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Bali & Its Healer, The Balian

Bali & Its Healer, The Balian

Bali is very famous in the world both for tourism and cultures. It is still keeping its cultures as the main  attraction for tourists to come and visit. Bali, where the majority are Hindus, is a small island that is famous all over the world for its natural beauty and cultural uniqueness. It always keeps a wide variety, mystery and sometimes idiosyncrasies that are difficult to digest by common sense.

There is one thing that is never separated from the life of the Balinese, the story of Balian. Every Balinese believes in the power of their ancestor. Therefore many Balinese resolve all the problems by asking Balian, who is believed to have special abilities to channel the seekers of enlightenment with their ancestors and finding solutions to solve problems. They are healers, shamans, sometimes also spiritual teachers and have always been a solution for the life of Balinese whenever the problem does not seem to meet a way out. A Balian is a traditional doctor in Bali and generally help treat and even cure any complaints of people who come to he or /him.

For Balinese, especially Hindu believers, the existence of Balian is something common in Bali. It is because the cultures and the religions of Balinese relate to each other. One phenomena proves it when Priests who usually conduct religious ceremonies also do the same duty to heal people just like Balians. Almost every family in Bali has been to Balian. They usually go there for different purpose, like to ask for help about matters, and something that relates to religious things or other purposes. So it clearly proves that the life of Balinese still relates to any activities that a Balian does.

Although the advanced technology in medicine or modern medication is very popular and believed to be very effective where most of Balinese choose if they got sick. The traditional medication has been known way before the advanced technology in medicine invented. It is generally used to differentiate between medical and non-medical diseases. The modern medication prioscientific or biological aspect, meanwhile traditional medication concerns more into spiritual aspect.

In this era that is mostly affected by different walks of life, many people nowadays, likely choose to use traditional medication. This is caused by different factors and one of them is the economy factor. The expensive cost in the modern medication is the main reason people move and tend to choose the traditional one. If the modern medication costs a lot of many, people rather choose the alternative way which is the traditional medication itself.

Traditional treatment has been known all over the world since a very long time. Even in Indonesia, it also has been developed since hundreds of years ago. In Bali, the term “traditional medication” is usually synonymous with Balian, a person who can reliably perform treatment or medication. Balian in Balinese Hinduism is influenced by the development which is proved with the existence of various kinds of ceremony used in performing the treatment. Balian in Hindu Theology of Hindu mantras, as therein mentioned about the God and Yajna (worship) mantras. Besides, Balians also use the script in which no other treatment is self-contained character of man, then united with the universe characters, so that happiness can be achieved.

Human being is not only known as a biological creature, but also social psychological, and a spiritual creature, therefore health for human being is not only about biological health but health in all aspects including the spiritual one. So that the traditional medication can not be ignored as in Balinese life despite that it is the cultural heritage of our ancestor from very long time ago.





Source :

http://download.portalgaruda.org/article