http://www.homeinbali.com/forum/index.php?app=blog Community Blog List Syndication Sat, 25 Sep 2010 06:22:56 +0000 homeinbali@gmail.com (HOME IN BALI Forum) IP.Blog 60
I enjoy reading the threads about God, the positive ones, the negative ones, the 'realistic' ones, the sceptics etc. It's all good.

I read many of the questions and standpoints i myself once asked or stood by. When i was younger i relied completely on the 'sceptic' and 'scientific' look upon things. I would also shrug off any concept of god as unrealistic and for 'weak' or 'insecure' people. I've been through all those episodes of my life and it's a part of human nature and a process. With age, some of you will change your standpoint. It can be due to many different reasons. Some will still insist or firmly stay away from spirituality or any concept of god while others eventually will make a 180 degree turn and embrace what we call God.

How can you believe in something that noone can describe in shape or form or can point out: THAT IS GOD! THERE IT IS!

For me it was a challenge. First of all, one have to be humble and realize how insignificantly small we are and how limited our time is in this reality. 80 years run by much faster than we think.

Basically one have to think deep into our existence. Not only scientifically but also philosophically. What ARE we really and what is our purpose in this world? How can it be that in all this matter and energy we came to BE and have a conciousness? We are, scientifically, energy and matter that has become 'self aware' of our existence.

Do i, after many teenage years or science and turning my cheek the other way whenever spirituality or concept of god was before me, believe in God?

Yes i do.

Do i believe in a fuzzy warm Santa Claus god waiting for us above the clouds? Do i believe in an Almighty and sometimes wrathful god as in Allah? Do i believe god has an elephant trunk or 4 faces and 6 arms?

No i don't. These are all our human manifestations of God and it's powers.

God to me is everything. It is not a separate entity but see yourself in the grand scheme of the universe and think of an ecosystem. Our planet is balanced with all it's creatures and resources and elements and we are all a part of that system. To me, 'that system' is god and we are all a part of it. God is within us. God is outside us. God is in everything and everyone.

All that is is God and we are 'him'. Our planet is a part of the solar system, the solar system of the milky way, the milky way of a galaxy cluster, our galaxy cluster apart of a bigger group of galaxy clusters. In this mind boggling vastness of energy, matter and life and all it's variations from the breathtaking beautiful to the absurd or horrifying, we still believe that we are in charge of our lives.

We are oh but a nanoscopic part of this reality but still even so, we are a part of it and to me, that is God.

How we approach God and for what purposes may differ culturally and depending on if it's an organized religion or not. Religions generally strive for praising our creator, preserver and destroyer which is God. We are not in charge either way we twist and turn it.

Then there is the concept of the eternal soul. Considering how little we know about alternative realities and dimensions it's not entirely impossible even science will catch up to this some day.

Religion or God give me strength and focus. It makes me focus on people and not on myself, because i realize how insignificant i am. Whatever i'll do for myself within these (hopefully) 80 years it cannot compare to what i can do for others.

I'm personally a Balinese Hindu or Hindu. It's a mixture of Buddha and old Indian Hinduism where the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) are praised as a trinity in unity, Trimurti. This concept is real because everything that is, is born, preserved and eventually destroyed and recycled. This is the cycle of life and this cycle is a part of the great spirit (or scientifically, machine) i call God. The cycle alone is not God but also all the matter, space, time and energy.

If we think we can imagine what our reality is like with only scientific measurements we're fooling ourselves.

If we think we can imagine what our reality is like with only spiritual understanding and self-realization, you have a chance to feel the bliss and get a glimpse and feel the divine light of our true nature from time to time, though not everyone get to feel this. I've personally only scratched the surface and had a few seconds where everything.. just EVERYTHING just falls in place and i completely get it and understand why i'm here and what my purpose with my tiny body and 80 year old life on this planet is.

I don't expect anyone to feel or approach life or spirituality as i do. I never argue or talk about spiritual matters with people who only argue or are against everything. Belief or even discussion about belief or God is something that should never be forced on anyone. We all chose our paths in life and as with all religions, these paths are many but the destination is One. Having this concept in mind, whatever religion or non-religion people have there is room for understanding and compassion. We are all gods creatures and god resides in all of our hearts. If you are afraid of using the word 'God' then just say 'life force' or 'eternal force'.

I know the word 'God' can be an 'intense' or even provoking word for some. The problem is that 'God' is just a word for something that is very hard to describe as it is, everything, and we believe it or not rarely posses the ability to even grasp how big the earth is. Now try to get people to grasp and fully understand and imagine the vastness of our reality. With numbers this is impossible. Beyond a few thousand we lose track of imagining those objects. Can someone truly say that they can imagine what 1 million galaxies look like and the hundreds of billions of stars within them with all it's planets or life at once? Now take this amount and multiply it with several more billion of million galaxies... We simply cannot imagine the greatness of our reality by scientific measurements or ideas for God is too great for our minds to imagine. That is why God is often culturally pictured in many different shapes, forms and functions in life. We have a hard time describing the wholeness but we can focus on parts of it's greatness. Sometimes we even forget that with us and the eco-system our Planet, Earth, could be regarded as a living organism. We only see the small parts of it (ourselves, animals etc) but rarely see the whole picture.

Here's a Story which can perhaps paint a picture of our problem with God or 'eternal life-force'.

The Blind Men and the Elephant.
An elephant driver had six sons, all of them blind. One day he gave them the job of washing his Elephant. When the brothers had completed the task, they began discussing what manner of animal was the Elephant.

‘Easy!’ said one. ‘The elephant is a couple of large bones.’ He’d been washing the tusks.

‘How can you say such a thing?’ remonstrated another. ‘The elephant is like a thick rope.’ He’d been washing the trunk.

The third son insisted that the elephant was like a couple of fans. He’d been washing the ears.

To the fourth son, the elephant resembled four pillars. He’s been washing the legs.

The fifth son had been washing the sides. He described the elephant as a wall that breathed.

The sixth and last cried, ‘You boys can’t fool me! I know. My own experience has revealed to me that the elephant is a little piece of string hanging down from the sky.’ He’d been washing the tail.

“As each son expressed his own opinion more insistently, there developed a heated argument. After some time, the father walked in and heard them shouting at one another. Listening to this swelling tide of bigotry, he cried, laughing, ‘My sons, you are fighting over nothing!’

“‘Nothing?’ one of them shouted. ‘My brothers are all liars, and here they have the audacity to call me one!’

“‘My dear children,’ said the father placatingly, ‘each of you has washed only a part of the elephant, but I alone have seen it in its entirety. It is everything that each of you says it is, but,’ he added, ‘it is also much more than any of you suspect.’

“He went on to describe to them what the elephant really looked like. ‘So you see, my sons,’ he finished, ‘you are all right—but you are also all wrong!’

Different approaches to God gives different experiences and different descriptions. God has a wholeness and the paths to understand this wholeness of God are many and takes many years to comprehend. What we usually see are descriptions of God that are limited to one persons view, religion or philosophy. However accurate this may be for him there will always be more ways in which God can be described.

I know some people get caught up in the negative aspects of organized religions and perhaps negative cultural phenomenons related to these. Conflicts, Strict rules or inhumane morals values, Terrorism etc. All these are human problems. Created by humans who don't understand their own teachings or interpret them as they wish. Perhaps some of them only see the 'pillars' or the 'rope' as in the story of the blind Men and the Elephant?



Needless to say, as in Islam Muslims say 'Allah Akhbar' (unfortunately misused many times) and i fully agree with that. God is Great, but to me, just saying 'God is great' is not enough. One have to control your body and mind to get a sense of this greatness (Hatha Yoga for the body, Raja Yoga for the Mind, Bhakti Yoga for Devotion etc) and when you do; you will realize that believing or not is not an issue any more, but, you see that 'in this essence of all that is, is you and me, and we are not any different than all that is, in essence'.

Whatever we consider God or the spirit or force of creation, preserver, destroyer, recycler of everything there is I'm certain our human capacity of communication with speech or writing is not sufficient for sensing the bliss of our reality. Think of our tininess compared to a force or spirit that is everything in this universe. Would not our language or ways of any kind of interaction of communication be slightly different, or, the channel to 'hook up' different from just regular speech and writings? I sure think so. Since God or the spirit / life-force of everything resides in all of us then could it not be that our body are the 'vehicle' for communication with the greater eternal life-force, that is the universe, time, space and all, and we can only do so by deep meditation and focus?

Focus and meditation, i believe, are the keys for experiencing or sensing God. The God that is everything, even us, for i don't believe the eternal force around us can be sensed by mere words and speech. It takes deep focus, determination and meditation to be able to sense something so 'vague', as the eternal force that is us and all around us.

We are certainly not masters of our destiny, universe even future. We can build cities, go on short space trips, utilize elements for our own benefits for 80 years before we reunite with the primordial forces and elements of our existence.

Think of it as the background radiation of the universe which was measured only a few years ago. This extremely delicate difference in radiation or temperature in the universe has been there ever since 'this' creation of the universe, but, it takes extremely sensitive machines to sense it and focused people to look for it. Now, this example was only for a scientific matter, but, i believe the approach to God or eternal force is the same, without technology of course since we ourselves are the vehicles, and we need to 'sensitize' ourselves to the extremes be able to notice and taste the subtle bliss of the eternal force around us while focusing our energy on this one purpose, to be one with God, the eternal force that is us and all.

In this time and age, we are barely scratching the surface of what our physical surrounding is and what our place is in it. The complexity of time and space in itself can be mind boggling. What God is to you i don't know. What i do know however is when people say 'I don't believe in God', 'It's for weak people', 'God doesn't exist' I'm thinking, have any of these people ever taken the time, i mean really taken the time to focus, and tried to consider that everything that is around us, the world, the moon, the galaxy, the whole universe is one big entity.. and we are just a part of it. If so, would it not be fair to be able to call this entity God or eternal life-force? Would it not be fair to say, that, us being such a small part of it and spending more time focusing on our Ipod's, earning money, getting richness, finding a partner, listening to music, getting a snack than trying to realize this 'greatness' are distracted enough not to take notice or be able to sense God?

Most of us are too preoccupied with daily chores or get stuck in the 'Blind men and the Elephant'. One does not have to be religious or follow scriptures to feel god but they sure do help us, at times, to get into the right focus, if followed properly. Now, the 'role' of God may vary between different religions and cultures. The thing is, we have for millennia tried to sense and grasp what our creator or eternal life-force is. We try to portray it in words and speech, in book and ceremonies. This is OUR way of expressing our gratitude or approach to get closer to our true nature and join our minds with the greatness of the eternal force. Without any expression or approach we cannot focus, and, without focus we are not able to sensitize ourselves to get on the same 'wavelength' as God. Again, i separate science from religion or the concept of God as they are not compatible. Science will use technology and put ourselves out as being the 'masters of the universe' where it is our playground. Even science admits that we are a material part of the universe. I mean REALLY a part of the universe. We are all carbon based lifeforms and carbon is not a basic element from the primordial universe. Carbon is initially created in exploding stars, thus, all the carbon in us is material from stars that once exploded. We are literally and partly made up of stardust. Once we die we will once again return to our primordial physical state of carbon and other basic elements and as for our soul, i believe it is eternal and will join up with the 'greater life-force' or 'entity' we call God, which i believe only can be communicated with through sensitizing your senses, focus and meditation. God is ancient, eternal, everywhere and everything. We are a part of God and God is a part of us. Having that said, i feel it would only makes sense if there could be communication between us, even though, the means of communication will not be written words, speech, through a mobile phone or going on the web reading or writing about it, like I'm doing now. The communication will be on a different level.

I think due to the difficulties for people to imagine the greatness which we're all a part of and the vagueness of the means of communication with what i see as God, the entity of the Universe, Eternal Force .. many names, makes it more convenient to brush off as non sense or 'you can't believe what you can't see'.

As the background radiation research of the universe which took years to prove after even more years of theorizing, to put it in a scientific perspective;

If one never tries to use yourself as the vehicle for communication with the greater force of our reality, or GOD, then, I'm certain you will never sense it. If you never look, how do you expect to ever find? Without any effort how do you expect to understand?

It's really not so much about believe or not. It's about making the effort to try to communicate through your inner self to try to reach out to something greater than all of us. If you don't make the effort and just brush it off without trying are you really in a position to say 'There is no God'?

People sometimes think that you will get what you pray for and forget that we ourselves will have to do the effort to get it. What you do when you pray is to hook yourself up with the eternal force of our existence and energize yourself and your focus.

I don't know if you've seen the movie 'Evan Almighty' but there are some carefully chose words by Morgan Freeman in that movie that make a good point;

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other? "

Whatever we pray for will come from communication from within. We just have to reaffirm and realize that we are given opportunities. We are given time. We are given space. We are given opportunities.

Saying there is no God, to me, is like saying there is no reality or existence. We live in a physical universe only controlled by gravity, matter and energy and we are the masters of our own destiny. It sure may look like this through the eyes of Science, but, have in mind that science is looking at our existence as the 'Blind men and the elephant'. The good thing is that all the men are gathering their data to try to picture what they were washing. When they, science, finally realize 'oh it's an elephant we've been washing all along'. How long will it take for science, the blind men, to realize that the elephant is alive and can communicate?

I hope the words I've written offer some insight into what God may be, or, at least what God is to me. God is a word that is misused by so many and brushed off like any other word. Words in reality doesn't carry much depth or meaning to us so even a word which supposedly should stand for the 'eternal force of our whole existence' can be brushed off and not really considered to be of any value. Considering how insignificantly nanoscopic tiny we are, in the big picture of reality, we sure carry alot of self-confidence or sometimes even arrogance as to who and what we are in this existence. I'm just a tiny part of this eternal force we call God and i'm thankful for the gift of life and the opportunities we all are given.]]> Fri, 24 Sep 2010 07:33:00 +0000
It reminds me of what a high ranked policeman i know once told me when i asked him why he was stationed so far from his home. In his position he could easily choose where to be stationed and there is a police office in his village. He told me, 'I don't want to be posted in my own village because i couldn't bear the thought of having to arrest or enforce the law there'.

This mentality affects young as old here in Bali and is the recipe for creating an incapacitated society where people are more loyal to neighbours, villagers than to the law, regulations or even their job. This inability to do your job even if it will affect your neighbour makes progress in Bali quite chaotic and uncertain. Currently it is affecting traffic, infrastructure, uncontrolled urbanization (with buildings being built without permits in villages all over Bali) and so on.

'lek ati' meaning 'that's embarrassing' is often used as a reason for not choosing confrontation. 'lek ati jak desa.. lek ati jak timpal.. lek at jak tetangga.. lek ati jak banjar'. You won't have any trouble finding people being embarrassed to do anything confrontational toward people they know.

Same rules, laws and regulations applies even in villages even if i don't think the, for an example, ricefarmer hopping on his old honda 70 should be forced to wear a helmet running down a quiet village road or the sunday ride down the quiet village road to the beach. I don't think we'll ever see traffic police stopping and ticketing people in villages, but i sure hope they will be more active doing so along main roads all over Bali.

I do understand the relaxed spirit in village areas however when people close to cities, or even IN cities, behave like this and society lose their grip it becomes anarchy. City traffic is VERY different but people are still applying the 'village rule' in heavy dangerous traffic. The anarchy is of course not intended but still.. it is here.

I would like to see traffic police officers catching more people, young as old, riding scooters without helmets, cars and scooters riding against red lights or just being reckless and endangering others.. and i mean REALLY chase, catch and stop in public all the time. We need police officers with some backbone who can enforce the law. I reckon it's for the greater good and safety for all of us.

Getting people to be more considerate is nothing more than wishful thinking at the moment as patience often evaporates as humans become denser. The problem is not strictly about enforcement or the cultural trade of being embarrassed to confront people you know. We don't lack good hearted people in Bali, but we lack good education and pro-active law enforcement.]]> Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:51:00 +0000
Let's say the certificate of the land says tanah pertanian.
This means the land resides in either a Greenbelt, which is a strict no-build zone or a 'wetland zone' or 'lahan basah'. The wetland zone means simply it is agricultural and has no permanent no-build zone regulations as the Greenbelt, but, still you cannot legally get a building permit, IMB, to build on wetland. I'll get back to the grey zone of lahan basah / agricultural land not situated in a greenbelt.

Now, if you wish to change the classification of your certificate from tanah pertanian you will have to check the status in the Tata Ruang which is the main zoning map issued and updated every few years by the Bali / Indonesian Government. The Tata Ruang map can be accessed by official at Cipta Karya which is the office that issues building permits, IMB, Ijin Mendirikan Bangunan.

The two IF's
IF your wetland / tanah pertanian is not in a greenbelt but still in a green zone this means it cannot be converted into residential or built on, although i know this is done.

IF you wetland / tanah pertanian on the other hand is situated in a yellow zone (residential zone) you can have your certificate changed.

So, what is my point with all of this?
The point is that Tata Ruang, the government issued zoning map, is what governs if certificates can be changed or not. Your certificate won't change it's status by itself and you won't get any notice if your land should change zoning. In other words, if your land can be converted from agricultural into residential it means that INITIALLY your land was agricultural in the Tata Ruang Zoning map but it has been updated and changed in recent years and now you are in a residential zone.

At the Cipta Karya office they mainly look at the Tata Ruang zoning map before issuing a building permit. If your certificate says 'residential' but the Tata Ruang Zoning map says greenbelt or green wetlands zone (agricultural) you will not get a building permit.

Be careful buying or investing in land bears and do consult with a good notary who can cross-check the certificate with the Tata Ruang Zoning Map before considering to buy or talking about conversion into residential.

A last note on the 'grey zone' of agricultural land
There is a way, seemingly legal (?), to build on agricultural land (not greenbelt) one of them is getting "permit in principle" (izin prinsip) which are issued by the Governor's office. This can override the no-build status of the land and enable one got get a building permit. I can only guess that if your project gets greenlight from the Governors office, which is higher ranked than Cipta Karya, it cannot be all bad or get denied.

It might be that the ijin prinsip is issued when the project may be of some beneficial value for the community in other words not a private residence or house. I've also heard that with the ijin prinsip one cannot make a private house but the status has to be commercial villa and with this comes fees and you have to have a registered company, pay taxes etc as it will be considered a business. This way is still questionable to me and i don't know the official details. I'll get back to you on the ijin prinsip when i know more.

Beside the somewhat unclear ijin prinsip there shouldn't be a legal way to build on agricultural land not situated in a greenbelt, but, i know lots of people, mainly Balinese, who don't care about regulations and build with or without permits as long as it's inside the village perimeters.

If you are offered agricultural land which still is situated in a greenbelt or wetland / lahan basah according to Tata Ruang zoning map
I suggest you walk away and look for another piece of land which has either 'teba'(forest) or 'perumahan' as certificate status. Remember that even if it has residential status you should cross-check the Tata Ruang as the status might have changed since then OR someone might have paid under the table (it was supposedly easy before and not as easy now) to have the certificate status changed. Forest land has usually no restrictions for conversion to residential unless it is situated in a sensitive area, close to holy areas, temples, certain rivers or beaches, dangerous locations like cliffs.]]> Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:21:00 +0000
Pekak, granddad, used to be a goldsmith for many years in Kuta and is highly respected for his gold works throughout the years. He was the main reason for me picking up an interest in rings and traditional Balinese jewellery used for ceremonies or as magic mojo's. I remember though that Pekak stopped working a couple of years ago due to his eyes not being strong or clear enough for the intricate gold works.

Now... yesterday, it was not his breathing that was bothering him. It was a thief.....

5 Days ago a thief broke in to the house in Kuta around 7 pm. The dog wasn't at home, the kids were out, bapak and ibu angkat were out... pekak was out as well. There was only Dadong or Grandma at home. The thief broke in through the window closest to the narrow street / gang after jumping the compound wall. Unfortunately this little window lead into Pekak's room.

The thief then continued to break up all 4 closets in Pekak's room. They were mostly filled with clothes but also granddads and grandmas gold jewellery and ceremonial items. The thief struck jackpot in a way. Pekak had saved traditional gold rings, bracelets you name it throughout his carrier as a goldsmith. There were sort of heirloom items there.. and lots of it. Probably up to a few kilograms of pure gold. They were all meant to eventually be left for his children and grandchildren and generations to come.

Pekak was devastated and fainted. All the elderly men(pekaks children) were called in for a family gathering. Police and village security was sent over to investigate, but still... what can be done. What are the chance of catching a thief none has seen? Not an easy task.

I know that there are many thieves coming from Lombok and Java to Kuta and other parts of Bali. The statistics speak for themselves amongst the ones who get caught. They usually break into Losmens in Kuta and try to steal items from tourists. Agung has told me many times 'Kuta is 'rawan maling' or a 'hole for thieves', but up until now.. none has been brave and calculated enough to enter a local Balinese's compound to steal. This could be a wake-up call for the locals in Kuta. The problematic people who come to Kuta are no longer a problem for tourists but very much a problem for the local community as well.

Pekak sat in his chair looking sad and let out a 'sigh'. Even though this was a day of joy, his grandson was getting married, he could not smile, because he knew he had lost the one precious heritage he had for his grandchildren.

It's different if someone lose money.. electronics or replaceable items, but to lose something this personal. Something that you have invested your whole life work and passion into for the purpose of passing it along to your children before leaving this world. It's a knife in the heart.

Fortunately, Pekak told me, he had a small waist bag with a few rings and items in it stashed away somewhere else so even if almost all was lost.. he had a few items left to remember his craft and hand out to his children at the appropriate time. He told me 'if this waist bag would been lost too i would not have fainted.. i would've died out of a broken heart'.]]> Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:29:00 +0000
Halfway through the dizziness i tried and tried and triiiied to remember what the group on the CD was called. If i only could remember... Instead of, like i usually do, give up i forced myself to recall things step by step. I first focused on what the CD cover looked like. I visualized what i did when listening to that CD. I visualized myself picking the CD cover up, taking out the CD and putting it into the black titanium finish Yamaha CD-player (cool stuff in the 80s/90s).

Eventually i could visualize the CD Cover! Yes! I remember it was white with a photograph in the middle of a plane taking of a runway. It was sort of blue/greyish. This i was certain of!

Now if i only could remember the name of the group?! Mind still going blank (and dizzy). For some reason the letter 'S' popped up in my head the more i thought of the CD Cover and what it looked like. Problem was that the 'S' was referring to something completely different or obscure. I had 'Stormwheedle Point' pop up, which is a place in the game World of Warcraft. I had 'Status Quo' pop up and god almighty no.. the group was not called 'Status Quo'.

As my brain was filled with S's and St's i continuously forced myself to focus on the cd-cover and less on the name. Many times i got the feeling of giving up and thought 'ah nevermind then.. i'll find it out some other time' but.. i hung in there! It was time to prove that our biological brains are far superior to those silicone and electronic computers. It was time to prove that MY brain still function! No computer could ever compute and find out this information based on emotional experiences and vague visualizations.

All of a sudden.. after about 5 minutes of subtle visualizations.. the words 'Steps Ahead' popped up... from nowhere. It just came.. naturally out from nothingness. I thought to myself 'was the band really called 'steps ahead?'' 'Naaah that can't be it... but it feels familiar'. After a minute of pondering i got more certain on myself that the band was actually called 'steps ahead'!

This subtle moment of satisfaction put a genuine smile on my face. I made myself proud by being able to remember something so vage and distant i never thought i would be able to find it. After another minute of positive thinking i praised my brain for not failing on me as it usually does and now have more faith than ever that WE have alot of memories hidden up there and they can be brought into light with proper focus and visualization methods.

So, my message to you all after this fantastic experience is:

Take that computers! Human Brains ftw!

Tompa's Brain 1
Computers 0

[attachment=527:steps_ahead.jpg]

(Ps. Purchased and downloaded the album via iTunes)]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:57:00 +0000
It all began with Wayans uncle, i'll just call him 'Paman', taking a fall while working. He is wayans mothers little brother so we see each other on regular basis. I've come to understand it was not a great fall, two steps up a ladder, but it still was a bad one. He damaged the head/neck area and could not move his legs and partly his arms after the fall. We realized this was VERY serious so Wayan took him to the kasih ibu hospital which seem to be the most complete hospital in Bali at the moment. They have MRI, complete equipment, good and clean facilities and 'hopefully' competent doctors.

I'm not a big fan of hospitals and try to stay out of certain more 'intense family situations'. I stayed in the background and pretty much only gave greenlight for the financial part of it all. After the MRI and X-ray were done we were told he had damaged his spine and neck. There would be no hope to save his legs but if they did operate they might be able to save some of the arm-movement. Paman could only raise the arms but not make them go down at the time.

The operation would be expensive. The last operation i contributed to when grandma got hit by a scooter cost almost 30 million and that was a less complicated operation. This one would land on around 70 million. Having this said it's time to tell you abit about why this situation got so out of hand for our dear Paman.

Pamans wife died a couple of years ago under circumstances unknown to me. He has one child already married away so he lives alone on 3 are of land (approx. 300m2). This situation made him an easy 'target' to greedy relatives, that weren't close relatives, who would like an extra 3 are of land to build on. Speaking of it, one of the relatives had already 'confiscated' his land certificate and would not let him have it.. even though it is Pamans land!

Rumors have gone wild for some time that some relatives want to 'get rid of him'. It is a mental warfare where 'magic' or the thought of someone using black magic comes into place. Pamans physical and mental state was bad just 2 months ago. He came over our house coz noone else would look after or help him when he was ill. He felt really bad, left out and could not eat or drink.

We told him to stay at our place and everyone would help. I thought it might be stomach related or a parasite so i gave him what i know works.. water, bread and banana.. as much as possible to clear the system and not irritate it. I also tried to pay attention to his needs and make him feel comfortable staying with us. After a few days he got better and we heard no more of it as he stayed at his home. During the rough days he repeatedly told us 'ah i'm better of dead' but i told him 'don't say that' and encouraged him to focus on eating, drinking and getting better.

Now, we jump back to the events after we found out he might need an operation that costs 70 million rupiah. The distant relatives close to him were not interested in helping out. It was obvious Paman would need alot of help after the procedure and we thought he could live with us since there would always be someone at home to help him.

I agreed to finance his operation since none of the 4 distant bloodsucking relatives would step up even though they certainly have a few millions to spare. Instead they decided to drive to Kasih Ibu Hospital when wayan or her brothers weren't there... and drive him off to Sanglah for a 'budget operation'. They told us 'oh after the operation he can come live with us'. Meaning, they will put him in a shed and hope that he kicks the bucket asap so he doesn't become an economic burden. Meanwhile, they will use his land and build on it since he wouldn't need it when he lives with them. How convenient!

I was furious that they decided to remove him from the hospital, especially in the bad condition he was in, and put him in Sanglah which is so much worse. I told wayan, 'please get him back to Kasih Ibu otherwise he'll surely die in Sanglah..'. The morning after Paman was driven back to Kasih Ibu by ambulance. The operation took place later that afternoon and vitals signs were all ok.

Rehabilitation and observation would take up to 2 weeks after the operation and then after coming home there would obviously be further training and arrangements to adapt to his new life. Wayan didn't go to the hospital much after the operation since the distant relatives where hanging there like vultures. Wayans brothers didn't go there since they were working and thought 'oh well at least there's someone there by his side'.

Early this morning, about 4 days after the operation, Pamans only daughter comes to our house crying. Paman has died.

? He died of complications from the fall ?
? He died of black magic / mental harassment ?
? He died of complications related to his previous ill condition ?
? He died of complications related to the operation ?
? He died coz the distant relatives 'did something to him' ?

I cannot answer any of these questions as there is noone to give me any answers. He was buried today. Yes, buried not burned (ngaben) like he should. Why you might ask? The greedy distant relatives don't want to pay for his ceremony and did not allow anyone else to pay for it either.

Apparently 'someone' died before him and they're waiting for another one to kick the bucket so they can dig up their bones and burn them together to save money. I told wayan i would pay for the whole ngaben ceremony if they don't want to cough up the money, but she told me they don't want to let him have his ngaben.. even if she payed for it.

Instead he was buried in a hole filled with water, covered with soil and will 'fade away' in a less favorable way. If he wasn't such a straightforward and simple man i'm sure he would come back and haunt these people for their deeds.

Poor old Paman. In life as in death his distant relatives thought more of money than his well-being or honor. He could not even get a proper burial even though we gladly would pay for it. Not a sunshine story for sure. I remember him coming over our place just the other day after working. He wasn't tall so i used to call him a 'hobbit' (in a positive sense) and we joked abit about it. He was full of spirit and looked to be in good health the day before the fall. He had a chat with his older sister (wayans mom), took a shower and had something to eat before going home. That's way i'll remember him. We tried our best to help but faced dark resistance i never thought existed. Rest in peace Paman.]]> Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:07:00 +0000
My first experience that confirmed i had been bitten was when i went abroad to visit my family and friends for a couple of months. I kept thinking of what it was going on in some of the parts where i lived in bali, what my girlfriend was up to, what my friends were doing and got the urge to come closer to Bali somehow. I called Wayan (of course) but still there was something lacking. I wanted more information and input of what was really ‘going on there’ but also learn abit more from other people who live or have travelled the island alot over the years. I began to search for a bali forum on the internet and came by a couple of them through the no.1 search engine back then which i believe was AltaVista.

My experience with Forums were pretty much non-existing and soon enough i learned that ‘daily lingo’ is not popular with everyone. People tend to twist, bend and misinterpret words. Many times it’s because someone use ‘daily lingo’ to someone he/she doesn’t know very well and come off as being rude.

The first Bali Forum i visited was quite alright but i didn’t get the right feeling in there. Discussions were mostly tourist/travel-oriented and i was interested in abit more depth and talk about everyday life or happenings in Bali.

The second Bali Forum i found had much more soul and in-depth discussions but this also led into passionate quarrels which ultimately made the atmosphere tense and at times uninviting. I did enjoy this forum for sometime but eventually decided it was time to quit and move on.

I had this vision of a Bali Forum where both in-depth subjects, tourist/travel-oriented threads and talk about everyday life in Bali could be merged. This was the birth of “Home in Bali”. I particularly chose the word ‘Home’ as everywhere i looked when people discussed Bali i rarely found anyone describing the island as their home.

To me Bali was already home in my heart, soul and daily/everyday life so this was something i figured was worth sharing on the internet. When a place becomes your home ‘things’ get to you more compared to if it’s just a holiday or working home, a temporary home. When you realize ‘this is it, i’m rooting down here and probably spending the bigger part of my life here’ one also have acknowledge the goods and the bads. The everyday realities and how people really think become much clearer. This is a time-consuming learning process one will adapt to, sometimes subconsciously.

One thing in particular i wanted to avoid with the Home in Bali Forum was to make it superficial or a platform for negativity. My reasoning is that Bali is my home and i will protect it and help it grow in a positive way. I believe that solidarity is important and it is not entirely uncommon for people to stand tall for their home, village, town or city when someone tries to pick on them. Instead of complaining and being pessimistic my wish was to steer the home in bali site to solutions and optimism for the now and the future.

I also wish to address subjects rarely touched by bali travel forums as Balinese Hinduism and ceremonies, Balinese art and last but not least the Balinese language. These are all very important and very much a part of the daily Balinese lifestyle, especially if your spouse is Balinese or you have a genuine interest in the Balinese way of life (Bitten by the Bali Bug!).

I do not try to portray Bali as a paradise on earth or paradise island as the travel industry has done for many years. Bali may come off as a paradise island with white sandy beaches in some areas and an almost mind boggling artillery of cultural and natural experiences… but still i hesitate to these terminologies. I try to be realistic, true to myself and true to others around me in Bali.

Bali faces many problems, social, environmental, political, infrastructure, cultural, moral, ethical you name it but i still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. The simple fact is, it is my home. I take the ‘baggage’ my home has at the blink of an eye. I live with it or improve whatever i have the ability to improve around me. Why you might ask? Well, to me that is what a Home in Bali is all about.]]> Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:14:00 +0000
What triggered me to do abit of surveying with people here in Bali was my fiancees brother.

I've myself seen unexplainable phenomenons on a few different occasions. Nothing fancy really, in France i spotted what looked like yellow-white shining rice-grains (3 of them i believe) traveling about 30 times faster than any commercial plane i've spotted in the sky.. and shining brightly (actually got one distant pic of one of them). The Sweden one was odd light bolts popping up.. 2 big yellow blinking 'things' across the sea. Then from these 2 they shot out 3 smaller bolts each.. and the trail from the small ones kept 'shining' and didn't fade. Just plain odd stuff i've never been able to explain.

So, it began with yan's brother visiting a friends village in Karangasem about 5 weeks ago. Nights are dark and many mountainous areas are still much untouched and partly inaccessible or at least takes a long hard walk to get to. He saw something he and his friends could not explain so he called his sister(yan) at 11pm and wondered if she could explain what it was. They saw hoovering lights coming out from the forests on the mountainsides. If i remember correctly he told me the objects were moving fast, then hoovering, then looking like they were 'fighting each other' and then separating and flying off and away in very high velocity. Mostly red light but multicoloured as well at times.

Could there be 'something' behind all those Balinese stories of magic and light in the nights? All the Balinese i asked told me 'yeah there's alot of magic going on around karangasem and the mountainous areas. There are still people practising magic over there' etc.

I have a few friends from Karangasem and many of them have seen what i would describe as a UFO phenomenon. One of them described how he saw lights hoovering in and over the rice fields in late late afternoon as he was getting ready to walk home.

After a quick Google i actually found a 'documented' shot of a UFO sighting taken by a Japanese tourist in 1973 which was quite unexpected. I can't say if it's authentic or not and i can't say what the object is but still it was interesting to find.



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I feel tempted to do further research but i'm not really the kinda guy who wants to sit out in the bush and wait for weeks for something to appear in front of the telephoto. I find it at least pleasing to hear that the brother isn't the only one who've seen odd light phenomenons in Karangasem and the stories i've been told are certainly intriguing. Everything points to that there is something 'going on' around the mountain areas in Bali. Someday it might be worth to pursue further, but of course, only out of pure adventurous empirical spirit and curiosity.]]> Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:15:00 +0000 ression for all members. This new feature enables all of you, that are registered members, to create your own Personal Blog here at Home in Bali. Everything you contribute with in the forum and gallery are integrated with your Blog ( ).

You can conveniently upload pictures in the gallery, in your albums, and then use the images in your forum threads/posts or your personal blog-entries. Visitors and other members can get a more complete oversight of other members contribution as well as get to know everyone a little better.

I believe this Blog addition will, as i mentioned before, give everyone more space for personal expression but also be enriching for everyone involved in Home in Bali. The forum is more about interacting, which is great, but the Blog will be there for your creativity and others to enjoy reading (and perhaps comment on if you choose to allow comments). Enjoy the Home in Bali Blog! I'll surely enjoy reading your blogs! / Tompa]]> Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:04:00 +0000