The missing values of harmony and plurality

Politik Perhatian: Rasa Dalam Kebudayaan Jawa; By Paul Stange; LKiS, April 1998; 308 pp

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Traditional Javanese plays have taken an important place on the stage of Indonesian politics.

Javanese spiritual values are often disseminated through characters in wayang (shadow puppet) performances. The character Semar, for example, is widely revered for being a god that has been transformed into a prophet with the mission to improve life in this world of conflict.

Another famous wayang character is Bathara (god) Narada, who functions as a "liaison" between the gods and humanity. Intrigue always follows him each time he descends to earth to convey a message to mankind. He does not convey his message in a straightforward way, making it possible for people to misinterpret him. Hence, Bathara Narada is a symbol of rasa, or feeling.

The wayang have given rise to a Javanese spiritual belief called Kejawen. Kejawen believers have formed their own community led by Sumarah, who is believed to have introduced a type of Javanese mysticism focussing on rasa and morality rather than rationality.

Although Politik Perhatian: Rasa Dalam Kebudayaan Jawa is by a foreign writer, it has enriched the bibliography on Javanese culture, especially for the traditional religion of Kejawen, which has taken a spotlight since the 1970s. Paul Stange's book is special in that it focuses on the political role of Javanese, especially Kejawen believers, and how the Kejawen religious belief was developed through the sharpening of rasa until it became their spiritual guiding light.

The term "kejawen" started in Yogyakarta and Surakarta palace circles. Initially, it took the form of traditional rituals influenced by philosophy and wayang mythology originating from India. Kejawen is better known as a traditional Javanese religion that developed from Javanese culture. This is what makes it different from Christianity or Islam, for instance.

The development of such beliefs often run contrary to Islam and Christianity. Those embracing Kejawen and Islam at the same time are referred to as abangan -- meaning that they do not have a strong belief in Islam.

Stange argues that the Javanese have not lost their religious commitment despite charges that Islam is not being followed in an orthodox manner by many people. The root of the problem, he says, is the common mistake in defining the word "religion". The English word "religion", for example, will always be translated into agama in Indonesian in any given context. This is not always appropriate. In English, "religion" is used to refer to all concepts concerning religion and belief, official or otherwise, embraced by individuals or communities.

The definition of local terms like kejawen, kebatinan, kepercayaan, kejiwaan and kerohanian in their religious context have often prompted debates. For example, the Indonesian word mistik and the English word "mysticism" sound alike, but in fact they are different. "Mysticism" refers to what Moslems call ilmu marifat, or the way of knowledge. While in Indonesian, mistik means mystical or wonder. The two are similar but they have different meanings (p. xi).

Stange offers an in-depth description of Kejawen. He divides every section of his book into three chapters. First, he makes an ethnographic analysis on the logic of rasa. He argues that rasa is the improvement of awareness in the Kejawen system.

In the chapter Semangat Kesurupan (Possessed Spirits), he deals with human experience as an uninterrupted continuity and states that spirits have relations to human experience.

In the chapter Symbolism in Pewayangan, Stange analyzes how Kejawen believers interpret symbols in wayang plays. The wayang cosmology represents a map of one's consciousness, not only a mythological description of history or a theory of the universe.

In the second section, the writer traces the development of Kejawen since Indonesia's independence. He insists that Kejawen should be accepted as a part of people's freedom to embrace the religion of their choice and that it should not be attacked or banned because all the state's recognized religions tolerate plurality and promote harmony -- things that kejawen also promotes.

In the third section, Stange criticizes Western theories on how Javanese deal with change, saying the ideas were no longer relevant. He offers a new paradigm with an anthropological approach.

Concerning the vigorous "Islamization" of Indonesian politics, the writer notes that Javanese tolerance has been overlooked by many analysts. This is an important point because Moslem puritans have often been intolerant of pluralism, such as separating Java from Islam.

Like many foreign observers, Stange, who has been teaching at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta for many years, hopes Kejawen will help develop greater tolerance and harmony in Java.

But modern times have pushed harmony to the periphery as people move away from spiritualism to pursue material possessions.

-- Muhammad Shaleh, Chairman of the Forum for Eastern Indonesia Studies in Yogyakarta.