I Love This! (From Bali With Love)

Creative Energy Campaign Kicks Off (From Bali With Love)

Please see the following article in the paper online HERE.

Also, please check out my pictures from the event HERE.

By Lynne P. Shackleford
Published: Friday, March 14, 2008

Complete with it's own Creatini drink, an interpretive dance and Web site, Spartanburg officially kicked off its Creative Energy campaign Thursday.

The invitation-only event held at Beaumont Mill was light and bright with hors d'oeuvres and images of orange, green, purple and blue, the colors that comprise the Spartanburg Creative Energy logo, as business and government leaders mingled among booths designed to get creative juices flowing.

During an 18-month campaign, Spartanburg will attempt to do what cities like San Francisco, Charlotte, Seattle, Austin and Washington, D.C., have already done - attract new people and industries by promoting its creative class of artists, musicians, architects, professionals and scientists. Those cities have given their residents access to different cultures, restaurants and nightlife.

Spartanburg has all of those things that make a creative culture; it just needs to tell the world about them, said Jennifer Evins, chairwoman of the Creative Energy committee.

Thanks to its arts and culture, history, schools and colleges, the city is bound together by a creative energy. To encourage students to return to Spartanburg after they graduate college and to attract newcomers, Spartanburg must tout its creativity and to engage the creativity of its residents, Mayor Bill Barnet said.

During "Creativity Lives Here," a 6-minute promotional video, the various aspects of Spartanburg were shown. The Hub City Connector, Preservation Trust, Barnet Park, the Hub-Bub showroom, the Noble Tree Foundation, Partners for Active Living, the Chapman Cultural Center and Ballet Spartanburg are just some of those organizations that have creative energy, Evins said.

At the end of the campaign, organizers hope to see an increase in usage of city venues and facilities, more participation in city events and

programs, higher retail sales, a population increase, more available housing, a decrease in crime and fewer high school dropouts.

"I think this is a spectacular opportunity for us to showcase what is Spartanburg," said City Councilwoman Renee Cariveau.

Councilman Joe Spigner said he's seen what Spartanburg has to offer increase over the last decade through he and his wife's association with Converse College.

"There's so much talent in this community that at one time was hidden, and now it's coming to the surface; it's rising," he said.

"It's exciting, really, to think that more people will have an opportunity to see what we have for some time."

Partners are asked to sign on, at no cost, and use the Creative Energy logo on anything they consider creative. Also on Thursday, the group unveiled its new Web site, www.spartanburgcreativeenergy.com.

Selamat Hari Raya Nyepi Dari Anna!!! (From Bali With Love)

NYEPI: Bali's day of silence (From Bali With Love)

The following information I got from HERE.

Every religion or culture all over the world has their own way to define and celebrate their new year. For example, the Chinese have the Imlek year and to celebrate it, have, as they called it in their own language, "Gong Xi Fat Choy". The Moslem societies have their Muharam year, and any of the people over the world using the Gregorian calendar, celebrate the New Year on January 1st.

The same thing also occurs in Bali, however the Balinese use many different calendar systems. They have adopted the Gregorian calendar for business and government purposes. But for the endless procession of holy days, temple anniversaries, celebrations, sacred dances, building houses, wedding ceremonies, death and cremation processes and other activities that define Balinese life, they have two calendar systems. The first is the Pawukon (from the word Wuku which means week) and Sasih (which is means month). Wuku consists of 30 items starting from Sinta, the first Wuku and end up with the Watugunung the last one. The Pawukon, a 210-day ritual calendar brought over from Java in the 14th century, is a complex cycle of numerological conjunctions that provides the basic schedule for ritual activities on Bali. Sasih, a parallel system of Indian origin, is a twelve month lunar calendar that starts with the vernal equinox and is equally important in determining when to pay respect to the Gods.

Westerners open the New Year in revelry, however, in contrast, the Balinese open their New Year in silence. This is called Nyepi Day, the Balinese day of Silence, which falls on the day following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu era which began in 78 A.D.

Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. It is based on the story of when King Kaniska I of India was chosen in 78 A.D. The King was famous for his wisdom and tolerance for the Hinduism and Buddhism societies. In that age, Aji Saka did Dharma Yatra (the missionary tour to promote and spread Hinduism) to Indonesia and introduce the Saka year.

The lead upto Nyepi day is as follows:

Melasti or Mekiyis or Melis (three days before Nyepi)

Melasti is meant to clean the pratima or arca or pralingga (statue), with symbols that help to concentrate the mind in order to become closer to God. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content, and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources (ie lake, river, etc). Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies of the Gods from all the village temples are taken to the river in long and colourful ceremonies. There, they have are bathed by the Neptune of the Balinese Lord, the God Baruna, before being taken back home to their shrines.

Tawur Kesanga (the day before Nyepi)

Exactly one day before Nyepi, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. They usually make Ogoh-ogoh (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits or the Butha Kala made of bamboo) for carnival purposes. The Ogoh-ogoh monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment which have to be got rid of from our lives . The carnivals themselves are held all over Bali following sunset. Bleganjur, a Balinese gamelan music accompanies the procession. Some are giants taken from classical Balinese lore. All have fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair and are illuminated by torches.The procession is usually organised by the Seka Teruna, the youth organisation of Banjar. When Ogoh-ogoh is being played by the Seka Teruna, everyone enjoys the carnival. In order to make a harmonic relation between human being and God, human and human, and human and their environments, Tawur Kesanga is performed in every level of society, from the people's house. In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, start making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Ogoh-ogoh in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives.

Nyepi

On Nyepi day itself, every street is quiet - there are nobody doing their normal daily activities. There is usually Pecalangs (traditional Balinese security man) who controls and checks for street security. Pecalang wear a black uniform and a Udeng or Destar (a Balinese traditional "hat" that is usually used in ceremony). The Pecalangs main task is not only to control the security of the street but also to stop any activities that disturb Nyepi. No traffic is allowed, not only cars but also people, who have to stay in their own houses. Light is kept to a minimum or not at all, the radio or TV is turned down and, of course, no one works. Even love making, this ultimate activity of all leisure times, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted. The whole day is simply filled with the barking of a few dogs, the shrill of insect and is a simple long quiet day in the calendar of this otherwise hectic island. On Nyepi the world expected to be clean and everything starts anew, with Man showing his symbolic control over himself and the "force" of the World, hence the mandatory religious control.

Ngembak Geni (the day after Nyepi)

Ngembak is the day when Catur Berata Penyepian is over and Hindus societies usually visit to forgive each other and doing the Dharma Canthi. Dharma Canthi are activities of reading Sloka, Kekidung, Kekawin, etc.(ancient scripts containing songs and lyrics).

From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is meant to be a day of self introspection to decide on values, eg humanity, love, patience, kindness, etc., that should kept forever. Balinese Hindus have many kind of celebrations (some sacred days) but Nyepi is, perhaps the most important of the island's religious days and the prohibitions are taken seriously, particularly in villages outside of Bali's southern tourist belt. Hotels are exempt from Nyepi's rigorous practices but streets outside will be closed to both pedestrians and vehicles (except for airport shuttles or emergency vehicles) and village wardens (Pecalang) will be posted to keep people off the beach. So wherever you happen to be staying on April 4 in Bali, this will be a good day to spend indoors. Indeed Nyepi day has made Bali a unique island.

Nyepi (From Bali With Love)

Nyepi, in search of the silence within

I Wayan Juniartha , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Thu, 03/06/2008 1:23 AM | Surfing Bali

Nyepi is just one day away and as the island's youngsters put the finishing touches on their ogoh-ogoh -- huge papier-mache dolls that represent evil spirits -- , some of the island's most critical thinkers are wondering whether the noisy, celebratory elements of the ritual have eclipsed its silence, contemplative core.

"Balinese Hinduism is a dramatic religion, in which every ritual is a symbolic performance rich with meanings and, most importantly, has a carefully designed plot and a powerful dramatic climax," said noted scholar I Ketut Sumarta.

Sumarta is the editor-in-chief of Sarad, a monthly magazine that stands for progressive thinking on Balinese culture and religion.

Sumarta said the series of rituals that took place before Nyepi was a like clever dramatic play that gradually ushered a Balinese Hindu into the ultimate state of sunia.

Sunia, which literally means silence or void, is the most common word used by Balinese philosophers to describe the perfect state of spiritual realization.

"It doesn't refer to the cessation of existence. It refers to the emergence of a new existence; the one that has succeeded in liberating itself from all the worldly attachments," another scholar, Nyoman Sugi Lanus, added.

The "dramatic play" starts with Melasti, a purification procession to the ocean, lake or springs. In this ritual, Balinese Hindus escorted their temple's effigies and sacred objects to the nearest large body of water.

Water, the physical manifestation of Lord Wisnu the Sustainer, has long been considered by the Balinese as having the supernatural quality of cleansing any spiritual defilement.

The majority of Balinese believe that Melasti aims to purify the temple's effigies and sacred objects.

However, it is a notion vehemently dismissed by Sumarta and Sugi.

"The effigies are the representation of the divine deities, which need no absolution," Sumarta said.

Melasti, he argued, is the ritual during which Balinese Hindus are asked to purify their bodies and souls in the presence of their revered deities.

"It is a very powerful spiritual cleansing, because our existence, both physical and mental, is bathed with the combined power of the spiritual beings of the land, sea and air," he said.

The first act in the dramatic play is then one of self-purification, the cleansing of one's own soul and body.

The second act takes place during the grand sacrificial ritual Tawur Agung at noon on the day before Nyepi. The ritual is held at every major traffic intersection and public square on the island. Through the ritual, Balinese Hindus aim to pacify the restless forces of nature, such as wind, fire, earth and water. These restless forces are traditionally known as Buta Kala, a term that is often translated as "evil spirit".

"During our existence, we continually take things from nature ... we disrupt its balance. Tawur Agung is the ritual during which we give something back to nature to restore the balance," Sumarta said.

The second act, therefore, is a declaration of gratitude to nature; an acknowledgement that the survival of our existence depends on the continuation of the natural equilibrium.

The third act, Sugi said, is the simulation of chaos. It takes place on the night before Nyepi in a ritual known as Ngerupuk.

During this ritual, Balinese Hindus march around their respective villages with bamboo torches in their hands and making the loudest amount of noise possible. It is said this is an attempt to scare demon spirits out of the villages.

As early as the mid 1980s, Balinese youths began parading ogoh-ogoh during Ngerupuk to symbolize evil spirits. At the end of Ngerupuk, the ogoh-ogoh are taken to the village's intersection and burned to the ground.

"Essentially, it is an act of purifying the world around you and the final battle between man and the various characters and emotional flaws that haunt his existence -- the demon within his body and soul," Sugi said.

The third act comprises two scenes; the purification of the universe and the battle against one's own demons.

"Only after a devotee has completed all these acts can he or she enter a state of perfect silence; the sunia," he said.

Only after purifying their own souls and bodies; after respectfully acknowledging and paying their debts to nature and other creatures; after cleansing the world around them; and after emerging victoriously from the battle against the demons within, can Balinese Hindus catch a glimpse of what sunia truly is during Nyepi, the Day of Silence.

"Hopefully, on the first morning after Nyepi, one will embrace the day as a new being, a liberated spiritual being," Sugi said.