Rahayu, sagung dumadi . This is a benevolent greeting. Used by speakers to raise prayers of salvation and peace, for the universe. Compiled from the words ' ra' which means hope, and ' hayu' which means beauty, goodness, peace.
The term rahayu with the root word 'hayu' is also found in the maxim, “ meyu hayuningbawana. ” The word 'hayu' or 'ayu' that makes up the sesanti converging on the meaning of beautiful or good, “beautifies the world which is basically (already) beautiful.” Similar to salam rahayu, sesanti is considered to represent the world view of the Javanese, related to the original human obligation to participate in total participation in maintaining the beauty and goodness of the world.
Salam rahayu thus implies an active duty and action that must be taken by the subject in maintaining a virtuous and peaceful order. In this sense, rahayu becomes not just a greeting, but also represents the cognitive orientation of the subject's life behavior. In short, through this universal greeting, the Javanese want to assert themselves that their task in life is to harmonize themselves—as well as to play an active role—in maintaining the harmony of the universe.
Since the 1950s, the use of these greetings has become synonymous with Believers and indigenous peoples. Of course, some communities of Penghayat Beliefs and especially indigenous groups, have their own special greetings. Even so, in national associations, in general, internal diversity of Believers and indigenous peoples is successfully tied up by the cognitive orientations hidden in these greetings.
To a certain extent, greetings have also developed into their social and ideological identity. Various types of beliefs, united by the same spirit in the highest hope of universal peace. The teachings of nobility that are known in almost all Faith organizations, in the end also converge to that meaning.
Peace/Wisdom
In the classical philosophical tradition, we will easily find conceptual equivalents related to the depth of meaning as buried in the concept of salam rahayu, and especially sesanti meayu hayuningbawana.
Salam rahayu as the highest hope for goodness and peace, conceptually has similarities with the concept of eudaimonia. Aristotle (c. 384-322 BC) introduced this concept as the pinnacle of goodness for humans. It is said that the term was formed from the words e meaning good, and da ím n meaning a verb that refers to the meaning of issuing . In short, in the sense of praxis (ethics), eudaimonia is an active action towards the highest happiness/peace.
Instead of meaning the peacefulness of the universe, the concept is more converging on the meaning of subjectivity. Prior to the Hellenistic period, Socrates (c. 470-399 BC), the founder of the concept, limited the meaning of eudaimonia as a state of the soul, as well as a peaceful mental state. Until the end of the classical period, this term was still dominantly converging on the meaning of the state of the soul in the highest good due to virtue.
In various representations, Socrates is depicted crying over life in Athens which no longer cares about the happiness of the soul, because everyone is busy pursuing the things of worldly life. Those who pursue honor, wealth, fame, and are immersed in it, are considered far from peaceful souls. They have no means of reaching eudaimonia. In his sermons in Athens, Socrates always tried to persuade people to pay attention to the peace of his soul by acting benevolent.
Since this period, eudaimonia 's highest virtue/happiness has always required an active act of wisdom. In the minds of philosophers, there is no virtue without wisdom. Conceptually, active wisdom is called aret . Literally, aret is praxis (behavior), exerting all potential to achieve the highest virtue. Socrates and his disciples, idealized the totality of man in the practice of wisdom for the sake of the highest happiness.
In this sense, we can tap the meaning of eudaimonia to the concept of 'rahayu'. When the greeting "Ra-hayu" is thrown from the subject, a cathartic momentum is born, people are reminded of their primordial obligation—to act wisely without conditions—for the sake of personal and universal comfort. Cathartic moments like this, like Socrates' sermons in Athens, reverberate, interrupting people's fall into the frenzy of mortality.
Similar to the concept of aret , the highest good as offered by the call "Ra-hayu" also presupposes the condition of active action, the practice of wisdom, which is nothing but the active participation of the subject in maintaining the harmony of the universe.
Peace/Knowledge
In addition to meaning praxis (ethics), eudaimonia and aret also means knowledge (epistemological). As the creed says, “wisdom is knowledge.” A ret by itself means knowledge itself. Happiness is thus synonymous with the state of the soul which is capable of knowing the ultimate truth. Knowledge is above knowledge, knowing on the condition of knowing that is eudaimonia. The Javanese concept calls it the term ' kaweruh' .
After the time of Socrates and Aristotle, the term eudaimonia was associated with knowledge. Even so, Socrates' disciples were not one word. The Stoic school, especially its temperature, Zeno of Citium (c. 334-262 BC), swallowed the doctrines of Socrates and Plato, believing that 'holy' people who practiced suppressing their passions and ambitions, would arrive at the highest happiness. This state of mental decay is called apatheia . That is the condition that must be lived by the cantrik to reach the perfection of the soul.
Instead of using the term eudaimonia, the Stoic philosophers used the concept of ataraxia , although the meaning is more or less the same. In line with this concept, truth/wisdom in Zeno's eyes, can definitely be achieved by 'holy' people. As told by his students, the ultimate reality in Zeno's eyes, is like the palm of a hand, and the knowledge of it is like the grip of a hand. The truth is present as if bound by the soul-mind. Only ('holy') people are able to do it, and it is they who arrive at the ultimate happiness/knowledge.
Interestingly, Zeno's students complement the idea of apatheia by illustrating, like flowing water. People who are at peace, are those who can be in harmony with the Universe. Exactly on this meaning, eudaimonia as peace/knowledge is identical with the meaning of ' kaweruh' as stored in the concept of “Ra-hayu”. Some Penghayat circles also believe that, in a ' silent ' mental state, the truth will be bound and tasted by the subject. Real knowledge is when the subject knows his position and role in the totality of the universe. In a state of 'kaweruh' the soul is free and in harmony with nature.
The greeting "Ra-hayu" conveys a burning confidence that the speaker's subject has grasped the truth, such as "locking the palm of the hand in a fist." Truth is not only able to be reached, but at the same time established as something singular and silent.
In the classical Greek philosophical tradition, this way of thinking about truth was called 'dogmatic'. The excess self-confidence displayed by the philosophers is what presents the truth as if it is certain, singular, and in the minds of the perpetrators. It's just like the beliefs of spiritualists (or clergy) who present the truth according to their soul-mental tastes, but define it as essential.
Against Zeno's model of dogmatism, Socrates' students from the other wing sent a strong reaction. They doubt and even deny the human ability to arrive at the truth. Their temperature was Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360-270 BC), and because of their widespread influence came to be known as Pyrrhonism. For the Pyrrhonists, precisely because the purpose of human life is the relaxation of the soul, one must adopt the attitude of delaying making decisions and judgments.
People must be in a state of not making decisions because humans (both in their sensory and mental capacities) cannot possibly arrive at the essence of truth. The praxis (ethics) of delaying this truth is called the epoch é. The essence of truth is so majestic, and ensuring the ultimate truth is in the palm of the hand, is clearly a kind of reckless (moral) attitude—not to call it arrogance.
In the eyes of the disciples of Pyrrho, man must be content with the state/truth that continues to be in the process of becoming ( becoming ), and the human mind must remain in a state of delaying making decisions. That is the practice of the epoch é that makes a person's soul noble. Who would have thought, modern scholars think that Pyrrho's teachings are similar to Madhayamaka—that is, the teachings of Buddhist philosophy that preceded Mahayana Buddhism.
Madhayamaka teachings assert that everything ( dharma ) is emptiness ( nya ). And, truth/falseness never has essence in itself, so the more a person's mind is in a state of knowing, the more he delays, and is silent. Man's best endeavor is to take active action not to fall into recklessness , nor to keep the truth within the grasp of his mind.
In the world of philosophy and spirituality, the more a person knows about everything, the less likely he is to make a decision, let alone feel that the truth is in his hands. The only expression of depth of knowledge is silence. That should also be the attitude displayed by spiritualists (as well as clergy) who live the "Ra-hayu" hope. The greeting must be interpreted as a hope for the mental condition that craves the highest truth. The more the truth unfolds, the more its highest and only expression, is silence. []