1. Contact with the Great Life

BAPAK first makes clear the conditions under which human beings can receive contact with the Great Life, whose source is in fact the power of God Almighty.

As is evident, God is powerful and far excels man in all things; for in very truth He is the Creator of mankind and of heaven and earth. So man as he really is, then, is just a created thing, powerless before God.

Necessarily, since this is his real condition, man cannot with his heart and mind understand or reflect on the nature and power of God. This is why, whenever people try to find a way that may lead to contact with the Great Life, many are stranded on the path or, if not, are impelled - not having a conscious jiwa - to stray in other directions, directions which in reality are mirages of the imagination, heart and mind.

So man, in seeking the nature of worship that can make contact with the Great Life, needs above all to stop the welling up of his imagination and thinking. For by doing that he really paralyses his nafsu and surrenders his human ability and wisdom; that is to say, the human being obeys and submits with complete sincerity to God Who rules within him.

This in fact is nothing new, for men of old followed this path and found a contact of this quality that they could feel within them. Why, then, are there not many people like that in our own time who still have that contact? The reason is simply that conditions on earth for mankind keep changing as generation succeeds generation, and many people are easily affected by the influence of these ever-changing conditions that face them. Especially has this been so as the human mind has progressively developed its science. This has, as it were, increasingly opened the way for the inner feeling to fall from the realm of inner peace into the realm of thought. In consequence, the human self gradually comes to be ruled more and more by thought, instead of by the quietness of the inner feeling or the inner self, so that in the end man's emotions and brain are always busy and his inner feeling has almost no opportunity to be at peace.

Certainly men must think, for thought is an important toot with which they can strive to fulfill the needs of their life on earth and so make their existence here an orderly one. But to become aware of the kejiwaan and make contact again with the Great Life men do not need to use their minds. On the contrary, they should stop the process of their thinking and imagining. For only by so doing can a person receive something from beyond his reach that at length attracts a vibration of energy felt within the self. Clearly, then, the sole way to make contact with the Great Life, or with the power of God, is for a man to surrender sincerely and earnestly. And this surrender must not be in work only, but must penetrate throughout his inner feeling until he truly feels that he believes in, praises and worships no one but God Almighty (Allah).

When he can really do this, at that moment he will also feel powerless, but with no sense of loss, and still conscious.

That is to say, he will feel powerless because at that moment the strength of his nafsu, heart and mind will have gone from him; and he will still feel complete because his inner feeling will then be filled with something that comes from the Great Life; finally, he will feel conscious because of the revival of his human jiwa.

So is it, if a man can do this in the right way. But when, in his efforts to do this, he keeps using thought because he regards it as a means or tool able to overcome everything, then he can hardly hope that it will be possible to make contact with the Great Life.

This truth was often stated by those who received while living on earth in centuries long past, They said that man's one and only way to be able to draw near to the power of God is that he must be willing to quieten his inner feeling with complete patience, trust and sincerity.

This has been an absolute requirement, for in truth this gift from God can only be received by men who have inner feelings filled with surrender, patience, trust and sincerity before the greatness of God.

From the Preface to Bapak's book 'Susila Budhi Dharma '.

2. The latihan is a latihan of life

WHEN we have received the latihan it is a latihan of movement, and a latihan of life, and it is through the latihan that we become aware 'of the Great Life which extends beyond the boundaries of this world. Our latihan is not a thing of death. We are not directing ourselves towards death, but towards life. And the reason why this is important, why we have to get accustomed to pursuing our everyday life while not neglecting the worship of God Almighty, is because we can die anywhere. It is not sure that we will die on our mattress in bed at home. We may die while we are walking, we may die while we are driving our car, we may die while we are flying in the sky in an airplane. But if we have within us the latihan kejiwaan already, as we all have, then no matter where we are, we will always be in the lap of God at that moment.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 8, page 166

relevant recording: 77 NYC 3.

3. The hakekat (reality) of Subud

IN the case of Moses - he was able to pass on to his followers a teaching based on what he received from God, but the gift of the hakekat he could only pass on to those very very close to him.

And we have the same story in the case of Jesus Christ - that Jesus received his hakekat from God Almighty and he was able to pass on to some of his followers that same hakekat. But there are very few :also who are able to receive this. For example, there is the story of Peter. It is said that at one time he saw a man who was paralyzed, and Peter said to him: 'Why are you not able to walk?'

And the man said: 'Because I have been paralyzed for a long time .'

And Peter said: 'Do you have faith in God?'

So the man said: 'Well, 'if faith in God can cure me, then certainly I have faith in God - why not?'

SO Peter said to him: 'Yes, you must really have faith in God.' And the man said: 'Yes, I do.' 'All right, get up and walk.'

At that moment he was able to walk. And this experience is the hallmark of the hakekat; that is, that something miraculous can happen - a manifestation of the miraculous power of God, and that is known as the Murgisak which was received by all the prophets and all the messengers of God: For example, we know about Jesus - that Jesus could walk on the water, that Jesus brought back to life people who were dead. This is Murgisak; that is, the sign of the hakekat - the gift of God Almighty.

Now we can see from all these stories that we know already for a long time - we can see and draw the conclusion that the hakekat can be received by very few people - not by the masses.

So then why is it that now, today, Bapak passes on the hakekat to anybody who asks for it?

Brothers and sisters, Bapak doesn't know. Bapak doesn't know why this is, because Bapak only knows that Bapak does this because this is God's will, and God has given Bapak the permission and the right to do this. Bapak also knows that this is the last, this is the end, or the last possibility - because if, with this, man is not able to receive it, then Bapak doesn't know what God will decide about mankind. But this is the final step because whereas before in the case of the prophets, God, as it were, sat on His throne, and the one who did the work was the messenger, giving us some advice, and so on - now it is as though God has got up from His throne and has come into the world to act Himself.

That is why Bapak, for example, doesn't give a lot of rules and advice about how you should move - you should move like this and like that, and you should believe this and that. Bapak doesn't do any of that. Bapak simply passes on the contact with the power of God: and then Bapak has been told by God that Bapak is free of responsibility. If those who have received the latihan do not follow it, do not do it faithfully, do not receive what God gives them, then Bapak has no responsibility because Bapak has already passed on everything that Bapak has received to each of us.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 6, page 108 - relevant recording: 77 BLAT 1.

4. Heart and mind cannot grasp the latihan

THE efforts of the heart and the mind to find the power of God and to worship God cannot possibly succeed because the heart and mind is something that is only for the arrangement and the ordering of the lower forces. This is the reason, if you want to know, why people in Subud, why Subud members, haven't really made progress in their latihan - it is because they still use the heart and mind in trying to understand and to grasp the latihan kejiwaan. But the latihan kejiwaan cannot be grasped by the heart and mind. It is something that can only be received by complete surrender - actually, it can only be received from Almighty God if the heart and mind do not always disturb and obstruct it. So our receiving in the latihan is something that can only develop once our heart and mind can no longer obstruct it and no longer try to understand.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 9, page 190 - relevant recording: 77 YUL 2.

5. The Aim of Subud

AS the latihan kejiwaan (spiritual way) of Subud is free from the influence of the passions, heart and mind, and is truly awakened by the power of Almighty God, the aim of Subud is naturally towards perfection of character according to the will of the One Who awakens it, namely, Almighty God.

It is also necessary to explain that Subud is neither a kind of religion nor a teaching, but it is a spiritual experience awakened by the power of God leading to spiritual reality free from the influence of passions, heart and mind.

That is why in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud one really feels that one's inner self is no longer influenced by the passions, heart and mind, which means that in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud the inner feeling has truly been separated from their influence.

Why should the passions, heart and mind be separated from the inner feeling,when these are man's most important equipment for his life in this world, which can be used to increase and broaden his knowledge? It is because, unless the passions, heart and mind are separated from the inner feeling, it will not be able to be in a pure state in receiving the latihan kejiwaan, so that it will be impossible for the inner feeling to receive the contact from the Great Life Force which, in fact, has permeated it inwardly and outwardly.

This is the reason why the influence of the passions, heart and mind must be separated from the inner feeling. In such a state the inner feeling will awaken and be able to recognize the existence of the various kinds of life forces which flow in and out and move it. Eventually it will be able to distinguish between the good and the bad, namely, between the life force that originates from the true human self and the life forces that come from the sub-human forces, i.e. the material, vegetable and animal life forces and the life force of man.

In receiving the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, the one who receives is truly guided by the power of Almighty God towards the attainment of an ability to distinguish between the various kinds of life forces in man (chemistry in the spiritual realm), and this will eventually lead to the realization of his true self and elimination of the false one.

In ordinary science such knowledge (chemistry) is very important, for with chemistry man can extract iron, tin, gold, silver and other materials from a lump of earth. The only difference is that the latter is man's work, done with his heart and mind; whereas the former, the chemistry in the spiritual realm, is the work of God Whose power reaches far beyond the power and ability of man.

And finally, in your true worship of Almighty God, you need not worry about anything. God is All-Knowing and All-Wise in all things. God can make and create something from that which does not exist, and God can put right something that, from the mind's view, cannot possibly be put right.

From 'The Basis and Aim of Subud' page 3 - 1969.

6. The Brotherhood of Subud

THE Brotherhood of Subud is not in reality an organization, but a brotherhood of mankind throughout the world. That which is usually referred to as the organization of Subud is not an organization in the ordinary sense of the word, but rather the administrative structure necessary to serve the needs of the Brotherhood. That which gives unity to the Subud Brotherhood is the latihan, which comes from God and by means of which we worship God, and this cannot possibly be organized like some worldly undertaking. In truth, it is God alone Who directs, leads and guides the common worship of all mankind, and therefore this Subud Brotherhood of ours, standing before God, is beyond the reach of any human regulations.

From 'Subud and the Active Life ' page 26 (1st ed.),page 16 (2nd ed.} - 1959.

7. The nature of Subud

SUBUD is an abbreviated form of Susila Budhi Dharma.

Susila denotes the nature of man in whom are to be found the true human qualities that he should possess according to the will of God.

Budhi means that there besides within man a superior power which can guide him when he is able to be aware of it.

Dharma signifies the submission of man before the greatness of God above all, so that his own experience proves to him that no other wish is stronger in him than his wish for God, and that of all his love none is greater than his love towards God; this is beyond everything he has ever wished or could wish for himself. All the Prophets have taught that a man should love God even above his own soul.

This is a symbol for us in Subud. It is certainly very hard for you to live in this way in your own individuality, but once God wills it so, we can hope that what Subud stands for - namely the perfection of human society united in the worship of God - will be attained both by you yourselves and by your descendants.

Subud is not a religion, for it stands as a symbol for man both within the communities of the various religions and also outside all organized religions, and only if a man's nature corresponds to the symbol of Subud can he be described as really Subud. In Subud each one will meet with and become aware of reality according to what he himself has experienced, and a man who becomes Subud will really be able to receive the guidance from God which exists in and for every individual. He will then be aware of What is right and what is wrong, he will also understand how to live while he is on this earth in such a way as to achieve happiness for himself and his family.

... Each of you will also be able to receive for yourself what has to be done by you, and eventually you will be able to comprehend the truths contained in all the scriptures and to become a true follower of the religion to which you belong. The whole of this process is worked in you by the power of God alone.

From 'Subud and the Active Life' page 33 (1st ed.), page 22 (2nd ed.) - 1959.

8. To be Subud-minded

WHAT it means to be Subud-minded is to realize that you yourself are Subud and to understand that within you there is already the quality of Susila, Budhi and Dharma, but at the moment it is not yet like that. You still like to follow someone else, so if you are told this then you follow like this, if you are told that you follow that. So it is not as though you have your own firm opinion, your own firm point of view and your own firm foothold, but it is as though you are easily swayed by what people tell you and what you hear from here and there.

From Bapak ~ talk in Toronto, 16 August 1979.

9. Enterprises - schools, hospitals, homes etc.

IT is the power of God that is the teacher of man. This is why Bapak advises you to do enterprises, in order to train yourself, in order to become accustomed to being able to live according to the guidance that is received through contact with the power of God.

In addition to enterprises providing a training ground or an opportunity for us to experience and to get used to working, while not forgetting, or while being aware of our closeness to the power of God Almighty, they also provide the income that is needed by the Subud Brotherhood for achieving all the things it needs to do in this world. Every Subud enterprise must devote a small portion of its profits to the Subud Brotherhood, and this portion Of the profit from many enterprises, put together, will become a big amount. And this large amount is what we need in order to start work on the various proposals that have been put forward and approved at the various International Congresses.

For example, Subud should begin to set up schools for disturbed children, for orphans and destitute children and all sorts of schools like that, where not only will the teachers have proper teacher's diplomas and be qualified, but they will also be helpers in the Brotherhood of Subud. So besides teaching the children in the normal way, they will also be able to give them a direction in life. That is, they will be able to indicate to each child the true nature of his talents, so that child will be able to make use of what he is learning from the teacher, so that we will really be true to what we have received in the latihan - that we are able to guide and to put each person on their right path, so that they will have a life that is not wasted, but a life that is useful. Those helpers who work in that way will certainly get a reward from God Almighty for the fact that they have been able to put a human being on the right line and give him a direction in his life.

Also, we have to start hospitals, where again the staff will be qualified doctors who will give medical treatment to the patients. But besides, they will be helpers, so that while they are treating the patients the fact that they themselves are following the latihan kejiwaan will awaken in the patients the wish and the feeling of the need to worship God Almighty. They will be brought close to the power of God.

Then, in addition to that, we have to start homes for old people. It is true that in some countries the government looks after old people, but there are still many countries where they don't. So this, again, is work that we have to undertake.

Finally, through setting up enterprises we will also be able to fulfill the needs of our own members; that is, those members who do not yet work, or cannot yet work - that we give them an opportunity and show them and teach them how to work so that their lives are not wasted, so that they can begin to feel what it means to work in an enterprise.

Once we have been able to set up enterprises, and once they are going well, they will have a very great use and benefit - not only for Subud itself, but also for society in general. This is why Bapak has never liked and has always discouraged you from making propaganda about Subud, because what is the use of making propaganda if we cannot yet show or demonstrate the fruits of what we have received? But once we have been able to make our enterprises successful, so that we are able to demonstrate to society that what we do is for the benefit of society itself, then this will immediately attract the attention of people to Subud and will show them, without the need of propaganda, what Subud really is.

And not only society but also the governments of the countries where Subud exists will see and take note of the work that Subud does, so that our way will always be open. We will never lack for opportunities to do latihan, to hold meetings, to give talks - in other words, everything that we need for our life in our Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud will be fulfilled and be satisfied. For this reason Bapak needs that you all put your lives in order. In other words, bring order to your lives so that you can become an example to society in general.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 13, page 293 - relevant recording: 77 LAX 3.

10. Man's worship of God

- something completely ordinary NORMALLY the people who study spiritual matters portray the thing that they are studying. In other words, they give the impression that something holy, something that lies at the end of their efforts to study the spiritual, is something rather scary, something very out of the ordinary - as Bapak says, something scary. But the fact, the reality, is completely different. The worship of God - that is, the spiritual experience of man which is man's receiving and man's worship of God - is something that is willed by God to be completely ordinary. That is, it is something that takes place in accordance with the normal life and nature of man, and something which is also joyful, happy and satisfying. This is something that you can work out for yourself, or think through for yourself, because the creation of man, the origin of man - which is nothing else than the creation of a child, or the birth of a child - is an experience of joy. There is nothing fantastic or weird about it. It is something that is not only ordinary, but also very joyful and very happy and very satisfying. And this is the nature of man's relationship with God. This is the basis of man's spiritual life. And this is also the experience that we receive when we do the latihan kejiwaan.

Our experience and knowledge of the latihan kejiwaan is that our worship of God in the latihan is something that is joyful and satisfying, and also ordinary and quite normal. This is why these people who, as Bapak has said, study spiritual matters or follow some spiritual teaching feel that the latihan is not at all in line with what they have been led to understand, or what they believe - that is, that spiritual matters, or the fruits of the spiritual search, are something a bit scary and a bit weird. On the contrary, they say, looking at the latihan; this latihan therefore is not something spiritual, it is something ordinary in the realm of health, or sport or something like that.

But the fact is that the existence of the latihan - that is, the movement that we receive in the latihan, the fact that the latihan is received as a movement of our being - is actually necessary for us, because out of this movement grows culture, and by culture Bapak means a personal skill or a personal ability according to our own personal nature. That means that through the latihan we develop our own way, our own private, right way, in accordance with our own nature, in accordance with our own nationality, with our own Characteristics and so on, which does not resemble, or does not imitate anybody else, but is something that grows from within ourselves according to our own nature. That is, we find our own right way of life in this world growing out of the latihan kejiwaan that we receive. This is something that is very much in line with what Jesus himself used to say - that the worship of God is something light and joyful and beneficial to man.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 8, page 168 - relevant recording: 77 WOS 1.

11. The spread of Subud by example

TO spread Subud by means of propaganda, simply because we live in an age of propaganda, is not the way. Propaganda is today used everywhere, but people are becoming tired of it. They see that one may be a clever talker but incapable of practicing what one talks about. One can speak of riches without one's self becoming rich. One can also talk about how to be a good man and pure in heart, and about how to behave in order to possess the qualities one ought to have, but without experiencing any change of nature in this direction within one's self.

Today mankind in general does not want to hear propaganda: they want proofs because there are so many clever men who confuse the minds of others until their heads spin. This is the situation at present, and because of this, proof is demanded. Each proof should be a real one, representing the reality of the spiritual life. It should be shown clearly that this is a life which can rightly be an example, because it can be put into practice, and the proof which people demand is there.

From 'Subud and the Active Life', page 140 (1st ed.},page 103 (2nd ed.) - 1959.

BAPAK forbids us to make propaganda for Subud, or to force people to come into Subud, because that is completely useless. We don't need a lot of members, not if it causes chaos. It is far better to have just a few members than to have a lot of members at the cost of chaos - but a few members who really follow the worship of God Almighty in the right way and who have come to Subud by their own free will through the recognition of what Subud really is. So it is far better for us, even if there are only a few people.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 15, page 341 - relevant recording: 77 SEA 2.

13. Let us stick close to God Almighty

.. IT is really like that. If we want to be wealthy, we should stick closely to people who are rich. If we want to be good people, people with good character and good behavior, then we should stick close to those who are good people with good behavior, because it is catching. If we want to be bad people and do things that are wrong, then all we need to do is to stick close to people who are bad and do wrong things. This is how it is in the world. And in the next world - who is the one who can guide us but God Almighty? So let us stick close to God Almighty and then we do not need to worry about going astray or getting lost.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 15, page 342 - relevant recording: 77 SEA 2.

14. 'Susila Budhi Dharma' has to be read (especially by the helpers)

THE role of lower forces, and the material, especially money: if you want to understand this better, all this is explained in Bapak's book Susila Budhi Dharma. Brothers and sisters, read that book. Bapak really wants to advise you now, especially the helpers, do not look on Susila Budhi Dharma as something of great value that you keep on the shelf, but something that has to be read, something you must understand.

First talk after Sixth World Congress, Toronto - relevant recording: 79 YYZ 10.

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