Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Balinese Hindus celebrate birth of knowledge

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Monday, November 12, 2007

Balinese Hindus celebrate birth of knowledge

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Balinese Hindus observed Saraswati Day, also known as the birthday of knowledge, on Saturday by praying in their homes, temples and schools to acknowledge the importance of education.

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of learning, wisdom, knowledge and the arts. The Balinese regard her as the divine manifestation of God and source of knowledge and commemorate her birthday every 210th day of the Balinese lunar and pawukon (cyclic) calendars.

"This is a routine ceremony to remind us that education should be made a priority in our lives," the province's Education Agency head, TIA Kusuma Wardhani, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

A public ceremony was held at Badung Puputan square in Denpasar, where thousand of worshipers, mostly young students, swarmed Jagatnatha Temple.

Most offices were closed and teaching and learning activities at schools were not conducted on the day.

Teachers and students at the Saraswati Foundation School held a mass prayer to mark the day, during which they made sacred offerings to books and the library.

"This ritual is aimed at respecting books and sacred texts that provide us with knowledge. We also pray that all knowledge given to us will be useful for mankind," Hindu priest Ida Pedanda Gede Putra, who led the mass prayer at the school, said.

The head of Bali's Parisadha (Hindu Council), Nengah Sudiana, said books were symbols of knowledge and therefore should be venerated.

"Some Hindus here abstain from reading books and writing on this day," he said, adding he hoped Saraswati Day would not only be viewed as a routine religious ceremony, but also as a tool by which to boost the spirit of learning.

In Hindu mythology, Saraswati is regarded as the divine consort of Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. Since knowledge is necessary for creation, Saraswati symbolizes the creative power of Brahma.

Popular images and pictures of Saraswati often depict her with four arms, wearing a white sari and seated on a white lotus. She holds a book and a rosary in her rear two hands, while the front two hands play a lute.

The book she holds is the sacred Vedas, representing universal, divine, eternal and true knowledge as well as her command of the sciences and scriptures. The rosary represents the power of meditation and spirituality, while the lute represents her command of the arts.

Statues or pictures of Saraswati are often displayed at schools in Bali as a symbol of knowledge and science.