Indonesia, Tibet And The Secret Of 'Terima Kasih'

I first met His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1996.race will be depression. Not cancer, not heart disease,
Accompanying me was a parliamentarian and twobut depression," he said.
other friends. We were fortunate enough to have aThis drug-free technique from our own archipelago
private audience with him. When I said we werecan ultimately replace the expensive morphine-based
from Indonesia, he immediately reacted: "Oh yes,pain killers.
yes, yes ... Indonesia .... Tibet has very strongWhen discussing the Chinese occupation of his
relations, strong ties with Indonesia."homeland, the Dalai Lama said, "This is the meditation
"Atisha, was a monk from India. He went towhich frees me from hatred. I use it every day to
Indonesia to learn from the Indonesian master," hesend out positive energy and feelings to the Chinese."
said.I personally can never ever forget the words of the
Fortunately, I knew the story.Dalai Lama: "We Tibetans are always thankful to
Indeed, not many Indonesians remember we used toIndonesia and Indonesians, for this beautiful Tong Len
be a treasure house of wisdom. We did not importteaching." Those of you who have seen and heard
spirituality from India; indeed, even the Indian punditshim may recall the way he speaks. He uses minimal
came to our archipelago to learn from our indigenouswords, short sentences and is not burdened by the
masters.sophisticates of English grammar. I bear witness to
Later, Atisha traveled to Tibet, where he propagatedDalai Lama's terima kasih for us, Indonesians and our
the teachings of his master.land, Indonesia. I stand witness to his gratefulness, his
The meditation he taught is still being practiced bygratitude.
the Tibetans. It is called Tong-Len, literally meaningNow, as Indonesians let's remind ourselves of what it
"The Meditation of Terima and Kasih, Receiving andmeans to be thanked. It is kembali kasih, and when
Giving". The common phrase terima kasih, nowreading between the lines it means "I am equally
meaning "thank you", is no ordinary phrase.grateful to you."
There's a deep philosophy behind it. It reflects ourUnlike the American "welcome" and British "never
view of life and it projects our deep rooted belief.mind", Indonesians return "gratitude with gratitude".
We, Indonesians, believe, or at least once believed, inLet us now face the mirror of our consciousness and
the law of gratitude. We do not, or did not, need alet us check the face of our souls. Have we returned
movie like The Secret to tell us to "be grateful" for allthe Tibetan gratitude with gratitude?
we receive from the universe.For almost a millennium the Tibetans have preserved
More than 800 years ago, the Indian pundit traveledthe missing pages of our history. They have
to Sumatra, then known as Svarna Dvipa, to learnpreserved them with a sense of gratitude. What
from Dharmakirti Suvarnadvipi, Dharmakirti of Svarnahave we done for them? How do we return our
Dvipa. He spent more than 10 years with his master.gratitude to them?
He documented each word he heard and each lessonThe European Union, the United States, the United
he learned.Nations and countries like Poland, Germany, India and
We, Indonesians, do not have any record of this.Taiwan have all commented on the recent uprising in
Later, this meditation would be used by TibetanTibet against the illegal occupation of their homeland
medicine men and doctors. They would imagine theirby the Communist regime of China.
patients' pain and draw it into themselves. This is theWhat do we have to say? Perhaps we find it more
first part of meditation, terima -- receiving. Then, incomfortable to remain silent as we have been doing
the second part, they would send out their energyrecently. But, let us remind ourselves this is not our
of well being, kasih -- giving.tradition, this is not our culture.
The was technique soon replaced their herb-basedLet us remind ourselves of what Sukarno, the father
anesthesia. Let me remind you again, all this happenedof our nation, once said: "Freedom to be free* For,
over 800 years ago.of what use would be 'freedom from fear'; of what
The beauty of this technique is, the receiver of pain,use would be 'freedom to express, freedom to
the recipient, can process pain and transform it intobelieve, and freedom from poverty, freedom from
well-being. All negativities can be drawn into oneself,fear' -- if there is no 'freedom to be free?'"
be processed and then projected out as positiveTime and again, Sukarno would repeat that the fruits
energy. Now the technique is being used by manyof Indonesia's freedom would not be enjoyed by
Western neurologists, as part of transcranial magneticIndonesians alone and that Indonesia would
stimulation therapy, to relieve the suffering of someunceasingly work for the freedom of all peoples from
stroke victims.all lands.
"But I have to emphasize, we haven't got a clueI have no space left to discuss the illegalities of the
what's going on," said Max Bennett, professor at theChinese occupation of Tibet. Any student of history
University of Sydney and one of the world's topcannot but condemn the occupation. We, as a nation,
neurologists.must immediately stand up against the occupation.
"It's a phenomenon. But in one sense, it does indicateOtherwise, generations to come may laugh at our
that there are a lot of things that we know nothingcowardice, unclear foreign policies and our negligence
about in Western science," he said.toward history. Aside from the Tibetan issue, I am
"We know by the year about 2020, the greatestafraid our attitude may ultimately harm us.
disabling phenomenon for the health of the human