By K&P 
A large group has gathered, both young and old, standing chaotically on the road, looking well in their dark, festive clothes. On the side, a young man with a dark headband stares at his phone, much like his friends a few steps away. In the shade by the fence, older women are talking, looking bored. The sun at its zenith beats down fiercely, and the men under a tree are smoking cigarettes, not seeming troubled. Musicians slowly step down from the pick-up truck, holding brass instruments. The larger ones are on a wooden stand and have a deep, resonant sound. There are also drums, hanging over their shoulders, beautifully decorated.
A few sounds, and the crowd starts to line up for the procession. From a nearby house, two elderly men in white robes emerge. With long gray hair and beards, wearing a white, unconventional outfit for this occasion, they are clergy. Behind them, four men carry a wooden coffin on their shoulders, an ornate bed with a body wrapped in white cloth. At the head, a decorative golden element is visible from a distance, along with ornamental umbrellas. Right behind them walks the family, and gradually, the crowd joins in. The men carrying the body shake the coffin unusually, walking forward only to take a few steps back, occasionally turning the body around as if intending to return. According to belief and tradition, this is the only way to lose bad spirits.
In the large square, under tall trees on mounds of earth, there are concrete platforms. The clergy raise their hands, pointing in the direction where the deceased will be sent. Like an ancient, stone, dark teleport with transmission only one way. Large trees – fig trees with hanging vines and trunks fused from many smaller ones – create a dark atmosphere, adorned with cloth wrapped around them. The locals treat them with respect, placing stone monuments next to them; they are like temples.
The Balinese Naben cremation is a ceremony during which the soul is freed from the earthly body. The Balinese version of Hinduism holds that the body must disappear from the earth so the soul can be liberated and continue its journey to a new reincarnation. The alternative to reincarnation is simply the end of the cycle, which must be earned through good karma – the equivalent of salvation. Balinese people view Naben as a positive event; the cremation should take place as soon as possible after death for the benefit of the deceased. This is not always possible, as the Balinese calendar indicates periods when cremation can take place and when burial is necessary. In such cases, the deceased is buried in a temporary grave for one or two years. The day before Naben, there is a ceremony to exhume the remains, performed by the closest family members. Usually, at night, to the rhythm of gamelan music and under the moonlight, the bones are taken from the grave.
Only the closest family and clergy approach the body. The clergy performs the ritual, sprinkling the body with holy water from typical clay vessels used for this ceremony, then smashing them on the ground. The family, according to tradition, places offerings – shoes and clothing – near the body. The soul is reborn in a new human, animal, or plant form, depending on the karma. In the next life, the harvest of the previous life will be reaped; there are no eternally damned, just better or worse lives, another earthly trial, one of many chances. The simple process continues until the goal is achieved – Moksha – explained as being everything, “a wave on the ocean, a sunbeam, a breeze in the wind.”
Two bottles of gas are usually enough, with a third one in reserve. Large flames consume the coffin and partially expose the body, while the music maintains the mood and drowns out the crackling of the fire, building the atmosphere. There is no smell of burning flesh. Participants sit cross-legged in the shade of a tree or under a shelter during the cremation. The gamelan plays until the end, and some of the men sip tuak – palm wine, while the women talk.
After the cremation, the remaining ashes and unburned bone fragments are collected. The ashes are placed in a coconut shell. A moment for a shared meal for the closest family, and the second stage begins, during which the ashes are ceremoniously thrown into the ocean or a river.