As seen above Indonesian mysticism developed in many forms, some clouding its deep inner essence.
It is regrettable that younger Indonesian generations seem to have lost interest to develop their innate gift to transcend sensory reality to tune into their deepest spiritual nature, especially in the present strive between religious factions. Syncretism, characteristic of Javanese mysticism, is known to bridge outer differences and foster understanding between all people.
May be the day will come that the tremendous value of Javanese mysticism will be rediscovered. Its great tradition may need to be transplanted in order to be brought into blossom again.
Incense, flowers are powerful communication tools
If the above gives the impression that mysticism has disappeared from Javanese life the Jakarta Post ran a series of articles on mysticism in August 2002. Some of its contents:
Mysticism has become a part of modern people's lives. Those seeking advice from psychics include educated people and even those who are religious, such as Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Al Munawar. Less than two weeks ago, the minister made headlines when he ordered a treasure hunt at a protected heritage site in Bogor, West Java, following the advice of a psychic. [In Indonesian, "psychic" = "kejiwaan."]
Agil said that if the treasure was found, it would be able to cover the country's foreign debt of US$130 billion. The Jakarta Post is running a series of stories surrounding mysticism. This story and a related one on page 8 on August 26,2002, were written by Muninggar Sri Saraswati.
While cellular phones and the Internet are the most popular methods of communication by urbanites, there are some who choose kemenyan (incense) and flowers. Some people in Java burn incense and put flowers sprayed with perfume to communicate with spirits of the dead to gain peace of mind, solve problems in life or cure diseases.
The employee of a private company in the Kuningan area of South Jakarta, Soenaryo told The Jakarta Post that he started seeing a spiritualist five years ago when he was facing a problem at his company.
"Nobody could help me at the time. A friend of mine suggested that I see a spiritualist and I did. The spiritualist told me that I have to burn incense and put a plate of flowers and two eggs in my room while I meditated," Soenaryo said.
Although he felt a bit awkward, he obeyed the order and requested the spirits of his ancestors to ask God to help him. Amazingly, Soenaryo found a solution to the problem and he was promoted. He has since become a loyal client of the spiritualist's, who lives in Paseban, Central Jakarta. He has also regularly provided offerings, particularly when he has a problem in life.
"It's only a medium to God, which you might think is strange," said Soenaryo, adding that he makes the offerings every kliwon, or once every Javanese five-day week.
Another customer, Warti, told the Post that she bought incense and flowers for her employer, a middle-aged woman who is a banker.
"She has given offerings and burned incense for two years, when her marriage was in trouble. She usually does it in the morning. She also takes baths with petals in the water at night," said the maid, who buys the items for her every Friday.
Marni, an incense and flower vendor, said that business had been brisk since she opened shop 10 years ago, with most people buying the items usually for funeral rituals.
"The number of people buying these items for mystical purposes started to increase during the economic crisis," she said, referring to the Asian crisis which hit the country in 1997.
Another vendor at Rawa Belong market, West Jakarta, agreed. "There are not as many people buying flowers and incense for mystical purposes as those who buy them for funeral rituals, but they are loyal customers. They come once a week or twice a month," said Tedi, who has been in the business for over eight years.
Trances in modern Indonesian society
Spiritual fervour - going into a trance - is a rather common phenomenon in Indonesia, particularly among factory workers.
All over the Indonesian archipelago there are reports of schoolchildren, young women and factory workers going into mass trances or speaking in tongues.
National television showed in February 2008 eleven students and five teachers going into mass trance in a classroom. About 50 female workers at a garment factory near Jakarta were reported to have gone into a collective trance in June 2007, weeping and jerking their bodies around.
Religion, education and development have done little to halt widespread acceptance of the supernatural in Indonesia. In Indonesia, trance is tied up with culture, explained Lidia Laksana Hidajat, from the psychology faculty of Jakarta's Atma Jaya University.
Lina, 23, said she has been possessed many times in the past six years, always by the same "jinn" or evil spirit. Its face is exactly the same face as my older sister but the body is hard to make out. It calls my name but if I follow it, it disappears, she said. Lina said that mass trances were so common at the Malang cigarette factory, where she worked, that she quit eventually .
Indonesian media reported a group trance among workers at Bentoel's cigarette factory in Malang, Java, in March 2006. Hidajat interviewed 30 of the affected women, who say they were sitting in rows in a long hall, rolling the cigarettes by hand when it happened. They were working in silence. That's one of the requirements of a trance to happen - it's usually quiet and when they are engaged in monotonous activity, she said.
Suddenly, one of the workers started screaming and her body went stiff. The one next to her started crying and went stiff too, triggering a domino effect. A Muslim leader was summoned, but his prayers had no effect. The exhausted women fell asleep and when they awoke they remembered nothing.
Hidajat found there were common factors between the trance victims she interviewed.
Often they are people who are very religious or under pressure. They were also from low socio-economic backgrounds, she said.
Eko Susanto Marsoeki, the director of Malang's Lawang Psychiatric Hospital, said overwork was closely linked to mass trance incidents in factories. Often it is a form of protest that will not be dealt with too harshly, he said.
When more than 30 students at Kalimantan's Pahandut Palangka Raya High School fell into a trance in November, they blamed a spirit in a nearby tree. During the morning flag-raising ceremony, one of the girls started screaming and couldn't move. Soon her friends joined in until more than 30 of them were screaming and fainting, the deputy principal, Friskila said. Some of the girls woke from the trance after a student played a Muslim prayer ring tone on her mobile phone. Others were taken by their parents to local witchdoctors.
Friskila, however, favours a less superstitious explanation.
They are bored, tired and then this happened, she said. They all got a day off school.
source:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/javmys1.html
It is regrettable that younger Indonesian generations seem to have lost interest to develop their innate gift to transcend sensory reality to tune into their deepest spiritual nature, especially in the present strive between religious factions. Syncretism, characteristic of Javanese mysticism, is known to bridge outer differences and foster understanding between all people.
May be the day will come that the tremendous value of Javanese mysticism will be rediscovered. Its great tradition may need to be transplanted in order to be brought into blossom again.
Incense, flowers are powerful communication tools
If the above gives the impression that mysticism has disappeared from Javanese life the Jakarta Post ran a series of articles on mysticism in August 2002. Some of its contents:
Mysticism has become a part of modern people's lives. Those seeking advice from psychics include educated people and even those who are religious, such as Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Al Munawar. Less than two weeks ago, the minister made headlines when he ordered a treasure hunt at a protected heritage site in Bogor, West Java, following the advice of a psychic. [In Indonesian, "psychic" = "kejiwaan."]
Agil said that if the treasure was found, it would be able to cover the country's foreign debt of US$130 billion. The Jakarta Post is running a series of stories surrounding mysticism. This story and a related one on page 8 on August 26,2002, were written by Muninggar Sri Saraswati.
While cellular phones and the Internet are the most popular methods of communication by urbanites, there are some who choose kemenyan (incense) and flowers. Some people in Java burn incense and put flowers sprayed with perfume to communicate with spirits of the dead to gain peace of mind, solve problems in life or cure diseases.
The employee of a private company in the Kuningan area of South Jakarta, Soenaryo told The Jakarta Post that he started seeing a spiritualist five years ago when he was facing a problem at his company.
"Nobody could help me at the time. A friend of mine suggested that I see a spiritualist and I did. The spiritualist told me that I have to burn incense and put a plate of flowers and two eggs in my room while I meditated," Soenaryo said.
Although he felt a bit awkward, he obeyed the order and requested the spirits of his ancestors to ask God to help him. Amazingly, Soenaryo found a solution to the problem and he was promoted. He has since become a loyal client of the spiritualist's, who lives in Paseban, Central Jakarta. He has also regularly provided offerings, particularly when he has a problem in life.
"It's only a medium to God, which you might think is strange," said Soenaryo, adding that he makes the offerings every kliwon, or once every Javanese five-day week.
Another customer, Warti, told the Post that she bought incense and flowers for her employer, a middle-aged woman who is a banker.
"She has given offerings and burned incense for two years, when her marriage was in trouble. She usually does it in the morning. She also takes baths with petals in the water at night," said the maid, who buys the items for her every Friday.
Marni, an incense and flower vendor, said that business had been brisk since she opened shop 10 years ago, with most people buying the items usually for funeral rituals.
"The number of people buying these items for mystical purposes started to increase during the economic crisis," she said, referring to the Asian crisis which hit the country in 1997.
Another vendor at Rawa Belong market, West Jakarta, agreed. "There are not as many people buying flowers and incense for mystical purposes as those who buy them for funeral rituals, but they are loyal customers. They come once a week or twice a month," said Tedi, who has been in the business for over eight years.
Trances in modern Indonesian society
Spiritual fervour - going into a trance - is a rather common phenomenon in Indonesia, particularly among factory workers.
All over the Indonesian archipelago there are reports of schoolchildren, young women and factory workers going into mass trances or speaking in tongues.
National television showed in February 2008 eleven students and five teachers going into mass trance in a classroom. About 50 female workers at a garment factory near Jakarta were reported to have gone into a collective trance in June 2007, weeping and jerking their bodies around.
Religion, education and development have done little to halt widespread acceptance of the supernatural in Indonesia. In Indonesia, trance is tied up with culture, explained Lidia Laksana Hidajat, from the psychology faculty of Jakarta's Atma Jaya University.
Lina, 23, said she has been possessed many times in the past six years, always by the same "jinn" or evil spirit. Its face is exactly the same face as my older sister but the body is hard to make out. It calls my name but if I follow it, it disappears, she said. Lina said that mass trances were so common at the Malang cigarette factory, where she worked, that she quit eventually .
Indonesian media reported a group trance among workers at Bentoel's cigarette factory in Malang, Java, in March 2006. Hidajat interviewed 30 of the affected women, who say they were sitting in rows in a long hall, rolling the cigarettes by hand when it happened. They were working in silence. That's one of the requirements of a trance to happen - it's usually quiet and when they are engaged in monotonous activity, she said.
Suddenly, one of the workers started screaming and her body went stiff. The one next to her started crying and went stiff too, triggering a domino effect. A Muslim leader was summoned, but his prayers had no effect. The exhausted women fell asleep and when they awoke they remembered nothing.
Hidajat found there were common factors between the trance victims she interviewed.
Often they are people who are very religious or under pressure. They were also from low socio-economic backgrounds, she said.
Eko Susanto Marsoeki, the director of Malang's Lawang Psychiatric Hospital, said overwork was closely linked to mass trance incidents in factories. Often it is a form of protest that will not be dealt with too harshly, he said.
When more than 30 students at Kalimantan's Pahandut Palangka Raya High School fell into a trance in November, they blamed a spirit in a nearby tree. During the morning flag-raising ceremony, one of the girls started screaming and couldn't move. Soon her friends joined in until more than 30 of them were screaming and fainting, the deputy principal, Friskila said. Some of the girls woke from the trance after a student played a Muslim prayer ring tone on her mobile phone. Others were taken by their parents to local witchdoctors.
Friskila, however, favours a less superstitious explanation.
They are bored, tired and then this happened, she said. They all got a day off school.
source:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~wichm/javmys1.html
No comments:
Post a Comment