The title of this post are the words of our Balinese driver, Sony, today as he brought Emily and I to Gunung Kawi, the holy ruins and rice fields of the Tampaksiring Village in northern Ubud. It was hundreds of steps up and down, through massive rice terraces against backdrops of waterfalls. It’s hard to explain the visual and even harder to capture in an image. It exhausted my descriptions of the color green. Despite living in tropical Thailand, nothing comes close to the lush jungle colors of Bali.

Gunung Kawi Entryway

Sony took us to the holy waters of Tirta Empur temple. The Balinese enter the water covered in sarongs. They ritually soak their head under the very first fountain to cleanse their spirit. Each person goes down the row from fountain to fountain until the very last fountain,  which is supposed to get rid of bad dreams. The fountains have banana leaf baskets with burning incense at the tops and you inhale the scent and the smoke as you dip under the falls.

Emily and I put our sarongs on and got into the water. Sony had told us to avoid the two second to last fountains because they are used to cleanse dead people and for that purpose alone. Initially, Emily and I misunderstood and thought that the Balinese brought dead people into the water at this fountain bath, before cremations. Upon this thought we looked at each other, gave the surrounding waters a glance, shrugged, and continue to pray in our own way underneath the holy waters.

Holy Fountains at Tirtar Empur

What is obvious is that religion isn’t a word that is used to describe their practices. As I watch the local Balinese preparing for Oga Oga and making the final touches on their huge Barong paper mache giants, this is the glue of their community. Spirituality is their way of life: family life and community life. Their beliefs are what binds them together. I’m just glad I get to be a part of it in a small way.