This evening Bapak would like to continue his explanations relating to the spiritual way all of you have experienced and will be experiencing. Bapak may not explain very much, because the usual translator isn't here tonight. However, Bapak hopes you won't feel disappointed, because Bapak will be giving some explanations that are quite wide, in words that are easy to translate.
Bapak has already explained about the existence of forces that constantly disturb you and are always an obstruction for your progress. And Bapak has given clarifications about the power received from the One God within your inner feeling, and how this power is able to fend off and break through the pressure and influence of those forces; so all will go well, by itself, without your mind knowing, understanding, or groping for anything. You can hear all this from the recordings of Bapak's previous talks; so tonight, Bapak feels it s unnecessary to repeat what Bapak has already said.
Bapak needs to make it clear to you now that you should turn or surrender and direct, sincerely and completely, the belief you feel in your heart, to Allah, the One God. People in general, and all of you, aren't yet able to know God's power with any clarity. But the truth is, God envelops and is within everything that exists. In reality, God is closer to people, closer to all of you, than your seeing, hearing, feeling, thinking, smelling, and so on.
You cannot yet grasp how God's power is. But God knows and receives about the situation of each one of you, about all that has happened as well as all that hasn't yet come to pass.
Many people, in their minds, don't believe God exists. Indeed, God and His power are not like humans. In the stories of the prophets, the prophets advised that the power of God will appear and can be felt by human beings if they can leave behind all their thinking and desires. Why is that? The mind, understanding and desires are weapons and tools for human beings to acquire the highest knowledge possible within the sphere of human activity.
But the heights of man's mind and the sharpness of his thinking are nothing before the One God. God is Almighty and cannot be overreached by the creatures He has created. Whatever heights a person may attain through the cleverness of his mind, he will not go beyond the level of his own spirit or position as a human being. For that position is made up of experiences he has had through the progress of his feelings, thinking and awareness.
For these reasons, Bapak always tells you, and recommends to all of you, that you should really believe and worship God sincerely. And have full faith that God is the only one who can give you something you need for your life. Your faith and surrender can be put into practice by doing the latihan regularly. For, through the latihans you receive, you are gradually awakened, beginning with your coarse, outer parts. In reality, you are being awakened from a dead, weak state under the pressure of subhuman forces.
The awakening or the movements received cannot be the same for everybody. The movements a person receives depend on the person's inner feeling, which is always influenced by the forces within. So, some people don't need such a variety of movements, while others require movements of many different kinds. It depends on the content of your inner feeling, which has been under the influence of forces below the human being. However, you needn't be afraid or worried about this situation.
After all, it comes from your own mistakes and actions. And those former actions of yours were done intentionally, even though the truth of the matter is that you were pressurized by need or by circumstance. So you needn't be afraid, because those actions were your own doing and, if not now, later after your death, they have to be brought before God. They have to be disclosed and declared.
For God has the power to force anyone He wills.
If you leave it until after your death, there's no more time to repent. So, it is better for it to happen while you are still living in this world. Then you have a chance to experience, verify and expiate or clean everything. If this is done during your life in this world, and you are clean after death or when you face death, you will be able to know and receive God's grace. And you will be able to step up to the level required for your life.
It really isn't necessary for you to think about this. You really shouldn't think about it because the latihan that you all receive is not the guidance, instruction and work of man. It is the guidance, instruction and work of God alone, and cannot be meddled in by the powers of man, as Bapak said before. To a greater or lesser extent, you experience this when you receive the training ( latihan ).
If your thinking and desires interfere, your latihan stops by itself, and you are unable to receive more or wider. For this reason, in the latihan you need to surrender yourselves body and soul to the One God, with a full feeling of patience, and entrusting yourselves to God with sincere submission. So even if you surrender, but in your heart there's no feeling of patience, and within the feeling of your heart is the wish to become clever quickly and receive quickly, this will, on the contrary, slow down your receiving.
Also, even if you believe and you are patient, but you cannot yet entrust yourself to God ( tawakal ) . . . the meaning of tawakal is this: suppose you are required to leave behind everything that is pleasurable for you, you have to have the courage to be tawakal, the courage to let go of it all. And, even if you already believe completely, and are completely patient, and completely entrust yourself to God, but you don't yet submit sincerely ( ikhlas ), you will still be slow in your receiving. That is, even if you have those three qualities completely, but you are not yet ikhlas.., and the meaning of ikhlas is: God alone owns everything, without exception.
What Bapak has been saying is illustrated and can be read, - no doubt you’ve read it - in the story of the Prophet Abraham s life at the time when Abraham had two sons, Ismail and Ishak. The Prophet Abraham was a human being who had full faith in God. He was a man of extraordinary patience. Because of his complete faith and patience in the face of whatever happened, God promised him He would give him happiness in this world, that is, a child.
When the Prophet Abraham received this promise from God, he couldn't help laughing in his inner feeling. He laughed to himself not because he didn't believe God, but because he felt he and his wife were already too old. At that time, Abraham was more than a hundred years old, and his wife was about ninety!
But God promised Abraham, saying, 'I am Almighty. I can create something beyond the fathoming of human minds.' And finally, sure enough, the Prophet Abraham's wife conceived. It is told that many people to right and left laughed because she was already old and was pregnant. At the end of her term, the Prophet Abraham's wife gave birth to a child, a fine baby boy, and they named him Ismail.
There was the reality, in fulfillment of God's promise to a human being. The human being was able to realize God's promise, beyond his mind and beyond what is usual for humans, and show that God is All-powerful over everything that happens.
Now that the Prophet Abraham had a child, Ismail, he felt his life was happy. For, besides owning material things and property in the usual way, he was able to have a child who was like the darling of his heart in his life in this world. Wherever the Prophet Abraham went, even if it wasn't far, he always took the child with him, because he loved him so much; for only now, when he was already old, did he have a child. But God always knew about the Prophet Abraham's situation. He knew that Abraham's love for his child could become an obstruction for the Prophet Abraham's worship of God.
And God told Abraham, 'Abraham, you are a creature who really believes in me, in God, and you believe that God is All-powerful over everything that happens. You must believe what I am going to promise you and say to you. How would it be if I want something that you have?' The Prophet Abraham replied, 'O God, I believe in you completely, more than my own soul. I will surrender whatever God wills.' Then God said, 'Abraham, kill your child, who you always love, at my command, by your own hand, and no one else's.'
At that moment, it was as if the Prophet Abraham had the life and soul pulled out of his body - but God knew it was really only a test, to test Abraham's faith in God. And with a feeling that was very heavy indeed, Abraham took the child to the forest where he was going to kill him. Now, God knew that this was really a test for Abraham, to test how far he could have faith, entrust himself to God, and sincerely submit to God. So, when the Prophet Abraham was about to kill his child, the child was exchanged by God's power and a sheep was put in his stead. And the sheep's neck was cut. For, when he cut the neck of his child, the Prophet Abraham closed his eyes. Indeed, he was unable to bear it.
And after he had dealt the blow, he hurried home with feelings that were unlike those any person could normally have. However, before he reached his house, he was startled by a child's voice that kept calling his name. It was his child who he had killed - but not killed, for he had been exchanged, and replaced with a sheep by God's power. And the child called, 'Father, father, why did you hurry off and leave me? I'm here, behind you!' The Prophet Abraham turned and saw his child following behind him. And Abraham immediately embraced the child and wept. And he was filled with a feeling of faith and he magnified God's greatness, because it had all been a test from God to test how far the Prophet Abraham would entrust himself to God. At that moment, God said to the Prophet Abraham, 'Abraham, I know the extent of your faith, your patience, and your entrusting yourself to me and the sincerity of your submission to me.'
In this way, the Prophet Abraham received more grace from the One God than had the prophets of old. This story serves to illustrate what Bapak was talking about earlier: namely, faith, patience, entrusting oneself to God, and sincere submission. It is only an illustration; you do not have to be like that. But to obtain something more than the human level it is indeed necessary for you to give less weight to the pleasure, enjoyment, greatness and fame that are in this world.
It is not God's will that you should give up the pleasures and activities customary in this world, because they have been created for human beings and their needs. But if you can give less weight to them and more weight to your worship of God, in the end you will know how to live in this world, and also how your life will be afterwards. For, if you give more weight to your desires, or more importance to your worldly life, it means you neglect your life later, after death. Whereas life after death, for perfect human beings - or for human beings, and also for all of you, if you can climb to that point - is a life that has no limits.
As the Prophet Jesus said to his companions, 'Know, friends, that my life after I die will be a life that has no limits. And there is a land that is more than the lands of this world. That's why you must have a faith that is as great as possible. And do what you do to save mankind from suffering.' Those words concur with what Bapak was saying about the Prophet Abraham. They also ring true for what you have experienced in the latihan you receive regularly.
Bapak has already explained about the desires and forces, and how in reality they are accessories, and not enemies or an obstruction for human beings. Besides these, there are four brothers in the self of every human being. All four of them nest and reside in the will, within a person's heart. Of these four brothers - five including the human being himself- the first wants the person always to win and beat others. The second brother wants a person to be rich, richer than others. The third wants a person to be well known and have a better name than others. And the fourth brother wants a person to be wise, wiser than others.
These four brothers are always there within the heart, in the will of a human being; and they are always rising up to maintain their various positions. So, a person whose belief in God is not strong and who isn't very patient in a given situation, and doesn't entrust himself to God and sincerely submit to God, is very easily disturbed by them. People always follow these four brothers in their inner feeling if they haven't yet found strength from God, or the right way to occupy their position as human beings.
So, in reality, and in general, people always like to win and very seldom like to give in. For example - and of course you also are not yet able to do this - people seldom like to give in when there is an exchange of words. Giving in doesn't mean losing, but means preventing your own passions from always flaring up and causing a quarrel. It also means decreasing the enemies around you. And this will promote peace, not only in your own life but also in the society in which you live.
Besides being unable to give in, you cannot yet restrain the feeling of your heart. So you always feel anxious about what's going to happen to me, if I am not working, or if I'm like this or like that. This applies also in actual situations. Say, for example, you own a great deal of property. Perhaps you still feel, this property of mine may one day be taken away from me. And you may also have the feeling, how can I increase the property I have?
Such is the strength and position of these two brothers in the heart of a human being. People always feel they don't have enough. For example, before you have a hundred pounds, you surely feel, Ah, how pleased I would be if I had a hundred pounds! But suppose next day you do get a hundred pounds. You still feel it isn't enough. And you might also feel, Ah, how pleased I would be if I got five hundred pounds! Then supposing it happens, and you have five hundred pounds. You still don't feel satisfied, and you still hope, When will I get a thousand pounds? And so it goes on.
This is why not a few wealthy people still look for money, even when they have more than enough to live on for their whole life. In the end, an excess of wealth becomes a danger for people. For when you don't have a lot of money, and you live in a rather quiet place, you don't feel anxious. But if you have money, and you live there, you always feel worried lest a thief should come, or something. This is just an illustration.
It is not God's will that you should give up the wealth that is necessary for human beings. In fact, the more you have the better. Only, don't place your trust and faith in it. Put your faith and trust in God and put wealth in its place, as an accessory for your life in this world. Indeed, wealth is really only an accessory for your life while you are in this world. For when you die you can't take a penny with you - unless it is put in the earth.
The third brother is the one who only strengthens his own standing to become well known. Suppose, for example, you're wearing a nice dress that suits you, and someone finds fault with it: 'Ah, that dress is no good.' Usually, if you are criticized like that, you get angry. Indeed, you always take criticism from others like a stab in the heart, because of the urging from the third brother who is only after a good name.
The fourth brother is the one who hopes for wisdom in life. He also hopes that he, or the person, will become the cleverest person in the world.
In the eyes of the world, in the ordinary estimation of people in this world, these four brothers are indeed required for people's worldly life. However, they will not illuminate the way for human beings so they can progress on their way to God. That's why, besides creating the four brothers - five including the human being - God also created human beings with an inner feeling, as Bapak said before, of belief and faith in God, patience toward God, entrusting themselves to God, and sincere submission to God. With the presence of these four, the four brothers who are always rising up within a person's heart will become weak.
This weakness will not render a human being completely powerless. On the contrary, it will bring him safety and prosperity in life, because he will be able to use the four brothers instead of their using him. So, they will no longer be an obstacle or a temptation for the heart of human beings, but will play their part as accessories. And human beings, or all of you, will be able to employ them wherever necessary. If, for example, you need to make money - because we have to live in this world - look for the money in the way that will be indicated from your soul ( jiwa ), so that your way of looking for it doesn't conflict with the state that is in your inner feeling.
The foregoing is an explanation of matters relating to the spiritual path. If necessary Bapak will review for you what will happen in the training ( latihan ) you now receive.
When you first receive the training, you feel movements within you. And those movements will gradually go deeper, and for that you still need to receive a great deal of movement. It is not just your hands and feet that need to move and come alive, but all the members of your body. So don't be concerned when you're at home - as well as in the latihan here - and you are lying down and your mouth is exercised. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes not; sometimes you giggle; sometimes it's as if your mouth is quarrelling. You need to be exercised in this way by your soul, so that your mouth will become clean; then you can receive words straight from your soul, without going through the thinking, and you can hear words uttered by your soul as the journey of your life.
Similarly with the other members of your body. All the members of the body are exercised spontaneously; each comes alive and moves by itself. For example, the eye that has been trained in this way will itself become aware of what is good to see and what is not, and what kind of seeing arouses greed and what kind of seeing gives rise to peacefulness.
It's as if each member is itself responsible for its own safety and well-being. It's the same with the members of the body: they each look after their own safety. So, in the legs, for example, Bapak says, Bapak walks, and in front there's a hole. So Bapak walks like this. This is in the legs. If the whole is alive, even as far as your brain, and you want to go there, it won't happen. Why? It's not good. It can't happen by itself. The legs don't even have to walk. But, if the whole is not yet alive, only these, the legs, know the way by themselves. The other parts of you don't yet know.
Bapak will give you an illustration. Suppose Bapak is going to get a big star in September. Bapak doesn't think about it at all, because Bapak doesn’t know and doesn't expect to get a big star.
Bapak just leaves it to Bapak's body, as to what will happen for Bapak in September. Like this, for example: 'Body, what will happen for me in September? Will I get a star or a beating?' Bapak stands up. If someone is going to get a star, he will certainly make a movement ( Bapak demonstrates ) If, for example, in September Bapak was not going to get a star but a beating, what would happen to me? ( Bapak demonstrates ). Like that, for example. Before it happens, there are already signs in the body. So, if you have received a little in the latihan, you will experience what is going to happen; there are always signs, so you won't feel anxious about what's going to happen to you.
This latihan, as well as bringing the whole body to a state of health, also brings about an awareness of what will be and what will come to you. Naturally, this will increase the calmness of your feelings. For instance, suppose there are reports that in nineteen fifty eight this earth will be like this and like that, and people will be wiped out. But when Bapak asks, is it true? 'No!' he is told. So, such reports are only to make people extremely confused, so people whose children are here in London, or in France, or in America, will call their children home.
Why is there news like that, and why do people say such things, so people get such ideas? It's because those people are influenced by the brother Bapak referred to, who seeks a name and to be wise, so others will say he is a person who is high, good, clever and wise. Although Bapak knows about things, seen as well as unseen, Bapak is the same as an ordinary person: Bapak is affected by illness, and all the usual things, and feels hungry if his stomach is not filled with potatoes. Why is that? Only God is Almighty, and Bapak can follow God's footsteps everywhere. God's power is not only on this earth; it is beyond the earth, in the sun, and beyond the solar system.
But if a human being surrenders completely to God, the soul of that human being is like a pupil who always follows his teacher everywhere. And where is God's power? You can't measure it, children. Man can always follow; that is the good fortune for someone who really surrenders everything that is in him. He doesn't become weak through that; no.
For example, it's like this: Bapak is now like this, and when Bapak dies, he will be buried as people are, and put into a hole. How will Bapak's inner self be, and his feelings, understanding and awareness? 'More complete.' These words spoke by themselves. So Bapak only hears the words expressed from the soul ( jiwa ). You will also experience it like that.
Later, when you've made some progress, when you have got dressed and combed your hair you will remind yourself: 'Oh, fancy combing it like that! That's wrong. Comb it like this.' Or, if you are out walking, for example, and you follow your friend, My friend walks like this, sometimes, as you walk, ( you will remind yourself ), 'Fancy walking like that! It's better I walk like this, not like that.'
That's what Bapak calls self-correction, 'self-help'.