Since being in Bali I have been in awe of the art of daily devotion. Waking early in the morning and walking the streets you see men and women drifting from their homes and courtyards in a cloud of incense placing canang sari. These are small woven baskets with flowers, treats, a cracker, incense and maybe a cigarette or some money beautifully arranged and distributed. Sometimes they are left at the feet or on the head of a statue of a certain God. Often at the entrance way to the home, on the family shrine, at crossroads, in places of business…most recently I have watched a woman in the early mornings come down to the beach, place one in the sand then wade out into the ocean and send another off to sea while she performs the rites of washing her head and face three times each.

It’s not uncommon to see (largely women but also men) sitting outside folding small containers out of various leaves woven and held together with small slivers of bamboo stem. The art of devotion is interwoven into the fabric of daily life. Making the baskets, gathering materials, arranging the cangen sari, placing them…it’s more than just a morning practice. As someone who works on creating a practice of daily devotion or sadhana and I might add continually struggles with the discipline of doing so, I am in awe of the dedication of this act of daily devotion. Why? Why the time, attention and work for the daily offerings? For one simple, beautiful reason; it delights the Gods.

‘Whosoever offers to me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that offering of love, of the pure heart, I accept.(ix:26) Bhagavad Gita

The simplicity of this deeply speaks to me. In the west I feel that we can over read, over think, over practice and it can all become so, well, overwhelming that many of us struggle with spiritual practice. It can be time consuming. It is a should do on the to do list. Instead of thinking of all the ways I can/should be better at my sadhana I find myself reflecting on small acts of devotion, ( although I did not see it that way then) that I have done or my friends have done. I have a friend who puts fresh flowers in her house daily. Simple, nothing mind blowing, but it always stood out to me as so lovely. I have friends who have simple routines of cutting fresh herbs from their garden for dinner each night. I had a bread baking routine during covid that brought me immense joy. In each of these simple acts what I see now is devotion.

Each canang sari is a beautiful work of art that transforms from the holy to earthly. Each day swept up and replaced. The ritual of the creating, placing, blessing and removing being repeated day after day for thousands of years. Cutting the herbs, picking flowers, baking bread holy acts turned earthly through feeding our families, and delighting our senses. Offerings of love given with a pure heart. The art of daily devotion. This is changing how I see my own spiritual practice. What can I offer today with love and a pure heart? Because this is what delights the Gods.