that resonated so much with me. I travelled on a quest to connect with something different, to get a new perspective that I felt I needed, not knowing exactly the what or how. I surfed, swam with turtles on the corals of Gili, meditated, spent time with family, motorcycled through the island, went horse-back riding on the beach, had a Melukat purification ceremony on a Water temple and consulted a traditional Balinese energy healer, among many other adventures.
At one point during my stay my sister (who lives there, and also knows me very well) asked me: why do you always have the need to understand everything? I had showered her (and everyone) with questions because, maybe, I needed to wrap my head around the fact that in Bali what might seem chaotic in Western eyes (like the crazy motorcycle traffic that leads to almost no accidents) works beautifully and almost mysteriously. I believe the answer to why is that it just works under a whole different cosmovision, one that really resonated with me.
Balinese people believe in, and truly practice, the laws of karma (fruit of action), dharma (one life’s path), the balance of opposites (between the light and the darkness), and being grateful and trusting the spiritual world (through the daily rituals and offerings unique to Balinese Hinduism). They are extremely kind and warm, seem always calm and never angry. In Bali people’s actions are truly based in shared values and deep-rooted beliefs, not just empty rules. In the Island of Gods I found proof that if you do good, are true to your purpose and values, you let go of control and really (but really) trust magic unfolds. I also learned that you don’t always need answers, sometimes you just need to experience them by making space so the answers can find you :)
“Truth is one, paths are many”
Jesu
