Ladies and gentlemen, last time Bapak explained the situation of a small child, a baby, and the changes it faces as it grows up in this world.

Now Bapak needs to explain further that, before a baby is born, or when it does not yet exist in its mother, the body of a human being, ( its ) life is already neatly arranged and the life forces are arranged in levels, beginning from the life force that envelops matter. The life force that envelops materials envelops them outside and also fills them inside, and is the essence, the content of material objects.

The second life force, higher and more powerful than the first, is the life force that envelops and is also the filler of all plants. The third is the life force that envelops and is also the filler of all animals. The fourth is the life force that envelops and is the filler of all people, or human beings. The material, plant and animal life forces are under the influence and control of the human life force.

Above the human life force, and so also beyond human control, is the life force of the perfect human being, called rohani. In Buddhism they call it ( the level of ) gods or angels. Above it there is another, superior and more powerful, the life force that is called rahmani. God's creatures who are enveloped and filled by this force are not like ( those of ) the rohani or human levels. And above that there is still another, called roh rabani, the life force that is the greatest and most powerful of all, and is quite beyond the grasp or groping of the human mind and imagination.

It is easy for human beings - well, not very easy, but it is within the limits of their inner strength - to reach only as far as their own self, or up to the fourth roh, that is, the jasmaniah, the roh of human beings themselves. But a human being cannot attain and be aware of the state of the roh above the human being, the fifth ( life force ) or roh rohani, with the parts he has, for example, the members of this physical body. Clearly, if a human being wants to be able to be aware of the fifth roh, the one above the human being, there is no part or instrument he can use to do this unless he receives it from above. The sixth and seventh levels are even more difficult, even impossible for humans to reach if they are unable to receive a revelation or gift from Almighty God.

These words of Bapak are only a kind of picture or theory - it does not mean it has to be done just because Bapak is describing it - it's just a picture. Eventually, if it is God's will, you will be able to experience and come to what Bapak has been saying.

Now these seven forces, arranged in the structure Bapak has been speaking about, eventually interacted and brought about a state of friction - this is only theory, only a picture; actually God creates and it is there, but man's thinking requires pictures, because it needs time ( to function ) - and from that friction was first created an element, which could be seen by a clean feeling, namely, light. So from the friction of these life forces, the element of light was created.

And the light gradually shone over a wide expanse called khilal, until a substance was also created that was still quite fine, not yet so coarse, that is, air. And it did not stop there. The light went on shining until a third was created, that is, water. And the light went on shining until the fourth and coarsest, that is, matter, or earth, was created, as a base.

Thus, the state of friction of the life forces resulted in the creation of four factors. Subsequently these four factors, in turn, also urged a state of friction; and at last, from each one of them, the same four substances were again brought into existence. Bapak will give an example. After matter was made and finally became strong, it was like this earth. And within the earth there were also the four factors. This is why this earth contains water, air and fire.

What is the reason why light, before it existed on earth, was still light, but after it was on earth, it was fire? Because on the earth the light touched something that caused a force, or state, of burning. Similarly, water that has not yet met the earth, or wind that is still in its true state, are not like the water or wind that exist here. There are different kinds of fire. There is the low fire that we use, for example, in matches to burn all kinds of things, and there is fire that is still in its original state, that is, light.

And wind: there is wind, as ( when you go ) in an airplane, which is still in a state under the influence of the earth. But human beings cannot know the true wind or air with this body. Similarly, water: the water that we know, as in the sea, a river, or rainwater, is still within the sphere of influence of the earth. But the real water cannot easily be known with the ordinary eyes, unless you are already able to work in your human soul ( jiwa ).

This earth - Bapak explains it like the scientists do - is enveloped first by water, and then by air and light. And in this earth are water, wind and fire. So the earth, Bapak can say, is burned by light from outside and also from inside, and is always covered by wind from outside and also from inside, and by water from outside as well as from inside. Such is the state of the earth and its surrounds, along with the other factors. Gradually, the earth grew something, and what was fine became coarser and coarser, and split up, until finally material objects like stones, diamonds, metals, and other kinds of materials were created.

After that, or at about the same time, plants began to grow. And then also, quite different in nature from plants, because animals fire higher, and closer to the factors that always envelop this earth, finally the animal nature grew or came into being. And then there also came into being - not grew like plants, but came into being - a nature that is closer still to the enveloping factors, that is, the human nature, or people.

This is by way of a theory or a picture of how materials, plants, animals and human beings came into existence. As for the way they reproduce: in the case of humans they have children; animals have offspring or lay eggs; plants do not have offspring but propagate; and materials do not have offspring or lay eggs, but they multiply. All this is along the lines that God has decreed for each of His creations.

This is how the nature and form of a human being or a baby, as Bapak said before, came into existence. Thus, within the self of a baby, within the self of a human being, there is an interaction or mutual influence of forces as they were arranged before they took on a form. And then there is also an interaction between those that already have a form. So, this coarse human physical body requires a content of material, vegetable and animal forces, as well as its own human self. The body is also enveloped - not filled, but enveloped - by the life force above the human being, and actually this too is not only a life force that is not yet an element, but also exists in the form of an element. But human beings will not be able to know this if they have not yet received a gift from God that is suited to conditions above the human being.

So for man, it is neither necessary nor useful for him to distance himself from material things, or from plants and animals by not eating vegetables or meat, and so on. For even if he does isolate himself, these forces are still within his self. This is why the prophets also said that it is not necessary for humans to abstain or keep away from meat and vegetables because they are very much needed for man's life. When a human being eats animals, or meat, and vegetables, it is as if he is sending them back to their respective places of origin within his own self.

Therefore, what is necessary for us human beings is that we should not be so careless in our way of using what we need for our life. We need to be able to know and arrange and practice the way, for example, of eating bread or meat, so that it does not influence the human soul, but returns to its place of origin. It is really very difficult to explain this clearly because you can only receive the reality if you practice by regularly doing the latihan you have experienced.

Bapak is telling you this only to give you a picture. A human being can use the forces or essences below the human being, the material, plant, animal and human forces, because they are indeed below him. On the other hand, the life force that is above the human uses us human beings, but we cannot understand it. We cannot know or imagine how this can be if we do not act or behave in accordance with the spiritual way.

These are Bapak's explanations in broad outline about how the life forces always envelop and fill our state, our life, and also bring about the creation of the four factors and the creation of our coarse physical body. As Bapak has tested with you, and as you have all received, ladies and gentlemen, 'Are you sitting on the chair or is the chair sitting on you?' Also, if you are wearing a shirt or blouse, 'Are you wearing the shirt or blouse, or is the shirt or blouse really wearing you?' This is how the life forces and their natures influence one another.

So if we are wrong and we don't yet have an understanding or awareness in the spiritual way, our path towards our true life will always be closed by the low forces or natures that always participate in our self.

Ladies and gentlemen, you will be able to read a complete and organized explanation of this, an explanation that is not given on the spur of the moment like Bapak's words now, in Bapak's book ( Susila Budhi Dharma ), which will be published later, perhaps in October or November. The contents of the book describe truths that have been received in practice, in the latihan. But it is not a study, not a book that must be studied, but a book that gives a picture, as Bapak said earlier; you can only receive the reality if you do the latihan, ladies and gentlemen.

This is an explanation in addition to the one Bapak gave last time about the baby, the influence of this world on it until it becomes an adult, and so on. As the baby, or you all, grew up and became adults, you were always affected by worldly influences, that is, the contents of this world. For example, you were attracted by a material object so that you had the desire to possess it, and food, not only because you desired it, but because you need to eat meat to nourish your body and to maintain your energy and strength.

The same is true for marriage. Marriage is also an absolute requirement for man's life. It is necessary in order that through what is experienced and faced, human beings can control the working of the natures used and employed by them.

This is all for today, and now Bapak will continue with some practice, some testing. In conclusion, Bapak also needs to give a short explanation about the nature of the influence between man and woman, that is, the nature of marriage. Actually as Bapak has said, the reason for marriage is not only to have children. It is in fact necessary for a human being to marry, so that through marriage he can be aware of how his own state was before he existed, until he was made, until he came into existence.

Of course, you are all aware of this, ladies and gentlemen, because you are all adults, and are married, and have children. In marriage, the nature of man and woman is like the channel, the way, the means for how the human seed and its contents originate and come to be within the human self. So, actually, for you, ladies and gentlemen, who are adults, and are married and have children, matters of life and death are not unfamiliar to you. Because you are like, for example, a road, or a house; and after going through that state many times over, the seed and human content ( inaudible ).

Bapak is not blaming you, but it is still generally the case that because you got married, as Bapak described just now, to satisfy and fulfil your desires and to have children, the very secret matters have not been carried out very much. So of course, ladies and gentlemen, you do not know, you do not understand what is within the selves of your children, or how 'I' was before, until I came into existence.

For this reason, in Islam it is considered essential that people should marry. Through marriage, a human being will become aware that he is God's representative for continuing the creation and existence of human beings. There are many who - maybe nearly everyone - because it is recommended, have an even stronger desire to get married. But they only want to marry to satisfy their desires, and for the heart's pleasure, and they miss the real meaning intended. The real meaning is that through marriage a human being can as it were obtain something like a repetition within himself.

True, ladies and gentlemen, you know about life, of course you know. But because the instruments you use to understand are your thinking mind and heart, not your soul, you cannot understand or be aware of what is happening within your self. The heart and mind are by nature instruments, accessories; they are not the real self. So if you are really aware of the spiritual way, and you are going to have a child, you know, you understand and are aware, beforehand: 'This child of mine is like this and its soul is like this, and such and such will happen, and it will be like this.' Like Ibu: her grandchild is still a baby but sometimes she sees how the baby will be later when she is big, already fourteen or fifteen years old. The way of seeing this is as Bapak described last time; actually when you were still a baby you could see in that way, because this body had not yet worked for this world, and was not yet influenced at all by the world. But after this body began to work under the influence of this world, and you began to see, to hear, to smell, to feel and understand, what there was within - that is, the way of understanding beyond the thinking mind, as mentioned just now - disappeared.

This is why you do the latihan and are being trained so that you can begin to work outside the thinking mind, the will and the desires, and also so that you can eventually become aware of the secrets of marriage between a man and his wife. It is also so that you can become aware of how I eat. Don't let I be eaten by what you eat. And when I am wearing clothes, don't let the clothes do the wearing.

This is symbolized in death. Actually, a dead person should be stripped naked, and only wrapped in a white cloth. The white cloth means that the human self is enveloped in a white, shining light, the light of life which originally formed the elements. It is only a symbol. In Javanese the white winding sheet is called mori. Mori, in Sanskrit, means - oh, but this is very strange to you, Sanskrit - pamoring kawulah gusti. Pamoring kawulah gusti means that the power of God envelops the human self. So it means that the dead person is within God's power. It is related that when the Prophet Jesus died, until he returned to God, he was enveloped in a white, shining light. Many people wish they too could die like that.

Bapak needed to explain this about the fourth level, about marriage, because it is very necessary for you, ladies and gentlemen. In marriage it is not necessary to go everywhere to look for the power of God, to look for the true life in this world; it's enough to be at home, to be with one's wife, and to be with one's children.

This is Bapak's explanation about the spiritual way, for you to be aware of, ladies and gentlemen. Also, the time is passing, so Bapak will now do some testing with you.

Translated by Sofyan Brugger