the way of the dark clouds

[boudhinette]

today we started at dawn with sam and jack the french artist, the nights scents were still floating around as the women were already drawing their beautifull mandala kolam. we climbed the mountain rather quickly but of course it costs some sweat and pain in the limbs 
there's a story of how this mountain was a column of fire in the first age, the golden age, a ruby gem in the next, a copper pyramid in the third and in this kali yuga, the dark ages it's merely rock, the utmost symbole of concoction, manifestation, raw solidness
and indeed this morning it was burning as fire, gliterring as ruby as the sun rose, glowing as copper in the early morning, and just rocks most of the times 

we did guru rinpoche on top with food offerings and music, the whole set. very powerfull
our way of paying respect to Lord shiva and this Arunachal mountain
 

[boudhinette]

this morning i went for another round about the mountain, this is shiva ratri morning, quite a few saddhus around , and the young ones can't do without their mobile 

along the way there are many small shrines, tree temples and so on
this one is heavily decorated and has many tridents in front, a very old homage to tree spirit

there are also many ashrams like this huge one from guru nityananda. actually the owner or the manager of our hotel new the guy. they went to school together he said he was not really holy or special, he went to Rishikesh and he came back as a guru 
you can see his picture on the poster on the left
the whole mountain is circled by eight main lingams as i previously exlained, it forms a mandala. this one is huge and the mountain behind really looks as a volcano doesn't?

this is a termites housing complex and i was wondering why they worshiped it. they explained that cobras live underneath because they use the galleries to nest, so they actually worship the cobra, the sacred snake of Shiva 

note the tree with back and white pattern as in Bali. or better say, everything in Bali is imported from south India, note also the nice kolam painted in front 

then at the end (15 km) I arrived at the main temple and got the blessing from raku, the temle elephant, it's trump is soft on one's head

[rajshasha]

  good mahashivaratri 

[boudhinette]

it was great 
started by a visit at the temple at the foot of the mountain in the evening

it was not that crowded yet. a nice flow of devotees turning and turning around the various shrines and of course the main lingam
here the people streaming in to the second courtyard

many colored drawings or mandala were being finished and a while later thousands of lights were lit
here a shiva nataraj

here a mandala showing the outer and inner aspect of this powerful place

so the mountain on top of wich is lit the flame of deepam festival, below the temple with shiva and parvati murtis (statues)
inner meaning is the hidden yogi with the chakras aligned, the heart chakra being the united deities and the crown chakra the light connecting to the cosmos. a still deeper meaning would be the advaita's understanding of non duality in the secret heart, spriritual heart and the light of empty awareness connecting to uninterrupted self knowledge
 
something like that 
here a lingam surrounded by butter lamps and 1008 small lingams inside

the different courtyards wee all decorated,

 sacred music and bajans were played and amplified, and later masked dances took place. the feeling was much more of bali than the rest of India, but the music is more tribal with huge drums and horns.
later some nice fellow partook some bhang from calcutta and we stayed a while by a magic pond besides ramanashram and in front of arunachal mountain which image reflected on the wter together with the stars, the fleeting lights of the houses and the street lights. a great moment of communion.
later we sat at ramana samadhi, there wee ladies and gents singing praisng verses to the mountain composed by ramana himself. a very special melody completely different from ordinary bajhans and an incredibly pure voice of the leading mother, so pure, so crystal like, so high pitched, it really opened doors of perceptions, doors to the god realms>>>
then higher still ( if possible  ) we sat in the meditation hall which stayed full all night long, or i suppose so because i crashed at around 23pm, washed out by this long day! the people did pradakshina walking around the mountain the whole night reciting the names of shiva, but i have done it in the morning so i could take picks
we sat then a while beside one of the 8 directions lingams around the mountain,

 this was agni lingam the fire lingam.
not a very big one but very ancient and very powerful. musicians were playing hypnotic music with a double drum (dolak) and a strange coiled horn. trance tribal music while the people from the neighborhood were paying respect to the lingam offering fire, flowers, incense and fruits, turning around and around making garlands of colors in a self offering respectful mood. very good feeling and the young peoples not too high like other shivaratris i've witnessed in the north, much quieter, much more devotional
great dreams and prophecy followed that great day, and that was our last day in tiruvanamalai and in india for this time
inch allah

[boudhinette]

so we left tiruvanamalai,had a smooth ride to the airport spent the night with thai airways and lended in Jakarta around mid day.we avoided completely the huge city and took a direct bus to Bogor,a small un touristic town of west java.sundanese culture
this town's main attraction is a huge botanical garden with tropcial flaura,we thought we might as wellrest and recover from the trip in a garden rather than in a polluted noisy metropolis!!!

an amazing park indeed,the biggest pandanus I've ever seen, trees likecathedral,bamboos like sequoia

some buildings in typical javanese style

it'srainy season,we've hardly seen the sun since we hit indonesia,it's so green! and somehow cooler than in india where it was getting rather hot
here some victoria flowers,a kind of lotus or lilly but the huge kind! can hold a small child 

sorry i couldn't rotate with this indonesian program,twist your necks to see the pic!
then wearrived in the middle of the park were there is a tumb of an ancient king of Java.apparently he was one of the last hindu king and his son converteted to islam but he ran away in the mountains in order to keep his religion,his descendant are known as the Badui people an ethnic group still living in west java and still preserving a traditional culture in a kind of reserved area.they hav no mordern tools and live in the ancient way cultivating rice and gathering fruitsand hunting.probalby more animistic thant hindu.
anyway a sufi group came to pay homage,clad with traditional javanese sarong (batik dress) and hat and they prayed and did some sufi practice.chanting and breath exercices
we were meditating at the back of the tumb and had been exchanging some reflexions with the guard of the place,knowing a fewwords of indonesian is very usefull!
they respected us and let us stay,
it was another of this magical moment,  like a greeting a java.
for sure coming fromIndia itseems that the culture here is more underneath the islamic and modern way.but right away we connected with their mythology and spiritual sufi practices!
this morning we visited a fabric of gamelan,the brass percussion orchestra of java and bali.everything is made by hand,very traditonal.apparently this old man is one of the last gamelan maker   of west java
later we went to another craftsmith,this timemaking very fine wayang golek,the puppets used for Ramayana stories
all this visiting in small village like disctricts were people would smile and tease us as we pass by.very friendly and helpfull

here a localmoskand the small javanese houses along a river

[boudhinette]

Indonesia is more developped than India, they have good roads and many private cars. globally it looks that people are not so poor, at leas there is plenty to eat. 
we tried the delicious fruits from south east asia
the salak with a snake like skin and a crispy fresh taste, very delicate

the sirsak, juicy and a bit of a taste of strawberry

the mythical durian!

some people get crazy about it and in season there are even some murders! it really sitnks and it is said some people have died shortly after eating it, it's also said to be aphrodisiac 
 
the jack fruit, also sweet and crunchy



and some more...
today we arrived in Yogjakarta, we had the blessing of the mount merapi arising high above the rice fieds in the early morning, with it's smoke red and golden from the morning sun, the first sun we had since arrival!

found a very classy place to stay with beautifull ancient furnitures and carved windows, a touch of luxury for 5 euros, OK twice as much as in india but a real nice place!
Yogja is the capital of central java, a cultural centre, a university town full of youth, and the seat of the last sultan of java who still have a very big influence on politics and culture here.

It feels as a refined city with a strong culture and many crafts. batik is every where!
a bit tired from the trip, see you tomorrow

[boudhinette]

this morning we headed for the kraton, the sultan's palace of yogjakarta. He still resides here with his family and has a political role in the parliament, but most of all he is the symbol of javanese culture, the spiritual and cultural guide of the people. the palace is a succession of courtyards with tropical trees and open pavillions for dining, resting and different ceremonies. every sunday morning there is a performance of royal dances with the famous gamelan the full orchestra mainly composed of percussions.
here is a musician in traditional kraton costume ; a batik turban, a vest and a batik sarong (the sarong is the dress men and women wear alike, cool, confortable and classy)

the fist dance was of a young warrior falling in love with a devi a goddess, the second was a royal dance depicting female warriors, gracefull but wearing a revolver 

the third was more fun, a warrior from the dark side challenged a good warrior, one can tell from the hair style and the eyes  at the end the good one wins of course, but the whole battle is great, a kind of slow motion marital art with a gamelan somehow more rythmic
this music drives you into a special state, it's a bit like a limp into the god's realm...
later in the day we strolled around the palace area where many artists reside and work. there is the bird market, people here love birds of any kind, they use also messenger  pigeons

we had a drink in an art gallery and an interesting conversation with a young indonesian. he's a photographer, many nice black and white picks from the city as well as the chaotic views after the earthquake of 2006.
we found a buddhist prayer book in indonesian, apparently there are still some buddhist from the hindu/buddhist times before islam came in. the amazing thing was that the mantras were kept uncorrupted as well as the rituals, and...these are the mantras and the ritual that we do!
guru rinpoche, tara, even mahakala!
it was quite magik to meet practitioners from the other side of the world, united through time and history and cultural gap
 
in general people here are extremely friendly and polite. speaking a little bit of the language really helps of course but they really improved their english, especially here in yogja wich is the cultural center and university town of java.
i was here around 23 years agao, and i must say it has not changed that much. the people don't wear so much the traditional sarong most of them have changed for western style jeans and T-shirt, but they still wear it for ceremonies.
another thing i notice is that women wear more the islamic veil than before, apparently islamic groups have promoted culture and helped in dismissing Suharto, the previous dictator. so islamic lore is in fact an instument of freedom and democracy. anyway it's a\obviously not a fanatic islam. young girls do wear the veil, around the hair only, but then sexy t-shirts and low waist jeans 

I must say that both men and women are often extremely handsome here 

[boudhinette]

the tradtion and the 21st century seem to blend pretty well here. we went to visit a holy place for javanese, the tumbs of the ancient kings of chich the main one from the mythical sultan Agung is said to have magical power
it's a hill in the jungle with many steps going up towards the compound

the place actually looks like a balinese temple, better say that balinese temple are the reminiscence of old javanese hindu temples
one has to wear the traditional costume here, fortunately we've bought sarongs, the javanese dress in batik

inside the sancturay, it's like an oven, we sweat like never1
rose petals and incense, guards in traditional outfits pray with muslim rosary, we do our own with buddhist mala, no problem! it's a quiet and inspiring place. we stroll around in the village and the rice fields
the town is a place of artistic creation, batik of course,

both for clothes and some paintings too, but halos all sorts of handicrafts such as the delicate masks carved in wood and finally painted,

and of course the many dances, puppets and theatre...
at the same time coca cola and mac do are really ruling here, the young kids are consuming like their brothers of the east and west. one finds food everywhere and it seems that eating and buying are both favourite past time here. but the young generation seem a bit stuck in the 80es, long hair and gothic t-shirts, bob marley and the stones.. not much trnase here, but one has to look better maybe. it's not so much a dictatorship as it used to be but opening to the west is rather towards consumerism than counter culture. the only strong point is women rights, for a msulim country they seem to be pretty strong

[boudhinette]

this was the day we visited Prambanan, the famous hindu complex at the foot of mount Merapi. the entrance fee is very expensive, at least for asian standards (7.5 euros) but one has to think they nearly rebuilt the whole complex and many of the small temples are still under repair. they made a huge park around the temples, with green lawns, beautiful trees and deers gazing, the gamelan music is  heard everywhere with loudspeakers and so on, rather classy i must admit  . so after being a bit upset at the fee we settled at the far back where the buddhist complex of Sewu lies,

this civilization of the 9th century was a mixture of hindu and buddhist beliefs and iconography.
we did mahakala ritual by the entrance stupa of the complex. the temples are made of black lava stone, and it gets pretty hot at mid day there are still many parts in ruin

note the kala, the guardian deity above sam, this figure is everywhere in hindu and buddhist culture, be it tibetan, chinese, indian, indonesian...

and the style of the sculptures and reliefs is exactly the same as the ones we saw in mahabalipuram, on the other side of the indian ocean, and from the same time also, these are the people who crossed over and spread indian culture all over south east asia, see the boddhisatva's carving above me

the twin guards of each temple ae the dwarpalas, one represent good, the other evil, they look exactly alike, but one is on the right and the other on the left
isn't symbolic???

a short while after the ritual it started to pour rain, as if buckets and buckets of water were being thrown down 
we found refuge under some nice pavilions of the museum, this kind of architecture with open pavilions, pounds and gardens is what one needs in this climate, cool and protected from the rains

i did a whole session of tai chi with the gamelan playing in the background, the rain drops falling in the pounds and mist whirling from the warm earth, a real treat

then as the rain stops we paid a visit to the main complex of prambanan, the central huge civa temple, and the adjacent vishnu and Brhama temples
black lava and dark sky, a very fierce place under the volcano

unfortunately the earthquake did some further damage and they has some more work to do!
here it comes under the sun

[boudhinette]

the heart of Java lies in the Ramayana, and it's many expressions, this mrning we came back to the royal palace to watch a puppet show. not the shadow but the wooden ones. the dalang, the puppet performer is indeed a magician inhabited by the characters of the drama

behind the theater, he consecrates the puppets and then as the gamelan starts and the singers tell the narrative thread, he brings the puppets to life

he talks and changes voice from one character to the other, make them dance, fight, flee... though we don't follow the story and it has long bits of talking, the hypnotic effect of the gamelan makes it a spiritual ceremony.
two hours went by and I felt as in a deep meditation
the public was either tourist who spent a few minuts and left or javanese older people with children really enjoying the show 

another feature of deep java lies in the kampung, the village or the district. the island is so populated people leave on top of each other and they have developed a kind of collective identity. each district has public places to rest, play chest, watch tv and so on, the community takes care of cleaning, security education etc.. in one way it's a bit too much of public life for the young people who want to go their own way, but in the other way it's a warm feeling of belonging and collective togetherness
here is a board for public announcement, turns in community duty and so on

as one walks around in these tiny lanes, people greet one and ask the eternal questions where are you from? where do you go? do you like yogja ?(their town)
the people pay attention to their environment, it's very clean, full of flowers and plants and the local youth make street art like this superman with a javanese clown face 

this clown is called Semar, a very popular character of the ramayana puppet shows which tend to be a bit boring sometimes, he comes with his friend, jokes and involves the public
another piece f street art, rather psychedelic isn't?

in the afternoon we strolled in the water castle district where many young artists have their atelier
here is one of the gates of the water castle , the ancient royal bathing place.

there are also some meditation places which i now called the underground mosk but which is actually a meditation cave of the old hindu followers

[boudhinette]

a journey to buddhist java. here is Mendut, a buddhist shrine from the 9th century

the walk there through rice fields, village houses, banana/ papaya and manioc plantations was pleasant. rural java is slow paced and though over populated, it's quiet and very very green
the temple was pretty powerful, we meditated inside in front of the huge of a sitting buddha
 either buddha vairocana as they say, he is the central meditation buddha of the main mandalas, or it could also be maitreya, the buddha to come who doesn't sit in lotus posture but on a chair like westerners!

he is the buddha of love and friendship and his coming is supposed to bring a new era of universal love and global understanding..
the place is still alive, there are offerings and incense, the people in south east asia say mantra while they burn a incense and believe the mantra life force is carried to the buddha realms through the smoke
big incense sticks

nearby is a huge bo tree, one of these cathedral trees of the tropics. check the size of sam having a snack under it! 


just beside the temple there is an active buddhist monastery, it was a bit dark for pick and it's a shame 
such a nicely set place! the feng shui was perfect ; lotus pounds, stupa, bamboo bouquets and fine statues everywhere. two shrine rooms in the far east mahayana style and a big bell drum. we did our ritual in the main shrine room as frogs and geckos were responding each others


next day we headed for Borobudur main monument, the world famous stupa of the 9th century. another rip off from the indonesian gvt, another ticket of 12 dollars for foreigners and one for indonesians 
ok never mind 
we had the blessing of mount merapi showing it's summit above the clouds, towering at 2900m it's java's most active volcano!

we had the very good luck to be there when a tibetan lama was conducting the first ever ritual in Borobudur, you know the place is under high security since it was blasted a few years ago by islamic fundamentalist from al qaida followings.
so we joined and spent the morning chanting together with tibetan monks, chinese and indonesian, a great exemple of global common worship

they had set many offerings and were currently lighting up one million candles. the light offerings are supposed to bring auspicious connections for the clearing  the darkness of ignorance

the monument itself is a mandala, a huge cosmic representation of the 3 spheres, the desire realm 9our world  ) the form realm or the gods realm and the formless realm of deep meditation.
the story goes that a young man was searching truth and was blessed by samathabadhra the primordial buddha who touched his head. he immediately attained a deep meditation state. later he gradually perfected this state until reaching the full awakening and his journey is depicted on the panels of this stupa.

one circumbulates it clockwise

something like 3 km 
and walks gradually upstairs until top floor  where the great stupa of enlightenment reaches the sky

all the way up are finally carved reliefs  and wonderful statues. it's probably the biggest and finest peace of buddhist art,

 i'm very happy to have visited it the very day it was worshiped by some buddhist practitioners and not unaware tourist as usual
 the top floor is simple, pure mind realms. an overview of buddha's wisdom

this mountain behind is supposed to be java's navel1

[boudhinette]

what i found really interesting and symbolic was the meeting of chinese with tibetan and indonesian. for different reasons the chinese do not have good contact with either of these two ethnic groups. they invaded tibet and here in indonesia, although they are only 7per cent of the population they own like the thirds of trade, so they are a bit like the jewish of Asia, people don't like them and not only for economical reasons but also because their are non mulsim and eat (a lot of) pork. but here they joined in practicing together, a good symbol of what could be done if...we would put aside egoistic concerns
 
there was a javanese man, obviously a sage, all dressed in white with a ceremonial batik around the waist he looked like a shamane or a spiritual holy person of old javanese tradition.

with a rudraksha beads rosary, a carved stick and a turban he had a great look. he came to ask the tibetan teacher for blessings, but it was more like the mneeting of two spiritual leaders. the javanese offered the tibetan lama a javanese vajra which is longer and a bit different from the tibetan version

then he asked to take the lama's bell and he blessed it! so it was like a mutual blessing eventhough it seemed to me that the tibetan lama was a bit unsure about the meeting. the dukun (javanese shaman) pryed and did a few mudrs (hand gestures) that looked really from the early hindu buddhist tantric times.
I thought this meeting was very symbolic and we were right there in front waiting for blessings too1

[boudhinette]

a long but pleasant bus ride through east java, we found ourselves at 5 in the morning in the ferry for Bali, just a glimpse of ?sumeru volcano on java and agung in Bali before a heavy downpour.
at the first glimpse Bali is still as beautiful as ever. at the second glimpse, it has developed a lot but the people kept the beauty and harmony, they have a good standard of living. in the transport getting us to ubud, the cultural capital of south bali, we met a balinese women who spoke to us about how the javanese were coming here and doing all sorts of bad things such as bombing and robbing and so on. she said balinese people are following the triple rule of respecting life, respecting nature and respecting the gods so they would never do such unwholesome actions.. it reminded me how the people where so pure and so aware about the quality of life they have here. she also said that they ask permission to everything before using it, for exemple before taking a flowerm or having a bath in the sea, i could not get it all because my indonesian is pretty scarse but i could feel the pride and dignity of their way of life. a very nice welcome to Bali
as for the landscape, it's still a total harmony of nature and men's creativiy..
can the balinese keep the paradise alive in this kali yuga?

[boudhinette]

this woman in the bemo (public transport) was probably the embodiment of bali itself, a kind of cosmic connection in order to  welcoming us and also giving us the tools of how to behave here ; be humble, ask permission to nature and people to come in and settle in balinese way of life
so this morning we started on foot towards Teges, on the way we came in the temple of the dead, the pura dalem of ubud and peliatan

each village has at least three temples
the temple of the forefathers dedicated to bhrama
the pura desa or the village temple dedicated to vishnu, the sustainer and to the people living
the temple of the deads or pura dalem dedicated to shiva
but actually there is little of brhama vishnu and shiva here 
it is really a animistic cult of the living forces of nature together with a hindu background and a very high sense of behavior that relates more to buddhist ethic than hindu
after sitting down a bit under one of these splendid pavilion

we took a look at the intricated carvings. because this temple is dedicated to the deads there are many figures of Randa, the blood sucking ogress and some terrifying entities who are depicted cutting off heads and raping women with a long stick. balinese have a very  rich imagination as far as evil entities are concerned and are really afraid of them too1 look at this kala mask above sam's head

we met a very friendly priest  who told us to come next week for the galungan ceremony. a smiling welcome, which was probably also due to us putting on the traditional costume for visiting temples, sitting in the right place and behaving humble and polite. they see hundreds of thousands of tourist and are probably fed up of being seen as a human zoo, on the other hand, showing interest and respect to their way of life is very much appreciated and opens many doors.
then we went on in rice fields and country roads to Goa gadjah. there is much more traffic now, and of course more houses and more shops, but in this area at least, they have built in a nice way in harmony with the feng shui and the beauty of rice fields and nature, so it is still as beautiful as ever.
tired by the walk, we refresh under the cool water of a beautiful fountain in front of the cave. later we learnt this water is supposed to keep one young! why not, we need that 


this cave dates back to the ten th century. it's entrance is a big kala, the protector with his both hand sticking out on both sides.

there was a temple ceremony and many balinese in their fine ceremonial clothes were attending.
the priest stands in front of the offerings and blesses them with endless prayers sang in melodious hypnotic tone, the assembly pays not much attention, the youth talking, flirting and playing with their mobiles like any young people of any place, but when it comes to receiving the blessing, everyone and us too join palms and bend our necks, sharing respect and aspiration
the cave has a statue of Ganesh and there shiva lingams, but because one is in bali, they wrapped colored material around the lingams, one red one black and one white so attributing them the status of trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
later we went down on a treck in a deep gorge with wonderful jungle, small temples are everywhere to make offering to the gods but balinese spirit are everywhere and if one looks well, one can see a face, a carved mask behind lush vegetation.

we ended going all the way down to the river and having a nice bath in pure balinese tradition ; naked!
looks a bit like a lost paradise isn't?

the nice thing is that rivers are pretty clean again, i remember in the late eighties to be shocked by the way balinese have been dumping their rivers with heaps of plastic bags and rubish. since we arrived yesterday i saw many people bathing in the rivers (naked don't peep  ) and it's apparently much cleaner
sam blessed his rosary with the rivers water

in a gesture of thaning the place for giving us this cool bath and showing respect..

[boudhinette]

full moon today, we went up to Tampak siring . a steady climb with bicyle, 25km in tropical sun, but the landscape is so fascinating that i didn't feel it was so hard.
the holy site of tirta empul was very full today.

it's THE  sacred spring of B ali, a resurgence of sacred streams of india. The water really springs out from the sand with a lot of energy it is fascinating


we took bath with the balinese
and poured Ganga water into the spring, then replacing it with this holy water
for memory, we started by taking water from the miraculous spring of aleyrac near our place, at january full moon we offered it into Ganga and took some in place, this was the water we offered today.
pouring water into water is a tibetan symbol of mind mixing, one can not see the difference between the two waters, it mixes perfectly, weer is clear and transparent like the nature of mind. in the relative level things appear in different forms, traditions and customs vary but the pure nature of mind is one.
also by bringing holy water from place to place in this way we make the wish that globalisation should happen in the way of unified higher consciousness, openness to culture and understanding of each others ways of practicing
another amazing synchronicity is that in Tiru/India we met someone who is part of a group of practitioners who do their rituals in...guess where??? Aleyrac, the place we went during this halloween!
the world is indeed a village 
there are no more pics of tirta Empul because for some obscure (energetic i guess) reasons, the cameras battery run dry at this place to start again when  we left 
the next stop was Gunung Kawi, a steep walk down a deep canyon in stones steps and passage ways that reminded me a bit of macchu Picchu

this is a 10th century buddhist hermitage with amazing caves carved in the rock

of course we spent some times meditating here 

there are also gigantic altars probably sit for the five meditation buddhas, but there are no statues left

I had been to all these places before, i was really touched to see that not only the sites have been preserved but they are even better kept and worshiped! as I am reading in a series of articles writen by balinese intellectuals, the mass tourism and the subsequent wave of javanese settling in Bali have made balinese people more aware of the riches of their culture as well as of the need to preoctect it and to perpetuate it. for what i've seen so far, it is not far from a perfect answer to modernism, a way of blending good standard of living with a
high sense of spirituality and culture. now there are tensions and environmental problems due to over population in some areas.. I'm curious to see how this will develop but I have deep respect and trust to their way of dealing with these new issues. they could  indeed be an example for many ethnic groups all over the world, and India being one of those!