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.