Loss of Meaning Lack of Understanding

 

Offerings are one of the most sacred forms of devotion in Balinese Hinduism. Canang (offerings), banten (banten), and sesajen (offerings) are our mediums for communicating with Ida Sang Hyang Widhi), ancestors, and nature. 

They hold meaning: symbols of purity, sincerity, and harmony. But lately, a sight has made us pause. Many people are still offering canang (offerings) filled with candy. From the outside, they look beautiful, the colorful canang neatly arranged. But after a few days, what's left is not just the remains of the offerings. What's left are the plastic candy casings, sadly scattered everywhere on the roadside, in the river, and remnants of the haturan (offerings) from the plastic wrappers. 

1. Loss of Meaning: Canang used to be filled with fruit, traditional snacks, and flowers. Everything returned to the earth. Nothing polluted. Now, candy is a choice because it's practical and colorful. But we forget to ask: "After the offerings are made, what happens next?" The meaning of "ngaturang the best and return to nature" is lost, because what we leave behind is very dangerous plastic waste, which will decompose into microplastics that disrupt the ecosystem. 

2. Lack of Understanding Many are unaware that the plastic skin of the candy does not "melt" like flowers and leaves. It remains there. Blown by the wind, washed into the gutter, eaten by animals, and then returned to our bodies through the food chain. We pray for harmony with nature, but without realizing it, we are destroying nature itself. Isn't this contradictory? 

3. What Can We Do? Maintaining tradition does not mean stopping innovation. Protecting the environment also does not mean abandoning offerings. 

The key: understanding. Several simple steps: 

1. Return to natural materials, replace plastic candy with traditional snacks: jaja laklak, bananas, peanuts, all biodegradable. 

2. Early education, Pecaling, banjar, and schools can invite children to make canang without plastic. 4. Reprimand in a kind way, remind each other, not about right or wrong, but about caring together. 

Balinese contemplation is beautiful because its traditions live side by side with nature. Don't let a lack of understanding cause us to lose both: the meaning of the offering and the preservation of the environment. 

Let us offer our offerings with a clean heart and leave a clean footprint. Because the best offering is not only beautiful when presented, but also one that does not pollute the environment afterward. 

Scientific Meaning Offering canang in the form of segehan, scientifically, the ingredients of snacks, sugar placed at the bottom are a medium for the growth of natural microbes. Microbes that have a role in balancing the ecosystem as decomposers will be maintained. Segehan in Hindu beliefs is believed to be a reward for Butakala. Some sources provide information Buta means Bacteria and Kala means Fungus. The scientific meaning of segehan is maintaining environmental sustainability and respect for the beginning of life starting from Buta and Kala. 

SOLUTION 

With sincere respect, by opening the skin, take it home.