PRODUK KAMI TERSEDIA DI

Written on : 24 June 2018

By: Wima Brahmantya

There is something interesting about my observations at the Moesioem mBlitaran in Keboen Kopi Karanganjar. Some visitors turned around and left the museum as soon as they heard the strains of Javanese macapat songs coming from inside the museum.

Fear. Scary. Horrified. So I remember horror films. That's what they said, with pale expressions.

This is the fruit of a younger generation whose subconscious is more dominated by soap operas than cultural understanding from childhood.

You'll get goosebumps listening to the macapat songs, smell the kantil flowers, enter the temple with fear but never miss the selfies.

This does not include causes due to religious understanding (remember, "understanding" not "religion" itself) that sometimes distances people from their own ancestral cultural roots.

Finally, our young generation becomes "culturally insecure" and then "culture shocked". If this is the case, it is other nations who learn seriously about our culture. And once our culture is showcased in a neighbouring country, we get all excited.

It also saddens me to see Javanese children afraid to listen to Javanese macapat songs. I wish they knew that these songs have deep philosophical values. "Pangkur" for example, means "to leave" which refers to the act of "leaving bad desires". Or "Asmaradhana" which comes from the combination of "Asmara" and "Dhahana (fire)", meaning "blazing romance". It's as powerful as those contemporary mellow pop songs.

The progress of a nation is not only measured in terms of material things such as economy and technology, but also in terms of its spirituality. A nation that understands its identity is a nation that has high spiritual intelligence, and automatically deserves to be called a great nation.

—–

"Fighting your own fears is one big step."

PRODUK KAMI TERSEDIA DI

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