On behalf of WSA Archives, that part of the Subud organisation which Faisal served for many, many years, I would like to acknowledge a task exceptionally and nobly carried out, often in very difficult circumstances with persistence, diligence, dedication and sincerity.

Photo of Hassan, Faisal’s son, from Amalijah’s visit in 2007. Faisal’s family gave selflessly over the years, even working along side him.

In his own words in 2007, after I had the feeling to sincerely to thank him for his work on our behalf he said,

“what I feel was the most important thing I achieved was the assignment of the code numbers to Bapak’s talks.”

I was a little surprised at first, expecting I don’t know what reply. Then I realised he was right in his interpretation.

Overall the work Faisal undertook was a very large and very difficult undertaking. To gather all the tape recordings from all over the world was hard enough, but Faisal went on to work out a code number system that ensured we could track and identify the talks easily and clearly for as long as we need to. Instead of chaos and confusion a beneficial order was established and this legacy alone is a huge one.

Faisal went on to develop the travel log of the journeys Bapak made and recorded in this log where talks were given, dates etc. There is a story which Faisal recounted some time ago; that apparently Bapak was feeling depressed about Subud and feeling that he (Bapak) hadn’t done enough. At that time Faisal had completed the Travel Log and someone gave Bapak the document to look at. Bapak took the Travel Log into his room and after some time came out smiling and said

“Well, perhaps Bapak hasn’t been lazy after all!”

EDITORS: Our dear Faisal passed on at his home in Belgium on Sunday, December 7, 2008 surrounded by his family. In 2006 he wrote about his life and work “Secret Knowledge.” You may read it here. Maya Bernardes is attending the funeral on behalf of the WSA.