Baduy On Better Life's Issue

If they adhere to their tradition as not to damage their forest by any means, we may interpret it that they do that ritual divinity upon one clear objective, prosperity.

Although the exact meaning of prosperity might be disputable, it is for this small article purpose only we mean it as a set of power to fulfill our needs and contentment.

Baduy set the objective once hundreds years ago, found ways to achieve it, implement it then sustain ably preserve it from one generation to the next. Until to day, despite the fact of intervening flux of outside modern cultures, they keep on the tract focusing their objective.

They share a simple reason why they oblige to do what they have to do. The reason is that if they don’t do it, they will suffer from immediate curse that is damaging to their prosperity. It is their religious moral teaching not to make any damage to their guarded forest by whatever mean. The reward and punishment they believe will happen now in this world of their lifetime.

From other angle, Baduy have in fact a commonality with the rest of the world, using engineering tools and tech to support their life. In the architectural engineering they adapt the sloppy landscape by terracing the hills with stones. On it, they build houses geometrically well prepared. These facts tell us that they learn how to make a better life, just as much as we do.

Baduy are able to accumulate food supplies that they deposited for years without losing its qualities. They have ‘Padi Huma’ (Rice) in their ‘Leuit’ (House of Padi, where padi are deposited). This Padi’s deposit are enough to feed the whole community for 15 years (Baduy population in 2007 is approximately 10.000)! Some of this padi’s house, ‘Leuit,’even have been there for hundreds years! And if you cook this rice, the taste will be the same as if it were harvested this month.

Comparing Baduy Village to average Indonesian Village, who live in such a remote area, Baduy are more fortunate because they are economically independent and self-sufficient. Other villager may suffer from the price increase in commodity or gasoline, may suffer from disturbed logistic distribution, get troubled if fertilizer is rare or hike. In contrast, whatever changed to those factors, Baduy will not even shrink an inch!

Environmentalist will always be agreeable with Baduy that creating a better life does not necessarily mean sacrificing the quality of environment. Something divine has to be internalized to every man and woman, politician and scientist, King and President, Lawyer and Congressmen and to every citizen that the obligation to guard the Land is a sacred, divine chapter of humanity.

If Baduy proves they can do it, then the rest of the world who claimed themselves as a modern civilized society, equipped with tech and smart engineering tools, will also be able to prove the same. Otherwise, we are not as clever as Baduy . In English, if we can only make our environment ever worst, we are a real looser dump stupid society ever born in this Planet Earth.

To summarize, Baduy threats the objective of better life by harmonizing their activities with nature. Baduy has a religious obligation to be a guard and steward for nature, and they all strictly adhere to it. We must also learn how to make our better life. Have we been so far sacrificing our next generation of humanity by giving them hotter Planet day by day only to fulfill our material greediness? Why must we cut forest in such unbelievable speed that end with a destroyed jungles? Should we massively invest our scare resources in Oil pit only to waste it in congested traffic in Los Angeles?