1. Duties of Committees

AS for the members of the organizational committee, their duties and responsibilities are to take care of and arrange matters connected with external requirements, for instance:

1.To keep a register of members and to provide a place for the latihan.

2.To keep account of the money coming in and going out.

3. To maintain correspondence with Subud branches in other countries.

4.To decide the rate of contributions from each member or to collect voluntary donations from them.

5.To Finance the helpers' journeys when they have to visit members who have not come to the latihan for some time and when they have to visit sick relations of the members.

6. To prepare the .congresses which take place in their locality and to send the necessary delegates to take part in the International Congress of Subud at the place agreed upon by the whole of the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud for this congress to be held.

7. To join in the helpers' latihan, which is held separately. This is necessary in order that the committee members and the helpers should always be close to each other and be able to work together in harmony.

8. When possible, to form a business organization and to choose someone from among the members to manage it and to carry out work in this field. This is necessary in order that the needs of the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud should always be able to be guaranteed, and so that the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud should also be able to extend its activities into the social field.

So, if you will remember about the distribution of work as described above, it will not be possible, when you take steps to achieve something useful and important for the brotherhood, for anything to cause dissension and division to arise between the helpers and committee members. But if, nevertheless, misunderstandings still occur between the helpers and the committee members with regard to some question which it is considered necessary to decide, the helpers should quickly do a latihan together. This is necessary in order to receive indications from within as to the right course to follow.

You are certainly already able to understand that organization in the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud is not like the organization of some associations which are usually concerned only with worldly matters, but it is the organization of an association concerned with matters both worldly and spiritual.

Therefore, when you want to decide anything, even though it is a matter of worldly importance only, it is best that you do not forsake the method of testing by means of the latihan kejiwaan, because the latihan kejiwaan represents for you a source from which you can obtain the directive you wish for.

From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. IV, No. 1, page 19 - Information and Advice from Bapak, 1965.

2. Testing for Chairman (man or woman)

SO that this election may be witnessed by all members concerned, it is fitting that one by one the candidates test in front of a meeting of general membership, with both men and women attending. As this election involves testing, the support of the helpers is required; both men and women helpers should join in witnessing and feeling so as to result in harmony of the feelings. The helpers whose duty it is to assist in the election on the national level are the National helpers, both men and women. The Regional helpers will assist in electing the Regional Committee. The local helpers will assist in electing the Group Committees.

From Ibu Siti Rahayu – (letter) November 19 74.

3. Committee not to resolve spiritual matters

CARE should be taken that the committee is not to resolve spiritual matters. It is merely an administrative body of the Subud Brotherhood, while the spiritual side is something that should be carried out through the power of Almighty God.

From Pewarta Kejiwaan Subud Vol. II, No. 7-8, page 200 –(letter) 1962.

4. Include committee in helpers' latihan

BAPAK would like you always to hold latihans together - that is, the helpers - to hold latihans at least twice every month, latihans especially for the helpers. But also you should ask the committee to take part in these latihans so that the committee members will not feel left out, or will not feel that the helpers do not include them in the field of the kejiwaan, or that they are made only to think about worldly matters because, actually, the important thing in Subud is the kejiwaan, and that is why we join Subud. If the committee is left out, then gradually you will find there is nobody any more who wants to work on the committee.

This is very important and Bapak hopes that you will always pay attention to this: that at least twice a month there will be a latihan together between all the helpers and the committee. So that then there will be a good co-operation and a good feeling between the committee and the helpers, and especially between the helpers themselves, so that you will love one another, respect one another and will give way to one another, so that you will truly be in harmony.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 1 O, page 236 - relevant recording: 77 BUE 2.

5. Good co-operation between helpers and committee

NOW, apart from having a real harmony and a good co-operation between all the helpers on all the different levels, Bapak also feels it is very important to have a good co-operation and a good understanding between the helpers and the committee. To achieve this, all that is necessary is to have a very clear understanding of the boundary of the responsibilities of the helpers and the committee.

Now, the helpers have absolutely no responsibility for the organization and the worldly side, so they are not allowed to meddle in the organization, in the finances, in any of the things that concern the committee - these are the responsibility of the committee. It's very important that the helpers understand that they should not mix themselves into the work of the Committees.

The responsibility of the helpers is to make the members aware of what Subud is - like, for example, the question that Bapak was asked: that people are opened and then they don't come to latihan any more; or before they are opened they want to know what Subud is - so that all the members become really aware and understand what Subud is. This is a very big job.

So the helpers actually have a lot of work, a great deal of work to do, to make sure that all the Subud members really understand what Subud is. And this is in no way the responsibility of the committee.

The committee are in no way expected to think about, to worry about, to concern themselves about whether the members are aware of Subud or not, because their responsibility is the material side: that is, to keep a tally of the number of members, to arrange for a place of latihan, to collect the subscriptions, to pay the bills, and so on - that is the job of the committee. To make a budget for the year, and so on - that is the job of the committee. To make a budget for the year, and so on - that's all the committee's job. Also, for example, to do the shopping for the kitchen. That is not the job of the helpers but the job of the committee. If the helpers have to do the shopping then they have no time to concern themselves with the kejiwaan - they are too busy with choosing the meat.

From Pewarta Special Supplement No. 6, page 113.

6. Subud and charity

THE aims of Subud in this word are much wider than what you have experienced so far. It is really essential for us, as part of the responsibility or the duty of the Subud Brotherhood in this world, to establish a charitable side or a charitable body such as exists in religions, because charitable work is the proof of our worship of God. It is the proof that we are concerned about and have compassion for the needs of other human beings, and it is also the proof that what we have received in our lives - in other words, if we have received something in our lives that has made us better, has made our lives more complete - we then wish to pass this on, we have the interest to pass this on to other people who need it. These are the two proofs or the two requirements of our worship of Almighty God, and therefore it is God's will that man should be interested in passing on his wisdom to those human beings who have need of it, whose lives are always in a state of want and in a state of confusion.

From Bapak's talk at Reigate, September 19 79.

7. Politics

IF you go to church to pray or to perform a religious duty, this is not wrong. But you must also be careful now that there are groups which take part in politics, while Subud does not participate in anything political whatsoever, as our aim is only to worship the One Almighty God and develop our lives in accordance with the will of God, which is manifested in the latihan kejiwaan.

From Ibu Siti Rahayu, 'letter) 24 April 1980.