It has been a while since I left Bali, almost two months; but I am going to do my best to reflect on the final parts of my adventure, as it was a life-shifter.
As many of us have realized, or remembered, our physical bodies are directly connected to our thoughts, spirit, energy levels, and emotional well-being. Growing up, I was very tough on my body, so I do not hesitate to receive all different sorts of body work. I woke up one day and my left scapula was raging in pain. Possibly from over swimming or pushing too hard in a downward dog, or sparking up from the stiffness in my left hip. Smiling Buddha recommended a local healer to me.
I followed the man that cleaned my bungalow on his scooter through the rolling hills of Amed, Bali. We cruised down narrow roads and ended up at a local fisherman’s house: a.k.a. the local healer. I sat patiently as a large man was given treatment on the outdoor patio behind the fisherman’s house. His children played and blasted terrible American Pop music on their television, and his wife offered us coffee (which seemed counterintuitive to receiving massage – I kindly denied) and repaired his large fishing nets.
I took my place on the musty pillow, smiled at the Balinese healer, and prayed to God. No one spoke fluent English in this crowd, so I pointed, gestured, smiled, and prayed some more. He dug his strong fingers into my back and grinded coconut oil deep into my muscles. No warming up, no patty cake. He just got right in there. As he focused more on my right side, and made noises, I assumed he believed the problem was actually rooted in my right side. As I was still recovering from my motorbike accident, this made sense to me. When he reached my right elbow he shook his head and grinded in super deep. I broke this elbow many years ago and have been reluctant to revisit this scar tissue. Quite frankly, it hurts me sometimes and I was scared to move the bone any further and make the incessant grinding worse. But, he had no fear and dug in so deep that my fingers twitched. He ended here and gestured that I needed to come back. I visited 1 more time, and it was a similar story.
When I shared this information with the Smiling Buddha, he was baffled as to why I did not tell him about this earlier. He quickly recommended I see a “bone doctor” that is located at the base of Mt. Angung (largest volcano on Bali) right outside of Besakih Temple (the Mother Temple). As the story goes, this man was praying in a temple and a vile of oil appeared out of nowhere. He took it home and was visited by an old man in spirit form who instructed him to use this oil to heal the bones of people that come to him for healing. This is oil directly from the gods.
After what I witnessed at the White Dragon temple, I did not doubt this for an instant. As my time was running short in Bali, I took off the next day for the arduous trek to Mt. Angung. I dropped my bags off at a hotel and booked it for the bone healer. I was instructed by S.B. to take a number, offer a donation and wait my turn in line. The men at the front wouldn’t give me a number for some reason, so I just sat with the locals and waited for the healer to arrive. A couple of hours passed and 50 or so people of all ages sat around waiting for his arrival. Some people in casts, others with faces full of pain, and others were wearing large smiles. S.B. told me he combines medical science with intuitive healing, and he speaks “great English.” First he takes X-rays, and then consults them with you, performs treatment and then a follow up the next day. This was not the case at all. He arrived in all white carrying a vile of the magic oil. He took a seat outside at the top of the steps in clear view of everyone. People immediately started throwing numbers at him. He smiled and gestured for them to begin coming up. One at a time people removed their shirts, or pulled up their pant legs, and the healer would snap them into alignment. It looked a lot like a combination of chiropracting and bone snapping. A man gave me number and shoved me toward the healer. He looked at me blankly as I tried to explain my old injury with my elbow that has caused grinding and random pain. I decided just to take my shirt off. He cracked my back. I pointed at my elbow, he rubbed some oil on it, grabbed my hand, and CRACK! He pulled my hand so hard my elbow snapped. I asked him if I should come back; he shook his head no. Leaning forward and grabbing my elbow, I limped down the stairs.
Why, why, why? I was in so much pain. In India, a healer/Guru did the same thing to me. Snap. Both times, I was left in great pain and my elbow grinded more than ever. I was bitter in many ways that I drove hours to get here just to have my elbow snapped by a dude dressed in white with a bottle of sesame oil. I mean, Wahe Guru! I appreciate his service to humanity and his obvious compassion for his fellow man; but perhaps he is overdoing his healing capacity trying to see hundreds of patients everyday. This experience taught me a great lesson: we can’t rely or search for the “quick fix.” Sometimes taking a shortcut can actually set you back or get you lost. True healing take time, introspection, and gentleness.
The next morning I went to Besakih temple. I was absolutely horrified by the way I greeted into the mother temple. A man told me I could not enter because I was white unless I took a special route with him. He took me to his home, dressed me up in some traditional Balinese clothes, and took me right back to where we started. I walked unnoticed into the temple and the man began trying to give me a tour of the temple. Meanwhile, I was given flowers to offer, and then asked for money. With every step, someone trying to sell me something greeted me. I told everyone I just wanted to pray. I walked into the temple with my head down and fell to my knees. I looked around and saw piles of rubbish everywhere. The mother temple was littered with plastic and the burnt remains of “offerings.” The “tour guide” quickly realized that I was not there to take pictures and didn’t give a shit about the history of the stone buildings; so, he asked for his clothes back!
I could not believe my eyes. Garbage was everywhere and people haggling each other filled the temple. The temple is huge, many buildings and small temples sprawled across the hills. I put my head down, hands in prayer mudra, and booked it up the stairs to the highest temple. I thought I could find peace here to offer a prayer to Mt. Angun and give my thanks to Mother Bali. I fell to my knees at the alter and opened my heart to our Great Mother Earth. With every cell in my body, I offered myself to her. Here I am mom; I am here to serve you, please guide me. Please forgive your children, many are lost and forgot the gifts that you have given us. I am here to celebrate your natural beauty, to preserve your slender, and to raise awareness that we are living on and with a living being.
As emotion swelled in my heart, the high priest placed a small bundle of flowers and incense on the ground in front of me. I bowed my head in gratitude and sent my prayer into the ethers through the sacred smoke. As I got up to leave, a boy behind the alter spoke to me, “You leave a donation here.” “Excuse me?” I replied. “Yes, you pay,” he said. Being in a tender space with my heart completely open, I felt like I had been stabbed. “I just gave my heart, is that not enough?” I turned to leave and the head priest followed me, saying, “You pay donation.” At this point, I had already paid the “tourist fee” to get into the temple, gave money to the “tour guide,” and paid a sweet old lady too much for a coconut. I pulled the rest of my money out of my pouch and placed it in the flowers.
My eyes filled with tears as I began my descent down the temple. Brothers, sisters, why? What are we doing? We celebrate existence by building temples that crumble, we burn “offerings” without awareness of the sacredness of our actions, we celebrate God by throwing parties that create piles of plastic trash, all the while we try to make money off each other’s devotion. This is no way to live. In the past I truly believed I could “help” this problem. Perhaps I can create organizations to help the “clean-up” or I can help educate people and raise awareness. But this experience struck me deeply to the core. I am not here to pick up other’s trash, nor do I want to. People will continue to live like pigs until a better system is offered or they drive themselves into despair. Accepting this reality lifted a large weight off my back.
It is time for the true Kings (and Queens) to claim the throne. I am currently reading a book titled, “Political Ponerology.” A Polish scientist wrote it in the 1960’s about his studies of “evil.” Due to fear of losing the research and being killed for releasing it, he kept it hidden until he was an old man. In a nutshell, he proves that a small minority of the human race lacks emotion, therefore, they act without any conscience. The scary thing is: these people know they are different, they thrive off of power, they enjoy watching “normal” people suffer, and they can recognize their “own kind.” Wildly, the majority of our world leaders fall into this small minority of psychopaths (especially the ones who are “really” calling the shots). Ultimately, this will continue to lead us into catastrophe and our world will continue to suffer. Unless, “normal” people find a way to regain power and create a system that will not allow for psychopaths to have any responsibility or power of the well-being of others.
Rainbow Kingdoms of peace and love need to resurrect. In these kingdoms, the earth will be celebrated, cared for, and lived in harmony with. During times of celebration, perhaps we will plant trees, make music, or share a temescal ceremony. Food and water will be rich in life and in bounty. People will fall into spaces in the community where they thrive: farmers will have freedom to grow a variety of plants, Chefs will come together to create an environment where they have ultimate creativity and access to an abundance of high quality ingredients, healers will help our tribe stay healthy, teachers will help to guide the children, artists will help beautiful the land with living art, musicians will play music in the fields and in the forest for all to hear and enjoy, dancers will share their spontaneity and joy for life with others, mothers will raise children with the elements, and so on and so forth. No massive temples will be erected to praise God. We will grow trees, plant flowers, keep the waters clean, sing, dance, meditate, make love, raise children, share stories over the fire, rest, laugh, and ponder the cosmos. We will live like human beings; quality over quantity. They will serve as an example for the rest of the world as to our true potential for living in harmony with Mother Earth. When in this space, fear does not exist. Nature completely takes over. This is the way of the Tao.
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