Ladies and gentlemen, our meeting today is our last meeting - not the end, but the last meeting in Bapak's visit to Europe especially in London.

So as a present for all of you in London, ladies and gentlemen, Bapak would like to describe a proposal or suggestion for the arrangements of the spiritual training of Subud, and for your organization, so they can be run to the best of your ability.

Our spiritual association of Subud is divided into two parts: first, there is your training ( latihan ) of worship of the One God, and second we must have rules in our community, in other words the organization. The first of the above does not require any organization because the nature of man's worship of God is completely free. It is not right if we try to organize God, because God cannot be organized by man. Therefore the organization in Subud concerns only human society, between one person and another; thus in our Subud Association we have certain rules so that the workload can be shared by all of you.

Well then, Bapak will begin by explaining the way of the spiritual training of Subud that all of you have received and are following, ladies and gentlemen. Many of those who have received this spiritual training of Subud constantly ask about the results of what has been obtained in their latihan. And these questions are put to the helpers, who have difficulties because they are at a loss for replies that correspond to the wish of the questioners.

You should all know that the latihan that we have been doing is in reality man's worship of God, meaning that we serve the One God. Through our sincere devotion to the One God, God will give guidance and instruction to human beings. The nature of this instruction is the power that works within the self of man. The working of this power will awaken, will move and finally will clean and clear everything that has become an obstacle in the inner feeling of man, until it disappears or is put in order, and everything returns to its place and finally is no longer an obstruction within man's inner feeling.

The nature of God's work, received within the self of man, is not like the way man himself works at something. If seen from the viewpoint of the human mind and human knowledge, God's work is something that happens in the tidiest way, and does not require a cause. So it is no wonder that people say that God's creation happens in the twinkling of an eye. This is so in the case of the universe that we see, and this world and all its contents: all of these were created by God instantaneously. All this has happened in such a way that mankind only knows and understands that God's work happens without any cause, but nevertheless happens, by virtue of His power, His infinite wisdom, His supremacy, not as it is for us human beings.

Because of this, ladies and gentlemen, nobody can be asked about the way of working of God's power that is within the self of man and which is received by all of you when you do the latihan; nobody can be asked about the best and the truest way to receive something from God.

In such a situation it is very hard for those of you, ladies and gentlemen, who have become helpers, to reply to such questions, because the questions that are put forward concern the experience received while doing the latihan, whereas those of you being asked may not yet have experienced what is being asked. Or you may have had some experience, but it is different from that being asked about, with the result that it is very difficult for you helpers to give an answer that can satisfy the heart and feeling of the questioner. Such questions can only be witnessed together- as when Bapak tests - by the questioner and the one who is questioned, or by bringing in other brothers or sisters who have already received quite a lot of experience in the latihan, with the result that from this testing together, some kind of clarity can be reached as to how far the experiences obtained by the questioner have reached. So actually, the reply to the question is not given from the heart and mind, by the way of man's brain, by searching for comparisons in books, but is witnessed together in a condition that is real, that can be truly witnessed.

It is not that we should, but certainly we do it this way. Nevertheless, because none of you have received the latihan for a long time yet, you have not had that many experiences. So the work and approach that Bapak just described ( testing ) cannot yet possibly be carried out by the helpers. Even so, Bapak has appointed some from among you as helpers, because Bapak will not be here for very long and the latihan of all of you here should be monitored and assisted. That is why Bapak has been obliged to appoint several of you as helpers.

This does not mean that you have to assist the way of the kejiwaan, but what Bapak requires is that you can assist the manner in which the members train, so that the latihan is done in an orderly way. But whatever is received in the latihan is outside the responsibility of the helpers, because what exists within the latihan is God's concern. So, later on, it is God who will give the widest explanations and evidence, with the result that all of you, ladies and gentlemen, will be able to receive in a state of clarity and awareness. Like Bapak, for example: when Bapak used to receive before, he just received, first because there was nobody Bapak could ask, and second because Bapak had already received. There was no point in Bapak asking someone, because the instruments within Bapak's consciousness were not ready, not yet willing to receive very clear explanations from the One God.

As all of you have often heard in Bapak's previous talks, the working of the power of God in the self of man, awakening the human soul ( jiwa ) that is beginning to develop within him, always meets with difficulties that lie within man himself - in other words the lower forces, the subhuman forces, which Bapak has already explained about - the material force and the plant force - meaning the force of plants, not the actual plants - also the animal force and the force of man himself. These represent disturbances, obstacles to the progress or development of man's soul, which has just manifested in man's self through the mercy and greatness of the One God.

That is the way in which man's soul develops, progressing little by little, and this development is felt as an experience in the latihan. Actually you do not need to ask the helpers about this kind of thing, since the helpers may not have experienced yet what is asked by the questioner, or may have experienced something different from that. At this present time, both helpers and the members with questions, or both the helpers and those of you who Bapak has not yet nominated as helpers, all of you are still undergoing changes in your inner feeling that always vary and repeat, furthermore ( these changes ) experienced by you are not small. So the questions asked sometimes present difficulties for the helpers, because they have been posed but are not answered, and because the helper has already been appointed by Bapak. But sometimes there is no material with which to answer.

This is a difficulty for the helpers, so it is better that the members are patient with things of this nature, and can wait for the time when their own soul develops, because such a short time as this - not even one year - is not sufficient to show results or to achieve satisfaction. The time to obtain real evidence - so that the questioner and the one questioned can really test together -is when all of you have done the latihan for at least three to four years. The time period that Bapak has just mentioned is very short for the development of the soul, bearing in mind that the awakening of the human soul ( jiwa ) has only just started in all of you, and it has long been suppressed, long been covered over by the low, subhuman forces that have controlled and ruled within the self of man from the time he was small until his old age.

And the lower forces that have ruled within the self of man constitute a very great power, a power that is fundamental to the movements of his life, the movement of the body. So whether it be in the thinking, in the heart, in the inner feeling, in the sexual organ - all of this has been awakened or moved by the power of the lower forces that have held sway, have long occupied man's place. They have long been there, and finally, for just one year or half a year, the soul has awoken, has manifested inside you. Of course, although it is the owner of the house, although it is the real ruler, because it is a latecomer, a newcomer, it feels strange, and in addition is hindered by all sorts of things that have become obstacles to its development.

This mistake is not intentional, since it is certain that none of you, ladies and gentlemen, would like to do something that intentionally causes suffering or makes the inner feeling uncomfortable, Nevertheless, because of the atmosphere of the world, which we always face, which we see, we hear, we smell, we speak about, we feel and think about, there has come to be an interchange, a cooperation between us and the world's atmosphere, or between the world and the life of mankind within the world. As a result, there are shifts and changes, or discrepancies, in the inner feeling, and these have the nature of mistakes, which although not intentional, will happen automatically. In this kind of condition it is very hard for mankind to differentiate, to separate out, what things are not influenced by the world and what things are.

These mistakes are faced, are possessed, not because they have been committed, but they have already been possessed by mankind for countless generations. But Bapak gives as an example the condition of a human being from the time it is in the mother's womb. From the mother's womb until birth, from after birth until he becomes a child and finally becomes a grown-up, there is a constant mutual encounter, a constant mutual pressure, and a constant mutual need between the human force or man's inner feeling and the material force, the vegetable force, the animal force and the human force.

Indeed, these are what constitute the needs of life, the nature of life. So, before a human being faces something in this world, such as the material force, the vegetable force, the animal and human forces, that human being's life is already filled with the full structure of life forces, from the material to the vegetable, the animal, the human and so on. The purpose of life, which has been structured in this way, is that living creatures, especially man, can unite what is outside with what is inside.

So the material force, which earlier was one of the contents within man's self, meets with the material force outside man's self after his birth on this earth. In the same way the vegetable force, which has become part of man's content, requires also to meet with the vegetable force in the outside world, which man always faces. And so on, and the human force also needs to meet with the human force in the world or outside of himself. So in the working of these forces within the self of man, it can be arranged which one works for this and which one works for that.

But because of neglect and because of the mistakes of the human being, this meeting of like with like, of similar essences within and without, gradually changes or is no longer organized, so that finally the inner feeling of the human being is more influenced and oppressed by the lower forces, which put pressure on the self, and the force of the human being becomes weak. Because of this weakness, the human soul is closed off, or has no power any more, and the lower forces become more influential in controlling man's self. And finally, or automatically, the power that is inside man's self permeates all his organs, so that all the parts of man's body - for example Bapak takes the most obvious: the brain, the heart and the sexual desire - have already been awakened, controlled and filled by the low force that rules within man's self. In this way the human being does not know the way to think, the way to imagine, the way to understand, or the way to wish for something right, since everything has been awakened by the lower force, which holds sway within the person's self.

That is what goes on inside the self or inner feeling of a human being. So, as Bapak said just now, in this situation, with the birth and transformation of the human soul, which has been closed up - through its development many things are encountered and experienced, because these are necessary for the development of the soul. Therefore, not a little but a considerable amount of time is necessary for all kinds of obstacles, blockages and disturbances - or Bapak says for the strength of the lower forces, which have long ruled in the self of man - to be stopped and purified - at least three to four years. Why does Bapak say at least? Because the blockages or power of the low forces that have long governed within the self of man have already become very strong indeed, so that they appear to have replaced man's soul itself.

Bapak will describe it in a way that all of you should be able to understand. Can someone not think about anything? Many even say if someone leaves behind their thinking, it is the same as if that person has lost his wits, in other words has become crazy. So it is clear that man's wits and man's thinking mind are not easily separated from man's inner feeling. And yet this very thinking that is so active has been awakened, empowered and filled by the low forces, which hold sway within the self of a human being, so that without knowing what is really happening, a person's thinking, heart and sex are roused and filled by the lower forces, which hold sway there.

That is the reason why, in order to clear out everything in each part of us which has been blocked up, not a little time is required, at least three or four years. Actually even people who are exceptional, such as prophets and saints, need years for everything to be cleaned out. Even that cannot possibly take place without the help of God, without God's power, and is preceded by the utmost surrender, the utmost sincerity, patience and trust in the One God.

The achievement of goodness and the return of the human soul, as Bapak described it just now, is not brought about by increasing the frequency or amount of your latihan; what is required is to be full of a feeling of patience, full of a feeling of submission, and full of a feeling of love, sincerity and trust towards God. With this kind of state, the inner feeling is more surrendered than not, and God's power will be able to work better and more quickly within the self of man. And the experiences that you get while receiving the latihan will certainly be a lot, because the developing human soul penetrates all walls, or fills with a human power those parts of the inner feeling that had previously been filled with forces that were not of human origin, in other words the lower forces.

There are many experiences received in the latihan that are caused by the development of the soul as it penetrates all the walls - that is, those parts of man's inner feeling that were filled with the powers that previously held sway, or the subhuman forces. And if the one who receives asks a helper who has also experienced changes of this kind, but in a different area, it will certainly cause the helper a feeling of difficulty and hardship in giving an answer.

So Bapak hopes you can be a little patient about this kind of thing, while awaiting the time when between the questioner and the questioned a lot of things have been experienced in terms of purification and the clearing out of forces that have long held sway in their inner feeling. Only after you have been able to reach a certain level can the one who asks and the one who is asked, with the addition of a few other friends, test together the truth of the experiences that each questioner may have.

That is Bapak's clarification concerning what needs to be done by the helpers, and also about what needs to be remembered and understood by those who have questions, so that there does not arise between one and the other a feeling of criticism or suspicion that the helper does not like to answer, or does not yet fulfil his duty as a helper, who should be able to explain things. In this way the one who asks and the one who answers, or all of you in general, can continue your worship of God as harmoniously as possible, in mutual respect, with mutual love and affection, and you won't let it happen that because of questions, because of this and that, you fall apart, or quarrel among yourselves. For what all of you need is not to quarrel in the middle of your journey to God, but to make it possible for ourselves to reach God.

So do not let it happen that we fail to achieve this excellent aim of ours simply because our passions experience a lack of satisfaction in the inner feeling and that we get bored, stay away from the latihan, and even try to avoid our fellow brothers and sisters who do the latihan and worship with us. Bapak hopes you will distance yourselves from this kind of thing as far as possible, and that you will be able to work together harmoniously, with mutual affection, and that you will not criticize one another and put others down, for in the spiritual realm, decisions and certainty are in the hands of God, not the hands of man.

As Bapak said just now, Bapak would like to talk about our work. What do we need to work at, and what problems must we face in order to strengthen and stabilize our situation as people who worship the One God, in other words by preparing and organizing ourselves, and what is good and appropriate for us in order to be able to carry out this work and establish our association?

In organizing an association in a way that is stable and proper, you have to create sections, in other words a committee with different fields of work, whose members will be appointed by all of you yourselves. For example, what kind of sections are needed to organize latihan facilities, to convene meetings when required, and so on? You should also make arrangements for sending letters to whoever requires them, for arranging what has to be developed in the kejiwaan. You also need sections for that which constitutes the pulse or mainstay of life in this world, namely, finance, and you have to appoint from among yourselves people who are able to run these sections as well as possible.

Although we serve God, actually God does not want money; it is we who need money. We need money to fulfil all our needs in worshipping God. So the one who needs money is not God, but we ourselves. We have to make efforts, to work, to prepare things, for example, the hospital we have started. Because a hospital is a place where people can receive help from us and where we too can be of help to whoever requires it, so in fact we are really only helping those who need help. As to the way to get the necessary money to meet our needs, the finance section should try in whatever way possible; Bapak leaves it to those of you who occupy these positions. So the requirements must be known, must be organized and controlled by the finance section.

Bapak hopes, ladies and gentlemen, that you will not allow the hospital we have to run badly, but that you will pay attention to it, and work at it as best you can. Certainly you gentlemen, who are here in London, are in a better position than Bapak, who is a foreigner here, to organize, and to know the way to make things progress, in particular the hospital. And those of you working over there in the hospital should not be disturbed in their feelings by always having to think about the finances. Matters of finance must be the preoccupation of people outside the hospital, so that those of you who work or are stationed over there just get on and do the job you have to do. And you should remember also that in fact this hospital represents a putting into practice for all of you, ladies and gentlemen, because it is also related to the spiritual path, so that later we can find something that will become a protection or cover, and strengthen our efforts in the medical field.

This is what Bapak has to propose, and it is for you to attend to and carry out conscientiously. So Bapak will close this meeting today - it is enough for now - with the hope that you will carry out Bapak's requests to you, working together in a spirit of mutual cooperation and harmony, full of sincerity and love within the natures and lives of each one of you. For the rest of the time, Bapak will use this opportunity to test somewhat, but before that Bapak would like to give you the opportunity to put questions to Bapak.

Question: Is it necessary to discuss experiences?

Bapak: No, there is no point, because it will only result in talk. So just wait patiently until the time when you are able to test one with another, and get a definite reply to what has been experienced. But if you ask now, I have received this, what does it mean? This is this, and that is that, and so on; it's only the mind that is active; what is active is not the reality, but an analysis of the mind. This will only cause more confusion. Because if you are in a hurry: 'Well, according to this book it's like this,' 'Oh no, according to the book I read it's like this,' and so on endlessly. But if you wait until the time you can test it, that will be better, so you can witness where and how the experience is needed, and the purpose of it.

Q: What is meant by the word received? For example, does what is received come from Bapak, from God or from ourselves under the influence of suggestion, so that for example, if asked, ( missing ) he himself will ask where the ceiling is, and not look upward. If this is what is meant by testing, this could also be autosuggestion. What really is meant by testing?

B: As Bapak said just now, because man's inner feeling has long been influenced by the low forces that are inside man, the awakening of his human soul ( jiwa ) to receive the truth is very difficult or cannot yet be done. Therefore to receive the gift of God, which Bapak has described, free from the suggestion of the heart, requires quite a long time. So at this time you, and the other brothers and sisters, are still in the stage of purification, transition, or the stage of turning a bad situation into a good one. In this kind of situation, it is still hard for all of you to obtain the truth, although you have been strengthened by a power that can penetrate the thinking.

And if you do not feel shy - here we are all brothers and sisters, so maybe you will not feel shy if Bapak tests. Would you like to stand up here? How about it?

( Testing )

The progress that has been received and experienced by all of you is considerable, so much so that Bapak hears, and also knows it, that among the young people there are some who do not feel right, do not feel very satisfied if they are lectured by or have to ask other members who are older. Because in man's service of God there is neither young nor old. Even if a person's age is sixty or eighty years old, Bapak tells you frankly, if at that age he is only filled with lower forces, forces that are not good, it can be said that such an age has no use. Whereas even if he is still young, if his young nature is filled with forces that are better, for example not so low, he will certainly be able to receive more smoothly, more quickly, more ably than the older person.

But this kind of thing must not be made into some kind of rule. We must be able to differentiate between the realm of the spiritual and that of the thinking. Even if a young person is clearer, more able in receiving the latihan than an older person, do not avoid the old people, or say, 'Yes, well you may be old, but that's only your age, inside you are not yet old.' We really should avoid this kind of thing. So we serve and help each other, guide and come close to each other, so that we do not experience quarrelling among ourselves. Because quarrelling, either in the mouth or the heart, will cause us to slow down or regress in the latihan that we have been practicing.

Is there any more, is that all, because it is getting late?

Q: Is Subud the only way to receive a contact with God, because other people have been able to find God?

B: God is the one who has the power, so that God also gives to whoever is able to receive it. So besides those in Subud, it is possible that many others can also receive. Therefore, it is not only in Subud, not only from Bapak. It ( the contact ) already existed before Subud, for example in former times in the Christian religion, in the religion of Brahman or Buddha; in Islam it already existed. So it exists not only in Subud, but it may also be elsewhere. The only thing you need to know is the source, where it comes from, and this can be tested according to the ability that already exists within you. If your way of testing is still through movement, it is the outer movement that is used to test the truth or not of what is desired, what is asked. It is even better if you can test not like that, but from deeper, according to the capacity within each one of you.

And if you need to ask, Bapak has heard and knows that to find a contact with the power of God there are many methods that require an energy that is really difficult to imitate, or to follow, in other words through the way of reducing one's food, avoiding the pleasures of this world - in short by isolating oneself from society. Whereas in Subud, it is just the opposite; we should not abandon the needs and requirements of our life in this world.

Q: Is there a way or method of being able to surrender more, or should one just follow and let it work by itself?.

B: Yes, that's already surrendering. So you just wait for the latihan to go, by itself. As Bapak said just now, the way God works is different from the way man works. So God's work, if seen from man's thinking, happens suddenly, or happens by itself. And the danger is the wish of the heart, which wants to be able to receive as quickly as possible, while man himself is not yet truly aware of the pressure of the desires ( nafsu ), which still exert a strong pressure on his inner feeling; and with tremendous desire, he increases the frequency of his latihan. The force within penetrates outwards, forcing the nafsu to be clean as quickly as possible, avoiding or dissolving the pressure of the nafsu; many situations of this nature result in what is usually called 'crisis'.

This kind of crisis is probably not what any of you wish for, ladies and gentlemen, because a crisis in worship is what is referred to in Islam as zadab syaitoniah, so that someone like that displays his nafsu; whatever is within him comes out. So if previously he loved to fight, if he has a crisis and the nafsu is being cleared out from within him, he will fight with anyone. If before being cleaned out, his nafsu liked to abuse other people, when he has a crisis everyone will be verbally abused, everyone will be ridiculed.

You surely would not wish for this kind of thing, ladies and gentlemen. To avoid it, it is best that your training and receiving in the latihan proceeds gradually, step by step; don't be in a hurry. In this way, the ability, the strength of your inner feeling will grow all the more, will become all the stronger. Once it is already strong, you can latihan every day, every hour even, and it still will not bring you into crisis. That is Bapak's request to all of you. So if you want to have a crisis, Bapak leaves it up to you, but if possible, don't do it. It is best if you take it slowly, patiently, with surrender, so that you are not in a hurry to learn, and do not force anything that is not yet developed within you.

Bapak will stop at this point, because he has already gone over the time; it is almost two o'clock. Although Bapak will still be here for a little while longer, for four more days, Bapak nevertheless will use this opportunity to ask your leave if Bapak does not meet you again, since Bapak will leave London for America, and from there will proceed back home to Indonesia. And Bapak hopes and prays that when Bapak is back in Indonesia, after Bapak leaves here, all of you, Bapak s children, will always receive the protection of the One God, in a condition where, firstly, you can always receive God's gift with a feeling of true surrender, love and patience, and secondly your daily situation is always one of well-being and harmony - between husband and wife, between one and another, that is, between all of you brothers and sisters. May the development of Subud here in London become more and more evident as time goes on, and may it develop in goodness and excellence.

With these words of Bapak's, Bapak expresses his heartfelt thanks to all of you here.

Translated by Luqman Leckie