Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak would like to explain about the spiritual training of Subud which you have received and are doing.

This spiritual training of Subud is actually man's worship of God. Therefore, everything you receive begins not from your heart but from the power of God, which exists or manifests within your being.

The reality is indeed this, that the way to God cannot be begun and cannot be sought by the human heart and thinking mind. It can only be begun by the will of God Himself, that is, by Allah, the Almighty. That is certain, because God is the One God - Almighty, All-knowing, and All-wise; in short, the highest in every respect. And He knows the strength that is within the self of each one of you.

So the latihan you receive cannot be expedited or accelerated by the will of your hearts, but only by surrendering. It is necessary for you to surrender to the One God with patience, acceptance and willingness to let go, and leave it to God as to how He does His work. So Bapak hopes, children, that you will have a full feeling of patience, acceptance and surrender towards God, because this will smooth the way for your latihan.

The prophets - human beings who long ago received a revelation from God - said that all culture and all knowledge, both in this world and beyond this world, are in the hands of God. So the prophets and messengers of God advised human beings to surrender sincerely, body and soul, to the One God and to love none other, including themselves. For thereby human beings will easily find the right way, the way that can lead to happiness in life, both in this world and in the hereafter.

Indeed, the heart and mind cannot know God's greatness, God's wisdom and God's power. It feels strange to them, and sometimes they will not acknowledge the existence of God.

In truth, the One God - Who is called Allah in Islam - is indeed different from everything else. He cannot be compared with anything in this world or in the hereafter. He is the One God, the Almighty. God will only show His power to His creatures if within themselves, within their inner feeling, they sincerely believe, and surrender with patience, trust and sincerity to His greatness.

In the case of people who are considered learned, and whose minds have worked and reached a high level, the result of this working of their thinking is that they don't believe - and are not willing to believe - because the power of God and His greatness cannot be thought about, or sought and calculated in the way they are used to calculating things. So they say that in fact God and His power do not exist; that all this that exists is what exists, and has come to be the way it is. So, they say, it is only natural that ( all the things that exist ) always interact with each-other. But they do not accept that God, as described by the prophets and messengers of God, really exists.

Such is the situation of learned people, those people whose minds have worked and gone so far that, for them, the reality of human ( life ) is only the life of this self. Eventually, whether they want it or not, they undergo constant suffering because their heart and thinking always disturb the tranquillity of their soul. This is what happens within the being of these learned people.

God's will for human beings is that they should be able and willing to remember that besides man's life on this earth, there is a life without end, about which the prophets spoke and advised. According to the words of the messengers of God, people can only understand, know and receive God's will if they are able to stop the working of their desires, heart and thinking. For only when they are able to still their desires, heart and thinking, will they be able to feel the power of God that envelops their self inside and outside; and to know how God's power can become a guide for their life.

It is God's will for all He has created, including human beings, that they should be able to go back to God, back to their original nature. ( So we should be able to become ) perfect human beings beyond this world. As you all know and understand, everything that God has created, all God's creatures including human beings, must die. Inevitably, sooner or later, death will come upon them. Actually, death for human beings and all God's creatures is not something to be considered dangerous. It is not something that endangers the life of humans or any of God's creatures. Death is in fact a bridge; an absolute condition for a creature who wants to rise up. It is, in Dutch, an overgangs periode ( transition period ), the way by which human beings can rise up to a place that is more... ( one word inaudible ). This is why the prophets, God's messengers, also advised that death is not a limit of human life, but its continuation.

However, regarding death there are two or three problems. It is a bridge upwards for a human being who has been able to receive right indications from Almighty God. But for those who have not received indications, death can take them to a lower level.

The situation can be compared to that of a schoolchild. School is a place for children to study, so that one day they will find work easily and have the best possible life. But, ladies and gentlemen, you can appreciate the great loss, the misfortune and the suffering that befall someone who was not able to complete his studies at school. This is just an example... ( inaudible )

It should be clear that, actually, death is not something to be afraid of. Do not be afraid of death. You need to surrender it to the One God in order that your death can be the right way for you to continue your life.

If human beings are said to be creatures of God who are higher than material things, plants and animals, then surely the level of their soul is higher than material objects, plants and animals. But man's physical body, which is the cover of his soul, is more delicate and more vulnerable than material things, plants and animals. Moreover, not only is the human physical body vulnerable to all sorts of things that cause illness and pain, but people even value their own self - not just sometimes but very often - less than the material objects they themselves make.

It is not because of God's will that the human body is valued less than everything that is beneath it, but due to the error of human beings themselves, who give more importance to everything they have made than they give to their own selves. Examples of this are jewelry, objects that are considered sacred like certain weapons, and so on - human beings believe in such things more and hold them in higher esteem than their own selves; while in fact they themselves made those things.

That is why the prophets advised: Do not direct your worship towards anything - especially anything material - save only toward the One God, by way of your own inner self, to which you must be attentive. Because, if a human being directs his heart towards an object or something other than the One God who envelops him inside and outside his being, he will be influenced by that object or by whatever he directed himself towards.

It is for this reason that, especially in Islam, the amassing of wealth and property - while not forbidden - is not considered necessary or a must, for fear that people with wealth will glorify, indulge and celebrate their wealth more than their own selves.

Similar advice is also found in other religions and Bapak does not need to explain further. Clearly, what is in Islam is also in other religions, because all of them were willed by God in order that human beings should not misuse the advice of those who received revelations from God. Because if human beings misuse the advice received by the prophets, they will harm themselves and lower their own status as human beings, with the result that their human body will be of no more value than the material objects they themselves have made.

Therefore, in the worship of Islam, Christianity and other religions, human beings are required to take care of themselves as well as possible. For by caring for themselves as well as possible, their being will become more valuable than any kind of material thing or any creature below the human level.

What is happening in the latihan you are receiving is that, by God's will, little by little, the latihan is repairing everything that is wrong, everything that is not yet right within your being.

You should know, ladies and gentlemen, that the mistakes and dirt from which you all suffer in your inner feeling have not only been acquired during your lives on this earth. They were also acquired from the line of ancestors from whom you are descended. So it is clear that some of the mistakes you carry within your selves and your souls are not your own mistakes, but were caused by the mistakes of all your forebears, and have therefore become a pile of accumulated mistakes.

However heavy these mistakes may be, with the existence of this latihan, through God's power, they can be brought to the surface and repaired, albeit little by little. As you all are aware, even though this is happening with God's help, God is doing it within the measure of the strength that is within you. So the latihan you receive cannot go as quickly as your heart would hope.

God knows your strength, and the way your inner feeling and your soul should develop. So the work is being done within you as you receive it in the latihan, but very gradually, according to the measure of your strength. In this way, it will not damage anything within your being. Therefore, in doing this spiritual training, it is necessary that your heart should feel patient and have full faith that only God the Almighty can give you the way.

This is what is happening and what you have been experiencing in the latihan. Bapak hopes you will all follow the latihan diligently, because if you are diligent in the latihan it means you are diligent in taking care of yourself. As Bapak said just now, the worship of God, which is in fact what you are now receiving, is a way for you to improve your self- that is, your body and soul - so that your body and soul will be of more value than any thing or any creature that is lower than human beings.

As for how human beings should improve and look after the value of their self, so that they cannot fall lower than natures below them... ( Remainder of tape inaudible )