The fifth BaliSpirit festival has concluded last week. Five days packed with offerings ranging from yoga and dance, to music and holistic medicine workshops, this year’s festival attracted the largest crowds yet in its history. Susan, yoga practitioner from the United States, sums up her experience of the festival: “There is a huge number of workshops, and so many amazing new things to try. But for me, the most important part was to meet so many like-minded people and to connect with the community.”

The international audience that flocked to Ubud to experience the BaliSpirit festival is part of an ever-growing international community of health- and environment-conscious yogis, musicians, and dancers. This year, BaliSpirit attracted more than 1,000 participants from the United States, India, South America, Australia, China, Japan, Western and Eastern Europe, and Africa. John Ogilvie, yoga presenter, festival sponsor and founder of Australia’s Byron Yoga Center, recognizes the galvanizing power of the festival: “There is an international community present at this festival. All of them will take ideas and inspiration from this festival back to their own communities.” In this way, global awareness relating to health and environmental issues grows. Spirituality, as Ogilvie points out, has to be practical. By building an international community, the maxim ‘Think Global, Act Local’ can become a reality.

The general atmosphere of the festival encouraged sharing and community, and presenters as much as the audience enjoyed the many new connections and shared experiences during the festival.  “To me, as a presenter, the festival felt playful and free and because we all join each other’s classes, Michael Hallock, Watsu teacher, explains. “Normally, as a presenter, I would be a ‘special’ person at an event, but here I was one of many. It was really humbling because I saw so much greatness around me, so much talent and creativity. I saw many people in the fullness of their expression. It was very inspiring and humbling.” Presenter John Ogilvie, who says he enjoyed the experience of switching roles from teacher to student when he joined workshops led by his world-renowned peers, shared this feeling.

Bali is an ideal location for the festival – the Balinese are natural yogis, who live their form of yoga on a daily basis. As devout Hindus, they perform offerings and ceremonies on a daily basis, and service to the community is the norm rather than the exception. Kadek Gunarta, co-founder of the festival, asserts, “We Balinese do yoga our whole lives. We do yoga every time we make an offering and every time we go to a temple. We are always trying to lift our consciousness.” It is this constant effort to maintain a connection to the unseen world that makes Bali such a magical and inspiring place for Western visitors. This atmosphere is amplified during the festival, as many workshops encourage participants to look inside, become more conscious, and open their hearts.  Or as self-proclaimed ‘badass’ yoga instructor Cheri Rae, from Peace and Love Yoga, Los Angeles, puts it: “You do yoga to become a better person. If you don’t – get out of my class and go do aerobics!”

In an effort to promote and include local presenters and audiences, this year, several Indonesian presenters added more local flavor to the festival. While the vast majority of yoga presenters were white Westerners, Indonesian presenters such as Jane Chen, Indrawati Widjanarko and Dewi Asmarani were welcome additions to this all-white line-up.  There is still some way to go, however, to make a truly inclusive festival, especially regarding the Indonesian audience. As a positive gesture, the festival offers one day with free access for everyone, and especially Balinese families, with special workshops organized for children, and yoga classes with Balinese village elders, amongst others. There is, however, no adjusted ticket price for Indonesian participants, which is reflected in the under-representation of Indonesians in the audience during the other four days of the festival.

Giving back to the community, as a yogic principle, is a major theme running through the festival, and is inspiring to Westerners who might be craving a deeper sense of community and connection in the materialistic and individualistic West. BaliSpirit festival might just be a small part of the growing movement of people seeking community and holistic lifestyles around the world, but its ripple effect through the inspiration it provides is larger than the festival. According to John Ogilvie, “If we can get enough people doing yoga around the world, it will be a better place” – a simple formula, which recognizes the capacity of the festival to inspire proactive change among its international guests.

One such ripple effect of the festival has been the inspiration it has provided for similar yoga and holistic health festivals that have developed around the world – such as the Namaste Spirit Festival held in Jakarta, the Byron Bay Spirit Festival in Australia and the Hawaii Spirit Festival. Founder and Chairwoman of Namaste Festival in Jakarta, Anita Boentarman, says that she was “inspired by the BaliSpirit Festival.” She further commented, “Yoga is not about competition, it’s about union and working together. We want to work more closely with the BaliSpirit Festival.”

One important aspect of the festival’s mission relates to the environment. BaliSpirit prides itself in its partnership with green organizations such as Bali Cantik Tanpa Plastik, Bali ReGreen and the Environmental Bamboo Foundation. It is also linked to the East Bali Poverty Project and donations collected on Hari Cinta Keluarga day are donated to Ayo! Kita Bicara HIV/AIDS, an NGO created by BaliSpirit to engage the local community in conversations and education about HIV & AIDS.

Pau Castellsague, yoga presenter and founder of the Barcelona Yoga Conference, insisted on the urgency for people to take positive action: “I feel a strong connection to nature here in Bali, it is very inspiring. But what we humans have done to nature is very sad. We suck! It is time to change. And I don’t mean it’s time for the intention to change. It’s too late for intentions. We need to make change happen, now.”

While the festival does take its responsibility for the environment seriously, as is exemplified in their waste recycling program and support of environmental organizations, it isn’t perfect. The presence of plastic spoons, chopsticks made from tropical forest wood, and a huge number of paper cups still mar the image of a fully environmentally friendly festival. The consciousness and will to limit the impact of the festival on the environment, however, is well present, and efforts to manage waste have constantly improved since the festival’s inception five years ago.

Overall, this year’s BaliSpirit festival was a successful and positive event, galvanizing an ever-growing community of people who crave positive change in the world. And besides this grand aspiration, it was also, simply, a lot of fun. With workshops ranging from many different styles of yoga, such as Hatha, Anusara, Yin, Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, Acro and Kundalini, and lots of dynamic dance workshops, including Nia, 5 Rhythms, and the hugely popular West African Dance, there were plenty of opportunities for both for self-reflection and growth, as well as for good, plain fun, exhilaration, and booty-shakes! And while the Festival united some of the world’s most experienced yoga instructors, the festival welcomed beginners and the simply curious too.

Yoga is for everyone, and yoga should be fun, as Cheri Rae’s words bring it to the point: “Yoga should feel good.” And this is what this festival was about, most of all – feel good, do good.

The project “Illustration around the world” is Ientile’s mission to travel, while documenting through illustrations and sketches, and meeting other artists and designers in the countries and places he visits. He plans to release his travel art in the form of a book later this year.

This project has inspired him and Bali has become one of his favorite destinations during his travels. Before returning to Germany this weekend, Ientile would like to meet Bali’s creatives to share experiences and stories.

Join the discussion on 15 March 2012
Location: Danes Art Veranda, Jl Hayam Wuruk no 159 Denpasar
Time: 7pm

People have a natural desire to master information faster than other creatures. This desire is influenced by the information industry, including the mass media. Hence the battlefield of information technology media is also a race to share a story.

Why do people want to know more and know it before anyone else? Perhaps because, in this way, they feel more powerful than people who are still in the dark. This power does not necessarily achieve inherent and authoritative domination of the subjects of a territory or a country. Power can be achieved within many domains, and it is not always repressive. Knowledge is power.

One form of claiming power over knowledge is by exploring, or at least travelling to foreign places. Recently in Indonesia travel writing has exploded. Recent publications of travel books have lead to a new category on bookstore shelves.

Air travel is no longer an expensive form of transportation in Indonesia—that is what the slogan ‘now everyone can fly’ from one popular budget airline implies. Globally, tourism also continues to develop as an industry. Today, 8 percent of global gross domestic product comes from the travel industry. Where in this world have we not yet explored? Images of remote corners of the earth find their way into mass media and may in time become the most sought-after tourism destinations.

Commercialization of the travel lifestyle creates hyper-realities about new places as treasures as yet to be discovered. However, the impacts of such travel, including environmental degradation, cultural change, and sociological shifts within local communities are often the consequences of the arrival of tourism.

Lately, the concept of responsible travel has been given a lot of attention: Every traveler must be aware of the impacts of his or her visit to a place—both the cultural and ecological impacts. The most responsible travel may, in fact, be to not travel at all; the arrival of a new person in a new place, isn’t just economically beneficial; it can also create larger problems.

The desire to travel and share travel stories has found a modern medium in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. For example, two days ago, an Indonesian traveler shared photos and stories about her trip to Tibet through her Twitter account.

Her short stories, limited to 140 characters, shared general information about Tibet; but there were errors in the information. She posted that Dalai Lama has not lived in Tibet since 1995. In fact the correct date is 1959, and this spiritual leader has not only “not lived in Tibet” but was forced to flee Tibet and take refuge in Dharamsala, India.

She also shared posts about Potala and Norbulingka palace, along with visually pleasing panoramic photographs. But she forgot to mention how the few remaining monks of Potala are forced to hold positions of cleaners in uniform (not the traditional monk garments). Finally, she reminded followers that the best time to visit Tibet is in August, September, April and May, even though she was there in January.

@tibettruth responded to the posts and stated that the account was a tourist who is spreading the illusion created by Chinese propaganda of a colonized Tibet. @tibettruth is an account for the international movement  which supports the reinsitution of Tibet’s independence. The Indonesian tourist replied that her intention was not to spread propaganda, but merely to share what she saw and felt to her friends. This response showed her failure to capture the naked reality about Tibet as a colonized nation. She overlooked the fact that in Lhasa a Chinese military post can be found every 100 meters and miliatary are constantly patrolling the area.

Sometime last year, the photographer Timur Angin also shared his experiences of Tibet through Twitter. Moments after he left Tibet, Timur promoted his plan to form a group tour of Tibet during the country’s best travel season, organized through a photography magazine. His plans were overturned, however, because in 2011 China denied all permits to foreigners to visit the annexed area now known as the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Social networks are designed to allow us to share knowledge; but without indiscrimination. For some travelers, these media are used to propagate a damaging myth of a far-off place.

I visited Tibet for 15 days. I experienced Tibet as China’s backyard, used as a location for picnics for Chinese residents, who are enjoying the biggest surge in economic growth in the world. I noted the lines so visible on the faces of exhausted monks at temples or monasteries, whose movements are limited following their rebellion of 2008 against the repressive Chinese military.

I witnessed that the economic sector of Tibet is dominated by people from Mainland China: Almost all souvenir shops and tourist attractions in Lhasa are owned by Chinese. The people of Tibet, who often speak English more fluently than many Chinese, must be content to sell souvenirs from mobile stands in Barkhor. The stand sellers are honest and point out which souvenirs are made by Tibetans and which souvenirs are made in China; not surprisingly, most items are Chinese-made.

I witnessed the train routes, which China claims are part of the infrastructure for the development of Tibet; in actuality they are primarily used as transportation for Chinese going to Tibet. I saw the economic control of China, binding the Tibetan people to poverty. Residents are “mobilized” to an area of annexation—merely a repetition of what China has done previously in Uyghur. In Uyghur, an area with primarily Muslim residents, conditions were extremely repressive, to the point of ethnic cleansing.

I witnessed Chinese military confiscate a Lonely Planet book on Tibet from the backpack of a tourist at the military post along the Nepal border. China banned Lonely Planet books from entering Tibet because their guidebooks include a map showing Tibet in a different color than China and include a photograph of the Dalai Lama, who is exiled in India.

Even though I made an effort at the beginning of my journey to ensure my own local impact benefited Tibetans (for example, by using a travel agency owned by Tibetans, not a Chinese company), I realized that my trip to Tibet was a mistake. Vacationing in an occupied region is the same as offering foreign exchange to the colonists.

My one pride from Tibet is a t-shirt sporting a Tibetan flag and the inscription “Free Tibet”. This shirt I bought in Kathmandu, Nepal, after convincing the seller to embroider those legendary symbols. “Free Tibet” flags are popular in Nepal, but not one seller is brave enough stock them in their stores. Rather, they are available on order so that store owners avoid the risk of being caught during the Nepalese government sweepings—in this way, the government likes to demonstrate its friendship with China.

During my visit, I wrote a few stories, took thousands of photos and dozens of videos in Tibet. But I did not share these in any portfolio. I don’t want to share my experiences in Tibet to the wider public to encourage other people to visit Tibet.

But I do offer this story I wrote about Tibet, as an appendix to this article.

A prison on the roof of the world

In the plane as we prepared to land, the Tibetan natural landscape transfixed all eyes, and no one blinked. Everest, surrounded by the satellites of lower peaks, appeared like an island in clouds, towering over a cobalt blue sky. The snow blew in gusts, like a flag from a distance.

It was a view you can find in no other country. This country truly is the roof of the world. This land, so grand in its history, is covered by a rich blanket of spiritual practice, devotion to Buddha, invasion, subjugation and oppression. The land is a traveler’s dream. But most travelers must abide by strict rules evening order to enter. Only Chinese tourists enter with ease; they come by the thousands every summer. Tibet is like a playground in China’s backyard.

Accompanied by a tour guide, who contextualizes China’s control over Tibet, the Chinese tourists come to fill the temples and monasteries. They are amazed by what they see, Imagine how much more amazed they would be, if only the Chinese military had not destroyed around 6,000 monasteries during the occupation, beginning in 1951. The religious identity of Tibet was brutally disarmed, and tens of thousands of civilians were killed.

In 1959, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14^th Dalai Lama, the living Buddha, left Lhasa in exile to settle in India and continue his struggle to free his homeland.

In some monasteries there are paintings or photographs of all of the Dalai Lamas, with the exception of the 14^th. It is forbidden to speak of him or hang his photograph in Tibet. Even tour guides are forbidden to mention him.

In Potala Palace, traditionally the Dalai Lama’s official residence, monks are forbidden to wear their classic red robes. Instead they wear uniforms like maintenance workers and are assigned tasks similar to the care of a museum. Since the monk protest of 2008, which ended in military violence, being a monk is increasingly difficult. The number of monks has decreased dramatically. Before 2008, there were around 600 monks at Potala Palace; now there remain only 200.

Proceeds from the fairly expensive tickets to enter a temple or monastery go to the Chinese government. The temples and monasteries are funded by charitable donations from the people. Not surprising, then that inside the temples we must pay to take photographs, as a way to bring much-needed income to the monastery. In Jokhang Temple, the monks opened a small shop selling “blessed souvenir.” Outside of the monastery, in Bakhor Square, tourists can get almost the exact keepsakes for a much cheaper price.

In Lhasa, tourists are intercepted by Chinese military or police for photographing beggars. China is concerned that images of poverty could ruin their idyllic image of Tibet development. The tallest train rail in the world, running from Qinghai to Lhasa, has been in operation since 2007 and the government boasts it has propelled development in Tibet. But in reality this train rail only makes it easier to transport products from China and mobilize the Chinese military, which have 3 nuclear missile sites and uranium mines in Tibet.

As in Uyghur, China clutches the area through control of the population’s composition. The Han Chinese population continues to increase, and many control business there. To smooth assimilation, Tibetans are forced to study Mandarin in school. No Han is forced to learn the Tibetan language.

Today, no Tibetan can leave the country because they cannot obtain a passport. Until three years ago, many Tibetans fled to Nepal through the Himalayan mountains. Today, however, the Chinese police and military strictly guard these mountains.

While tourists flock to Tibet as a mystical far-off land, the region’s own citizens are prisoners within its borders.

“Tibet under lockdown” photo by Ryan Gauvin via Freetibet.org

Years of hardship forced the fishing communities to degrade the reefs of Northwest Bali, in the region of Pemuteran. As the economic crisis and the resulting threat of poverty weighed heavily on the tiny communities, they turned to dynamite and cyanide to produce greater numbers of fish for sale, unaware that these destructive practices would harm and endanger the reef. The small fishing industry competed against fishermen from neighboring Java for their daily share of the market.

When the seas warmed as a result of climate factors, including the impact of El Niño in 1998, the reef, which was already under threat of degradation, began to deteriorate and die. Fifteen years ago it was a place of very little life, and the entire North Coast was threatened by its extinction.

Fortunately, through foresight and scientific exploration, Pemuteran was rescued. Yayasan Karang Lestari (the Sustainable Reef Foundation) created the Pemuteran Artificial Reef project to preserve the marine environment in the region. The Karang Lestari Project was launched in June 2000 through the initiative of Yos Amerta, Dr. Tomas Goreau and Professor Hilbertz. The first protective reef structure was set in place in 2000, and since then, the project has found support from the owner of the Taman Sari Resort. Now the project, supported by teams of divers, designers, and villagers, is blossoming.

The restoration of coral employs a method that allows the reefs to survive and recover from damage in an initiative called the Biorock Process. Electric currents are pulsated through metal frameworks, which encourage limestone to accumulate. This, in turn, encourages coral growth.

Coral reefs built with the Biorock Process are now successfully growing in the Maldives and Papua New Guinea, and the most recent development of this technology has taken the project off the grid and into solar power. The Coral Goddess, the name for the latest project created between Karang Lestari and The Marine Foundation, uses solar panels to harness the energy she needs to pulsate life into the structures that promote coral growth.

The Coral Goddess

The other benefit to the area is the appeal of the Coral Goddess to tourists, who come to visit her in her garden. Positive contributions to the growth of coral in this region include the provision for sustainable tourism or eco-tourism, as well as educational tourism. Recently, a group of thirty young students from the Bali International School visited the Coral Goddess and the Bio Rock Education Centre and met with project coordinators Rani, Celia and Komang. They gained insight into some basic principles of a marine environment and enjoyed the rest of the day in the ocean. Those who chose to swim made their way in snorkels and flippers to visit the Goddess, while the rest took a trip on a glass-bottomed boat. This type of tourism also improves life for the local people of Permuteran, who can take pride in the efforts they have contributed to the Karang Lestari Project and to the future of their coastal home.

The Taman Sari, the Marine Foundation and Karang Lestari welcome visitors to the BioRock and Coral Goddess Gardens and are able to arrange educational talks and multimedia presentations of their work. They also create specially crafted signature structures for individuals and groups that can be placed in the coral gardens to support the growth of even more corals.

With an increase in coral growth, the entire marine environment is improved, as life beneath the sea becomes once more part of the delicate web of balance that is a marine ecosystem. No one life form can out-balance another without stressing the fabric of interdependence. The local villagers now better understand this fact. They have a deeper appreciation for their environment and a strong interest in preserving for themselves and future generations a way of life that cares for the marine environment, whilst farming it in ways that are sustainable and profitable.