The things we cannot see

jagabuwana · 3rd August 2022, 08:31 AM

There is a lot to think about in your post #26, Alan. Thank you for this very valuable knowledge.

Times seem to be changing fast, and the knowledge and beliefs about the keris with it. It would seem to me that if things continue going the way they currently are, that the knowledges and beliefs as you learned them might disappear. That to me sounds disastrous in that it could be irretrievable, and maybe even akin to the collapse of a culture, but maybe I'm being too bleak. Do you see these knowledges and beliefs enduring?

A. G. Maisey · 3rd August 2022, 09:27 AM

Time changes perspective Jaga.

That simple.

The way in which anything has been thought about in the past is only relative to that time.

Islam did not abolish the keris, it just set out to make the belief systems attached to the keris more acceptable to Islam. Same thing happens with many things when a new philosophy begins to take over a society, the changes in the society in turn change the details, but not the roots of the culture.

When we try to understand the keris we need to determine which window in time we will use to provide the perspective that we use for that understanding.

I prefer a slightly older perspective than most people.

3rd August 2022, 08:31 AM	#1
jagabuwana Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 290	There is a lot to think about in your post #26, Alan. Thank you for this very valuable knowledge. Times seem to be changing fast, and the knowledge and beliefs about the keris with it. It would seem to me that if things continue going the way they currently are, that the knowledges and beliefs as you learned them might disappear. That to me sounds disastrous in that it could be irretrievable, and maybe even akin to the collapse of a culture, but maybe I'm being too bleak. Do you see these knowledges and beliefs enduring?

3rd August 2022, 09:27 AM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,016	Time changes perspective Jaga. That simple. The way in which anything has been thought about in the past is only relative to that time. Islam did not abolish the keris, it just set out to make the belief systems attached to the keris more acceptable to Islam. Same thing happens with many things when a new philosophy begins to take over a society, the changes in the society in turn change the details, but not the roots of the culture. When we try to understand the keris we need to determine which window in time we will use to provide the perspective that we use for that understanding. I prefer a slightly older perspective than most people.