Ladies and gentlemen, it is really true that when you are receiving this spiritual training, it is essential for your heart to be patient and have faith, and to surrender to God's greatness and God's power. Indeed, such feelings of the heart are an absolute precondition; something truly needed if human beings are to be able to receive something for the happiness of their life from the grace of God.

In this present century human beings are very hasty and impatient, because the influence of the world on their inner feeling is stronger than ever. It's as if people do not have the patience to wait for something that is beyond their wishes and their hopes. Indeed, these days the will of the human heart is too strong; people are impatient and they expect to receive instantly whatever they want.

That is the reason why the majority of people do not receive anything. It is because they are unable to control their passions of anger and greed, which make them want to be considered intelligent, famous, smart and so forth. Human beings in times long ago were different; they were not yet strongly influenced by the progress of the world, so many of them were able to receive and carry out the advice of the prophets. So they reached a level of well-being and happiness in their life.

Therefore Bapak's hope for you is that when you do the latihan you will always have a feeling of patience. Because the greatest possible patience, trust and surrender to God will make it easy for you to receive what you need, both for your life and for your inner self.

Indeed, it is the nature of the human heart to despair if it does not get what it wants. If what it gets is not as good as it hoped, it becomes... ( inaudible ). So if you keep doing ( the latihan ) and you cannot receive, you get bored. That's human nature. However, as you want your heart and mind to be cleaned so your character can become good, you really have to put this trait of your heart as far away as possible.

Bapak doesn't blame you for wanting to be happy and well provided for in life, or for wanting to understand what is needed so you don't get into difficulties. That is necessary. And, in fact, God wants human beings to be able to live happily throughout their life here and in their life after death. But don't forget that before you can be happy, or become rich or clever or respected, naturally you have to start by working hard and going through difficulties, and that is a kind of suffering. You don't suddenly become rich, intelligent or famous; certainly you have to prepare and put in effort first. The same is true of the way you receive what God gives you in the latihan.

So you don't become rich just by thinking about it, nor do you become intelligent or respected just by wanting to be. It's not like that. You have to begin by laying the ground work, and then practice, so that one day you will become someone who is respected, intelligent or rich.

Of course, while you are working towards that, you will experience things that are difficult as well as things that are easy. That is the nature of human life on earth. It is also like that in receiving the latihan: you are bound to experience difficulties as well as things that come easily. Don't feel that this isn't right, that it shouldn't be this way. The truth is that it's always like that within you because of past mistakes, both yours and those that have come down to you from your ancestors.

Subud is a very easy way. It's very easy because you are able to receive God's gift and stop your desires, heart and thinking while you retain complete use of all your functions. You are still your usual self; meaning that you still work, you still think about the needs of your everyday life and the needs of your family. Indeed, Subud trains not only the inner self but also the outer.

Subud is a human way; a training for human life - not only the inner life and not only the outer life. Subud is a training we receive so that our whole self can be trained: both coarse and fine, both outer and inner. Therefore, Subud is not actually a mystical group. No, it is a group of human beings, a living group for being able to receive the whole of human life, the visible as well as the invisible. Both the outer and the inner, as Bapak .just said.

If Subud were a mystical group, you would have to shun all worldly desires. You would have to let your hair and beard grow long, like those people you may have seen who live in caves - I forget what they call them - people who only seek their inner self, and neglect their obligations in life as human beings in the world. Usually they let their beard, moustache and hair grow long, making them appear out of the ordinary.

It's true that, if you compare this with the prophets of old, then yes, there may be a certain similarity. But don't forget that in the time of the prophets - of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Noah, David, Muhammad and others - there were no barbers yet. There was no one to cut their hair, so they just let it grow. However, nowadays there are barbers everywhere, so it is better to be clean-shaven.

So do not repeat the behavior of people in former ages. It is better to keep going forward, not go back. You should really realize and believe that the power of God is not limited to former ages. God's power is not limited to the prophets of the past. No. God's power never stops and has no limits. Since before the earth existed until after the earth ceases to be, the power of God is always there. So you do not need to look back; you need to look forwards. When you die you do not go back, from being old to being young again, growing smaller and smaller until you become a baby and only then die, do you? You die as old as you are.

God wills that human beings should turn towards God. The true meaning of this is that God is before human beings wherever they are. But they constantly close their inner feeling because of their thinking, their heart and their desires. They search and they search and they search, and even end up going back and repeating the past, saying, 'If this is how it is, it's better to stay in the forest. It's better not to eat well and better not to mix with other people.'

In Subud it is God's will that we should be able to receive what we need, and become aware of our life while we are still in the world. By means of using and moving our being, both the coarse and the fine, eventually we come to the state where our soul truly becomes the guide of our will, our wishes, our thinking and our feeling.

Bapak will illustrate this with an example. Suppose you have studied medicine: obviously your mind, heart and feelings are expert in medicine. But, after receiving the latihan, you gradually receive indications from within, giving guidance as to the rightness of what you are doing. So, whenever you have difficulty in your practice as a doctor, you will understand and receive guidance from within your own self.

The way God guides human beings is like this: if God is guiding your brain, your thinking becomes clear and you feel you have an understanding - a knowledge - beyond what your mind can figure out. And it is recognized as something that is beyond ( whatever exists in ) your field.

The same thing applies to someone who is trying to picture, figure out or imagine something. God does not give understanding to that person in the way another person would - from the mouth and through the ear. The guidance is already in the heart, and, at a given moment, the person feels their heart open and is able to conceive something beyond their own capacity.

The way guidance enters the soul is like that too. For example, when people die, God doesn't guide them by giving them a map ( and saying ), 'This is the road you must take.' No. God has already prepared their inner self so they can go through the gate of life after death. They're able to find their way there without any map. It's just like a bird: a bird has wings, and, without any conscious desire to use its wings for flying, it can fly - spontaneously. So God has prepared everything within each one of you; everything you need, for later as well as for now.

That is why all of you in Subud really need the purification of your inner feeling. It is to prepare you, in order that in your life you may worship God and be aware of the life of your inner self; and not be closed up by everything you have become accustomed to.

So, for instance, suppose you are a ballerina: when you perform in a ballet, it will not be the desire of your heart but the power of God that makes you do it as you do, so all your actions become worship. That is to say, your legs and hands and your whole body become aware of the greatness of God. When that happens, when the dancing is from the soul and by the will of God, you will be able to feel it. Both those who see it and the one dancing will feel peaceful and alive. This is indeed what is needed by humanity, and this is true culture. However, generally these days people are not looking for this kind of culture, but for culture produced and refined by the thinking mind and by the passions. That is very different from the living culture that you will encounter in our Subud latihan, our worship of God.

Here is another example. Suppose someone is ill - seriously ill: perhaps if you dance the ballet before that person he or she may become well. Why? Because your dance is no ordinary dance but a dance of worship, as when you do the latihan in Subud. Bapak once tried something similar when he visited a sick person. Bapak did not touch the person at all - he was some distance away - but he sang. After Bapak had finished singing he left, and the person said, 'Hearing that singing just now made me well again.' But don't get the idea that Bapak cures people just by singing. Don't do that, because then people will be asking Bapak to sing everywhere.

Clearly, this spiritual training penetrates all activities of human life on earth, enabling you to worship and turn to the greatness of God in every situation. For example, when you have an argument with someone, your arguing will be filled with the worship of God. So, in the course of the dispute you will be aware of the truth; you will know the right way to argue and how to finish the argument. Then, when the arguing is over, you will embrace one another.

Brothers and sisters, don't misunderstand and think that the prophets had no passions and never became angry. Oh, when the prophets were angry, they were very angry. Yes, really! But, the prophets' anger was filled with faith, it was filled with the worship of God, so they were able to feel and to remind ( people of ) what was right and what was wrong.

Clearly, then, you don't have to get rid of your passions or put them aside. But you do need to stop them at the times when you are receiving what God gives to you, so you can receive that clearly and properly. Later, when the process is complete, you will be able to use your passions where they are needed. So you won't be angry all the time - every day. No. There are times when anger is necessary. Yes, necessary. But what Bapak means by necessary is that you are angry when you have to be - when someone has done wrong. If they haven't then you don't get angry. It's like that.

So, don't be afraid of your passions and think that they are bad or will bring disaster. No. It is like being near an atom bomb. If the bomb is not set off, even if you are close to it or sleep next to it, nothing will happen. But if it is set off, of course you will disappear. That's it. Therefore, the problem is in the way you use your passions. If you can use them properly, no matter how big they are, they will be very useful for your life.

God does not disapprove of any human discoveries, even though they are made with the thinking mind. If God did not want them, then certainly they could not come about and would not exist; but human beings can create these things. The fact is that God has granted human beings the ability to discover extraordinary things. This has been granted so that, by means of these discoveries, they may be able to provide for the needs of their life.

Take the atom bomb, for example. Atomic energy can be used for turning the jungle into a town; for making places habitable; for leveling mountains where it is necessary to make villages and towns. It is not for killing or murdering people. No. So it is clear that human beings have been graced by God to reach the peak of knowledge but have misused it. If it now threatens them, that is their own fault.

That is why in Subud you need to be purified and prepared, so that eventually you will be able to understand and know how to use everything you need. The mistakes you have made through misusing all the necessities of life are simply because your feelings, heart, brain and thinking have been under the influence of the low forces, which still rule within your being. That is why the whole of you needs to be awakened, so that you will get to know and recognize what has become the inner content of your self. Once you recognize and know that content it will become aware, and by itself will return to the place where it should be. Then you will meet your human soul within you, which should be in its rightful place.

From that position, you will be able to know how the material, plant, animal and human forces variously influence the action of your will. As Bapak is always saying, if you reach that state it will not be through using your heart and mind. The only way you can receive it is to have patience and trust, do the latihan diligently, and obey God's commands.

As Bapak said earlier, it is the nature of the human heart and mind to be always at work, and they don't want to stop working. So, if you let your heart and mind go on and on, as long as you live you will never find any truth or peace. Moreover, you will become confused in your life and in your feelings; especially if your heart and mind want to go fast, to be better or more famous than others. Such wishes only block your path, and obstruct the progress of your soul and the cleanness of your inner feeling.

Later, when you have comprehended what Bapak has been saying and have reached the required stage, you will really feel free in your way of worshipping God. For, when you are asleep and when you are awake; in the course of your work and when you are traveling; when you die, in everything, there will be no space left vacant or empty. You will always be filled with the worship of God. Then, when the time comes for you to die - whether you die in the street, at home, or in the forest - you will be in the same state: that is, you will always be in the lap of God, always before God, because everything in you worships God.

And Bapak hopes you will not behave and act with feelings of opposition and conflict towards one another. Especially the helpers: when you do your duty as helpers, do not feel lower or higher than others, or say others are right or wrong. For the duty you have accepted is to worship God as sincerely, honestly and cleanly as possible. So you must give in to one another; value, get to know, respect and love one another. In this way, you will be able to receive the ( true ) goodness in the behavior that you currently consider to be good. Because what you consider good in yourself is not yet good in the eyes of God. Only God knows what is truly good.

That is Bapak's talk for this, the last night of his visit. Bapak will stop now, and he hopes that this talk will be of some benefit to all of you. Bapak will say goodbye, because tomorrow he will be leaving San Francisco for Los Angeles at eleven o'clock in the morning. As Bapak is leaving, he prays that God may bless all of you so you can worship God diligently and sincerely.

( Inaudible ) ...for Bapak to do some testing with you or not? If not, he will stop now.