Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak is happy to meet with you here; and he will now give you some explanations about the spiritual way you have received and practise.
As you have witnessed, the latihan – the spiritual training of Subud – is a training that is not willed by our heart and mind; we are trained by the power of God, which is within us, when the influence of our mind, heart and desires is stopped. Truly, it is not only abroad, here in Europe, that this Subud training of ours is felt to be something out of the ordinary. Even in Bapak’s own country, in Indonesia, many people say that this Subud training is strange or unusual, because it is not only for the inner, nor only for the outer, but concerns both inner and outer. In short, it is about human life, about both our physical body and our fine body.
God’s power is such that human beings cannot possibly understand. When God gives to human beings they cannot know or understand God’s will, or why God gives them a way that is so strange and so different. But we have to remember that God gives to human beings in a way that is adjusted to human progress in this age, so that they can receive what God gives. Subud is the only way that is suited and acceptable to highly educated people whose brains are very advanced. This is why God is giving this to human beings.
So we have to be very grateful to God that, in this age of ours when it is very difficult to obtain a contact with God because the influence of the world on the human self is so strong, we are able to receive something easily and in an ordinary way; a way which does not require us to isolate ourselves or withdraw and distance ourselves from our everyday pleasures and the usual enjoyments of our life in this world.
As for those of you who are not yet able to feel or receive, do not feel disappointed, even though your thinking still goes on working during the latihan. The time will come when it will stop by itself. Such is the power of God given to human beings when they worship. There are many examples of this: members who received the latihan for eight or nine years and could not feel anything, but in the end were truly able to feel it and confirm that it is real. Of course, it is better for those who are already able to experience the cessation of their thinking mind, heart and desires, because they have been able to receive more quickly.
The contact you have received, which awakens your inner feeling, is a contact with the Great life force. As Bapak was saying, it comes from God’s grace; it has been sent down to this earth and given to human beings in order that this high power might become a guide for the human soul, enabling it to return to its original position.
Why is it necessary to have guidance from God, and why is it necessary for God to guide and direct the human soul? It is because, up to this century and at this time, the human soul has come under such great pressure from the influence of low forces. This has come about through the negligence and indifference of the mind, heart and desires of humans themselves, leading people to give more importance to worldly things and to the pleasure of their heart and desires than to their worship of God.
In religion, people are advised that while it is really necessary for them to work in this world to provide food and clothes – in short, to work for the needs of their lives in this world – they should not forget their worship of God. As for how to worship God [the advice is]: ‘Do not turn your back on your own self. In truth, God is with you always.’ But, because people in this world are always faced with things that easily attract and influence their hearts and minds, they have gradually given more importance to their worldly progress than to their worship of God. They have forgotten their own self, and that their own self is the only way through which they can find the contact with the greatness of God.
So little by little, as a result of this, starting with your ancestors and all the way down to you, your human soul has been pushed further and further aside; that is to say, in place of the human soul, which should be in charge within your self, the low forces are in control. Your real position is that you are a tool of the low forces that have power within you.
Of course, brothers and sisters, you do not understand or suspect that the low forces are using your mind, heart and desires – your whole body – as their tool. Even though they belong to the lowest levels of the life forces, once they are in charge within the human self it is impossible that they should want their own demise, their own downfall. So the only possibility is for a person to find the way Bapak just described as coming from God. Through this way, which is received from God, people will be informed, led and guided so that the low forces in charge within their self will spontaneously return to their [proper] place; and the human life force, which is the true master within the human self, will return to its original position.
With the return of the human soul within you, you will be able to appreciate the self-worth of a human being, the value of human nature on this earth. For God has decreed that a human being is a creature of four levels, and is higher than material things, plants, animals, and the [physical] human force itself.
So it is clear that the reason why people are unable to know how their life should go, why they fall into poverty and do not know where to find a livelihood or where to find food and clothing, is simply that their human soul, which should be there within their self, has been pushed aside and left far behind because of the influence of the low forces that have taken charge within them. And in these people there is no sign at all of what is called culture, such as that which [existed] here in Greece and which has become famous everywhere – the original culture that arose in human beings in ancient times. Today it is dead, because this high culture that human beings once possessed was not maintained by people, who gave more importance to worldly things than to the worship of God.
With the awakening of your soul that you have received as a result of the coming of Subud here, hopefully your souls can revive the culture of Greece that has been eclipsed for so long. Then, as a result of the culture you possess, you will not neglect your worship of God; and through your worship of God you will also not neglect your work. So in all your daily behaviour you will not be separated from the power of God, which envelops your own life and that of your family. That is why it is always said in religion that true culture can only be found and received by human beings if they really worship God sincerely, because everything comes from God.
Subud is not a teaching and it is not a religion; rather, it is God’s will that, with the birth of Subud, human beings will be able to verify what is contained in religion. So in Subud, we put into practice what exists in religion: the advice and the sayings that are written in the [holy] books – for example in the Quran, the Gospels, the Psalms of David and others. So it is clear that with the birth of Subud you will experience two aspects: theory and practice; in other words, the advice and the reality. The reality in Subud is the latihan you all do; while you have all received advice in church, through books and from people.
So those of you who are Christians or Muslims will not have to leave your religion; you still remain in your religion. In fact, you will really understand what is received and advised in your respective religions, because you will be directed and guided towards the truth and reality of what is said in them.
Why do many people, especially learned people whose brains are far advanced, not believe that within the human self there is an unseen or hidden power? And why do they not believe in God, but only in the intelligence of their brain? The reason is that, before the birth of Subud, they could not prove the existence of God’s power in the world and within human beings. With the birth of Subud, that is no longer strange for all of you; you are able to receive it, even though you have not yet received it fully. That is to say, it is no longer odd for you that within the human self there really is a life force that makes your being vibrate, so you feel that there is something unusual, something very strange, within you.
So, with the birth of Subud we hope that the whole of humanity on earth will more readily believe that God exists; that it is really very necessary and an absolute obligation for human beings to worship God. For then this world can become a place of well-being and happiness for human beings, a place where people can really worship God.
The guidance of God within human beings is not only for things that cannot be thought about. Even our ordinary activities, like writing, touching, running, laughing, talking, smelling, seeing, and so on – everything we do – will be guided by God. In this way human beings will really become instruments of God; and all creatures, especially human beings, will be filled with God’s power. You will really be guided, in both the realm where thought can be used and in the realm beyond the thinking mind; that is to say, in this world and in life after death.
This is the reason why you begin by being trained to move. Movements are very necessary. Do not wonder why you just keep moving instead of seeing things that are beyond your thoughts in this world. God knows about all this. God knows it better than you; and God knows the fragility and weakness of what is in you. That is why God guides you gradually, in a way that does no harm to either your finer or your coarser parts.
As these movements become stronger and stronger and more varied, you will begin to become aware that there are two kinds of will within you: one is the will of the heart – that is, from the desires – the other is the will of the human soul by God’s command. So you really will be able to know that, in fact, you have two kinds of individual consciousness: consciousness of this world, and consciousness of life after death.
Therefore Bapak hopes that all of you will do your latihan seriously. Do not hold back if, from within, there comes a wish to move. Just let it happen; then you will be able to feel the effect of the state that you will receive.
That is all Bapak has to say to all of you tonight. He will finish now, and continue on Friday. It only remains for him to ask you please to forgive him if any of his words have been out of place.