Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, before saying what this talk will be about, Bapak expresses the hope that those in the audience who have missed Bapak's previous talks will listen to the tape-recorder here, so that they can follow the explanations of the spiritual life from the beginning.

Bapak will now say a bit more about the activity of the mind, imagination and feelings during the time you are receiving the training ( latihan ). In the training, which you have now received, a situation may arise where thoughts, desires ( nafsu ) and daydreams seem to interfere, so that, although without conscious effort, one occasionally feels or remembers things one has done or gone through in the past. This should come as no surprise, and it is nothing to worry about, because it is actually quite normal for such thoughts and feelings to arise in conditions of peace and quiet. When you are ready for bed, for instance, in the quiet moments before you drop off to sleep, you may sometimes find yourselves recalling things that you have experienced in the past.

It has in fact become so normal for the human mind or brain always to be busy thinking, and for human feelings to be constantly active, that it is extremely difficult for anyone to achieve tranquility of the spirit ( jiwa ), even if he tries to do so by persistently using his own will-power ( nafsu ) to cut down on food and sleep, as well as by isolating himself from society. It is very hard to get rid of, to put a stop to the incessant activity of the heart and thinking mind. A person making every effort to pacify his mind, desires and feelings would certainly need more than a short space of time; it would take him twenty or thirty years at the very least.

Of course there are people who say - Bapak has often heard this - that it can take just a moment to quieten the mind, just a moment to calm the feelings. For example, during the Japanese period, before a person spoke, he was required to meditate briefly for the sake of the soul of someone who had died. But this is really nothing to do with quieting in the true sense; it is merely about concentrating or focusing one's thoughts on the person concerned, the one who has left this world, to seek pardon for his sins from the One God.

It is therefore quite clear that quieting the mind and feelings is a very difficult task indeed. For us, however, as Bapak is always saying - through the mercy of God, the gift of God, the will of God, without any strenuous exertion or deliberate effort on our part, without our having to do anything by force - the calming of the inner feeling comes about of its own accord.

Why does Bapak say that what we have received is indeed help, is truly a gift from God? It's because it is surely impossible for human beings to calm their inner feelings, to still their processes of thought, imagination, sensation and emotion, without isolating themselves from society, doing with little food and sleep, and abstaining from everything they have been accustomed to wanting.

In our case, however, the fact is that we remain in a normal state, in an ordinary environment, not depriving ourselves of anything, and yet we are actually able to receive this quite spontaneously, without deliberate effort of will. Like it or not, therefore, we must acknowledge that this has arisen within the bosom, inside our being, by itself and not from our human intention, but through the power of God. It is clear that what we can do in the training ( latihan ), and what we receive in the latihan, is something that would be called in Dutch, wonderbaarlo'k, something quite miraculous, which human beings could not cause to happen by the force of their own will.

In due course, when all of you are finally able to receive continuously, it is not inconceivable that, although you cannot manipulate the spiritual power that manifests within your being, it may serve to provide help to someone who is sick, who is considered to be incurably sick. Such a person may be restored to health, not through your personal will-power, but rather through the power that Bapak just described as 'miraculous', the power that comes from the One God.

Do such things really happen? Can they really and truly be accomplished? Well, examples can be cited. Christians in particular can point to stories in their Bible, telling how the Prophet Jesus healed the sick, how the Prophet Jesus healed the suffering. Notice how this work of the Prophet Jesus was performed quite easily; he exerted no force of any kind, yet it could happen, it could be accomplished. This was not because of him, not because of the Prophet Jesus, but because of God's majesty and power, which had become incarnate in the Prophet Jesus.

For all of you here - and perhaps Bapak can say the same of brothers and sisters elsewhere in the West - since you have heard about this and already know about such workings of the power received by mankind from God, it will probably come as no surprise; it will not be considered impossible, because examples exist; the Bible relates that such things really do happen.

Christians and Muslims, as well as people of other religions, are therefore advised to believe in the miraculous ( gaib, unseen ), meaning a realm of being that is beyond the human sphere. Because it is God Himself who wills this, God who gives an example to mankind, God who shows mankind that He and His power really exist.

Therefore what you really obtain from Bapak who has come here, is that Bapak actually represents the miraculous, and is a guide who opens the way for you - you who before being opened by Bapak were like people locked in a field surrounded by a thick fence, unable to find the way out. So now we can get out, we can find the way, the right way to God. Bapak has opened the gate, and you can all get out of the place where you were locked in; you can continue your journey, and carry out whatever God has willed for you, until you discover for yourselves your own individual needs - because no two of you are alike.

But you will all be going in the right way, in the direction willed by God, until you reach the One God Himself. It is certain that what you receive - because it is from God Himself, because it is received by you yourselves - is eventually in accordance with your personal condition, in accordance with your own strength, and in keeping with the make-up of your own inner nature. Eventually, therefore, you will not feel strange; you will not feel that you are receiving something that is incompatible with your own nature, because this gift from the One God is in conformity with the strength that exists within your own being.

Bapak takes the Dutch people as an example; Dutch is the language you use, and you are Dutch in everything. When you receive the gift from God, which you always follow and receive in the training ( latihan ), it must surely be in the Dutch language; it cannot be in some other language that is unintelligible to you yourselves. It is so vast and unbounded because the One God knows all languages, not just those of mankind, but also other languages peculiar to animals, plants and material objects - and other things as well, which you cannot know or feel. They are all known by God; they are all understood by God.

This is why it is said that God has no nationality and no language. It is also why - as you will eventually be able to experience and understand through the gift of God in the training you always practice - it is not only human beings who can worship God. Animals, plants and even things can worship God, because God is All-knowing and All-understanding.

In religion too, it is said that religion is not confined to one nation, to one country, but that it is for anyone at all who sincerely wishes to accept it, to become a member of the religion of his choice. The same applies in the case of the spiritual training ( latihan kejiwaan ) that you are receiving. This also should not be restricted or confined to any nation or country, because Bapak is quite convinced, as perhaps you too are convinced, that everything we receive is from none other than the One God.

In this situation - that is to say, because it is convincing in Bapak's view and your receiving has confirmed this - there really is an unlimited teaching that comes from God, which is immeasurable, which cannot be calculated and which cannot be reckoned in its greatness and extent. Surely, therefore, it is clear to you all how far we may progress through this training of ours, and what kind of fruit we will be able to gather, will be able to receive, will come to possess. These pictures that Bapak describes already exist in reality, as you can experience to the greatest and fullest extent, only according to the measure of inner strength God has given you.

Bapak therefore offers you all the following suggestion and advice: do not suppose that you need to be in a hurry and try to speed things up, because God knows, God knows better than you the extent of your capacity for receiving the gift of God. God knows that when the strength within your being is not yet complete, what you are given by God will be quite useless. The nature of the training you are doing and receiving is, in reality, a way, through the will of God, to make your instruments for receiving ready to receive the gift of God, so that it does not go to waste, and also to enable you to perform the tasks that need to be performed.

It is usually said, in Islam, that the nature of God is ar-rahmanir-rahim, which means All-giving, All-compassionate, All-loving towards everything created by Him, including mankind. Therefore it is clear that God has already given, has provided completely for all human needs, from the time a human being is born on this earth. Human beings, however, are no longer capable of recognizing, understanding and being aware of the providence they have received from God, because of the experience people go through when they are small, and then later as adults.

What is experienced in this way always has the effect of making human beings forget every kind of provision they have received, which was promised by God to serve mankind as guidance, as a staff, as a path by which mankind could eventually find the way to God, could truly worship God. Therefore it is obvious that God did not create human beings in a stupid fashion, but in such a way that they were clearly informed, down to the last detail, were made to understand, were shown what things were for, and how they must be arranged. But at that time human beings were not yet ready to manifest their capacity for obedience, to fulfil the promise God had made them. For it is indeed the will of God that mankind should be able to return to God, should be able to return to Him who created them.

Even when human beings manufacture goods and make machines, the machines that are to be bought and sold, besides being perfectly constructed, are accompanied by illustrations and explanations of their tiniest components, for the information of the buyer. And when an article gets damaged, or does not work properly, it gets repaired. This is even more the case with God, who is more wise, who knows more than man, so what Bapak mentioned has indeed been fully prepared, with nothing at all lacking, for such is the perfection of that creation.

Therefore it is said that mankind was born on earth as an attribute of the spirit ( jiwa ) that is called the perfect human being or insan kamil. Where then lies the knowledge, where lies the true path to God, and where is the true guidance of God for mankind on this earth? It is nowhere. It is not in the mountains, not on the shore of the ocean. It is not in the dense jungle, nor must it be sought in distant places far removed from ordinary society, far removed from mankind; it is within one's own individual being.

This being so, there are many people, especially in Islamic circles, who say what may be interpreted in Indonesian as: Those who know the real 'I', means the same as, 'I know God.' Such a saying, however, is very difficult to analyze. It is very hard to comprehend it without misunderstanding, because it is not yet known, it has not been experienced yet, what the condition within the human spirit ( jiwa ) is, so that it may be believed and concluded to mean, 'To know me is to know God.'

It could even give the idea that God may be just like me, or that God may be just like Pak Subuh, for instance. What is really meant is nothing of the sort, but rather, Whoever knows T, or when I know T, it means the same as 'I know God'. Not: 'To know me is certainly knowing God.' 'I' does not mean 'I, Pak Subuh', but I in my whole being, such that I know the trademarks and labels on my limbs and organs, inscribed with gold ink by God, whom each of those members can praise, saying: 'Allahu akbar! God is Supremely Great!'

This means that every part of the human being, all the members of your body have come to life, can feel and be aware that I was created by God, I as a human attribute. It is this I that has actually been prepared, so that when the force of 'I' is assembled, the human being becomes steadfast in fulfilling his life, both in this world and in the hereafter. When every part of us is alive, when every part of us is aware, we become more familiar with T, we become more acquainted with ourselves, or your parts become more familiar with you as you really are, and familiar also with the attributes of the human being, namely the subhuman forces that always assist within the human self.

Thus each of our members, each member of your body, comes to know and understand that which is flowing to and fro through these parts of ourselves. This is always attributable to this force or that, because they have now come to be alive, to feel, to understand and to be aware.

Only then can it be said that when I know I, I will know God and His power, because I in my entirety, all parts of my being, have become alive, able to feel, to understand and to receive the condition of all these parts of myself, as they were at the moment God created them, and when God gave them His promise about the time that will come for all. Each of these parts displays the trademark and label given to it by God, just like a machine - in the case of a human being just like a car, which has all its parts stamped with the name of its manufacturer. So these items will identify their maker, they carry the name Ford or whatever.

Likewise with a human being, each of his members bears a name, meaning that which exists within its individuality, that which is the content of each of the various parts, so that they recognize the greatness of God and the existence of God. This is precisely because it is they that have been created through the will of God, they have truly been created through the understanding of God, so that they can become genuinely aware of the reality and nature of God's power. Therefore we are now being trained in the latihan to be able to receive the gift of God, so that we can bring to life all the parts of our body, to prepare for carrying out and conducting our lives, both in this world and in the hereafter. So this becomes a means or a partner that can really restore the whole of ourselves to our original place as perfect human beings, which is above and beyond this world that we now inhabit.

Well then, it is clear that we are not looking for new things, for new instruments, but that we are seeking what we need in life to secure our human status, that long buried and closed up. The reason we have neglected them for so long is that our passions ( nafsu ) are only interested in the pursuit of worldly glory, the pursuit of personal vanity, the pursuit of greed, to the neglect of our worship of the One God.

About what has been received; suppose that in the training ( latihan ) you receive something, you may say, 'Bapak, I see, I hear, I sense something very weird!' But it's not really anything weird or strange for you, because it was already inside you. All that is new is that you can now recognize it, you can now sense it, you can now hear it. Now the time has come to open, to break open, that which has always oppressed you within your inner feeling. It is obvious that what we discover in the latihan is not something new, but something that long ago became the property of mankind. But it has been closed off by self-willed desire ( nafsu ), by the worldly preoccupations of mankind - becoming all the more tightly and firmly closed, ever more remote with the passage of time.

This point is quite clear from what Bapak explained last time. What is the state of being of a little child, just born on this earth? Even though a little child is not yet able to see the shapes and forms existing in this world, still cannot hear anything, still cannot smell anything, still cannot taste whether its food is nice or not, it is nevertheless apparent from its facial expression and its whole bearing whether it is sad or cheerful, suffering or happy.

This is simply because such a tiny baby is still close to the promises God gave it. It still remembers, still understands, still sees, is still able to see something that we adults cannot easily see. We can observe how such a tiny baby will cry for no apparent reason, and we can also see how that tiny baby seems to feel afraid of what we fear. As far as we can tell, there is no reason why it should feel that way. All these movements of the little child are what we have come to recognize, and the state of being just described seems to correspond exactly to our own state in the training ( latihan ).

In the course of our latihan, we may weep for no reason; we may wave our hands again for no reason; we may hop and jump, yet again for no reason; and we may sometimes feel happy, though without cause. This is so that you can all begin to feel exactly how it was for you when you were still tiny, at the time you were born on this earth. For by repeating that experience you will be able to recapture, to receive feelings that are as clear and pure as those of that little child.

( The interpreter falters )

It is indeed very hard to translate these words of Bapak's, because in speaking them Bapak is not using his thinking mind at all. They just come out like this through the soul ( jiwa ), so the interpreter who uses his thinking gets hazy. He sometimes cannot recall what Bapak has been saying, because in this spiritual realm our mental faculties do indeed seem to get totally paralyzed!

Bapak will continue.

It is clear, then, that what you have received in the training ( latihan ) is characterized by a repetition of physical movements corresponding to those you made when your body was still that of a baby, still pure and not yet contaminated by the passions ( nafsu ), the activity of the mind, and whatever all of you subsequently introduced into your thinking. Through the training we rediscover our instinctive nature, as if we were still in the state of a newborn baby, and so we are finally able to feel what such a baby really laughs at, what causes that tiny baby to suffer. We can also come to know that it does in fact see things, does in fact hear things, and that there are in fact things that it likes and enjoys.

Once we are able to comprehend, to receive and understand the nature of our own beings, as it was at the moment of our births, we can easily get to know our conditions before and after we came to exist. Finally, we shall come to realize for ourselves the right and proper understanding of the union between man and woman, which produces the seed of a human being. Then we shall also be able to recognize and be aware of the content of this seed of the future human being. Whether it is good or not, and from whence it originates, all this we shall also be able to know.

Thus human beings can truly be acknowledged as God's helpers in creating their own kind, new human beings, as it is told in the book of scripture, namely the Old Testament, which says that those first created by God were only Adam and Eve. From then on the task of creating his own kind was left to man himself, accompanied by his wife as his partner. Such is the development of the content, or the fruit, obtained in the latihan you have all received.

As Bapak has already told you, the location and nest of this knowledge is actually right there inside the individual being of each one of you. The way to find it, therefore, is never to go looking for it outside yourself; it must be obtained from your own tuner being, where it will all arise spontaneously, like your receiving in the latihan. All that is really required in order to achieve this, is that each of you men should always have a wife to accompany him in his receiving. Your own wife, not the wife of another, because a man's partner in life ( laughter ) ( tape inaudible ).

Therein lies that which constitutes true worship; therein is where the human seed comes from to produce human beings like yourselves. For in the union or harmony of husband and wife it is very necessary that both partners should know the true path to God, so that this couple, instead of having the character of two separate links, become like a single unit that has been obliged by God, for the purposes of life in this world, to split into two.

Bapak will now conclude this explanation of the spiritual path and of what is necessary for you all in practicing the spiritual training ( latihan kejiwaan ), because it is already quite late; it is already half-past eleven. If next Sunday evening is convenient, Bapak will continue then, and go over some things a bit more. Perhaps on that occasion it will go more smoothly. This evening's talk did not seem to go quickly, so Bapak must apologize to you all. Bapak hopes that this little bit of explanation from Bapak can be accepted with some feeling of satisfaction. That is all for now.

Translated by Muhtar Holland