MY educational history, from elementary to university level, was not brilliant. Even though I studied for an undergraduate degree in history at a well-known and prominent state university in Indonesia, i.e. the University of Indonesia (UI), which entrance exams were very competitive, this did not put me at the forefront of educational achievements. With a GPA below 1.75, I was twice threatened with being kicked out of UI.
My brain is indeed weak in analyzing and my enthusiasm is very low in terms of structured learning as generally implemented in schools. “Likes to daydream” was the note teachers often put on my elementary school report card in the Netherlands. I only got good grades in Drawing, Essay Writing, and English—which equipped me well after I pursued a career as an advertising copywriter.
A helper in Central Java who is also a professor at a university in the area where she lives once told me, after having a long conversation with me about various fields of study, that I am rich in knowledge. “Has it always been like this, Mas Arifin?” she asked.
I couldn’t give her a definite answer. Everything I said “just fell out” without me thinking about it first.
There was a moment in my life where someone I thought was a genius actually thought I was a genius. In 2019, I got a project to make an in-house magazine in English from the Indonesian Navy Headquarters, including editing the articles and becoming one of the contributors. Naval warfare and maritime defense was then completely new to me.
When interviewing me as a potential vendor, the Head of the Indonesian Navy Information Service, a rear admiral who was also a lecturer in strategy at the Indonesian Naval Staff and Command School, gave me only one month to study naval warfare and maritime defense. Surprised, I said to him, “What? That’s unfair, sir! You yourself studied four years at the Naval Academy, how come I’m only given one month?!”
His decision didn’t change; I was still given one month to learn something that to him was something he was already good at.
To my surprise, the Latihan followed through my learning-while-working process that I went through for one month. I have never intentionally used the Latihan in matters concerning my work—just as Bapak said that when we do an enterprise, we shouldn’t use the kejiwaan, but use our mind and nafsus instead. But what can I say, the Latihan has been part of me from the moment I was opened, whether I intend it or not. It will automatically work, leading me to dive into a whole new world and grace me with ever-increasing enlightenment. I become a walking sponge that easily absorbs whatever I approach with sabar, tawakal and ikhlas.
With the Latihan, I experienced a “think without thinking” state which apparently made learning very easy for me. (This sometimes makes me regret why I wasn’t opened earlier; I could be the smartest student at UI!)
When the magazine was finally launched and the Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff was very satisfied with my work, the rear admiral who headed the Indonesian Navy Information Service complimented me, “You are a genius, Pak Arifin! Within one month you are already fluent in naval warfare and maritime defense.”
I thought to myself, “That’s because of the Latihan Kejiwaan. I’m not who you think I am.”©2023
Pondok Cabe, Tangerang Selatan, 20 March 2023
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