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| Fallen plumeria blossom |
Bali throws flower petals at my feet everywhere every day. When I
step outside, fresh plumeria blossoms adorn my path. Arriving at my
car, they are on the windshield. It is beautiful and I have
experienced it in other tropical places such as Hawaii. The blessing
is compounded in Bali because blossoms are ubiquitous to the island.
Balinese people make offerings every day and
leave them all around and on the ground too. It is called canang sari.
Canang
means beautiful purpose and
sari means essence. A small tray
made of woven palm leaves is filled with different colored flowers, with
perhaps some food, incense, and even money. The whole arrangement is
specific and includes careful placement as to direction of each
object. It is time consuming to prepare each day and I have seen a
woman at my hotel here in Ubud spend hours carefully preparing scores of trays to be
placed in many places each day. People all over Bali spend countless
hours in this daily ritual of prayer offering. To walk anywhere in
the street is to see canang sari on the ground in front of
businesses, at temples and homes, adorning sculptures and shrines;
everywhere. This morning I walked to my car and the vehicle next to
mine had a freshly made canang sari offering sitting at a place of
prominence on the dashboard.
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| Balinese girl, adding fresh offerings midday on a sidewalk in front of an establishment or home |
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| On a sculpture of Ganesha |
At first, I took note and simply stepped around the little baskets,
but now I am also honoring their meaning and absorbing the blessings.
It is respectful. I feel blessed.
Read more here:
Offering
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| On the pavement |
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| Offering flowers being sold at market. |
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| Early morning, on a car dashboard! |
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| On a sculpture of a praying man. |
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I love the term canang sari,
beautiful purpose—essence! Something to meditate upon. The Balinese do each day, and then spend time and resource manifesting it.
