Bali: Visiting the “Temple of Business”

Bali is a land of temples. Every family compound has one, facing Mount Agung (in the northeast corner of the compound, if you live in the Ubud area). Every Balinese village also has at least three temples, dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. (The local cemetery, where corpses are laid to rest until they can be cremated, is located near the latter temple.) Every Balinese school has its own temple too, as well as a beautiful statue of Saraswati (the patron goddess of learning and the arts). Special calendars in every shop and home show the overlap between the many festivals prescribed on the traditional lunar calendar and the days when those celebrations fall on the solar calendar that the modern world agrees to use.

Because divine forces interact with every aspect of Balinese life, it is no surprise that economic enterprises come under the scrutiny of the gods (and of the priests, whose prayers and rites maintain right relations between heaven and earth). Pemuteran, a town on the northwest coast of Bali, is a center of world-class snorkeling and scuba driving today. It is also home to a Temple of Business, Pura Melanting, which dates back to the fifteenth century (a full century before the first contact between the Balinese and the Dutch, who eventually colonized the island, by force of arms, in the Western style of doing business).

Our Balinese teacher and guide, Ida Bagus Oka, thought it would be very appropriate for us to pay a visit to this Temple of Trade (or Business). Jan had told him of her HUG Your Baby work, and I had told him about Ariel’s Way. Our view is that these “businesses” are more vocations, or spiritual pursuits, than money-making enterprises. And our American midwife friend, Elizabeth Walters, felt the same way about her work as a healer and her daughter Erin’s work as an artist and entrepreneur in New Orleans.

Too many steps to climb at Melanting meant that Jan had to pass on this temple visit, but Elizabeth and I set off with Ida, wearing our hastily purchased (but, thanks to Ida, properly worn) “Balinese costumes.” We met the administrator of the temple near the entrance, signed the guest book and gave a small monetary gift towards temple upkeep. We then purchased incense and offerings to take to the priest. Quite a bit of climbing was required, and several handsomely carved portals were passed through on the way up. Thanks to Elizabeth for serving as event photographer!

Inside the highest courtyard Elizabeth and I followed Ida in praying to the sun god, the local god, and all gods. We were purified by the priest with holy water, and then offered our gifts (and business cards) as the priest chanted in Sanskrit. Then (while the priest casually smoked a cigarette) we earnestly and silently prayed that the work we love might be a vehicle for divine energy and will. Ida, a retired school teacher and a member of the Brahmin caste, was a very patient guide and interpreter on this occasion (and on many others during our stay in Bali).

Like centuries of Balinese farmers and traders before us, we came down, literally from the clouds, refreshed with holy water and purified in our intentions to do good with our work in the world. Everything in Bali holds the promise of divine participation, and Elizabeth, Jan and I were grateful for this special chance to harmonize the business interests we love with the spiritual powers that animate every aspect of Balinese culture.