Shankara

[There are various approaches to meditate, besides the typical cross-legged one.  We know there is also walking meditation or any repetitive physical movements which actually form a rhythm to ultimately quiet the mind.  There is chanting which not only repeating mantras or sentences to focus the intention subsequently form as a prayer.  I am always enchanted with the Dervishes who keeps on singing, dancing, whirling and whirling in a trance mode… what are they achieving by doing so.. where does it come from originally…  In the light of a series of entries about Rumi, here is the connection between them and the mystery behind it.]

The Whirling Dervishes were founded in the 13^th century by the great Sufi mystic and poet, Muhammad Jalaluddin Rumi.  Rumi, born in Afghanistan in 1207, he came to Turkey when the Mongols invaded his homeland and settled in the city of Konya with his family.  Following in his father’s footsteps, Rumi became a scholar in spiritual readings, and a practitioner of Sufism or a theosophist, besides he is also known as a mystic poet, a thinker.  If you ask him, ‘What are you?’  He would say, ‘I am nothing but a simple lover of God.’  A true lover of God has no definite nationality, language or race for loves everything without discrimination.  Rumi turned to poetry and losing himself in dance and song to reach ecstatic states and thus commune with God.  His disciples called him Mevlana (our leader), and that’s where the Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes took their name.

Sufism is a mystical sect of Islam that believes God is in everything, and that humans can come in direct contact with the Divine spirit through love of life and all that is around them.  Rumi firmly believed that Muslims are by no means the only people to whom God has revealed himself.. love of God transcends particular religions and nationalities.

Dervish literally means ‘doorway’ and is thought to be an entrance from material world to the spiritual world.  Their dance is called Mevlevi Sema – the dance of the Whirling Dervishes.  It becomes part of the Turkish history, beliefs and culture.  The Sema ceremony represents man’s ascent to Heaven, his spiritual journey, his turning towards the truth, growth through love, desertion of self to lose oneself in God.  

The whirling is a prayer during which the Dervish’s body can become open to receive the energy of God.  For this to occur, the Dervish attempts to be empty of ego or sense of self.  Turning with one palm extended upward to receive and one palm extended downward to give, the Dervish does not attempt to keep the power.  Dancers are wearing tall conical felt hats and long white robes with full skirts covered with heavy black cloaks.  The white robes symbolize their worldly tombs and the hats, their tombstones.  By the third circuit around the hall, they drop their black cloaks, which is symbolic of their deliverance from the cares and attachments of the world.  One by one with arms folded over their hearts, they approach the sheikh, and bow to him.  Upon receiving blessings or instructions whispered in their ears, they spin out on to the floor.  The whirling induces a trance-like state that allows them to forget about their earthy lives and join in mystical union with God.

Everything in the universe revolves – the planets around their Sun, the Earth on its axis, the protons, electrons and neutrons in our body.  The Whirling Dervish aligns him or herself with that Universal Truth so that when the Dervish turns, the universe opens.

The practice of the Whirling Dervishes may have declined in Turkey since Ataturk’s ban, but international attention and admiration of the Sufi tradition has increased significantly.  Today Dervish groups from Turkey travel all over the world in cultural exchanges, whirling and sharing their love of God.

The above note is collated from different sources.

By Ahmad Arif

Printed in Kompas Cetak, 09 September 2008

Lasem, kota tua berhawa panas di pesisir utara Jawa Tengah pada tahun 1961.  Seorang hoakiao muda membuat udara Lasem tambah gerah setelah mempersunting gadis Jawa, putri seorang panitera dan keponakan wedono dari Tulungagung, Jawa Timur.

Hoakiao – istilah untuk Cina perantauan – itu bernama Njo Tjoen Hian, putra perajin batik.  Pernikahannya tersebut melawan arus masyarakat waktu itu, yang masih menganggap miring pernikahan antar-etnis dan antar-agama.

‘Pada waktu itu perkawinan Tionghoa dan Jawa biasanya delik-delik (sembunyi-sembunyi).   Sementara saya menikah resmi di catatan sipil,’ kata Njo Tjoen Hian, yang sejak tahun 1959 lebih sering menggunakan nama Sigit Witjaksono ini.

Tentang namanya ini, Njo Tjoen Hian menjelaskan, ‘Sigit Witjaksono itu merupakan versi bahasa Jawa dari Njo Tjoen Hian.  Artinya sama, yaitu kebaikan dan kebijaksanaan.’

Perjuangan Sigit mempersunting Marpat Rochani, putri priayi dari Jawa Timur, itu memang tidak mudah.  Tak ada satupun keluarga dari pihak istrinya yang mau datang pada acara pernikahan mereka ketika itu.  Sigit sampai merasa dipermalukan.  ‘Saya menangis wkatu itu,’ kata Sigit.

Akan tetapi, dia tidak pupus harapan.  Ia selalu mencoba untuk terus berbuat baik terhadap keluarga istrinya. ‘Lambat laun, mereka mulai ikhlas dan bisa menerima, apalagi setelah mereka melihat rumah tangga kami yang rukun.  Wong belah gowo damar, Gusti Allah ora samar,’ kata Sigit mengutip pepatah Jawa, tentang Tuhan yang akan selalu menjaga.

Ketika keluarga dan warga sekitar mulai menerima perkawinan campur itu, tantangan justru datang dari pemerintah.  Akta kelahiran anaknya diberi cap: akte kelahiran untuk warga keturunan Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (RRT). ‘Saya RRT saja tidak tahu bentuknya.  Tanah Jawan ini tempat lahir dan mungkin tempat nanti saya mati juga.  Kenapa seolah-olah kami belum juga diterima ?’ kata Sigit.  Dimata Njo Tjoen Hian, pembauran antara Jawa-Cina sebenarnya bukan hal baru. ‘Saya keturunan hoakio (Cina perantauan) kedelapan di Lasem,’ kata Sigit menambahkan.

Rombongan awal para hoakiao ke Lasem itu semuanya laki-laki.  Mereka kemudian menikah dengan orang-orang dari pesisir Lasem hingga Tuban.  Setelah Belanda berkuasa di Jawa barulah didatangkan para pekerja dari daratan Cina untuk bekerja di pertambangan dan perkebunan.  Sebagian di antaranya perempuan.  Mulailah ada perbedaan antara Tionghoa totok dan Tionghoa peranakan.  Antara mereka yang pribumi dan pendatang.  ‘Belanda juga yang menciptakan pemisahan itu’ kata Sigit.  Pemisahan itu semakin tajam setelah terjadi geger Cina – pemberontakan Cina terhadap Belanda – pada tahun 1740.  Waktu itu, Lasem menjadi salah satu pusat perlawanan Cina terhadap Belanda.  Penjajah Belanda sengaja menjauhkan orang Cina dan Jawa agar mereka tidak kembali bersekutu lalu melawan Belanda.

Batik Laseman

Jejak pembauran etnis Jawa dan Cina di Lasem itu, menurut Sigit, sangat jelas terlihat antara lain dalam selembar kain batik laseman.

‘Motif batik Lasem merupakan poduk silang budaya, terutama antara Jawa dan Cina,’ kata Sigit yang mewarisi usaha batik dari ayahnya, Njo Wat Jiang.  Motif yang terpengaruh budaya Cina adalah burung hong, bunga seruni, banji dan mata uang.  Adapun motif Jawa terlihat dari motif geometris khas batik vorstenlanden (Surakarta dan Yogyakarta), seperti parang, kawung dan udan liris.

Selain kedua motif itu, para perajin baik di Lasem juga mencipta motif lokal seperti latohan, gunung ringgit, dan kricak atau watu pecah.  Konon, motif kricak (batu kecil) diinspirasikan dari kenangan atas kricak sebagai bahan pembuatan jalan Raya Pos era Daendels, yang membawa banyak korban pekerja di Lasem.  Ketiga motif itu sering dipadu, seperti yang terlihat dalam motif batik tiga negeri.

Melalui budaya

Upaya Sigit untuk pembauran telah mendorongnya untuk membentuk paguyuban seni tari Tunas Harapan pada tahun 1977.  Dalam paguyuban ini, Sigit membaurkan anak-anak Tionghos dengan etnis Jawa.  Tarian yang sering mereka tampilkan adalah Srikandi Mustaka Weni dan Menakjingga-Dayun.  Kelompok tari multietnis ini, pada waktu itu, laris diundang ke kota-kota lain hingga Semarang dan Magelang.  Bahkan, pada tahun 1979, Tunas Harapan diundang tampil di Balai Sidang Jakarta, di hadapan Presiden Soeharto. 

Sigit juga menjadi Ketua Yayasan Sekolah Dasar (SD) Wijayakusuma, yang mengelola SD di Lasem sejak tahun 1979 hingga 2002.  Sebelum Sigit menjadi ketua yayasan, SD ini dicap eksklusif oleh masyarakat setempat karena 90 persen siswanya Tionghoa.  Dia bertekad menghapus cap itu.  ‘Saya datang dari rumah ke rumah, menemui keluarga Jawa agar mereka mau menyekolahkan anak mereka ke sekolah kami,’ tutur Sigit.

Selain menawarkan pendidikan kesenian tari, Sigit juga menyediakan pelajaran berbagai agama di sekolahnya itu. ‘Siswa bebas memilih pelajaran sesuai agama masing-masing.  Hasilnya, 60 persen siswa SD Wijayakusuma sekarang etnis Jawa, ‘ kata Sigit yang ikut bermain dalam film Cau Bau Kan pada tahun 2002 ini.

Pewaris

Bulan Agustus 2008, lelaki itu duduk di beranda rumah.  Dia mengenakan batik warna merah dan celana panjang katun hitam.  Tubuhnya masih sehat dan gagah.  Dari tempatnya duduk, dia bisa melihat seorang perempuan tua yang tengah membatik.

‘Pembatik di sini rata-rata sudah bekerja sejak saya masih kecil.  Tetapi, belum  ada anak-anak yang mau meneruskan usaha ini.  Semuanya bisa dibilang memilih bekerja di luar kota.  Lasem lalu menjadi kota mati,’ kata Sigit.  Ada nada getir dari suaranya.  Oleh karena itu, bagi Sigit, batik Lasem bukan sekadar urusan bisnis.

‘Batik Lasem adalah saksi sejarah, tentang pembauran budaya, yang tidak boleh hilang, ‘tuturnya.

[Post note:  another story about Lasem and its family history as represented by my uncle, Njo Tjoen Hian, fifth child in the family from my father’s side.  Njo Wat Jiang is the name of my grand father.  He was born and died in Lasem. 

In the original transcript, the term of ethnic Chinese as ‘China’, I do not believe this is the correct term in Bahasa Indonesia.  It should be Cina, therefore I take the liberty to change.]

[Getting old, the process of becoming old, being old scares many people.  Sometime the fear is because of the unknown.  The unknown on what will happen, what should one’s expect… Vanda Scaravelli in Awakening The Spine, talked about being old gracefully and what to expect physically and mentally.]

Memory is connected with attention.  An attentive mind remembers.  A distracted mind forgets.  Attention is energy and produces energy when we use it.  It is like the battery in a car, that recharges itself in the running of the motor.

People who continue to live intensely even at an old age, with their power of concentration and the passion for what their doing, are capable of modifying the physical limitations by which the body is conditioned.  The efficiency of an attentive mind is incalculable.

The old seem to forget, but it is only that they are not interested in what they are doing.  They lose contact with the world, with their environment, with themselves.  They too easily give up their activities and the things they care for, taking refuge in their own protective shell.

We have to keep on using and entertaining our memory.  It is a delicate organ and must be looked after with care.

Do not press your brain to remember, on the contrary, give it time, relax it.  Why do we want to remember?  If we forget, we forget; we are going to remember when we least expect it.  Can we not see that it is the fear not to remember that paralyzes the brain?

The full blossoming of maturity is the best fruit that life can offer.  The need to become is over.  Can we not feel the beauty to be what we are in total acceptance?

The body has its own memory and after the yoga poses (through which you are not pushed but invited to collaborate) and especially during the night, it continues to work in its joyful expansion.

The delight of the body’s unfolding is surprising.  Even the pores of the skin, in their slow opening, seem to participate with the rest of the body.

We forget things collected mechanically by the brain but we easily remember events in which we are somehow emotionally wrapped.

They remain, painted with vivid colors.

Memory is there.  It contains our past conditioning; our childhood, our education, our culture, our experiences, our knowledge, our environment, our country, our family, our friends.  Let us leave all this alone and not use those things, not exploit them or speculate upon them.  They should remain there in complete immobility like the background of a picture or a map.

Not to carry them along is a blessing! With a purpose of pointing out the beauty of a fresh mind, Krishnamurti told this story:

The story concerns two monks traveling by foot together.  On their way, they meet a woman sitting beside a river.  She asks them to help her to cross the stream.  Courteously, they lift her up, putting her on their shoulders and, with the water up to their knees, after reaching the other side of the river, they lay her gently down.  Then they keep on walking silently along the road.  After some time, one of the monks asks his friend: “Was it not a sin to take her in our arms?’ The other monk answers ‘You still carry her on? I left her a long time ago!’

Vanda Scaravelli in the pose Mulabandhasana.  This is an exceptional and difficult asana that very few are able to do without damaging their knees as it entails the inversion of the ankles and heels.  The advantage of this asana is that the muscles of the abdomen are pulled and drawn inside, causing even the last vertebrae of the spine to elongate.