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.