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Home , Buddhism in Indonesia, Buddhism in Nepal, Religion in Indonesia

Are Indonesian Buddhists Atheists?

By Widiyono

Background

It is hardly found any scholars who write about history of in in modern period academically. Even so, they wrote about the condition of Buddhism in

Indonesia in the state of few years ago, which obviously now has changed in many aspects. For instance, we can refer to the writing of Mayeda in his “Buddhist for

Laymen, Recently Formulated in Indonesia as seen in Pancaran Bahagia.”1 This article was published in 1978. It discusses about the ritual practice among Buddhist Indonesia which based on a guidance book named “Pancaran Bahagia.” In fact, this time, no any

Buddhists or Buddhist Schools in Indonesia use the book as their guidance, since each of their religious institution has their own book guidance. Another scholar, Barkker, J.

W.W. in his “Contemporary ”2 also discusses about the condition of Buddhism in the year 1976, which once again it is not up to date anymore. When he was writing the article, the in Indonesia was not as complex as at present time.

Based on such a background, I am interested to discuss about the condition of

Buddhism at present time in Indonesia. Here my emphasis is on the response of each

Buddhist school to the government enforcement on the idea of Belief in One and Only

God (Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa) as stated in the first precept of the ideology of the

1 Mayeda, E. 1978. Buddhis Ritual for Laymen, recently formulated in Indonesia as seen in Pancaran Bahagia. Japan: Bukkyokenyu. pp. 9-16 2 Bakker, J.W.W. 1976. Contemporary Buddhism in Indonesia in H. Dumoulin F, C Maraldo Edd. Buddhism in Modern World. New York. pp. 147-152

1 nation, . This is obviously one of the impacts of September 30 1965 movement to the Buddhist Community in Indonesia. Moreover, I will clarify of how Buddhist people or each school of Buddhism establishing in Indonesia accommodate the concept

“Belief in the One and Only , the first precept of Indonesian ideology. As we know, in the earliest form, Buddhism in spite of recognizing the importance of morality, does not make the idea of God as the central point or fundamental teaching. However, after

September 30th movement there is a necessity authorized by Indonesian government that every in Indonesia must have the concept of Belief in One and Only God. In other words, every religion which is recognized by the government must include the concept of Belief in One and Only God.

Due to the enforcement made by the Government about the Belief on One and

Only God, Buddhist people or each Buddhist school in Indonesia interprets differently to the concept stated in the First Precept of Pancasila, Belief in One and Only God. It seems that each Buddhist school has certain historical and religious background in formulating their concepts. Nevertheless, in spite of the differences in accommodating the concept, they have an agreement to respect one another’s concept. Therefore, here I would like discuss in this article based on the formulation of problems as follows. How Buddhist people in Indonesia integrate the concept of Belief in the One and Only God? Why do they have to accommodate the concept? What is the consequence of accommodating the concept?

2 Methodology

The method which I use in this article is mainly based on library research, although I did not neglect my certain observation in the field, especially which I have done among Buddhist communities. I collected various data from books, article and also from material accessed from the internet. After the data were collected, I tried to classify them according to the theme and them analyze them accordingly. After that, I describe them as systematic as possible. Moreover, some experiences which I observed in the field

I used to support my analyses.

The Condition of Buddhism in Modern Indonesia

After the disappearance for about 500 years, Buddhism was reintroduced in modern Indonesia in 1934 by with help of Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, Narada

Maha Thera. During his stay in , the monk gave various services to the people like:

1. Giving preaching and lesson about Buddhism in various places like in , and other cities in and 2. Planting in the garden of in March 10th 1934 3. Helping the establishment of Java Buddhist Association 4. Cooperating with Chinese monks who live in Chinese temple (Kelenteng). 5. Giving ordination (some kind of babtism) to lay people 3

From the period onwards, gradually Buddhism reestablished in Indonesia. Many

Buddhist organizations were also established. For instance, in 1938 Sam Kauw Hwee were established in various places in Indonesia.4 In 1952, those Sam Kauw Hwees were

3 Widyadharma, S. 1989. Agama Buddha dan Perkembangannya di Indonesia. Jakarta. pp. 7-8 4 ibid

3 united to be Gabungan Sam Kauw Hwee (GSKI), which then changed its name to be

Gabungan Tridharma Indonesia. This organization combines three aspect of teachings namely Buddhism, , and under one organization. In 1953 The

Boan An from Bogor was ordained as a monk in Myanmar. He was given a name Ashin Jinarakkhita. From the period onwards, many Indonesian Buddhists were ordained as Buddhist monks.

Different school of Buddhism in Indonesia

With the establishment of various Buddhist organizations and the ordination of people to be Buddhist monks, these lead to the existence of various school of Buddhism in Indonesia. At present there are three Buddhist monk organizations (). They are:

1. Sangha Indonesia

2. Sangha Theravada Indonesia

3. Sangha Agung Indonesia5

Moreover, there are also some other organizations which shows the existence of

Buddhist school in Indonesia. Those are:

1. Majelis Buddhayana Indonesia (Sincretic between Theravada and Mahayana)

2. Majelis agama Buddha Theravada Indonesia (Theravada)

3. Majelis agama Buddha Mahayana Indonesia (Mahayana)

4. Majelis Agama Buddha Kasogatan Indonesia ((Revived Old Javanese Buddhism)

5. Majelis Buddha Indonesia (Chinese Messianic)

5 ibid

4 6. Majelis Agama Buddha Shoshu Indonesia (Reformed Buddhism of

Japanese type)

7. Majelis Rokhaniwan Tridharma (Chinese traditional Buddhism accommodated to

Tao and Confucianism) 6

Each of those schools, except Majelis Pandita Buddha Maitreya Indonesia and

Majelis Agama Buddha Nichiren Shoshu Indonesia, basically has a common doctrine with the others. Each of them still recognize the Buddha Gotama as the founder of religion and consider Tripitaka as the scripture of the religion.

The impact of the Government’s enforcement

History of modern Indonesia witnesses the existence of the so called September

30 1965 movement or in it is usually called Gerakan Tigapuluh

September (Gestapu) which was supposed to be done by Indonesia Communist Party. It is in a way movement of killing army generals who were suspected to coup ’s government. During the event, seven army generals were killed. The abortive coup of

1965 led to the subsequent anticommunist measures taken by the Indonesian

Government. It also led to a serious impact upon , particularly non-theistic religions such as Buddhism, because then the government made an official definition of agama or religions and the prohibition of ateis or . According to the newly promulgated definition, every agama should have the following three qualifications, namely, Tuhan or Ketuhanan yang maha esa, 'the One and Supreme God', nabi-nabi, , and kitab-suci, holy scriptures. To avoid imminent threat of suppression, non-

6 ibid

5 theistic religions in the country were obliged to redefine their doctrines in conformity with the imposed interpretation of agama.

It is said that Ven. Jinarakkhita was able to perceive a possible attack from the authorities four months before the coup took place in September. In May 1965 he published an apologetic booklet entitled Ketuhanan dalam agama Buddha (The God in

Buddhism) in which he presented the old concept of Adi Buddha as the required

Ketuhanan for Buddhism.7 In a later argument he equated the Adi Buddha with Adwaya which is found in the old Javanese compendium of Buddhism, Sanghyang

Kamahayanikan.8 The solution proved to be acceptable since it was soon granted official sanction by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. However, some of his followers, as what I will discuss later, opposed the kind of idea.

Thus, the impact of the government policy influence on religious matters. There is an emphasis that five religions which have been recognized by the government namely

Islam, Christian Protestant, Christian Catholic, , and Buddhism had to show each of their concepts of God.

For and , they may have no problem at all. However at the time

Buddhism and Hinduism had to try hard to make some kind of adjustment with the government policy. Otherwise their existence will be banned. Thus Hinduism then formulated the concept of Sanghyang Widi Wasa to accommodate the concept

Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (Belief in the One and Only God), whereas in Buddhism, there occurred different alternatives formulated by each of school of Buddhism.

7 Ishi, Y.1984. Modern Buddhism in Indonesia in in Honour Hammalava Saddhatissa. Nugegoda. p. 113 8 Ibid.

6 How each Buddhist school accommodates

As I mentioned above, the first formulation given by one of Buddhist school to accommodate the concept of Belief in One and Only God was formulated by Ven. Ashin

Jinarakhita.9 He formulated the term “Sanghyang Adi Buddha”. Finally, in 1978 he also suggested the name for God in Buddhism by the terms “Sanghyang Adi Buddha” to the

Ministry of Religious Affair at the time.10 It is said that by doing that, then the government recognized Buddhism as one of official religions in this Indonesia by issuing

Kepres R.I No. 30 Tahun 1978 and also Surat Edaran Menteri Dalam Negeri

No.477/74054/1978 (on the 18 of November 1978).

According to Ven. Ashin Jinarakhita’s opinion, Adi Buddha is a term used to address the concept of Belief in One and Only God in Buddhism. Furthermore, he suggested that the address is derived from the Aisvarika tradition, sub-sect of Mahayana

Buddhism in which spread to Benggala then arrived also in Jawa. In addition, in

Jinarakkhita’s , the word “Aisvarika” is an address given by the Buddhist followers for the divinity or “ketuhanan.” This word is derived from the word ‘Isvara’ which means

“God” or “Great Buddha” or The Almighty”, and the suffix “ika” which means followers.

Finally the followers of the school of Buddhism which was established and led by him until this time always uses the term “Sanghyang Adi Buddha” to address the God during their pray or doing any other religious activities. The school which was founded by him now is called Majelis Buddhyana Indonesia, and its Buddhist monk organization is called

Sangha Agung Indonesia.

9 http://majalah.tempointeraktif.com/id/arsip/1974/05/18/AG/mbm.19740518.AG64564.id.html accesed on the 22 of December 2010 10 http://bhagavant.com/home.php?link=sejarah&tipe=sejarah_buddhisme_Indonesia_6 accessed on May 15, 2011

7 Until this time, Majelis Buddhayana Indonesia always tries to emphasize that the term Adi Buddha is also used by Buddhist followers of the school Svabhavavak existing in Nepal. This school is considered as one brach of Tantrayana which is included as one of the Mahayana school.11 According to Majelis Buddhayana’s opinion, this

Svabhavavak school addresses the Almighty God by the name Adi Buddha. This idea then was introduced to Java, so the term Adi Buddha was also known in Buddhism which was introduced in Java in the era of Sriwijaya and . According to this view, one can be united with (moksa) with Adi Buddha or Isvara by way of ascetism (tapa) and concentration ( or dhyana). Therefore, this school believes that Adi Buddha is the personification of divinity (Ketuhanan). However, the Buddhayana school recognizes that Buddhism in Indonesia does not regard the Almighty God as something personal

(pribadi). Finally the school uses the idea of praising the One and Only God with the phrase “Namo Sanghyang Adi Buddhaya” which means Praise to the Almighty God or

Homage to the Almighty God.

The Buddhayana school in Indonesia always tries to enforce the concept to other schools of Buddhism in Indonesia. The schools maintains that Adi Buddha was primordial Buddha, The Only One which is also called Paramadi Buddha (the first

Buddha and the Incomparable One). According to this school, the other names for Adi

Buddha are Anadi Buddha (the Buddha who is not created), Uru Buddha (the Buddha of all Buddhas), Adinatha (the First ), Svayambhulokanatham (The Protector of the world who exist by himself), (the Holder of vajra), (the Being of

11 http://www.scribd.com/doc/36895436/Adi%C2%A0Buddha%C2%A0Dalam%C2%A0Agama%C2%A0Bu ddha%C2%A0Indonesia, accessed on 21 December 2010

8 Vajra), Svayambhu (Who exist by Himself), atau Sanghyang Adwaya (There is no

Second).12

The effort made by the Buddhayana School in Indonesia to maintain the existence of Belief in One and Only is not without any reaction. Some other Buddhist people or monks who did not agree with such an idea not only formulated other concepts but also make schism.

The reaction from Theravada School

Some Buddhist monks who did not agree with the concept of Adi Buddha as proposed by Buddhayana school then established Theravada school with the help of some

Theravada monks from Thailand. The Theravada Sangha of Indonesia was establishen in the 23 October 1976 in Vihara Watugong, .13 This school which always refers to the Buddhist scripture written in language, finally made its own concept to accommodate the concept of the One and Only God in Buddhism. This school uses the statement made by the Buddha in the Udana, one of the Buddhist scriptures. The statement actually refers to the goal nibbana or in which all Buddhist wish to attain during their religious journey. In the Undana, there is a statements which are preached by the Buddha to the monks. The statements are as follows;

Monks, you all must know that there is something which is unborn, unmanifested, uncreated, and which is absolute. Monks, if there is no something which is unborn, unmanifested, uncreated, and which is absolute, there will be no possibility for us to be free from birth, manifestation, creation and occurrence from the causes in the past. Yet, monks, since there is something which is unborn, unmanifested, uncreated, and which is absolute, so there is possibility for us to be

12 ibid 13 http://cetiyamahasampatti.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/awal-sangha-theravada-indonesia-by-cornelis- wowor-ma/ accessed on the May 15, 2011

9 free from birth, manifestation, creation and occurrence from the causes in the past.14

The Theravada school of Buddhism in Indonesia uses the above statement to accommodate the concept of Divinity in Buddhism. The school disagrees with the concept of Adi Buddha as formulated by the Buddhayana school. The Theravada school always refers to the Pali term of the statement made by the Buddha in the Udana above mentioned as Atthi Ajatam Abhutam Akatam Asamkhatam which means something which is unborn, unmanifested, uncreated, and which is absolute. In this term, the Theravada school recognizes that Divinity in Buddhism is without self (anatman), which cannot be personified and pictured in whatever imagination. The school believes on the existence of something which is absolute where every being can attain freedom from the circle of birth by cultivating mental culture.

Based on the above clarification, the followers of Theravada school will never utter “Namo Sanghyang Adi Buddhaya” in their every religious ritual or ceremonial. The

Buddhist people who follow this school just uses the statement “Namo Buddhaya” whenever they meet other Buddhist people or begin their preaching and so on. The phrase “Namo Buddhaya” means Homage to the Buddha. It is used to praise the Buddha who is regarded as the founder of the religion. Yet, the Theravada school will never regard that the Buddha who was the founder of the religion as The One and Only God.

He is just considered as the founder of religion or the teacher.

The interesting thing, however, sometimes both Buddhist monks and lay people who follow the Theravada school in Indonesia still use the term Tuhan Yang Maha Esa without translating to either Pali or words. For instance, when certain monks

14 Wowor, Cornelis. 1984. Ketuhanan Yang Mahaesa. Jakarta: Akademi Buddhis . p. 1

10 want to conclude their preaching, they will say, “Semoga Tiratana, Tuhan Yang Maha

Esa melindungi kita” (May the Noble Triple Gem, the Divinity, protects us). Here the term “Tiratana” is the combination of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha in which these three are considered as the most valuable gems in the world by Buddhists. While Buddha is the founder, the Dhamma is the Buddha’s teaching, and the Sangha is the Disciples of the Buddha who have attained liberation by practicing the Buddha’s teaching. So, here the combination of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha or the Triple Gem in Buddhism is used synonymously with the idea of God like in Islam or Christianity.

In spite of having special references with regard to the concept of God in

Buddhism as formulated by Theravada school, Mahayana Buddhist people have formulate different concept. The school beside accepted the formulation given by the

Theravada school also formulated different theory of Belief in One and Only God. Since basically the school refers to the scripture written in Sanskrit which has been translated in

Mandarin, the school tried to find out the concept based on either their Mandarin or

Sanskrit scripture.

The reaction from Mahayana School

It is said that as reaction to the enforcement of the concept of Belief in One and

Only God, the Mahayana school in Indonesia who was led by Ven. Surya Chandra at first rejected the notion of Divinity. The kind of reaction made the school was banned by the government in the the 21st of July 1978.15 However, it seemed that another

Mahayanist monk tried to reformulate the concept of God according to the Mahayana

15 http://bhagavant.com/home.php?link=sejarah&tipe=sejarah_buddhisme_Indonesia_6

11 school which made the government changed the decision in the same year. Therefore, at present the Mahayana school in Indonesia finally formulated the idea of God based on the

Lankavatara which is originally written in Sanskrit. According to the school, Once the Buddha preached about the essence of divinity (ketuhanan) to his monk disciple named Mahamati. The extra of his discourse are as follows:

“ ……for this reason Mahamati, please all Bodhisatva Mahasatvas (Buddhas to be) who is searching for Truth which can lead to the purity of Tathagatagarba known as alayavigjanam. Mahamati, if you say that there is no Tathagatagarba which is known as Alayavigjanam, so there will neither any occurrence nor disappearance of His coming. Tathagatagarba is also called Alayavigjanam.”16

Thus, the Mahayana school has another concept beside what the Theravada school has formulated. Based on the statement mentioned above, the school refers to the term

Tathagatagarba or Alayavigjanam to accommodate the idea of divinity or God in

Buddhism. Tathagatagarba is derived from two words “thatagata” which means one who has gone beyond. This usually refer to the Buddha because he is considered as one who has gone beyond the world. The word “garba’ means “womb”. So, the word

Tathagatagarba can have the meaning the womb of one who has gone beyond. It may symbolize one who has attained liberation from the circle of birth. Alayavigjanam means the store house of conciousness. In Mahayana school, it act as the receptacle in which the impression of the past experience and karmic actions are stored.

However, then we can see that Mahayana school in Indonesia interprets the idea of God either as Alayavigjanam or Tathagatagarba

Further more, the school still refers to the same source to accommodate the concept of God which is interpreted as Alayavigjanam or Tathagatagarba. The quotations are as follows:

16 Dutavira Bhiikhu. 1995. Tuhan Yang Maha Esa Di Dalam Buddha . Jakarta. p. 3

12 Mahamati, Tathagatagarba helds in both sides, namely goodness and evil things, and by Him all forms will be created. Indeed Mahamati, all Thatagatas, who are enlightened preach the doctrine of Tathagatagarba which is basically not equal with the egoist thought created by philosophers. So to dispel all the misunderstanding kept by philosophers, you must put your effort to teach non- egoism and Tathagatagarba.17

Thus Mahayana emphasis on the terms Tathagatagarba and Alayavigjanam which obviously rejected by Theravada Buddhist people. However, as form of sincretist school Buddhayana school will accept the concept formulated by Mahayana school.

Theravada people consider the concept formulated by both Mahayana and Buddhayana as too metaphysical. Therefore they will never use their concepts.

The other schools of Buddhism mentioned above basically try to formulate their own theory, though sometimes they may also recognize the concept formulated by

Buddhayana, Theravada and Mahayana for granted. Anyhow, they try to accommodate the concept of God in their religious concept. Perhaps it is only Theravada people who will never accept the idea of God formulated by both Buddhayana and Mahayana, since in their view those concept are not found in their Pali Buddhist scriptures. Therefore,

Theravada people are always rigid in their view about divinity in Buddhism. However, before I discuss further I would like to mention about the early Buddhist attitude to God in brief.

The consequence after accommodating the concept

In the beginning, there are certain problems to perceive about the content of the first precept of Pancasila, whether it must be recognized as the belief like what is

17 Ibid.

13 perceived by Islam and Christianity. As we know, in Islam and Christianity the concept of God is understood in belief in One and Only God which is personal. Sometimes the kind of thing influence the way Indonesian government formulate the and constitution, especially in recognizing religion which is accepted by the government. This becomes a problem for both .

Once there was an occasion in which there were some people who were doubtful about Buddhism whether Buddhism recognizes the idea of Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa or not. Such a phenomenon made the government be reluctant to admit Buddhism as an official religion (agama resmi). Thus as I have discussed above, Bhikkhu Ashin

Jinarakkhita then suggested the name of Sanghyang Adi Buddha Buddha as the name for

God in Buddhism. This is then proposed to the Religious Ministry at the time in which then the government recognizes Buddhism as one of official religions in Indonesia in

1978. This is put in the GBHN in the year 1978, Kepres R.I No. 30 Tahun 1978, and also

Surat Edaran Menteri Dalam Negeri No.477/74054/1978 (18 November 1978).

Although Buddhism is then recognized as an official religion, however the term

Sanghyang Adi Buddha to represent the idea of God becomes a special polemic within

Buddhist community itself even until now. The reason is that the concept of Sanghyang

Adi Buddha is only found in Tantrayana or tradition. Moreover it is never recognized in the sense of personal God by Theravada people. According to Theravada people, the concept is like the concept found in monotheistic religions or . For tehm, the “force” to use the term “Sanghyang Adi Buddha” as personal

God is considered against the teaching of Buddhism. In their view, with the kind of force, this makes Buddhism different from the rest of Buddhism in other countries. Such a

14 phenomenon created a number of controversial problems which happened with Bhikkhu

Ashin Jinarakkhita as the person who formulate the term “Sanghyang Adi Buddha” as

God in Buddhism. Finally, at the same year, Ditjen Bimas Hindu-Buddha (Gde Puja,

MA.) issued an act which says that all schools of Buddhism in Indonesia are based on the belief in Divinity (ketuhanan), but each gives different name, though its essence is the same.

Based on the above discussion, this shows that there is some kind of force from the government for Buddhism to admit that there is God. Any Buddhist school which does not recognize about belief in one and only God must be banned. As I have mentioned above, once it happened in the Mahayana tradition in which a Mahayana school which was introduced by Bhiksu Surya Karma Chandra was prohibited to exist in

Indonesia in 21st of July, 1978.

Once again, from the above mentioned description, due to the enforcement of government, we can also see the existence of conflict within Buddhist community due to the different interpretation and accommodation about the concept of God. There is some kind of structural force by government to be followed by Buddhism to be recognized as an official religion. As rightly observed by Woodward, the official sanctioned religions in Indonesia were Islam, Protestant Christianity, Roman Catholic Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. 18 However, Hinduism and Buddhism were reimagined in ways that brought them into correspondence with these criteria and made them into .19

Here we see government uses its power to control religion. If there was no any such an

18 Woodward, Mark. Java, Indonesia, and Islam. National University of Singapore: p. 7 19 Ibid

15 enforcement with regard to the concept of God from the government, each of Buddhist schools might not formulate the kind of concept.

However, at present the conflict among Buddhist has been calmed down due to the effort to understand from each other. In May 1979 an ecumenical meeting was convened in Yogykarta in order to find a common solution to the problem. All three

Sanghas (Buddhist monks organizations) were represented at the first Kongres Umat

Buddha Indonesia (The Buddhist Congress of Indonesia). The most important result of the congress was the consensus reached unanimously by the all participating members of the Kongres as to the problem of Ketuhanan in Buddhism. Here are the relevant portions of the resolution:20

1. All the Buddhist Sects of Indonesia believe in the existence of Tuhan Yang Maha

Esa.

2. All the Buddhist Sects of Indonesia may call Tuhan yang Mahet Esa with

different names which, in essence, are one and the same.

3. All the Buddhist Sects of Indonesia should honour the appellation adopted by

other Buddhist Sects.

Now, Buddhist people always expect that peaceful situation will be everlasting, since it will be conducive for them in observing their religious activities. However, it seems that to realize such an ideal, they have to work hard even more. Especially with the integration of Confucianism and Taoism into Buddhism, Buddhist people have to be mature enough in their religiosity.

20 Ishi, Y.1984. Modern Buddhism in Indonesia in Buddhist Studies in Honour Hammalava Saddhatissa. Nugegoda. p. 114

16 The integration of Confucianism and Taoism into Buddhism

The impact of the government policy not only give result in the accommodation of the concept of God in Buddhism, but also the integration of Confucianism and Taoism into Buddhism. Because during the beginning of ’s regime there was a prohibition related to Chinese influences especially in political, social, cultural, and religious affairs, there was no other way for the followers of Confucianism and Taoism to maintain their religious survival except they had to integrate with other religions. As they thought that

Buddhism was the only possible choice which could accommodate their aspiration, then they integrated to Buddhism and asked to be declared as one of the Buddhist school in

Indonesia. For such a purpose, they not only admitted the Buddha as one of their religious founders, but also change their religious place (kelenteng) to be called vihara

(Buddhist monastery). From the time onwards, all the klentengs in Indonesia were changed their named to viharas. Since they accommodate teachings from three different religious founders, their school is called Tridharma. Thus, in Indonesia now we can find a Buddhist school by the name of Tridharma.

Such an easy accommodation of the followers of Confucianism and Taoism into

Buddhism probably has relation with the activities of Chinese people when Buddhism was revived in Indonesia in 1930 by Ven. Narada from . As stated above, at the time, the monk had to cooperate with Chinese monks who live in Chinese temple

(Kelenteng). After sometimes, they established an organization called Sam Kauw Hwee in various places in Indonesia. In 1952, those Sam Kauw Hwees were united to be called

Gabungan Sam Kauw Hwee (GSKI), which then changed its name to be Gabungan

Tridharma Indonesia.

17 However, when became the , he changed certain regulation.21 He proposed that Confucianism and Taoism can establish to be another official by the name of Confucianism. From this time onwards, some Buddhist people who formerly belonging to Tridharma school then returned to Confucianism.

Conclusion Thus, I think I have described the impact of September 30 movement to Buddhist community in Indonesia. Here we see that Buddhist people in Indonesia accommodate the first precept of Indonesian ideology, the Belief in One and Only God, to be part of their religious contractual obligation. In spite of the unavailability of the concept in the earlier stage of Buddhism, Buddhist people in Indonesia try to adapt themselves with government policy. This shows that the government structural power in certain case influence on the way religion and its followers to change their certain concept. Moreover, we also see that the followers Confucianism and Taoism which actually have different origin with Buddhism then decide to integrate with Buddhism for the sake of religious survival. Thus there is a Buddhist school called Tridharma. However with the changing of political condition in Indonesia, some of the followers of Tridharma returned to their own religious beliefs.

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