The Meaning of Subud

Ladies and gentlemen, in continuation of Bapak's explanations about the spiritual way, he offers this explanation to all of you who have felt the need to come to this meeting house tonight.

Please do not misunderstand these explanations that Bapak is giving and take them as a teaching. They really are explanations, given because all of you certainly need explanations about this spiritual way, in order that your thinking mind and desires may become pliable.

As Bapak has said before, in the life of any being it is the soul that is the main factor or the leader. So if the soul is wrong, that is to say, if the soul that occupies a being does not correspond to its visible form, then the behavior of the being will always be wrong.

Before the visible form begins to take shape, the soul is present as the future content of the being that will form around it. So, it is with the soul already present within it that the outward form begins to develop and finally comes to its completion - as the visible form in which the soul is present.

Bapak will illustrate how this happens. The way a soul enters a being, and the kind of soul that enters, depend on what happened before the being was created and on how it was created. This - Bapak says frankly - has to do with the union between a man and a woman. In most cases, the union between a man and a woman is motivated by an energy that is an accumulation of the atmosphere they have experienced in this world. This becomes a lens within ( what will become ) the visible being, which awakens ( and attracts ) whatever soul has the opportunity to enter it.

For example: human beings are usually unable to put aside their desire to be happier than others, and to be able to provide for their daily lives. This means that, overall, their inner nature, their heart and all of their feelings are directed to the atmosphere of this world; that is, towards matter. When this is the case, a way or opening is created that makes it possible for the material force to enter into the new being.

Furthermore, when a man and woman are not free from emotions that are continually influenced by greed, and have no love and compassion towards others, it is because these are human characteristics awakened by the vegetable forces. If a new human seed arises from the union of a man and wife in whom these qualities are present, then that seed will be a focus for the entry of the vegetable force.

Human beings - men and women alike - are also affected by and contain in their natures the characteristics that render them pitiless towards those who may be at their mercy; that is to say, they will refuse to pardon a defeated enemy, even one who is begging for mercy. They pursue only their own importance, high standing, and victory over others; they avoid contact with anyone who they fear may deprive them of any of their pleasures and satisfactions. If a new human seed comes into being through the union of a husband and a wife with these characteristics present in them, that seed will become a focal point for the entry of forces of the animal level.

Moreover, the new seed can become a target for the entry of the force of the ordinary human level when the husband and the wife have characters that are self-important, believing that their powers are the result of their own superiority. Such people do not feel and recognize that they exist in this world because God has created them. In reality such people only worship themselves and not God's greatness.

These four life forces that Bapak has just spoken about constantly interact with the human inner feeling, because they work in parallel with the main human functions: the thinking, the heart, the desires and the feelings. It is these four functions in human beings that provide the target or form through which the four life forces can enter.

Apart from these four forces, which continually interact with and exert pressure on the human self, there is also a higher force, exercising a superior influence upon a person's entire being; but its nature is above and beyond the reach and working of the human thinking mind, heart, desires and feelings. This fifth power requires no particular form ( by which to enter and work in a person ), because forms are the manifestations of the will, the heart and the brain. For this power, a person needs to be in a state where they are facing God, in a state comparable to the vastness of the ocean - where they are free of form. Only then will the fifth power enter into a person and open their awareness to the immensity of life, embracing both this world and the life beyond it.

That is why it is very rare in this world for people to be able to receive the influence of the fifth power within their being - as was the case with the prophets that you have heard of. Bapak says it is rare, because the only kind of people who were able to receive what he just described were the prophets whose lives are recorded in the books of the various religions. But Bapak cannot say whether God's choice is limited to those people who lived in bygone days or whether it may be God's will that many people living at the present time will also be able to receive in the same way.

As Bapak has already said, if a person is entirely filled by the material forces, then all their functions - the coarse as well as the fine, their brain, heart, desires and feelings - will be no more than tools at the disposal of the forces that have become their inner content. It follows from this, that all the experiences a person has passed through, their education, and all training of their intellect, heart and feelings, will be no more than useful instruments to serve better the purposes of the low forces that occupy their inner world. For this reason, when a person is filled with the material, vegetable or animal forces, it is not possible to change and improve their habits and their character by giving them advice, or by imposing rules designed to make them behave rightly and follow the true path indicated by those who have received ( guidance ) in the various religions.

Bapak will illustrate this. Take a tiger: however long you train it to behave like a gentle animal, the tiger - with its sharp teeth, its sharp claws and its fondness for raw meat - always remains a tiger. It is certain that one day, if there is an opportunity, perhaps through the negligence of the person guarding it, the tiger will attack whoever happens to be nearby. It is the same with a cat. You look after it and give it good food - bread, butter, soup and so on - but it will never give up its particular prey, the mouse. Although according to human standards a cat may be surrounded by good food, it will always pounce upon any mouse that crosses its path.

This illustrates what Bapak said before. A person may have been well educated: 'You shouldn't do that because it is wrong, and as a human being you should be like this...' but, because the mainspring of a person's life, the chief motivating power of their entire being, consists of forces belonging to the material, vegetable and animal levels, they will be unable to be free from these in any of their actions. This is, in truth, a kind of sickness, which cannot be seen but which is extremely dangerous for the well-being of humankind. Diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis are considered difficult to deal with, yet a cure can still be pursued through human effort and human thought. But with this disease it's impossible, because here the disease has taken over the person's inner self and rules their life. Even their consciousness comes from this inappropriate force that has become their inner content.

You may verify this from your own experience. If you are respected and esteemed by others, you will certainly feel proud and happy; but on the other hand, you will feel depressed or even angry if they criticize or despise you. These reactions prove the existence of such a sickness in your soul.

God, our Creator, is not like that. And if we wish to be near God, at the very least we need to be able to follow and imitate God, even though we cannot do so completely. It is God's nature to be able to unite with anything and everything that God has created. This means that God is truly one in feeling with whoever may stand before God, so if God's creature suffers, God also suffers. God is able to be one with all God's creatures, including human beings. God can unite with the whole human race, so whatever a person may feel within themselves, God feels it too. Similarly, whatever is felt by every animal, God feels that. The same is true for all plant life and also for creatures that are invisible to us. Such is the nature of God, and such is the example we need to follow to the best of our ability.

This is the reason why it is said in religion: 'People cannot be near to God unless God loves them'. To be loved means to be united in heart and feelings. To be united in this way, you certainly need to have feelings that are really wide, like the waters of the ocean, so that the power of the higher life force, which has no form and is free of the wishes of your brain, heart, passions and feelings, can enter into you.

So it can be seen that human beings need help from God. Only with God's help can a person receive the action of God's power within themselves, so that eventually the mistake whereby the wrong soul was placed within them can be corrected and their soul changed. Then they will be filled with a human soul that has true human qualities and a noble inner force. The help that human beings need from God is the powerful life force whose origin and working lie entirely beyond the ability and power of their own brain, heart, desires and feelings.

Why should its origin and working be beyond human ability? Because the ability of human beings lies in the brilliance and skill of their brain; in the imaginative powers and the subtlety of their heart; in the clarity and satisfaction of their feelings; and all these are nothing more than forms in the human inner feeling. They just create new focal points for the low forces that already have dominion within them.

This is the difference between the influence on the human self of the power that is greater than the human force and of those that are lower. Therefore, if people still prefer to worship God using their mind, heart and desires, it means that they still prefer to be under the power of forces that are lower than human. Those who no longer wish to continue in that way need to worship God by abandoning all the wishes of their hearts and the goals of their thinking minds, and by turning to God, the Creator of the whole universe, who has no direction, no country, no abode, and includes all worlds within Himself.

So the appropriate attitude for a person in their worship of God is not to do, concentrate on, or direct anything, but simply to accept whatever they receive. This possibility has come about through the grace of God. Bapak doesn't know what God's will is for humankind at this time. Through God's grace we have been able to receive the powerful life force; and we are not able to think about what we receive, or understand how it works or how it will work. For it is really true that this powerful life force, which is in our being - in the being of each one of you - is sent by Almighty God to help us avoid becoming irretrievably manipulated by the low forces, whose action impoverishes human life and causes it to degenerate.

We should not claim that what we have received comes from God, but we should base everything on the available evidence. That is how it should be: we should not speak about anything for which there is no evidence. It is not necessary in Subud to speak of lofty and grandiose things; what is needed is the evidence. From this evidence, we reach the conclusion that what we have received is a current that, although we are unable to know where it comes from, is beyond the power and influence of our thinking mind, our heart and our desires. This means that it comes from beyond the influence of the low forces and of all that is usually referred to as magic.

Another reason why it is pointless to say that we receive this from God, is because no one can know that except God alone. For the way God gives to a person is not with the hand, not through movement, not through using the thinking or the heart - as one person gives to another - but with God's power, which is beyond our knowledge. So we do not need to say that this comes from God. No. It is enough if we say to other people that this comes from beyond our knowledge, our thinking mind and our hearts, and therefore it follows that it must come from a level that is really free from anything pertaining to our desires, our hearts and our thinking.

But, for ourselves, we have already received evidence that we experience a gradual process of change in our inner nature. So without knowing how, and in a way that is beyond our understanding, we can see and we can feel that something has changed within us. Indeed, the action of God's power can bring about something beyond the comprehension of the human heart and mind. Therefore we don't need to give high-sounding explanations to those who want to hear. If they want to know what we receive in Subud, let them come and experience it for themselves. For in Subud there are no great theories or great teachings, nor does it make appeal to the mind, but there are proofs to be found in it that people can experience for themselves.

As for all of you: what you need is simply to receive as much evidence as possible for yourselves, so that you can become an example for other people and for society. Once you have this quality - the true Subud quality - present in each one of you, you won't need to make propaganda, you will spontaneously attract the attention of other people and other groups. It is not that you will influence them, but they will see and recognize the reality that is within each one of you. The reason for this is that, at the present time, people generally no longer believe in words but look for facts. Bapak feels that it is indeed God's will that the appearance of Subud will bring people the facts they want in preference to words.

That is why, in truth, Bapak does not wish to give a lot of talks. For if after listening to him you go home and start to think about what he has said, then the more Bapak speaks to you and the more you listen, the more his words will be the source of fresh impurities, rather than a means of purifying the content of your head, your heart and your feelings. Therefore Bapak hopes that you will simply listen to what you hear but not think about it: listen but don't ponder about it deeply. It will work within you spontaneously and will give each of you the proof of changes taking place within you.

This is the way that things should happen in Subud, as in the saying: 'Deeds, not words'. So we don't need to discuss a lot of problems; we need to practice - to do the latihan. The latihan is the most important. The latihan comes first and is fundamental for all of us, so that we may receive the working of God's power within us.

This then, is the same as Bapak said earlier: these clarifications that he has been giving, which he feels you need, are really intended to calm the working of your thoughts, your heart and your desires. Don't think of them as being meant to make you more enthusiastic, or to strengthen your will. On the contrary, Bapak hopes that all of you will listen to these explanations only with a feeling of gratitude to God, so that your inner feelings, your thinking and your hearts may become clean, making it easier for you to receive in the latihan.

If it were necessary for you to have explanations about spiritual matters in the usual way, that might need a lot of time, because it is a very wide subject. But Bapak considers and feels that it would be quite pointless, since on the whole you are still in the early stages, at the very beginning, and don't need to hear about things that are so far from your present level.

Bapak can illustrate your present state by comparing it with a car that is being made. All you have so far is one or two of the wheels. So you are not yet able, nor is it yet necessary, to describe how fast the car will go, how many liters of fuel it takes and its other qualities, since all you have so far is some wheels. It will be easier to explain all this when the car that is being made - in this case your inner nature - is finished. Then you will know that it will go at this speed, that you will need so many liters of fuel, and that it will work for so many years. So Bapak hopes you will have patience, sincerity and trust in your submission to the greatness of God.

And in order gradually to find out and feel how far the working of the power within you has progressed, Bapak suggests to you - especially to the helpers - that you should regularly use the latihan to test this. In this way, when the helpers do latihan together you can get to know how far each of you has progressed in your receiving. So eventually you will be able to become aware of what has happened and what has been achieved within you: have you got another wheel yet or not? Has the axle been added yet, or the mudguard? Have you got one that is complete, or is not even the first one complete yet?

That is Bapak's explanation - not his teaching - that he wanted to give you tonight. Please forgive him if he has said anything that doesn't please you. And he would like to thank you all for your sincerity in coming to this meeting tonight. Bapak wishes you good night.

The Meaning Of Subud: