Susila Budhi Dharma

1. So that a certain spiritual truth, which has been received both inwardly and outwardly, may be given form and carried into effect, here its entire essence has been expressed, to beautiful melodies and metres, in the hope that the evidence that is needed may be obtained.

2. These are the words of divine counsel received and so far as was necessary written down in the historic city of Yogyakarta in the year 1952.

3. To begin with, let it be explained here that, soon after the mind has stopped thinking and has been separated from the feelings as a result of the opening, a vibration of life is felt which goes on to encompass the whole body and soon causes movements that seem very strange to the mind.

4. This state is indeed truly strange to the mind, because it is not something that thought can bring into being, but something real that can be received and witnessed by a feeling no longer influenced by thinking.

5. When you have received and witnessed this reality, go on to feel truly what in fact is happening within you. By so doing you will get an indication of the right path; moreover, the authenticity of the true inner self will become apparent.

6. Because of this, you will see what faults you have always borne - faults caused by your parents' conduct before their child came into existence.

7. This state is something truly remarkable, because - in the degree to which one can attain it - it reveals the qualities a person lacks for his status as a human being, the lack of which makes his chance of reaching higher levels, or the realm of perfection, very slight.

8. The child is truly aware of these faults, and he can do nothing but accept what has befallen his inner self. And this case, if really considered, is far from uncommon. On the contrary, it is almost everybody's experience because, in the first place, people cannot foresee what is going to happen, and secondly, in any case men are but men, whose state can easily change and who are easily affected by conditions that agitate the heart. So it would seem useless if a child should then blame his parents, even though they really were the source of his faults.

9. There may be parents who earnestly try to perfect the way they behave, in the hope that later on their children will be of exceptionally good character or fully prepared for life; but their hopes cannot be fulfilled, because their efforts are wrongly directed.

10. So it is better not to take such ways, especially if they only involve strengthening and concentrating the will in order to create something they need, for the results obtained are nothing but fantasies born of the heart.

11. Thus what parents need above all is to be conscious in some degree of the kejiwaan, so that they do not later become a target for reproaches from their offspring.

12. For the child it is better not to dwell on this matter, for that only muddles the feelings more, and so makes any later achievements more remote, especially when the aim is to perfect one's life.

13. You, my children, have been fortunate in your life, because you have found a way that is able to rouse the jiwa, so that it awakens and can act according to your capacity and the strength that is in you. Little by little your jiwa will grow stronger and will eventually be able to fulfill your needs.

14. For that reason, do always practise your latihan, so that you may soon encounter the various powers that have gathered in your feelings and be able to tell one from another.

15. For this, you need to realize how these powers behave, so that their way of working may be regulated; this will eventually lead them to work together - that is, to help one another.

16. It is well to remember not to give way to your heart's pressing desire at times to understand the impossible, and especially not to think about the realm of the Great Life. For that is not a subject for thought, and in truth the time for you to reach an understanding of it is still very far off. Moreover, if your mind does this, it will not enable you to achieve your hopes more quickly; on the contrary, if your mind is not strong enough, it may become very agitated.

17. So it is best to do your training patiently, even though you make progress in it only little by little. The main thing for you is to experience its truth, so that you may develop in the best way.

18. Besides that, those who are undertaking this training must also be reminded here never to neglect their obligations - for example, not to reject the ordinary life of people on earth. On the contrary, it is hoped they will provide the world with all the arts and skills useful to society. To do that is truly a task set for mankind by the Will of God.

19. It must be remembered too that mankind has been created to inhabit the earth, and that the earth exists to provide for human needs. So if someone deliberately isolates himself and ignores the activity of his physical faculties - paying no attention to sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and so on - then in truth he is acting contrary to the Will of God, because he is wasting what God has given him.

20. So you must not behave like that. The best and most fitting way to live is that you should work to meet the needs of your existence by bringing the feelings throughout your body to life, so that every part of it feels responsible for your role as a human being, whose specialized parts together form a unity.

21. That way is best and really fitting for the life of a noble creature, and it also enables him to fulfill his commitment to put his life in order and meet its every need, both inner and outer. So, my children, behavior which leads you astray should rightly be avoided, for it can make your high qualities vanish and the glory be lost from the excellent instruments or faculties that take part in your life.

22. That is why it is best for all of you to let these human instru­ments make a stand against the influence of the powers that always interfere in your feelings, to stop these powers impeding your progress in life and to let them instead become of themselves really useful aides to you.

23. Now to discuss the existence of powers connected with human life. The first, or rather the lowest, is the power of matter. This force is situated of course in objects that evidently cannot move by themselves.

24. These things, although evidently unable to move of their own accord, nevertheless contain power of the same kind as that in man's mind; hence people can make use of these things for a range of tasks and can also shape and colour them as they wish.

25. Because of the mutual attraction between the material force and man's mind, people have finally become able to make a variety of objects that can meet their every need.

26. So, in short, people have been able to create all kinds of devices which they can use for their adornment, shelter or dwelling, for their household needs, for traveling, for agriculture, and so on.

27. In sum, because man wants a way of life that lacks nothing he is obliged to create such accessories.

28. He must therefore be able to use them rightly, so that he may bring order and well-being into the general life of his kind.

29. Such is the reality man must truly be aware of, to prevent the reverse from happening, with man becoming the tool of his own tools for living.

30. So much about matter, which seems powerless but which actually exerts a strong attraction, because in reality it has an affinity with the human mind.

1. From what has been said above, it would seem that a person could repel the influence of the material force with ease. In fact it is not so. For although material objects have been created and fashioned by man, their power of attraction has in truth so affected his mind and penetrated his feelings that, if cut off from his possessions, he often feels as though deprived of half his soul.

2. Really, if one remembers that all these things owe their existence to man, it certainly seems beyond belief that they should have so much power over him. Yet it is precisely because they are creations of his heart and mind and energy that they do exert this attraction on human feelings.

3. Many people even reverse the normal state of affairs and, instead of making use of things as ordinary products, regard them as objects to worship, able to bestow blessings on them. And there are also other people altogether incapable of using their possessions according to need, but who on the contrary are completely ruled and used by them.

4. That is why many rich people, just because of their wealth, look on others not so rich as themselves as inferior. This is caused solely by the influence of the material force which has been absorbed into their feelings. This leads also to tensions and conflicts between rich and poor. True, the two associate at times, but that is because the labour of the poor is needed for the pursuit of profits, not through feelings of love and brotherhood.

5. So they just part company when the labour of the poor is no longer required. Thus whether their association will last or not depends entirely on the influence of the power of matter.

6. Rightly understood, however, wealth or material things are simply and solely aids needed for organizing human society in the best way, so as to bring order and prosperity to society.

7. Men do indeed need material objects as aids, and everyone has to have them. The more a man has and the greater their variety, the better. But it has to be remembered that he must be aware of their use and how to manage them; he must not let them become objects of worship.

8. It is to be hoped also that a man will not be influenced by material things; on the contrary, he has to be able to control them. The way for you to realize this is by doing your latihan patiently and sincerely. For from the training will come evidence, little by little, of how the material force works in your feelings, so that you may channel it in its rightful direction. This awareness will then lead at length to your self and the material force working in co-operation - though with different duties - so that you will not need to discard or avoid possessions.

9. Now to go on to how the material force of other things influences a man - a sharp weapon for example. Rightly, this is only a means to repel approaching danger, not in the least an instrument for killing people. But when the possessor of such a weapon is heedless or incautious the influence of its force, transforming his feelings, is truly dangerous for him. For it makes him feel very strong and more than naturally powerful, with the result that he is ready to use his weapon not to ward off approaching danger but against anybody he wants to overpower or master.

10. Such is the effect of the material power of weapons on a man who is so incautious or heedless that, whether he wishes it or not, his feelings are in fact channelled or carried over into the insensible realm of matter. And further, such a man habitually enjoys quarrelling with other people even though they are not his enemies.

11. Such behaviour will certainly cause disappointment to his fellows, and the feelings of love and brotherhood between them and him will vanish. This, too, is a result of the influence of the power of matter on anybody who is not firmly established as a creature of high level.

12. Even so, because he still has a human nature, he will still have a chance to improve his condition if he finds a way that can train him to reach his inner self. The pressure of the material force on him will then grow weaker and weaker with the strengthening of his human jiwa, which can then correct his bad habits.

13. That, my children, is just to show how the power of matter sways the human self. Those material objects, seemingly lifeless and owing their existence to man, really contain a living essence that can influence and be influenced by other forces and even human feelings.

14. So people must heed this, especially those who feel that their mind and jiwa are weak. Furthermore, they should make themselves willing to mix with or draw near to people who they hope may be able to guide them towards the kejiwaan, where they will really obtain evidence enabling them to feel the difference among the forces that have gathered in their feelings, and to know which are from themselves, which are material and other ancillary forces, and which are from the One who keeps watch.

15. So is it if you earnestly wish for this and are able to attain it. You really do need to remember that although man has noble and excellent qualities, fully equipping him for life, unless he is aware of his nobility and understands how to use his qualities, his very nobility and endowment for living will themselves cause him suffering. To avoid this, he needs to begin the training of the self, and if he is fortunate he will later get the clear guidance referred to above.

16. You and all those following the training will, it is now hoped, heed what has been said. Human nature, fully fitted for living as it is, has a wide-ranging life and activities, so that all kinds of forces enter it. This can be compared with sugar and its sweetness. For they cannot be separated from each other nor can one rid itself of the other; on the contrary, the two have to co-operate - that is to say, the noble one, man, must be able to channel the flow of forces to where they are required, and for his own benefit he must fulfill his duties and obligations without harming the interests of other forces. This is how difficult it is, my children, so may you not do your latihan less because you feel you are already trained and can receive the whisper of the jiwa as well as make a variety of movements and freely utter sounds.

17. Since you have begun to develop only recently, you still need to feel accurately the sources of what you receive, so that later you will recognize what the reality is. So, my children, you must not hastily feel satisfied or be proud because you have become a link for those interested in this way of training people.

18. Never imagine, my children, especially with regard to that last point, that you have already reached the goal, for your state spiritually is still an ordinary one. Do realize that any­body who has also undergone this training, especially any­body who has experienced the latihan kejiwaan for some time, is filled in some measure with the strength of the life force, which encompasses him both within and without, particularly at moments when he is empty of thought. If at just such times he is near other people who earnestly wish for this training, these people will soon spontaneously feel a vibration, and some of them may then make movements. There is no need to enlarge on this, because you have all had this experience the first time you received.

19. Really this condition is an ordinary one in the realm of the jiwa, but the person who is the link (the opener) probably deserves to be commended, because at that moment he will at least experience the unpleasantness of the suffering in feelings released from the body of the person being opened, while the latter, on the contrary, will feel as if relieved of a heavy burden.

20. So you must not be satisfied just with reaching that stage; rather, when standing (as a helper) by a brother who is being opened, do feel what is being received, so that you not only witness what is happening to him but can also receive what you need for your own self.

21. In this state you can make good progress, for it will become apparent how the forces that have gathered in the feelings combine and separate.

22. By this means the suffering that comes to you from helping or opening a new member will no longer be a heavy burden, but will even increase your own smooth progress towards the identity of a human being. Moreover, because you are in this state, the opening will be more satisfactory for the new member you are standing by.

23. Now for the force that is embodied in fine clothes and like­wise in radiant, sparkling jewelry. These have no less powerful an influence on people. If their owners' feelings are swayed by them, their behaviour, formerly friendly, will become arrogant, in the sense that they will feel themselves superior, grander, better-looking and more splendid than other people.

24. So much so that the essence of their feelings is really the essential force of the things they own, and, by the very fact of their feelings being filled with the power of matter, these people are of course unaware of it.

25. At times they are ridiculous too, because they are apt to behave in an exaggerated way; but, far from feeling this is wrong, they even think it proper and laudable.

26. People whose feelings have been deceived by the power of matter go so far astray that they are no longer able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, between what in themselves must be master or user and what has to be ruled and used.

27. Similarly, classes of people in different circumstances from those referred to above are also duped by the effect of the power of matter. Furthermore, many other kinds of material objects whose forces strongly sway the course of people's lives need to be discussed.

28. Objects of this sort are: harrows, ploughs, scythes, sickles, hoes and other such tools used in agriculture, particularly for work in paddy-fields and on farmland.

29. Because the peasants use these tools to cultivate their paddy-fields and land, the feelings of those who lack inner strength easily sink into the realm of matter. Consequently many peasants have a narrow outlook on existence, thus limiting their well-being in life to merely where they are.

30. Consequently, many of them, happening to live in poverty, are compelled to resign themselves and accept their lot - meaning that they are unwilling to make any effort to leave their villages. Some are even frightened if they go out, and some are shy of meeting people who seem prosperous and are good at expressing themselves.

1. So it is clear how, owing to the influence of the force of matter on a person's feelings, those feelings are close to the essence of material objects.

2. Also because of that strong influence, together with the weakness of his will and jiwa, he no longer cares to reflect that, beyond his immediate surroundings, are many places and kinds of work that would offer him a better life.

3. Clearly, then, his so-called patience and acceptance of his lot result simply and solely from the effect of the force contained in his own tools.

4. This is completely the wrong way round, for the man is not, as he should be, able to make use of his tools; instead, the tools govern his whole existence, so that it can be said that his life and death are determined just by them.

5. Indeed, such has his condition become that he scarcely remembers that the world is wide and contains every kind of thing needed for human life.

6. This is also the effect of the kind of force in matter. So perhaps we should not hastily blame or criticise one whose sole satis­faction is in hoeing and work like that, and whose habit is to go to sleep soon after coming back from the fields.

7. And because his feelings have sunk so far down, it does not even occur to him that, if only he discovered it, there is something that could be compared with a lamp within the human self that could guide him to a fitting way to live.

8. Thus if a man remembers, or could remember, that human nature is the nature of a high creature, he ought to be able to understand better and also behave better than creatures of other kinds.

9. A man must also be able to broaden his outlook on life so that he can pave or select the way to well-being.

10. Then he will certainly be able to achieve his wish in life: to ensure the welfare of his family and later be taken as an example by his descendants.

11. Do not, therefore, be so easily swayed by the power of material things that you feel satisfied with a mouthful of rice. And do not always be so ready to speak of patience and resignation, as if circumstances were inevitable and decreed by God.

12. Such remarks are out of place. They come mainly from facile talk which, as yet, is without understanding of the true meaning of fate.

13. Talk like that, moreover, is truly a curse on your own self and will most likely affect your innocent descendants.

14. Such is the danger when a person is ignorant about the truth of the self, for it may be said he is compelled to swallow the influence of the power of matter, whatever it may be.

15. Truly tragic though this is when perceived, a man cannot be blamed for it, because his feelings have not come under the sway of the material force by his own wish. So strong is the effect of that force on the human self, in fact, that a man may often appear as though he willfully prefers misery and poverty to the effort of seeking a way to a happier life.

16. So far below his human status may he fall when his feelings have been influenced by the force of matter. Therefore you should quickly make an effort to seek true guidance that can train the self to become aware of how the material force works in the feelings.

17. Having done this, you will be able to discover also what is the sort of work that it is your natural right to do, or what path you need to take.

18. Of course this cannot be achieved all at once, but in the latihan you will gradually receive indications until the moment when it only remains for you to choose the job to do.

19. By doing your right work, it will happen of itself that your worship of God - required of you as a human being by your inner self - will not lessen. Truly this is the best way, for people do not then work solely for worldly purposes, and worshipping God as well cannot be abandoned.

20. By doing what has been described, you will truly experience peace and happiness, not only in your life in this world but in the hereafter also.

21. Now to discuss another kind of object: namely, goods dealt in by traders in markets, shops and other places.

22. These goods have an effect just as terrible on the people who deal in them, if their jiwa is weak.

23. The influence of the power in these goods goes even deeper because they are continually coming and going, always bringing a profit or causing a loss. Hence the feelings of the traders are all the more affected by the force in the goods they buy and sell, and so sink ever deeper into the realm of matter.

24. On the face of it, however, this is not to be regretted, for this is indeed how traders look for profit; and the profit they gain is then used to supply the necessities of life for their families.

25. The energetic ones work very hard in the pursuit of profit, in order to become rich quickly, heedless at times of physical fatigue.

26. The important thing to traders is to think of ways to make their buying and selling profitable. Thus in many instances their feelings contain nothing but the images of the goods they deal in.

27. Apparently this is no problem to traders, but a necessity rather, to enable them to calculate accurately, in order that their dealings may be sure to yield a good profit.

28. Such is the condition of traders; so that they often set aside other needs not connected with their business, as if unconcerned even to have time to be quiet.

29. This kind of existence has probably become a necessity for traders, for otherwise they certainly would not be and could not be traders in the true sense of the word.

30. So they cannot be blamed for their ways; nor is the use of their minds for this purpose to be deplored, since people still have to use their minds, if only a little, even for the most ordinary work.

31. This also can be justified, for the mind is in fact a means to enable men to think out everything that needs to be done or arranged. Even so, men must also use their mental ability to enable them to become aware of their inner self, and so understand that the master of their life is not the mind but the jiwa, the human inner force.

32. For the traders, however, it will not be easy to do what has just been said, for they are already under the spell of the force of the goods they are always thinking about. Moreover, because they think so much about the goods they deal in, their characters unexpectedly but automatically change and become like the force in those goods.

33. So a trader's mind, when completely subject to the force of the goods that fill his thoughts, is no longer calm, and he will have difficulty in quietening himself if he needs to do so later in order to possess his true identity.

34. Further, his mind gets so far carried away that it gives no more thought whatever to his inner self, but keeps darting here and there like money that is always changing hands, so that his life resembles a piece of flotsam tossing up and down in mid-ocean.

35. So, clearly, human beings who want to possess their inner self may not just follow every impulse of their minds, but must also empty their minds by quietening the self. This is in order that they may experience a state quite beyond expectation; and it is precisely this state that will truly guide them to a life of well-being.

36. The inner feeling of a man who is aware of the kejiwaan, even if he does the usual work of a trader, will not easily be swayed by the force of the wares he deals in. Rather, all the mental activity connected with his goods can be supervised by his inner self.

37. That is the ideal; and, being human, a man ought to be able to act in that manner, for by so doing his life will prosper and he will be able to arrange it rightly - meaning that in all his work he will spontaneously maintain his worship of God Almighty.

38. Such is the right way for a man already aware of his real being. So, though externally doing all sorts of work, using his mind to the full, he is aware of the border between the mind and the inner self. It is another matter for people interested only in material things.

39. The more so if their interests are really profitable. They will then work even harder in pursuit of still bigger profits.

40. Because of their delight that all their undertakings make profits, their love of material possessions goes ever more deeply into them, until they love these possessions more than they love their families and close friends.

41. Some go so far that love of possessions even exceeds their love and affection for their children; so that hostility often arises between father and son over material things.

42. This applies especially to those who are always successful, who profit from everything they undertake. If they neglect their inner self, they will fall into the abyss of the material world.

43. In general, the nature of traders - specifically of those who think only material things important - is never to feel satisfied, even though they have become rich, and in fact they recognize no limit.

44. Such is the effect of the power in material objects. Be aware,then, that the power in these objects can so influence a man that his mind loses its vision and no longer believes in the life after death.

45. Clearly, then, the effect of the material force is very damaging to human beings who need to become conscious of their jiwa. The point is the same as was made earlier - that their characters will change and become like the nature of the force in material objects, which knows nothing of the inner life.

46. No wonder, then, that there are traders who completely forget the needs of their jiwa. Every day they think only of their possessions and of ways to make the utmost profit, despite the stress and strain of the work.

47. It is still more disastrous if a person comes so to worship his possessions that they are regarded as if they were the master of his life.

48. The result is that the being of man, a sublime creature of God, has fallen lower in the order of eternal life than the level of those material objects. So these failings have disjoined the lives of the rich and the poor. The rich even look on the poor as objects of no value.

49. Some wealthy people even take pleasure in toying with the lives of the poor as though they were inanimate things. They lure the poor into maintaining their wealth, so that these needy ones do not realize that, in fact, they are being used as a means for the pursuit of the biggest possible profit.

50. Not understanding this, and also being easily led, the poor, in carrying out the duties they have undertaken in return for promises made to them, uphold the interests of the rich as zealously as they would uphold their own. Hence, when successful in this charge they feel as proud as if they had achieved a splendid triumph.

51. In fact, though, as already explained, they are influenced only by the material force, which has deceived their feelings because of their heedlessness. So they are forever unhappy, even in the life after death.

52. Behaviour of this kind indeed greatly damages a person's life. A man must not be willing to become the slave of the material force. On the contrary, as a human being he should be able to master it, not be mastered by it and have the relationship reversed, as happens to people who lack a firm wish to discover the wisdom of the realm of the jiwa.

53. This therefore is best for you: even though you work as a trader, it is to be hoped that you will not neglect to keep watch over your inner self. Do be really careful in all your behaviour, and see your condition as it actually is.

54. Only, you must not be mistaken about this, for this state is not something ordinary that can easily be seen as one sees with the eyes in the usual way. It is something that arises in, and always accompanies, the course of thinking. So you need to be alert to enable you to know within your knowing.

55. This is difficult for anyone whose self has had no training yet, but you who have been able to do the latihan can feel and be aware of your condition. To be able to understand this, it is best to be trained in the following way:

56. When you are looking, feel and see the different kinds of seeing. When you are listening, feel and listen to the different kinds of hearing. When you are smelling, feel and smell the different kinds of smelling, and while speaking feel the different kinds of speaking.

57. Likewise, do always be aware of your entire body - of what you feel and the nature of the changes it undergoes each time you encounter anything. This is the first step, a beginning for you in getting evidence of how one force differs from another; later you will be able to feel which impulse comes from which one of these forces that are always active together and that in reality contribute to everything you do.

58. This is the way to receive, even though you do it amid the turmoil of life. So, not surprisingly, some people choose another way: that is, by removing themselves far from the turmoil. This is not the right solution, however, because wherever a man may go he cannot leave his thinking behind, and it is precisely this that always interferes with his actions.

59. Probably you will no longer find it difficult to receive everything that has been mentioned. Only, there is still a lack within you: you are still unable to do it thoroughly.

60. May you not worry about that. Just keep on, even though the results come only little by little. In the end the time will certainly come when whatever is needed will become clear spontaneously - provided that in your inner feeling you do not go on stressing the importance of your thinking, for that truly is the main source of temptation on your way towards your eternal self.

end chaps: 1 2 3

Chapters:
Preface / 1 2 3 / 4 5 6 / 7 8 9 / 10 11 12 / 13 14 15 / 16 17 18 / 19 20 /