Story of Bali, Indonesia

The stability of the Balinese Hindu religion contrasts with events in Lombok, a neighbouring island close to Bali. This island, with similar terrain and weather to Bali, was colonized in the seventeenth century by a royal Balinese family and many of the Muslims of Lombok were converted to or influenced by the Hindu religion of the Balinese colonists. In the early 1900s the Dutch conquered Lombok, taking over the government, and the Balinese rulers lost their place. In 1990, the majority of the people are Muslim and fewer are Hindu. Interestingly, some temples in Lombok show a mixture of Hindu, Muslim, and animistic influences. 'Me authors visited two that were Hindu in structure but had blue colorfully painted entrance doorways (Balinese temple structures are generally unpainted) and stone-lined ponds for sacred eels, as well as shelves for sacred stones (animism). 'Me sacred stones, one foot long, were lined up, dressed in cloth, for purposes of promoting healing. 'Me eels, according to the priest, promote the powers of healers: if the eels appear they are believed to exert such power. In order to attract the eels, the authors bought three hard-boiled eggs which the priest, an old 'woman, distributed in the flowing water while clapping her hand against the stone edge. After some moments of suspense, two eels, with one-inch diameter bodies poked their heads out of crevices and snapped at the eggs.

The Balinese may suppress anger and sadness and substitute other behaviors and emotions in their place, such as laughter. It is clear that they in no way inhibit or suppress laughter when among peers. An example of this was observed at a family ceremony involving embalming a deceased member of Suryani's family. The authors spent several hours together with extended family members during which there was quiet conversation, punctuated with cheerful comments but no evidence of sadness. However, when driving home the five family members in the car laughed and joked in the heartiest way for about 20 minutes as if in a situation of utmost hilarity. This reaction can be viewed as a healthy discharge of emotional tension.

The origin of the character trait called 'suppression 61 emotion' probably owes something to the child-rearing practices of Balinese parents. It is common for Balinese parents to instigate their children to be quiet at home and polite in public. Western observers frequently comment how well behaved Balinese children are in public places. Much of this behavior entails suppression of their emotional response (see Chapter 9). Children also learn to be quiet and polite by imitation, identification, and reinforcement. The whole community encourages the children to learn the culturally approved ways of handling anger, arguments, and fights; anger is to be suppressed.

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