The Closest Angel

 More than a half of people on earth hate the devil. In the West there was even a movie titled Ghostbusters. A group of people who keep arresting bad spirits. In short, God is worshiped but the devil is extremely hated. The light is praised, the darkness is blamed. The truth is treated as a friend, the fake is treated as an enemy. That's the history of human beings since very old times.

Without an intention of calling such view as the wrong view, there are two places on earth where the underlying creatures are not treated as enemies. Those two places are Bali and Tibet. In Bali they are even given a place to live called penunggun karang. On the sacred days, the Balinese people give them a treat. In Tibet it is called torma.

This does not mean that the Balinese elders and the Tibetan elders worship the devil. Again, it is not. But it is a good reference of how deep the love of the elders in these two places are. Friends who study neuroscience understand, whenever there is a memory of the past, or something that looks alien, the brain's first response is negative. Some friends in neuroscience mentioned, it is the natural way of the left side of the brain to protect the human body.

Unlike the relatively new neuroscience, an old science called mythology tells us that the logical left side of the brain of human beings is only a few thousand years old, while the human right side of the brain which is rich in intuition is millions of years old. In other words, modern civilization relies more on very young human organs called the left brain.

As a further explanation, while logic like to construct separating walls, intuition often builds beautiful bridges. While logic prefers the term 'you and me', intuition is more comfortable with the term 'us'. While logic works in separation, intuition grows beautifully in unity. The language of logic is truth, the language of intuition is wholeness.

In the last map of understanding, it is easy to recognize the language used by the Balinese and the Tibetan elders. The language which is used not the truth, but wholeness. In the past, such view of life could only be heard in the sacred book. But later on, it was also justified by the physics. One of the most widely known messages in this regard reads like this: "The breaking of butterfly wings in Okinawa affects the weather in Australia".

In short, like a spider’s web, what happens in certain parts of the world affects the other parts. Thus, when the elders of Bali and Tibet give treats to the lower creatures, they are actually keeping nature in balance. At the same time, they keep telling the importance of seeing life as wholeness.

And such deep understanding was not born in ordinary places. It was born in Tibet on the roof of mother earth where there is Mount Kailash which is often referred as the highest home of Shiva (God) on earth. It was born in Bali which is often referred by the world media as the most beautiful island in the world.

To put it simply, slowly but surely learn not to be greedily to choose right above wrong, to choose good above bad, to choose holy over dirty. As waste turns into beautiful flowers, beautiful flowers turn into waste, what people called wrong at a certain age, can be true in other times.

And the closest angel who can be very guiding in this case is called a beautiful smile. To put it precisely, learn to share a smile both to the bad and the good. Then see how the calming tree inside begins to grow beautifully. It is not only calming the environment, but also calming every step along the way. In other words, peace is not a destination. Peace is a smile that you share along the way.

Author: Guruji Gede Prama.
Photo Courtesy: Myuran Sukumaran.
Proofread By: Kirsty Spence.