Javanese Mystics?

Robert Kyle (k9105382@PLATINUM.ANU.EDU.AU)
Fri, 4 Aug 1995 23:14:55 -1000

My apologies if I'm on the wrong net.

I've been "lurking" for several weeks in an attempt to get a handle on the
scope of anthro-l, and it seems not unreasonable to venture a
request/question on Javanese mysticism. I'm researching my honours thesis
which proposes to analyse certain connections between Kebatinan and Islam.
I intend to examine the similarities and differences between Sufism and
Kebatinan in Java (this study may allow me to determine which Javanese
Kebatinan sects approximate the teachings of Sufism). Furthermore, I
propose to confine the scope of my primary analysis to a case study of one
Javanese Kebatinan sect: Susila Budhi Dharma, or Subud. This case study will
also attempt to abstract Subud's view of Kebatinan and compare this
perception with that of Sufism.

If you have some interest, expertise, or first-hand knowledge in this area
of anthropology I would be delighted to hear from you (dlm bhs Indonesia
atau bhs Inggris).

Robert Kyle
At present: IV Year Honours - Anthropology, Australian National University,
Canberra
E-mail: k9105382@platinum.anu.edu.au
In a previous life: EMU 27, 135th AHC (RANHFV), Blackhorse & Bearcat, South
Vietnam '68-'69