1. Helpers act only as 'bystanders'

IT is necessary for all helpers to remember that in the latihan kejiwaan of worship in Subud, the helpers act only as 'bystanders' who do not influence and do not wish to influence the person by whom they stand, so that both of them are worshipping together, and also receive together what is needed for the inner feeling of each of them.

For if this is not so, not only will the person who is stood-by not obtain anything, but also the 'bystander' (helper) will not make any progress. For the truth is that helpers do not open the way for the person whom they stand by, and if they try to do so they may close the way for that person's worship of God.

You are, of course, already aware that the latihan kejiwaan of worship in Subud is not a teaching but a receiving, as it was experienced and received by all the Prophets in former centuries. So it is clear that what is obtained in the latihan kejiwaan is exclusively by the will of God the Almighty; this is usually called Mu'jizatullah - the miraculous gift of God.

From Bapak, letter to Margaret Wichmann, Sjafrudin Achmad and others, 14 July 1958.

2. Spontaneous latihan

IF latihan really and truly comes on spontaneously (not by will) it is, in fact, a latihan needed by the jiwa. This may be received and followed as long as it is needed by the jiwa. However, if it lasts too long and takes too much of your time (for instance, during working hours), it may be you should ask God's permission for His power to stop it and to continue it during leisure hours. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. II, No. 3/4, page 66 - (letter) 1961.

3. Quiet before the latihan

BAPAK hopes that when you come to the place of latihan before the latihan kejiwaan, you will not bring with you a head full of thoughts; for then you will not be able to receive, but will only be throwing off the thoughts which you have carried with you into the place where the latihan is held. You should not do this, It is better that you should quieten yourselves before coming to the latihan and not think of anything, so that when you begin the latihan this one half-hour may be truly profitable for you all. The essence of this is that you should not come to the latihan in order to get rid of your thoughts, but so as to be able to receive what you need. From 'Subud and the Active Life ', page 11 ( first ed.), page 83 (2nd ed.) - 1959.

4. Waiting before the latihan

ACTUALLY there are no friends, no enemies in a Subud group, no higher or lower, all are equal. But helpers need to be very patient and thoughtful towards the members, being careful always to give no impression of being more 'advanced', or being in any way in a position of authority.

In the period of waiting before latihan, while, all the members are gathering together, helpers especially should be very quiet in their inner, avoid unnecessary chatter, and by exercising inwardly, they can for that short time truly be a helper, because by being there in that state, an atmosphere of harmony is created, so that non-helpers, many of whom will be or wish to be in the same state, will at once feel a spiritual bond and relationship of value.

Refuse to chatter, refuse to talk privately with other helpers at such a time. It seems that where helpers do not meet with and be with the members in this way, feelings of resentment, inferiority, unkindness and even great spiritual loneliness sometimes grow up among the members, who may become confused and dismayed, for they come to worship God, and instead of fellowship and harmony during the time when they are waiting to start their latihan, they are being distracted and disturbed because their inner need for quietness is not recognized, not provided for and sometimes even denied them.

Helpers, too, should remember that some members have been limited to two latihans a week, and are advised not to exercise alone at home yet, so that an unharmonious atmosphere before the latihan for them becomes a heavy burden and a sorrow instead of a quiet and happy time when they can feel peaceful and relaxed among their spiritual brothers or sisters. M’Bakyu Rochanawati's letter to helpers, 11 April 1960.

5. Preparing for the latihan

THE reason why A. still has little movement is his own fault, because he still has a lot of thoughts and ideas whenever he is about to do the latihan kejiwaan, but it is not because he was not opened properly. So he should not think about anything or have any ideas before doing the latihan. He should just say within himself: 'God, God, God'. If he can do this, he will be able to feel a vibration of life; that is, the vibration of the inner-feeling when it is touched by the contact from the power of Almighty God. This vibration finally manifests itself in the movements and energy that are called the latihan kejiwaan.

As regards you yourself, it is better not to feel or think too much, because if you think and feel about another person you attract that person's feeling to your own inner-feeling. For this reason, you should be patient in your daily life and think only about the matters pertaining to your own household; and before you do the latihan kejiwaan empty yourself of all thoughts and ideas, and turn your whole inner-feeling towards the power of Almighty God which envelops you both within and without. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. VII, No. 3, page 9 - (letter 309} 1969.

6. Arranging the attendance of helpers at latihan

IF there are a hundred members in a center, and ten or twenty helpers, they should take it in turn to attend the latihan kejiwaan during the week and not come to all of them; five should attend on the first evening, five on the second and so on. If there are fewer than a hundred members - say twenty-five or fifty and ten helpers, then the number of helpers attending each evening latihan can be reduced to three or four. With this arrangement the helpers will have some evenings for themselves, whereas if they have to come every evening and during that evening take three or four latihans, that may mean they do as many as twelve latihans in a week, which is really very heavy. The latihans should therefore be arranged so as to lighten the burden on the helpers.

The arrangement of the number of latihans and the times in each locality should be made by the helpers together, as they have no chairman or secretary; since members of the helpers' group are supposed to be more purified than the others, any arrangement should be made harmoniously, with a common feeling of purity and closeness - there should be no element of desire to lead or follow the lead of another. A meeting of this kind should be governed by a mutual understanding and a mutual feeling as to what is right. It is therefore necessary to test everything together.

When arrangements have to be made - for instance, for a helper to visit a member living at a distance - it should be decided by testing who should go. The same applies to the visiting of sick people; in this way the helper chosen to undertake this task will not feel any burden and will have a feeling of shared responsibility. From 'Subud and the Active Life' page 177(1st ed.),page 130 (2nd ed.) 1959.

7. Frequency of latihan

THE helpers have to ensure that nobody does the latihan more than two or three times a week. Sometimes it is allowed to exercise twice with the group and once at home, according to circumstances.

From M’bakyu Rochanawati's talk to women helpers in Europe,1959-60.

8. The latihan in everyday life

THE latihan kejiwaan we do twice a week, the latihan we do on Mondays and Thursdays and so on, is only the condition, only the basis or the framework that is provided for our latihan. It is only the beginning. That is only the prerequisite for being in Subud.

The latihan for us is throughout our everyday life, because it is through receiving the guidance of God in our everyday life that we bring closer the power of God with our own being, so that we will no longer be inferior, for example, to the animals, because we will get to know our right way, we will be shown how to live in · this world. From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 13, page 290 - relevant recording: 77 LAX 3.

9. Latihan by married couples

BAPAK does not really approve of married couples in Subud doing the latihan kejiwaan together, and Bapak does not permit this, because in fact the latihan kejiwaan of Subud which you are following is your worship of Almighty God. As for the way in which you worship Almighty God, in this you are guided and directed by His power. You must realize this because in your worship of Almighty God your inner nature must be completely free from the influence of the nafsu, whereas if men and women do the latihan together, simultaneously and in the same place, it will actually attract the influences of the nafsu. This, of course, will easily cause both men and women members to experience a turmoil of the nafsu asmara (passion of love) which they will be powerless to prevent.

If, at the time of Opening, women must be opened by women helpers and men must be opened by men helpers, then why after they are able to receive and to do the latihan kejiwaan, should they suddenly be permitted to receive and do the latihan together, simultaneously and in the same place? Clearly this only comes from the pressure of the nafsu, and they are not yet aware that the latihan kejiwaan is quite different from ordinary exercises, which are awakened by the will and the nafsu. In fact, Bapak forbids such behavior, seeing that the latihan kejiwaan of Subud which you receive and follow is really and truly guidance and direction from the power of Almighty God.

You should feel very fortunate that the nafsu, which usually control you, can be put aside through the grace of Almighty God. Therefore, as far as possible, you should no longer permit yourselves to be playthings of the nafsu which influence your heart and mind. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. VII, No. 3, page 15 - (letter 64} 1969.

A HUSBAND and wife may do latihan together once in a while, but you must remember that sometimes, while having latihan with your wife, you may be made to perform various intimacies so that you just have sexual intercourse. That is why it is best that you do not have latihan together too often but only occasionally. From a letter by Ibu Siti Rahayu, 20May 1980.

FOR example, with a married couple, if the wife is ill and her husband is willing to help her, then sometimes they may do latihan together. But there is also a reason why they are not always allowed to do the latihan together (such as in paragraph above), for the result of this will be the desire for or the act of sexual intercourse. It is not right when it is like this, for then there is no progress spiritually, as this is just for physical reasons.

Also, if a husband and wife already have latihan together, they should not feel that it is unnecessary for them to attend the group latihan, This is wrong. Therefore, it is just occasionally that they may have latihan together.

So, in reality there are two answers. The reason why Bapak does not give permission for married couples always to have latihan together is if their latihan results in always having sexual relations, this clearly is not right, for the content of the latihan is each individual's worship towards the One Almighty God. Ibu Siti Rahayu's answer to the International Helpers, 2 August 1980.

10. Not doing latihan with the group

THE one who values the latihan kejiwaan, even though, let us say, he does not do latihan with the group, as long as he values the latihan and accepts the power of God Almighty, then God will also always guide him and accompany him. Bapak can only express the hope that you will not separate yourselves from your brothers and sisters.

Actually if you decide to do this, you are in fact only giving in to and following the will of the material or satanic forces and also the animal forces. In other words, you are submitting yourself to the influence of your own nafsu. From Pewarta Special Supplement t No. 13, page 2 77 relevant recording: 77 MEX 3.

11. Latihan at home

NOBODY is allowed to do latihan alone unless given permission by a helper. After three months' latihan a helper may give permission to someone to exercise at home in addition to with the group, provided that the helper is satisfied that the person can stop the latihan after half-an-hour. From M’Bakyu Rochanawati, talk to women helpers in Europe,1959-60.

12. Latihan of isolated members

Question: Would Bapak clarify - since distance has no significance in spiritual matters - is it quite proper for isolated people to do latihan alone at the same time as the group? This will no doubt be a justification for people to stay at home to do their latihan, since some sacrifice of time and money is needed to travel to the center.

Answer: It is very necessary that helpers give advice to prevent this happening, because it is only meant for members who live at a considerable distance from an established group, and who are unable always to take part in the group latihan. They may and can have latihan on their own and need not come to the group provided that their latihans are done at the same time as that of the group; in other words, if the group always does latihan on Mondays and Thursdays, those living far away also do it on Monday and Thursday. Doing it at the same time, they will be in contact with each other and their latihan can go well. But this does not apply to members belonging to one group and all living in, say, New York, and who then, because the latihan place is some little distance away, think that they have no need to go there and so do latihan by themselves at home. Not at all! From Bapak, 'Subud in the World', page 64 relevant recording: 63 BCL 6.

13. Duration of latihan

IF we really weigh this and feel it, half-an-hour or a little over is sufficient for the members to do the latihan kejiwaan. It is also sufficient for them to do the latihan kejiwaan twice a week. In view of the fact that the capacity of the inner-feeling, heart and mind are not yet in proper balance with the developing jiwa, then if a person does the latihan kejiwaan too frequently he will be likely to experience confusion in his inner-feeling; this is what is called a crisis.

For this reason Bapak hopes that you will arrange the latihans for the members in the ordinary way. And if you really consider it to be necessary to have more latihan, you may lengthen the latihan by adding fifteen minutes to the time, and you may increase the total number of latihans by one only, so that there are three latihans a week. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. VII, No. 3, page 13 - (letter A-104) 1969.

14. Finishing the latihan

SITI Rahayu said it was important that the helpers made sure that everybody had really finished their latihan before they left the latihan hall, and that none left in an unquiet state.

This advice was in response to a question about following Bapak's experience of ending testing sessions with the members by saying: 'Return to your original position., be calm., finish.' Siti Rahayu was being asked if group helpers should also make that statement, and Siti Rahayu answered that there had been unfavorable reports from some groups when this had been tried, so that helpers should feel out what is best for their group: From Ibu Siti Rahayu, (letter) 4 January 1979.

15. Latihan with the sick

IF the sick person is a member and cannot come to the place of latihan because he is too seriously ill, one or two helpers could come and do the latihan at the home of the sick person. The sick person should remain lying in bed and the helpers do the latihan near to him for half-an-hour. But if the sick person could still come to the place of general latihan, he should participate in the latihan for all, as usual, and the helpers give their help also as usual. It is not necessary to do the latihan for sick people who are non-members, because it may bring about misunderstanding.

After the latihan by the helpers for the sick, the helpers should have a cleansing latihan of 5-15 minutes. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. 1I, No. 3/4, page 70 - (letter) 1961.

16. Advice concerning latihan after major operation

REGARDING your question about latihan after a major operation, Bapak says it is necessary to wait three months after an operation has been performed. From letter to women helpers' group, Subud U.K., Jakarta From Bapak - (letter) 24 October 1966

17. Latihan with sick member of opposite sex

THE reply to your question is that it is not allowed to assist the latihan of a sick person of the opposite sex. If the patient is a woman, a woman helper should assist her, and if it is a man who is ill, then it must also be a man who assists him. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. V, No. 2, page 47 - (letter) I September 1966.

18. Latihan for sick child or member

IT is indeed good to ask assistance from helpers when a child of a member or a member himself is ill, so that the helpers can do latihan near him. In the case of the member himself, it is not necessary to do this while he is asleep. The helper could do latihan with him when he is awake. Only when it is a child who is ill and needing help should the helper do latihan near the child while he is asleep. From 'Subud in the World; page 33 - relevant recording: 63 BCL 2.

19. Latihan for the dying

FOR non-Subud members: you should not do a latihan for a dying person if you have not yet received a request to do so from the person concerned or her relatives, because otherwise it will be a kind of compulsive action, it means forcing someone who does not wish it. It will possibly result in people saying that you are doing something unseemly.

You are allowed to do a latihan for a relative of a Subud member who is dying on the condition that you are requested to do so by his or her family, although the person concerned does not ask you to do so. If by chance the dying person is your own husband, your own brother or your own father, you are allowed to do a latihan for him; and for the men helpers, they are also allowed to do a latihan for their own wife, their own sister or their own mother who is dying. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. I, No. 4, page 93 - (letter) 1960.

20. Latihan and the dead

THE way you wish for God's help is simply by doing your own latihan; whether that wish is granted or not depends entirely on God. In doing the latihan kejiwaan in this way you will also receive what is necessary for your own development; but if you intend to ask forgiveness for the dead person in your latihan it will not make any difference for him. Therefore, just do the latihan kejiwaan so that you may receive what is necessary for you; this means that it may not only be of help for the dead person, but you yourself may also receive in this way. And all that depends upon the mercy and grace of God alone.

It is not necessary to do the latihan in the presence of the body, for the way to God - the spiritual world - is unlimited by time or space; it covers the whole world the whole universe. The custom of praying near the corpse is only to show other people that what is being done is directed towards the dead; it is for the eyes of men to see, not for the eyes of God. From Bapak in 'Subud and the Active Life ', page 240 (1st ed.),page 173 (2nd ed.) - 1959.

21. Noisy latihan

IN case of a member whose latihan is so noisy that it is very disturbing to other members, to the extent that they cannot do their latihan, this should not be. Ideally, no one should be disturbed by the noisy latihan of another, in all probability he or she needs to make this noise, but since it does happen, then it is better to make arrangements for the noisy member to do latihan with other noisy members. From Bapak, (letter) 10 June 1978.

22. Awareness of others in latihan

FOR instance, what you receive is only a small voice but because you are feeling good you shout. Well, you may be feeling good, but those who hear you do not feel good. So although it may be all right for you, Bapak hopes you will also be aware of what is right for others. This is necessary. Why? Because you must have Susila. Yes - and certainly later you will acquire it.

In Bapak's case, for instance, if Bapak says 'laillaha illallah, laillaha illallah,' and on hearing this Bapak's neighbor is inwardly wondering whose voice it is, Bapak will stop. Why? Because Bapak has received it. Even if a person is only asking questions in his heart, Bapak can receive it.

In your case you cannot receive this yet. So, because you cannot yet receive this you should, for the' time being, make an effort; you should be able to differentiate. The brother who shouts as loud as he can in the latihan, well, of course it is nice for him. His feelings are relieved. But those who hear him will be annoyed, and therefore he should take this into account. So when doing the latihan, you should be able to say to yourself a kind of inner dialogue.

'In the latihan I shouldn't be making too much noise.'

'Well, I don't want to stop it.'

'Hush, you must; your neighbor is getting annoyed.' 'Bother my neighbor.'

'Well, what do you mean, you don't care about him? You are living here in this world along with lots of others - why not?'

Finally, you will be able - not just to understand - but to receive automatically the true Susila and you will carry this with you until, when you die, you come to the hereafter. From 'Bapak's Second Bandung Talk' - relevant recording.' 66 BDO 1.

23. To ask God for help before or at end of latihan

FOR certain needs it is all right for a person to ask God for help before or at the end of the latihan. But for the general latihan - the nature of which is worship of God, wherein we surrender ourselves and place ourselves according to the needs of that latihan itself - it is not necessary for it to be preceded or ended with a request. From Ibu Siti Rahayu – (letter 2425) 19 72.

24. Cleansing' latihan

CLEANSING' latihan should be done after:

Opening new member: 15 minutes.

Doing latihan with a member who is ill: 5-15 minutes.

Attending a member in crisis: 15-30 minutes.

"Cleansing" latihans are done by openers and helpers to free themselves from tensions they have received. Therefore these latihans are only for helpers and not for ordinary members. From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. II, No. 3/4,pages 64, 6 7, 70, 71 - 1961.

---