Ladies and gentlemen, tonight Bapak would like to give explanations about the meaning and purpose of Subud so that you all can understand it and not get it wrong.

Subud in Indonesian stands for Susila Budhi Dharma. Susila means human character and behavior that is humanitarian; budhi means the life force that is within the self of a human being; dharma means the gift from God received by man, or man's surrender to the One God. So, in clarification, the three together come to mean our character, which we have received from God, and that our actions and behavior are because of the One God. These words have been shortened to the name Subud, and Subud also has a meaning. Subud means, coming from the origin and going back to the origin, because we come from God, and we go back to God. So, it is clear that, because we were created by God, we hope to go back to the One who created us.

In the Subud book there is a circle, a picture of a circle, which can be taken to mean that we have no fixed goal, but we go on and on, returning to our primal origins. And within the circle, there are also other concentric circles to make a total of seven, and as you will have heard, ladies and gentlemen, these are what are called the seven heavens.

The first of these is the material world, the second is the plant world and the third is the animal world; the fourth the human world, the fifth the perfect human world, and the sixth and seventh Bapak cannot explain to you yet; Bapak can only say they are higher and beyond our human scope. Their names do exist in Islam, the sixth and seventh being called roh rahmani and roh rabani. And that is really the structure of life within the Great Life created by the One God.

So this ( life structure ) existed before the natures that appear, that can be seen, that can be thought about, that can be understood. In addition, to complete the structure of life, there are two more spirits ( roH ), but they are not like our ( human ) spirit, for example, which is easy for us to experience; the first is called rob Ilafi, and the second is called Rohulkudus. The nature of the first, roh Ilafi, is that of a liaison so that there can always be a connection between the low and the high. And the other is a guardian spirit. In the structure of spirits ( roh ), one of these two spirits goes inside, and the other goes outside.

This is the explanation of the emblem as a symbol of what exists in Subud. The meaning of what exists in Subud is that we receive God's gift to go back and to traverse the roads that God has created for us.

Bapak says that what we have received from God is a gift from God, because we receive it in a state where our desires ( nafsu ) and thinking are still. For a receiving that is not from God, but perhaps from another force, for example, from the material or satanic force, comes in connection with the desires, the self-will and the thinking. So what you all have received is not at all from the desires or self-will or thinking, but is from the power of God, after our thinking mind, will and desires have stopped. So, this is really the right way, because it is not through willing it, not through imagining it with our thoughts, and not through strengthening our desires, that we are able to receive the power of God within our consciousness.

Why is it not through our thinking, not through our will, not through our passions and desires, when we have these for the purpose of analyzing and knowing what is good and right? It is because the true gift from God is beyond the human thinking mind, beyond the imagination, beyond the will and desires.

If Bapak may illustrate with an example: after the structure of life had been arranged, it did not just remain like that, but it was God's will that the spirits or life forces in that structure should come into contact with one another, so that they formed something that humans can call, for the purpose of discussion, an element. The first contact between the forces created an element appearing as a bright, shining light, which illuminated the whole firmament. After this had happened, and existed, there came into existence, spontaneously, something that was coarser than that, namely air. And these two elements interacted so that a third came about, that is, water. And these three constantly came into contact with each other so that they brought into existence the coarsest, that is, dust or earth.

And, subsequently, these four factors became the filler or the energy in the natures Bapak refers to, like human beings, animals, plants or material objects. Although these four natures were still in a fine, a very fine state, within them were the structured life forces referred to. So, it should be clear that within the elements, and the energy, there was also a content, that is, the life forces. And after the content and the energy already existed, there was created a nature with a form, like human beings, animals, plants and material objects. So, the third nature in succession, outside the energy and its content, is our body with all its members.

So it is very far for the thinking mind to be able to think about and understand the content of the energy that is inside us. If a human being is not yet able to leave behind his thinking mind, desires and self-will, it is very difficult. If he can leave those behind, spontaneously, or through God's help, he is carried there in the end, and can dive down deep into the content of the energy that is inside him.

So, Bapak always says that a human being can receive a contact from the Great Life, so that his soul ( jiwa ) is awakened, if he is able to still the force of his thinking mind, will and desires. When your thinking mind, will and desires come to a state of stillness, children, you feel a vibration within your being. And why is this receiving only felt after the thinking mind has come to rest? Because the thinking mind, will and desires always block, always kill our pure feelings, which are still whole and clean and can receive the life contact as you have received it.

So, through our receiving, children, we begin to be able to feel how the life forces are that have become the filler of the elements within our being, that is, the energy within us. And this feeling we receive and experience does not stop there. Gradually it will become stronger and wider and deeper, so that our feeling is directed and guided inwards and outwards; and of course we will be able to feel more than when we first received it.

Eventually - although Bapak does not specify how many months or years you have to go through, but eventually, through successive stages, you will be able to re-enter what Bapak called a moment ago the world of the elements, the world of energies, beginning from the coarsest, until you come to water, air and light. And only after that can a human being begin to be aware of the successive stages of the journey of the human soul, from the lowest to the highest, so that we can go back to our own world, our own land, our own spirit, that is, the perfect human spirit.

Such is God's will for man, whom He created. God created man on this earth, and truly man is an excellent creature, a creature of the fourth and fifth levels, with the name of human being. But in his life on this earth one can say he has been created more vulnerable than material objects, plants and animals. Indeed, by God's will, man has been created on this earth, not to live for ever, in his life here, but to be given the opportunity for his perfect human soul with its body, this frail and easily damaged covering, to be able to experience life from the lowest to the highest.

So, a human being living on this earth who forgets his true life responsibility as a human being, as received in the promises from God, suffers a great loss, and is very poor. For he cannot go back to his primal origins, to where he originally came from, that is, the perfect world, which is more excellent and beyond compare with the goodness and luxury on earth. It is not God's will that human beings should only be created on this earth for a short time and only to die. But it is God's will that man, in his life on this earth, should not neglect the instructions and promises from God. These always hold a noble place in store for him so that he may return to his original nature.

As you all have heard and also read, children, in the story of the Prophet Adam before he was sent down to earth: Adam, weeping, refused God's order that he be created and sent down to this earth. At that time, when God ordered him to be sent down to earth, the first human being, named Adam, was still in his perfect soul. And Adam accepted, because God promised him that he would be accompanied by something in his life that was within his being, and always enveloped him and could give him the way later on, after death. Such were the circumstances under which Adam accepted being sent down to this earth to become a human being like all of you, children.

But after Adam had been on this earth for some time and had long experienced the conditions on earth and was able to feel the fruits or results obtained here, he felt that this earth was a noble place. He felt good here. So he almost forgot God's instructions, which he had received when he was still in heaven. Having forgotten God's instructions to him, and because he owned, and pursued, worldly luxury and bliss, Adam felt compelled to ask the Almighty if his life might be extended to a thousand years. Such was Adam's situation after he became influenced by this world, that he forgot his instructions from God. And he forgot what his own feelings had been when he was going to be sent down and had absolutely refused God's order, because he had known that the world was a place full of torment and greed, whereas life in the true world was full of glory.

After he was made a human being on this earth, and came under the influence of the forces existing in this world, he forgot the greatness that was his when he was in heaven. However, because God is Almighty, it was finally decreed that Adam would be given no more than a thousand years of life on this earth. And, at that moment, Adam opened and felt within his being the force from God Almighty that had been given him to accompany him in his life, so that he, Adam, in the stories, wept like a small child. For his consciousness was opened to how his glory had been before he was sent down to earth, and how it was during his existence on earth. And how vast was the difference between them! And he felt it had been a big mistake for his inner feeling that he had always rejected God's will for him to go back to heaven again.

And he felt sorry and disappointed that he had been so bold as to refuse God's will, especially when he remembered that his descendants later on would meet with more than he. For he was the first human being and still was not influenced much by the forces below the human being, whereas his descendants later could be more easily influenced by those forces. Surely, he thought, they would be taken in more than he. So, he wept sincerely, and found courage to implore God that God would always give this earth messengers who could be a guiding light for others who would be always oppressed and tempted by the circumstances prevailing in this world.

Such is the story Bapak tells you about the Prophet Adam, the first human being.

The inference is that it is not God's will that human beings be given life on this earth only to feel for a time the bliss and comforts of life, and then die. The prophets often said, and Nabi Isa, Jesus Christ, also said that death is not the end, but is actually the continuation, of man's life. The prophets also said that to be able to be aware of life after death, it is necessary for a human being to look back - for example, look at yourself, and feel what exists within your being - to be able to look back to his origins. Looking back at one's self means, not this visible self, but one's human soul, so that looking back is being willing to feel how 'I' originally came to be - in other words, diving down to when a human being was still in his elemental nature, was still energy, and then deeper still to when a human being was still in the world of spirit, still within the Life Force, the soul. And to be able to dive down that far, it is said in religion that man must have very great faith that God exists, with His glory and power. This advice was given so that man might himself be able to quiet and master the greed of his thinking, the greed of his desires ( nafsu ), the greed of his own self-will, because he remembers to have really great, complete faith that God and His power exist.

Indeed, one can say that for man to be able to master his own thinking mind, to overcome the greed of his own heart, and his own desires, is a task that is not just difficult, but virtually impossible to accomplish. The proof of this is that there are quite a few people who try to achieve it by intentionally going far away from the crowd, to meditate or sojourn in quiet, lonely places, such as forests, or at the foot of mountains. What they hope for is nothing else but to be able to quieten their thinking mind and calm their feelings. And they hope that, in this state, they may obtain a contact, and be touched by the Life Force that fills their energy and their being. But it is so difficult to obtain peace in their inner feeling, that is, to be able to overcome the greed of the thinking mind, and so on. There are, moreover, countless numbers of other ways that people try to find the true nature of life. There are even people who take off their clothes and lead a life that is no different from that of the animals. They do this in the hope of getting to know the real nature of their lives.

In view of everything Bapak has been saying, it is an immeasurably great blessing and good fortune for Bapak and you, children, that in perfectly normal conditions - where you are not required to forget society, to forget the pleasures of this world, and your wife and children - you are able to receive this life contact, which is actually the content of our energy and body. Indeed, this is what the prophets actually intended: that man should not have to give up all the responsibilities of his life in this world to worship God. So, in such a situation, we, you, ladies and gentlemen, can arrange and make your lives happy, both in this world and in your life later on, after death.

With the growth and awakening of your soul, which has been asleep, and has not moved for so long, later, when the moment of your death comes, you will be free from the domination of the thinking mind. For, the greatness, the loftiness and the understanding of the thinking mind is limited; its limit is the grave. Then after the mind has stopped, your soul, which has arisen and grown, will receive, and continue your journey to the true human world you hope for.

Also, it is our good fortune that not only can our soul take over from our thinking mind in the life after death, but the growth of our soul will of itself purify and give health to our being, both the coarse and the fine. For example, not only will our blood, our flesh, our bones, and so on be restored to a good condition, because of the growth of the soul; our heart, our brain and thinking, which formerly were not good - because human beings in this world, whether they like it or not, are usually influenced by conditions to think strange thoughts and to desire strange things - all this, too, will become good again, because of the growth of the soul.

Naturally, if, because of the growth of the soul, our body, this coarse flesh and blood and so on, becomes healthy, and our heart becomes good and mindful of God, and our thinking becomes good and clean and really obedient to God, a freedom will be created within us in our human life on this earth. Thus, in religion they say that religion leads to well-being and happiness in life: people who follow a religion are not expected to behave thoughtlessly, in a way that deviates from humanitarian conduct. They are required to behave well so that they may be safe and happy in their lives. The prophets also advised, and the Prophet Jesus himself also advised people, 'If you have trouble or difficulty in your life,' he said, 'turn to God.' And when he was asked, 'Where is God, that I may turn to Him?' he said, 'God always follows you, is always in you, but not in your heart and thinking.'

In view of what Bapak has been saying, that is, the sayings of all the prophets, it becomes clear to us that we now also are turning to our own selves, our own nature. Moreover, we have been able to meet with the Life Force that vibrates our being beyond our thinking mind, beyond our notion, beyond our ability to understand, so that the first time you received this, children, you felt it as something very strange for your thinking mind and heart and will. Whereas, in fact, it is not something strange. It is something that really preceded everything that came before, as Bapak said at the beginning of this talk about spiritual matters. But, certainly, it is strange for the thinking mind. For the thinking mind you all possess is the development of your thinking and will as long as you have lived in this world with these new accessories. But have no fear, because from now on, you will begin to know, and know, and know, until finally you will come to a true awareness of how the real life is. Spontaneously and by successive stages, you really will be able to receive and feel the spiritual way that exists within your life.

This is all for now of Bapak's explanations about the meaning and purpose of Subud in the spiritual life. Bapak will continue in the days to come, because Bapak will be staying here for quite a long time. And Bapak will begin to test with you, children, how far your receiving has progressed in the spiritual latihan. Bapak hopes this explanation can give you some measure of satisfaction, ladies and gentlemen. And please forgive Bapak if he has said anything out of place.

Thank you.

Translated by Sofyan Brugger