Blessing with Ida Pedanda Gria

Today began early. And, not just a regular day. Today, someone is taking me to a highly rank priest, Ida Pedanda Gria as they say it here, after him, its god! The priest has accepted to bless me. His ritual is early in the morning and as much I got up early, I didn’t really have a chance to eat breakfast as the kitchen opened 15 minutes before I had to go. We arrive at his compound, a beautiful one I might add, and my guide is Sang Made Merta who has made all the arrangements, his mother even made the offering baskets for me and lent me the traditional clothing to enter a temple. There is so much to know about Balinese culture, that I don’t think a year would be sufficient to learn it all. The compound is built specifically around rules and traditions. The house of the father is always to the north, this is even more meaningful for a priest as here they believe the north is Holly (where their god is). The kitchen is always to the south. And there is always two kitchens, one called the dirty kitchen and the clean kitchen. The one called dirty kitchen is the one where they do all the cooking, so the inside of the building is all black from the smoke, as there is no chimney. They have the traditional kitchen with the fire just like the one I went for cooking lessons. One building is reserved for ceremonies only; it is usually the most beautiful building in the compound with its rich ornaments, gold paint and sculptures. This building is always the one with a beautiful floor, even if you are not rich this building as ceramic floors. There is more rules, like the three dimension every compound should have, the compound as three respective area representing the three parts our body is ;the head, the stomach and the legs. The head is all the buildings where people live, the stomach the kitchen area and next is the back yeard representing the legs. I hope I remembered all this right. So in a compound, is always lay out in a rectangle, the living quarters in front than the kitchen and followed by the backyard who is always in the back. The Temples are subject to the same three dimension rules, I believed that instead of a garden representing the legs, it’s the building where they dance and have celebrations. I can’t remember which building is the head and the stomach, too much info in one day. I was always wondering why there is so much Temple in a village. There is always three temples. Even in tiny villages, you see three Temples. One is for celebrations representing the birth, another one for when people die and the third one for rituals and celebrations all throughout the year. When we arrived the priest was already reciting his Mantras. He is sitting on the floor, in a yoga position, his back is straight as an arrow and he sits in this smaller building that is higher than the other building as the holly building is always the highest building. If you didn’t know he was a priest, you would know just by looking at him, he has this spiritual look and presence that is unique only to those people. For every Mantra recited he rings the bell, and dips this beautiful wand made by his assistant with flowers at the top, into the holly water, and splashes some water every time a mantra is completed. I was fortunate to see his assistant at work, preparing the flowers and the holy water and everything needed to do his holy duties. Today, he had to go to another village, for a ceremony near the ocean, Melasti a purification ceremony, as the ocean represents the cleansing. The ocean is also where they will distribute the ashes after cremation. When a village requires his service, they come to pick him up. The talent of the assistant is remarkable, what they can do with a knife and some flowers is an exquisite art. Very few tourists have the chance to see this or even the Balinese people. They had prepared some flowers for my hair, the holy water, and the wand. Just before it was time to go see him, his assistant was preparing his chewing preparation. He opened this ancient chest, took some bitter leaves, some tobacco and some chalk and bitter nuts. This chewing preparation is part of the older generation’s traditions, the younger don’t chew this anymore. It makes their teeth go dark brown. It is believe to give them energy. The priest has to chew this as part of his duties. When we trekked in the jungle later that day, every person I say, had those brown teeth, if they had any! They keep this preparation in the front of their lower front teeth, making them look like they have a swollen lip.
While the priest is doing is Mantra and getting ready to bless us, a process of approximately one hour, which he has to do many time during one day, Sang Made is filling me with information, as a tourist I could never get. I even saw those ancient books they keep from generations to generations. Then the priest announced he was ready and Sang Made’s mother came with me to be bless as well, and thank goodness she did, I had no clue what to do at the right time, and you certainly don’t want to do something that would insult the priest, like going up the stairs with your shoes, as for us Westerner it is something we don’t even think about. I was allowed to look at him and see his eyes and how profound they were. Sang Made says the priest can see the energy of the people and often their auras. I followed everything she did, Sang Made was taking picture which I don’t think will be very good, as water is dripping down my hair and face, I probably look like a wet cat! But the photos is not what is important, what is important is how fortunate and thankful I am to be here. Something strange happened and I even had to ask if the water was hot or boiled before the priest used it. There was three different kind of water, one of them he poor the water in your hand and you drank the water from your hand, my hands were burning like if he had given me hot water. His voice was something I will never forget, almost surreal, and he did smile at me with kindness. He also accepted to bless my book. This was the blessing part than you have to sit on the ground with your knees under you, and make a prayer, you need to rub your hands over the incense, than you need to take some flowers and hold them on the tip of your finger has you put your hands together, in a praying position. I always wondered why incense was so important in ritual. They believe the incense can reach the creator or their god more than anything, as the smoke just goes up and up towards the sky. I was also told that when you get married here, you must go see the priest and he is the one that will indicate when to get married. He will give you a few choices for dates, as those dates are the best for both the groom and bride. The ancient scrolls is called Melasti and for this, he needs to consult this ancient book.
People line up in front of Mr. Ketut’s house hoping to meet a spiritual man, and in a way he is, but I got to meet the real spiritual man, with a presence that no one could denied his power and wisdom. Even with his ages, he has a beauty that seems to never change with time. One, cannot leave here, without feeling some kind of connection with him and something more profound for words to speak. There is no church than can give you this kind of experience. And I am sorry to say this, no offense to the Catholics, but at 16 I was at the Vatican, and the Pope at the time, touch my hand when he drived by, everyone in my group and the crowd around me, was all over me, because it was a sign of some kind. I still remember this moment and I felt like the pope had no warmth in his presence felt more like cold than warm. Today, I have experience the warmth of this priest and his deep love of life and people. I felt it through my hands and it is a feeling I will never forget.