The Hindu Day of Silence is a time to ponder the balance of one’s good and bad deeds, whether one has achieved enough dharma (sacrifices for the good of humanity) and most importantly whether one has fully adhered to the Balinese philosophy of life, the Tri Hita Karana, which dictates that all Balinese must live in harmony with their surroundings, namely fellow beings, spiritual beliefs and natural environment.

In his relations with his fellow beings, man is taught to practice Tri Kaya Parisudha, having a clean mind, expressing clean words and doing clean acts while his attitude toward others should be in line with Tat Tvam Asi or the reciprocal concept of “I am you and you are me”. Otherwise, the Karana Pala will befall one as one’s acts will lead to retribution in kind.

These three dictums guide man to behave in his community. Bali being a tight-knit and highly communal society where interaction is very close, such behavioral guidelines are paramount in safeguarding social harmony.

As for man’s relation with his natural surroundings, he is governed by the doctrine of Rta, which says that all living beings and elements of nature are subject to the same laws. This conviction of man’s equal standing with nature is further enhanced by the concept of Panca Maha Bhuta and Bhuwana Alit, which stipulates that all elements of the universe and the world, including all their inhabitants, are made of the same materials.

As such, man must respect everything that abounds around his environment while this same environment will protect and nurture him.

In essence, this concept rests on the basic belief of man and nature’s reciprocal ties. This explains why Bali, until the advent of modernization and influx of mass tourism, was lauded as one of the world’s most pristine places. It also provides for Bali to be seen as an example for the world to carry out its biocultural conservation.

On man’s relation with his god and spiritual belief, Tri Hita Karana, teaches the concept of Panca Yadnya or the five sacrifices that man must perform throughout life.

They are Dewa Yadnya, or offerings to the Almighty for His benevolence, Pitra Yadnya, or offerings to the ancestors for their blessings, Manusia Yadnya, or ceremonies for the safety of mankind, Resi Yadnya, or offerings for the priests as gratitude for their spiritual guidance and finally Butha Yadnya, or sacrifices to placate the evil of the world.

All these Yadnya are firmly based on the Hindu — Balinese religion, which must be continuously embraced as the anchor of a Balinese person’s day-to-day behavior and way of life. More than any doctrine, Panca Yadnya portrays the character of what a Balinese should be.

Tri Hita Karana’s teaching of man’s relation with his three closest surroundings can only be effective if they are practiced within each of the relevant surrounding and in all the three surroundings together as a whole to produce a balanced harmonious interaction of man and his social, spiritual and natural environments.

In this respect for instance, Tri Hita Karana frowns if man in his religious zeal, cuts trees and decimates a large tract of forest to build a large temple complex to praise the Almighty.

Neither does Tri Hita Karana allow for man to acquire ill-gotten money from his fellow beings in order that he can present it to a priest to gain his blessings.

All acts and activities in each surrounding must be done sincerely and fairly to their respective principles as well as being interconnected with all the principles in the other surroundings in a balanced harmony where man is the center of the equilibrium as the cause of all balance and imbalance.

Tri Hita Karana has its inspiration in the ancient holy look of the Yayu Weda dating back some 2,500 years ago.

However, the concept of harmony through balance and consciousness for man’s closest surroundings, namely his fellow beings, his national environment and his spiritual belief, goes back even further than that and has been the threshold of human belief worldwide since time immemorial.

One can trace it to the Neolithic Xia period in China and the Jomon era in Japan some 6,000 years BC, to the old Babylonian age in the Middle East or to the ancient Incas and Aztecs of South America.

All these civilizations emphasize harmonious relations among humans, their gods and their natural environment, which, like the Tri Hita Karana, are their closest elements and with which they have to keep close and friendly relations.

As such, since Tri Hita Karana carries such inherent human values, it has the potential of being socialized back as a valuable universal trait for humankind to pursue Jagadhita, or peace and happiness not only for the Balinese but also the world at large.

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The writer, who served as social affairs minister in 1999-2000, is CEO of several multinational and domestic corporations.

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