A Meeting with Pa'Din - Belantik

P'a Din 'Cina'

Today as I drove from one location of Belantik to another after attending an engagement ceremony of a friend's sister here I stopped by a coffee shop and had a good long chat with a very knowledgeable gentlman who everyone here calls Pa'Din. He told me that he is a healer of the supernatural kind and from then one our conversation took on the religious subjects which included Zen meditation which I told him i am practicing most of the time. I was quite taken by his wide scope of understanding of the inner workings of meditations and the dos and don't as according to the practice in Islam. I also realized that most of the people I have met here at least the elders were very religious.

Realeasing a few thousand little baby "Ikan Ubi" into the pond. 

 We talked of the differences between each religions where they agree and disagree, what can be followed or practice and what should be dropped. Islam is a religion that has existed since Adam and the rest are just the main trunk, branches and roots of the religions of the book. According to him Buddhism of which he is very well versed because this area is located close to the Thai Border and every so often his patients were victims of Thai Buddhist black arts, which in this country is most feared and most difficult to exorcise.The elders in the village in the past were men strong in their faith and belief to survive the wild not only in dealing with the wild animals such as tigers and bears but also the unseen, jins and satanic forces. Tapping rubber in the middle of the night just using a kerocene lamp was all that they needed to do the job while out in the rubber plantation but they had in them the strong faith in Allah to protect them from any harm physical or otherwise.
 Is there anything wrong with me I asked him hinting that I might be guest house to some unwanted spirit as I sometimes feel low in spirit and not having the will power to stand up to fear of the unknown like I have been experiencing the last few days. He told me the by looking at me even before we talked that i was clean and okay. To the western mind this may seem ludicrous and unfounded but after having been sleeping in the wild all by myself of late I feel the need to fortify my inner self such that I am not subjected to being 'tested'. The purpose of my venturing into the remote areas of this country is to ascertain my own psychological well being and spiritual standing.; it is not simply to take great pictures of places seldom visited by others alone. I am scratching myself all over from being bitten by leeches and ants and who knows what else that leaves small lumps where the bites occurs and this too are the 'tests that i have come to look for in the process of my self discovery.
Pa' Din expounded to me the essence of Islam and how by Allah's Will alone the people around this area had survived all the hardships and dangers from the beginning till this day. He mentioned that Buddhism has nothing to hold on to in the end and that Nirvana is Fana' according to Islam (Annihilation). In the Sufi way you are to resort to the Zikr to Allah, simply silently in the heart of hearts saying 'Allah" repetitively.By doing so one does not allow for any unwanted guest to inhabit oneself when one has achieved to emptiness of being. In this empty state of mind only Allah exist,(wujud). This is the closest one can get to being in the presence of Allah. The Buddhism as practice by such countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, and the rest of them is not what was taught by the Buddha but a mixture of Hinduism which incorporates the Tripatied and a host of of other practice having to do with magic through the worship of demons and spirits of the dead.
When you ask a Chinese what he worships he would say in Malay 'Tuan Allah' and when asked why he worship such idols as the Chinese do he will say that this is just the form of getting to worship of Allah, an intermediary. In the worship of Allah, he said we do not need any intermediary, we do not need to feed the spirits or the Tua Pek Kongs (Chinese Deities) or the Hindu deities such as Murugan or Ganesha or provide them with sacrifices, this is Shirik or Blaspheme. The Hindus especially according to Pa'Din offers ashes of the dead especially those who died violently or those of foetuses that were dead for one reason or another and this makes the shrine or the temple a very highly potent energy centre that can be used to cure or curse respectively. This is why one does not desecrate of defile a Hindu shrine without incurring the wrath of the 'Deities or demons in residence at the site.
Spirits and demons have a healthy respect if not fear humans especially those who have a strong faith and abide by the teachings of the holy scriptures.It is those who have no form of practice or religious discipline whatsoever that often becomes victims of demonic attacks. Ignorance may be bliss to some but not knowing can also be the cause of your undoing.