www.mastoni.com
DISCUSSION FORUM
 Peter van Kan, NetherlandsI wonder, mas Toni, if you ever asked yourself where the original Javanese religion; Kedjawen, culture, language and writing has gone to? With all respect to you and your material on these matters, I must correct you as a Javanese on these very delicate matters. You know as well as I do that we, Bongso djowo, ourselves were the ones that destroyed our own very beloved religion, culture, language and writing that were given to us by the almighty creator; GUSTI. We let the Hindu-religion, -culture, language and writing already integrate in our lives some 2000 years ago. It got even worse didn't it? The Islam and later the Dutch did the rest. We are mostly a copy of the Hindu people, and later the Islamic people in my opinion. Everytime I come across websites like yours, it really hurts me to see that these brilliant souls live on lies that has been around on Djowo-island for 2000 years. So ask yourself, what is your origin? Because your origin is your fundament. The evidence are scattered everywhere on that beautiful island of ours. But most of you can't see the truth behind them. Why must we Bongso Djowo lower ourselves to other religions, cultures, languages and writings which originated in other countries. History has shown us, for those who can see and accept the truth, that the integration of Hindu and Islam etc. has destroyed mostly of our original religion, culture, language, writing and ourselves. We were the stupid ones. : But there is still hope, because the original Javanese religion Kedjawen, with the original kitab Djojobojo, language and writing is still among true Javanese people. You can't find it on Java anymore. Because the very Islamic corrupted policies on Java doesn't allow the truth. Those who tried payed with their life. But times are changing rapidly. Maybe you already encountered one of us in the Indonesian media. Kedjawen opened my eyes which also enabled me to see the truth and nothing but the truth. Moho kuwoso Gusti, engkang paring sedantenipon dumateng kawulo. jswarsosemito@hetnet.nl Assalamu'alaikum Wr. Wb., Dear Mas Peter, I too, have great respect for Kedjawen. It would serve us well to learn from our ancient past as you have suggested. There are, however, two points of yours on which I would comment. Before I go into our disagreements, let me say that I rejoice that you have found great strength in Kedjawen and that it has opened your eyes. I also find it a source of great enlightenment and I include its truth in my own spiritual life. I draw a distinction between those elements of "outside influence" (or "corruption" if you prefer) that have changed our culture and those elements that, at present, destroy our egos and lowered our self-esteem. Allow me to sight serveral examples that I hope will make those murky sentences a little clearer. Perhaps the best illustrations can be found in nature. Natural forest fires are devastating to the forest shortly after the event. In time the fire is seen as the agent through which forests grew and replenished themselves. Fires are a crucial part of the history of any forest if they are allowed to occur naturally. Similarly, physical exercise actually destroys muscle. But it is through the rebuilding of that muscle that the body strengthens itself. Likewise, volcanoes bring with them the same properties of destruction and growth. The land is made fertile in their wake. There are countless examples of this process in ourselves and in the world around us, and so it with history and culture. I have no doubt that the coming of the Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims to Djowo unleashed a great cultural catastrophe in their day. However, after millennia, their presence has enriched us. I cannot imagine Indonesia without the influence of Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims. At this point, they are as much a part of Djowo as Kedjawen. Can you imagine Djowo without Borobudur? No culture remains stagnant. We never have lived in a little protective bubble. Every where in the world peoples influence each other and, eventually, enrich the cultures they touch. I have no doubt that the same will be true of the current devastation in the aftermath of European colonialism. At present, we are living in its destruction. We have lost ourselves to its power. We feel inferior to it and powerless to find our own path. I am certain that in time the presence of the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and others will be seen as new layers of richness. But in the meantime, we have a lot of work to do. I do not believe that we must shed outside influences in order to understand ourselves better. I would relate this belief to Kedjawen in the following way. As we cannot, and probably should not, avoid outside influences, the secret to our success lay in our having sufficent self-confidence to look to our own culture and traditions for answers. We must not abandon ourselves in the belief that the best answers are always to be found elsewhere. The second point I would like to make is a very personal one. Religion is too often proprietary. God, which Muslims call Allah, owns no more or less truth then God, which Kedjawens call Gusti. In my humble opinion (I'm not humble very often, so pay attention), Gusti is Allah and Shiva and Vishnu. He is Enlightenment to the Buddhists and Yahweh to the Jews. These are simply different names for the same great spiritual truth. You are free to disagree as the religious of every sort so often do. I am a Muslim because Islam has great meaning for me. However, I learn and am enlightened by all religions because they are all thirsting after the same truth. In Kedjawen, one finds great truth and wisdom and I rejoice in your devotion to it. However, I do believe that there is room for the rest of us on the Island of Djowo. Wabillahi taufiq wal hidayah. Wassalamu'alaikum Wr. Wb., Mastoni Dear brother Peter and Tony, I am glad to see you both to discuss about Javanese in this e-mail. Before continuing, I say frankly that my English is not perfect like yours. So, I am sorry. If we talk about Javanese (culture, religion, language etc), actually we talked the same thing with the Greek. Before the Christ, the Greek had its own relegion, phylosophia, culture etc. In the philosophical life, it was said that the Greek like a big river. But since the Christ came to Europe, this river became 3 small rivers in 750 A.D. namely West Europe, The Greek-Orthodox in Constantinopel, Arabic-Islam in Spain or Andalusia. But after Renaissance, these three rivers of life became "one" again. And the result is the modern Europe, or Modern Western. This modern West, finally, conquered Asia, Africa and America. The original Java, of course, lived before the millenia of the Christ. And this kind of culture we can see in Phillipines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, and Thailand. Even Japanese people said that their old ancestor was influenced by Javanese. I just watched tv about the dance with its story like JAKA TARUB in Japan. So since the coming of Hindu, Buddhist, Islam, and Cristian, of course, Java was influenced by them. Javanese itself is not devasted today. But this original teaching was in contact each other. There is a process to build a new Java. And this process is on our shoulders. Thank you very much. Wassalam, chodjim |
