INTRODUCTION
It was a privilege to participate
in the
creation of a dance drama called
Luhingrat. The work was created by Mas Kris [Dwi Kristiyanto]
and myself, and is based on the
mythological
story of Ranjapan (the Death
of Abimanyu)
from the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
It reflects
the rich cross-polinisation that
characterizes
the Javanese cultural tradition.
However,
the work is fundamentally Javanese
in character
and reflects the essence of Kejawen,
Javanese
Spiritual Teachings. The use
the traditional
form of the drama tari [dance drama] brings Javanese additions
and refinements to this classic Hindu epic.
The work is at once ancient and modern, mythological
yet deeply relevant to our daily lives.
Crying Earth is the literal meaning of Luhingrat.
It was derived from two words, LUH meaning
tears; and RAT which means earth. Luhingrat
is a work depicting a heroic yet, ultimately,
tragic fight between the Pandawas and the
Kurawas. But the battle is really a metaphor
for the struggle between our earthy duties
and roles and the larger destiny of our souls
across time. It is Javanese in form and inspiration,
and has four distinct episodes:
FIRST EPISODE
The character Utari fears for the destiny
of her husband, Abimanyu, and
for their child.
The Mahabharatayuda or the great war of the
Bharata is a war epic in which the five brothers
of the Pandawa fight against the ninety-nine
brothers and one sister of the Kurawa. Pandawa
literally means 'sons of Pandu'. They are
Arjuna, Yudistira, Bima, Nakula, and Sadewa.
The Pandawa can also include their children
and allies. Kurawa literally means 'descendant
of Kuru' [first cousins of the Pandawas].
The Bharata are the ancestors of both the
Pandawas and the Kurawas.
Abimanyu, the central figure in this story,
is the son of Pandawa's Prince, Arjuna. As
a satriya [warrior], Abimanyu has noble character
and a strong sense of responsibility in matters
pertaining to the state. Abimanyu swears
that he is willing to fight against the Kurawas
until his dying breath. His gracious and
faithful wife, Utari, is unhappy with his
decision. She advises him not to be involved
in the battle between two families descended
from the Bharata. Utari's concern over her
husband centers around the possibility that
he may be stuck down in the battle. She is
also concerns for the future of their child.
In this violent time, Abimanyu
remembers
that the duty of a satriya is
to fulfill
one’s dharma [sacred duty]. For a satriya, that means
to go into battle without personal regard
for one's feelings. This is the battle that
weighs in each of us everyday. It is the
conflict between doing that which is safe
and comfortable, and that which fullfils
a larger sacred purpose. For most Javanese
of today, this can be easily be understood
in the Islamic concepts of righteousness
and jihad. Abimanyu is asking the same question that
is asked of each of us, "What am I willing
to give up in order to do what is right?"
In Abimanyu case, the answer is everything.
SECOND EPISODE
A heated debate takes place between Abimanyu
and Utari. The debate is presented through antawecana and a six-line Javanese verse called
tembang. Antawecana is a Javanese style of theatrical
language used in classical Wayang Wong [play danced by human dancers].
One need to understand that none
of the fight
between the Pandawas and the
Kurawas has
to do with gain or loss, right
or wrong,
being or non-being. Abimanyu
is trying to
convince Utari that it is about
accomplishing
dharma. And accomplishing dharma should not be
viewed as a goal--something that at some
point in time we complete, attain, then finish.
Luhingrat underlines the importance of avoiding
the tendency to see all things and evaluate
them in terms of a beginning and an end.
To accomplish dharma is to practice the dharma
itself. It is an on-going process. Accomplishing
dharma always resides in the doing. A satriya
needs to continually practice dharma for
it to be functional.
THIRD EPISODE
The characters employ self-constraint and
silent meditation to seek guidance
from God.
After a long debate, they settle back and
meditate in silence on the force of absolute
trust and unwavering obedience and love.
Self-constraint and silent meditation creates
a purifying state of enlightenment in the
characters. A silent prayer takes over dependent
on the ability to surrender and yield to
the spiritual life force. It brings them
in a state of mind in which they can see
clearly the right decisions to be made and
the proper course to follow.
One thing that can be done is
to take account
of one’s own death, to meditate
on the fact
that human life is finite. Rarely
do we recognize
that reflection is as much a
catalist for
change as battle. In fact, reflection
is
battle in that it resolves the
conflicts
of the soul. I regard the third
and forth
episodes of Luhingrat are curriously
the
same. In the third episode, the
characters
resolve the inner battle, and
in the fouth
episode, that inner struggle
is played out
in the metaphor of war.
Only God is eternal. And only
that within
us that is of God will persist.
Through meditation
we are imbued with the divine
attributes
in such a way that the temporal
and transitory
attributes of our nafs [passion or desire] pass away. I believe
that this, in part at least, is what is meant
by the Javanese saying mati sajroning urip (dying while living). In Luhingrat, the
characters die so that they might
live.
In traditional Javanese practise,
the study
of the nafs involves semedi [meditation] and tapabrata [various abstinences]. This study is said
to involve an increase in self-awareness
and self-criticism. In Luhingrat, the characters
focus their mind by surpressing Babahan Nawa Sanga, which literally means to close the nine
holes of the body. This is another way of
saying that one must supress all his desires
and the senses. The nine holes are: two eyes,
two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, one anus,
and one sex organ.
The process of closing the Babahan
Nawa Sanga
brings an inward view of one's
own nature.
This helps one understand one's
humans better.
It brings one into a state of
mind in which
one can see clearly the right
decisions to
be made and the proper course
to follow.
Thus it will help to understand
the meaning
of our lives. Tensions in body
and mind will
disappear, resulting in an inner
harmony.
In this state of wholeness, a
deep inner
communication takes place. Hans
Margolius
preached us "Only in quiet
waters do
things mirror themselves undistorted.
Only
in a quiet mind is adequate perception
of
the world."
FORTH [and most poignant] EPISODE:
The fight between Abimanyu and
the Kurawas
takes place which leads the characters
to
a larger understanding of their
roles and
purposes in this life.
For 12 years, the five Pandawas retire to
forests as homeless exiles. The intense rivalry
between the Pandawas and the Kurawas finally
reached its peak in Mahabharatayuda [The
Great War of the Bharata] after their claim
for the return of their kingdom was rejected
by the Kurawas. An eighteen day bloody fight
ensues at Kurusetra. The Mahabharatayuda
is filled with tragic incidents in which
many young heroes including Abimanyu meet
their death. Abimanyu died as senopati [commander-in-chief].
Central to this mythology is the concept
that death is the only thing that tempers
the human spirit. Only the idea of death
makes a satriya sufficiently detached form
earthly concerns so that one is capable of
abandoning oneself to one's destiny. Our
mortality is the indispensable ingredient.
Without the awareness of mortality, everything
is ordinary, trivial. It is only because
death is a constant stalker that a satriya
comes to believe that the world, and our
life in it, is an unfathomable mystery.
ANALYSIS
Abimanyu knows his own death
is stalking
him and won't give him time to
cling to anything.
Without remorse, sadness or worrying,
a satriya
must focus his attention on the
link between
himself and his death. It is
in the singleness
of each action, the fulfilling
of the destiny
of each moment, that each point
in life becomes
a battle. Abimanyu must let each
of his acts
be his last battle on earth.
Only under those
conditions will his acts have
their rightful
power. Otherwise they will be,
for as long
as he lives, the acts of a fool.
To understand
this, we must examine the concept
of manunggal mring Gusti [unity with God] as a means of grasping
the relationship of life and death. In doing
so, we will begin to comprehand the mindset
that would give equal weight and value to
all decisions.
Death is the only wise adviser
that a satriya
has. Whenever he feels that everything
is
going wrong and he is about to
be annihilated,
he can turn to his death and
ask if that
is so. There is no time for regrets
or doubts.
There is only time for decisions.
It doesn't
matter what the decisions are.
Nothing could
be more or less serious than
anything else.
In a world where death is the
hunter, there
are no small or big decisions.
There are
only decisions that a warrior
makes in the
face of his inevitable death.
The only way
to understand this is by dealing
with the
larger concept that nothing exists
independent
of the divine. In this concept,
life and
death of rendered equal.
We cannot avoid speaking of the spiritual
dimension of life when discussing life and
death. If God can be said to be alive in
a transcendent sense [pancering rasa] and if everything is in some sense in unity
with God, then there is no distinction between
that which is living and that which is dead.
The Javanese say, "Sadaya punika saged dipun wastani urip namung
manawi teksih kadunungan Gusti, punika ugi
anggadhahi teges bilih sadaya inggih saged
kawastanan mati amargi boten wonten tumitah
ingkang saged mardhika mbedhal saking Gusti." Everything is alive, but only in
the context of the divine. This also means
that everything is dead in the sense that
there is no existence independent of God.
For many, a limited understanding of existence
depends entirely on context and division
rather that unity. By contrast, Abimanyu’s
decision to pursue his destiny, even if it
leads to his death, requires the breaking
down of the artificial barriers that separates
life and death, one object from another.
His choice is the decision to abandon the
protection of himself in the context of our
illusion of earthly safety.
Abimanyu arrives at his decision based on
the understanding that life and death are
all part of the same reality. For example,
we humans are made of mud, we walk upon the
soil and then we ‘die’ and become soil again.
But when we are ‘alive’, are our cells and
atoms not part of that soil? Abimanyu sees
a holistic universe in which he cannot be
separated from his wife and child, or from
anything else for that matter. It is a universe
devoid of fragmentation, which is the essence
of contexts and divisions. Everything fits
into the whole of the universe and there
is no reason for mourning the loss of something,
or rejoicing in the acquisition of something.
All exists, all of the time in the context
of the divine. And, conversely, nothing exists
outside of the context of the divine.
The Javanese say that this life
is like a
brief stop to drink before moving
on [urip mung saderma mampir ngombe] . According to Javanese, the origin, the
journey, and the destination of creations
[Sangkan Paraning Dumadi] are Kiblat Papat-Kalima Pancer. Kiblat Papat means the four cardinal points or the four
universal elements; they are bumi (earth), banyu (water), geni (fire), and angin (air). Kalima Pancer means five with the inclusion of one's Self.
Within the cosmology of the Javanese, the
universe is seen as a balanced whole and
traditional customs are seen as a way to
live without upsetting this balance.
The Javanese believe in a parallelism
between
Jagad Gedhe [macrocosmos] and Jagad Alit [microcosmos], between the universe and
the world of men. Humans are thought to be
microcosmos because all the universal elements
can also be found in human's body. At the
center of the universe is Hyang Suksma, the
Supreme Being who acts as the regulator of
all elemets and their powers. These powers
can be generally divided into good and evil.
In this conception, humanity is constantly
under the influence of forces emanating from
a direction of compass provided by Neptu [the lore of lucky and unlucky days as well
as many other minor rules], these natural
forces may create prosperity or disaster
depending on whether or not individuals or
social groups succeed in bringing their lives
and activities in harmony. These notions
of balance and harmony are prevalent in the
religion and philosophy of the Javanese and
to Luhingrat. In Luhingrat, Abimanyu's decision
to involve in the battle can be seen as an
attempt to maintain harmony in his inner
self [Jagad Alit] and the universe [Jagad Gedhe].
In this world there are two opposite characters
only in human life. Dualities, such as life
and death, love and hate, good and bad, sacred
and secular, are the cause of much of our
anguish and anxiety. The fact that these
two opposite characters such as the Pandawas
and the Kurawas always fight against each
other is a natural things in human life.
Of course the ideal goal of man is to conquer
the bad ones which will result in the ideal
life. Thus man as Jagad Alit [microcosmos]
has always two opposite characters which
should be in harmony. What makes us act like
the moth flying into the flame eventhough
we know that it's the source of all our pain
and suffering?
There are all kinds of sicknesses, not just
physical sickness. There's the sickness of
anger, and fear, and mistrust, of love and
hate, and of war and peace. In fact, many
of those sicknesses, such as anger and fear,
ultimately result in sicknesses of the body.
It's hard to be angry or fearful all your
life and not have it show. This is the symbolic
meaning behinds the intense rivalry between
the Pandawas and the Kurawas, which finally
reached its peak in Mahabharatayuda after
their claim for the return of their kingdom
was rejected by the Kurawas. It is believed
by the Javanese that the driving force in
almost all human behaviour is nafs. Luhingrat
notes the importance placed on the metaphysical
concept of the struggle of the soul against
the nafs and that of a pilgrimage to the
self.
The ultimate issue in the Mahabaratayuda
was not the war but the development and maturation
of the consciousness of the participants.
True growth requires freedom, therefore real
choices, hence we must rely on faith and
the unknown. Inner development requires a
battle. It is the interior battle that is
developed in the themes of this story. The
battle for our own devolopment in relationship
with God. This is the symbolic meaning behinds
the Luhingrat. The civil war between the
Abimanyu of the Pandawas against the Kurawas
is a methaphor for our struggle to achieve
balance in the cosmos which is our destiny.
In the struggle, the two factions polish
their characters on each other. To view the
conflict in terms of right and wrong, or
good and evil is to miss its point. There
are admirable and despicable characters on
both sides. We are both sides. We should
not think that we are separated from the
rest. We simply have to put aside being comfortable.
As a satriya, Abimanyu knew this when he
made his decision to risk his life in the
great war between the Pandawas and the Kurawas.
This next bit is hard to follow.
But it is
prevasive throughout the
performance, both in the literal sound of
Gamelan as well as in the symbolism of the
piece as a whole. So, I ask that, if you’ve
come this far, please do the work necessary
to understand the following explanation.
The Javanese say, "Menenga, terus golekna wulu ing sukuning
cecak". This means, “Be quite, then find
gecko's feather on its legs”. At first this
seems like nonsense. How can we possibly
find feathers on a gecko? Geckos have no
feathers. But in this little phrase, there
is another meaning. To understand this we
must take apart the language.
Menenga means be quite or silence. Terus is then. Golekna has the root, golek, which means to find, and the suffix na. Notice that the addition of the suffix
na here is not only to indicate a command or
request, but it is the most important syllable
to reveal the meaning behinds this wisdom.
The next word is wulu which literally means feather. However,
in
Carakan
[Javanese Alphabet], the vowel i [pronounced as in ‘image’], is also called
wulu, while the vowel u [as in ‘mutual’] is called suku, which literally means leg.
To make the nasal sound ng [as in 'sing, sang, sung'], we need to put
a symbol called cecak, which also has another meaning of a lizard
or gecko. A cecak lizard obviously has no wulu (feathers or vowel u), therefore na in 'golekna' doesn't change. When writing in Javanese,
if we add a wulu to na, na will be pronounced ni; if we add a suku, na becomes nu. And if we put the cecak symbol on all of them, na becomes nang; ni becomes ning and nu becomes nung. NANG, NING, NUNG resembles the sound of
the Gamelan.
There is actually a deep philosophical
meaning
in "Menenga, terus golekna wulu ing sukuning
cecak". To understand NANG, NING, NUNG, we
need to be quiet [meNENG], to meditate in
silence so that we can bring an inward view
to our own natures [heNING]. It brings us
a state of mind in which we can see clearly
[weNING] the right decisions to be made and
the proper course to follow. We need to do
this in order to understand the purpose [duNUNG]
of our lives. People must be conscious of
the lives they are living. Unless we have
a clear sense of life purpose, we are all
too easily led astray. Consciousness is what
it's all about. After we do NENG, see things
NING-ly so that we can understand what our
NUNG is, then we will know NANG, that is
our duty while living in the world to memayu hayuning bawana--to preserve the harmony of the universe.
Now, I know that this tricky little word
play might seem more like a game then a philosophy.
But one must understand that such devices
of sound and double meanings are quite commonly
used in many cultures to bring about a state
of mind. Remember, one cannot think of oneself
into understand. It is experiential. And
these devices are experiential as well.
CONCLUSION
For us to reach a so-called,
objective reality,
our brains, our thinking are
of little use.
It is like trying to push coarse
stones through
a fine mesh. Words cannot describe
everything.
The heart's message cannot be
delivered in
words. Even though words can't
reach it,
intuition can. We recognize it
when we see
it. Words are only descriptions
of a reality
that needs to be experienced.
By now you
might be asking, ‘This is all
well and good,
but where does this lead us?’
In other words,
what good is this me, the reader?
The answer to that question is the heart
and soul of Luhingrat. We need to be aware.
We need to learn with the whole body and
mind, not just through the words and ideas
that describe things. It's very easy to dwell
in the words. In grasping the concepts that
everything is part of the whole, part of
the unity of the divine, one begins to understand
that life and death manifests itself in countless
ways. Life and death is not simply found
in what we think of as the spiritual realms.
In everyday, mundane affairs is the essence
of all things. Life and death is in the washing
of dishes and the drinking of a cup of coffee.
The whole is in what we perceive as the parts.
In this way, planting a garden is a battle.
And a battle is a lunch with a friend. Each
part contains the whole. Like Abimanyu, we
are asked not to consider the relative importance
of one's decision versus another, but rather,
to see each moment in the context of the
whole of divine unity. And this process is
experiential rather than intellectual. It
is the process of giving ourselves over to
the destiny, or Allah, if you prefer. It
is an abandoning of ourselves to the larger
purpose.
The themes of this work are of
epic proportions.
And it’s emotional, psychological,
and spiritual
implications go far beyond the
basic story
line and its characters. This
is story that
reaches out to its audience with
eternal
questions about the value of
our earthly
existence. How mindful are we
to be of our
earthly duty when our time here
is just so
much shadow. And finally it asks,
what is
the larger story of our existence
across
time. Can we comprehend a role
for ourselves
in the next life, or are we bound
to this
shallow, temporal reality of
earthly responsibilities?
These are great questions of
destiny that
require that we think beyond
the horizon.
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