Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak will continue his explanation of yesterday evening concerning the spiritual path. The improvement and purification that is required within the self of man extends not only to the flesh and blood, but also includes the heart and thinking of man, so that it can become a holy and pure place in which to receive indications and guidance from God for the needs of man's life.
Certainly, a journey or situation of this nature cannot be received and put into effect immediately, because of course the way in which God cleans a human being is arranged in such a way that man's inner feeling does not experience any difficulty in his daily life.
Ladies and gentleman, you have already heard Bapak say at Coombe Springs that it is not yet certain that that which has become the content of man's whole inner feeling is one hundred percent ruled or inhabited by the force of man himself, the human force. Due to man's own mistake, what used to be filled with the human force has gradually become filled with forces below the human level, with the result that finally by the time of the present century, many people are constantly influenced by the progress of the world. Because progress of the world has been so rapid and great, it has become a block or obstacle to the awakening of the human soul ( jiwa ), which originally was filled with a perfect human content.
As a result of the influence of the lower forces - which have long affected man's inner feeling - the way man really feels, considers and understands something that is right for a perfect human being, is always controlled, always directed towards their own ends by these lower forces. For example, if the force influencing a man is the animal force, like it or not, man's feelings, will and thinking - or in short his character - are taken to the animal world; they are taken to a world of behavior that corresponds with the way the animal nature behaves.
Although man's will and thinking wish to understand, wish to become aware of the truth of life, the reality is that the wanting and thinking of man cannot possibly find a way that is in accordance with God's will for man's inner self. This is because the lower forces - the animal force, which is within man's inner feeling and has become his content - radiates its force to the whole of man's body. So even though the way man thinks, the way he feels - in its outer form, from the exterior - does not reduce the cleverness of man's heart and brain, nevertheless the goal and aspiration that is hidden inside this heart and brain is actually the projection of that animal force.
This situation is really extremely difficult for man himself, and it cannot easily be made to vanish from his inner feeling, because man, with the mistakes that constantly beset him, still claims that what exists in his inner feeling is the human soul, and still claims that what is felt, thought about, and dreamed of is the truth. However this is not motivated or controlled or awakened by the true human force, but by the forces that are lower than the human - the animal force, for example. So in fact the difficulty for man, as Bapak said just now, is that there will be no true way to make the lower forces or man's obstacle disappear - to enable him to find the right way according to the Will of God - unless man can find some life force that can receive a contact or connection from the Great Force, the Great Life Force - in other words the power that originates from the Most Great.
With the awakening of the true human force by the power of the One God, ultimately this will radiate to all parts of the body, to man's whole inner feeling, which formerly was controlled by the lower forces that occupied and controlled man's self. Nevertheless, although he has already received a power that is truly tremendous, which finally can awaken the human self and spread to all parts of the body, there is left behind within man's inner feeling the influence of the forces that are lower than the human. In the way that the purification of the whole of us is effected and carried out, one cannot avoid experiencing consequences that can truly be felt and may not be pleasant. The unpleasant feeling that a person always experiences is felt and imagined to be none other than a sickness that affects or attacks his inner feeling. In passing this is felt or understood to be similar to the sicknesses often suffered by mankind. But in fact this is a condition that is inside man, for example in the blood, flesh, nerves and so on, which needs to be cleaned, to be repaired.
The course of cleaning and repairing these things will surely require changes within man's self. Bapak can illustrate this with an example, for instance the nature of an object. Even though its composition is wrong, if it is already completed, if it has already been fashioned into some shape or mode of existence, even though it is not well arranged, it must be used. A thing like that certainly will be felt to be something good, whereas in fact it is wrong in its formulation, the way it was made up. Then if it is put right according to the proper formulation, it will certainly involve a shift in the existing composition, however wrongly that composition was arranged.
Actually to describe everything connected with the spiritual path and with the way to ennoble and restore the whole of man's inner feeling to its original and correct place - all this would be impossible for Bapak to explain in a short time. It requires a very long time. Therefore it is necessary for Bapak to summarize it, so Bapak won't use too many examples. That makes the talk easier for you to understand - and it doesn't hamper the translation, so that it goes quickly or can easily be heard by the listeners - that is, you, ladies and gentlemen.
So it is clear, ladies and gentlemen, that in receiving this training ( latihan ), you will certainly experience a change in your inner feeling, which will affect both the physical body and the desires and the thinking. But Bapak needs to remind you, to explain, that the unpleasant feeling that you will experience in the latihan is not a sickness, but is due to the changes that are desired by the soul ( jiwa ), to enable the whole of the inner feeling - everything that is within the self of man - to return to a good condition, in accordance with the force that radiates from the perfect human being.
Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who always feel backward in your latihan, or not very clear in your receiving, Bapak tells you and warns you not to feel disappointed; do not feel uncomfortable and blame yourself. It may be because of your sins. So Bapak hopes that, with a patient feeling, a feeling of surrender and belief in the greatness of God, everything that has become an obstacle for the inner feeling and causes you to be slow in receiving the latihan, may change and you will become fluent in receiving God's gift to the self of each of you.
Bapak will not blame you, ladies and gentlemen, however much you desire, however much you wish to receive something true, and wish to be able to feel quickly what must be received in the latihan. Just remember that God the All-knowing knows why you cannot receive, why you are slow in your receiving. God knows that your inner feeling - including the inner feeling of those of you who cannot receive clearly - is tightly closed, is completely closed off by the lower forces that have ruled for so long within the inner feeling. So God arranges the best way, the right way, little by little, in such a manner that no damage is caused within man's self, so that the dirt can be cleaned out from one's self without any damage at all.
Therefore, the best way for all of you is to have the greatest faith in the greatness and power of God, and reduce your desire to be able to know and understand quickly. This way of doing things actually speeds up the process, makes it easier for the human soul to work within the self of man. This way was also practiced by those human beings who received in the olden days. In other words, a receiving from God can only be received by a human being if he is full of patience in his inner feeling, full of faith, if he gives up all desire, and only sincerely puts his trust in and is obedient to the greatness of God.
This kind of thing was experienced by the prophets, as Bapak said just now, by men in previous ages. They said, 'Clean your heart and clean your mind by not pondering anything; and clean your will, clean every wish that desires this and that, except the wish to obey the One God. Then you will receive true guidance, as did the prophets, as did men in earlier times.' The prophets or men of that time already knew that the will or thinking of man, without him being aware of it, was actually awakened by forces below the human level; so the desire to know, the wish to understand something, originate from the nature of the force that has already occupied the inner feeling of man.
This is closely related to or represents the content of the spiritual path that all of you have received and carry out in the training that you practice. Therefore, in order to be able to feel to some extent what has happened in your training ( latihan ), Bapak considers it best to test with you the extent and nature of your receiving to date. Bapak hopes that you will receive this test in the way that you do your latihan; receive your latihan - but do so in a quiet state. You don't need to move your body in order to be able to receive within the inner feeling of each one of you.
( Testing )
Bapak advises you to get together from time to time with the brothers and sisters at Coombe Springs who have already been able to receive more than you all here have, so that that meeting will increase the reality for you, increase your sincerity, trust and surrender to the One God.
Certainly all of you, ladies and gentlemen, can feel for yourselves that any kind of thing, or any kind of exercise, of course begins from something small, and little by little it improves. You cannot start exercising and immediately receive everything, immediately become good; it has to go little by little, as in other kinds of training. So don't be disappointed, and don't feel bored in your latihan and in your worship of God.
After Bapak leaves here, Bapak hopes that all of you will be able to receive and will have patience and trust in the One God, and this will speed up your progress so that you will quickly be able to receive what is necessary for each one of you.
Bapak takes his leave of you, ladies and gentlemen, because tomorrow morning he will return to London, to Coombe Springs. And Bapak hopes that you don't feel disappointed that Bapak has only been able to accompany your latihan here for two evenings. Bapak hopes that next year - I don't know whether in one year or a year and a half, or two years - Bapak will come back again to London, and will meet all of you again.
That completes what Bapak has to say to you. Thank you very much.
Translated by Luqman Leckie