The Meaning of Subud

John Bennett: I was saying to Bapak that the one question that had come in was: 'What is surrender, and how can we, who can only come to this at present with our minds, really surrender, when we have only our minds to surrender with?'

Bapak: Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak would like to give some explanations in answer to your question about how to surrender to the greatness of God.

The reality of your surrender at the time of your opening and thereafter, is not the normal surrender of people who submit to God's greatness just with their heart, their thinking mind or their will. What is required in order to surrender is not the submission of your heart, but the power of God working and manifesting within your being. So what enables you to surrender to God's greatness is your heart being filled to an extent with the strength of God's power, which works at the moment when you are opened and whenever you do latihan.

So the essence of surrender is that at the required time - when you are opened and later, when you do the latihan - your heart is empty and void of everything: your hopes, wishes and desires, including your wish to surrender to God. For when you wish to surrender, what is wishing is simply your heart.

The truth is that in the latihan, according to God's will, you should simply be aware of your whole being and not think about anything. Movements will then arise from within your being. And the arising of these movements within you means that you are surrendering to God; in other words, that you are allowing whatever God wills and the working of the Great Life Force within you. ( Think of it ) like this: it's as if you are with someone else, and whatever they do to you - they raise you up, they hold you, guide you, or whatever - you don't resist; you simply submit to whatever they want to do with you. That is what true surrender to God is like.

This is the meaning of surrendering to the greatness of God. But do not forget that the most important thing in the latihan and in receiving the contact is not the surrender but the fact that, by God's will, the current of God's power flows through the opener to one who is being opened. Their feeling is spontaneously awakened within them and the activity of their heart, thinking and desires stops.

Bapak says this because many people besides us also practice surrender ( to God ). Their surrender may be of a finer quality and more real than ours. But because it is not yet God's will to channel His power into their being, even though they surrender every day and every night - you could say they surrender to God a thousand times - there is no result. So it is clear that the most important thing, which results in the reality of receiving the latihan - meaning surrender that is accompanied by a contact with God - is not your surrender but the opening. That is to say, it is the current of the force that flows through the body of the opener to the body of the person being opened.

So the reality of what happens in the spiritual way of Susila Budhi Dharma lies in the fact that it is truly a grace from God. In fact, even if we forget to say ( the opening words ), once the opener stands in front of the person being opened and bears witness to his or her sincere wish to do the latihan in the way we do it, the inner feeling of the new person is awakened and they will truly feel a vibration within them. That's how easy it is, because it is God's will, through the grace we have received.

Indeed, it is always easy when God bestows His grace. As it is said in Javanese - perhaps it is in Bapak's book - 'sapa antuk wahyuning Allah, dumilah mangulah bangkit', which means 'for those who are able to receive God's revelation everything is made easy'. This means that everything they do is made easy; they are able to know things that are beyond the reach of thinking and can receive things that cannot be wished for.

So it is that the act of surrender to God depends upon God bestowing His grace. We surrender to God to make it easier to receive the contact. But we receive it because God wills it, because God's grace is within us, not because we are good at surrendering, not because our surrender to God is fine or special. Even if our surrender is lacking, even if we forget some of the ( opening ) words, it doesn't matter, because we have received God's blessing. That is why Bapak hopes that none of you look on this Subud latihan as something you can just abandon when you no longer need it or when you don't like what happens. Don't do that, because truly it is the will of God, truly it is God's love and help for humankind. For God knows that without His help human beings are unable to come to the true worship of God.

The words spoken at the time of the opening are just ordinary words, addressed to the mind of the person being opened so they do not think that it is we, ( the helpers ) who have authority. For that is not God's will; God doesn't like us to be arrogant or put ourselves higher than others. God wills us to be equal in feeling with others, to be brothers and sisters to one another. This is God's will for humankind, so that we can become an eternal human family in this world; because there is only one humanity and one God.

With regard to those who do not experience anything at the time they are opened or during their first few latihans - or maybe even for quite a long time - and who find their thoughts are still active in them: these people have in reality been opened, but the influence of their thinking minds, hearts and desires has penetrated very deeply into them. They should not, however, worry or feel any regret about this, because they too will certainly feel their opening in the end. Bapak has seen experiences of this kind in many of the places he has visited. Some members have experienced nothing for the first ten or eleven months, or even longer, but they have come to receive eventually. And once they do start to receive they progress well. Clearly, they were indeed opened at the beginning, but they were slow in their receiving because worldly influences had gone too deeply into them.

So, it is clear that the contact does not come merely as a result of our surrender, but through receiving God's grace. Bapak always tells you: 'Stand up and receive freely'. The meaning of 'freely' is to really feel your being without any tension whatsoever. For example, a person who is to be opened should not hold his or her hands tightly clenched, because this is not the way to be free. Nor should they hold their hands behind their back, because that isn't free either. The way to be free is to be as if you were powerless, which means you are truly surrendering to God and allowing whatever God wills to be done in you. It is this condition of being completely free that is called surrender. Nevertheless, without the working in you of the power of God, nothing will happen; so in surrendering, what is most important is the grace that we have received.

Bapak hopes and advises all of you not to be in a hurry to move when you receive the latihan, but to feel the origin of your movement and how it begins in you. Now Bapak is going to illustrate this. ( Bapak stands up. ) Bapak is standing quite relaxed and free, like this. In the army they say, 'Stand at ease!' So this is 'at ease'. Now, once you are free like this, then you begin. ( Bapak snaps to attention. ) This is 'Attention!' It means that God is taking over command. Before, it was your heart in command, but then you freed your heart so that you could wait for the command from God. Maybe God will give the order: 'Stand at attention!' ( Bapak snaps to attention again. Laughter. )

But with you it is not like that, you are in too much of a hurry. You come in and you immediately start moving like this. ( Bapak makes all sorts of movements. Laughter. ) Don't be in a hurry. When you stand up to do latihan, start by feeling, 'Now I am relaxed, free of the command of the heart and the thinking mind, and I'm waiting for God's command'. Then God might say, 'Stand at attention!' ( Again Bapak snaps to attention. Laughter. ) So then will come whatever it may be; perhaps like this ( gestures ), or like this ( gestures ), or like this and like this ( more gestures and laughter ). So don't come in like this. ( Bapak runs and stamps his feet and almost falls to the floor, flapping his hands about. Lots of laughter. ) Because then you will not receive where it comes from and how it starts in you.

The same thing applies at the end of the latihan. Once you have done your latihan you may feel, 'Oh, perhaps God is about to relinquish His command.' Then maybe God says, 'Stand at ease!' ( Bapak stands at ease. ) So you need to get used to receiving the beginning and the end of the latihan. Then you will realize, 'Oh, that's how it is.'

If, for instance, Bapak says, as in Islam: 'Allahu akbar' ( God is great ) why does he move like this? ( Bapak raises his hands and folds them on his breast. ) Because the meaning of Allahu akbar corresponds to this movement. But if Bapak does this ( Bapak makes the same movement while singing a tune ), then it's wrong. Or if Bapak says 'Allahu akbar' like this ( Bapak makes the movements of a dance. Laughter ) that's also wrong. If Bapak says 'Allahu akbar' he must move like this. If, for instance, you say, 'Oh, God - Jesus,' ( here Bapak raises his hands ) this is right. But if you do it like this, 'Oh, Lord - Jesus,' ( Bapak dances ) that's out of place. Yes! So you will know; you will feel how the latihan starts and how it stops.

John Bennett: It is the end of the Congress. I think all of us want to have the opportunity of thanking Bapak. I happen to be here, so may I say for all of us that we thank Bapak for having come to this Congress and for having given us such indications that I think no-one can go away from here without a quite different understanding of Subud. There is one man who said to me after the fourth day of the Congress: 'It seems that every word has changed its meaning for me, and I never will be able to see things in the same way again after this.' I think that for many of us it is really like that. We wish therefore really to say to Bapak that we thank him for having come to this; and if there's anything that he can say to us, we shall be happy.

Bapak: Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak has now finished answering your questions about the meaning of surrender and wishes to continue with a few words to all of you.

Brothers and sisters, Bapak feels moved. Such is the power of God that we have received that, although we have been working for many days, this Subud Congress has, by God's grace, gone very well. Why is that? Because, as Bapak said earlier, God protects us and gives us His blessing; for what we have been doing is according to God's will. We should therefore give thanks to the greatness of God for the guidance and direction we have received, which has been working in us without our being aware of it. We must and should be grateful to God that this Congress has gone so well. It has made it possible for us to bring order - though not yet perfect - to the organization of our membership all over the world, and to come to resolutions that we believe can be understood and followed by our brothers and sisters everywhere.

This is the way God guides and leads us human beings, so that we are able, without our being aware of it, to undertake things without being influenced by our desires and passions. This is what Bapak has witnessed during this Congress. He has been giving you explanations according to your need, the intention of which being that you should deal with all that had to be discussed in the Congress without involving your desires and passions. You have been able to receive the message and the advice Bapak has been giving to you, so that any discussions you have had, have been conducted without serious disagreement. And now we have come to the end of the Congress, the atmosphere is one of peace and has a quieting effect upon our hearts.

As to the length of this Congress, which has lasted twenty days: this is not because we have had to face difficult problems. In reality it has been for drawing people closer together - heart to heart and feeling to feeling. Apart from this, it may be that you wished to be near Bapak, while Bapak, on the other hand, wished to be near to you, his children. So the long duration of the Congress was not needed only for solving problems, but also to hear Bapak's talks and hear his advice, which you may need.

Because this Subud Congress has achieved success in a peaceful way, clearly the things we now need to do in order to carry out the content and results of the Congress will also be carried out in a peaceful way, one that is not filled with the passions. The result of this is that, when you return from here, you may be able to do things in a brotherly way, truly as members of a family; thus avoiding disagreements in your various groups. For you have experienced an example while you were here in the Congress: that important questions, which normally would lead to disputes of an intellectual nature, did not do so. So, what was achieved in this Congress came about in a peaceful and happy atmosphere because you have been willing to give way to one another; for, indeed, what we seek is the truth.

If you can bring this example back to your own place, meaning that you practice there what you have experienced here, it will eventually bring harmony. It will bring discipline and it will bring joy to the way each person carries out their responsibilities.

This is indeed God's will: that human beings should worship God according to His will; that is, in peace and in purity of heart and feelings. This should serve as a guideline to enable each of you to reach the level necessary for you. You should have an inner state that is both pure and clear, ready to give in to others, and no longer under the influence of the low forces whose characteristics Bapak explained in his earlier talks.

Now, speaking as a human being to other human beings, Bapak praises all those who have undertaken the arrangements for the Congress and those responsible for preparing all the documents - all of which have been done so well. Although it is all thanks to the grace of God, as a human being Bapak must express his appreciation and boundless gratitude that you have been able to carry out a task that is actually very difficult, and have done it very well and lightly.

As his final words, Bapak prays that each one of you will have a safe journey home under God's protection; be reunited with your families in a state of happiness, security and well-being; and that you will be able to fulfill your obligations in an excellent way.

This is the end of Bapak's words to you all on this last day. And Bapak hopes you will forgive him for only being available today and tomorrow to help you with your questions and other matters.

That is all. Thank you very much.

The Meaning Of Subud: