Hinduism in Indonesia: Small is Beautiful? by Timotius Wibowo

Fredrik Barth’s title, “A Luminous Mosaic,” precisely illustrated the most dominant character of Hindu communities in Bali. Bali Hinduism has been a complex religious community due to its variations, both local and individual. These complex variations can be understood as a logical result of their cosmology, which consists of four elements, i.e. 1) a pantheon gods and demons, 2) vast number of place spirits and spirits of material object, 3) spirits of ancestors, and 4) Brahmin high priests (p. 193). In Bali Hinduism, there is not a concept of a single and absolute God. There is not also single and absolute revelation, which then canonized in a scripture as in Christianity and Islam (p. 208). Such decentralization is also evident in its organization (p. 218).
In my opinion, room for variations and small-group leadership have enabled Bali Hinduism keeps its rites function well in its communities. Such variations, both personal and local ones, are important to accommodate different needs of different people. Likewise, small-group leadership will guarantee flexibility and simplicity in decision-making. In general, these characters are beneficial in doing a contextualization. However, these strengths have also been a weakness when we see it from political points of view. Having no powerful national leadership, Hindu’s people finds it is difficult to play significant role in Indonesian political discourse. To play a political role, a religion needs a national leadership, which enables its leaders to organize its people in a single command. Lack of national leadership had also made Indonesian Hindu people impossible to have a vision in a national level. Moreover, lack of national centralized leadership also makes these Hindu communities vulnerable to both political and religious powers. Robert W. Hefner’s research among Tengger Hindu people shows such vulnerability.
Tengger Hindu’s people had no strength to defend themselves against Islamization. They were even unable to organize their own community. Fortunately, they found their resource for a religious reformation when they got connection with Bali Hindu’s people. In my opinion, when connected to Bali Hindu’s people, they did not just get an organizational anchor. Instead, they also get a psychological motivation to strengthen their Hindu identity and to reform their community.