PAWONGAN ASPECT

Tri Hita Karana | Parhyangan Aspect | Pawongan Aspect | Palemahan Aspect

Human life is inseparable from problems arising out of interaction with fellow beings and natural environment. The wish for harmonious lifw therefore forms thw basic part to attain perfection, achievable only through cooperative with other human being.

The need to cooperate springs from uncertainty, limitations and rarity of resources available within human reach, hence forcing human beings to establish social unity. Man tends to maintain, nurture and develop his relationship with others through social unity in a ceratain in a certain place, there by forming a community group - both vastab and  lemited  forming a company group - both vas and limited in scale.

The community group vast in scale is united through a nation while the limited one through villages, or neighborhood. Traditional villages in Bali represent a social unity that is bound to the same territory and place for praying, kahyangan tiga.

Balinese traditional villages as a community group comprises the elements such as parhyangan that denotes spiritual, religious environment; pawongan individuals and human resources; and palemahan the physical form. Parhyangan element is termed Kahyangan Tiga in Balinese and represented by three territorial temples.

The application of Tri Hita Karana in the development of enviromental insight is highly dictated by the mangement of Pawongan elements to use natural and enviromental resources. Man as both the subject and object is the most capable agent to generate change.

Often the changes are questioned as to their compatibiliy with enviromental sustainability or mere excessive exploitations of natural resources. Certainly, man in this case plays a decisive role in any development activity.

The three aspects of Tri Hita Karana are inseparably linked to one another when applied. However, in real practice, Pawongan aspect directly determines the harmony of human relationships in a certain territory. This is because Hinduism defines the end objective of bodily life as Jagathita, that is to realize Dharma (virtue), Artha (material achievement), Kama (pleasure), Moksha (balance/harmony) in daily life. Jagathita is then the ideal to achieve and nurture, and this is pawongan.

Life is an endless journey thronged with problems. Transmart life, man is subject to problems and hardships. Application of Tri Hita Karana to achieve harmonious life consequently has to move along with rules.

One of the rules, itself the core of hindu teaching, is called Tri Kaya parisudha (three agents of virtue): Manacika (thought), Wacika (speech) and Kayika (demeanor).

Sarasamuscaya text (aphorism/line 157) mentions: "never do anything liable to cause the death of a living creature, through Tri Kaya: deed, speech and thought. What to pursue throught Tri Kaya is gift or charity. This is meant by sila (noble deed) as the sage advises".

Thus, Tri Hita Karana is the guideline for decent demeanor, never other. Decent demeanor implies what to do and not to do.

Thought is the decisive element and stimulus of human behaviour. Harmony could be realized if man involved in interaction displays the ability to develop rationality, initiative and creativity to practise innovation by abandoning the habit to copy anything that gone out of date.

Ability to communicate is also needed, as good communication ability will lead to successful application of Pawongan aspect, to more associations and friends. Technical skill to handle something complements the aforementioned need to achieve harmonious man-to-man relationship.

Man as development operator is the final target and decisive factor of Tri Hita Karana  application in all aspects of life. Improvement or damage in life is dictated by human behavior. Therefore, in environmental management and sustainable development, man constitutes the vital force.

This means that any in balance in the environment will stake man against the Custodian of the universe: Brahma the God (the creator) and Wisnu (the caretaker) who are reponsible for continuity of life in the Universe. Man must then be prepared for elimination by the power of Siwa the God (the eliminator).

The eforementioned guidance clearly implies that everything in the Universe is composed of Panca Mahabutha (five essential elements) that pervades everywhere. The elements are (1) akasa (formless, colorless and abstract); (2) bayu (air everywhere perceilable); (3) teja (light that accounts for brightness); (4) apah (water/ or anything liquid and flowing in nature); (5) pertiwi (land or anything solid and breakable).

Other concepts directly related to in environmental management are reflected in tat twam asi teaching (consciousness that all living creatures represent undivided unity), karma phala (cause and effect law), tri guna (three characters/behavior), satwa (wisdom, honesty and fidelity), rajas (lust, greed), tamas (sloth) and catur purusartha (dharma, artha, kama, moksah).

Within a ritual context, panca yadnya (five kinds of offerings/holy sacrifice) is the core of Hindu belief in the power of God and the Nature. Holy sacrifice conducted with true sincerity represents the respect paid to the eternal cycle of birth, life and death.

The rituals organized on the date termed tumpek (once every six months on Saturday kliwon) are dedicated to floral and fauna world, Tumpek Wariga and Tumpek Uye/Tumpek Kandang respectively. The rituals denote the respect for intactness and continuity of God's living creature, hence concern for environmental preservation.

To achieve the goal of life (term Janathita) requires a mission to develop man in religion, humanity, unity, democrazy, justice, welfare,progress, independence, goodness and cleanliness (Visi Indonesia 2020).

The mission matches the basic principles of Pawongan aspect, i.e. to develop man intelligence, democracy and accountability. In this case, a number of basic principles are to be respected. They are:

1. The principle to appreciate initiative and creativity. this principle is compatible with the teaching in Sarasamuscaya (aphorism 82) and Manawadharmasastra (XII, 4) expressing the success reached by a man who is able to take initiative and to develop creativity to create innovation.
2. The principle of hard work. This principle stresses perseverance and discipline. Hindu holy text, Bhagawadgitta says that without toil it is impossible to achieve salvation and perfection. Only people with diligence, sincerity and indefatigably are be successful in life. God only loves the hard-worker and never helps the slothful. 
3. The principle to value time. The Hindu view related to this point is expressed in Sarasamuscaya text. The text says that the manifestation as a human being spans only a short period of time. Life should therefore be spent with virtue. Do not let time pass without any benefit to life and do not hesitate to do any virtuous deed (dharma).
4. The principle of cooperation. Yayur Weda and Reg Weda holy books mention that man has to help others in trouble or hardship. god will always grant His Blessing and reward those taking pains to maintain harmony between men. This aphorism suggest the concrete illustration of the of principle cooperation in life as the manifestation of Tri Hita Karana application.
5. The principle of honesty and fidelity Harmonious man-to-man relationships based on the principle of honesty and fidelity is respected. Sarasamuscaya text holds that self-control with honesty and faithfulness to promises. if this is well practiced, more associations and friends will come. So will community credit and hence more opportunities to achieve Jagadhita.

To achieve harmonious man-to-man relationships as the essence of Tri Hita Karana application in life, it is necessary to constantly practice the basic principle of life. These principles can be best summarized with just one word: satyam or fidelity and honesty.

Tus, satyam represents the underlying principle of life and plays a significant role in achieving happiness (Jagathita). Application of Tri Hita karana in life implies the development of constant honest and faith fulness (pawongan aspect).