I know I “bowed out” of this discussion a while ago, but all along I was wishing that Kadek would touch on essence of animal sacrifice within Hindu/Dharma in Bali that has not been previously addressed. I guess it just seemed to me that it would be a better thing if a Balinese addressed some of these issues rather than me.
But, in the end, perhaps it’s better if I do this.
I am not going to use the Balinese terms for what I am about to say, rather I would like to present this aspect in very simple terms...words which just might offer a little more insight into the Balinese perspective about this issue.
Please let me assume that most all readers understand the concept of reincarnation within the greater Hindu, and specific Balinese Hindu/Dharma religion. I hope I can also assume that this concept of reincarnation here in Bali is not simply limited to people, but rather, that it applies to ALL living things.
Whenever any animal is sacrificed in a temple ceremony, its soul is immediately purified and brought to the highest level of peace with the Gods that any human can expect. There are a host of Balinese terms that define this process, but in the end, this is the end for that which is sacrificed. Is this difficult to grasp? Very likely it is, amongst those who sit on the side lines and cast dispersions, but those dispersions cannot be taken as anything less than religious discrimination, or so I say anyway.
So, am I am saying in so many words that dogs sacrificed in Balinese ceremonies immediately enter a “doggy heaven?” The answer is YES for the Balinese. The same goes for ducks, or whatever animal is sacrificed.
At the 100 year ceremonies for most all Balinese temples, each and every known creature, from a simple flea, to a horse or water buffalo is sacrificed. This all happened at Pura Besakih in 1979, or there about. It has happened since too.
Is it appropriate, and as demanded by the West that this all stops? My opinion is NO!
My opinion is to let time take its course, and influences settle in.
IMHO, our best influence, as expats, is to demonstrate, by example only, our attitudes towards dogs or any other living creatures that grasps our emotional attention which is clearly the prodigy of our own culture. Any attempt to “force feed” the Balinese with our ideology will only fall on deaf ears, and that is as it should be!
In my opinion, this string, specifically, the topic at hand, has evolved from the sublime to the ridiculous, and with very little understanding of the Balinese culture emerging as a result. That is NOT a good thing.
In all honesty, I really don’t care to read much more of the highly charged emotional comments that are based on dogs, as pets, and as sleeping partners...which has resulted in one overly emotional member quitting this forum. In the Balinese manner of thinking, that is ridiculous, funny, and without any sense. Abdicating one’s right, as a man or woman, for the right of free speech over animal rights is absurd. And that is not only in the mind of most of Balinese...rather, it is in my mind as well.
This is Bali!
Here, in Bali, the “dark side” is respected and paid as much attention as the “light side.” Here, it is understood, and a part of daily life, that the energy between those forces are the driving influences of our daily lives. Too many expats, let alone visitors to Bali, will ever understand that an equal effort for those “light” or “good” forces are also spent on the “dark” or evil forces.
Bali is all about balance.
