Go to the Monkey Forest and learn meditation for free
Go to the Monkey Forest and learn meditation for free
Ida Indawati Khouw, Contributor, Ubud, Bali
The small town of Ubud, about 20 kilometers north of the
capital city of Denpasar, never loses its attraction as a center
of Balinese arts.
It has a lot to offer, from traditional massage to courses on
arts like batik and wood carving.
But most interesting of all is probably the "spiritual
tourism" introduced by the Meditation Shop on the main street of
Jl. Monkey Forest.
The modest business stands side by side with other shops. It
aims to attract visitors looking for "alternative tourism", like
Olga Kulanowska, 38, from Australia.
"I want to recharge myself and feel the energy of Ubud," she
said. Kulanowska visited the shop every evening during her stay
in the town.
The Meditation Shop offers everything from books, CDs and
cassettes on meditation but the main selling point is the roughly
40 square-meter room where visitors will feel the silence and can
train the mind in positive and peaceful thinking.
In short, the shop is there for those looking for a spiritual
experience.
"We simply called it a shop when it was established in 1990.
The building is designed as a starting point for people to rest
and get information (about Brahma Kumaris)," said Frank Wilson,
an Australian businessman who is the coordinator of Brahma
Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) Ubud branch, which
runs the shop.
Founded in 1936, BKSWU is now an NGO affiliated to the United
Nations in consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council of the UN (ECOSOC) and Unicef. There are more than 5,300
Brahma Kumaris centers in the world, six of which are in major
Indonesian cities, such as Jakarta and Surabaya (East Java), as
well as Bali. The headquarters of the BKSWU is in Mount Abu,
India.
Brahma Kumaris (literally, sons and daughters of Brahma) was
founded by Brahma Baba (1876-1969), an Indian businessman who
experienced a series of powerful visions in 1936, giving him new
insights into the innate qualities of the human soul, revealing
the mysterious entity of God and explaining the process of world
transformation.
The exterior of the shop encourages passersby to stop for a
while. Some just read the sign board "The Meditation Shop" out
loud with amazement, while others have to try to find out what it
is all about.
Guests will be greeted as peaceful souls. "May Peace Prevail
on Earth" is the warm welcome carved on a wooden pole that stands
in the front yard. The same message is repeated upon entering the
shop: Om Shanti (I am a peaceful soul) is inscribed on the door
that opens at 5 p.m. every day.
Visitors interested in joining the free meditation exercise
can simply take a seat on the rows of cushions or chairs that are
set up so as to create a comfortable atmosphere.
To market peace to anybody regardless of their religious
belief through meditation is the shop's business.
Dim lighting, a candle, the scent of flowers and meditative
music are some of the means used to put visitors in a peaceful
state of mind.
They are encouraged to focus their eyes on the candle light or
on the so-called golden red light, believed to be the color of
the spiritual world and the symbol of energy.
"Those are provided as the physical objects to focus the eyes
on," Wilson said.
Get into as comfortable a position as possible -- hopefully
you will be able to join the one hour meditation session that
starts at 6 p.m.
Don't know how to meditate? Just take part in the five free
lessons held every day starting at 7:15 p.m. Before the economic
crisis, quite a number of visitors from various countries joined
the meditation classes.
The course focuses on Raja Yoga, the king of all yogas, which
recognizes the intrinsic spirituality and goodness of every human
being. It is hoped that people will rediscover the goodness
within themselves through practicing Raja Yoga.
The yoga focuses on people's minds and does not involve any
physical positions or physical aids, but rather focuses on
practicing meditation, concentration and realization (being in a
state of total concentration).
Raja Yoga is taught as a way to promote peace.
"We share what we have. If we have negative feelings of anger,
fear and revenge, it is those feelings that will be spread to
others. Thus we want to change them into peace, happiness and
love," said Wilson, who started co-ordinating activities at the
Meditation Shop in Ubud in 1995.
Wilson realizes not all of the visitors will experience the
real yoga. "Maybe some get a lot, others just a tickle," he said.