Slamet Prayitno
Premium memorial FeaturedLovingly known as “Pak Slamet”
2 March 1948 — 2 November 2021 · aged 73
Former Buddhist monk turned geography teacher and guide to Borobudur's quietest corners
Magelang, Indonesia Born in Muntilan, Magelang Regency, Central Java Resting at Family cemetery, MagelangAbout Slamet
Pak Slamet spent eleven years in saffron robes and the rest of his life explaining, with great patience, that he had not been a better person then, only a quieter one. Born in Muntilan in 1948, he grew up in a rice-farming family a few kilometres from the great stupa of Borobudur, which he first climbed barefoot at the age of six, delighted to find that the carved stone faces seemed to be smiling at him.
At twenty he entered Mendut Monastery as a novice and later took full ordination, spending years in meditation, in study of the sutras and in the early-morning chanting that still drifts across the Progo valley. In 1979 he left the robes, not out of doubt but out of a feeling that he could serve better in a classroom than a cloister, and he married Sri Wahyuni, a seamstress from Mungkid. He became a geography and civics teacher at SMA Negeri 1 Magelang, where for twenty-eight years he taught the rivers of Java and the discipline of paying attention. Students remembered his habit of beginning each term by asking the class to sit in silence for one minute and then asking what they had heard. At Vesak he guided pilgrims at Borobudur, always at dawn, always to the quietest corner of the upper terrace, away from the cameras.
He kept orchids and a dented bicycle, grew chilli in old paint tins, made a wonderful tempe bacem and lent money without keeping a record. He died peacefully at home in Magelang on 2 November 2021, aged seventy-three, after a long illness, with a candle burning and a sutra being chanted nearby. He leaves his wife Sri, his daughters Wahyu and Dewi, his son Bagus and four grandchildren.
“Sit for one minute. Then tell me what you heard.”
- Faith
- Buddhist
- Place of birth
- Muntilan, Magelang Regency, Central Java
- Resting place
- Family cemetery, Magelang
- Passed away
- 2 November 2021, Magelang
Buddhist Funeral Service & Burial
Thursday, 4 November 2021 at 07:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Ordained as novice, then monk
Mendut Monastery1968 – 1979 · Mendut, Central Java
Eleven years of meditation, sutra study and dawn chanting.
Left the robes and married Sri Wahyuni
1979 · Mungkid, Magelang
Chose the classroom over the cloister; married a seamstress from Mungkid.
Bachelor of Education (Geography)
IKIP Yogyakarta (now Yogyakarta State University)1980 – 1983 · Yogyakarta
Studied by day and taught Sunday school by night.
Geography & Civics Teacher
SMA Negeri 1 Magelang1984 – 2012 · Magelang
Twenty-eight years of teaching the rivers of Java and the discipline of attention.
Pilgrim guide at Vesak
Borobudur Temple Compounds1985 – 2019 · Magelang
Led dawn walks to the quietest corners of the upper terrace.
Dedicated Teacher Award
Magelang Education Office2005 · Magelang
For decades of devoted classroom service.
Tap an organisation to find others who studied or worked there.
Family & connections
Slamet is survived by
- Sri Wahyuni· Spouse
- Wahyu Lestari· Daughter
- Bagus Prayitno· Son
- Dewi Prayitno· Daughter
- 4 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Slamet.
Knew Slamet? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- HJ
Dutch backpacker he guided in 1996
I was nineteen, lost and hungover on the Borobudur terrace. A man in a plain shirt sat me down and told me to listen to the wind for one minute. I came back four times in my life. The last time I brought my daughter, and he remembered my name.
- RK
Pilgrim he guided at Vesak 2012
At dawn on Vesak he led us to a corner of the upper terrace I had missed in ten visits. He pointed at the sunrise behind Merapi and said nothing for ten minutes. It was the most eloquent guide I have ever had.
- IT
Neighbour in Magelang
Every Friday he left a bundle of chilli seedlings at my gate with a note: 'Plant patience.' My yard is full of chilli now, and so is my heart. He lent money and forgot. I will not forget.
- HA
Colleague at SMA Negeri 1 Magelang, 1984–1995
We shared a staff room and a thermos of tea for eleven years. He never complained about the leaking roof, only about the lack of silence. When the monsoon drummed on the tin he would smile and say, 'Listen.' I became a better teacher by listening.
- RS
Former student, SMA Negeri 1 Magelang, class of 1990
Pak Slamet's one minute of silence changed me. I heard a rooster, a bicycle bell and my own heart. I carried that minute to Universitas Indonesia, to Jakarta, to every exam. I give one minute to my own daughter every morning. It is the best lesson I ever received.
- BS
Resident monk, Mendut Monastery
He left the robes but never left the monastery. Every full moon he came back to sit in the hall, always in the last row, always the first to sweep the leaves. When I asked why, he said, 'Practice has no uniform.'
