On kris

On kris

Your feature on the kris (Kris, more than just a simple
dagger, April 18) provided good insights into the remarkable
tradition of the Javanese dagger.

I recall, in Solo around 1993, talking for hours with K.R.T.
Hardjonegoro about the kris and other aspects of Javanese
culture. I was fascinated by the expert evidence that says there
is no doubt that the best kris blades were formed with the
fingers. In one case at least, the vulva had been used to give a
blade its texture. Given that this can only be done at white
heat, how could this happen?

Hardjonegoro explained that the blacksmith or empu forms the
kris during meditation. For some reason I asked the name of the
specific meditation. I was astonished when he replied Kolo Cokro.
This was an obvious link to Kalicakra, one of the highest
initiations of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet.

More recent discussions with members of the Hindu faith also
make it clear that many of the practices still continued by
Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism are shared with
current practices in Java and Bali.

Hardjonegoro himself has done much to help preserve the
Javanese arts, not least by fostering an empu trainee who has
developed to become a name in his own right.

Java and Tibet were linked, said Hardjonegoro, through 8th
century Bengal, the seat of Tantric practice, which some argue
was the final fruit of the once-great Indian civilization.
Sitting chatting with him in his home filled with treasures of
Java's Hindu-Buddhist past was a particular insight not only into
the world of Java but also into what was once a mighty and
enlightened empire.

KEITH LOVEARD

Jakarta