A hermit walks in To a cave in a market. His night's never dark, Day's never noisy. He's still When he moves or talks. Centered--
Today is about another batik prepared by Mbak Izzah for shipment from Jogjakarta to Singapore.
Batik Ciptoning
Ciptoning is a Javanese word composed of two: cipta or cipto and ning.
Cipta or cipto means thought, imagination, creativity.
Also….
It means to create or to manifest.
And….
The ning, ening, bening, wening means clear as of water, clear as of mind, quiet, serene.
So ciptoning can mean clarify the thought and imagination or creativity….
Or creating or manifesting in serenity or in clear mind or in quiet mind.
This batik pattern consists of ceplok (clusters) of geometry patterns formed by series of parang, wayang, gurdha (garuda) or wings pattern, bird and some isen-isen (repeated small dots or checks or lines to fill the space among all primary and secondary patterns).
I did talk about parang, gurdha and isen-isen in previous postings. Hope they still can be looked up, or else they should be googled. 😉
There are two wayang characters in the centers of the ceplok who are Begawan Abiyasa and Arjuna; one is the spiritual teacher, the other is the pupil. This is the scene when Begawan Abiyasa teaches Arjuna on how to complete a retreat. Once Begawan Abiyasa completes his task, he disappears and Arjuna has to start everything by himself. Yes, teacher will vanish when student is ready to jump alone — not needed anymore.
What does Begawan Abiyasa teach Arjuna to do?
A common retreat in Javanese tradition is a semedi or samadhi. The samadhi is usually conducted in a quiet, serene place and it is done by calming the mind, composing the body posture and focusing on nothing but the purpose of the retreat– can be anything including something, everything even nothing. That is what Begawan Abiyasa teaches him to do.
In wayang world a special retreat like this is normally done before a knight goes to a battle against raksasa or gandharwa that are representing evil energy of the world. Arjuna as a famous knight of his ability to survive a long retreat, his nature of complete human quality (including but not limited to naughtiness and ambition) and his high skills of warship; is assigned to spend from time to time for a retreat more often than his siblings; while Begawan Abiyasa is a maestro of spirituality in wayang world and so is trusted to guide a knight to face his impurity.
When doing a retreat, Arjuna uses a different name as he doesn’t want people to know that a royal family member is among the commoners doing a retreat. And that doing a retreat is a secret activity, he doesn’t want to be disturbed by commoners who want to take selfie with him. 😃
He is named Begawan Ciptoning.
Begawan can mean some: hermit, escatic, retreatant, recluse, solitaire, anchoret. In some way it can also mean maestro.
Ciptoning is to describe what Arjuna is doing during that period of hermitage. He is composing himself physically and mentally in serenity in order to achieve purity in his thought, imagination and creativity. He contemplates in silence among the crowd within himself, fighting against all distractions to survive the retreat and to finally get a clarity on how to manifest the everything or something or nothing that becomes his purpose of retreat.
Begawan Ciptoning will only end the retreat when The Undescribable blesses him with what is needed to go back to the “real world”, “to fight against the evil energy”.
When he is done with the retreat the begawan turns its meaning and value from hermit into maestro!
😳
Long story short please, Rike!
Batik Ciptoning is a special batik for those respected spiritually in Javanese early tradition. It was worn by those achieving certain levels of hermitage or having the quality of a spiritual maestro and so can provide guidance to others “lost” in the “search of meaning of life”. Those people shall go through repeated cycles like what Begawan Ciptoning has gone through with the guidance of Begawan Abiyasa.
It is now though worn by anyone who loves the pattern or one who prays that s/he is able to reach an enlightment in her/his own journey of life.
Gosh! My writing is broken pieces. Many to write but my thumbs need a retreat….
💕
my pieces of batik Ciptoning ready for delivery ♥️
Who's a knight who shoots? Archer who knows the bull's eye And bow and arrow--
Satria manah (satrio manah) is a Javanese phrase formed by two words:
1. Satria or satrio that means a knight,
2. Manah that is derived from the word panah (archery in Javanese). Panah (Noun) is changed to manah (Verb)
As name of batik pattern should be incorporated with wisdom, the interpretation can be built with some exaggeration or maybe slightly drammatical structure. And so, satriamanah is not simply a knight who shoots anything but it is intrepreted as a knight who shoots accurately at the heart of a lady.
Life of a wise can be as light as shooting a heart; yet as hard as shooting at the right spot so that it won’t hurt the heart; it even will make the lady fall in love harder with the knight.
Is that even possible?
I don’t know. Not a knight, am not a wise knight. A lady, am the lady whose heart should be shot by a wise knight. 😁
Another fun fact this batik is usually worn by the groom-to-be’s parents when they are officially proposing the bride-to-be in front of her family. The groom-to-be may also wear this batik when he is with his parents during the marriage proposal. Unofficially? the man can propose the woman personally before introducing to each other’s family.
What batik should be worn by the bride-to-be in the marriage proposal? It is batik semen rante. What is that? I will talk about it next year when the semenrante is ready to ship to me by Mbak Izzah. ☺️
This batik has given me a light heart and a good laugh after a long day.
Don't overestimate me, Beloved. My victory won't be like yours.
You win a business tender. You build a business empire. You rob the hearts of the best men. You steal all eyes with your body.
No, I don't. I win a big basket of laundry And make them stacks of folded clothes Wrapping me in daily commute to office or To fields where I squeeze my wisdom out of best standards or Just at home wander around digging what I can boil.
There's no dilemma. There's only heart Rocking in a sea of abundance Misunderstood as distraction.
Sit still, Beloved When world is noisy and busy With laughters and cries.
i thank god that my dilemma is only between whether to read some books or to iron my clothes — not so complicated and i it only happens at the weekend; the rest is just to work and to enjoy after work 😘
it is what it is as weekend is a list of household chores in silence
This lunch is coming from That evening noisy kitchen. This calm evening is coming from That afternoon hard work. This glorious afternoon is coming from That morning humble smile.
That that passed Has left What is blessed.
full set – いただきます❣️
tempe, beancurd and duck — all fried; btw, i thought it was chicken until i chewed the flesh 🫢 i’m such a bad chef who didn’t check the label, just took it from the fridge and threw it to the boiling water and tadaaa!!! 😁
Hi Pretty! Your timing is mine. You greet me when I've lost hope That you're still excited to bloom. Life is mysteriously turning Hopelessness to light steps To what's called Keep going.
she paused her blossom after some time moving to the balcony — the shower area didn’t offer enough sun by then
just this afternoon when checking the leaves, i found her flowers❣️ you never give up, dear orchid
Friendship Is one fragment of life That keeps me alive. It hits me so warmly With friends' openness. It hits me so sadly With their secret battles.
There is a way and There is the other way To meet again Always one day.
Fauzia Fatchan or Fau or Uud is a great friend of mine. She was one supporting badass in uni time; she was an objective wall between those cheating and those with integrity. Her critical thinking would make those cheating to know their “no worth” and at the same time make those with integrity to humbly stay composed.
She’d been my best discussion buddy in all topics! Politics, social, economy, culture, religion, spirituality, education, poverty, conflict free mineral, business, sex, romance, etc. She would tell me I was misled when I had insufficient data to say my analysis. She would tell me excellent when my opinion outsmarted hers.
She yet would laugh her shits out when I broke my heart romantically.
“You are more valuable than those underestimating you or ignoring you!” That was a voice echoing until now.
She is the one I name a perfect friend!
I haven’t talked with her for the past 4 months as we both had been tremendously busy. She’d been managing her rare earth mine in one of big islands in Indonesia.
She is now battling against a rare disease, leaving no chance for me to hear her voice anymore.
I called her through video call by her brother’s help. I believed she could hear, she didn’t say anything but she moved her mouth everytime I called her name like saying something.
I love you so much, dear best friend.
I love you as an honest friend.
I love you as a proud Indonesian.
I love you as an extraordinary human being.
I love you as you!
Dear, Fauzia Fatchan. Even if I can not meet you again, I am honored to have lived as a human being knowing you.
See you again in eternity, my dear…
❣️
If we both have time, we will meet again, that was what you said in our last conversation.
I am sorry that I told you all my battles while you’d been in the same one, my dear. Please forgive me.
From a broken hearted friend because of your condition….
Is there anyone Before & After Me Leaving Without permission?
None--
It is a consent that forms Life, A period where You & I Meet at a dot on a ring.
salam, dear shrine where heart and soul escort body to whisper all secrets
Kameyama Shrine
before cleaning – looked like birds loved to bathe and leave some feathers as token of gratitude
after cleaning – no one asked me to clean this, i just felt that i needed to give Japan a small token of gratitude and Kameyama Shrine be the one to receive it
always praying someday I can come back to that shrine. I will tell her that she did give me amazing vibe in my whole visit in Kameyama. Shrines, mosques, temples, churches and other places where human beings whisper their heart and soul out have always been a charm to me.
enso – there’s a dot where two extremes meet and form balance to ensure life flows
The sun blares a loud red. The trees hide a peaceful green. The commuting enjoys the grey road That cuts across an island. It's a home From which the eyes pull all colours To the heart.
How fragrant are you Through the petals sweetly picked By fragile fingers?
I love perfume especially when at home.
Some facts of how certain oils as part of perfume ingredients are harvested shake my liking to perfumery. If I buy those perfumes, am I abusing certain group of people? If I don’t buy, am I letting them unemployed?
Life is sometimes as simple as abc– Yet life is sometimes as complex as ancient codes to decipher.
Time to concoct my own perfume from responsibly-sourced oils?
Fresh air, Beloved, Welcomes sweetly through a move. Strong or weak, enjoy.
it was fresh at the same time eery — i felt a strong blow of fresh air at my left hand last night between sleep and awake; so sure it was not my breathing as I know well how I breathe
new place welcomes visitors differently like the grass greeted me sweetly this morning
thank you for the welcome; I am a guest, not an agressor 🙏🏼
A playground's, my love Where a dragonfly sits still, A lotus bud sways--
missing Ubud, my playground
one day before purchasing a plot of land in Lod Tunduh, Ubud, I cancelled it with no logical reason; feel of Bali to me is a playground of my house and several months later decided to start a home in Yogyakarta — sometimes it takes just a strong push inside to make the right choice: no logic, no rationale
Who breathes love in silence, Who touches heart in secret, Who smiles in the dark, Who listens to whispers, Who reads all scrolls, Who kisses faraway dreams; Take these roses, That dance with the wind, That spread strange chemicals, That show off colours, That boast deadly pricks, That symbolise love, That decay over time.
Won't be using this body forever, Won't be celebrating the same victories forever, Won't be losing the same battles forever, Won't be this forever, Won't be that forever, And so it is, Let a best be accepted-- A long sleep is waiting Maybe tomorrow, Maybe today.
this beauty experienced dead as seed, dead as sprout, dead as bud, dead as blossom, dead as fruit even not met the fruition yet this was once lived and loved
never underestimate any size of life; it is all enough
rike jokanan 
You must be logged in to post a comment.