Ladies and gentlemen, tonight Bapak would like to continue the explanation Bapak gave last week.

The spiritual training ( latihan ) you have all received, as Bapak has said before, is not a teaching, or something that comes from the mind. It is really the awakening of the human soul ( jiwa ), which has been coming to life and developing since you were opened. The soul, which has begun to grow, will always continue to develop, by itself - but not for the wanting; it does not need pushing from the mind, because the growth or awakening of the soul is something that is beyond the human thinking mind and will; it comes about only because of God's power.

God's power is ineffable, and cannot be understood by the human thinking mind. God is the Creator of everything He has created, that is, the universe, including mankind. And God wields His power not with instruments or physical members like human beings have. Bapak does not need to describe the type or kind ( of instrument ), because it is, of course, beyond the conception of the human thinking mind. Each of the parts of our human body is limited in strength, so that it is quite impossible for us to be able to guess or know the truth about the expanse and location of God's dominion. Indeed, the members of this whole human physical body can only be used for work and expansion or Improvement within the sphere of this world. So with this coarse physical body we cannot walk on air. With these coarse physical instruments of ours it is impossible for us to be able to experience and feel something in the atmosphere beyond this world, where there are no paths like the paths in the world, and where everything is really very different, unless we find the appropriate instruments.

Now, in the latihan, you have just begun to receive these instruments that we can use, or will use in the spheres beyond this world, ladies and gentlemen. These instruments are termed kadim ( eternal ) attributes, which means they do not change, and do not break. For example, they don't feel the heat or the cold; even when going through the air they do not feel it as we would if we were in the air. So, suppose that you are able to be in that state, ladies and gentlemen, you will not be affected by the heat of fire, or the coldness of the air, nor by any of the various things that normally affect human beings in this world.

Therefore, what we have begun to receive in the latihan will enable us later, when eventually we die, to work and act beyond the limits of the reality we experienced in this world. Of course, ladies and gentlemen, this is unthinkable and incomprehensible to you, because the instruments you use to try to understand and be aware of it are for this world, not for spheres and conditions beyond it. So it's no wonder you always say you cannot be aware of what really exists in these spheres. Indeed, the situation outside of this world is something that is beyond the thinking mind, beyond the will, and beyond the power of the human being. It is only within God's power alone, only God can control it, along with His followers, for example, human beings with a perfect soul ( jiwa ). For that place, indeed, is what is called the dominion of souls ( jiwa ) or lives ( nyawa ) or spirits ( arivah ) of human beings who have left this world.

By way of clarification, so that you can to some extent understand, Bapak will explain: When you had just been born in the world, the structure of life was actually already there and arranged. When the structure of life was still arranged in layers of forces or roh ( spirit ) - yes, this is really rather difficult to translate, because these words are not in everyday usage, but Bapak will try to say it in ordinary words, which are not so deep - these layers of forces or roh interacted and worked with one another; and from that work a light was created, or brought into being.

You can read this in Bapak's own book, which will be published shortly. Bapak will therefore just give you a short explanation of your state after you were born in this world.

Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak apologizes, because this is really very difficult to translate into English.

When you had just been born, ladies and gentlemen, when you were still a baby, at that time you, or that baby, was not yet able to see even though it had eyes, was not yet able to hear even though it had ears. It could not yet function at all with any of its parts, even though it already possessed all of them. Indeed, at that time, the members of its physical body had not yet been able to prepare their strength to be able to take the pressures of the world. But the baby, or you when you were still a baby, could still see, hear, feel, and so on, things that did not come from this world, but from within itself. Even though the baby was not yet able to see or hear anything, its face would now and again express its sadness, happiness, calmness, pleasure and fretfulness.

This was not without reason; of course there was a reason. The baby was able to see, hear and feel, and so on, things that could not be known or heard by people who had already been in the world for a long time. The baby still knew the atmosphere within its inner self but did not yet know the atmosphere of this world. From that time on, day by day, week by week, month by month, the baby began to be able to see forms and shapes and to hear the sounds of this world. And it began also to be distanced or closed up from the vision it had before it saw the shapes of this world. So it continued until the baby became a small child, then a big child, and finally an adult. Gradually the baby became more and more unfamiliar with its inner self, and more and more familiar with its thinking mind and its heart. Consequently, that baby, which had become an adult, now thought that heaven or God was like the voices he heard while in the world.

In short, the adult, or rather Bapak should say you, ladies and gentlemen, will not be able to leave behind your thinking mind and heart when you try to understand and be aware of something. Bapak does not blame you when you always ask questions about the meaning of what you have received in the training ( latihan ). But do not forget that what you receive in the latihan is something you all experienced before your eyes and ears and all your instruments were functioning in this world. So in the latihan you receive it is as if you are repeating or going over again the state you were in when you were still a baby. Although you are all now adults, and some of you are over fifty, from the point of view of the inner self, as Bapak has just described, you were only born one or two months ago. So you are, within your awareness, returning to the state you were in as a new-born baby.

This is why Bapak always tells you that it is not possible to understand and think about what you receive in the latihan. Your brain and heart, ladies and gentlemen, have long been closed up because they have been working for the world. Please do not let your brain and heart work in the latihan, but let your inner self grow and work unobstructed. If you follow this advice, you will later be able to experience the repetition of your life again as you knew it when you were still a baby. You will be able to have evidence of this later in the testing Bapak will conduct after this talk.

It is best, ladies and gentlemen, that you do not have too many explanations, too many words; what you need now is practice, that is, to do the latihan. Because too many explanations, too much talk about matters in Subud or this latihan will not bring clarity, but will even increase the darkness within our inner self. Bapak is giving these explanations to increase your awareness; you need to do the latihan and not ask too many questions. Later on you yourselves will be able to receive and understand the changes within yourselves.

Also, do not be concerned that this latihan may possibly disappear or stop. This cannot possibly happen, because the door is open, or Bapak has opened it, so you only need to work, that is to do the latihan. Do not feel bored with it, because the lack of smoothness, or smoothness of what you receive in the latihan, is caused by nothing other than your mistakes, ladies and gentlemen.

If Bapak may give an example, the door has been opened, but you have for so long been putting baskets of rubbish, rocks from the mountains, grass, wood for the kitchen, and all kinds of things in the doorway. So in the latihan, after being opened, it is necessary to undergo purification, so that when you are clean you can discover the instruments you really need to use. If it is not yet clear, Bapak will illustrate it like this: Within yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, it is like a house. Usually, in a house that is properly furnished in the usual way, there is a desk in the study, all kinds of food in the kitchen, a bed and chair in the bedroom, and furniture for receiving guests in the living room. But because of your mistakes, within your self, within the house, there are all kinds of things that should not be there. For many of you, because of these mistakes, the house is not only filled with instruments or furniture, but there are many animals sleeping in the rooms, sleeping in the kitchen, in the living room, and so on. All of this has to be cleaned, so that the house, or your self, becomes clean, like the self of a human being filled with the instruments he needs. You are now beginning to work, beginning to be trained in the latihan to become like that.

This is all for now of Bapak's explanations about your situation, and about the latihan you receive. As Bapak said just now, it is necessary for us to practice, to do the latihan, and now Bapak will conduct some testing for you all.

Translated by Sofyan Brugger