[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Kulino, I can understand how you have attempted to come closer to a Javanese mindset.

A house can have many windows, and the view through each window is different, but sometimes those different views can overlap.

In the order of creation there is one common essence that passes through and is possessed by everything, but the various things in creation possess that essence in varying quantities:- a man will possess more than a horse, a horse will possess more than tree, a tree will possess more than a rock. Creation and the Creator are inseparable and exist as unity. The repetition of a natural pattern is no more and no less than the expression of a concept by the creator.

Man in his physical form is not able to understand that which is beyond his experience, but he can copy and does copy these concepts, even though he does not understand them. In his arrogance he invents his own interpretations.

Nothing made by man can dominate that which has been made by the Creator, and all in existence is an expression of the Creator's will. This concept can be understood in two different and opposing ways, and both are true. Javanese thought.

The Gospel according to Thomas is a collection of sayings, or ideas that were disallowed by the early Christian church, and is believed by some Bible scholars to reflect the early oral traditions of Christianity. It is a part of the Nag Hammadi Library. This is one of the better known sayings from Thomas:-

I am the light that shines over all things. I am everything. From me all came forth, and to me all return. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there.

This reflects very closely one tenet of the indigenous Javanese system of belief.

To understand Jawa it is necessary to understand the grassroots beliefs of the common people.

The keris in Jawa is a multi facetted object.
Those facets run into a very comprehensive list, and relate to most human activities and philosophical approaches to life. In any consideration of the keris we need to understand that Javanese culture and society does not operate at any level on a single understanding, nor a single meaning, that relates to anything. Every icon, every symbol, every way of behaviour, every word has multiple meanings , none of which disallow any others.

Thus, there is more than just one way in which to understand the keris.

In the elite levels of traditional Javanese society it was, and is, deemed unfitting for a man to be involved with money or commerce. Money by its very nature is impure, as such, money, and all related to it is unclean, and thus is the domain of women, who are impure beings. We can see the reflection of this way of thought in the way in which traditional trade in Jawa is carried on today:- it is the role of women to trade, it is the role of men to build reputation.

This societal prohibition on men being involved with money created a difficulty, in that a man was very restricted in how he was able to store wealth in a societally acceptable form. Gold, gems, real estate, live-stock, horses, keris --- all these things were clean ways in which to store wealth. All these things are subject to trade, and because of their function within traditional Javanese society, they must be traded:- you buy when you have money, but before the crop comes in, when times are getting tough, you sell. This is the way in which traditional Javanese society works.

It is recognised that within Javanese society the people who have the highest knowledge of the keris are the people who are involved in the keris trade. This was recognised in Centini where it is decided that if the speakers wish to learn about keris, they need to go down to the market to discuss with a seller (sorry for the gloss, but I forget the details and I don't have time to look up sources and quotes).

Thus, one aspect of the keris is as a store of wealth, and in the Javanese mind, this aspect does not disallow other aspects, so the same keris that is a store of wealth from one perspective can be a powerful spiritual icon from a different perspective.

To understand how this can be, one needs to be able to think in a Javanese fashion:- nothing is limited to only one meaning, nor to only one way of understanding.

It is our kabatinan that suggests, sometimes directs, us to think in a particular way that is in harmony with the circumstances.