RITES
AND FESTIVALS
SOCIETY
AND RELIGION
These
temples are frequented by the ancestral gods, who are supposed
to occupy temporarily the little empty shrines dedicated
to them, when visiting their descendants. The Balinese live
with their forefathers in a great family of the dead and
the living, and it would be absurd for them to try to make
converts of another nationality, since the ancestors of
the converts would still remain of another race apart.
Rather
than a sectarian Church system, separate from the daily
life and in the hands of a hierarchy of priests to control
and exploit the people, the religion of Bali is a set of
rules of behaviour, a mode of life. The resourceful Balinese
fitted their religious system into their social life and
made it the law (adat) by which the supernatural forces
are brought under control by the harmonious co-operation
of everyone in the community to strengthen the magic health
of the village. Like a human being, the community possesses
a life power that wears away and must be fed by the regular
performances of magic acts of the " right," the side of
righteousness.
The
life power is seriously impaired by the magic evil, that
of the " left," or by the polluting effects of sickness
and death. Bestiality, incest, suicide, and temple vandalism
are among the acts of individuals that would make the entire
village sebel, or magically weak. The spiritual health is
also undermined by the gradual predominance of evil forces,
the demons and witches that haunt the village.
Some
of these are easily disposed of, but the main concern of
the Balinese centres in the propitiation of the protecting
ancestors who descend to this earth on special holidays
and at the anniversaries of the innumerable temples, when
they receive offerings and entertainment from the people.
By these ceremonies and temple festivals the populace hopes
to entice the spirits to remain among them; the beauty of
the offerings, the pleasant music, the elaborate theatrical
performances, aim to keep them from growing bored and leaving.
Motivated
by this background of religious beliefs, the Balinese found
it necessary to establish a system of communal cooperation
to provide for the magnificent festivals that are such an
important part of their life. The spirit of co-operation
soon extended to their personal and economic life and developed
into a primitive agrarian commune in which every village
was a socially and politically independent little republic,
with every citizen enjoying equal rights and obligations.
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