(following up from yeterday's post) I walked over to the temple with my pejati offering and there were hardly any people there and no one in the dunking pouring water over me area.
I asked a man who was preparing his offerings in front of a Buddhist shrine in the temple and he told me to go to the other side. I went in - it's all open air with some roofed raised areas with only posts, not walls - and there were a handfull of people and one manku priest. The four men there were all dressed in white and I knew he was the priest because they told me. So I learned that there's no purification ceremony there that day, just people bringing offerings. I know there are in other temples because I was prepared by a genuine Balinese Hindu who assumed like me there'd be that ceremony. You never know around here. They told me to come back on Kuningan which is ten days from yesterday and there will be Melukat purification ceremony then. I didn't want to walk back with my offering so I said I wanted to offer it today. And that nice priest who was just sitting there smoking and talking with maybe that was his wife and little girl, said he'd do a ceremony for me. So I talked with people about what to do and what to say and the priest cam over. He was nice and informal. I sat legs crossed easy on the cement floor in front of an altar with him and I made my offering and he took flowers out of it while and threw them while chanting fast and poured water on something on the altar and on a little offering from the baset offering I'd brought and told me to say something that meant May there be safety in Bali - literally. Oh - I had to wish him long life first. And he sprinkled water on me I took two sips - it's salty and he put a little wet rice in the middle of my brow and on my throat and some more stuff and that was it. And we talked a little. All the while billows of smoke were pouring over us from some burning right on the other side of the wall and a weed-eater going over there. I don't see weed-eaters a lot. I told him I'd come back with Katrinka on Kuningan. He said we could buy our offerings there. I asked how much should I bring. About four bucks each. And a litlle less than that to put in it as part of the offering. These offerings are almost entirely organic matter - palm leaves and stuff in little baskets. They get piled high in temples and there are temples everywhere - every home and place of work has at least a tiny one. And there are many occasions to make offerings including little ones every morning. Walked home.
I asked a man who was preparing his offerings in front of a Buddhist shrine in the temple and he told me to go to the other side. I went in - it's all open air with some roofed raised areas with only posts, not walls - and there were a handfull of people and one manku priest. The four men there were all dressed in white and I knew he was the priest because they told me. So I learned that there's no purification ceremony there that day, just people bringing offerings. I know there are in other temples because I was prepared by a genuine Balinese Hindu who assumed like me there'd be that ceremony. You never know around here. They told me to come back on Kuningan which is ten days from yesterday and there will be Melukat purification ceremony then. I didn't want to walk back with my offering so I said I wanted to offer it today. And that nice priest who was just sitting there smoking and talking with maybe that was his wife and little girl, said he'd do a ceremony for me. So I talked with people about what to do and what to say and the priest cam over. He was nice and informal. I sat legs crossed easy on the cement floor in front of an altar with him and I made my offering and he took flowers out of it while and threw them while chanting fast and poured water on something on the altar and on a little offering from the baset offering I'd brought and told me to say something that meant May there be safety in Bali - literally. Oh - I had to wish him long life first. And he sprinkled water on me I took two sips - it's salty and he put a little wet rice in the middle of my brow and on my throat and some more stuff and that was it. And we talked a little. All the while billows of smoke were pouring over us from some burning right on the other side of the wall and a weed-eater going over there. I don't see weed-eaters a lot. I told him I'd come back with Katrinka on Kuningan. He said we could buy our offerings there. I asked how much should I bring. About four bucks each. And a litlle less than that to put in it as part of the offering. These offerings are almost entirely organic matter - palm leaves and stuff in little baskets. They get piled high in temples and there are temples everywhere - every home and place of work has at least a tiny one. And there are many occasions to make offerings including little ones every morning. Walked home.
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