Sometime in 1975....
For those of you who don't know, I'm and electrician, and I go into all sorts of buildings, and see all sort of people in my line of work.
The other day, while working at the Fox Warfield Theater, in San Francisco, I was asked to troubleshoot some circuit fault that was preventing a bunch of Rock Stars from doing their rehearsals....
It was about 1:30pm, and they were all up on the stage...shouting into their mikes and blasting their noise at about 150 decibels....preparing for their evening (sold out) concert. It seemed that everything depended on getting this electrical trouble corrected...ASAP!
I was finishing some other work and was about to leave the building... wanted to get as far away as possible from the noise. I told the stage manager that he needed to get the authority of Bill Graham's office first before I continued.
They did, and I fixed the trouble temporarily by going around, or by-passing the fault.... and then went home. Would come back the next day to finish the job right. I was given a $300. maximum for the work, or time plus materials. I chose the later.
The next day, as usual, I started my work first in my car, by making sure that my Jiwa was in charge of my actions. I always do this. One reason is that in this kind of work, especially while working on industrial high voltage systems...there is a great danger inherent in the work....and I can't afford to be sloppy or heedless of danger.
There is nothing special about this. I just surrender myself to God. And then I ask that The Power of God Go Before me, to Protect, and Guide me. That's all. Usually, after this, I feel great!, and I have a lot of self confidence and physical strength. It's like waking up at dawn in a quiet forest...and I'm feeling like a lumberjack!, my heart and mind are alert and ready to work... ready to do almost anything! All this much Inner Feeling ... while sitting in my little Japanese car, right in the middle of the Tenderloin district!
So...It was Sunday morning....the building was empty....put on my tool belt....I had a key, so I went around to the front entrance, made my way through the sleeping homeless people who cluster around each other for warmth, near the door, opened the two locks, and chains, went in, turned on some lights in the main lobby, and finished my, now cold cup of coffee.
This is a big building, with a large 3000 amp Electrical Service, and the power is distributed throughout the building by several old (circa 1935) lighting panels, and a host of pumps, fans, motors, fire systems, alarm systems, and a new emergency lighting system, installed by yours truly.
The fault was on a sub-feeder circuit, and was most probably located in the basement area, near the old, now unused underground nightclub..."the speakeasy". In order to find faults in these old systems, most modern Electrical Contractors make use of the latest in high-tech detection instruments, and employ at least 2-3 electricians to operate them. I only have my self. And, of course...my trusted friend, companion and co-worker, ...... my Inner Self.
Usually, when I'm looking for troubles like this, and also in other work that I do, I get some Inner Guidance as to where to start looking. It comes as a feeling or a little Inner Voice, or both. If I follow it, things go smoothly, and I finish the job on time....and my customer is happy, and I make my money, without much trouble, or hassle. If I don't follow my Guidance, all hell breaks loose. I get into trouble, and things are very difficult for me.
I knew that if I opened up all the junction boxes on the system, I would be spending a long time here, and wondered where to start? Instantly, I had a feeling of where the trouble was, and began to make my way in that direction. But then I suddenly had a Stronger Feeling that I should start looking a the other end of the building. I wondered what this could mean. I already had a feeling of where I would find the faulted wires, so why should I start looking in the other direction? Oh Well, I decided to just follow the stronger feeling, and see what happens.
As it turns out, I found some other troubles in the building, which I noted for future, and eventually made my way back to the original place where I had felt to start. Near the steam room, there was an electrical enclosure that had been getting wet from a steam leak, and caused the fault. I was, it turned out, correct in my first feeling.
It took me 3.5 hours to finish this little job. I made $145.50, much less than the ceiling price, but more like what any other electrician would charge. If I would have gone directly to the fault....just following my Inner Knowing... I would have made less. But following my Inner Guidance.... I made a little more money, the customer is happy, and...... I think that I shall be doing much more work in the building.... due to the other things I noted during my Inner Guidance tour of the basement! I estimate that, if they accept my bid on the other work, I shall profit much more.... maybe in the $2-3,000 range.
So, my dear Subud Brothers and Sisters, this ends my little story of Inner Guidance. Who said that the Spiritual Way is difficult? Not if you follow...and work!
And not if you are in the habit of following, and frequently submitting yourself to the Greatest, The Most High, Allah, God Almighty. In the church, in the Masque, in your car, in the shower, in bed, while eating, cooking,... and even in a dirty and dusty basement in a old Vaudville Theatre building, in the heart of the Red Light District of Sin City, USA!
farlan . . .
with love and good will to all,
Farlan