7::Yogyakarta
1.26.97 Sunday
Borobudur: This has got to be one of the wonders of the ancient world, although it was built about 800 A.D. It was buried by volcanic ash from Merapi till 1815 so it was perfectly preserved. It is one of the best "ruins" I’ve visited - perhaps because I went with the right attitude, opening myself up to it as a ninth century Buddhist peasant might, looking for the spiritual experience.
I wanted to do the whole 5 km. circuit of clockwise levels to see where it took me. I don’t know the story it intends to tell -- except that the stone panels are more secular and sin-filled on the bottom tiers and more abstract and sublime on the top - but my own story took shape.
At the lower levels, the Buddha figure seemed so crowded in by followers, who squeezed him from all directions. It spoke to me of transcendence - the teacher or leader not tied down by students, but able to transcend them. The leader shows the way, but is not shackled by the followers. If the Buddha wanted to be a "god," he would be defined and held down by his worshippers. The god needs his worshippers to exist; the transcendent leader is searching for his own truth, living in is own questions.
As a leader I haven't been able to transcend and I feel tied down by everyone who expects me to "have the answers." I always give them answers and then those very answers make a prison for me. I need to meditate on this.
Back to materialism: We spent a couple hours looking for "antique shops" - wore ourselves out trying to find antiques amid the batiks and reproductions. Nothing of note, especially in the bead area. Jim found me a book on Indonesian beads (manik-manik) and my mouth is watering. Where are they? Already gobbled up by wholesalers and shipped away? Or available only in certain back rooms to certain dealers? I must admit that the heat saps my shopping vigor.
And then there is the persistent dealer, the stock character who keeps following us, asking questions, insisting we buy or accompany him to his shop. Sometimes my irritation is tempered by compassion: it is such a crowded country, competition must be very great - their lives are commodities - only the very aggressive stand out, especially among the uneducated.
But what a nuisance! Today at Borobudur a woman stuck with me like a hungry fly, pushing salad spoons in my face. She was bright and funny with enough English to joke that my husband had money and could pay for them. No amount of politeness could shoo her away but she was too amusing to be rude to.
Others, such as the boys outside Borobudur were more like a swarm of flies pushing items into my face - it was all I could do to stop myself from physically batting them away.
Links
Decoding Borobudur. A lesson plan with maps and pictures.