What I Know about Reincarnation

I check the daily prompt and the prompt for today is about reincarnation.

I myself don't believe in reincarnation but I find it interesting so let me talk about it.

What I know about reincarnation is, after the soul leave its body, it will return to life, but in different body. The new body doesn't always take form of human body. It can be animal. I remember reading "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner and in a chapter about Bhutan, there was a story of a Buddhist that didn't want to harm animal because that animal could be his mother in another life. 

However, that belief in reincarnation has different result for someone else. My grandma once told me that he knew a man who follow Pangestu, or Kejawen faith. The man believed in reincarnation and he said that when people ate meat, it meant that they help a soul complete its reincarnation phase. 

Human is not the only being who is believed to experience reincarnation. It is said that the god Wisnu and Shesha the nagaraja also experience reincarnation. Wisnu was reborn as Rama and Krishna. While Shesha was reborn as Laksmana and Baladewa (or Balarama).

So, what do you think and know about reincarnation? If you find something wrong in my writing, please let me know.

Kumbakarnan

My cousin is going to marry at the end of May.

Yesterday, we had Kumbakarnan. In Javanese tradition, Kumbakarnan is a meeting to discuss the wedding ceremony (what time and who will do what).

I'm somehow interested in the name Kumbakarnan. It's derived from Kumbakarna, one of Rahwana's brother, known for his big size and long duration of sleep. I guess the meeting is named Kumbakarna because it's held to prepare for a big event. Or is there any different explanation?

Wayang on the Wall

I got a prompt from the Daily Post. The prompt is like this:

Wall to Wall

What do you display on the walls of your home — photos, posters, artwork, nothing? How do you choose what to display? What mood are you trying to create?

On the walls of my home, there are photos and artworks. We choose what looks good and we don't try to create any specific mood.

Among the artworks, I have two wayang which my cousin gave.

Gatotkaca and Hanoman

Wayang is Indonesian traditional puppet. There are many kinds of wayang. The picture above is an example of Javanese wayang kulit. The story performed in wayang is usually taken from Ramayana or Mahabharata, two famous Indian epics. Some parts and characters in Indonesian version are different to those in Indian version.

Those characters in the picture above are Gatotkaca and Hanoman. I'm going to write about them according to Javanese version. Gatotkaca (also written as Gathutkaca in Javanese version) is Bhima's and Arimbi's son. In Indian version, he's depicted as a rakshasa but in Javanese he's a human. He was thought to be invincible until he's killed by Karna in Bharatayudha. Hanoman (or Hanuman, or Anoman) is the son of Batara Guru and Anjani.

I guess I will write more about wayang in my future post. Now, I'm going to revise anatomy again.