Angie Wuysang
Is not God, or however we call God, the Most Infallible? If that is the case, then why are human beings imprudent enough to limit their concept of understanding God through just one experience? As we appreciate religions as evolving constructs instead of fixed entities, a new expression of faith is important as it encourages people to learn instead of judging. So far, established religions have been so centered on a single reference that any factor outside of that reference is considered pagan. Let us look at a simple example from two major world religions, Christianity and Islam. Many of the iconic images and depictions of Christianity were shaped by European and Western cultures, and this included religious figures being portrayed in ways that reflected the European people of that time, which influenced the global perception of “Christian” appearance. We also find this in Islamic tradition. As the early centers of Islamic civilization were in the Middle East where Arab culture was dominant, many people still associate Islam with these early cultural markers. This led to local influences on Islamic and Christian teachings having to deal with the so-called legitimacy.
We know how Theravada Buddhism with its emphasis on the earliest scripture and monastic life was born and spread from Myanmar and Thailand, while Mahayana Buddhism in Tibet emphasizes the bodhisattva path, so what about Buddhism in another place? Based on the concept of religious identity and negotiating hybrid religious identity written by Homi Bhabha that “identity construction is dynamic, it is not fixed or essentialist but emerges from various cultural, historical, and religious influences,” Candra Dvi Jayanti, a graduate of CRCS UGM who grew up in a Javanese Buddhist family, conducted research in a Buddhist community within five viharas in Jatimulyo, located in Kulon Progo Regency, Yogyakarta. In her work of examining how the Buddha Jawa community in Jatimulyo conceptualizes and constructs its religious identity as insights into the dynamic and negotiation of hybrid religious identity, Candra asks questions like, why and how do they construct Buddha Jawa identity, and, how they conceptualize Buddha Jawa in the new practices? She aims to explore the construction and negotiation of identity in encountering hybrid realities in the community.
The homogenous narration tends to identify, categorize, and separate religion from the other belief systems. Homogeneity also tends to ‘purify’ Buddhists and reintegrate Javanesness into monastic activities. As her research raises concern regarding the efficacy of homogenous religious identity, she observed that previous studies have not adequately discussed the identity struggles among the Javanese Buddhist community, which is, according to her, beginning to move towards purification efforts. Using ethnohistography as her research method, Candra combines aspects of ethnology with historical sources evaluation and time sequencing, which has characteristics including focusing on the past conditions of the culture, using tradition as the main data source, and paying attention to changes over time in the culture under study.
A hybrid religious identity is a situation where a person blends elements from multiple religious traditions to form a personal belief system. It can also refer to individuals identifying with multiple religious traditions or creating a new spiritual identity, especially in diverse cultural backgrounds. This can be influenced by living in multicultural societies, where individuals adopt aspects of various cultures or religions. However, rather than simply combining elements, Buddha Jawa adapts and transforms as they interact. In the context of the Buddha Jawa community, hybrid religious identity highlights the ability to adopt and adapt different religious identities, beyond limited labels. Candra found that the Buddha Jawa community in Jatimulyo is able to negotiate Javanese Buddhist blending that intersects and is formed through their history and life experiences.
Buddha Jawa identity conceptualization provides an in-between space for the Jatimulyo community, namely the space for adaptation of Buddhist and Javanese identities through the process of constructing religious practices that accommodate the local cultural elements. The fact that the Jatimulyo community recognizes (re) Buddhism after exploring the Kejawen brought by Mbah Slamet is a strong foundation in finding the compatibility of the teachings. The Buddhist community in Jatimulyo faces the phenomenon of a hybrid identity landscape which is evident from Arab diction which is closely related to Islam, that is still used in the mention of various symbols and rituals like Kanjeng Nabi Rasul, tumpeng Rasul, semelah (bismillah), kamdulilah (alhamdulilah), although in different pronunciation and different meaning.
Another unique phenomenon she found was that the community recognizes the karmic law of ngunduh wohing pakarti, or the dukkha/suffering as urip iku panandhang. In terms of the rituals and practices, they celebrate kenduri and sedekah where they prepare sesajen (offerings), wear traditional Javanese attire, and speak Jawa inggil language. The Jawa inggil or high Javanese language has also been used by the Giridharma monastery in their puja bakti inside the monastery. What is also amazing about this community is that in a series of Vesak commemoration, they take tirta at seven water sources, nyekar, or sow flowers to the graves of their ancestors. In Vesak puja, they will wear Javanese traditional clothes while karawitan or sesorah will accompany the puja.
From Buddha Jawa in Jatimulyo we learn how a local community realizes the community agency as an active subject in shaping its own religious identity. As Surahman, a local Buddhist informant, stated that, “yang murni bagi orang Kulon Progo itu adalah yang bisa dipraktikkan, style mempraktikkan itu tidak menghilangkan identitas (lokal). Kami tidak harus seperti orang Thailand, Burma, Tiongkok, atau Tibetan (untuk menjadi umat Buddha), dharma kami serap tetapi identitas kami sebagai orang Jawa juga tidak lepas.”
