Ida Ayu Putri Mayuni, known as Dayu Mayuni, is Peter’s wife and the person who kindly manages much of Nirarta’s day-to-day running and administration. She also takes care of the traditional offerings that help preserve balance and harmony on the grounds, while honouring the many important feast days and festivals in the Balinese calendar.
Dayu is the mother of Maya and Mira, who are now attending primary school in Sidemen. She comes from a Brahmin family of the Bajing branch of the Manuaba clan, and is a direct descendant of Danghyang Nirarta, the great sage who helped bring Buddhism and Hinduism into closer harmony in Bali, and whose name is reflected in the Centre.
Before joining Nirarta, Dayu was one of eight children and lived with her extended family in the quiet county town of Amlapura, 25 km from Sidemen.
Her family were based in Sidemen many generations ago. A branch of the family still lives in Sindhu, north of the village, where her grandfather and grandmother serve the community as high priests in a peaceful Griya, a Brahmin home we often bring guests to for cleansing blessings.
Their son is a science teacher and herbalist, and also heads Sidemen Middle School, while their daughter creates local ceremonial Songket sarongs when she is not occupied with traditional duties.
Several generations earlier, another branch of the family settled in the quiet village of Bungaya, not far from Amlapura. From there, Dayu’s great-grandfather, a well-known healer, moved to Amlapura in the last century and established a new Griya north of the town.
Her grandfather and uncles continued this healing work on a more limited scale, while on her mother’s side, Dayu’s grandmother was also known as a healer and an ecstatic mystic in the local tradition.
Still finding her path, Dayu has a strong sense of the spirit of our Centre and a quick instinct for what is needed to keep things on track. In 2007, she trained as a practitioner of Transformational Coaching, and she hopes to train as a yoga instructor in 2009.