Thank you again Penangsang for providing such a wonderful post for us.
I had determined that I was not going to involve myself any further in these exchanges, principally because of what I consider to be an insensitive approach to matters that really have no place in a public online Forum.However, I feel that Penangsang's most recent post does need to be addressed in order to clarify several matters for those amongst us who may not be quite so advanced in the spiritual aspects of the keris as Penangsang apparently considers himself to be.
For those of you who may be silently recoiling from the possibility that I intend to discuss the concept of yoni openly, please relax. I do not intend to open this matter to discussion, but merely to provide an understanding of the area into which we have ventured.
Penangsang has used two words that we usually only hear in a face to face situation where discussion is between close friends:- yoni, and digdaya.
Both of these words are Javanese. In this context the meaning of yoni refers to something having a magical power. The meaning of digdaya is for something to be invulnerable because of magical or supernatural power.
These words do not have the same meaning. In fact, they do not even have a similar meaning.
The power of yoni is transferable when the keris is correctly matched to its custodian, however digdaya is invulnerability that is possessed by virtue of magical or supernatural power. It may be that the tuah that has been generated by the yoni is a tuah that is capable of providing invulnerability, but very often the tuah of a keris has absolutely nothing at all to do with invulnerability, it could be concerned with profit in business, or ease of social relationships, or facility in attracting women, or any one of many other fortuitous powers.
The concept of yoni refers to an element, or factor that is the essence linking the maker of a keris with the tuah of a keris.Yoni is not a spirit nor a djin nor an identifiable thing, it is a power, or a mysterious force that fixes the tuah.
The tuah is essentially a talismanic power, and it cannot exist unless the custodian of the keris has belief that it does exist.Tuah is always a good and a positive force, but it can only exist where the keris is correctly matched to the custodian.
The strength of the yoni is linked in turn to the devoutness and the mystical knowledge of maker of the keris. Since such knowledge can only be possessed by an Mpu, this dictates that any keris which may be considered to possess yoni must be the product of an Mpu.
This theory, or hypothesis is a relatively recent one that has been popularised by an ahli keris from Solo, B.P.H. Sumodiningrat, a noble from the Karaton Surakarta.
Inherrent in this theory there is no suggestion that the tuah of a keris is directly linked to God, however there is the belief that by virtue of his devoutness and his fasting and meditation, the Mpu draws close to God.
The belief in the yoni of a keris is an element of the Javanese belief system that surrounds the keris and has its roots in Kejawen and the revival of Javanese culture which took place during the Kartosuro period. It is an attractive theory to those who are followers of Sufic mysticism, and by virtue of this the belief in the yoni theory has spread widely throughout keris bearing cultures in a very short period of time.
When we consider whether or not a keris may possess yoni there is one over-riding requirement that must be fulfilled before all others:- the keris must be the product of an Mpu. In other words the physical quality of the keris must be consistent with the product of an Mpu.
This is probably about as far as I am prepared to go in this matter.
As I have already commented, discussion of yoni is a very sensitive subject that should only be carried out in private in a face to face situation, and between trusted friends with similar levels of knowledge. It is not a subject for open or public discussion and must not be openly discussed with those who are not yet sufficiently mature to understand the implications.
What I have written above is what I have been taught. It may vary from the beliefs held by others, however, my teachers were located in Solo, and were of the same social group as the man who caused the concept of yoni to become popular.
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