Ladies and gentlemen, this evening is a good opportunity for you to hear the names of the helpers and committee members Bapak has appointed, so that you can know who they are. Mariano is going to read out the names of the people Bapak has appointed to be-come helpers and also of the chairperson, the deputy chairperson, the secretary, the treasurer and the assistants on the committee.

[Names are read out.]

Bapak [to the interpreter]: And, Usman, is there no secretary?

[More names are read out.]

Who should be appointed as secretary?

Usman: There isn’t one yet; should we open it up to the meeting?

[A discussion follows and a secretary is chosen.]

Bapak: So, that is done, and Bapak hereby approves these appoint-ments. Now Bapak will explain the duties and responsibilities of the helpers and committee.

The duties and responsibilities of the helpers are, first, to open anyone who wishes to join Subud and to give them information and explanations about the meaning and aim of Subud. Second, they have to serve the latihan of the members; therefore it is very important that they should be there every time there is a latihan. If they cannot come they need to let the other helpers know why. Third, they need to give explanations and reminders to those members who have not come for a long time, so that through hearing correct explanations they eventually return to the group and join in the latihan.

The helpers also need to arrange a meeting among themselves two or three times a month to review the progress of the other members, so that they can offer to help anyone who cannot really receive yet. The committee members, especially the chairperson, can attend these meetings, so that they can also be aware of how the members are doing so far.

The way the helpers open somebody is that one of the helpers speaks the opening words – if you have a copy here – and the rest just stand. Once the words have been read the helpers do their own latihan, as usual. Never direct your heart towards the person being opened; meaning, do not think about them. You just do latihan together.

Bapak repeats: when you are opening somebody and the opening words have been spoken, both the helpers and the people being opened surrender to God together, so that all of them can receive what they need. You need to do this so that both the helpers and those being opened can receive the latihan they need for themselves, and in order that the thinking of those who are doing the opening will not influence the people being opened. For if the helpers think about or pay attention to the people being opened, both parties will lose the receiving and the progress that they should get in the latihan.

Therefore please pay attention to this advice of Bapak’s, so that in opening and serving the members who do latihan, the helpers can, in return, get something extra for themselves.

The helpers also need to help if a member who is sick asks them to do latihan with them in order to relieve the illness they are suffering from. [They can also do this] if a close relative of a Subud member, such as the wife or a child, is sick. And for this it is enough to do latihan near them. It is not necessary to ask this and that; just worship God as when you do your normal latihan. So in reality you just surrender everything to the power of God, and do not pay attention to the sick person; for if you do that, you can easily be affected by the illness the person is suffering from, even though you may quickly throw it off. That’s what to do if you are asked; but if you are not asked, don’t do it.

And besides that, the helpers are responsible for answering members who need help with something. Of course the helpers need to answer the members’ questions from the latihan. Don’t ever do it in the normal way, answering from your thinking, because such an answer cannot possibly resolve what the questioner is asking.

Therefore the responsibilities of the helpers are rather difficult – because they have to be carried out through surrender to God by way of the latihan. This is why Bapak has chosen [as helpers] those who are receiving reasonably well in the latihan. Nevertheless, he also offers the helpers the opportunity to send members’ questions that are difficult to answer to Jakarta, in order to get an answer from Bapak himself. He wants to make it clear that this is for questions that you cannot answer; I hope the helpers will be able to answer all kinds of questions themselves.

Also, the helpers’ group needs to do a special latihan twice a month – it doesn’t have to be more frequent, just twice a month – and the members of the committee can join in this latihan. This is because the work of the committee is always to do with worldly matters, and they should not just be in that: they should also be able to get something more; that is, progress for their soul.

If helpers travel to another town and meet a person or people who wish to join Subud, they have the right or the responsibility to open them, after informing the helpers they have left behind. This is so that their colleagues in Baurú are aware of what they are doing.

So a helpers’ function is not limited just to their own group, to Baurú, for example; a helper is acknowledged and can act as a helper in other places, whether in Europe, North America, Asia or in Indonesia. That is why helpers need to have a special helpers’ card, so that by showing their card they can be accepted as helpers in other countries.

As for the cost: naturally the travel of helpers to other places needs funding, and they can get this from the committee. So the committee are responsible for funding the needs of helpers when they carry out their duties in Subud.

Helpers who cannot fulfil their duty as helpers – attending the latihan, opening new members, accompanying their latihan and attending meetings – in short, those who are not active in doing their duties as a helper, can be made non-active; meaning that they are not regarded as being helpers and are not allowed to do openings. If this goes on for a long time, the active helpers can ask them to return their helper’s card. Then they are no longer regarded as helpers in Subud. But as members of Subud they still keep the membership card they have received. So, non-active helpers lose only their helper’s card, not their member’s card.

There may still be other things that helpers need to know; Bapak is telling you just the most important points now. And if, later on, there are other things you need to know, you can find answers from the magazine Bapak is having published in Jakarta every month, which is printed in New York. He advises you to ask, through the committee, the people in New York to send you this magazine, starting from the first issue up to the latest one.

Next, Bapak will explain about the responsibilities and the work of the committee and the organisation.

The work of the committee is to provide a building or a place for latihan; to provide whatever is needed by the local Subud association – in Baurú; to keep a record of the members; to decide on the contribution needed from the members to take care of the needs of the association; and to prepare the rules or by-laws of the association. But since by-laws have been prepared at the national level – meaning, by the headquarters of the Subud association – you just need to get a copy.

The committee also needs to make an effort to make a lot of money for the needs of the local community; if there is a real need to help provide housing for poor people, for example. This is the field of philanthropy, and Bapak has seen that you have already started with this. The committee needs to create an enterprise that can make a profit, which can be divided between fulfilling the needs of Subud – the Subud association – and providing philan-thropic help in the community.

So the committee has to take care of the needs of the group as well as, for example, creating schools and places of refuge for the community. This sort of action will show the reality of the principles and aims of Subud. In outline, the principles and aims of Subud are serving God and also serving the community, serving humanity. So it is appropriate if, besides worshipping God, Subud also practises philanthropy.

By setting up an enterprise that makes a profit, the committee can augment or make up any shortfall in the contributions of the members. Bapak heard of a place where Subud members were ashamed to come to latihan because they could not pay their contribution. Please pay attention to this, so that it doesn’t happen here that people do not come just because they cannot pay.

There must be lots of other things that … Oh yes: the committee needs to prepare membership cards, so that every member can receive a card that is registered in a book. In this way you, and also the [international] centre, will know how many members there are. If nobody here has one yet, get a sample from the United States or from Britain. Or, if you cannot get one from either of those places, you can get one from Indonesia, which you can use as a sample, in order to print them here.

Bapak needs to explain to you the purpose of doing all this. These days, wherever you are, the government examines every-thing very carefully. They need to know about every organisation; they have to investigate whether it is a political group with bad intentions, or with the intention of interfering with the state of the country. So if you do what Bapak has advised, you will be free of such accusations. This occurred in Indonesia, where there are a lot of organisations, generally of a political nature. Whenever they meet they are investigated. But because we were transparent, and willing to tell the truth to the government, in the end we were accepted as a legal body; meaning that we are allowed to gather and have meetings without having to ask the authorities for permission.

That is Bapak’s explanation about the work of the committee. In this way the work of the committee and the work of the helpers is separated. The helpers deal only with the spiritual side, while the committee deal with the worldly needs of the membership. So, if one of the helpers is chosen to sit on the committee, for as long as they do that job they become non-active as a helper and opener. This means they are still helpers, but they are not active.

That is Bapak’s explanation concerning the responsibilities of the helpers and the committee. Now to fulfil your wish, and to give you some satisfaction, he will give you some explanations you all need about the path of the soul and the process of the latihan you receive.

As Bapak has said, the Subud latihan is a receiving. That is why, in reality, the Subud latihan is easy to obtain and easy to do. But for those who still want to use their thinking mind, with its knowledge and understanding, the latihan becomes difficult to receive and to do.

Brothers and sisters, the latihan will become a reality for you beyond the limit of your thinking mind. It is difficult to imagine this if you have not been able to experience it yet. So, first of all, Bapak hopes that you will do the latihan diligently; and, before you do it, do not think a lot, do not have many aspirations and hopes. Just surrender to the greatness of God, as a creature who is powerless.

Why does it feel difficult or empty for those of you who cannot really receive yet? It is because whenever you do the latihan, when you are in the latihan hall, your heart1 and thinking are working all the time – they are still working.

Therefore, before you do latihan: first, do not have any expectation; second, do not have any aspirations; and third, do not feel indifferent, but surrender in peace and with a feeling that is alive, which means not being oblivious to what is going on within you. In this way you will be able to receive.

That is why those who seek – that is, those who worship in order to be able to receive a contact with God – are required to eliminate and put aside all their aspirations. This is necessary in order that, in their stillness, they can receive something that arises from that stillness. And what arises from that stillness is exactly the same as what arises in this latihan. The latihan is the same as if you were passing through death. So, in reality, the latihan is no different from a training for death. But because we are trained to be in a state of death, what we find is our life.

Therefore Bapak asks you to have patience, because you need that – patience and a willingness to let go. This is because patience is truly an absolute condition for you as human beings to be able to remove, reduce, put aside and avoid your desires.2 It is truly those desires that always oppress your inner feeling, and make it so difficult for you to receive.

But actually it is very easy to receive this. Bapak will demonstrate [Bapak stands up, and speaks as he demonstrates] … if you truly surrender … you do not think about anything … there is a movement … when there is such a movement, you follow it.

If Bapak speaks to you like this, this [latihan] is still working because … it has already entered Bapak’s thinking from within. With you it hasn’t yet. Your thinking is still hard, so that this [latihan] cannot penetrate it yet. Bapak can do it because he is used to it.

If you go on like this for a long time – well not that long, just one, two, three … [inaudible] … this [latihan] works by itself. This is the sign of life.

So, if you are already empty, truly quiet, there is the sign of life. It is called the voice of death; it is the voice or the state of death.

Once you feel this, the two begin to unite … this movement and that movement [gestures] … that is the cross. That is the reality: every living person has this cross within them. That is why those of you who are Christian wear a chain with [a cross]. But [the cross] is only on the chain. Not yet within you. So you need to find the cross within your soul, not just the one on your chain. Because that one you will leave behind; when you die you will go your separate ways … [inaudible].

[To the interpreter:] Is that difficult? But try to translate it.

[After the translation, Bapak continues to demonstrate, by moving in a state of latihan.]

And then … look, it goes like this … and then like this … and then over there again … it starts … stand up …

First so … and then this … this is a circle … they become one … so … and then you see … so … ha! … it’s round …

That means: life is infinite. That is why Jesus said that ‘death is the continuation of life’. It does not stop.

And after that … like this … oh, like this.

The content of the circle is all sorts of things … and they are all moving … sometimes the movement is like writing … sometimes it is like this, all sorts of movements ... and all of it moves, so that after all this your voice, your breath, your heart, your brain, everything moves, everything is moved.

Certainly you never guessed that. And do not imagine that our latihan just consists of this. No! Oh, there is so much more. So much … so much. Within that circle is every action or movement of life in the world. And once you have experienced all of that, you will be able to discover and receive the movements of life from beyond this world. That is also in this circle.

Bapak is showing you this – of course, just the outline – and as for what comes after that, well, that you will be able to witness for yourselves, once you have made progress.

That is all, brothers and sisters. It is getting late. And since Bapak is leaving Baurú very early tomorrow morning, he must stop now.

Bapak says thank you very much to all of you who have prepared a place for Bapak to stay, and especially to our brother Pagani, who has given his home and looked after Bapak and his party so well. So, Bapak simply says thank you, and prays to the greatness of God that God may reward you with His grace and with progress in your latihan, and with happiness in your life in this world.

Goodbye and thank you.