graphs of my Universe
Look! It’s blue on green
Burning spirit to trueness
Of living simple.
——
I love the rice field sprawling along the train track in Japan. It brings feel of peace at the same time reminding me that there are still those who are willing to live as farmers even (according to my Japanese friends) with not so high income.
God bless farmers without whom we won’t live.
Salaam.
irrigation that travels like blood in body
the clouds that travel by the wind like dream in mind
Life’s a swift transit
Where tripper’s redirected
To where home resides.
——
before going home i made myself a rush to visit this three-tier turret of Takada Castle
behind the pink
behind the white
behind the purple
and right in front of it
The price of good life:
A cluster that can grow wild
On the grey tree bark?
——
which is more precious? bark of the tree or the fungi growing happy? are they mutually enriching each other?
I see you, beauty
When I walk or sit or rest.
You’re sheer, true yet mute.
——
beauty is everywhere, dancing in silence 💕
It’s ever summer
When smile is sweet, words are true.
Then sun is joining.
——
thanks, Jasmine-san for bringing me to this place!
summer
pottery is never too cute
it is free opener; two for one diner
my 1st nato in life which was ummm…. and sticky yam or something which was amazing
one of my colleagues who is loving Japanese food will be so happy to finally see me eat sashimi without throwing up 😂
i love tempura and this is one of the best one i’ve ever had!!! and much cheaper than the ones in Singapore ☺️
yesss!!! Joetsu rice is the best and so is the sushi! 💕
sushi, sushi, sushi!
this fish cake that i’ll never be able to recook! perfect!
This blessed belly sings
And dances then soon to sleep
With a dream waiting.
——
i politely rejected an invite of dinner so i could eat alone in an izakaya – 😍 having dinner at the window while seeing people passing by bringing joy or anger after work or school brought me to a corner called “thanks god i’m alive”
💕 izakaya with a glass of green tea, carrot juice, and….
potato salad!
edamame obviously
chicken 🫣 oil oil oil!
most of Javanese love this fish! incl me! 💕😍♥️
pickled cucumber
chicken skin and gizzards! i can be joyful just with this cheap food! 😍 but i want the best sushi in town tomorrow! 😁
On a green mountain
She stands, claps and bows to pray
For what’s been wished for.
——
Day was clear, no June rain welcomed me. Black birds were cawing but not noisy when I arrived, the caws sounded more like “this woman is not important and harmless, let her do what she wants to do. Leave her alone.”
The scent of just mown grass infused stronger freshness to the hanging air and sprinkled refreshing vibe to the scenery.
A lady in the shrine shop greeted me excitedly in Japanese which made me feel like attending an oral communication test with a desperate teacher thinking “fail, fail, fail”. Yet her beautiful smile cajoled me to take one ema (wooden plaque in shrine to write wishes and prayer) to write what I wish to wish forever for me and everyone.
About ema
The most impressive that day were the taxi drivers who drove me to the shrine and back to the hotel— both were willing to find the most basic vocabulary and grammar to make me feel good to practice my pre-basic Japanese; two grandfathers who accompanied a confused granddaughter blabbering Japanese gibberish.
Yet the shrine itself was the cherry on top of the cake that day. Shrine and castle never fail me!
Thank you, Kasugayama Mountain for welcoming me and letting me enjoy the shrine and its surrounding.
Thank you for letting this heart throb seeing what can grow in silence and for letting this soul sit still observing what can leave with no trail.
I am lucky. Always.
💕
going in to the Kasugayama Shrine compound
my friend asked me in Instagram “how many steps?” i said to her “i didn’t count, i will next time” but in my heart “one third of my breath” 😀
torii at the front gate of Kasugayama Shrine
ablution station before stepping to the shrine inner area to pray
i wish prosperity and blessings for my company ♥️♥️♥️
ema: after almost 50 years living, i can only wish the loudest possible in my heart “May All Beings Be HAPPY. All my dreams come true. ♥️”
prayers are hanging everywhere, tied anywhere — people want their wishes come true; as simple as that
if people don’t believe in the power beyond powers, why do they want to pray? to boost confidence? formality? culture? i’m sure they do it because they’re sure it is there whatever people call it beyond what’s taught in religions — i pray as others do
do you know the guy standing on the hill? Uesugi Kenshin — respected daimyo in his era
About Uesugi Kenshin
there is Kasugayama Castle ruin on top of the Kasugayama mountain — i didn’t go though, maybe next time
I used to fly the life
Faster and quieter,
Passing by blue sky,
White clouds over the lands and oceans.
Yet now I ride mine
Slower and merrier,
Passing greenery and buildings.
I heard others chat and laugh;
I am not curious about the convo
But I enjoy the laughter.
I will arrive slightly later
But happier,
Friendlier,
And luckier.
——
riding Shinkansen is more exciting than flying, I used to fly from one city to another in Japan but not anymore although recommended for some areas — always get new things in each ride! 💝
i feel lucky always and today i see same combinations of numbers appeared repeatedly that has made me feel even luckier — although i don’t know, i prefer to believe that it is a good sign before i forget it 😄
Hakutaka 555 departed at 844
sometimes i am superstitious 😁
yet i thank him for making some of my superstition sound scientific 😁
Do you believe sun will rise in the east?
I don’t need to believe because I know it does.
Do you believe your mother will love you unconditionally?
I believe it? I know she does.
Do you believe love will guarantee your happiness?
I do believe it will.
Why?
I do believe because I don’t know.
——
i know Doraemon has a magical pouch from which he pulls all what he needs to either solve problems or to entertain Nobita — i believe he will give Nobita lessons learnt to wise up including giving him rather dangerous disaster, yet i know it is just a story
i believe i need to replace my Doraemon bag with one cuter one as i know someone would love to use this Doraemon bag for her weekend hangout 😀
In some frames she sees
Joy and fun. Simple actions:
Plain humanity
——
one of our young friends in Indonesia is having birthday soon and she wants wishes from overseas as present so i was requested to take picture here and later when i arrive in my destination saying “Happy Birthday …. from ….” 🥰
why bookmarks are cute? 🫣 a young friend used to bring me bookmarks whenever meeting me until she realised that i use random paper to mark my reading 😅 and i mostly forget where i insert my bookmarks so i just lose most of them 🙏🏼 sorry
many said waiting is the most boring activity — not if we know that it is for something worthy 💝 or at least seeing many airport officers do their jobs make me realise everyone matters in life
please put the trolley back after use to the trolley station, this simple act (of either you call it kindness or self discipline) helps them a lot 💝 don’t forget to give them smile 😊
With no white towel
I surrender
To the realm that hugs this heart.
I am water flowing
With no effort
To the ocean that waits for this mind.
How would this name
Say no to a call that sings love songs?
I submit everything
With a smile
And grace.
Body, mind, spirit and soul—
-
Jun 10, 2023
when the air taps my whole reality
with everything subtle and overwhelming
——
please excuse my strong arms 😀
after the Tapa Brata my classmates and I are still escorted to meditate everyday of 60 minutes for 90 days
it should be 36th day today but i only have 33 days in which i am able to do full meditation — in fact my doctor was quite surprised that unbelievable progress is indicated in better numbers from the laboratory test result after i meditate regularly — happy tears 🥹
my health is much better with calmness that is on track and harmonious thought that builds gradually
i’ve registered to next level Tapa Brata next Sep so i can get more benefits to help certain issues in this beloved aging body and to strengthen my mind
can’t wait to meet with the wise teachers who guide us and humble caretakers who help us with daily needs in Forest Island 🥰
i don’t know for sure what i can share from my achievement through meditation yet maybe someday i can help others reduce health complaints at low cost — i’ve always wanted to cure diseases with fragrance and herbs; my high intelligent friends said “pseudoscience, a crap wrapped in fancy paper”, i said “it doesn’t matter at least i can help them feel calmer and think positive”
all what happen in my life are like magic both the unexpected and expected — i hope my meditation brings more good magical celebrations to me and my beloved family and friends
and all…
May All Beings Be Happy
💕
Lightning is so quick
Striking sight with its brightness
Before earth goes silent.
——
Love is sometimes a sight that attracts the eyes, strikes in less than one minute, blinds the eyes for some longer time before gradually clears the mind again. Gradually yet surely 💝 with intensifying silence and lack of reciprocity. Life will be back to its true beauty.
May all beings be happy.
in this case a writer is either a loyalist or a stupid! both not equivalent with the brilliance in his/her writings 😂
What’s romance, my love?
Is roses stay in the branch
With no disturbance.
They’re unpicked until falling
Gracefully kissing the earth.
——
Yogyakarta is one of the most romantic cities on earth, where life is automatically slowing down and love can be felt sweeter, simpler and longer; my friends said “the most romantic or the cheapest?” i said cheerfully “i love cheap things that make me happy including cheap friends, people with high maintenance cost please go away” 😄
one serene night in Stasiun Tugu
No scent is missed,
No inhaled air is empty.
The scent is a box of coloured mist
To bring in imagery.
These nostrils celebrate days
Through haling the loaded air
And propelling power through stories,
Millions of stories shared.
——
can’t leave without scent, good or bad
and its evolving fragrance, softened before dried
sadly this leaf was not so nicely scented 🙏🏼 thrown away
batik has a good scent as it is washed with lerak (soap berry)
frangipani, a flower that is popular as graveyard flower in Java island ♥️ sweet fragrance of the death
i miss the scent of the thin air by the rice field under the blue sky 💝
How’s life, dear pearls of friendship?
Your shadow flashed in the tips of these eyes
All of a sudden.
I wish you all good heart
That shines
Through the orbits
Of all friendly comets
That travel the universe
Bringing verses
About love and friendship
That last forever
With the expanding universe.
You are truly loved
And missed….
——
Brisbane 2017 with Mbak Wien, my friend back in uni the only person able to make me sit in a club for almost 5 hours in a riverbank of a Brisbane river (not sure what river it was though), yet she was not successful to make me drink but jugs of orange juice
a loving daughter and sister, a wife of a kind man, a mother of 2 brilliant boys, a rather crazy friend
when will i see you again? maybe some day when i’m back to down under
God bless you 💝 and all my dear friends 💝
There are star clusters
Glowing in the horizon
Sending messages.
——
From Yogyakarta I brought home a pair of batik grompol sheets which I ordered 6 months ago. Happy I must be!
Grompol is a Yogyakartan special classical batik pattern. No other regions can claim otherwise.
Let’s talk about batik grompol today.
Disclaimer: 1) while the primary interpretation is based on what I learnt from the masters; many of it is my own thought based on what I understand on symbols and signs of Javanese, Islam and Hinduism that intertwined in my upbringing. So please be critical. 2) too much information, too little time for me to summarise. Please expect disconnected ideas, connect them by yourselves.
Grompol batik pattern is a sub-category of ceplok pattern in which one geometry pattern is clustered (squares, triangle, circle, lines, etc). In Javanese language ceplok literally means clustering, grouping, gathering based on the same characteristics or criteria (size, colour, shape, pattern, lines, etc). So hypothetically ceplok pattern is always about gathering, uniting, getting together.
Grompol pattern is characterised through the clustering of of 4-petal flower, a flower pistil in the middle, a seed with 4 couples of 3-ceceg and 5-ceceg (ceceg is a terminology used to describe dots in batik pattern) and “wrapped” by a square with 8 points that almost looks like octagram.
Flower
4-petal flower is a symbol of fertile or healthy life. The 4 petals of the flower can be related to four points of the compass: east, west, north and south.
Flower pistil symbolises the centre of life, potential growth in human being. It can also represent the sun, the soul, the heart as centres of discourses to be applied based on contexts.
Flower which is the beauty before fruition is representing an expectation that human being should optimise their state of beauty which in Javanese almost always refers to the developed wisdom in human being manifested as kindness to fellow creature on earth before one dies.
Seed
A round seed surrounded by 4 couples of 3-ceceg and 5-ceceg symbolises seed of life that should be well protected from all directions.
The seed can be interpreted the same as the flower pistil in the middle of a flower. It is generated from the pistil fertilised by the pollens. It is the centre of life, potential growth in human being. It can also represent the sun, the soul, the heart as centres of discourses to be applied based on contexts.
The round shape of the seed indicates the completeness, thoroughness, integration, centredness, perfection, full cycle.
Ceceg is one type of isen (ornament in empty spaces among primary patterns of batik) in batik. Isen is more popular in Central Java than other regions, isen can be in the form of dots or lines or the combination of both repeatedly put in the intended empty spaces without changing the primary pattern, even there is an intension for isen to highlight the primary patterns.
3-ceceg can be interpreted as Trimurti, the three balancing power of Brahma, Wisnu and Siwa (Siva) which are the 3 powerful powers of creation of the universe, preservation of the universe and destruction of the universe.
5-ceceg can be interpreted as 5 types of self regulation: knowing one’s own identity and personality, connecting to inner self, managing the humane desires, living through good sources of life (no corruption, sharing to the needy) and self reflection through traveling or pilgrimage. A human being is expected to continuously strive for perfection of these five without expecting the perfection to happen.
Points of the Compass
Octagram represents 8. Number 8 in Javanese wisdom is about welfare and authority. Number 8 also represents 8 gods guarding the 4 points of the compass in which 1 direction is guarded by 2 gods of specific authority. The compass itself has 9 points – 1 the centre, 8 the directing points.
The 1 point in the middle is sat by Siwa. 8 points are sat by other gods based on what they manage in the natural realm. Those 9 (1+8) are called Dewata Nawa Sanga (nine guardian gods) in Balinese and Javanese culture. Those 8 are wellknown as Asta Dikplaka (eight gods of 8 directions).
Number 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9
Like in other cultures, Javanese gives significant role to numbers in their game of meaning.
Summary
That it is a ceplok type signifies the clustering, gathering, integrating of certain characters. So this batik is message and prayer for uniting of between or among family members. It is also a message and prayer of integration of human being internal wisdom – a state of maturity. Batik grompol is often worn by bride and groom in their wedding day due to its very sacred meaning of ultimate protection and potential growth through a gathering.
The uniting or integration should be based on clarity of wisdom and protection. It is the wisdom personally and culturally harvested and nurtured. The beholder, owner, wearer of batik grompol is expected to realise that this pattern is a message and a prayer that they are well protected at the same time expected to extend the given protection to all directions as the gods of all points of compass spread their protection to the universe.
The pistil of the flower as the potential growth in human being put as a compass centre in human being life can be interpreted that human being integrated wisdom has as strong power as Siwa who is sitting at the centre of the compass/chakra. Although described as destroying god, Siwa is actually symbol of re-creating, re-cycling. His being sat in the centre of a chakra (wheel, cycle) is significantly describing him as recreation/recycling agent who then distributes the re-created/re-cycled material to different function around him to be re-governed wisely by “different gods” (remember the 8 gods of all directions).
A human being should be able to learn, re-learn and un-learn one’s own life experience and lessons then to better redo or re-process the way one solves problems or to simply treat other creatures.
The round seed means a centred human being who has achieved the understanding of integrity, full cycle of life. It doesn’t mean the human being is flawless; it means the human being is aware of one’s flawedness yet accepting the state of imperfection of being human. And through the acceptance the human being keeps bettering one’s self in treating one’s self, fellow creatures and the nature. This is an everlasting interaction and intertwining between micro cosmos (jagat alit in Javanese language which represents human being) and macro cosmos (jagat gedhe, the universe).
And all in all, a human being shall pray to his God or make one’s self sure that to any direction one is heading to, one is safe and peaceful. Religious human being will live through guidance and protection from God. Spiritual human being will find inner centre in one’s self whatever one calls it and focus on what one is doing in honesty and sincerity. Free thinker will boost one’s self confidence and focus on what one is aiming with integrity.
So batik grompol has helped me understand that all my fellow human beings are essentially doing the same things as what I am doing in my life, just explained through different perspectives; and we are only of different pace and timing.
What a beautiful batik pattern. What a beautiful meaning.
my beautiful grompol batik cloths were born through the golden hands and soul blessed to this beautiful lady, Ibu Tien Wartienah
Orbit of a star
Keeps it moving yet centred.
Devotional fact—
——
Ibu Tien Wartienah is one of the best batik makers whose work of art has spread around the globe; most of her customers are international art curators and prominent people from many countries incl our own country
she started making batik at 8 years old to help her mother who was also a batik maker; in her 66, she is the most sought-after devoted batik maker — her devotion to batik esp Yogyakartan style is second to none – her eyes were sparkling when she was sharing about batik and what she has done with her skill and art
many of my classical batik collection are made by this humble lady — i’m so blessed to keep guard her work of art and to have met her this visit; thank you, Ibu Tien — your life is blessed by many
Ibu Tien’s half done wax-blocking (nyanthing) work “Kembang Manggar” aka “Satria Manah”
i tried one batik yesterday in Ibu Tien’s home in Imogiri — trust me it is a challenging task 🤓
batik working tools
See them as they are:
Petals fall kissing the earth.
Fertilising beau—
——
before kissing the earth — sometimes won’t
It’s colours of peace
And humbleness
That I breathe.
It’s the attar of joy
And cheer
That I gaze upon.
——
dim light, sleep tight
like sleeping in a Dutch era house
i love this armchair
watching in the dark
old chair, old table, old mirror
bathroom traditionally concepted
loro blonyo symbolising Dewi Sri (goddess of earth) and Raden Sadono
disclaimer in all rooms, i love village noise though so i don’t need earplugs
About Warwick Purser
a pool of lotus and water lily
look at the buddy! 🥰
orchids everywhere
mushroom, messenger of the earth at the path to “Omah Demang”, where I stay this time
There’s a calming vibe
Surrounding a place called home.
A short getaway—
——
Mt Merapi and Mr Merbabu from up the sky
my first landing in Yogyakarta International Airport, the new airport
calming home for the next 3 nights
greeting from beauty coming out of the mud
There’s orange swirling
In the west brink, and yellow
Beautifying dark.
——
welcomed by the beauty of twilight — as orange as the robes of bikhus who are chanting mantras welcoming Vesak Day
good evening, dear Self
Dear, oh
Dear….
You came from
Nowhere
Destroying my scores!
No wonder the soundtrack of my stories
Became messy.
Go eat fish,
My sheets won’t suffice your belly.
Cat has no logic,
Only fun.
——
i used to live with a rescue cat, i named him Bob; he was more interested in tearing my paper apart or sitting on my laptop to playing with his toy or sleeping on my bed 💝
Bob in his dream of being my boss 😁 back in 2010
may all beings be happy 🙏🏼
Within a radius
Love is felt.
There’s a radius
Made of meters.
She knows a radius
Made of years
That still pulsates
In the heart of this lover
Longing for rendezvous
That will have arrived
Right after the waves shorten.
Your fragrant name is
Blooming every second
In all lovers’ hearts.
Dear, all bezels of wisdom.
I blow kisses for you.
Salam.
——
Today I saw magic
Warmly greeted my throbbing head.
“How deep is your love?” Said she.
“To whom?” Asked I.
“Does it matter?” Said she.
And so I was magically charmed
By these heart beats
Chanting a repeated naive rhyme
About how nice I’ve been breathing.
——
only those who know the death is just an inch away can do this wholeheartedly 💝
I’ll live not only 1000 lives,
I’ve lived forever.
I love not only my whole life,
I love everlastingly.
How can I not love the life
Giving me chance to meet you
Again
And
Again
And
Again?
I won’t though beg for another again
If again will end the love
To the now and here.
See you again
In now and here,
Better one
I know not where.
——
the way you treat me will not change my feeling to you; yet will not shorten my distance from you either — love is only for love, never for hatred 💝
Once upon a time
A seed turned to a fruit
In between two times.
It celebrated its confusion
Of losing itself in every phase.
Why am I soft, while
I was hard?
Why am I hanging, while
I was buried?
Why can’t I remember where
I came from?
How can I know which
Is the truest of me?
The fruit ripened in blue
Fell out weathered.
Rotten
Dried
Cracked
Seeds scattered
Sprouted
Grew taller.
Would the seed forget who she was again?
Once upon a time
A tree remembered who
Greeted the boughs
Harvested the best
Celebrated the flesh
Threw away the seeds who then
Grew.
It was not an expression of “once again”
Not the same seed
Yet the seed
Of the same tree.
Still the same—
No mourning
Nothing is lost, yet
Nothing is forever.
Knowing is time travel or
A review of history or
A humble diary.
Just wait for one moment to see.
Life is just like that.
——-
from Pinterest
How strong?
As strong as money
Which can buy travel vouchers for holiday
And it helps draw long list of visited sites;
A list that shows to the world
That experience comes with style.
Unfortunately some might be just albums of photos with forgotten moment and lost meaning.
Still travelers travel farther than homebody
Who stays in front of TV learning about all countries,
Yet more thoroughly and vibrantly
Even able to write vibrantly. Look at Karl May!
You mean to understand different places
Doesn’t need real traveling?
Might be?
So what’s the strength of money?
Aah! Not that strong in fact.
Wait!
It is still strong.
Not the strongest though!
So,
Is money a lethal weapon?
I know not, said I,
I know not.
Anymore.
How weak?
As weak as fibrous roots
Which can’t give trees strong anchorage
And they give little supplies of food to the deep interior.
Yet fibrous roots don’t destroy building foundation.
Fibrous roots are good for sloping area,
They help prevent soil erosion.
They are not weak.
At least not that weak!
So,
Are fibrous roots the weakest anchor?
I know not, said I,
I know not.
Anymore.
Aah! Cry, cry
For losing the stance.
Let the tears dry.
Let each layer dry,
When it dries, it is becoming skin
Until all are.
It is just like that
Like peeling onion.
——
from Pinteres
Without him I die
and with him’s no better
With or without him
longing’s the same
I found him, finding
what I hadn’t foreseen,
the cure and disease
as equal fevers
His silhouette flares
as we draw near
each other and
burns more proud
The deeper the harmony
the sharper the pain
Measure for measure
as decreed
——
The above is poem excerpted from below book — one that well explains how love consumes good soul. By simply loving life has shown what joy and pain can be perceived as either happiness or unhappiness depending on how deep or how true love is given meaning or taken for granted.
It has taken me quite long journey to finally connect the dots among the manifestation of love, pain, joy, harmony. It takes whole life to refine love and it takes big love to refine life — a vicious circle that keeps the fire burns, light flares and smoke billows bringing hope up to the sky.
“Life is light. Life is true.”
May all beings be happy.
♥️
Tarjuman Al-ashwaq (The Translator of Desires)
After a long pause,
Waves of time now delivers
Pretty joy in store.
How should she welcome
A guest that greets with surprise?
A sweet smile in store—
——
buds of secundum are welcoming with joy
How much am I true
To this self?
As true as
The pretty
And the ugly
In me
In front of mirrors
Reflecting
What they love to see.
Life is light.
Light is true.
To this self do I say:
Walk truly as true as white clouds hanging over green trees.
Walk lightly as light as foot steps on green grass.
——
i stole my photo from an Instagram story of someone who secretly took my photo before the Tapa Brata started — i am not a truly physically good photo model but i am a human being making effort to be true ♥️ i hope to see this photo owner again some day only heaven knows when and say thank you for showing my strong arms to the world 😂
rike jokanan 
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