Pangestu
Entry in Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ed. J. Gordon Melton & Martin Baumann, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.
'Pangestu', which means 'blessing' in Javanese, is both an acronym for the organization named ‘Paguyuban Ngesti Tunggal’ ('association focusing on union') and its common name. The organization was founded in 1949 but its origins lie in the revelation received by Raden Soenarto Mertowardojo, or ‘Pakde Narto’, on February 14 1932. Pakde Narto was born in 1899 near Boyolali in Central Java, then lived in Surakarta, where he worked as a clerk in a series of government offices, and died in the mid 1960s. Soon after his initial experience two close followers transcribed the teachings he received through the ‘True Teacher' (Sang Guru Sejati). These became Sasangka Jati (a text translated into English as True Light) which contains the core teachings of Pangestu.
Sasangka Jati begins with clarification of the three aspects of God: Suksma Kawekas (the source of life, or God the Father), Suksma Sejati (the True Teacher, messenger of God'), and Roh Suci (the Holy Spirit). It proceeds with clarification five qualities essential to proper worship of God: non attachment, acceptance, truthfulness, patience, and noble aspiration; then to five commandments (Paliwara); a version of genesis (Gumelaring Dumadi); the One Teaching (Tunggal Sabda); the safe path (Dalan Rahayu); the sixth is concerned with ‘whence and whither' (Sangkan Paran); and the seventh ‘prayer’ (Panembah).
Pakde Narto lived in a Surakarta world in which virtually all men of his position were involved in a variety of spiritual practices, often simultaneously. He was closely associated with the Mankunegaran, the lesser court of Solo, and through it also with Dutch Protestant missionaries and the Theosophical Society. It is emphasized that Pangestu is neither a new religion nor 'mystical'. Those terms are disavowed in favor of the 'spiritual' to stress that it involves no relations with ancestral spirits or occult powers. Even the term 'meditation' is avoided as in Pangestu this is associated mainly with Hindu and Buddhist philosophies which leaders believe do not focus sufficiently on God. At the same time teachings are presented as a newly received, direct transmission from God which came without the mediation of an established religious system.
The organization became prominent in the 1950s when Dr Sumantri Hardjoprakoso, a Dutch trained psychiatrist, became its leader. Since then Pangestu has particularly appealed to intellectuals with a modernizing agenda. Within the Javanist world of movements it could be described as the equivalent of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s leading modernist Muslim movement. It synthesizes many elements of traditional philosophy and literature into a clear system which appeals strongly to educated Javanists. From the 1950s on, but especially during the Suharto era, it became especially strong within both the army and the civil service. It was estimated in 1970 that membership was around 50,000, but in recent years it has claimed a following of twice that. It has a clearly structured organization throughout Indonesia and lists branches in Europe, but most members everywhere are ethnic Javanese.
References
De Jong. Suffridus. Een Javaanse Levenshouding. H. Veenman & Zonen B.V. – Wageningen. 1973
Hadiwijono, Harun. Man in the Present Javanese Mysticism. Bosch & Keuning N.V. –Baarn 1967
Hardjoprakoso, Sumantri. Indonesisch Mensbeeld als Basis ener Psycho-Therapie, Leiden, 1956
Mertowardojo, Soenarto. True Light, Pangestu, Jakarta, 1972 (English ed.)
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This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally hosted at freotopia.org/people/paulstange/pangestu.html, and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.