Let Spirit Lead You to Bali
Climbing the few steps through the carved portal into Tirta Empul’s springs, I am struck once again by the crazy jumble of humanity that abounds behind the main wall. Children screech as determined parents thrust their small heads under the rushing streams; Balinese men wade, shirtless, through the calm waters; women in full temple dress—their hands clasped in Namaste prayer—bob from spout to spout, all chattering and gossiping as if they were at market day.
Praying at Tirta Empul, taking the scene in, our group moves to the top of the steps and takes off our shoes, thought by the Balinese to be unclean. We sit or kneel on
them as our guide sets out the offering baskets and lights joss sticks, handing one of both to each of us so we can pray, Balinese-style. We have learned how to pray like the Balinese, a five-step approach where we thank emptiness, the sun, creation, offer blessings to the world, and then thank the emptiness once again, accompanied by the flinging or wearing of flowers. At the last step, we receive rice grains in our mouths and on our foreheads; the seeds of God; as we chew them or they fall, they will remind us of the mysteries of creation. Then, we gingerly step into the pool.
The stones under our feet are slippery and timeworn, covered by a soft green moss that feels somehow comforting. The Tirta Empul-Spirit Questerspool is, surprisingly, full of large koi who swim about the emerald water unperturbed by the hundreds of daily humans who come to worship here. The Balinese meet our eyes, friendly and smiling; glad to see us alongside them. I am grateful for their warmth and openness, their welcoming kindness for the strangers clumsily performing their rituals.
