Ladies and gentlemen, today Bapak would like to continue his explanation about the spiritual way you have received and are practicing. Would those of you who were not here and have not heard Bapak's previous talk, please read the transcript.
To continue Bapak's explanation, he will now explain about the actual state that you always experience and receive when you do the latihan. As Bapak explained, in receiving the latihan you do not need to use your thinking, your will or your desires. Certainly, a condition like that is disconcerting for those of you, and people generally, who are highly experienced in working with their brain and heart - for here is something you cannot think about. Usually, when facing something, human beings have to think about it and think it out thoroughly, so they can know the scope and the real meaning of what they are experiencing.
Bapak is not finding fault with anyone who thinks about things in that way. Certainly, God created the brain, the heart and all the parts of the human body to overcome, to understand and to correct situations that people always have to face. The fact is that we have to use the instruments of our human self, wherever necessary, to look after ourselves in our life in this world.
However, do not forget that this spiritual way is a way of living-and relates to the whole of human life. And it is not possible for human beings to understand human life from within their own life. This is only possible from a vantage point higher and more powerful than humankind. And a vantage point higher than humanity certainly transcends all that is in the human self, and is beyond human capacity.
As you know, our situation is that we are limited to the measure of each of the parts that go to make up our being. For example, when we see, we cannot see anything beyond our range of vision. It is the same with our brain. We cannot think of anything that is beyond the capacity of the brain that we have. Thus our strength and our ability to do anything cannot exceed the strength that we have.
However, the work of our soul, if it is done by the Almighty, can go beyond all that is in us, that is to say, beyond the parts of our body. So we can see beyond the range of vision of our eyes. Also we can think about something beyond the ordinary thinking that works in our brain. This is how the prophets like Jesus Christ were able to describe things that are beyond the scope of ordinary human thought.
Clearly, the work of our soul, while it is wrapped in this body, cannot go beyond human life in this world. So why did God create us humans like this, with our human soul enveloped in this body, which is only of a limited scope and reach? It is because we, or our human soul, need to experience things starting from the lowest and then climbing higher and higher; we also have to learn to adjust our steps to the conditions that are current and exist on this earth. In reality, human beings are created on this earth as a test for them, to see the extent of their obedience and good works for the One Almighty God.
Besides their physical body, human beings are also created with something like a guiding light within them, to enable them to do God's will and to do what is right. The life force that is like a guiding light within the human self can only appear when human beings are able to void their desires, calm their thinking, and stop their will. Why should that ( high ) life force be ( limited ) in this way when it is stronger and more powerful than the forces in the human self, that is, the passion, the thinking and the will? It is to make sure that human beings use their thinking, their brain, their heart and their desires in doing God's will by fulfilling all the needs of their life in this world in 'the best possible way.
Bapak needs to explain that if this powerful life force were to influence people all the time, they would not be able to work as human beings on this earth. Because, the fact is that if they are in a place that is higher than this world, human beings will no longer care at all about what happens on this earth. Yet, human beings were placed on this earth. Besides receiving something from God for their life after death, they need to make this world beautiful, and to work so that the world becomes a good place for human life in generations to come.
Clearly, human beings have to use the instruments God gave them specially for their needs in this world. However, they should not forget to receive God's power that works within the human self. It is the work of God's power, as Bapak said just now, which delegates the powerful life force - which is the guiding light in the human self- to guide each person whenever they stop their passions and thinking.
Happiness is thereby created in human life for our well-being in this world and for our life later, after death. To put it another way, human beings can be aware of their life with their brain, heart and their other instruments; they can also be aware with the instruments of their soul, which they will need for their life after death.
So although you've only received this much in your latihan and it has no meaning yet, it is the training of the movement of your self awakened by your soul, which in turn has been awakened by the power of God. The soul is beginning to become acquainted with what is in you. For example, you walk and move your hands. Usually, when you walk and move your hands it does not come from the wish of your soul but from your desires and your thinking. But once your soul has awakened, it also wants to work in all your normal activities, for example, in your walking and the movement of your hands.
When the soul has become acquainted with what is going on in your legs and your arms, it will continue on its way and will penetrate the wall of the feelings, which is in the five senses. So then, when you hear something, you will be able to receive and feel the difference between 'I hear' and 'Something is telling me to hear'. Likewise, when you taste something, when you see something, when you smell odors and so on. Also, you will be able to see what is true and what is not true in something, as well as to sense what is the influence of this world and what is actually from the life we will meet later, after death.
These are the reasons why generally - Bapak is not saying all, but most - people are unable to see the invisible, transcendent things we often read about, like angels. For to see them requires an ability to see that really comes from the soul, which they have not yet acquired. It is the same with the other senses, with the ears and hearing, with the nose, the mouth and so forth.
Clearly the sight, hearing, smell, taste and speech, which everyone has and uses in the world all the time, will not be able to open the screen to the reality of the spiritual world, that is, to the life after death. For all these senses are only valid up to the time when we face death. If the power of God has not yet awakened a person's soul by the time he or she dies, that person will only meet a total darkness.
These are the ( faculties you will acquire ) and what you will receive when the power of the One Almighty God has awakened your soul so it can open the screen that keeps your inner self in darkness.
However, this is not all of what God wills as the perfection of the human self. Human beings still need to become aware of their true life. So the heart and the brain are also brought to life through the life of the soul, which enters into them. Then you can think of the sort of things people usually think about, and you can also think of something beyond the power of human thought. And when you are thinking about something that is beyond human thought, it will be just as if you are thinking about something ordinary.
Bapak has outlined the growth of the human soul, which you have begun to receive. If you look at this and just take in the outline, it may seem to you that the journey of the soul, as it is awakened by the power of God, is something that is very easy and can go quickly. However, when you then hear about the relationship between the human soul and the entities that are always obstructing its progress, you will be able to correct ( this misconception ). You may then reflect that we cannot speed up the journey of the soul, even with the help of God's power. We have to be patient and accept the slowness of our soul's journey.
The material force, the material essence, although the lowest essence in the chain of being, begins to influence the human inner feeling from the first moment it comes in contact with a person, when that person is still a drop of fluid in their mother's body. The influence continues up to birth, and then from birth until adulthood and old age. The material force is absorbed into the human self, not only into this coarse physical body that you can see, but also into the heart and mind.
Suppose that one of you was carrying a baby, and the baby was still forming in your womb. At that time you had a really strong wish for something.., or let's say you really hated somebody. Then this baby, who at that time was still not yet completely formed, would later be born with a character not very different from that of the person the mother hated.
This is just one example; here is another. If the father of a child thinks very hard about his daily work, the child, when he or she grows up, will imitate this and follow in their father's footsteps. For example, if the father spends all his time looking after animals, or building houses, the child's activities will not be far from those of his father.
So, the influence of material objects, the influence of this world on the human being...
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...That is how deeply the influence of the material forces is absorbed into the human inner feeling. So, not a few people, who have some wealth or own something valuable, and then lose it, will feel as though they have lost their life and soul. Such is the domination of the material force within the human self that, even though it is the lowest life force, a person's life and death can be entirely dependent upon it.
When the material force is at work in a human being, that person will have a nature that is self-centered with no feeling of compassion for those who do not have enough. They will not care about the feelings of others. It comes as no surprise therefore, that for as long as people are always completely controlled by the material forces, this world will continually experience chaos and confusion. There will always be wars. People lose any idea of sin or purity - such concepts are completely forgotten - people only want to indulge their passions, and they enjoy killing their fellow creatures.
Here's another example. If you do not carry a powerful weapon, such as a rifle, a Browning, or a revolver, you will feel reluctant to harm someone or kill someone. You do not have that force within you. However, if you carry a revolver and wear it like this, the revolver influences your reluctant inner feeling, so that instead you feel very brave and have a feeling that you are somehow protected. Due to this bravery you then do whatever you feel like, as if you have no fear of receiving any punishment from God for the sins you commit.
Another example. Suppose, before joining the army, someone walked like this ( Bapak demonstrates ). Once he is a soldier, with a revolver here' and something else there, he starts to walk like this ( Bapak demonstrates ). He has changed, and experiences a feeling that no longer feels close to his fellows. In his arrogance he feels, 'I have more power than any of you!'
This is how deeply and powerfully the material force has penetrated and seeped into the human inner feeling before it is opened to worship God. ( Once it is opened ), the human soul awakens and eventually penetrates all the walls, restoring our perception of the perfect world, enabling us to worship God, and making us aware of sin.
When we consider it, it is so difficult and hard, the work God's power has to do; ( particularly ) as the development of your soul has only just begun, while this, that and the other are still always in front of you. These obstructions, like the material force that has been absorbed in your being, you all still have them - not just fifty percent but ninety-nine percent.
If someone strikes your left cheek, it is impossible for you to offer the right one, as in the image Christ gave to his followers and companions. If someone asks you for ten rupees, it is impossible for you to give fifty. If you are asked for ten - providing you don't refuse altogether - you might give at the most one tenth or a rupee to that person. Such is the material force, which has got into people's inner feelings, into their hearts and brains. And all that has to be cleaned.
That's why Bapak hopes you will all be patient. Do not think about it and expect to become clean quickly, to progress quickly. Don't. Just surrender it to God, because it is God's work. On the other hand, work with your mind and heart as much as you can, as hard as you can, to provide for the needs of your life in the world.
And this is only the first life-force, the first of the low forces that influence human beings, not yet the second, third or fourth. Yet we have to overcome ( all of ) them, so that we, all of us, can use the influence of the forces that are below us just enough to fulfill our needs. We have to make money, certainly, for our worldly needs. But don't let money become your god. Don't! Since we made the money, we must not let it rule us. When you really have progressed that far and reached that point, you really will be able to experience for yourselves that everything obeys a human being, meaning that a human being is able to give orders instead of being overwhelmed.
This is the basis and aim of Subud. The basis and aim of Subud is not to accumulate wealth or to control other people. Not at all! The basis and aim of Subud is for us to be cleaned by God of everything bad in our inner feeling, so that we can worship God properly, know and be aware of our life after death, and be happy in our lives in this world.
That is all. Bapak will now end this explanation, which has been rather long - perhaps one and a half to two hours. After this, Bapak would like to do some testing with all of you, so that you can experience to some extent the reality of what Bapak has been saying.
( Testing )