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Religion in Bali by C. Hooykaas

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the cave of bats. When the vehicle has to take a risk on a spot of possible danger, a small offer<strong>in</strong>g<br />

is needed.<br />

All these daily and periodical offer<strong>in</strong>gs ask for time and attention, but are surpassed <strong>by</strong> far <strong>by</strong> the<br />

number and size of the offer<strong>in</strong>gs needed for rites de passage, those for the bhuta and above all for<br />

the dead at the occasion of a cremation (e, o, p, q). It will be evident that the average <strong>in</strong>habitant<br />

of an island provided with some twenty thousand temples has a life busy with runn<strong>in</strong>g after his<br />

religious duties. Has he time, thought and energy left for speculation and theology? The author<br />

of '<strong>Religion</strong> of Java', Clifford Geertz, when writ<strong>in</strong>g about <strong>Bali</strong>, where repeatedly he did research,<br />

found that the Bal<strong>in</strong>ese priest with his mantra, mudra, rajah (draw<strong>in</strong>g) and yadna is stronger <strong>in</strong><br />

ortho praxis than <strong>in</strong> ortho doxy. For large sections of the population this judgment might be<br />

justified.<br />

On the other hand: at least half of the books published <strong>in</strong> <strong>Bali</strong> dur<strong>in</strong>g the last quarter of a century<br />

are <strong>in</strong> the field of religion and philosophy. The ethical prescriptions of the SARA<br />

SAMUCCHAYA [42] have even been published <strong>by</strong> three different publishers. This po<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>in</strong> the<br />

direction of constant demand, and as may be assumed, not only <strong>by</strong> the clergy but also <strong>by</strong> laymen.

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