Kampanye pilpres dalam perspektif tasawuf

Satu atau dua bulan terakhir ini, negeri ini sedang diramaikan oleh kampanye pemilihan presiden masa bakti 2014-2019 yang akan digelar pemilu-nya pada tanggal 9 juli nanti. Saya merasa perlu menuliskan sudut pandang saya sebagai pembelajaran dari Gusti Allah. Apalagi belakangan saya juga sedang kembali tertarik dengan kisah Mahabharata yang serialnya sedang tayang di ANTV.

Retaining the Good

Yesterday, my colleague came to my office while I was in the middle of noon prayer. She asked ome of the staff about the text message she received from the boss. It was an answer to her question sent to her mobile whether the company was going to have new year holiday or not. And the answer was "Go ahead, just have your holiday." in bahasa Indonesia of course. In receiving the message, she found it pretty confusing. So she tried to get second opinion (actually not just a second, but third, forth and fifth opinion of others since she showed the message to some other as well) whether it was a genuine 'yes' or a sham of 'no' answer.

I found this situation quite intriguing. Because for me it is quite simple. It is a yes answer, but to her it could have double meanings. A yes as it was genuinely written or a no with some scheming planned behind the yes answer, like some action of fatale femme in ensnaring her victim I watched the other night.

Pilihan atas Tindakan

Sekitar bulan Desember tepatnya tgl 25 Desember, beberapa orang yang mempunyai kerabat,  sahabat dan teman Nasrani mungkin mengalami kebingungan dalam bersikap untuk mengucapkan "Selamat Natal". Ini terjadi karena ada sebagian ulama yang mengharamkan pemberian ucapan itu dan ada sebagian kecil yang membolehkan termasuk diantaranya adalah alm. Gus Dur (Abdul Rahman Wachid) salah seorang presiden negeri ini. Gus Dur merupakan figur ulama moderat sekaligus negarawan yang membantu negeri ini menuju pada kehidupan beragama yang bebas dengan saling menghormati keyakinan masing-masing. Salah satu jasanya adalah memasukkan agama KongHuCu menjadi bagian dari agama yang diakui di Indonesia. Sebelumnya, para penganut Nabi KongHuCu utamanya dari kalangan orang-orang China hanya bisa mencantumkan salah satu dari lima pilihan agama yang ada yaitu Islam, Kristen Protestan, Kristen Katholic, Budha dan Hindu.

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.