When we look at our traditions from western cultures like Australia, Canada and the USA, we realize that there are few which have existed as long as some of the ancient traditions which continue to thrive in Asian cultures like Bali or Java. In the USA, people celebrate Thanks Giving – a day of remembrance of the time when the first settlers sat down together to share a meal with Indians to celebrate their first successful harvest. No one really talks about the fact that shortly thereafter, the settlers turned against their friends in a brutal genocide in order to take control of their land. While other western cultures don’t share in this tradition, they do share in other traditions such as Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Hanukah and Chinese New Year depending on one’s ethnic heritage.
Western cultures are much more heterogenous than Asian cultures and perhaps this is why many of us westerners feel confused or even annoyed by the devotion which Indonesians have for their traditions – traditions which come at such a high price. As I write this article Galungan is in two days. This is one of the most important Balinese holidays which occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days ending with Kuningan. Galungan means: ‘When the Dharma is winning’. During this auspicious time Balinese believe that their deified ancestors descend to their former homes. Thus, they must be welcomed through prayers and offerings. Offerings must also be made at the graves of families who have ancestors that are still buried in the village cemetery awaiting cremation. Many years ago when Bali was still relatively untainted by western culture, life was much simpler as were their offerings. They would pick fruit from their trees or their neighbours, select some flowers which grew in abundance and were not sold by any vendors, and make uncomplicated offerings from bamboo and palm leaves which were plentiful.
Today, all that has changed. Not unlike Christmas, Galungan has become yet another commercialized holiday in which almost every Balinese feels the pressure to compete with their fellow neighbours to make bigger and better offerings, wear more lavish kebayas priced at Rp1.000.000 or more and buy the best temple dressings so that everyone can witness that they have gone to no expense to pay homage to their ancestors.
My house keeper, a lovely woman from East Java who is married to a Balinese man spent the early part of the morning complaining about the high cost of fruit that she needed to purchase for her offerings. She said she expected to spend at least Rp300.000 in order to get all the fruit she needed. This was half of what she would normally have to pay if she didn’t have several banana, papaya and coconut trees on her property. According to Indonesia matters.com, the average minimum wage in Bali ranges from Rp685.000 a month in the Buleleng regency to Rp805.000 in the Badung regency. How then can an average earning Balinese afford to pay such high costs for their upacaras?
If we take a look at western cultures, the problems are quite similar to those in eastern societies. People in the west will go into debt charging obscene amounts of gifts on their credit cards in order to ensure that their families will have a very merry Christmas. While folks in the east go into debt by borrowing money from their families or friends in order to pay for ceremonies. The prices continue to escalate around the world, yet somehow we have lost sight about why we are actually celebrating these holidays in the first place. Isn’t the whole point of celebrating any sacred holiday is to humbly show our commitment to our faiths whatever they may be? The commercialization of any holiday takes us further and further away from the real purpose of that holiday, and distances us from our spiritual connection. I think the only solution is to spend less money and spend more time on cultivating our spiritual lives through our devotion to God, Buddha or whatever you believe in. Take a deep breath and say to yourself: “I don’t need to spend lots of money in order to prove my devotion to my faith.” It’s not so radical of an idea. Westerners did it years ago and so did the Balinese, Javanese and other Asian cultures. It worked then so why not now?
