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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Religions & Faiths > Hinduism

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  #1  
Old 12-03-2015, 02:48 PM
Beard
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Balinese meditation

Hey all
I'm new here so forgive me for not being familiar with the rules of the forum.

I'm doing a little research on meditation in Bali
I want to write about a specific style of meditation used by the Hindu priests on Bali. In this ritual, surya sewana, they use meditation as a means of letting Shiva enter the body of the priest for making holy water.
Does someone know if it's a use that's more often found in Hinduism? Is it common that a God enters a persons body, where normally I know they enter statues or other art.
Bali is a mix of traditional Balinese and old Javanese culturemix of Hindu and Buddhism so it could have formed from many causes. I'm trying to figure out of what the use is originated
I hope someone can help me on this, thanks <3
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  #2  
Old 29-11-2015, 06:13 AM
Shivani Devi Shivani Devi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beard
Hey all
I'm new here so forgive me for not being familiar with the rules of the forum.

I'm doing a little research on meditation in Bali
I want to write about a specific style of meditation used by the Hindu priests on Bali. In this ritual, surya sewana, they use meditation as a means of letting Shiva enter the body of the priest for making holy water.
Does someone know if it's a use that's more often found in Hinduism? Is it common that a God enters a persons body, where normally I know they enter statues or other art.
Bali is a mix of traditional Balinese and old Javanese culturemix of Hindu and Buddhism so it could have formed from many causes. I'm trying to figure out of what the use is originated
I hope someone can help me on this, thanks <3
Namaste and Om Swastiyastu.

Sorry it took me a while to gather my thoughts enough to be able to reply to you.

The Hinduism in Bali is called Agama Hindu Dharma and it's a mixture of many things...Shaivism, Buddhism, Wicca and Animism.

I personally worship/relate to the Balinese practices, as that's how I started off...culminating in the study and practice of Bambu Kuning (Yellow Bamboo - check it out).

Anyway, this mixture of different faiths and beliefs is pretty much only particular to three places in the world - Bali, Nepal and Tibet, where Lord Shiva is worshiped in 'demon form' (for lack of a better term right now) called Bhairo/Bhairava/Vairochana/Maha Kala = the master of time and consequence.

A lot of the practices of 'esoteric Hinduism' seem to have been lost over the years (maybe due to the purification of superstition) and is only practiced by certain Hindu Tantric sects like the Aghori (who eat dead people btw).

During such practices, the priest becomes the 'vessel' for the pure energy of Shiva and can do many things under that Divine influence! (I have personally seen things that....I don't know how to finish this sentence).

The Balinese priests are great believers in Kundalini energy and they spend years in deep meditation, chanting mantras and calling on their 'animal spirit guides' to assist them in doing what they do.

It's a shame there are hardly any Dukuns left in Bali now...I went to Bali about 10 years ago and the whole 'vibe' of the place has changed...maybe due to the 'Bali bombings' and the threat of terrorism...but 30 years ago, it was a much different place...and 100 years ago, it would have been even better!

I'm still a 'Balinese Hindu' at heart and I guess I always will be!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukun

Aum Namah Shivaya
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Old 29-11-2015, 04:22 PM
Vinayaka Vinayaka is offline
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In the Saiva Agamas, it details how priests invoke the presence of God into their bodies before doing puja. Hence the preparation will be longer than the puja itself. Only certain priests and priesthoods have kept this art alive. But when you witness a priest doing this sort of preparation with mudras, gestures, silence, etc. you know that that is what they are doing. A trance-like concentrated state is the result, and it would be unwise to talk to a priest while they were in that state. You can feel it in the air, and see it in their eyes.
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Old 30-11-2015, 12:17 AM
Shivani Devi Shivani Devi is offline
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You can't even look into their eyes, they can see right through you!

Aum Namah Shivaya
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  #5  
Old 26-06-2017, 10:52 AM
Shivani Devi Shivani Devi is offline
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Om Swasti Astu

Just taking a self-indulgent and nostalgic trip down my own 'Shiva possession' memory lane.

I remember those days in my late teens...meditating on Shiva in Bali to the slow drone of the Gamelan...being in the company of others, totally blissed-off their faces...suddenly the Shakti would rise within me and what happened after that, I pretty much learned from second-hand accounts.

I was watching all this stuff on Youtube and feeling it all pull and tug at my heart-strings, like I was there...or back there and being a part of that whole scene, like I was for 5 years in the '80's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lyAO6-4Ng0

Oh the times I found myself screaming and dancing in bliss when all I could feel was Shiva...inside...outside...everywhere.

I would dance, I would cry and a few times I totally lost consciousness and wound up not knowing who, where I was or what had just happened to me, like a form of 'spiritual amnesia'...all I knew was how blissful, relieved and full of love and light I was.

I also partook in the karthik chaturvedi rituals back then. At first, they didn't like the idea of a white girl doing it, but they couldn't stop me for love nor money because a 'white girl' wasn't doing it and they soon found that out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkA8wSCVt80

It was a very long time ago now and I often wonder if I still have it 'in me' you know? Sure, I go into light trances, like a daydream but nothing like it used to happen to me, where I would feel something so spiritual...so sacred...the deepest connection with Shiva that it was ever possible to experience that left me on cloud 9 and totally spaced out with so much peace, devotion and love for up to 6 months after it happened.

I miss those heady days somehow...when I didn't really have any 'head' for it to be 'heady' whatsoever.

Aum Namah Shivaya
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