Javanesian - This is a story about a magical whisper. Contains a message or message that guides the recipient to wisdom. A mental-mental symptom, when the subject is connected with divine power.
Plato (c. 428/7-348/7 BC) relates this in the Apologia and a number of other works. The story goes back in time, when Socrates was preaching in Athens, before the seconds of his death sentence. In his self-defense sermons, Socrates recounts the ascetic experiences he had since childhood.
In this very important section, I try to quote from a collection of Ancient Greek manuscripts compiled and translated by S. Marc Cohen, Patricia Curd, and Reeve (2011: 168). This is Socrates' confession through Plato:
“The reason for that, however, is one you’ve heard me give many time and in many places: A divine daimonic thing come to me… : a short of voice comes, which, whenever it does come, always holds me back from what I’m about to do but never urges me forward.”
Socrates experiences—as he himself admits, divine phenomena or what he calls the sign of daim nic . This is a whisper in his mind. Comes at any time, especially when he is about to fall for wrong actions or words. Actions that will have a negative impact on himself and others. Even so, Socrates himself admitted that the voices did not guide him to take what action he should take. The voices were just a message to alert him.
What was daim nic 's sign, really? Modern readers must have a hard time understanding the term because of the ambiguity of its meaning. In ancient Greek, the term theoi was hardly distinguished from the term daim nes. Both refer to the meaning of 'god' although with different degrees and positions. Even so, the term daim n is also synonymous with the term da m n which means knowing/wise.
Daim n/da m n is also interpreted as 'guardian god'. A superhuman power that resides in the intermediate world. Even so, for the time being, we can use the conclusions of Walter Burkert in Greek Religion (1985) when simplifying the two terms as divine power within. This is referred to from the works of Plato. In principle, daim n/da m n is a force that accompanies human life from birth. The divine element that will continue to guide and send messages in the mind, as long as humans are (still) able to listen to it.
These two terms, daim ōn and da ēm ōn, are the root word of the term e ûdaim ōnia which means the highest happiness or well -being. To attain the highest peace, one must be able to listen to the supernatural whispers — from the divine power within him — for that is what will guide one to wisdom. This at once explains why the practice of ancient philosophy is synonymous with constant practice. If wisdom is synonymous with the sharpness of the soul, then it will never be perfect.
Armed with this reasoning, I ventured to make a (new) interpretation of Socrates' esoteric experience. He is a spiritualist or practitioner of the ancient tarekat. A practitioner of kebatinan who constantly sharpens the sharpness of the soul in the context of the highest happiness. In addition to the formal religious system adopted by the people, ancient Greece also developed a religious system based on reasoning about divine truths emanating from self-power. That power is daim n, the aspect of the soul that comes from divine light that will continue to guard human life.
Wangsit or Revelation
Apart from giving a signal that Socrates is a mystic, this review also provides a new picture that in ancient times, the philosophical tradition was spiritual. Or, philosophy itself is a practice of spirituality. It is in this context that Socrates' esotericism is a universal experience. Experienced by anyone with any cultural background, and across time limits, at any time.
In Java, the daim nic 's sign is commonly referred to as wangsit. It may also be called revelation, as long as its meaning is not separated from the Javanese worldview. The most popular is represented by S rat Dewa Ruci in the version of mysticism written by Yasadipura I as part of S rat Cabol ék . S. Soebardi in The Book of Cabol ék (1975: 45-51) convincingly presents Dewa Ruci as an aphorism of Kstaria Bima's journey in achieving the perfection of life .
The story of Dewa Ruci in the end indeed condensed on the figure of Bima. He is a figure who is not only blessed with physical virtues—tall, tough, handsome, perfect, but also mental and spiritual virtues—brave, honest, highly determined. He is passionate about seeking the virtues of life, and accepts the challenge of his spiritual teacher, Begawan Drona, to seek banyu perwitasari ( water of life ). Bima's determination is complete. He will face any risk to achieve perfection, even the risk of death.
The first challenge, he had to go to Mount Candramuka in the middle of the Tikbrasara forest . There were waiting for two giant creatures, Rukmuka and Rukmakala who were none other than the incarnations of the gods Indra and Bayu. Both of them were destroyed by Bima—which means they were also freed from the curse. Until finally Bima destroyed Candramuka, he did not get the water of life. Even so, Indra and Bayu ordered him to return to his teacher in Astina, to ask for instructions about the whereabouts of the banyu perwitasari.
Long story short, after Bima returned to Drona, he got a new challenge to enter the Minangkalbu Ocean . He did this challenge without asking. In the depths of the ocean, he was blocked by a giant (dragon) creature, wrapped around his body, but he managed to destroy it. He then sailed through Minangkalbu, and immediately met Dewa Ruci, who was none other than a replica of himself. Dewa Ruci—is the divine essence that resides within humans. This is the moment of oneness. Bima felt the peak of peace, when he received a direct 'advice' from Dewa Ruci.
S rat Dewa Ruci is a perfect aphorism about the mental state at the peak of tranquility. Ancient Greek scholars called it e daim nia (true happiness). It's pretty sure this is a spiritual concept—not to call it Sufism. The spiritual journey (soul-mental) that overcomes all obstacles to be able to meet the essence, listen to direct teachings from the source of truth, that is the highest wisdom , aret .
The direct message of Dewa Ruci that was received by Bima, is what the ancient Greek philosophers called a sign of daim n, as long as we follow Plato's interpretation that daim n is something divine and accompanies humans since their birth on earth. The magical whispers for the Javanese are wangsit or revelations received directly by subjects who have determination, determination, honesty, cleansing their souls, practicing continuously to be able to meet a pure soul state.
This is the foundation of the spiritual life in ancient Greece. This is also the foundation of kebatinan life that is still developing in Java and the archipelago to this day. These philosophers are spiritualists at the same time, practitioners of kebatinan—not to call them Sufis, who lead a waking life (that's why daim n also means guardian deity), suspending worldly matters, in order to achieve perfection or the highest peace, eudaimonia.
In the ancient Greek tradition, eudaimonia was left with an abstract meaning, scholars in Java concretized it with the concept of pamoring kawulo-Gusti. The state of the soul-mental that is able to unite with the essence. This is the goal as well as the orientation of the perfect life that is lived by the mystic practitioners, the Sufis. The practice of life will never be perfect, and that's why it must be trained throughout life.
That is why, in the ancient Greek tradition as well, in order to attain the wisdom of aret , one must exert one's best will and ability, and constantly practice. It's like Bima's struggle in Dewa Ruci's play. Invisibility whispers or cues from daim nic— as felt by Socrates, are also mental qualities that must be practiced.
In ancient Greece, the use of the term daim nic in a positive sense (as described above), declined along with the strengthening of Jewish and Christian influence. It is said that during the Hellenistic period, the Jewish community in Alexanderia, who spoke fluent Greek, absorbed the concept of daim nion and harmonized it with Hebrew in the Old Testament.
In this transliteration process, the word ángelos is translated into mal'ak in Hebrew—or angel in Arabic. Meanwhile, the word daimonion translates to se'irim in Hebrew, almost synonymous with the Arabic word jinn . It means a spirit that is not divine. Likewise, the Judeo-Christian tradition which uses the New Testament in Greek, transliterates the word daimonion into demon which means evil spirit.
This kind of transliteration not only removes the use of the term daim n from its old roots and nuances, but at the same time bury the spiritualist tradition that developed in classical times. The new religions not only obscure the concept of purity of the soul and the ability of humans to achieve eudaimonia — in the sense of peace of mind because of the ability to listen to the inner whispers of a single essence within—but at the same time suppress the culture of spiritualism.
Increasingly, religious traditions do not recognize the practices of esotericism as practiced by Socrates and his students. The practice of virtue/wisdom then fully refers to sources outside the soul, to the corpus of scriptures. It continues until now. Religion without a spiritual dimension. []