The Kejawen society names this world Jagad Pramudita, The World of the human beings as oftenly mentioned by the dalang wayang kulit – the story teller of shadow puppet play, it means that human beings, men and women, the most important beings are living in this world.
The universe with all its contents including human beings live on this planet earth which had been created through powerful authority ( purbawasesa in Javanese language) of God, The Creator of the Universe. Human beings are able to live and to exist on this world, only after its climate and condition became suitable to support their lives. Thus, the planet earth becomes a safe heaven for human beings.
The source of noise is silence
The life on the planet earth always evolves. The earliest human being chose to live in safe places where the land was fertile.The population of the world grew. In the different parts of the world, lived people of various races with different color of skin, language and culture. The world was not empty anymore.
There is a Javanese proverb : The source of noise is silence, the source of the universe is a void.
We will explore the birth and the development of the universe in accordance to Javanese spiritual knowledge.
There are two kind of knowledge in general :
- Spiritual knowledge ( elmu or ngelmu in Javanese)
- Scientific knowledge ( Ilmu in Javanese)
It should be noted that Kejawen is not against science and its development, notably the science which is useful to mankind. However, the preservers of Kejawen are of the opinion that for a better living, human beings have to use the worldly and spiritual knowledge in balance.
Ilmu - Scientific knowledge, science is developed by human thought, it always makes progress and its result is becoming more and more sophisticated.
Elmu - or Ngelmu, spiritual knowledge, it is a knowledge closely related to the authority of God ( purbawasesa Gusti in Javanese). Some say it is esoteric, occult, beyond ordinary and scientific knowledge.
Elmu or ngelmu is revealed step by step in accordance with the progress of human consciousness and need at a certain time.Its explanation and dissemination solely depends to the wish of God through his messengers and holy wise people who are blessed with divine revelation.
Those people are spiritually enlightened.
The Preservation of Kejawen
The method of learning and dissemination of Kejawen spirituality at present is more open and practical.In the old days, Kejawen spirituality has been kept as a secret ( sinengker in Javanese, lit.means “put in a cage”).
It used to be a secret knowledge, a Guru of spirtuality is always very cautious in teaching the knowledge. He will teach only to trusted people who will wholeheartedly learn and practice it.
A Guru will teach his students the spiritual knowledge and will guide them to do spiritual exercices step by step.
Obstacles from the colonialists
During the colonial period, the Dutch colonial policemen scrutinized closely all Javanese spiritual groups ( Paguyuban Kejawen or Kebatinan in Javanese). The colonial authority were very worried if those Kejawen groups were spreading the famous Jangka Jayabaya ( The Jayabaya prophecy). Jayabaya was a king of Kediri,East Java.
The Jangka Jayabaya predicted a.o. that the Dutch colonialists will be conquered by the yellow skinned race coming from the north ( apparently, it was the Japanese who occupied Indonesia from 1942 -1945 during the second World War). The yellow skinned race will occupy Indonesian archipelago for a short time ( apparently for 3,5 years). The Jayabaya prediction further said that the Nation of Indonesia should live well and prosperous when it becomes a free country. The colonial police also chased away ascetics, they were suspicious the ascetics were seeking divine revelation for the freedom of Indonesia.
The words “heart and samadi” are not supposed to be said
In the old days, some words were not supposed to be said ( ora ilok in Javanese).
When one is learning spirituality, he/she is not allowed to say the word “heart”,( jantung in Javanese) instead of saying “heart” it must be said : the flower of a banana tree ( kembang gedhang in Javanese).
The word “samadi” is also not supposed to be expressed. If it is necessary to say it, it must be changed with the following phrases:
- Looking for the sole of the feet of a flying heron.
- Looking for the kernel of Kangkung ( a kind of vegetable – ipomoea reptana)
- To close the nine holes of the body.
The method of teaching Kejawen spirituality has also been changed. It follows the trend of the new era. In the old time, Kejawen was too protected, with only very small number of students ( from 2 to 4 participants) learning directly from a Guru.
The teaching was carried out only on certain day and time, usually each Thursday night in the eve of Friday. The Guru gave the lesson at night, outside the house, under the sky, on the beach, on the bank of a river, in the rice field, in the garden, in the backyard of the house. During the session, no one was allowed to smoke, eat and drink nor write the lesson and the mantras. Nowadays, it can be given in the house also during the day.
Now, various Javanese spiritual teaching are written, published as books, written in dailies, magazines, disseminated through radio, television and internet.
Long time ago, no lesson was allowed to be written, mantras must be known by hearts, forbidden to be written.
Now, it is more open, although there are some teachings still considered as secret. The Guru, expert of Kejawen spirituality say : All Kejawen spirituality may be learned by those who have interest in it, in accordance with their level of consciousness, except some spiritual teachings which are still in the category of :”the secret of the world”” – sengkeraning bawono in Javanese spiritual terminology.
The writer who is closely related with Javanese culture and has great interest in other cultures, follows the above tradition. The writer disseminates this noble spiritual knowledge with the blessing from the elder Kejawen preservers as well as from Higher Self.
The writer feels honored to pass on the true spiritual message. It is a divine path blessed by Gusti, God.
Alam Sonya Ruri – A place with no frontier
Millions years ago, there was nothing, no universe, no planet earth, it was very dark, no light, no sound, in Javanese it is called Alam sonya ruri, means a place with no frontier, no edge. Alam means universe; sonya means lonely, void; ruri is very dark It was a place with no frontier, it was void, no sound, no light, very dark. It was the condition at that time.
Then, it was not known when it begun, the place rotated and rotated faster and faster. The rotation produced heat, later on appeared a circle which became larger and larger. After a long time of rotation, there was a sound of thunderous explosion.( mbledhos in Javanes language).
There was light in the universe, many objects were seen forming themselves. There was sky, several planets such as the sun and the stars.The scientists say the universe was created 15.000. millions years ago. In the beginning there was a Big Bang and then the process of the forming of the planets in the universe. Up to now, science and spiritual knowledge are of the same opinion, the universe is always in the process of development, it never stops.
The Universe was created by Gusti, God The Almighty, so that human beings shall always learn, to always do positively and contructively for the preservation of the Universe with all its contents including human beings.
God created the light
The bright light in the Universe due to the rotation of the shining objects, planets, stars. The light comes from those objects in the sky, their amount is sakirno in Javanese, means billions, a lot, uncountable.
The sun is created by God to light the universe including the planet earth, it has also a duty to give life to all beings. The moon and all stars in the sky at night spread their soothing light, quieten, they are useful for all beings. The constellation of the sun,the moon and other planets toward planet earth influencing strongly the climate and the life of human and other beings in the world.
The creation of the planet earth
Prior to the birth/creation of the planet earth, other planets and stars were already in existance. While the rotation of the objects and planets of the Universe went on, a mediocre planet was formed and it became the center of the Universe. It was named Pratala( in Javanese) means the base/floor of the ocean.This pratala was filled with water, it became Samudra ( in Javanese) means ocean.The water came from the Universe, as a result from the unceasing movements of the objects in the Universe. After the ocean was well formed, followed by the formation of Bantala ( In Javanese), meaning the earth The creation of the planet earth according to scientific data, began 4000 millions years ago. There were eruptions of volcanoes, spiting burning red lavas. The planet earth consists of oceans and geological structures. After a long process of construction, the earth has it present shape
The elements of the earth
From the very beginning , the process of the creation of the Universe, involving the interaction, movements, collisions of the elements of light, wind,fire, land and water. This process produced the birth of planets, stars and planet earth where human beings would live.
As we know, according to Kejawen, human also have elements of wind, water, fire, land and also the element of light, remind us the origin of spirit which is light.
Long long time ago, the situation and the climate on the planet earth did not support the life and existence of human beings. Only after the situation is conducive, human and other beings can live on the planet earth, in the layer of the atmosphere on the earth up to 17 km of height.
The existence of foodstuffs
The human and other beings, they need food to survive on earth. One of the elements needed by human is water. A healthy man consists of 80% water in his physical body. 2/3 of the earth surface is covered by the seas and oceans.
1/10 of the earth surface is covered with iced rivers.
Since the creation of the earth, water flows to the earth. In the old days, the Javanese named it Kamandanu. After the water gathered in the seas and oceans, it is named Padmasari meaning the essence of food. It is not a co-incidence, if the first simplest living cells lived in the sea. Because there were essence of food in the sea.
The world is the union between the sea, the essence of food and the earth which is always in the process of change and influencing each other with the objects in the Universe.
When the circumstance and climate are conducive, the human and other beings and some vegetation can live and grow in the world.
The contents of the Earth
There are natural resources, things found deep in the earth or under the floor of the seas and oceans. Those items are digged and mined to facilitate easier life for human.
Exept some crops, some plants for herbal medicine ( jamu in Javanese) and food industry, different kinds of mining products are granted by the earth to be used by human.
How good is Mother Earth toward human beings. To be honest, the modern human beings owe to the pre-historic beings and vegetation , owe to the land and nature and of course to God.
Only a few rational people do not forget the” good service” of the fossils of plants, animals and other living organism.
The fossil fuel of today such as coal, gas, oil are the remnants of the plants and living organism which lived and grew 300 millions years ago.
Many modern human beings ,nowadays compete and even fight each other to get acces to those products. It is a pity, the competition is also involving rich and powerful countries, world class businessmen, heads of state, inteligent rational people.
In the bowel of the earth, there are various stones, minerals, lime etc to support the welfare of human beings. There are different kinds of metal such as gold, silver, copper, bronze, iron, tin etc.
The family of precious stones.
In addition, there are a group of precious stones or gemstones which can be used for various purposes. Their prices range from very expensive to very cheap ones, such as : diamond, emerald, sapphire, ruby, quartz, turqoise,jade, tourmaline, citrine, amber, tiger’s eye, obsidian and various agates with variety of beautiful colors : white, violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, brown , black etc.
Some metals and gemstones can be created to be attractive and expensive jewelry. The combination of various metals can be made a valuable kris ( traditional dagger). The gemstones can be made jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, ear-rings and so on.
The gemstones have additional value, besides the quality, they have natural energy useful to the wearer or owner.The natural energy of the gemstones can “help” the wearer or the owner for instance to stimulate health, safety, wealth, good luck, career etc.
In order its natural energy to function for the benefit of the wearer or owner, the gemstones must be” programmed”. Otherwise they are only “sleeping beauty”, only beautiful jewelry but have no esoteric energy. In that case, we need the service of an esoteric gemstones programmer who is able “to wake up” the related natural energy of each gemstone.The programmer should be a spiritualist who knows true life and knows “the real world” of gemstones.
The programmer will not invite a spirit or some spirits to dwell in the gemstones ( although it is possible), he merely will access the energy from the Universe to flow to the gemstones until the gemstones’ energy wakes up and ready to function anytime and anywhere.
The JagadKejawen website will share this knowledge to those who love and have interest in gemstones.
JagadKejawen,
Suryo S. Negoro
Edited by Sita Sudjono