Breaking through Glass

14 months ago, I had just moved into my new home stay and still figuring my way around a new schedule and finding how I would fit into a new family. One Saturday, my family was getting ready to go out but dressed uniformly in black pants and blue shirts that read MAHATMA. I wanted to bond with them so I asked to tag along not knowing what I was getting myself into. When we see Mahatma, everyone thinks of Mahatma Ghandi or Mahatma Yoga but this is actually just an Indonesian acronym for Maju Sehat Bersama, which translates to Let’s Be Healthy Together. My host father turned out to be the coach and I stood next to my host sister.* We began with everyone sitting down. Men and women aren’t allowed to touch, so when greeting one another we put our hands together and smile while bowing to recognize any members of the other sex.  We all sit down, cross-legged but the right leg must be in front of the left leg. The women sit on the left side then there is a small gap and the men will sit on the right side. Each side will touch knees with those on either side, then we sit with a straight back and extend our arms with our palms facing upwards, turn our thumbs into our palms, make a fist and then turn our fist with palms facing down. We are now in the proper position for breathing exercises and harnessing our inner energy. Mahatma is primarily led by the belief that we use our inner energy in order to enhance our immunity from diseases and illnesses and its aim is for members to lead full lives with genuine friendliness, humility, peace and be independent of prescription medicines. Prescription medicines are often very pricey for the average Indonesian; so many people are drawn to alternative means of finding health especially through herbal drinks and traditional methods. Mahatma combines breathing exercises, movements similar to martial arts and religious faith. Since Indonesia is the largest populated Muslim country in the world, when we begin our sessions they begin and end with prayer. I am Catholic so I just say an Our Father, Holy Mary and Glory Be while my friends recite Bismila… and common prayers in Islam.

After prayer, we begin breathing exercises. We are only allowed to breathe through our nostrils. We breathe out and on “1” we take a DEEP breath, on “2” we push the air into our lungs and force our abdomen forward and hold “2” for anywhere from 10 seconds to 1 minute and on “3” we breathe out again through our nostrils. After a few breathing exercises we get to the 10 main positions of Mahatma. For each position, our legs are in a spread out squat and we begin with stepping on our left foot and then switch to our right foot for the second set. Each position has 2 sets which are done on average 10-20 times each. Each position has its own significance in how it helps strengthen different aspects of our immune system or protect us from different illnesses. After we finish the 10 positions, then members separate into their varying levels and continue different movements aligned with their level of expertise in mahatma.

For 14 months, I joined Mahatma sessions but I was reluctant and also too busy to get officially initiated as a member. I was overwhelmed at first because there were so many rules and much of it had to do with was considered polite in Indonesian culture. I think a part of me wasn’t sure that I agreed completely with all the rules yet. The rules are that you aren’t allowed to yawn, spit, burp or fart. You must always smile and your smile must be one of pure heart with all teeth showing. If you want to eat, you must invite everyone else to eat as well. You aren’t allowed to stand with your hands crossed, or with your hands on your hips because that is seen as arrogant. If you want to pass individuals who are sitting, you must bow down and lean towards the right side of your body while walking because that is also considered polite by Indonesian standards. At first, this was a lot to remember and weren’t things that came naturally to me so it took a lot of control. Finally, after 14 months, this past February 16^th, I was initiated as a member. The biggest message in Mahatma is simply being a good person, during our initiation it was about really learning to be a sincere person and learning to be respectful of others. This may seem like common sense, but it is funny how much really does have to be taught. When someone is talking, you don’t want to be making small talk with the person to the other side of you but that still happens even with women and men in their 50s, still giggling like they are 5. Mahatma teaches us the practice of patience and love. It teaches its members to love all of God’s animals, even dogs*, and to hug and kiss your children. It is very oriented towards standards in Indonesian society. Some families are more touchy, feely than others but some are so proper that you rarely see any interaction between a child and their parents aside from a saleem*, which is a common greeting for showing respect to an elder.  

After sitting for hours cross-legged on the floor in an auditorium with fellow potential members, we listened to the head teacher from Jakarta as he spoke about the teachings of Mahatma. With open ears, open heart and open mind we smiled from ear to ear and laughed whole-heartedly until he felt that everyone had reached the same level. If one person was left grimacing or frowning, they would have to do 10 push-ups as “medicine” and we would continue until everyone was equally in state of genuine acceptance and happiness. By 11pm, after sitting for 6 hours we were asked to go outside and see our respective coaches. Our coaches handed us an unopened glass bottle of tea, a common Indonesian brand called “Tehbotol” shaped like an old-fashioned coca-cola bottle. We were to harness our inner energy and hit the top of the bottle. If our energy was at its full potential then it would break the glass at the bottom of the bottle. Most people have a very difficult time doing this on the first try I’ve been told. We breathed on 1, and 2 we pushed our energy from our abdomen and focused it to our right hand and on 3 we hit the top of the bottle. To my surprise and shock, the bottom half of my bottle had shattered. My host father was glowing with pride as his “youngest daughter” had passed the test on the first try. This exercise is simply to remind us of the power we harness and that power can never be used to harm others.

I attend Mahatma practice 2-3 times every week, and it helps me focus on forgetting the little stressors and smiling really is a form of medicine. Laughing and smiling about the big and little things makes life feel more complete.

*I live with my host sister and her husband in my host father’s house in Cikedung, but my host father and host mother live in Indramayu City which is the capital city of our district. Every weekend the family gets together either in Indramayu City or everyone comes to Cikedung. That weekend just happened to be one of the weekends where everyone comes to Cikedung.

*There is a belief that dogs are unclean in Islam; but it has become misconstrued to the point that people despise dogs here. Animals in general are usually shooed away aggressively.

*Saleem, is where one takes the hand of an elder and places it next to one’s cheek, on one’s forehead or kisses the hand.