Three Months in Java

It is difficult to know which story to write about for Java as we were there for 3 months!  Indonesia, in general, is one of my most favorite places.  It has 25,000 islands all with different cultures, it would take a life time to visit them all!  We only visited 2 islands and fell in love with the Indonesian people and each culture we were exposed to.

We traveled all through Java but spent almost 3 months in the city of Solo which was quite modern even in 1990. 

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Solo Main Street

The culture there was very refined and the people “lived” art whether it be gamelon and flute music, wood carving and stone carving, traditional painting, shadow puppetry, tradition dance and theatre, the beautiful batik textiles, you name the art and it wasn’t only practiced but “lived” by the people, it permeated the atmosphere, it was amazing!!!  Even the movements of the people was like a dance. 

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Carving Made from a Root system

Through our guidebook, we found Pak Ananda Suyono, who was billed as a meditation teacher.  We went to a few of the meditations and then asked if we could become his students, which he agreed to.

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Pak Suyono, on right, and his assistant

We lived on the grounds of his house where he had several small rooms which were available to his students.

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Sky hanging out on our veranda

He held 2 meditations a day which were attended by both Westerners and local Indonesians.  In addition to the meditation sessions, we had a local woman teaching us the language,

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Our Indonesian language teacher

we were teaching English to young people, we were taking traditional flute  and painting lessons and generally immersing ourselves in the culture as much as possible.  We made many local friends who took us into their hearts and homes and provided us with a wonderful experience of living the Javanese way.

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Our good friend Wahyu

Pak ( the honorific, like Mr.) Suyono was a very interesting man.  He was a Buddhist by practice, had traveled all over India and studied with both Hindu and Buddhist teachers, was well read in all manner of Eastern and Western mysticism and spoke excellent English.  He was also a traditional Javanese shaman and locals often came to him to exorcise bad spirits of one kind or another.  We were privileged to be included to watch many of these ceremonies. 

Pak Suyono was a very strict teacher and knew how to push “all my buttons!”  He would give me assignments and as the good little student that I am, I did what he asked.  The next day he would change things around and tell me that wasn’t what he had told me to do!  He drove me crazy!! 

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Sky and I in Meditation Room

We Westerners would sit around talking on our verandas at night and the next day Pak Suyono would repeat almost everything we had talked about!  We would joke that he had the place bugged! One day, after meditation, Sky and I were sitting in chairs across from Pak Suyono who was talking with his assistant.  As we sat watching him, his whole visage changed and his faced turned into what I can only describe as alien like!!!  Sky and I turned to each other with our jaws dropped and said, “are you seeing what I am seeing????”  Just then, Pak Suyono turned to us with a little smile and said in all innocence, “what, did you see something?”  These are only a couple of the strange and fascinating things we encountered while staying there. 

I learned a lot from Pak Suyono and when we took our leave he told us, in his always direct style, that we had learned all we could and that we needn’t come back!  I felt that I could keep learning from him for many years to come but I understood that he had filled me with all the knowledge that I could take at that point in time.  It has taken me many years to integrate all that I learned there and I am sure there is still more to come.  This was only one of the many extraordinary experiences we had in our 14 years of travel.

Until next time…..be fearless in the face of changeling faces!!!

35 comments

  2. It is amazing what we can learn from different people, different cultures, different religious practices- if only we are open.

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  3. Ahh Shanti Loka and the venerable Pak Suyono. I lived in Solo from 1991 to 1993, teaching English at the University, and was a regular student at Shanti Loka and Pakistan Suyono. Had many incredible experiences, and adventures and made life long friends. One memorable trip was with Pak S and a group of us to celebrate the Buddha’s birthday at a big moonlit midnight ceremony at Brabourne.
    I sadly lost touch with Pak Suyono and often wonder what became of the centre. Do you know?

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  4. How awesome Serena!! We just missed each other as we were there the end of 1990! I SO loved Solo, what a great place and Pak Suyono was one interesting guy for sure!!!! I have googled Shanti Loka and PS but don’t get anything recent so am assuming that PS has passed on and there is no more center. 😦 Who knows though, maybe it still exists. SO great to meet you Serena!!

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    1. Pak Sayono at the meditation center teaching Buddhism and Pak Harjanto his childhood friend a Muslim teaching spiritual awakenings. two very different teachings but both wonderful. yes i was in the group with Serena Constance from England , Kirisi from Finland, Patrick from Canada, Claudine from France, Ingo from Germany Sinead from Ireland , Wesley from Georgia down home south, a group from south America that danced in and out of the ashram. We all learned so much . I myself explored Solo mystical and practical side in and out of the markets m and the kratons ………………………………………and finally into the mountains where Shanti Loka was building an extension to meditate , were pak paranoto cooked and Pak Harjanto had a Muslim center not too far away . Tawanmanggu a marvelous retreat from the world where you could hear the songs float over the terraced mountains…………………………………………………..the sounds still echo ……………………..and the flavors happen in my kitchen, redolent smoke signals as memories to the past……………………………….

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      1. So awesome to meet another Pak Suyono “graduate” LOL! It was a very interesting time indeed. I so LOVED Solo and all of our wonderful friends there. Indonesia in general, is my favorite country. Thanks so much for responding!!

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  5. Wow! Our daughter is on her way to Bali. My wife Deana and I stayed with Pak Suyono in 1989. I was just wondering if he was still there and alive and I came across your blog. We meditated in the garden, went down the road and listened to the live radio simulcast of gamelan music. Two Indonesians came and taught us Tai Chia in the mornings and this beautiful Indonesian woman came with tonics on her back and offered one to us each morning. I loved Nasi Liwet. Both Deana and I were left handed and when we would go out to eat they gathered around us laughing. We realized we were eating with the hand you are supposed to clean yourself with! That library! I felt like Solo was my natural resonant frequency. I have never felt that way since and wondered if I went back it would be the same. Thank you for this. What a memorable experience. There was something that moved under the current of every day life. After being there for nearly a month we felt it. Amazing. What an extraordinary place.

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    1. How cool is that Bruce!!! It looks like we just missed you as we were there from Aug-Sept of 1990! Yup….all the same things you said!!! Did the Tai Chi, loved the tonics and also the “breakfast” lady LOL! SO miss Indonesian food…yum!!!! We really loved Solo, such a great place and made so many great friends. I wonder what it is like now?? Thanks so much for writing!!! Many blessings!

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  6. Delightful to come across this site and the photographs. I lived and worked in Indonesia from 1992 to 2003, and made regular visits to Shanti Loka from 1994 to 2001. I last heard from Pak Suyono and his wife via a Christmas greeting card in December 2016. Wrote about my experiences there in “Encounters with Isis: A Wayfarer’s Notes on Her Teachings.”

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    1. Very cool Mark!! I am amazed at all the people who have reached out to me that went to Shanti Loka!!! I wonder if Pak Suyono is still around? Thanks so much for sending the note! 🙂

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      1. Hello, T.
        If Suyono had passed on by now, I think I would have received notice one way or another. In the Christmas note I received from him in 2016 he mentioned that it was getting difficult for him to read, but no other problems than those normally associated with ageing. I was both pleased and surprised to come across tnis webpage. Suyono had, in 2000, closed the meditation center to Western students, and I was pleased to read in your narrative that he had reopened and warmly received visitors.

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  7. Loved to read all your stories.
    I just heard yesterday evening he has past away last week. His cremation was yesterday.
    As always Pak Suyone feels still very close. Even after all those years.
    Lots of love for you all.
    Inge de Glopper (The Netherlands)

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    2. Oh Inge, I’m sorry to hear he has passed but I have been thinking of him this last couple of weeks. Close to Wesak too. He took us to the big Wesak ceremony at Borobudur. It was amazing. I’m sorry I didn’t get round to writing that letter as I heard he was still living last year and meant to write.
      Now he has passed back to the great spirit.
      Shanti Loka is forever in my heart.

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    2. Hey Daryl! That’s me in the second photo next to Bashka holding the cucumber.
      Is that you then in front next to Bashka. I’m still in touch with everyone else in the photo via Facebook. Are you on Facebook? My user name there is Serena Constance. Would be great to connect and share more stories

      Best wishes
      Serena

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  9. Hi all, i just found your postings 2 days ago, as I sometimes look on internet about news of Shanti Loka.I was the in the early 90`s for a few months. Sad to hear about the death of Pak Syono, but he was very old. In the time we were there we as students were guests at his wedding thattook place in Shanti Loka.By that time he was already 72 and still driving his motorbike…
    greetz Andreas from Amsterdam

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  10. I’m obviously late to the party but I was so happy to come across this page and read memories and news of Pak Suyono. I spent several weeks at Shanti Loka twice in 1995 and ever since I left I’ve wondered what happened to this wonderful school and teacher. There is so little that comes up on the web! Seeing a photo of him brought a tear to my eye.

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    1. Hey Celeste! thanks for writing!! He certainly left a big impression on a lot of people! He was really something..wow! If you are interested in more Pak Suyono stories and other travel adventures you can check them out in my book!!! “Daisy & Herm: An Unconventional Life” available on amazon! Many Blessings! Terra

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  11. Shanti Looks was so influential on my 22 year old self. During the pandemic and lockdown I dug out all my old meditation notebooks from that time, and was amazed at the insights I was having back then. Solo was such a special place then, and to live and work in the shadow of the sacred Mount Merapi was incredible really. Pak Suyono has once visited me in a dream since he passed so I feel very honoured. I must write about my time there. So many adventures. Will check out your book. Best wishes Serena

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      1. Thanks for the encouragement. I have just bought your book on Amazon. Shanti Loka was such a magical place. Pak Suyono also helped me when I got sick and was in hospital. I am still friends with fellow guests at SL. I also went over to the other ‘side’ at Pak Harjanto’s doing the sun and moon meditations. That was quite an experience too. All in my notebooks.

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  12. I’ll check out your book! I was also 22 when I was there. I wish I still had my notebooks! When I was at Shanti Loka I made a pilgrimage to the top of a nearby volcano (Mt Merapi?) with a local Shanti Loka student (who seemed “older” but he could have easily only been 35) and a Swedish guy. We spent the night at the top in a big barn type place where a bunch of old men lived and everyone slept on hay bales. Watching the sun rise in the morning over a sea of clouds was a truly spiritual experience. I had so many experiences at Shanti Loka that seem almost unbelievable to me now. It’s so wonderful to connect here with others who share the magic.

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    1. That is SO cool Celeste!!! What an awesome adventure! I think Solo and Pak Suyono had a great impact on many lives in a very profound way. All to prepare us for the adventure that is NOW and bringing in the new Earth!!!! It is no accident that we were all guided there. I hope you enjoy my book!!! 🙂

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    2. Hi Celeste It is magical to connect. Yes I climbed Mt Merapi too, overnight, with another Shanti Loka guest, an Aussie named Rob. We started in the middle of the night and arrived at dawn to the top. It was incredible to see the sun rise from there. I also went wit Pak Suyono and a small group of long term guests (we are still friends and in touch, Bashka who posted here, amongst them) to his friend’s luscious garden near Tawanggu on the slopes of Merapi. We cooked food and hung out. Pak Suyono also took us to the big ceremony Wesak to celebrate the Buddha’s birthday at Borobodur. We were there all day, and we’re taking part in a mass meditation aat midnight under the moon. I took the five precepts at Shanti Loka with a visiting monk who gave me my Buddhist name: Munindriyasari.
      I still have the little Buddhist book he gave me all in Indonesian.
      My website is http://www.runesnroses.com
      where I will at some point publish my Shanti Loka stories. Where are you based Celeste? I’m in Brighton and Hove in the UK.

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      1. I bought your book Terra Lyn and look forward to reading it! And how funny about Brighton. I now live both in French Polynesia and the US but I lived in Brighton until I was 5 years old, and half my family is there so I visit every couple of years. I hope I can remember where to find you all because I’d love to chat about Solo and Pak Suyono over a cuppa! My website is out of sorts right now but I’m a travel writer (I now write those books that led me and many others to Shanti Loka) and I’m easy to find online: http://www.celestebrash.com. Lovely to connect with you all!

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      2. Thanks Celeste!! How cool you are a travel writer!! Where are you when you are in the States? Thanks for buying my book!!! Would love it if you could leave me a review on amazon when you are done! Serena too! 🙂 Hugs from NC!!

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  14. Hi Celeste
    Interesting your Brighton connection. There are more Brighton connections with other Pak Suyono alumni too. I found you online. Thanks for liking my social media page. Your travel adventures look amazing. Your doing my dream job 😁

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