HYBRID SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGIOUS EFFICACY OF YOGYAKARTA SPIRITUAL CENTRES Ahmad Muttaqin A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies University of Western Sydney, Australia 2012 Principal Supervisor: Professor Dr. Julia Day Howell Associate Supervisor: Professor Dr. Bryan S. Turner Dedication I dedicate this thesis to: 1. My beloved wife, Dwi Wahyuning Indah Fajarwati, and my two sons, Auzi’na Kamaal Fata and Naufal Muwaffaq Muttaqi, for their patience, endurance, and understanding during my study in Australia. 2. My late father and mother, H. Anas Ngabid, B.A. and Hj. Sarilah, who gave me my educational and religious foundation. 3. My big families in Yogyakarta and Lamongan, who always enthusiastically support me and encourage me to do my best. 4. My university in Indonesia, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University of Yogyakarta. PhD Thesis | Ahmad Muttaqin | ii Acknowledgements A number of people and institutions have supported me while I completed this thesis. My PhD program was made possible by Beasiswa Luar Negri Dikti (the Directorate of Higher Education Overseas Scholarship—Dikti Scholarship), Ministry of National Education, Republic of Indonesia, and was supported by the rector of UIN Sunan Kalijaga, who granted permission for my study leave. Both the Dikti Scholarship and the Department of International Business and Asian Studies (IBAS), Griffith University, funded my fieldwork, and the Training Indonesia’s Young Leaders (TIYL) Program sponsored my further library research at Leiden. I am grateful to those institutions and programs for their support. Professor Dr Julia Day Howell, my principal supervisor, has devoted her time and insight, giving my work both theoretical and methodological guidance. In addition to being my academic guide, she has encouraged me to actively participate in a number of academic conferences and to send papers to refereed journals, through which I learned a great deal. Professor Dr Bryan S. Turner, my associate supervisor at the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies (CSCMS), University of Western Sydney, has given valuable feedback on my thesis drafts. Professor Dr Malcolm Alexander, my former co-supervisor at Griffith University, has critically appraised my research proposal and given helpful feedback before my confirmation. Without their continuous support, encouragement and constructive criticism, I would not have been able to complete this thesis. I am therefore indebted to them all and I thank them sincerely. I am also truly thankful to Ms Vanessa Goldie-Scot for her patient assistance with my writing skills and Ms Elena Knox who carried out the tedious work of proofreading and correcting the language of this thesis. Without their careful reading of earlier drafts, this thesis might still be unintelligible to English readers. Scholars and staff of the CSCMS have helped me to complete this work. Among them, Associate Professor Dr Adam Possamai, acting director of the Centre, and Ms Eva Gracia, Centre Coordinator, have provided both academic and administrative support during my program. I would also like to thank Dr Jan Ali and Dr Steven Drakeley, and my colleagues Zen, Alim, Juni, Faroque, Lisa, Farjana, Daus, and Godo, for their friendship and for the academic milieu they have created in the Centre. I am indebted to many people in Yogyakarta for their support while I carried out my fieldwork, but I would like to mention especially Romo Sapto Raharjo of the Paguyuban Tri Tunggal, Gus Muhammad Basis (GMB) of the Bhakti Nusantara, and Bapak Syaiful M. Maghsri of the Bioenergi, who permitted my fieldwork in their centres. I owe them much for both their hospitality and their valuable information. I could not have completed this thesis without their support. Last, but not least, I offer both my thanks and apologies to those who have assisted me, but who are too numerous to be listed here. PhD Thesis | Ahmad Muttaqin | iii Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. ............................................................ Ahmad Muttaqin February 20, 2012 PhD Thesis | Ahmad Muttaqin | iv Table of Contents List of Figures and Illustrations...................................................................... vii Notes for Non-English words and Transliteration ....................................... viii Abbreviations......................................................................................................x Abstract..............................................................................................................xi Chapter 1. Introduction.................................................................... 1 1.1. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................... 9 1.1.1. Religion and Spirituality in the Modernizing and Globalizing World ..............10 1.1.2. Human Potential Movement as a Spiritual Expression ...................................15 1.2. Methodology ..............................................................................................18 1.3. Yogyakarta: Field of Spiritual Centres ..................................................... 23 1.4. Thesis Outline ........................................................................................... 30 Chapter 2. Historical Transformation of Spirituality and Spiritual Groups in Indonesia .......................................................33 2.1. Agama, Kebatinan and New Spiritual Movements: Historical Overview ................................................................................................. 34 2.2. Occult-Spiritual Practices and Their Problematic Relationship with Islam ....................................................................................................... 45 2.3. The Changing Meaning of Spiritual and Spiritualitas in Contemporary Indonesia ................................................................................................ 50 2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 60 Chapter 3. Spirituality as Cultural Resistance in the Paguyuban Tri Tunggal....................................................................................63 3.1. The Founding of the PTT.......................................................................... 64 3.2. Soft Protest in the PTT’s Organizational Preference and Sapto’s Arts Works...................................................................................................... 69 3.3. Soft Protest and Spiritual Efficacy in PTT Activities ............................... 78 3.3.1. Kirab Pathok Negoro .......................................................................................79 3.3.2. Slameten .........................................................................................................84 PhD Thesis | Ahmad Muttaqin | v 3.4. Commodification of Spiritual Efficacy in the PTT................................... 89 3.4.1. Holistic Healing ...............................................................................................91 3.4.2. Ruwatan ..........................................................................................................98 3.5. Conclusion ...............................................................................................105 Chapter 4. From Kasar to Alus: Hybrid Spirituality in the Bhakti Nusantara ........................................................................ 107 4.1. The Founding of the Bhakti Nusantara................................................. 108 4.2. From Kasar to Alus: The Transformation of the BN ............................. 113 4.3. Commodification of Spiritual Efficacy in the BN ...................................125 4.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 141 Chapter 5. Spiritual Efficacy in a Secular Landscape: The Spiritual Enterprise of the Bioenergi .......................................... 143 5.1. The Founding of the Bioenergi................................................................143 5.2. From Piety to Efficacy .............................................................................150 5.3. Scientification and Psychologization of Spiritual Products.................... 157 5.4. Commodification of Spiritual Efficacy in the Bioenergi ........................166 5.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 175 Chapter 6. HPM, Hybridization and Commodification of Spiritual Efficacies in Yogyakarta Spiritual Centres ................... 177 6.1. Western and Eastern HPM: General Characteristics and Parallelism ...178 6.2. Hybridization of Spirituality ...................................................................183 6.3. Rationalization and Corporatization of Spiritual Centres......................186 6.4. Commodification of Spirituality and the Durability of Religion............197 Chapter 7. Conclusion................................................................. 205 References .................................................................................... 213 Glossary........................................................................................229