Ladies and gentlemen, tonight Bapak would like to explain about the aim and purpose of the spiritual training ( latihan ) of Subud, which you have received and are now following.

In reality, this spiritual training of Subud is man's worship of the One God. And man's worship of God is an absolute obligation, which he should carry out, because human beings and the heavens, and everything that has been created, are the creation of the One God or Allah. You should be aware of this and understand it, so that you can really believe that in a human being's worship of God it is not necessary to do anything from the thinking mind or will and desires.

First of all, Bapak will say something about the nature of God's power, which you really should be aware of and understand. The nature of God, that is, the state of the One God, is that God exists, because of His own will, and God precedes everything He has created, and also comes after everything He has created. God is before everything that is before, and after everything that is last. And God is higher than everything that is highest, and is beneath everything that is lowest. God is also within everything that is inside. For example, God is already inside the inner wishes and thoughts of human beings. And God is also outside everything that is outside. Outside everything that is outside means that if, for example, you have not yet thought of something, or are thinking about something that cannot be thought about, God is able to think of it and God is able to understand it.

God has neither the form of a male being nor the form of a female being. God is able to know, to hear, to smell, to say something, and also to think of anything, without the instruments or members human beings have to use ( for these activities ). Also, God has no language, no nationality and no country, because God is Almighty, Supreme, All-knowing, Most Aware of everything, so that He needs no language, nationality or country.

Similarly, God is not limited by place, meaning, for example, the highest place; neither is God limited by time, or enveloped or controlled by time, as all of you are now, for example, in the twentieth century, in nineteen fifty-eight. God is not like that; God is eternal and God is not subject to any constraint of time or place. On the contrary; God, with His power, owns everything that humans refer to as time or place. Also, God has no shape or form of any kind, so that it cannot be said that God is square or round or any other shape; and God has no color, whether it be green or blue or red or white or any other color. In short, there is nothing in existence that can be applied or compared to God. This why it is said that God is All-powerful, and controls but cannot be controlled, meaning that God created us, God created the heavens, and God created this earth with its contents, that is, human beings, animals, plants and so on, but God cannot be created by anyone or anything.

Clearly, God is such that we cannot go before Him, nor can we compare Him to anything, because our human understanding, the understanding of our brain, is unable to reach that far. In other words we cannot know God's power because our instruments and members, from head to foot, from outside to inside, from this physical body to our heart and brain, are completely unable to understand where or how God's power is. For we human beings are simply a creation of God.

So what can we do to be able to know and understand our true life? The only way to achieve this is through our inner self; we should sincerely believe in God, really surrender to God, and really love the One God Who created us to live on this earth. It has been said that the very utmost we can do, to be able to know about this life of ours, is for us to be really able to become true instruments of the One God. And this is in accordance with what has been said by the prophets, those human beings who were blessed by God and were able to receive God's gift. They said that whatever we do and however we behave every day should be by God's will, because God is Almighty.

It has also been said that if human beings try with their thinking mind and their heart to understand and know and be aware of how God is, it is going too far, it is going beyond what is normal. And as a result they will not be able to find the right way, but will, on the contrary, be turned upside down by their own heart and mind. Why is this? It is because God's power and God's true state cannot be surpassed and cannot be encompassed by the human thinking mind, by human wisdom or by human cleverness.

God created us human beings, God created this earth and the stars, and the moon and the sun, and still more that is unknown to us, and yet more that is so far away that it is completely incomprehensible to us, because it is far beyond the capacity of our thinking mind. So if we think or want to understand about how God is and about the truth of His power, it means that we are forcing ourselves, it means that we are bringing into play our own minds incessantly, and beyond the limits of their capacity. As a result we will not be able to get what we want, but will only bring suffering upon ourselves and may even go crazy or fall mentally ill.

So we human beings are not able to control or understand our own strength and capacity. The only way, the best way, which does not deviate from God's will, is for human beings to be able to be patient, surrender to God and have faith in God's power. If a human being can do this, it shows that he is really obedient to God's commands and submissive to God's greatness, and that he really acknowledges that man is God's creation and that God can do with him whatever He wills. Know that the One Almighty God created us human beings together with all we need for our life - this earth and all its contents - and the whole of the heavens and stars and everything contained therein.

God did not create all this casually or at random. There is certainly a reason, there is certainly a meaning, a hidden purpose that is really willed by God, which satisfies and fulfils God's will and also can be a glorious blessing for us human beings. To take an example close at hand, if you make something, ladies and gentlemen, you certainly make it for a purpose; you make it with the expectation that someone will take care of it, and also to fulfil your own wishes. So God did not create us human beings with all we need for our lives just like that, for no purpose. Certainly, God had a purpose, and a very clear wish. If human beings can make things tidily and in a form that is attractive and pleasing to others, with all the accessories and instructions required for their use and maintenance, God is Supreme, God is All-knowing, Most Wise; so God's creation is higher, more valuable and more noble than man's creation.

We human beings are certainly given everything we need, but we are not aware of it because we are always making efforts to know everything with our thinking mind, our desires and our own cleverness. We do not surrender to God. But if we surrender to God, this makes it possible for us to receive God's gift, which we can receive and use as a guide and indicator for our life, and which will later enable us to know our true life, which is stored away and still closed up within us, still covered up by the cleverness of our brain, and by our wishes, our desires and our passions. This is the obstacle, this is the main stumbling block, because our thinking mind and our will always want to take first place and do not like to acknowledge God's power. Our mind and will always wish to understand, to triumph and feel superior to God's power.

But in reality, as Bapak said just now, God's power cannot be reached by the mind, the will, the desires or any of our members. Human beings can only receive the truth - that is, God's gift to mankind to enable them to obtain guidance and indications for their life - if they can subdue the working of the mind, and the will of their desires and thinking.

One way of achieving this - Bapak says one way, because perhaps there are others on this earth who have also received something like what Bapak and you receive - is what you are now receiving, ladies and gentlemen, namely, the truth, the awakening of the inner feeling, the pure feeling that is not closed up by the desires and the thinking mind. It still seems strange to you, like something you have just obtained, a new experience beyond the ability of your thinking mind to fathom. Why do you feel that way? Bapak does not blame you. Of course, it is because this happens and we experience it from beyond our thinking mind, when we are not initiating any activity, and are simply resigning ourselves to God, directing ourselves toward God, which means having faith only in God's power and in God who is the true creator of mankind.

In reality, this is not something new or something that has just arrived. It existed before and will exist after; in other words, it already existed in the beginning, when we were first created, and accompanies us so that with it we will later be able to experience and become aware and know how life will be and how we will be later, after death. This is felt as something new, like a new discovery; through our own fault it has long been buried and closed up, and not felt, because man's thinking, will and desires are working non-stop for the needs and in the interests of his life on earth, and he has neglected the needs of his life later on, after death, and his worship of the One Almighty God.

Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, you are able to receive and experience this, and eventually you will be able to be aware of the nature of God's construction, which is within the human breast, within the human self. There are many people who in their work cling to others because of the faults within themselves. If, for example, you have a car, and you do not understand the car's construction or how it works, you can only drive it and the car will not last long. It is like that with your own selves. Because you do not understand, and are not aware of the construction of life that exists within man's self, you drive yourself only with your will, your desires and thinking mind, as you want, and however you like.

It is necessary for you to understand and be aware of this now, ladies and gentlemen, so that you know the meaning and purpose of this spiritual training ( latihan ) of Subud, this worship of the One Almighty God, which you have received.

Clearly, this spiritual latihan of Subud is our worship of the One Almighty God and enables us to act and proceed in accordance with God's will, which has been shown to us within our selves. Eventually, ladies and gentlemen, you will be able to be aware of how you can lead your life, both for your worldly needs and for the needs of your life after death. Eventually you will no longer act in a random, careless manner, merely to satisfy the wishes of your heart, but in a way that really follows and fulfils God's commands that are within your inner self, and you will become aware that God created us on this earth not just for a period, only to die and be buried. Certainly, God has a wish, a purpose in creating us; it is not easy to understand this with the thinking mind but we can become aware of it through the power of God, which is given to man beyond his thinking mind.

You will reach that stage, but of course it all takes time. Why is this? It is because there are all kinds of faults within man's being; they are all different and cannot be the same, and this lack of sameness makes it slow for the purification of the self. For this reason, ladies and gentlemen, you need to be patient, trusting and sincere, and to have complete faith that God's help will certainly come to you, now that you are receiving this latihan. It only remains for you to make use of God's gift to you, which you always receive, by doing your worship, that is, the latihan. God's gift to you will always work and grow by itself, even though it goes slowly, step by step, and eventually you will arrive at the state you hope for.

This is all, and Bapak would like to thank you very much for your attention and for your sincerity. Also, Bapak asks you to forgive him if Bapak has said anything that is out of place.

That is all for now. Amen.

Translated by Sofyan Brugger