<
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/in-bali-water-temple-priests-guide-a-sustainable-rice-production-system/>
"UBUD, Indonesia — Inside the small, open-air stone temple in the center of the
Lotudunduh rice fields, a farmer wraps a sarong and sash around his
mud-spattered work clothes. Suitably dressed in baju adat, or traditional
dress, to approach the gods, he places a small offering of brightly colored
flowers in a platter of woven palm leaves on one of the tall carved shrines and
sprinkles it with holy water. The temple, the ceremony, the farmer and the rice
fields are all part of Bali’s ancient, ritually controlled rice farming system
called subak.
Subak, says I Made Chakra Widia, is a very clever system. Chakra is the fourth
generation of a rice-farming family in Pengosekan, near the village of Ubud.
“[The original farmers] really understood how to farm this land,” he says.
“They understood the interaction between soil, water and weather.” Nature was
seen as a partner in the growing of food, not a resource to be exploited, he
tells
Mongabay.
This links with Tri Hita Karana, the central philosophy of Bali’s unique form
of Hinduism, which maintains that the spirit realm, the human world and nature
must be in balance for human prosperity, health and well-being.
“We believe that nature has power — that everything has a spirit,” says Eka
Yuliani, the wife of (former) rice farmers. “Our religion in Bali, it’s not
about praying, it’s about giving thanks. When we put offerings in front of a
tree, we’re giving thanks for the oxygen, the flowers, the fruit.”"
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/ritual-technology/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
