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A. G. Maisey · 22nd December 2015, 09:47 AM

Alam Shah, some years ago a very dear friend of mine who has now passed to a higher realm, wrote a little book on how to make keris. This man truly did know how to make keris, and he had produced some of the finest keris of the modern era.

After I read his book I was somewhat surprised at what he had produced, as most of the important information on how to actually produce a keris was missing. What my dear friend had produced was a simple gloss that more or less pointed the way for somebody with no knowledge of how to make a keris, to get started.

When I mentioned these omissions to him, his reply was something to the effect of:-
"You do not give information to people who do not have sufficient knowledge to understand what you have given them. You do not give the key"

My friend was of course correct, and when we consider what he said, and his attitude, we realise that this attitude is very general in all aspects of Javanese behaviour:-
gratuitous truths are to be avoided at all costs.

Alam, I have very probably read all of the little books on keris of which you speak, as well as many more written sources, published, unpublished, old, and new. Most, if not all, of these printed sources do not provide wholly accurate information. The mantras that are published are published in a form that is sufficient to lead those who do not already know the mantras to believe that the writer does in fact know the mantras.

There is something else about the use of a mantra also:- in the absence of the correct mindset, any mantra is only so many empty words. Only those who are entitled to know a mantra do know it, and how to use it. It is not something for the uninitiated.

It has been claimed, and this is probably true, that a knowledgeable Javanese person does not write a book to impart knowledge to those people who lack the knowledge, he writes a book to raise his own profile to a level where he is acknowledged as a person who knows. The rationale is very simple:-

Knowledge = power = money

Or, if we wish

Knowledge = money = power

Nobody but an abject fool gives away money and/or power.

22nd December 2015, 09:47 AM	#24
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,700	Alam Shah, some years ago a very dear friend of mine who has now passed to a higher realm, wrote a little book on how to make keris. This man truly did know how to make keris, and he had produced some of the finest keris of the modern era. After I read his book I was somewhat surprised at what he had produced, as most of the important information on how to actually produce a keris was missing. What my dear friend had produced was a simple gloss that more or less pointed the way for somebody with no knowledge of how to make a keris, to get started. When I mentioned these omissions to him, his reply was something to the effect of:- "You do not give information to people who do not have sufficient knowledge to understand what you have given them. You do not give the key" My friend was of course correct, and when we consider what he said, and his attitude, we realise that this attitude is very general in all aspects of Javanese behaviour:- gratuitous truths are to be avoided at all costs. Alam, I have very probably read all of the little books on keris of which you speak, as well as many more written sources, published, unpublished, old, and new. Most, if not all, of these printed sources do not provide wholly accurate information. The mantras that are published are published in a form that is sufficient to lead those who do not already know the mantras to believe that the writer does in fact know the mantras. There is something else about the use of a mantra also:- in the absence of the correct mindset, any mantra is only so many empty words. Only those who are entitled to know a mantra do know it, and how to use it. It is not something for the uninitiated. It has been claimed, and this is probably true, that a knowledgeable Javanese person does not write a book to impart knowledge to those people who lack the knowledge, he writes a book to raise his own profile to a level where he is acknowledged as a person who knows. The rationale is very simple:- Knowledge = power = money Or, if we wish Knowledge = money = power Nobody but an abject fool gives away money and/or power.