Freedom, love the new democracy in Indonesia
Freedom, love the new democracy in Indonesia
By Tishy Bruce
JAKARTA (JP): Freedom is one of those words used frequently
without much understanding of its connotations.
Freedom and love are, in many ways, interchangeable words.
Freedom and love are a by-product of integrity. Integrity is the
ability to live your life honestly and with a sense of wholeness
within yourself--both qualities that stem from self-love.
Self-love means allowing individuals (you) to be unique - to
express your own way of being. Countries are made up of
individuals.
Indonesia is undergoing a change from being a country filled
with fear to becoming a country where freedom is allowed: where
self-expression is being allowed. This is a process which is
happening throughout the world. Because it is new it is scary
and, because it is new, it requires commitment. It requires
practice.
Indonesia and its people are crying out for politicians and
businessmen and their fellow man to live with integrity.
Indonesia is tired of double standards; it is tired of dishonesty
and manipulation in its many guises. It is too tired to be
tolerant of anything but a return to self-respect, honesty, and
decency.
However, although these "ideals" seem like basic rights, in
order for them to be attained or achieved, an ability to see the
overview and an ability to understand the process of change to
those ideals is necessary.
It is also necessary to see all the different guises of the
current situation that are the root causes of the present
difficulty, and to examine what those ideals actually mean.
Gus Dur has the ability to steer Indonesia to succeed in its
quest, but it may be hard for Indonesia to see through the chaos
of the moment to see where he is doing things right.
The recent article published in The Jakarta Post (Insight: by
Soedjati Djiwandono on May 11) was, I feel, excellent. That
article stated that the reason Gus Dur is so committed to, for
example, allowing communism is because allowing people to choose
is part of democracy. It recommended looking at a lot of rules
and regulations that hamper choice: choice of schooling, religion
etc. I agree.
Like adolescence
This is a fledgling democracy. It can be likened to
adolescence, a time for parents to let their children gradually
spread their wings in the knowledge that they eventually need to
choose their own way.
If one restricts access to knowledge that is not giving your
adolescent freedom of choice. You, as a parent, should trust in
the inherent ability of your own child to choose -- to know --
what is right or wrong.
Like adolescents, you are always there for them (you support
them, care for them when they are ill, etc.). You give them a
good background education.
However, you know that your child must follow their own path.
Not your path. Their path. It may be different. It may be new.
Part of love and part of your responsibility as a parent is to
allow your child to learn from the experience of trying out
different things and allowing them to make their own decisions on
what is right for them within the limits of acceptable behavior
(which are basic societal rules such as "do not kill", "do not
steal" etc., but not any particular religious credo).
The freedom that parents allow their children during
adolescence generates some fear. Will your child be OK? Are you
allowing too much or too little freedom? What levels of freedom
do you allow?
Freedom - democracy - is a new path. Old paths are much easier
to follow. They "feel" right. They are easy to walk along. They
are well worn. They are understood. You've been walking them for
so long you no longer question them. You no longer know any
different.
Walking a new path requires commitment: the road is not
smooth. It is easy to fall back into the old path. It is actually
sometimes quite difficult to even see the new path as you may
have to hack it through undergrowth or well-established plants
and trees.
You will be inexperienced at seeing the new path until it is
finished and the undergrowth is cleared. The "undergrowth"
includes fears based on a never-questioning attitude (caused by
passive/rote learning and caste systems), past legislation, old
habits, KKN (corruption, collusion, nepotism), etc.
Freedom like love - requires a commitment to the whole concept
of freedom/love. Freedom is a skill that requires practice.
Freedom requires caring and compassion. It demands tolerance. We
love - we allow freedom - in order to produce a feeling of
security, pleasure, a reduced fear of loss, a state of knowing
what freedom and love is.
Stay balanced
This millennium year is a year signaling the start of changes.
As individuals you can make changes easier if you stay balanced
and learn to cooperate with the forces of change.
Staying balanced is much easier if you learn to see the entire
situation. The world is looking at Indonesia to see how it
handles the changes happening now as the Far East is a pivotal
area for world economics and power.
Just like the rest of the world and all its peoples, Indonesia
is having to look at its qualities and discern what is good, what
is bad; what is honest, what is not; what is best in the longer
term, what is not, etc. This is called learning to become an
emotional, mental, and spiritual adult.
Freedom (and love) are empowering. Adulthood does not begin at
some magical age. It does not begin when we have children. It
begins when one becomes wise.
Indonesia is moving into adulthood. It needs to keep its
energy levels high to ride through the learning experiences in
the easiest way possible.
As an individual living in Indonesia you effect this country.
You effect it with your energy. As a loving adult, it is your
responsibility to keep your energy beneficial for you and for
this country, and, indeed, this world.
As an individual you create best when you feel good about
yourself. Inside. You cannot feel good about yourself if you are
not honest with yourself.
Being honest needs awareness. You need to be aware of what
reduces your energy levels. Struggle, fear and feeling unloved
all reduce your energy. Not taking advantage of "coincidences"
(such as chance meetings that could prove beneficial, chance
remarks that could help you, and not using your intuition
(i.e.not trusting yourself) all reduce your energy.
One way to keep your energy level high is to maintain a deep
awareness that YOU are doing the best you can and, in order to do
the best you can, you need to be free from fear - of any sort.
You need to be aware of what creates fear and you need to feel
God inside you. Feeling God inside you is possible when you know
that God is in everything around you and that you are part of
God. Meditate. Pray. Remind yourself of the beauty around you.
Understand the overview; stay balanced. Look to the real cause of
fear: it is lack of self-respect and lack of love.
Every breath that you take is the Breath of Life. Be aware
that when breathing in, you breathe in the goodness of God; and
in breathing out you can release the goodness of you to the rest
of the world.
Every step you take, every movement you make, every thought
you have has an effect on the macro-consciousness of this entire
planet and the entire Cosmos, so be a master of your fears by
making sure that you don't live in a fear-based world.
Freedom to love, to choose, to express to BE promotes
creativity, clarity, enthusiasm, hope and expectation. All of
these emotions make you feel wonderful, majestic and happy. Be
free.
The writer is a spiritual healer and counselor.