The Tribal Custom

[Shivani Devi]

Namaste. Om Swastiyastu.

I'm making this thread on the heels of an epiphany regarding the role of the Tribe in Indigenous Spirituality.

I will admit to being a Hindu, but that's only just part of the whole religion I follow.

I am, at my core, Balinese and all that being Balinese entails. I was raised as a caucasian Australian, but I spent a good chunk of my childhood in Indonesia and Malaysia, so I 'identify' as being of the Balinese custom.

Hinduism in Bali is totally unlike any Hinduism in India or anywhere else (except for one small precinct in Nepal).

Hinduism isn't the Indigenous belief...Animism is and Buddhism came much later...but 'Balinese Hinduism' combines all the elements of the Hindu Agama tradition, Animism and Zen Buddhism - the perfect combination for me.

The Tribal Custom is very important for the elders to tell their stories, for the women to nurture family and earth, for the men to go and 'bring home the bacon'....everybody knows what their role is...everybody shares with everybody else...sharing new skills and expressing themselves within the tribal framework...it's the ultimate social experiment.

Somehow, over time, all this is getting lost as people migrate to large cities in search of a job/money or are killed by religious insurgence or diseases and grog/firewater the 'whitefella' bring.

In Bali, the number of Shamans has gone from thousands down to just a couple hundred in the past 30 years alone and the tribes are all splitting up and going their own way....family and extended family become the 'tribe' and not people just hanging out together to exist together like a peaceful satsanga...sharing stories, survival tips, unconditional love...helping the elderly and the sick by taking on the responsibility for them as a tribe.

Yeah, and I wonder why I don't fit in with the rest of humankind...the tribe is just too big, right? we can talk to people in other countries on the telephone...but at what price? The whole beliefs and customs of an indigenous folk...lost.

It wasn't until I made the re-connect with my own 'astral tribe' that I felt how much of this I missed from my childhood...sitting around bonfires on the beaches drumming and chanting praises to the 'Gods' under a trillion stars...I felt my soul was totally nurtured and protected by the tribe.

All this is fading...the old ways...the old customs and methods the 'ancient ones' used...it is seen as being 'backward' or 'simplistic'. Maybe the Great Spirit intended it to be that way.