'Nyepi,' the right time for self-contemplation

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Unlike the Gregorian New Year celebrated worldwide in a festive mood highlighted by glittering firecrackers, bustling sounds of trumpets and other musical instruments, the Balinese Hindu's Saka Lunar New Year, or Nyepi, which falls next Sunday (March 25), will be marked by total silence and darkness.

The reason for this modest and stoic celebration is based on the philosophy of sunia or somya, Balinese terms for silence, serenity and emptiness.

"Sunia or somya is the sacred source of creative energy," explained the noted Balinese scholar Ketut Sumarta.

Most Balinese people believe that without sunia or somya they cannot create anything.

Every holy man and prophet must go through a period of solitude as a form of struggle to attain the truth of life and understand their real existence.

After going through such a period, they are able to grasp their inner creative energy and transform it into speeches, actions and thoughts which can enlighten the hearts and minds of their followers.

"The condition of silence-serenity-emptiness is the prelude to all important things in this world," Sumarta added.

In the realm of spirituality and holy books, God's revelations were given to a solitary person usually in the middle of the night or in some isolated location, he said.

Sumarta went on to say that man is by nature enslaved by his or her own lusts and desires. This bondage will only lead him to his own destruction. On a more personal level, Nyepi is a way to tame all of those self-destructing lusts and desires.

"It is just like cloudy and dirty water which needs to be cleaned," Sumarta said.

Every year, the Balinese Hindus do their best to enliven their somya. During the Nyepi day, they will adhere to four basic restrictions which prevent them from lighting fire, working, traveling and engaging in any leisure activities.

During Nyepi, Bali will look like a deserted island. All the streets will be empty, all public and private offices will be closed, and even the Ngurah Rai International Airport will be closed, only allowing transit and emergency flights.

On that day, a Hindu follower will be given a chance to not only reexamine what he has done in the past, but to also reconsider his aims and goals in the future.

In modern days, people have almost no chance for self- contemplation, unable to avoid distractions and attractions.

A day before Nyepi, the ritual Tawur, which means both "sacrifice" and "return", will be held all over the island. Each family will carry out their own rituals at their respective houses. The larger-scale ceremonies will take place at village, district, regency, and provincial levels.

The ceremonies are the people's way of paying their debts to nature and the universe.

"When you take something from nature you must give something in return, or else the harmonious balance of nature might be disrupted," another scholar Nyoman Gede Sugiharta said.

The Tawur is also a way to appease and ward off the violent forces of nature, be it fire, wind, water or earth. Natural catastrophes such as floods, storms and earthquakes, according to Balinese beliefs, are caused by the disruption in nature's harmonious balance.

"Those violent forces are sometimes mistakenly viewed as evil spirits. The truth is, it has nothing to do with evil or goodness. It is just a matter of whether or not we treat nature in a proper and correct way," Sugiharta stressed.

Several hours after the Tawur rituals finish, usually after sunset, thousands of Balinese Hindu followers engage in the Ngerupuk ritual. Carrying bamboo torches in their hands, they march along the streets of their respective villages. They will yell, scream, clap their hands or play the gong as loud as possible, creating a cacophony that will eliminate evil spirits.

"Philosophically, Tawur and Ngerupuk are ways to put everything back into its original position, to return nature to a state of balance again, so it will be ready to enter the state of silence-serenity-emptiness the following morning," Sugiharta said.

And, when they finish all the rituals of Nyepi, hopefully, Sugiharta said, the Balinese people will be able to start their "new and enlightened" lives with their revitalized inner energy. (zen)