Galungan, Kuningan provide time for reflection and contemplation

Galungan, Kuningan provide time for reflection and contemplation

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

As a nation, Indonesia is close to hitting rock bottom. After a short period of political peace under its new president, the Indonesian people must again endure the seemingly endless pain -- unimaginable natural disasters, disease, poverty and the recent barbaric bombings in Kuta and Jimbaran, which have once again destroyed the peace in Bali and stabbed the entire Balinese people in the heart.

"I feel there is a big hole within my heart. The tragedy will be seen by the majority of the Balinese community as a direct attack on the very soul of our land, its holy spirits -- in other words, on the wholeness of Bali," the poignant poet Mas Ruscita Dewi said minutes after the blasts.

The tolerant and forgiving Balinese people will keep their anger deep within their hearts, but following the second terrorist tragedy on their land, "I am really afraid that the anger will soon blow up like a nuclear bomb," said Ruscita, a member of the princely Kesiman family.

"But if we express this anger, we will become evil like the terrorists, which we really don't want to happen," she said.

During Galungan, one of Balinese Hinduism's biggest religious ceremonies, which fell on Wednesday, and the upcoming Kuningan celebration on Saturday, Oct. 15, the Hindu people of the island will together observe the victory of dharma (right) over adharma (evil), and hope that this will be reflected in the island's future.