Ashram Gandhi Candi Dasa offers spiritual enlightenment

Ashram Gandhi Candi Dasa offers spiritual enlightenment

By Dewi Anggraeni

CANDI DASA, East Bali (JP): Mention Bali to most tourists and
they will very likely come up with stories about their stays in
Kuta, Sanur, Ubud or Nusa Dua, probably in that order as well.

Another place which is increasingly gaining a reputation for
its upmarket tourist industry is Candi Dasa, on the east coast of
Bali some 80 kilometers northeast of Denpasar.

Candi Dasa is in the region of Amlapura, where Tenganan, an
indigenous Balinese village, is situated. Amlapura is also the
cradle of the local royal residence, or the Puri Agung, of
Karangasem, with its nearby floating palace.

Those are without doubt big tourist attractions. What is not
common knowledge is that people in all corners of the world have
known of Candi Dasa since the late 1970s, thanks to a remarkable
Balinese woman known as Ibu Gedong Bagoes Oka, also a current
member of the People's Consultative Assembly.

In 1976, Ibu Gedong, without fuss or fanfare, founded a
Gandhian center now known as Canti Dasa Ashram, or Ashram Gandhi
Candi Dasa to the locals.

From outside, especially at a glance, there is nothing special
about the Ashram, nestled among shops and tastefully fronted
hotels on the main road of Candi Dasa.

The front yard, while well maintained, is pretty
ordinary, dotted with frangipanni trees and a decorative basin
where a fountain seems to be missing. However, if you are
privileged enough to be invited beyond the main house into the
inner area, you will not only see, but also feel the unique
beauty of the place.

It may have a lot to do with the basic tenets of Gandhian
teachings, Ahimsa, or nonviolence, and Swadesi, or self-
sufficiency, which the Ashram members profess to hold dear.

While you do not usually expect violence in a hotel or even in
a private house, the ambience of the Ashram is inexplicably and
overwhelmingly peace-inducing, as if it were a tangible blanket
enveloping you. The members do not kill animals for food. But
this does not mean their diet is deficient in any way, because
they use substitutes such as soya beans, liberally included in
the diet to provide protein as well as taste.

And barring a telephone-cum-fax machine, which is discreetly
covered with a locally woven cloth, everything the members use
are made in situ from local materials.

Several times a day the sounds of puja, or prayers, insinuate
themselves into your consciousness, often to settle later in an
unassuming way in your subconscious.

In the center grassy area where coconut trees and other
smaller plants provide not only shade but also sources of
nutrition, a fawn-colored cow grazes quietly, adding a rustic
element to the atmosphere.

The cow blends in with the visual and sensual peacefulness.
More than half of the whole community, at present 28 members,
consist of secondary school students.

While the Ashram opens its house to paying guests, it only
accepts those who are introduced or referred by members or Ibu
Gedong herself.

And guests are expected to observe strict rules, such as no
loud noise, no alcohol, no smoking and people of the opposite sex
who are not married are not allowed to share a room.

The food served to guests is vegetarian, but the guests are
given conventional crockery and cutlery, unlike members who eat
out of bowls made of coconut shells.

Though guests have no obligation to join in the regular
prayers and discussions on Gandhian teachings, many indeed come
once or twice, out of interest, or maybe mere curiosity.

The length of time the guests may stay is not limited. Some
stay only one night while others stay for months. Many of the
latter are "volunteers", who pay less than ordinary guests but
are expected to share jobs and tasks with members, such as
farming, carpentry, general cleaning and maintenance of the
place. And if they are native speakers of English, they may be
asked to teach members who want to learn the language.

Many long-term guests are writers, artists, social or academic
researchers, or people who simply like the type of life provided
by the Ashram.

Robin Tatu, a historian from the University of Hawaii, is
studying Balinese language and culture, and finds the Ashram not
only very conducive to her learning, but also a wonderful home
away from home.

Terry Cox, an agricultural scientist-turned-therapeutic
masseur from New Zealand, has been going to the Ashram since
1977, not long after it was founded. At the time he was in
Jakarta for an international conference and a Dutch doctor friend
of his introduced him to Ibu Gedong, and he eventually came to
stay in the Ashram.

The experience affected him so much that when he went home to
New Zealand he could not stop talking about the Ashram, gradually
exasperating his family who were unable to relate to his stories.
Terry admits that it was a culture shock, but a culture shock
that grabbed, then captured him.

"For me, being in an Asian country was new enough. But the
Ashram really blew my mind. Yet I felt completely at home in it,"
Terry recalled. After that, he came back regularly, even if it
was not easy for him. "I had a full-time job and a growing
family. However, whenever I had to attend conferences in the
region I made a detour to Indonesia and stayed in the Ashram as
much as I was able to. But now I come here whenever I want to."

The basic lifestyle might cause those who are used to the
convenience afforded by modern gadgets shrink back and think
twice before committing themselves. However, this does not mean
the Ashram is not attractive to young people.

Ayu, who has been a member for nearly 12 years, likes the
spirituality that dominates the routine in the Ashram. She
believes that the simplicity of life there also invokes inner
peace.

Members have the opportunity to work closely with nature,
including working in the fields and making furniture and other
items from natural materials. Apart from cooking rice they grow
themselves, they also make tomato chutney, pineapple jam and
peanut butter, all from ingredients they grow themselves. Some
ingredients have to be bought, like the wheat flour for making
bread and additional rice when there are more paying guests than
usual.

Kadek, who joined in 1996 after completing his degree in
tourism and hospitality, found the spiritual aspects of Ashram
life provided the calm he had unconsciously sought, so he stayed
on. "This is my fourth year, yet it seemed like yesterday when I
joined," he mused. Kadek often meditates with the sounds of the
waves in the background.

Ibu Gedong still comes frequently to lead discussions about
Gandhian thoughts. When she is not in Candi Dasa, the current
leader, Pak Kawi, heads the discussions.

Canti Dasa Ashram is without doubt an extraordinary place,
where at night, if you listen, you realize that the waves break
in different tunes, recede and return in different rhythms of
roars, and where occasionally you feel a "presence" in your hut.
But if you have decided to have an atavistic experience, would
you let a spirit or two stop you?