It's been a while since the WA question has been asked in SE Asia, what with Buddhism and Hinduism already dealt with, and Islam given a sensibly short shrift - we all know about an afterlife of available virgins in Heaven for the blokes only, right?
Malaysia, ostensibly a Muslim nation, in fact hosts a muliplicity of ethnicities, including in Borneo, 30 tribes in Sabah and probably just as many in Sarawak. Many of these were headhunters, and all of these were animists. There are also Chinese, always trading or restauraunting; all Taiost for want of a better name. And then there are the aforementioned Buddhists and Hindus. And Sikhs, of whom there are many also in Nottingham and elsewhere. Here I'll attempt to elevate conciosusness levels only of animism and Sikhsism.
Alas, not much to tell, based on the available information.
Headhunters in Borneo all seem to have animist beliefs, such that spirits are in the forest and everywhere else, and all one's fortunes and misfortunes are associated with their influence, benign or otherwise. When you die, your spirit (of course) lives on to cause as much mischief as you want to extract from your living relatives if they haven't gathered enough heads. Simple.
Sikhism arose from the teachings of an Indian guru in the 16th century. A few other gurus followed, then worship continued in temples rife with the smell of sweaty feet until the present day. Nice guys, Sikhs will give a daily veggie meal to all-comers whatever their faith, creed or footwear. No idea what happens after death, but l'm working on it. Keen on turbans.
No comments:
Post a Comment