Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Hindus flock Sakenan temple in Kuningan

"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, February 4, 2008

Hindus flock Sakenan temple in Kuningan

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Scorching midday heat on Saturday failed to stop thousands of Hindu devotees from flocking to the ancient Sakenan temple on Serangan island to commemorate the Kuningan festival.

Kuningan is the second largest of a series of festivals held twice a year to celebrate the victory of Dharma (virtue) against Adharma (vice). Kuningan falls ten days after the celebration of Galungan, the largest festival.

Galungan and Kuningan commemorate the victory of the heavenly army led by Lord Indra in the military campaign against Bali's atheist ruler King Mayadenawa.

"Galungan is the day of victory, the day for joyous celebration, while Kuningan is the day of a renewed pledge, the day when we declare our allegiance to the gods and our commitment to steadfastly defend the precepts of Dharma," Balinese scholar Sugi Lanus said.

The ancient temple of Sakenan, some 20 kilometers east of Denpasar, is the island's most popular Kuningan's pilgrimage site. In the old days, people had to walk across a shallow body of water or board a small boat to reach Serangan, the tiny island that hosts the temple, but now a wide, two-lane road and a concrete bridge connect the island with mainland Bali.

People started heading to the island early in the morning, resulting in a traffic jam and a long queue in front of the temple's main gate.

"Kuningan is always like this in here. On Friday, the number of devotees were so large that we had to ask them to take turn in presenting their offerings. Moreover, we had to hold several prayer sessions to accommodate them," a member of the temple's committee said.

The male devotees were mostly dressed in white shirts, batik sarongs and white destar (a headscarf), while female devotees wore colorful kebaya and batik sarongs. The women also carried colorful offerings of fruits, cakes, flowers and incenses.

"Kuningan is a festival in the series of Galungan commemorations and people usually place weapons in their offerings as a symbol of their willingness to fight their vices," Bendesa (a traditional customary village head) Serangan I Wayan Astawa told The Jakarta Post at the temple Saturday.

He said that Saturday was also the day of the temple's anniversary, the Pujawali or Piodalan.

"This fact has further increased the number of people who are coming to the temple today," he said.

Serangan island and Sakenan temple, he added, were closely connected to two of Bali's great sages; Danghyang Astapaka and Danghyang Nirartha. The latter was the founder of the social and religious structure that still survives today.

"That's another reason why people from all over Bali come to this place on Kuningan," Astawa added.

Astawa said that to deal with the increasing number of pilgrims, the temple's committee had introduced a new system, using queue cards for people who wanted to pray in the shrine.

"But that only worked for the first few hours, the rest... you can see fir yourself," he said, nodding at the disorganized ocean of people in front of the temple.

"It seems that we should evaluate this system to devise a better way of organizing these people," he said.

Inside the temple, people were being led in prayer by Hindu priests who chanted holy mantras during the ceremony as the fragrant mist of incense filled the air.

At one point in the festival, several local dancers performed the Arjuna Wiwaha dance drama from the great Hindu epic the Mahabharata and narrated the trials and tribulations of Arjuna as he searched for the Pasupati, the ultimate weapon.

"Performing arts and music have always been an integral part of Balinese Hinduism's rituals. They serve two main purposes; to entertain the visiting deities as well as to inspire devotees to follow the path of Dharma," Sugi Lanus said.

Kuningan is also a good time for Balinese street vendors.

The road to the Sakenan temple was lined on both sides by street vendors selling cold soft drinks, traditional heavy meals like tuna satay or suckling pig to pirated VCDs and cheap children's toys.

Rustam, a beverage vendor, said that he was always moved temporarily to the area around Sakenan temple every Galungan and Kuningan.

"On a day like this I can double my income," said the vendor, who usually works in front of an elementary school in Denpasar.