"when my boys are the same age now as your boys, I can only wonder what their Bali will be like."
Aloha Roy, Yes, In my wildest dreams I wouldn't ever have guessed Bali would've become so overbuilt. It seemed so far from anything like that in those days, hardly anyone even knew where it was, much less want to come visit. But the world has changed, and will continue to change, as the population increases and increases. The Vedas of India, and many Balinese understand we are in the darkness of the age of "Kali-yuga" the time when our planet is run by demoniac minds, quarrels, hypocrisy and greed take precedence over everthing, and nature is mostly destroyed for factories and technology.
[quote:2s3dlw72]
" As parents, and in total love and devotion to our children we always want, and do everything we can think is best for them. Personally I will never ever take my boys away from Bali." :cry[/quote:2s3dlw72]:
Both Murna and I were very devoted, however, we didn't have the privilege of having any comfortable material security. Bali was very much a 3rd world place. Not many ways to make money, tourism had barely begun, the world didn't travel like it does now. I didn't want to take my children from Bali, but I didn't want to watch them not have enough to eat or not have decent medical care if they became sick. Our devotion was that we wanted them to have Murna never had, or at least he did.
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In all honesty, I can't imagine taking them away from what is their home...home being defined in all possible manners as a nurturing, spiritual community, healthy, and totally condusive to growth kind of place."
I agree with you Roy, Bali is a very special place for children to grow up. It broke my heart, and has not even begun to heal, for the choices made back so long ago. It was out of poverty that we had to leave. My parents had money to invest to help making some business, which is what our intention was when we married. My father realized the potential of Indo-Bali handicrafts, and actually bought up a container to take back to US. He was an engineer and didn't know how to market that "gold mine" Both Murna and I wanted to start a restaurant or shop, but the funding wasn't available. Yes, many regrets in that area, but what can one do?
Even without the influence of their Balinese relatives, my sons have been raised in a very nurturing environment, loving family and I did my best to teach them Hindu dharma, perhaps more estensively so than most ordinary Balinese children. Some children are naturally more inclined towards spritual science than others, my son Wayan is very learned in Sanskrit (not Balinese, but nevertheless very close!) My boys know all the Vedic stories that Balinese culture has, maybe they don't know the traditional stories, but they are learned in the history of the planet, according to the Mahabharat, Ramayana, and Bhagavad-gita. I spoke with many young Balinese in Kuta when I was there last year, and found many to be lacking interest in much of their culture, more interested in hustling women and going to Australia than understanding anything about their own culture. This was in Kuta, but most of these kids I spoke with came from other parts of Bali. They feel we have something better to offer then their culture, because so many of them are so poor, and they can't help compare their lives to their materially rich Aussie and Western friends.
I don't feel it is too late for my sons to learn about their biological heritage. They are still young, and have had a good background. This trip will be a stepping stone for my son Wayan especially. Made is of a different personality, he loves Bali, but it is Wayan that has the Balinese nature. He says he is at peace with the fact he didn't get to see his father, and he knows that Murna is at peace with it as well. I understand that he has much more insight into this situation than I do, such is the connection of the Balinese minds.
One more thing, sorry this so long, but when the subject of bali comes up, I have much to say. Since this thread was about learning Balinese, my son Made, when he was a toddler, under 3, he would ramble on in his own speech, which sounded to me like Balinese, and to anyone who didn't know, they commented that he was speaking some Asian language. This was in Colorado, and his Balinese father wasn't there influencing him, he seemed to be able to speak some Balinese, left over from a past life, perhaps! :lol:
