Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Menurut nenek, menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti melupakan ajaran agama sekarang. - According to grandmother, respecting ancestral spirits does not mean forgetting today’s religious teachings.

In Menurut nenek, it means “according to Grandma” or “in Grandma’s opinion”.
It usually comes at the beginning of the phrase:
- Menurut saya = according to me / in my opinion
- Menurut dokter = according to the doctor

You can put the whole phrase at the start of the sentence (like in your example) or later on, e.g.:

Menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti melupakan ajaran agama sekarang, menurut nenek.
= Respecting ancestral spirits does not mean forgetting the teachings of the current religion, according to Grandma.

The meaning is the same; putting menurut nenek at the start signals early that what follows is her opinion.

Why is it just nenek and not nenek saya if it means “my grandmother”?

In Indonesian, family terms are often used without a possessive when the context is clear:

nenek can mean “Grandma / (my) grandmother”
ibu can mean “Mom / mother”
ayah can mean “Dad / father”

So menurut nenek here is naturally understood as “according to Grandma” (the speaker’s grandmother), not just any random grandmother. Adding saya is possible but sounds a bit more formal or distant:

Menurut nenek saya = according to my grandmother (more explicit, slightly more formal)

When you’re talking about a close family member in a personal story, dropping saya is very common and sounds natural.

What exactly does menghormati mean, and how is it different from just hormat?

The base word is hormat (respect, honor).

menghormati is the verb form: “to respect / to honor (someone/something)”
- menghormati orang tua = to respect parents
- menghormati guru = to respect teachers
- menghormati roh leluhur = to respect ancestral spirits

hormat by itself is usually:

a noun:
- rasa hormat = respect (the feeling)
or part of set phrases like:
- hormat kepada = respect for / respect towards
  - hormat kepada orang tua

So:

menghormati roh leluhur = to respect / honor ancestral spirits (verb + object)
hormat kepada roh leluhur = respect for ancestral spirits (noun phrase)

In your sentence, you need the verb, so menghormati is the natural choice.

Does roh leluhur mean one spirit or many spirits, and how is it different from arwah or nenek moyang?

Literally:

roh = spirit, soul
leluhur = ancestor(s)

So roh leluhur = the spirit(s) of the ancestors / ancestral spirit(s).

Indonesian often doesn’t mark plural explicitly, so:

roh leluhur can mean “the ancestral spirit” or “ancestral spirits”, depending on context.
If you want to be very explicit you could say roh-roh leluhur (reduplication to show plurality), but it’s not necessary.

Compared to similar words:

arwah = spirit, especially of the dead; often used in religious/ritual contexts
nenek moyang = ancestors, forefathers (focus on the people, not the spirit form)

So:

menghormati roh leluhur = to respect the ancestral spirits
menghormati nenek moyang = to respect one’s ancestors (as people/forebears)
mendoakan arwah leluhur = to pray for the spirits of the ancestors

Why is it bukan berarti and not tidak berarti?

Both bukan berarti and tidak berarti can appear in Indonesian, but here bukan is more natural because:

bukan is used to negate nouns and equational / identifying statements:
- Dia bukan dokter. = He/She is not a doctor.
tidak is used to negate verbs, adjectives, and adverbs:
- Dia tidak datang. = He/She didn’t come.

In the pattern:

X bukan berarti Y

you’re basically saying “X is not (something that) means Y”. It’s treated more like negating an idea/identity rather than simply saying “does not mean” as a bare verb.

Also, bukan berarti is a very common fixed phrase meaning:

“does not mean (that) …”

You might sometimes hear tidak berarti in other contexts (for example, It doesn’t have meaning / it’s meaningless), but:

menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti melupakan ...

sounds more idiomatic than using tidak here.

Is bukan berarti here a kind of fixed expression meaning “doesn’t mean that …”?

Yes. Bukan berarti … is a very common discourse pattern meaning:

“(this) does not mean that …”
“it doesn’t imply that …”

Examples:

Kamu gagal sekali bukan berarti kamu bodoh.
Failing once does not mean you’re stupid.
Berbeda pendapat bukan berarti bermusuhan.
Having different opinions does not mean being enemies.

In your sentence:

Menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti melupakan ajaran agama sekarang.
= Respecting ancestral spirits does not mean (that you are) forgetting the teachings of the current religion.

So you can recognize “X bukan berarti Y” as a very useful template.

What’s the difference between melupakan and just lupa or tidak ingat?

Base word: lupa = to forget / to be forgetful.

Forms:

lupa = intransitive, “to forget / to have forgotten”:
- Saya lupa. = I forgot.
- Saya lupa namanya. = I forgot his/her name.
melupakan = transitive, “to forget (something), to leave out, to neglect”:
- Jangan melupakan janji kamu. = Don’t forget your promise.
- Menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti melupakan ajaran agama sekarang.
  Here it’s “to forget / to neglect the teachings …”
tidak ingat literally “not remember”:
- Saya tidak ingat. = I don’t remember.

In your sentence, melupakan is good because:

It takes a direct object: melupakan ajaran agama sekarang
It can also imply neglecting / failing to uphold (not just momentarily forgetting in your mind).

What does ajaran mean exactly, and how is it different from pelajaran or the verb mengajar?

Root: ajar = to teach / teaching.

From this root:

mengajar = to teach (verb)
- Guru mengajar matematika. = The teacher teaches math.
ajaran = teachings, doctrine, what is taught (noun, often abstract):
- ajaran agama = religious teachings / doctrine
- ajaran Buddha, ajaran Islam = Buddhist/Islamic teachings
pelajaran = (1) a school subject, (2) a lesson:
- pelajaran matematika = math lesson
- pelajaran agama = religion class at school

In your sentence ajaran agama sekarang:

ajaran = the set of teachings, doctrines, principles
So it’s closer to “religious teachings” than “religion class.”

How should I understand ajaran agama sekarang? Does sekarang mean “now” or “current religion”?

Breakdown:

ajaran = teachings
agama = religion
sekarang = now / current

Word order in Indonesian goes from more general → more specific / modifying:

ajaran agama = the teachings of the religion
ajaran agama sekarang is most naturally:
“the teachings of the current religion (that we follow now)”

Here, sekarang modifies the whole phrase agama or even the combination ajaran agama, giving the idea “the religion we have now / the present-day religion”.

Alternatives with slightly different nuance:

ajaran agama yang sekarang kita anut = the teachings of the religion we currently follow
ajaran agama yang dianut sekarang = the teachings of the religion currently practiced

So in context, it’s not “teachings of religion now (at this moment in time)” in a narrow sense, but rather “teachings of the present/modern/current religion.”

Is the word order ajaran agama sekarang fixed, or could I say ajaran sekarang agama?

The normal, natural word order is:

ajaran agama sekarang

Because Indonesian noun phrases usually go:

head noun
- modifiers (including other nouns that specify it)

So:

ajaran (head)
agama (specifies what kind of teachings)
sekarang (adds “current/now” to that)

Saying ajaran sekarang agama sounds unnatural / ungrammatical. It would confuse listeners because the pattern doesn’t fit normal noun phrase structure.

If you want to emphasize “nowadays,” you could move sekarang elsewhere:

Sekarang, menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti melupakan ajaran agama.
(Now / nowadays, respecting ancestral spirits doesn’t mean forgetting the religious teachings.)

Here sekarang modifies the whole statement, not just agama.

Is this sentence formal or informal? Would people actually say it like this in conversation?

The sentence is in neutral–slightly formal standard Indonesian:

All words are standard (no slang, no regional forms).
The structure is clear and grammatical.

In everyday polite conversation, the sentence is perfectly natural, especially in contexts like:

discussing religion and tradition
explaining beliefs to younger family members

You might see very similar wording in:

written texts (essays, religious explanations)
talks or speeches

In a very casual conversation, speakers might shorten or adjust it, for example:

Kata Nenek, hormat sama roh leluhur itu bukan berarti kita lupa sama ajaran agama yang sekarang.

But your original sentence is completely acceptable in spoken Indonesian.

If I want to say “does not mean that…”, can I add bahwa after berarti?

Yes, you can add bahwa (“that”) to introduce a clause, especially in more formal or explicit speech.

Your sentence could be:

Menurut nenek, menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti bahwa melupakan ajaran agama sekarang.
(More literally: “…does not mean that (it is) forgetting the teachings…”)

However, in this specific sentence:

bahwa is optional and often omitted.
Indonesian frequently drops bahwa when the meaning is clear.

More natural-sounding variant if you use bahwa:

Menurut nenek, menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti bahwa kita harus melupakan ajaran agama sekarang.
= According to Grandma, respecting ancestral spirits doesn’t mean that we must forget the teachings of the current religion.

Here bahwa introduces the full clause kita harus melupakan …, which feels more clearly like a “that”-clause. Without kita harus, your original version (without bahwa) is already smooth and natural.

How do we know the sentence is talking about the present (does not mean), since there’s no tense marking in Indonesian?

Indonesian generally does not mark tense (past/present/future) on the verb. Instead, tense is understood from:

time words (sekarang, tadi, kemarin, besok, etc.)
context and world knowledge

In your sentence:

bukan berarti is understood as “does not mean” (present/general truth)
sekarang (“now/current”) in ajaran agama sekarang adds a “current” time frame to the religion mentioned.

If you needed to be very explicit about time, you could add time adverbs:

Dulu, menghormati roh leluhur sering dianggap bertentangan dengan agama, tetapi menurut nenek, menghormati roh leluhur bukan berarti (sekarang pun) melupakan ajaran agama.

But normally, listeners just interpret it as a general present truth: respecting ancestral spirits does not (in general, now) mean forgetting the current religious teachings.