Story of Bali, Indonesia

The bulk of Balinese art and some handicrafts tend towards a 'static state' with imitation and copying. However, there was a period of outstanding innovation and creativity in dance in the 1920s and 1930s and dance has continued to evolve up to the 1980s

The trait of conformism lends a quality of timelessness and stability to the culture and could be an element in the Balinese resistance to cultural change, for better and/or for worse. The Balinese are - likely to be spared the 'future shock' of Western culture's: 'the shattering stress and disorientation we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time so powerful today that it overturns institutions, shifts our values and shrivels our roots'.

According to Erikson's theory (1950), generativity, meaning to raise and nurture offspring, is one of the eight stages of normal personality development, general to all cultures and strongly rooted in biology. To the Balinese, the main purpose of marriage is to have children. In many cultures it is of paramount importance to have a male heir in the family and this is true of Bali, where a son is essential to perpetuate the family (purusa), to inherit the land and house, to support their livelihood, and to take responsibility for important ceremonies.

Sons are also important to help the family at the banjar and to lead the way for die soul of their parents to go to heaven. This imperative of the culture and personality may be termed 'son-generativity' (meled madue putra lanang, literally, need to have a son). Pursuit of it can result in anxiety or depression for some couples, rejection of wives, divorce, the acquisition of multiple wives, and the possibility of a husband becoming a surrogate son who is required to move into the household of his wife's family, and be subjected to their pressures and demands.

Tranquility or peace (B: rahayu, 1: selamat, damai) is an inner state of emotion that combines feelings of calmness and an absence of sickness, problems, and conflicts because all burdens have been given to the gods. It is a feeling that the Balinese experience in various contexts, e.g., when making offerings, receiving blessings, and on Nyepi, the day of silence. It is also achieved by meditation. The feeling is not experienced continually, but intermittently. When life is stressful or anxiety intervenes, peace is lost for a time but it always returns.

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