This blue marble

– and yet it spins


by Leave a comment

Ubud organic craze

ubudrestaurants-1Cashew milk spirulina raw chocolate mint smoothie for breakfast at Clear Café, raw tex mex food for lunch at Earth, and lovely vegan candlenut coconut curry for dinner at Yellow Flower Café. Beer is not my cup of tea, the local wine tastes terrible, and most of the Indonesian fare is vegan. Ubud is probably the easiest place in the world to subconsciously slip into a healthy eating lifestyle.

ubudrestaurants-3Nothing better than lazy afternoons in café Atman sipping peppermint tea or a chocolate date almond milk shake, surrounded by pillows, people wired into the world on their MacBooks. And nothing worse than jamu health tonic at Clear Café. But they say it is good for you… and it colors your tongue and lips bright yellow. I drank it all. I hope the gods are happy with me.

ubudrestaurants-2 (Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2015)


by 1 Comment

The yoga of living – or staying alive

shala-3

I am unable to describe (in words or pictures) the rain on the leaves, the rooster caws, the incense smoke from the morning offering, and the silence in the soundscape. There is no distraction and nothing else to do except for a sun salutation. And another. And then a padangusthasana, a padahastasana, a trikonasana, and onward, and inward. Stiff shoulders and tired thighs are to be acknowledged, nothing more or less. Yoga is not about stretching to reach the next pose, but about the process that happens in any pose. It is not about just striking a pose that looks kind of right, but making sure that it is grounded, and centered around breath and gravity.shala-1Yoga is also about accepting that a knee injury requiring surgery means going back to the basics and then rebooting the system of practice. And it is understanding that not many people master to truly live while surviving intact throughout life. In the last 4 years I have not only crashed and burned, but also experienced my first emergency surgery, my first stitched wound, my first broken bones, and my first sports injury. The 31 years before kept me unscathed.

As I sipped my daily post-practice coconut water, I could not help but wonder whether yoga means living in it all, or living despite of it all?

shala-2(Ashtanga Yoga Bali Research Center; Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2015)


by 1 Comment

In the rice fields

ricefields-3

There were new friends, and a path away from Ubud to the rice paddies, where the air is clean. There were newly planted rice greens, and palm trees.ricefields-1There was a famous sunset over the rice paddies – somewhere hidden behind the clouds. There was really bad fruit wine, and tales of unlikely career choices: horseback endurance riding through the Arabian desert, smelling out new healthcare solutions that sometimes seem like science fiction, and the choice of comfort versus chasing something that makes a heart beat faster from fear or thrill or both.

On the way back in town there were glow worms and fireflies lighting the path. As we passed their morse code of flickering lights we must have missed great secrets or serenades. Life is only as much as you can perceive and absorb – even if it is all displayed in front of you for the taking.

Live today. Tomorrow you can’t anymore.

ricefields-2(Sari Organik restaurant; Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2015)


by 1 Comment

Cockfights and karma

cockfight-2There was a throng of men cheering on at the temple, and I was curious. More men were hurrying up the stairs, carrying what looked like shopper baskets. Pushing past the elbows I ended up in the front row – of a cockfight. Two beautiful roosters were almost ready to fight – or rather, their owners considered them ready. As a last step, the poor birds were irritated until the verge of aggression by making their beaks touch and fluffing up their neck feathers. Let down on the dirt floor they will only see one another as an enemy to kill, and fight with metal hooks on their legs until death. The losing human owner loses his pride and losing betters sometimes even lose their farm. And one bird loses its life. Every time.

Cockfights are not really allowed on Bali and gambling not at all, but each temple is obligated to host one fight per year to appease the gods. Whatever happens after the first blood is shed is superfluous culture. The gods will not care one way or the other. And so, it is not really the cockerels that fight; it is the human (male?) ego. According to anthropology theory cockfights are a way to channel the ancient Balinese tribal warrior spirit in a less violent way in this modern world. Unfortunately, channeling the warrior spirit does not bode well for the poor roosters.

As I saw one more bird bleed to death on the dirt floor after a fight lasting perhaps a dozen seconds, I could not help but wonder: if according to Hindu belief any unnecessary death or violence increases a person’s karma, and the only way to find bliss is to shed all karma, what does such endless bloodspilling on a sacred temple floor cause?

cockfight-1(Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2015)


by 1 Comment

The daily struggle

Baliofferings-4According to the Balinese, two silent powers constantly struggle for control in the universe: good and evil. Equilibrium requires work, otherwise chaos gains foothold. But equilibrium also means the one cannot exist without the other. As soon as there is light there will be shadows. Good cannot exist without evil. And evil can only be kept away from human living by daily offerings to the spirits and gods.

Every morning right after dawn, the scent of flowers and incense floats around every Balinese house. Little banana leaf boxes are filled with flowers, rice, scatters of coconut shavings, and perhaps a sweetener, a cookie, or a candy. Incense sticks are lit. Each building requires offerings outside every gate, every main door, by the house shrine, and other places where protection is needed.

Baliofferings-1Sometimes bad things happen. Demons must be appeased. Unlike protective spirits who are given beautifully decorated and scented gifts, a demon offering may be rotten fruit rudely thrown to the ground. Sometimes this is enough for the demon to let go of the hold on the family.

As the incense smoke weaves through the village streets, equilibrium is restored and another good day can begin. And the pigeons and the ants get their well-blessed and tasty breakfast.

Baliofferings-2(Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2015)


by 6 Comments

On Bali every flower has a purpose

Baliflowers-2One lonely frangipani flower lies at the toes of a griffin carved in stone. A monkey statue has two red hibiscus flowers sticking out behind its ears. A buddha blesses a fresh, sun-orange marigold in his hand. On Bali, no flower lies anywhere by chance.

Baliflowers-3Every flower has a purpose. Godly forces and beings are everywhere, and everything man-made has a religious purpose or has been blessed for its proper use. And the lotus flower is the most sacred of all. It grows in every little pond and pot by the door, with its feet in the mud and its flower held high.

There is much muddy water in this world. Most of us wade or swim through it without ever knowing better. We forget what it was like to be a child and to skip on the surface, feet barely touching the dirt below. The lotus has realized that barely floating is not the best salvation: only by rooting into the mud it is possible to stretch and reach above it, and to enjoy the pure air and sunlight.

Standing by a lotus pond in Ubud I was wishing that I could grow lotuses home in Helsinki, too, as a reminder of what is within my reach, if I only remember how to reach for it.

Baliflowers-1(Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2015)


by Leave a comment

Interlude

halosenniemi-1It was sunlight of a tired day, still pushing through the old windows. It was words, and a cello. It was a bird on the roof, suddenly emerging through spoken letters and taking flight in the room. It was poetry and incredible voice artistry, the most unusual sounds from a cello, and a quirky violin.

Live today. Tomorrow you can’t anymore.halosenniemi-2(Halosenniemi, Tuusula, Finland; July 2015)


by Leave a comment

Stillness, Ilam tea, and the story of a businessman who’d rather be surfing

timetogosurfingHe surfed in California and climbed in Yosemite, making the pitons and other metal tools as he went. He even confesses to having eaten cat food for a while, just to survive. His blacksmith work expanded into functional wear and finally became the Patagonia outerwear brand. He never loved the thought of becoming a businessman, but he found a way to combine his love for the outdoors and climbing with his core values and making a living.

He lets his people surf in office hours, uses company profit to buy land that is turned into national parks, and believes in environmental activism. And he still surfs, hikes, and climbs, when he is not busy challenging people to save the world or pay up to let others do the job. His business has been his greatest adventure.

“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts” says Yvon Chouinard in the documentary 180 South (another inspiring piece).

(Helsinki, Finland; July 2015)