Another Kind of Pilgrimage (4)

The Precious Being

Now, we all know that gold is considered as precious metal. Its preciousness is because of its unique characteristics and its rarity. As mentioned in wiki, there are three characters that made gold is considered to be precious metal; it is ductile, luster and less reactive that most metals. Let's make comparison of these characteristics into our being.

Another word of ductile

According to free dictionary ductile (-adj.) is
1. capable of being hammered out thin, as certain metals; malleable.
2. capable of being drawn out into wire or threads, as gold.
3. able to undergo change of form without breaking.
4. capable of being molded or shaped; plastic.
Ductile in another word is having flexibility as its character.

Being precious in human term is also about having flexibility. Flexibility in interacting with other people means that we can adjust ourselves at any situation without loosing our core value. We adapt to the situation and people but still hold on to the principle that made us who we truly are. Flexibility is then very different from hypocrisy. For hypocrisy is for those who do not have principle value in taking advantage over situation or people.

What did Tao Te Ching said about flexibility?
76. Flexibility

A newborn is soft and tender, 
A crone, hard and stiff. 
Plants and animals, in life, are supple and succulent; 
In death, withered and dry. 
So softness and tenderness are attributes of life, 
And hardness and stiffness, attributes of death. 

Just as a sapless tree will split and decay 
So an inflexible force will meet defeat; 
The hard and mighty lie beneath the ground 
While the tender and weak dance on the breeze above.


And how did Qur'an relate us to this flexibility? It was by given us the story of the dead tree of Pharaoh against the living tree of Moses (prophet Musa AS) and Aaron (prophet Harun AS), as He sent them to him with the command "And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]." [QS. 20.44]. So being flexible is about being alive whilst being inflexible is about being death.

The Cave of Seven Sleepers

And as I searched through Qur'an to get the word of flexibility, there is one very interesting and unique story. The position of the word itself is very precise and meaningful. The background story was about the seven young men who decided to take refuge inside the cave at the time when the outside situation was against their favor in keeping their faith to worship their Lord. They're put to sleep for 309 years [QS 18: 25] then returned to life. As they're awakened from their sleep, they wondered how long they had been sleeping. And to ascertain their situation, they asked one of them to go to town and buy something using a silver coin they had. And he was told to "Wal yatalattof" which has several meaning in English from be cautious, be careful, be courteous, behave with care and courtesy, behave with gentleness. In the Quran this word is located in the middle of all the words that existed in the Quran from the beginning word of 'bi' - which means in until the ending word of 'naas' - which means human. The word itself is located in the surah 18 (al Kahfi - The Cave) verse no.19 which is the number of letters that construct the words of Bismillahirrohmanirrohiim - in the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and Most Merciful.

The way I reflected to it is: that being flexible in life is about outwardly being gentle, courteous, care at the same time cautious while inwardly holding on to the essence of Life. As it is placed in the middle, it means we are to find the balance between the two opposites attributes of things such as beginning and ending, hard and soft, high and low, right and wrong, life and death, gentle and harsh, hidden and obvious. And as it happened in the cave, the place to look for flexibility is by looking deeper into our inner cave of heart. There is where we can find the serene balance as our firm hold when outwardly we live our life with the flexibility of a new born.

So indeed, learning flexibility is about learning to be a child we were once. And we don't call the flexibility of a child as hypocrite because of their innocence and sincerity of their heart. Flexibility is in pursuing the life of our spiritual being and returning to our original source.

Luster

Free dictionary give definition to luster (n.) as follow :
1. the state or quality of shining by reflecting light; glitter, sparkle, sheen, or gloss: the luster of satin.
2. a substance, as a coating or polish, used to impart sheen or gloss.
3. radiant or luminous brightness; brilliance; radiance.
4. radiance of beauty, excellence, merit, distinction, or glory: achievements that add luster to one's name.
5. a shining object, esp. one used for decoration, as a cut-glass pendant or ornament.
6. a chandelier, candleholder, etc., ornamented with cut-glass pendants.
7. any natural or synthetic fabric with a lustrous finish.
8. an iridescent metallic film produced on the surface of a ceramic glaze.
9. the nature of a mineral surface with respect to its reflective qualities: greasy luster.

This character is inherent in the gold. It doesn't need any coating or plating process to bring out its shine. It doesn't need to any chemical reaction to combine it with other chemical to bring out its shine. It is its nature to shine. How do we relate this character to our existence?

First, we need to understand the true state of us as human being in this whole universe. And how did our Lord state it? "And We have certainly honored the children of Adam." [QS 17.70] In the first stage of our creation we had been created as a precious being in this whole universe. Yet, we don't realize this. We tainted ourselves in such a way that we no longer recognize our preciousness and look for our value in something else; in the credential we acquired from other, in the acceptance of others, in our attachment to the worldly things and so on and so forth. All this action is like coating or plating the purity of gold with something less precious. Unfortunately most of us do not realize it.

We need to know our true value, we need to know the reason of our being here, we need to know to whom we devote ourselves. So that nothing can taint the preciousness of our being-human in relation to our Lord.

And truly the teachings of Islam is about mining our preciousness as human being and bring out our most beautiful light to the world. And how do I come up with such statement? I am quoting my great spiritual teacher here: In the darkest night at the darkest era of human civilization in the darkest place inside the cave of Hira when the great prophet Muhammad SAW received the first revelation of Qur'an, surah Al Alaq 1-5 from His Lord, Allah SWT through archangel Gabriel was light upon light.

The revelation itself is the light came from An Nuur (The Light) - as one of His Beautiful Names, delivered by the Archangel Gabriel - that is made of light, received by nur (the light of) Muhammad in the cave of Hira' which is located in Jabal Nuur (the Mount of Light).

So, won't we consider that anyone who gets in touch with the core of Qur'an will find themselves to be the most precious being in the universe?

Less reactive than most metals

Less reactive means that the metal isn't easily bonded by other substance to create new compounds. Because it is less reactive, its purity and preciousness stay longer compared to other metals. Look at the gold coin from Chinese Dynasty or Aztec or Ancient Egypt. They are as they were made thousand years ago.

So, how do we relate this to our existence?

It means that in keeping our purity and sincerity, we have to be less reactive to anything that will take away our focus and attention from our Lord, Allah Ta'ala. He has created all kind of things between heaven and earth for us. He has created both paradise and hell to see which one is His true servant. Less reactive to the worldly things will help us to be in the state as He had command us in the Qur'an:
- that you not despair over what has eluded you and not exult [in pride] over what He has given you. [QS.57:23]

Less reactive is not the same as no action

- Be not deceived by the [uninhibited] movement of the disbelievers throughout the land. [QS. 3.196]

Being less reactive is what differs the brave from the bold. How Tao Te Ching said it?
Who is brave and bold will perish; 
Who is brave and subtle will benefit. 
The subtle profit where the bold perish 
For Fate does not honour daring. 
And even the sage dares not tempt fate.

Being less reactive also means that we aren't easily let ourselves be influenced by anything or anyone. That we look into the situation deeper before making any reaction. That rather than letting other people or situation or circumstances control us, we take control of ourselves by making initiative and responsible of our choices. That rather than be influenced by situation / circumstances, we choose to influence the situation to let our existence meaningful.

So get in touch with our true value as a precious being in this universe and remain as gold.

Another kind of Pilgrimage (3)

Once gold remains gold

Just because we are the students of thariqah, it doesn't mean that we are all good. It only means that we are trying to be good in the way we live our life. Since it isn't a formal institution where no money nor pressure involved, any people can enter it for whatever reason they had in their mind. And people decide to enter thariqah for many reason. Some that I can tell are because they have financial problem or mental problem, they want to gain superiority or supernatural power, and some want to seek the way to be in proximity to Allah.

How to mine the gold in us?

This deeper intention then shows up in the way they are practicing the knowledge they learn from thariqah and how they interact with others. Some will be good and getting better. Some will still be mediocre and some remain poisonous when interacting with other. The fault isn't in the teaching. The fault is in the person who don't realize the teaching and apply it well in their life. And this had been part of the experience I had in the trip.

One it happened to my female colleague who joined the group after the first stop in her town and visited the land that was going to be used as Jaamiatul Mudzakkiriin (JM). She was a successful notary in her town. She and the other students there wished to have the building in their area. So they combined their financial support to buy land. Because most of them aren't wealthy, the major payment was done by her to the point that she had to mortgage her house to pay for the land in her wish to have the building. And she had granted and declared the land to be owned by our great spiritual teacher. He had received it and declared that the land was to be used as JM, which means it is then up to the students there to make their dream and wish come true under his guidance.

And during the visit in front of many people, he had passed some amount of money to her on behalf of the committee. After she received it, she sat next to me and I told her that it was to be used to buy things for starting the building. And she understood well. After all the procession in the location, she then came along with us to the next city. She didn't had a chance to pass the money to the committee treasurer for he refused to accept them in the busy and crowded situation.

I moved to her car this time. And she asked me to count the money witnessed by the driver and a female student from her area. The total amount was 50 million rupiahs. We followed our great spiritual teacher to visit another JM that was still under construction before we arrived in the house where we would stay overnight.

On the way, she told me the slander that she received from people around her; the bad treatment of her brother who sold her inheritance land that she had from her father without her permission, the false accusation she had from other students. Yet, she kept trying to prove herself that she was a good person unlike what people said. There was a saying she told me 'One gold will always be gold'. I trust her, for I have worked with her for more than 5years and saw her loyalty. She also told me her life story which she used to hang around with common people like becak (a kind of rickshaw) drivers, how she loved her maid and her family who had helped her to cared her children during difficult time and treated her like her own family.

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander
~ Abraham Lincold ~

The following day, when we went to another JM that was still under construction, something came up. We got the information from our general chairman, that someone had accused her for taking the money and he questioned him "why the money must be given to her instead of him?". We were quite surprised with this information. As a woman, she cried over such a false accusation. And I felt sorry for her and for the one who had been 'immature' enough in accusing her.The evidence to prove that the accusation was false were there. The fact that she mortgaged her house at the amount of six times more than the money handed to her to pay for the land was hard evidence of her sincere intention. Her long support to the development of her local area was another.

So on the next trip when we headed to another JM in another town, to lighten the mood I made a joke that next time she met him just tell that she was taking money with her to get more blessing from other JM that we visited along the trip. We laughed at this, though we both were serious about this accusation. She asked me to sign the money. So I did and I wrote my note on the envelope to declare that I was the one who counted and signed the money as guarantee that she didn't take nor change the money in the envelop.

Hearing the accusation, one of our spiritual teacher assistance commented wisely that he was just too afraid to be left behind in taking part on this important program. So we just had to be patience in accepting other people. Their response is the reflection of what is kept hidden inside of them.
Just like any good intention though hidden will show its true state sooner or later, so will the bad intention. And those who is gold will remain gold no matter how people treat them.

Another kind of Pilgrimage (2)

Lost in the sea of cars

In this trips I almost got lost twice. This happened when we were going in town to get to the hotel / house where we would stay overnight there.

Know where you want to go
otherwise get lost in the sea of cars

The first one when we were in Yogja. We had been informed that to shorten the time to get to the hotel, police patrol car would guided us to the hotel because the traffic was pretty crowded. As we got closer to the hotel, the fourth car got separated from the first three cars. And I was in the fifth, the last car. We got around and around in Gajahmada University area instead of heading to the hotel. The instruction given by the local people through the mobile didn't get us into the right direction. So we asked people on the street. When we saw the signs and matched them with the message received in my mobile, we could get to the hotel safely.

The second one was on the way to Semarang. The same situation, when we got closer to the house where we would stay overnight. Only this time, we didn't use police car to guide us and the first information I received wasn't quite right. This got us in three cars got lost in the way, in which the other two cars were the additional cars of my other colleagues who joined the group from Yogja. And I was in one of the cars together with my female colleague from Yogja. We were far too ahead from the house, so we had to turn around and find the gate where we supposed to make a left turn where we had previously passed it. So we did. As we arrived in the house, people were asking what happened how we could get lost. And the common excuses came up as always.

But the thing is this: didn't we all ever get in the same situation? We were going somewhere and we aren't so sure where the address was. And we went around and around to find the right address we had in hand. Even with someone leading us, we can also get lost because the information was received wrongly or we don't pay attention to the signs and direction given.

And getting lost wasn't just a matter of how far we have made our journey. It could also happen when we were almost there. Just like what happened to us. In normal condition it took about 10 minutes to get to the hotel, but because we took the wrong turn, we ended up getting lost in the city. Luckily we weren't stubborn enough that we didn't want to hear other people opinion and direction. Because we know where we wanted to be. We wanted to be with our great spiritual teacher. He was the leader in this trip and we were following his trip not making ours.

Now, let's project the situation to our real life.

So often people got lost in their journey of life having no exact direction of what they're after. Some decide that their purpose is to live this life to the fullest, regardless how they will fulfill it. Some decide that they don't care about the life they have for they find it too hard to live it. Some decide that their life is too precious to be spend in idle that they practice whatever they practice to bring them closer to what they believe. What ever they decide, they will meet what they will meet.

However, Many people make their journey in life. Some finally realized that they had made a wrong turn / decision and they feel a need to go back. Yet, how often their stubbornness, ego and lower self telling them not to take the step because of shamed, guilt or cowardice in facing what's ahead if they get to the right direction. Of course, this is something really out of mind. Because the feeling shouldn't be there.

It is the wrong kind feeling in such situation. For it will create another problem to the situation. Practically, if we don't want to get tired of going around and around and getting more and more lost in the sea of confusion, we need to return to the original source, get the right information, pay attention to the signs and refocus our sense of purpose will help us get to destination soon. After all, the wrong direction or decision had given us the taste of the other aspect in life, give us the new eyes to see the right one even clearer and brighter than before. And from the wrong we should then know the right and thrive to make the right move.

Anyway, thankfully we knew exactly what we wished. So it didn't take long for us to find our way back and be in his presence.

Another Kind of Pilgrimage (1)

Last week I had a chance to follow my great spiritual teacher in Thariqah Shiddiqiyyah, Syaikh Muchtarulloh al-Mujtaba with his wife Mrs. Shofwatul Ummah and five of his assistance in his land-tour to Middle Java to visit the Jaamiatul Mudzakkiriin (later shortened as JM). The group consisted of 13 persons including the general chairman and 5 drivers. I felt honored for there were only two women in the group, his wife and I. And the journey taught me something.

I'm glad I was allowed to be part of it. At first, I wasn't mentioned because the main persons mentioned were his assistance called Khalifah. Then as we reported our visit to West Nusa Tenggara, the general chairman asked permission to follow the group and he was allowed. I didn't asked because I thought I was in no position to ask. But then after reporting, I was asked by one of his assistance that was mentioned to join the group whether I would go with the group. I didn't know how to answer though I would love to, so I said Insha Allah. After that I went to my home town to visit my family and fulfilled my promise to meet someone. While I was there I asked permission to join the journey to my boss, the general chairman for I would go in his car, if I was allowed. And I certainly asked permission to my great spiritual teacher through his wife. When they gave their approval I then rushed back to get my self ready for the journey in morning the following day.

Jaamiatul Mudzakkiriin yarju rohmatalloh, Losari - Ploso, Jombang
an expression of Divine Love

The land-tour took 6 days; we departed on Thursday morning, 1 April 2013 / 30 Jummadil Awwal 1434H and returned on Tuesday afternoon 6 April 2013 / 6 Jummadil Akhir 1434H. We went to 6 different towns around Middle of Java, they're Yogjakarta, Mungkid - Magelang (for a short visit), Semarang, Pekalongan (short visit), Pemalang, Purwokerto (short visit) and Solo.

At his age of 85 years old, he indeed had a very good stamina to do the land-tour for about 1131 kms, in in 6 days, in which we rest every day in 5 different cities. All of them were to visit the land of JM and the students who worked and gathered on sites. In those six days tour, he had visited the 6 different lands of JM in Bantul - Yogjakarta, Mungkid - Magelang, Trimulyo - Semarang, Pekalongan, Cikasur - Pemalang and Baturraden - Purwokerto.

Jaamiatul Mudzakkiriin (JM) is from Arabic, it means a group of people who is doing remembrance (of Allah). In community within Thariqah Shiddiqiyyah, JM is an important building, for it is a building that inside it the teaching of the words of Truth "Laa ilaaha illa Alloh" (there is no gods but Allah) is being taught. So for us, in comparison to the other buildings that people are built, it is the most valuable building in the sight of Allah.

Now, people may question why we don't build mosques like any other Muslims. Well, we also build mosques and named them Baitush Shiddiqiin (the house of trustworthy people) but JM is unique. For any people can enter Baitush Shiddiqiin to pray, but not JM. Only those who is going to take the teaching can enter it.

Taj Mahal, India
an expression of humanly love

If Shah Jahan could build the great Taj Mahal to express his love to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal or those people could make big fortress to show how wealthy they're or they did their best in building their houses, hotels, offices or recreation sites, can't we dedicate ourselves to make this most valuable building to be its best? For in this building, we express our love to Allah SWT, to Rasulullah SAW, to the forgiveness of Allah, to the assistance of Allah and to the increase of our quality in the sight of Allah. Each of those expressions is represented in its construction; in its foundation, minarets, gates and storied construction.

So I could say that this trip was another kind of pilgrimage because the intention was very clear. We went from one city to another city not for the sake of traveling. Practically we stayed a night in hotel and continued the journey in the morning. Some local students had waited for the group on the site and after short opening and reported from the local project manager, he then delivered his mauidhoh hasanah (the good reminder) on the importance of JM. Using my mobile, I took notes on his speech and shared the messages in community groups discussion in the internet.

Breathing Life into Meanings

red porridge - an embodied meaning

Last month I was making red porridge. In Javanese tradition, when we - Javanese, are celebrating something or sending prayer / wishes they are usually accompanied by making red porridge. Actually, the color isn't red, it is brown just like the color of the palm sugar that is used. Basically the red porridge is made of rice, palm sugar and coconut milk with a little bit of salt to be added. Some people sometimes just use common rice, some people add glutinous rice. Mine was a combination of both using 1:1 portion. The coconut milk is either mixed up with the porridge or served separately as sauce when the meal is distributed to the neighbors.