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Animals
in Bali . . .
I'm
an animal communicator, and extremely involved in the well-being
and relationship(s) of companion animals and their humans.
I have come to believe Gandhi's observation, "The greatness
of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the
way its animals are treated."
In Bali, animals are treated, for the most part, with the
same gentleness and honor bestowed to everything else. The
Balinese know that animals have a soul essence, too.
 An
animal average tourists see a lot is the monkey. Monkies
are present at most temples and will happily steal or snatch
at virtually anything that attracts them. Rather than being
restrained, penned in, having items hurtled at them, or
other things I've seen done in other countries, including
being hurt or struck with sticks, the monkies in Bali are
gently shooed away whenever possible from food offerings
and/or people's jewelry and clothing. At the temple of Ulu
Watu, one of our members had an earring snatched off her
ear by a monkey. . . the monkey held the earring in his
mouth skillfully accepting other food bribes while continuing
to hold the earring securely. We never did retrieve it!
 There
are virtually hundreds of species of exquisitely beautiful
exotic birds on the island of Bali. The birds influence
everything from ritual costumes through woodcraft and silver
jewelry to dance and even the artistic preparation of ceremony
offerings and foods! Bali offers an exotic Bird Park and
the birds are often much beloved pets such as the one pictured.
Throughout
the island, I also saw many wild dogs. In
virtually every other country I've visited (almost 20 so
far), wild dogs are scrawny, dirty, hungry-looking, and
often appearing full of fleas and disease. Not
so in Bali. Wild dogs appear healthy and fed  and
disease-free. The frequent offerings of fruit and delicacies
at shrines throughout the island are sources of healthy
sustenance. Also, rather than shooing the wild dogs away,
the Balinese are more likely to feed them. Pictured are
1-week-old, wild puppies born at a mountain-top restaurant.
The entire
family was being cared for and fed (although not let inside)
by the restaurant owners and patrons.
The
animals are connected to the "One Mind" energy
of the Island. I saw two wild dogs look both ways before
crossing a traffic-filled street! And I saw packs of wild
dogs, which in any  other
country would be occasionally breaking out in fights, moving
in cooperation towards their destination. Pictured
are wild dogs, obviously clean and fed, wandering on the
grounds of the Temple at Lake Bratan.
Unlike
East Indian Hindus, the Balinese Hindus do not always worship
and revere cattle as sacred. Cattle are raised in Bali for
slaughter and eating. The slaughtering is done as a religious
rite, much like a Kosher ceremony in this country.
An exception
that I saw
to the otherwise extremely humane  treatment
of animals, is cock fights. Our bus stopped temporarily
and unexpectedly in a small and remote town and we witnessed
the betting and gambling preceding such a fight. The Balinese
believe that controlled and vicarious release of the violent
or demonic tendencies in man is critical, and cock fights
is one way they do this. Interestingly, they are very proud
of the fact that they only allow cock fights right before
a religious ceremony which will involve a sacrifice: the
losing cock is the sacrificial offering. They never let
the fights go longer than 30 seconds and are very proud
of this, believing they conduct the most humane cock fights
on the planet and the only cock fights with a totally spiritual
motivation. They believe this is compatible with their emphasis
on the balance between good and evil in life.
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