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Trebbe Johnson's Newsletter
June 2008
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Dear Questers,
Friends, and Seekers of the Beloved,
Travel mirrors, often magnifies, the life journey. The difficulties we encounter
in strange surroundings and the discomforts we wrestle with when our senses of
comfort and safety are threatened point up how we tend to handle challenges in
other aspects of life. Chance encounters with strangers, especially those with
whom a deep and mutual rapport develops when we can't even speak each other's
language remind us of the magic of human chemistry. And, because we expect
serendipitous events and open ourselves to them, they tend to crop up
everywhere. This newsletter contains three reflections from our recent Bali From
Within journey, three ways in which we western visitors were invited in a
meaningful way into a moment of artistic magic, a philosophical concept, and a
project of sustainable ecology.
To those who are receiving this newsletter for the first time... welcome! Here
you'll find news of upcoming Vision Arrow events, reflections, profiles of
extraordinary people, and stories of transformation that occur when we accept,
in small, bold, startling ways the invitations that the world is always sending
us.
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MASKED MAGIC
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 One of the most enchanting
surprises to befall us during our Bali From Within journey happened in the
village of Mas, in the studio of the renowned Balinese mask maker, Ida Bagus
Alit. After learning about the sacred process of Balinese mask-making while we
watched the mask maker at work, we trailed into the small shop where some of the
masks are sold. Our guide, A. Agung Rangki, picked up one of the masks and
handed it to one of the mask maker's assistants.
The man took the mask, placed it over his face--and instantly his whole being
underwent a metamorphosis. Although we could plainly see an ordinary man in a
sleeveless T-shirt and rolled-up pants, the personality emanating from his body
and voice was Dalem, the king, speaking in the high-pitched, somewhat whiny way
that in Balinese sacred drama indicates that a higher being, such as a god, is
speaking through a person.
Agung handed him another mask, this one ruddy-red and covering only half the
man's face. Now he was Punta, the character who helps weave the narrative for
the audience. Another young assistant got into the act. He donned a scarlet mask
with bulging eyebrows: the bondresan, or village clown. The two figures are
well-known to the Balinese, for they are part of the masked theatre, Topeng,
which is said to date back as much as a thousand years. The two launched into an
impromptu dialogue, bantering back and forth and moving around the room in
stylized, dance-like steps. We westerners knew nothing of the story and did not
speak the language, yet we were completely mesmerized. The power, the humor, and
the fallibility of the characters poured out of the men's voices and shimmered
in the way their bodies moved. It was obvious that they had found their taksu,
the gift of communicating divine spirit to the audience. And we strangers were
invited into an impromptu moment in which art, spirit, play, and history came
together all around us. |
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TAKSU
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 Taksu is a complex,
yet ubiquitous concept in Bali, with several layers of meaning. As
manifested by the masked performers we saw, it meant that the men were
mediating between the spirit and human realms. In the temple compound of
Balinese families, you are likely to see a taksu shrine, dedicated to the
spirit of one's personal gift or talent. Children are exected to recognize
their own taksu and to let their parents know if they are drawn to study
dance, music, or some other path. Ideally, what one does in life will be in
alignment with one's taksu. Taksu is also divine inspiration as expressed
through one's work. A Balinese story tells of a dancer who, after many years
of study and practice was still merely a good performer. Then, one day,
quite unexpectedly, she began to dance with new and potent charisma. People
said that she had finally found her taksu. In other words, the spirit had
entered her and ignited her art.
Adopted slightly to a western outlook, you could say that the longing for
clarity about one's taksu is what drives many people to embark on a vision
quest. So often, in our first gathering on the first evening of the quest,
people speak of having a life and career that seems successful from the
outside, but which leaves them unfulfilled in their hearts. They seek a path
that will give them personal joy and passion as they serve others in a
meaningful way.
Through the three-stage process of the quest: severance (coming to realize
what attitudes and beliefs it's time to say goodbye to), solitary time in
nature, and sustaining the vision (grounding the experience of the solo in
tangible, practical steps that people can take home with them), the inner
gift or unique nature of each quester is revealed in deeply personal, often
surprising ways. I have seen someone's entire life transformed when, for
example, they had to ask for help carrying their backpack up a steep trail
out of a deep canyon. Or when they took all their clothes off and lay face
down on the earth on a dark and endless night. Or when, by enacting a
simple, impromptu ceremony, they gained a new understanding of and
compassion for their entire life's journey.
Like all Balinese prayer, honoring the taksu means making an offering and
announcing one's presence and availability to the deities, rather than
asking for specific favors. This practice suggests that the force of our
greatest inspiration is present already, standing by to enter us when the
time is right. For vision questers, those moments of feeling suddenly and
completely themselves have that same quality of familiarity. They discover
that the treasure they have so long sought is not something that arrives
from afar and startles them into a new reality, but something that has been
inside them all along, just waiting to be uncovered.
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SMALL ACTIONS FLOWING INTO WATERFALLS
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 In recent years, much of land in
mountainous northern Bali that was formerly dense with local trees and coffee
plantations has fallen prey to fields of hydrangeas. The big blue blossoms are
popular in the big tourist hotels on the island's southern beaches, and they
produce constantly, so they bring greater, more reliable profits to farmers than
the unpredictable coffee market. However, the flowers require much more water
than traditional plantings, and their shallow root structure causes erosion.
Streams at lower elevations have been depleted and clogged as upland growers
choose economic benefits over sustainable agriculture.
In 2005, Nyoman Bagiarta, a visionary land owner and founder of the
community-run hotel, Puri Lumbung Cottages, in Munduk, launched Tamblang Sacred
Mountain Springs Conservation Project to educate local people about the
widespread effects of their actions and encourage them to plant in sustainable
ways. By switching to a mixture of native forest (20%), coffee (40%), and
flowers (40%), growers can achieve a more sustainable ecological balance, while
still earning a dependable income. For at least a thousand years, rice paddies
in Bali have been irrigated through communal regulation and sharing of water at
every level of the emerald green terraces. Now those same principles are evident
in other types of agriculture as well. In only three years farmers have noticed
an improvement in both the amount and quality of the water that flows
downstream.
How the project works can be seen vividly when you visit Tamblang Sacred
Springs, as our group did one day. From a tiny bamboo pipe in the hillside, the
spring trickles out beside a woodland shrine. It forms a narrow stream that
quickly gathers momentum as it joins the flow of a second spring and, broadened,
the two head down the mountain. A walk of about forty-five minutes leads to a
great waterfall, the thunderous great-grandchild of the first tiny spring. And
from this waterfall, channels and rivers continue to flow south, contributing
precious water to hundreds of acres of rice paddies downstream. It is a graphic
example of how a small enterprise or a single act can have profound, often
unseen consequences.
While we were at Tamblang Springs, we planted trees as a way of contributing to
this exciting and important enterprise. In addition, fifteen percent of the
profits of the trip have been donated to the project.
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BOOK AND WORKSHOP NEWS
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 Summer
brings you many new workshops and vision quests across the country: east,
midwest, southwest, and west!
June 8-12
6:30-9:30 each evening, Washington, DC
Desire and the Quest for the Beloved
Contact Barbara Bitondo de Arčne: bitondo@sprintpcs.com, 202-607-4906
June 19-22
Diana's Grove, Salem, MO, in the mountains of southern Missouri
Four-day Summer Solstice celebration and Encountering the Beloved workshop
Contact 573-689-2400
June 27-29
The Roots of Attraction with Charles Tack and Trebbe Johnson
IONS Retreat Center in Petaluma, California
Contact: chastack@yahoo.com
There is still space available on Vision Arrow's two summer vision quests!
July 10-20
Deep Desert Overlook Vision Quest in the Utah Canyonlands
Our base camp is in a shaded ponderosa pine and aspen forest high above two
breathtaking canyons. No backpacking for the group, though you may walk as far
as you like for your three-day solo.
Guides: Trebbe Johnson and Louden Kiracofe
Cost: $1,775
August 18-22
Endless Mountains Vision Quest, northeastern Pennsylvania
A four-day quest in a beautiful nature preserve of forests, exceptionally
pristine streams, a glacial pond, and an open field. Minimal backpacking.
One-day solo.
Guide: Trebbe Johnson
Cost: $595
Call 570 727 4272 or email Trebbe if you have any questions or would like to
talk about any of these programs.
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Contact Information
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phone: 570/727-4272
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