The purpose of this article is to introduce some basic principles of Sumarah meditation. It is not my intention here to explain everything about the method or in any way to give the full picture of this particular meditation. My wish is just to briefly introduce those elements of Sumarah theory and Javanese philosophy that one is at first faced with when begins to practice.
We may have the adage that knowledge is power', but beneath it lies an epistemology implying that knowledge' is primarily a matter of intellect, of qualities of thought and quantities of information. Closely linked to this is a sense of person', profoundly conditioned by Enlightenment notions of equality, which results in sharp resistence to suggestion that there may be qualitatively different orders of consciousness.
About Truth Gandhi said: 'What seems truth to one person, may seem a mistake to someone else. If we sincerely commit ourselves to truth, we will see that different truths are like the leaves of a tree which seem different but are yet on the same tree'. ..."
'Sumarah' is a Javanese word referring to the condition of total surrender. Thus the name 'Paguyuban Sumarah', the Indonesian spiritual association our practices have grown from, is itself nearly an adequate description of both the aim and nature of our practice. The aim of meditation, most often called 'sujud' within the Indonesian group, is to surrender every aspect of personal being so the self functions as a vehicle for God's will.
Last night there was a very fine, light, clear meeting with Pak Darno. Perhaps a dozen of the older and more mellow Chinese regulars were there talking with him when I arrived. Someone had asked why Paul Brunton's guru refused to acknowledge him as a follower and this led into general reflections about teacher-pupil relationships in spiritual matters. Sudarno said that possibly the guru was indicating purity by not wanting to encourage falsely dependent relationships. He emphasized that the problem of personality cults arises from both sides of the teaching boundary.
