Buddhists mark ‘Waisak’ celebration with fervor, faith
Atop Borobudur temple early Waisak morning, 2551 years after the enlightenment of Buddha, few visitors stood alongside stone pagodas to witness the surrounding mountains emerge from mist. On the lower levels of the huge structure, a line of Mahayana Buddhists slowly circumambulated the walkway, chanting and burning incense. An equanimous atmosphere pervaded the stones and the sky.
Three kilometers away at Mendut temple, it was a different story. A chaotic bustle of believers and visitors crowded the grounds in readiness for Waisak, which fell on June 1.
Devotees clad in the costumes of the 12 major schools of Buddhism that make up Walubi, the nation’s Council of Buddhist Communities, sat divided in camps according to their schools. (The schools are split further into respective sects.) The council’s flags and banners filled the streets surrounding Borobudur and Mendut, as well as the temples’ grounds.
“We feel that we can give thanks to the Buddha,” Walubi president Soedjito Kusumo said on Waisak day, “because Buddha gave us teachings about the Dharma.”
Soedjito said 25,000 people had gathered from across Indonesia and other Buddhist countries for the day’s activities, which had taken three months of planning.
Because each Buddhist school organized itself, the job had not been difficult and he optimistically claimed the post-celebration clean-up would be finished in a day.
After a series of rituals held separately in the various camps, people gathered at midday day near a colossal banyan tree whose high-hanging roots seemed to embrace the followers below.
The next stage was the slow three-kilometer walk to Borobudur in the sweltering heat. Crowds of local residents stood staring from the sidelines as the procession made its way up to the largest Buddhist monument in the world.
The event garners its share of attention through size alone, but it was helped by Walubi’s industriousness.
Metro TV reporter Bertha said the council paid Rp 1.2 billion for the station to cover Waisak. For the third year in a row, Metro TV brought in a crew of over 50 people, broadcasting multiple live feeds for the evening’s Imaging Buddha performance and the processions from Mendut.
Bertha said the array of colors and sounds were an obvious visual pull of Waisak, with flowers, robes, banners and incense all suddenly brought together from the nation’s often very different Buddhist traditions.
Here you found saffron-robed Theravadan monks, white-gowned Maitreya laypeople and Tantrayana monks clothed in red and yellows. A fair supply of Buddhist T-shirts also filled the scene.
But beyond the spectacle were other factors: the TV reporter said several Muslim visitors she spoke to had come because they wanted to be blessed by Buddha Gautama. While this may not be a sentiment likely to be sanctioned by any Muslim group, perhaps it shows something of Indonesia itself.
The Majapahit Kingdom was founded with Buddhism and Hinduism as core religions, and Borobudur was built in the 8th century at the height of Buddhist influence. When Islam swept the archipelago, Buddhism lost its foothold, and now its followers only make up about 1 percent of the population.
But not for nothing is the nation founded on the ideals of Pancasila, one of which espouses belief in God as obligatory — although this is technically problematic, as Buddhism is a non-theistic religion.
In the same way that Indonesian folk religion has influenced Islam in places, Buddhism has never gone away, and there may be things perceived as uniquely Buddhist.
“They meditate, there are several sects but they all pray in the same place, in front of Buddha Gautama,” said Bertha, referring to the Puja Bakti evening ceremony. She also noted that Buddhist teachers say Buddhism does not seek to convert others or see other religions as competitors — probably a helpful attitude in a country with an 80 percent Muslim majority.
Coinciding with Indonesia’s Year of the Buddhist, this Waisak brought president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Borobudur, and the Muslim head of state delivered the evening address to the nation’s Buddhists.
The sanction of the state brought its own presence to the grounds too.
A group of Theravadan monks hurried along the corridors of the hotel where both they and the President were staying when the presidential guard suddenly appeared, six men in military uniforms vigorously staking out the hotel with submachine guns raised at everyone in their path. A military exercise, perhaps to back up the day’s blessings?
Certainly Thai monk Bhikku Jakaro Panyo seemed unfazed by the incident afterwards.
“It’s a great spirit and an honor,” he said of the presidential visit. “It’s good for the Buddhist community, it really gives us spirit. All these years we’re living in peace. It’s a really good gesture in the Year of the Buddhist.”
Jakaro, who has lived for five years in Jakarta with Sanga Dhammaduta, was exhausted after the procession that some monks had completed twice that day. He said Waisak was a month of celebration concerning the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.
“We are paying respect to such a glorious event of Buddha,” he said. “It gives strength to the spirit of all Buddhists.”
Two young Mahayana nuns-in-training dressed in black robes stood among the crowded grounds of Borobudur as the sun fell low in the sky. A humble innocence and calm complemented their freshly shaven heads.
“It reminds us of the birth of Siddharta,” said Rumi, 20, who is from Central Java with Mejulis Agama Buddha Mahayana. Her companion Nungky, 19, added that their brief three-week period of postulancy was almost over, and a week after Waisak, they would enter full ordination as Buddhist nuns. Why?
“We have always followed the Buddha’s story,” said Nungky “and now we’ve entered training for a true life.”
Cameron Broadhurst, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Add comment June 14th, 2007