The Day of Silence commemoration that coincides with Saraswati Day has a special meaning. In Hindu mythology, Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge.
By
IDA RSI WASKITA SARI
·5 minutes read
Kompas/ Bahana Patria Gupta
La Mania community members put the finishing touches to an ogoh-ogoh in Balun village, Turi district, Lamongan regency, East Java, on Thursday (15/3).
The Day of Silence commemoration in 2018 will be very special. First, the New Year of Saka 1940 coincides with Saraswati Day. Second, the Day of Silence’s four abstinences will be held amid preparations for the simultaneous regional elections on June 27.
Bali will hold a gubernatorial election and regent elections in Gianyar and Klungkung. Can the Hindu community on the “Island of the Gods” adhere to the four abstinences, restrain their worldly desires and meditate amid the turbulent desire for power and hectic competition between election candidates and their supporters?
The Day of Silence commemoration that coincides with Saraswati Day has a special meaning. In Hindu mythology, Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge.
Together with Brahma (God and the Almighty Creator), Saraswati is responsible for the birth of all creations from the womb of knowledge. There are two kinds of knowledge: para widya (spiritual knowledge) and apara widya (worldly knowledge). Para widya brings peace and happiness and apara widya brings competition and noise.
Mankind needs these two types of knowledge in carrying out their duties. This establishes a person’s karma. The fruit of karma (karma-pala) will be revealed later. Many of those who are drunk and trapped in the glitter of worldly treasures and power never attain peace.
Those who are aware will choose the path of para widya. Those who are devoted to this path will go toward suwung (meaningful emptiness) within themselves and they will journey into the boundless spiritual realm.
Ultimately, they will feel the gratitude and happiness through the guidance of divine light. Serving others without expecting anything in return from such service is the main duty of those in the path of spiritualism. For those walking the path of spiritualism, serving others is the same as serving God.
On the other hand, the path of apara widya encourages man to compete against each other to dominate the Earth. They will never be satisfied by fulfilling their needs. They must also fulfill their wants and even their greed.
Eventually, these wants and greed will manipulate their lives. Their greed will push them to continuously chase their own shadows and to drown in the illusion of success and failure, joy and sadness. Eventually, some of them will trip over and fall into imprisonment.
Religion, spiritualism and mastery of science must serve as men’s guide in achieving their life goals -- and even more so for potential leaders.
If we observe why certain leaders are adored while others are reproached, we will find a simple answer. One is deemed to be an honest and responsible hard worker while the other is not. Honesty is a matter of spiritualism taught in all religions and beliefs.
A lack of spiritualism
Now, there is a tendency to separate spiritualism from religion. Without spiritualism, religion will easily be a vehicle for desire, power and practical politics. It can even be a tool to spread hatred and violence and trigger wars. Indonesia should not be turned into a “hell” that we see in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and parts of Africa.
Without spiritualism, religiosity will also be separated from the sacrosanct revelations that brought it to mankind in the first place. Religion will no longer be a blessing for the universe and a source of learning to nourish divine characters. On the contrary, religion will become a tool to hate and be hostile towards all that is different.
Hatred of other religions and beliefs will expand into hatred into cultures different from the culture in which the religion first arose.
Without sharpening our spiritualism, logic will also be blunt and we may believe that mere adherence to certain religions is enough guarantee to enter heaven. We will also believe that adhering to other religions and beliefs means an assurance of going to hell. Virtue, sincerity and splendors of the human heart are thrown out of the window just like that.
God seemingly belongs to just one religion, despite His names of Most Just, Most Compassionate and Omnipresent as He is everywhere. Can it be said that “humans have baptized themselves as God”, as said by German psychoanalyst Erich Fromm.
Now is time for the government to act firmly and manage our national conscience and unity. Apart from rising religious violence, Indonesia is also in a state of corruption.
Corruption seems to be endless and inseparable from the long chains of bureaucracy that is ripe with loopholes and opportunities for corruptive behavior. Policies and technology must be able to end this vicious cycle and leave no more loopholes for people to manipulate regulations for their personal or group interests.
In education and in religious sermons, can we not deviate from the ultimate goal of religion itself, namely celebrating life? Life is a manifestation of God’s love and promise to help mankind achieve their greatest dreams. Quoting the father of modern psychology, Williams James, “man’s ultimate concern is happiness”. Happiness provided by religion is the ultimate proof of religion’s truth.
