One of my first gurus (teachers) was Ibu Gedong Oka. I met her when Felicity and I were traveling around the world with backpacks. We took a long, dirty bus ride to her ashram in the beach town of Candi Dasa in Bali Indonesia. When we arrived, we heard the most beautiful singing coming from the ashram temple. I fell in love with the place at that exact point as I listened to what we found out were the ashram members saying their evening prayers. Mrs. Oka wasn’t there when we arrived, but we met her a few days later. She was a diminutive but very no-nonsense woman. She was born in a small village in east Bali but had moved swiftly up the social ranks earning a university degree at Batavia University in Jakarta, a rare achievement for a woman at that time. Just before we met her, she had started her ashram at Candi Dasa on land her husband had bought as a beach house. The idea came to her after visiting India where she had toured Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram. Her ashram’s mission was to help modernize her island by training young people in Gandhi’s values, providing them with an education and sending them back into the community to become leaders. Later she became a member of the Indonesian Parliament and after her death was honored as one of Indonesia’s foremost female leaders with a commemorative postal stamp.
Ibu Gedong and the ashram members welcomed us warmly and we joined in the routine of rising at 5am for morning prayers, helping out with chores and the garden and returning to the temple at sunset for evening prayers. She also taught us the values that govern a Gandhian Ashram which are:
1. Ahimsa (Non-violence)
2. Satya (Truth)
3. Brahmacharya (Celibacy)
4. Asteya (Non-stealing)
5. Aparigraha (Non-possession)
6. Sharirik Khedu (Physical Labor)
7. Swadeshi (Self-reliance)
8. Sarvodaya (Welfare of All)
9. Nirmalata (Purity)
10. Seva (Service)
We also were immersed in Balinese culture attending traditional ceremonies, visiting member’s homes and learning the language. Our intended short stay instead lasted six-weeks. I’ll never forget the blessing she gave us the night before we departed: “Jauh di mata. Dekat di ati.” (Far in eye. Near in heart).
Ibu Gedong was a pivotal teacher on my spiritual journey. The mantras we learned at the ashram stuck with us, and we regularly chanted them as we continued our backpacking adventure through southeast Asia, India and Nepal. We continued reciting them when we eventually returned to the United States. I also continued reading Gandhi’s works and tried to practice the values we learned from Ibu Gedong. We also continued our relationship with her for several decades. And we passed down the mantras and our love of Bali to our sons Lucas and Max.