Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, tonight Bapak would like to give some explanations about the Subud training of worship for the soul that you have all received and practiced. Why is it that, in this Subud training of worship, it is not necessary for you to involve your heart and thinking and also your desires? It is because the latihan you have received and practice is, in truth, an exercise that is carried out or awakened by the power of God that envelops the self of man, inside and out, as well as the continents and earth we live on.

This Subud training of worship is therefore not in any way a teaching. It is a receiving by man from God. It is for this reason that the Subud training of worship for the soul cannot be done by involving the thinking, the desires or the heart. You should know, brothers and sisters, that God's power, which works within the self of a human being, works by itself, according to the will of his or her inner self, the will of God.

This is mentioned in all the holy books, which state that God does something by His own will and does not need any help whatsoever. For God is One, and God goes before and comes after everything He has created. So the nature of the latihan we have received within us is like a movement, an action, which arises spontaneously and not because it is willed by the thinking, desires or heart.

As Bapak has often explained to you, after we have received the latihan there are two frameworks within us. One is the framework that we have received, that is, the work of God within the human self that goes on by itself. Its way of working and its effect on our inner state is entirely beyond our normal human capacity, that of the thinking and the desires. So it is clear that this work that is proceeding within the human self acts directly, beyond our will and beyond our thinking mind. So what we receive cannot be thought about in the ordinary way, but we can receive it by God's will and through God's power - and this first requires the purification of our being.

So, the reality of the latihan starts with the purification of everything, of all the faults that exist within our being, within our feelings. And these faults have not only arisen in us during our existence on this earth - they began with our ancestors. So this purification that proceeds within our being starts in the past with those from whom you are descended, and eventually reaches your own being. So in reality, if you have been purified it means that your purification has also brought about the cleansing of the faults that your ancestors suffered, and that were in their souls or inner feelings.

This is a very heavy burden for us, for one can say that we have inherited the mistakes that were suffered and made by our ancestors. So the process of purifying the faults that exist within our being cannot happen at once. It takes rather a long time. But it always proceeds in such a way as to cause no suffering or difficulty. For it is all done by the One who is All-knowing, who understands and knows our strength and our capacity for being purified, for being cleansed by Him.

The second framework is what we possess as human beings for adapting our behavior to this earth. This consists, first, of what is usually called hartstocht ( Du.: passion ) or sex; second, of the heart; and third, of the brain and thinking. It is necessary and our duty to use these attributes or instruments in the way people use them for living on this earth. So there is nothing against us using our brain, heart, desires and feelings.

It is clear that this second framework works and can be used only for worldly matters. For these instruments cannot work and act any more when the time comes for them to stop because they are damaged or sick. So the human instruments that are appropriate to conditions on this earth can only be used and can only work up to the moment of our death.

It is God's will for all the creatures He has created that they should be created with frameworks that, in the case of human beings, they can receive and use so they can carry out both their life on this earth - usually called this world - and also their life after death - usually called the hereafter. Bapak will only give you a broad outline in this explanation, of the difference between these two frameworks that are within the self of man and all of God's creatures.

The first framework is essentially as you all received when you were opened and as you always receive in the latihan. In the Holy Book ( the Quran ) such movements as you receive ( in the latihan ) are called khatir ilham ( Arab. ). Khatir ilham means the movements of life that come from God, or from God's power. And this manifests and can be received by all of you when your desires, your thinking and your will have been stopped or have stopped.

Clearly, the khatir ilham that exists in man's being, in his life, is a guide, a richtsnoer ( Du.: guideline ) for man and for all creatures to directly follow wherever it leads - Bapak expresses this 'wherever' as leading to God. This is also referred to in the Holy Book, the Quran, as God's power or dhatu-llah ( Arab. ).

This manifestation of the dhatu-llah, which all of you have received and felt within you, will always work and will go on working and never stop. Because indeed life never stops, so it will develop and grow with time within the measure of our ability, of our state or of our being. For, if the working of God's power that is within the self of human beings - Bapak will put it this way - did not correspond to our strength, we surely would suffer loss because we wouldn't be able to follow its working.

Also, God is All-knowing, All-understanding. God knows and understands the strength of human beings. He knows how to enable them to follow the steps of God's power that has been shown and given to them, so they can receive it as you usually receive in the latihan. The way it works is not all at once, but little by little - yet in the end it can nevertheless be received in a way that is truly complete.

The human heart and thinking that are advanced in their ability to gain understanding - especially if they belong to those who are renowned as thinkers, who have for a long time expanded and broadened the use of their brain and heart - will certainly feel impatient in following the steps of God's power, which they will feel to be too slow. But do not forget: Within ( the scope of ) God's power, the human heart and thinking mind - which are said to be such special instruments - are really not very strong. In fact, they can be regarded as very weak instruments for their nature is limited.

Bapak describes it like this: however far a person's thinking is able to roam, he or she will not be able to leave behind the vessel where the thinking works, that is; the brain. So however quick and however far-reaching a person's thinking may be, it is limited to that vessel, that is, to the strength of the brain. Many people, because of their tremendously strong will, want their thinking to become more and more advanced, to go further and further, until finally they break down in the process - that is, they often become abnormal. There are many so-called hooggeleerden ( Du.: learned people ) who are constantly thinking and want their minds to think about things that are very abstruse, with the result that in their daily life they appear to be crazy and forget everything. This is due to the fact that their thinking has become too abstruse and too broad, when the field or scope or power of the thinking mind is actually limited. So there might be this professor and something drips on him from above, say from a water tank, and he will think it is raining. There is even a story in which there is a dog up above, and the dog happens to pee. The professor is underneath, and when the stinking water from the dog falls on him he says, 'Oh, it's raining!' and goes back into his house.

Clearly, however quick and however far-reaching the thinking is, it cannot possibly go beyond the vessel where the mind works. It is the same with the seeing. People cannot see further or more than is usual, because their seeing is limited to the vessel that enables them to see, that is, their eyes. It is the same with ( our ) other instruments. A human being with this self of his, with these organs, will not be able to go beyond what constitutes his being.

So in reality, inwardly and outwardly, in their thinking and imagination, humans cannot be greater than and cannot go beyond the atmosphere that encircles this earth, this world. It is clear that humans cannot, with any of their instruments or members, know or be aware of life outside this world.

But God, the One God, is Almighty and All-knowing. God knows the needs and progression of everything He has created. So in order that that which He created should not just stay where it is, in the same place - that man, for example, should not just stay in this world - God created man with something inside him. In simple terms, Bapak calls it a place that exists and is there when our thinking mind, desires and heart are rendered powerless. So if the power of our instruments that we use for this world can come to a standstill, this something will arise, it will be there. But it does not only exist after that and before that. It existed before everything else existed. It is what Bapak mentioned earlier, the khatir ilham or the power of God, or the zat Allah.

It is clear from this explanation that what we receive in this training is something that is unlike anything that exists on this earth. Bapak says this because it is something that is useful, something that we can use; that can work after we are no longer here, after we have died; after our instruments for this world have come to a stop. And this - the power of God, the khatir ilham, will guide and accompany human beings and acquaint them with life, beginning on this earth and continuing after death.

So if, ladies and gentlemen, the time comes and you reach the required level and become aware of your life, then what state you will be in and how things will be after you die will no longer be a problem for you. For the problem exists and becomes a problem when we are still in the world of the thinking mind, heart and desires. As far as the world or the sphere of God's power is concerned, it comes before everything that is before, after everything that is after, inside everything that is inside. The heart and desires are not yet deep. There is something deeper. So ( God's power ) is inside everything that is inside - and outside everything that is outside. For example, what we hear, what we see, what we think about that which is outside, as far as the sun, the stars and all kinds of other things, it is still further outside. So it is outside everything that is outside, above everything that is above, and also below everything that is below. In short, the power of God encompasses everything that exists. And if the nature of the power of God is to encompass and envelop everything that exists, then certainly the power of God, or the nature of God is more intelligent than everything and precedes everything He created.

Thus, in Islam it is said that there are twenty attributes of God. Certainly you have learned them and you have heard them recited. They clarify briefly the nature of God's power, which cannot possibly be surpassed by the human mind. The One God is said to have no wife and no child, to be neither female nor male, and to have no category and no form - in Javanese, leanra ora warna. Also God has no language and no country. This means that God does not know only Javanese or English or Arabic. 'God has no language' means that God is master of every kind of language: the languages of human beings, the languages of animals, plants, material things and other creatures we cannot know about. 'God has no country' means that God is not in any space. Not in this world, the world of these continents, not in the sun. God envelops and encompasses everything that exists. The twenty attributes explain these things so that human beings will no longer be greedy to know and look for where God is, where God is concealed and where God resides.

As Bapak said earlier, the strength of all the human parts, from the brain to his coarse physical members, from his coarse physical members to his brain, can only go as far as this world - whereas man has to die. What then, when he dies? Did God create human beings only to die? Of course not. God created human beings as, for example, you might make something. Bapak gives this as an illustration, as an example, even though the analogy does not fit exactly. If you make something, certainly before making it you think what it is for, what the results will be and the benefits of making it. You, as human beings, do it like that. So even human beings - who were created by God, who are created things - when they make something or produce something, think first about the use of what they are going to make or produce. The more so God. When God created man He knew and understood the use of man and how he must be created. So he was created not just to die, and not only for this world where we don't live for very long.

If we add it up, make a balance sheet as it were, it doesn't make sense. We are born and later go to school. At six or seven we go to school. After elementary school we go to secondary school. After secondary school we enter university. So by the time we begin work we are nearly thirty. When a person goes out to work he doesn't necessarily reap the benefit of his school studies straight away. He still studies, and he still learns on the job. So he can only taste the fruits and results of this brain work when he reaches forty.

Then he can feel for the first time, 'Ah, this is great! This is more like it! I studied medicine, I studied engineering. Now I've completed my studies. Now I've got there, I feel great!' That's forty. But we cannot be sure when we will die. It should be twice forty equals eighty, so there's a balance. But we cannot be sure. Sometimes people die at fifty or sixty, or seventy. They go through about forty years of difficulties and hardship and only then do they enjoy the results. Twenty years later they are dead.

So in fact, human beings strive to the utmost, but do not get benefits and fruits that are truly in balance with their struggles. This is the way to calculate the balance sheet. What is man's profit? Just in this world, there is no profit at all only loss.

But God knows all this, so He gives to human beings. As it is said in the Holy Book ( the Quran ), true abundance, happiness and nobility are experienced outside this world, in what is referred to as the life after death or the hereafter. But sometimes people misunderstand when they are told this. 'In that case, there's no use my living here. Life here is all suffering. But over there it will be luxurious, abundant and happy.' Why do people misunderstand in this way? Because they still use their thinking and their desires, whereas, as Bapak explained earlier, the loftiness, nobility and happiness of the true human life, which is called the hereafter cannot possibly be imagined or probed with our worldly tools. It can be received and it can be clearly fell, but not with the instruments we always use on this earth, but rather - as Bapak said earlier - through the nature of God's power.

Is the nature of God's power a material thing, an object with a form? In the world of the thinking that is how it is, it can be manipulated: 'The khatir ilham is approximately like an object that is large or small or shines'. But it is not really like that.

The nature of God's power is that it works and develops without limits, because it does not require a limited form. So, as Bapak said earlier, if we are already able to receive it, we can, for example, see outside of the capacity of our eyes. We can hear outside of the capacity of our ears. Similarly, later on we can - Bapak can call it thinking, but not thinking in the ordinary way. So we can understand and be aware with an awareness beyond the strength of our brain and heart. Later on Bapak will try and demonstrate and do some testing with all of you, ladies and gentlemen, so that these words and explanations of Bapak are not just empty talk, babbling or make-believe. It is necessary that they be accompanied by reality, even if that reality is something that cannot be thought about. So, clearly, that is what we get in this latihan, if we are already able to receive it.

As Bapak said earlier, you are purified first. What comes first in the latihan you receive is the cleansing of all the mistakes that exist within your self and your inner feeling. Once all that is clean, once all that is finished, a preparation takes place. What preparation? The preparation that is necessary for our soul to be able to receive something unexpected; beyond our thinking mind, beyond the strength of our coarse physical members. For this reason, you should not feel that doing or receiving this latihan is something you are forced to do, but rather that it is a responsibility we cannot neglect or forget. For doing our latihan of worship, or our worship of the One God, does not mean we are fulfilling God's wish, making God happy or consoling Him. No. It is really more accurate if Bapak says it is useful for our own soul and body.

So if your worship of God is sincere, it means that you are sincere in looking after and improving your own selves, not God. God does not receive anything from humans. God does not want anything from humans. God desires nothing whatever from humans, for everything really belongs to God. What is the need for God to covet this or that from humans, when God is the One who has decreed human beings and all their needs? So God does not require any intermediary for this or for that. No. God's nature is that He is. God is One. There is no number two or three. Only God, embracing everything.

So you should accept and feel the latihan you receive and do as an absolute obligation that may not be neglected or forgotten. If you do forget it, it means you forget your own self. If within the reality of your self you feel it as an obligation, your worship of God will become strong. But Bapak cannot blame you if you do not, for maybe you do not yet understand or maybe you have not yet reached the point where you can more or less know the real meaning of worshipping God. Therefore, Bapak only suggests that you should not forget this spiritual training of worship of God. For this latihan of worship means improving and taking care of your own self.

This is Bapak's explanation about what you receive in the latihan, which Bapak has described as the nature of God's power constantly working within man's being, and not requiring the interference of, for example, the thinking, desire and will. So do not think or consider that without strength of will you may perhaps not progress. No. For God is Almighty. God can advance by Himself without any urging from human beings.

It is an incomparable blessing that we, in this situation of ours, in this age of transition, are able to receive something that humans need: their worship of the One God. It is a blessing beyond compare.

If any of you have traveled and studied, for example, the turuq ( Arab.: mystical orders ), perhaps you are able to feel and consider that this ( latihan ) we have within us is really what you were looking for. This is the fundamental essence of all you learned from the tariq. All the various kinds of tariq, like the nakhshabandi, khus-nulkhatimah, sayyiduna'ali and the rest of them, are teachings. So through the tariq they practice, people develop a strong faith - they call it tauhid. They believe that God exists and they also worship.

While Bapak does not assert that they will not be able to attain reality by such ways, many people who practice the tariq reach no further than the limit of man's strength. That is, many of them work with forces, magic, desires in the form of magic: black magic, red magic, yellow magic, white magic and five-colored magic.

Five-colored magic is a magic whose color ( brown ) contains all the colors. Bapak isn't saying that brown is the all-embracing element. But in fact it is. What does that mean? The color of Prophet Muhammad's skin is said to have been brown, not black, not yellow, not white, not red. So brown is a mixture of all kinds of colors. Like Bapak; suppose Bapak was in England for twenty years, perhaps he would become an Englishman. If he had children there, they would be half English. If the children had children, the grandchildren would be one hundred percent English. So this color here - you can find it anywhere, and it can also change, because it is the universal element. So the first or lowest magic is black, the second is red, then yellow, white and five-colored or brown. When Bapak says brown ( magic ) it sounds as if he means 'like ( what ) Bapak ( does )'. But no. Bapak hasn't experienced it himself.

That's mostly what is obtained as the fruit of the tariq - Bapak isn't saying always, but mostly. That's why there are quite a few people they call priests or teachers of Islam who still do - well, do what? Surely you know what I mean.

When Ikhsan was in Ceylon a while ago, he was surprised to find prominent people still using amulets. In reality, someone who still uses amulets in order to become supernaturally powerful and invulnerable is a person who is not obedient to God, nor has faith in Him. How is that? Because he is afraid to die. A person who is not afraid to die doesn't use anything. If he dies, he dies and that's that. So these people are afraid to die - they. get these things to protect themselves. They are given things so they won't die. Clearly, someone like that does not yet really have faith in God. He has more faith in his amulets. He has more faith in his desires.

Whereas, in Subud, we are training to be really sensitive, really naked - not in the ordinary sense, but naked in the sense that we do not harbor any secrets. This is symbolized in Buddhism by the statue ( of Buddha ). Why is the statue naked? It is a symbol that human beings will not be able to receive the true life contact unless they are like that which is symbolized by the statue, which is naked, still, quiet and not doing anything. It is a symbol. That is how it should be. So while we are complete and conscious, still thinking and so on, we should really stop like that ( statue ). But that is stone - it is still, it will remain still. But if we are still, certainly there will be some result - that is the difference. So it is a symbol. But again, people misconstrue it. They think the stone is a god. They think the stone is God. That's a mistake.

To sum up, it is really very difficult to give an analogy to the thinking mind. If you give a really good analogy, the mind jumps over it. For example, take something ordinary like playing cards. Originally, playing cards were not for amusement. They were for knowing one's fate. At first. But then, gradually, they were juggled around and rearranged until finally they became as they are now.

Like the tayub ( a Javanese social dance ). When Bapak was still small, there were still a lot of people who did the tayub. Now it doesn't exist any more. Originally, tayub meant tayu. tayu is ditangleuh, known - something ( revealed ) before it is going to happen. That is why it was done and arranged. There were dancing girls and so on, and male dancers joined in. The dancing girls symbolized temptation - the gong... ( gesture ) quiet.., then the sindhen ( Jav.: female singer accompanying gamelan orchestra )...

Don't we now have this ( ability ) in Subud? All ( of that ) was to enable people to receive the movement of life. But people do not do it that way. They only move if there is gamelan ( Jav. ) playing. If there is no gamelan, they don't move.

All of this can now be obtained in Subud. So Bapak can say that Subud is a field that can inspire all the arts, all cultures. And if one day the time comes, some of you - though not all - will certainly receive some form of culture. So you will be able to do the beleso ( classical Javanese dance ) in a way that is genuine, in a clean way, without learning it. You will be able to do kun thau ( Chinese martial arts ) and pencak ( Javanese martial arts ) without studying them.

That is symbolized by the gong. It is called gending ( gamelan music ). The gong is gamelan music, after all. 'Ning, nong, ning, nong...' so it is gertding. Do not dance because of that. Don't make movements because of that. Look for the gong that is within your own self. In Subud you get the reality of all of this. Subud is therefore not a turuq. It is not a teaching, but a receiving. So you only receive.

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The results obtained from this are necessary later on, for our life after death. Only, of course, because we have attained it, and it is above or came before all of this ( body ) - which is new - this that came before is like a protector, a beschermer ( Du ). So whatever we do in our daily lives in this world is always protected by the One who precedes ( everything ), that is, by the power of God. So we are never without guidance. It is always there once we are able to receive it. But if you have not yet received it, do not keep hoping to receive it quickly. Don't do that. Because first you have to be cleansed. So if you are not yet able to receive something like that, do not blame yourself for this and for that; just surrender with acceptance and willingness to let go, to whatever is God's will for you.

This is the end of Bapak's explanation about this spiritual training of worship, brothers and sisters. Bapak will proceed to do a little practice with you, some testing, so that you can witness, even though not fully, but still you can begin to witness the evidence in this latihan of worship.