Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T19:27:59.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aliran Kebatinan as an Expression of the Javanese worldview

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

J.A. Niels Mulder
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Javanese Weltanschauung (Javanism) is based on the conviction of the essential unity of all Existence. This worldview is more encompassing than religion: it views human existence within a cosmological context, making life itself a religious experience. In this view of life it is not possible to separate the religious from the non-religious elements; human existence is inescapably related to supernature and it is senseless to sharply distinguish between the here and now and the beyond and timeless.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , September 1970 , pp. 105 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1970

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 (Islam) Abangan — People, who, though nominally Moslem (Islam statistik), find their religious inspiration in the traditional Animistic-Hindu-Buddhist magical-mystical-religious complex (Javanism). They are contrasted with the santri (Islam putihan), who faithfully follow the commandments of Islam, albeit often with a fair admixture of Javanism in their religious understanding and practice. See Geertz, C., The Religion of Java (Glencoe, Free Press 1960).Google Scholar

2 For elaboration or the distinctions between Javanism and Buddhism, see Mulder, J.A. Niels, “A Comparative Note on the Thai and the Javanese Worldview as expressed by Religious Practice and Belief,” The Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. LVIII, Part 2 (July 1970).Google Scholar

3 In contrast to kebatinan, religion is defined as “a science of supernature that acknowledges the necessity of an intermediary (prophet; written revelation) between man and God”.

4 Sosrosudigdo, Sarwedi, Fungsi dan Arli Kebatinan umuk Pribadi dan Revolusl (P.N. Balai Pustaka, Djakarta 1963), p. 90.Google Scholar

5 In the Daerah Istimewa Jogjakarta only four aliran have been prohibited and closed down fince September 1965. During the same period, however, many more aliran have been declared as undesirable and had to stop their activities in the neighbouring Surakarla jurisdiction.

6 Mr. Wongsonegoro, a well-known mystic and politician, was the leader of the Partai Indonesia Raya and was the First Deputy Prime Minister in the First Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet. See Feith, Herbert, The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia (Cornell University Press, Ithaca N.Y. 1964), chapter 8.Google Scholar

7 Kebatinan ialah sumber azas dan sila ke Tuhanan Jang Maha Esa untuk mentjapai budi luhur guna kesempurnaan hidup. This definition may mean, that the heart of man is the source of the knowledge of God and that that knowledge will lead man on the right path. But it takes a considerable amount of good-will to translate the definition, and even then its meaning does not become very clear. Hadiwijono, Harun (Man in the Present Javanese Mysticism, Baarn, Neths., 1967, p. 2)Google Scholar solved the riddle by leaving out the word dan (and) and by substituting for it by ‘of’. It yields a better sentence. Professor Rasjidi, one of the foremost and staunchest defenders of Islam in Indonesia, does not show that good-will, but also wants to play a trick. He scrutinizes the semantics of and the ideas contained in the definition, then concludes that it does not make sense in its present form and that the definition should read the other way round, viz. that it is God who is the source of kebatinan. Rasjidi, H.M., Islam dan Kebatinan (Jajasan Islam Studi Club Indonesia, Djakarta n.d.), p. 75.Google Scholar

8 J. Sepi ing pamrih, rame ing gawe; 2. Memaju Rahajuning Bawana. Although the definition (fn. 7) is always given in Indonesian, kebatinan's purpose is always stated in Javanese. For instance, S. Sosrosudigdo, op. cit p. 32.

9 The question of legal recognition is of importance for ceremonial purposes, especially marriage. Marriages are only valid when conducted according to the rites of the officially recognized religions. For practical purposes most people marry following Islamic rites. Since these rites include the pronouncement of the Islamic confession of faith (shahadat), what is the necessary and sufficient condition to enter Islam, most people are consequently counted as Moslems, whatever their private wishes or convictions. Islam statistik is the word that refers to the resulting Moslems.

10 For a few elaborated examples of kebatinan teachings, see Hadiwijono, H., op. cit., and Hardjoprakoso, Sumantri, Indonesisch Mensbeeld als Basis encr Psychotherapie (Leiden 1956).Google Scholar

11 Herbert Feith, op. cit.

12 According to the statistics of the Department of Religion, the divorce rate for Moslem marriages (about 90% of the total number of marriages) is more than 45% of the total number of new marriages a year on Java. See also Geertz, Hildred, The Javanese Family (Glencoe, The Eree Press 1961).Google Scholar

13 Many of the professional monks whom 1 interviewed in Thailand displayed similar characteristics of self-confidence, superiority, a tinge of vanity, and some social concern. See for instance the description of Maha Chettuphon, Mulder, J.A. Niels, Monks, Merit and Motivation (Special Report Series No. 1, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University 1969), p. 5.Google Scholar

14 Bonokamsi Dipojono, Mental Health and Current Javanese Native Medicine, Djlwa, Madjalah Psikiatri, Vol. II/3.