Statues....Old and New

As time has passed I have continued to accumulate more and more interesting and satisfying Bali experiences.  Since my first visit in 1988 this small tropical paradise has continued to provide something unique and special with each new visit.

In 2004 I went in a taxi with some friends to visit some of the carving shops on the road that leads to Ubud.  At one point we stopped in an area of stone carvers.  As the others examined the art work in the various small shops I wandered out back behind and down a small lane.

What I found there was an amazing landscape of endless rows of stone statues of all kinds that seemed somehow abandoned.  Of all shapes and sizes they were gathered here and there on any clear flat patch of earth that they could be placed.  All extremely heavy and clearly not moved in many many years.

It was amazing, yet there was no explanation at all for why they were collected there, who owned them, and what would be their fate.

Abedan took this picture with his new fangled digital camera and would eventually give a copy of it to each of us.  We took the experience as just one of the wonders that is the Bali experience.  Kaivalya, here wearing the red hat, saw something else.

An artist and  sculptor, he soon took upon himself just a few years later the task of creating statues of our teacher Sri Chinmoy.  In 2009 one of his statues was erected at the Arma museum in Ubud.

Morning Starts The Day

There is always a pervading sense of peace here.  I tried calculating just how many times I have been here to experience the magical charm of Bali, but am not really certain just what the number is.  This must be at least my 5th visit.

Something calls me out most mornings.  In the tranquil hour before the sun rises, while the dogs still doze under the trees, and before men rise up from their mats and go out and do meaningful things.

It is at that time that I enjoy this place most.  Have unexpected but not necessarily surprising experiences.  There seems to be endless supply of beauty that can be enjoyed no matter whether your eyes are open to it.

Particularly after nights filled with tumbling torrents of rain.  The morning then slowly opens up revealing its brightness and all its sweet promises.

I am sure there is some pleasure in long distance travel, but I have yet to see it.  We endure such discomforts though to get us to a place like this.

But perhaps there is a price to be paid for all fulfilling rewards.  Some struggle, some effort, some wistful hopes that all things lead us on to something better and better.

Of course I am not the first out in the mornings.  Fishermen with headlamps have waded out before there was even a hint of light in the sky.

And the Goddesses of course have never slackened in their endless vigil guarding the dawn and the warm calm sea stretching eastward.