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Baduy and Modernity

The document discusses the contrast between modernity and the Baduy people in Indonesia. The Baduy people reject modern lifestyles and technology, adhering strictly to traditional customs. They are spiritual in the sense of believing they must preserve the forest according to the teachings of their ancestors. Meanwhile, modern society overuses resources and pollutes the environment in pursuit of happiness through material means. Comparing these different ways of life reveals lessons about sustainability and quality of life.

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56 views2 pages

Baduy and Modernity

The document discusses the contrast between modernity and the Baduy people in Indonesia. The Baduy people reject modern lifestyles and technology, adhering strictly to traditional customs. They are spiritual in the sense of believing they must preserve the forest according to the teachings of their ancestors. Meanwhile, modern society overuses resources and pollutes the environment in pursuit of happiness through material means. Comparing these different ways of life reveals lessons about sustainability and quality of life.

Uploaded by

Goyobod
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Modernity, Spirituality and Baduy

Written by Tubagus Rifki Luthfi


Monday, 11 August 2008 22:13 - Last Updated Monday, 07 September 2009 10:51

Modernity, Spirituality and Baduy.

The term modernity that I will loosely applied is an attribution to a society that relate to present
times, as opposed to the remote past, which is characterized by up-to-date technology,
know-how, ideas or equipment and denoted by a current or recent style cultural activity marked
by a significant departure from traditional style and value. It refers to people living in New York,
Mecca or Serang. They use detergent to rinse their clothes. They use hand phone to
communicate across the Globe. Modern man build the society by using the un-renewable
source of energy. They increasingly produce side-by product which is called Carbon dioxide and
at the same time causing the area of forest shrinking considerably year by year, making this
Small Planet even hotter and hotter.

Meanwhile, Baduy refer to the group of people or community that live in a protected-by-law
zone of exactly 5,101.85 acre in the Hamlet of Kendeng mountain, Banten Indonesia. They are
contrasted to the modern society because they refuse to accept any process of social
acculturation or assimilation or whatever sociologist might say it. They resist all modern lifestyle
in seclusion into a remote tropical forest of Kendeng. They object to using shampoo to bath,
they reject the concept of formal education for their children. They resist all modern things
absolutely by the sake of their traditional customs.

Then Spirituality refers to the inner state of someone to believe and to act accordingly based on
that believe in pursuit of happiness (Try to guess your own meaning of happiness.) Spirituality in
the real sense is connected to human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things
and that of person not concerned with material values or pursuit. This spirituality does not
necessarily have something to do with Christianity, Islam or Jews. This is a purest belief,
whether or not associated with any religious teaching.

In pursuit of happiness, man is forced externally and internally to believe in something that is to
be the truth and act as much as he can do accordingly. When you believe that preserving the

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Modernity, Spirituality and Baduy

Written by Tubagus Rifki Luthfi


Monday, 11 August 2008 22:13 - Last Updated Monday, 07 September 2009 10:51

tropical forest to be such a sacred duty from the ultimate Truth and you adhere to it,
notwithstanding the fact whether it is rational, scientifically proved or not, then by doing so you
find a contentment, an inner state of happiness, your Spirituality is there.

If you Visit Baduy Village, you will find that there people do what they believe and believe what
they do. These acts have been their traditional customs handed down from generation to
generation over the millennia, without reserving, without asking why. Baduy community forbid its
member to cuts even a small tree at their sacred forest. They believe that it will bring them into
a disastrous event, once they break this sacred message from their ancestors. Their term for it
in archaic Sundanese as “Katulah.” Vividly enough, Baduy people are guardian and stewards
of our natural resources. Biodiversity reservoirs and carbon sink. They poses important local
knowledge for managing these resources sustain ably.

In our advanced modern society, we rely much upon material or physical things in pursuit of our
happiness and offsetting down by the negative impact we made to our lovely blue Planet Earth.
Competitively each one, each Nation do dig and mine the Earth irrespective damages caused to
the environment. We are in a harsh competition to open a new pit for Oil only to waste it in a
congested traffic in New York, Bangkok or Jakarta. Added to that, more polluted environment.
We are indeed degrading our own quality of life in quest of “unreal happiness.”

Contrasted the two different lifestyle of society, we will find something to remedy.

Visit Baduy Village by Tubagus Luthfi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Unported License .
Based on a work at visitbaduyvillage.com .
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://baduyblog.visitbaduyvil
lage.com .

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