Gus Dur attends Pangestu congress

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): In a testament to his religious pluralism, President Abdurrahman Wahid on Friday attended the 14th Pangestu (a Javanese spiritual/mystical belief) Congress.

In his address to the congress, the President called on followers of the belief to veer away from a narrow-minded view of their belief.

"In the 1950s, many followers of Javanese mysticism took an anticlerical attitude and rejected any (formal) religious teachings. But I don't think that such a view exists now," he said.

"If you keep such a view, you will be left alone," he added, saying that all beliefs should maintain a tolerant way of life and remain open to the teachings of others.

Radicalism will always fail to make people live in prosperity and peace, he said.

Abdurrahman made a brief stop in the Central Java town to attend the three-day congress, which began on Thursday, on his way back to Jakarta after a short visit to West Nusa Tenggara.

Mysticism and spiritualism have long been popular in Indonesian society. Many extra-religious ceremonies are embedded in local culture, mixed together with more formal and established beliefs.

Pangestu is just one of the hundreds of spiritualist organizations in the country. It was established in Surakarta in 1949.

Its current chairman, Soedjarwo, claimed there were over 120,000 followers spread out across 194 branches in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Lombok and Irian Jaya.

Soedjarwo served as minister of forestry under both president Sukarno and Soeharto. (44)