Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak and his party would like to thank you for your joyful welcome. And it seems that even though this is Bapak’s first opportunity to be with you, you have already made progress in your latihan. May the blessing and the mercy of God be with you, so that this may continue and you become even more active in doing the latihan.

After thanking you for preparing a house for Bapak to stay in – even though it is just for a short while – Bapak will give some explanations you really need to hear: about the path of the Subud latihan, the spiritual training that you have received and have been following.

As you know, the Subud latihan cannot really be called training. But as it is difficult to find words that convey accurately what happens in the latihan, Bapak is obliged to use an ordinary word like the word ‘latihan’, which means training, and which sounds like physical training, sports training or the like. Even so, it is better to use a simple word. Meanwhile we can perceive that it contains something that is very important for human life – especially for those of us who have received the latihan.

This Subud latihan is actually a receiving; because when it came to Bapak it was just something he received. It did not come through study; nor did Bapak follow the usual way of monks or people who live for years in isolated places, reducing their pleasures and so on. Bapak received it in circumstances similar to your own, while he was still working, still thinking about this world, about his wife, children, and so on.

So it is clear that Bapak did not receive the latihan through any other means, nor from a teacher, but received it spontaneously, not knowing what it was nor understanding its purpose. Only later, after Bapak had received and received and received, as you are doing now, did he reach a level where he could understand that what he had received was truly the will of God – truly willed by God.

According to Bapak’s feeling, at the present time people have gone so far in using their thinking and in creating modern-day things that, if in order to receive something from God they had to reduce their pleasures, isolate themselves from people and live alone on a mountain, by the sea and so on, they might not be able to do it. Perhaps this is the reason why God has given a very great help to humankind, in that we can do the latihan while still thinking about this world.

This shows clearly that we human beings – meaning each one of you – are still loved by God and protected by God, so that we do not go too far in forgetting God who is the Creator. Therefore we can receive God’s gift in this easy way, just like that. But because of this, other groups – groups who study spiritual questions – consider that the latihan of Subud is not a spiritual training, not a training for the inner life that leads to God, but simply a kind of exercise that children might do, or a sort of physical education.

Why is this? As Bapak has already said, it is simply because of the ease with which we receive it from the greatness of God. But once people have had proof; that is, once they join Subud and verify what happens in the latihan, they acknowledge that indeed the Subud latihan is a grace, a gift from the power of God, in order to help human beings to be able easily to put aside the needs of the world. This means people can do the latihan while still doing their work in the world.

Confirmation that the Subud latihan is willed by God is that the growth of Subud has been so fast. In less than five or six years Subud has spread throughout the world, and has no less than one thousand four hundred centres. This shows that Subud is God’s will. And Subud has grown in this way without the use of any propaganda whatsoever, or through making any public announcements. In fact, Bapak has discouraged you from giving explanations to people who have not yet joined Subud.

Also, what happens in the latihan is truly a receiving: each person receives it differently, in accordance with his or her individuality. For instance, Indonesian people who are Muslims receive Subud in accordance with whatever is within them and in their individuality. So it does not detract from their religion or their national characteristics; on the contrary, they can receive it in a way that is in keeping with their way of life. It is the same with people from other nations; America for instance: they receive it according to their individuality. They do not imitate Indonesians, Muslims or other nations.

And so in Subud it is possible to unite [people of] different religions and beliefs, because after receiving the latihan people feel that human beings truly have only one aim; that is, the worship of God, who is One for humankind. So we do not worship different gods. No. We worship God who is One for humankind.

Therefore the Subud latihan is a practice; the practise of every-thing that has been said and heard and thought and followed [in the different religions]. And, with the birth of Subud, you and people of different religions can know the truth of what has been said in the books of your respective religions and beliefs.

What happens in Subud is not really anything new, not something that has been received only now. It is something that has existed since human beings were placed on this earth. Why have people forgotten something they brought with them when God created them in this world? It is because, as the days months and years passed and the epochs changed, the thought processes of human beings became faster and faster, causing them to forget their soul, to forget God, to forget that their life is created by God and that everything they have within them is protected and willed by God’s power.

As an example, ladies and gentlemen, you can of course remember how it is when a child has just been born. They cannot yet see the shapes of this world, cannot hear the voices of this world, nor smell nor feel all that is in this world. But as the days weeks and months go by, and a small child begins to be able to see the shapes of this world, begins to feel the members of their body and to know the atmosphere of the world, they begin to lose the connection with their soul and also with God. This continues as a child begins to think. Their thinking begins to work, and they come closer to the things they think about, forgetting about their soul, which is behind their thinking. Eventually, when the child grows up and becomes an adult, he or she becomes better at thinking about this world than [understanding] the realm of the soul.

Therefore it is not surprising that people imagine the world of life after death – meaning heaven – as a beautiful place that can be heard, known and seen. In the same way, when they think about an angel it will not be far from what they usually think about. They will certainly depict an angel like a human being. However, because it is an angel and angels are not the same as human beings, they will depict it like a human being but better looking. Such illustrations simply show that human thought is incapable of going any further than this in understanding life after death.

Because human beings have gone so far in forgetting the connection with their soul, without help from God they could not possibly find it again. Therefore, if you were to put a value on this latihan you have received, it is something that is beyond compare. That is why Bapak hopes that having been given this gift from God, which is so easy and which you can receive just like that, that you will do it, work with it and receive it seriously, feeling blessed and full of faith towards the power of Almighty God.

With this latihan we have received – that you have received – we have been able to feel and know that God’s power is behind everything. In our thinking, when we think something, God’s power is behind it; when we see, God’s power is behind our seeing. God is behind everything, no matter what it is. God is also there at the end of whatever you think or whatever you see. So God’s power really envelops the human self inwardly and outwardly. People cannot easily perceive this, however, because they are continually influenced and obstructed by their desires,2 imagination and thinking, which have developed and progressed so fast. It is as if, because of this progress, people have forgotten their own self.

These are the reasons why you need to avoid using your thinking in the latihan, and not be easily influenced by desires. So it is very important for you that when you are about to do the latihan you do not think about lots of things, do not fantasise or imagine lots of things; then your latihan, which is the growth of your soul, can go well, without constantly being hindered and obstructed by your desires, imagination and thinking.

Certainly you need to use your thinking mind, because the life of human beings who do not use their thinking will not be human: it will be like that of an animal, a vegetable or a thing. Clearly we need to use our thinking and imagination, but for this world; that is, for procuring the needs of our life here. God has given us the heart and the thinking mind as instruments that we need to use for this world. But for the needs of our soul, for the way that leads to God, we cannot use our thinking, because God is before and comes after everything that is within us.

Therefore, by not using the thinking and the heart any more, we will be able to receive the contact of life that has existed since human beings were created, as Bapak said before. And in this way, eventually you will be able to recognise that everything is moved, awakened and brought to life by the power of God.

Of course, not using your thinking mind, desires and imagination is not something you should do all the time. No; only when you do the latihan. And that is at most for half an hour or three-quarters of an hour, and should be done only two or three times a week. So during a week you quieten and refrain from using your desires, thinking mind and imagination for only three hours at the most, and for the rest of the time you still use them one hundred per cent for the needs of the world.

That is quite enough because, truly, human beings cannot pursue something that is beyond the thinking and the imagination. If they do try to pursue it and understand it, instead of getting closer and closer to obtaining it they will do harm to their mind and imagination. There are quite a few people who study spiritual knowledge, who study the way to God – which they call the path of the soul – yet they cannot achieve real results; but they suffer illness, the illness that comes from the confusion of their mind.

Although you quieten, or stop, the activity of the desires, heart and thinking for only two or three hours a week, it gives you unlimited benefit, because even though it is only about three hours per week, your desires, imagination and mind truly get a rest.

Indeed, we very much need to rest, but in general when we rest it relates only to our activities. For example, a person who has a job gets a vacation every year. They call it a rest or a holiday, but in reality, while on vacation they have a lot of work. They are not working at the office, but they have a great deal to do at home, thinking about this and thinking about that. Clearly, someone who has not yet received the latihan is not able to give their desires and thinking a rest yet; they cannot stop working with their mind. But in fact this is very necessary for their life, so that by giving their desires, heart and thinking a rest, their body and inner feeling can be healed and become healthy.

And usually, if you can really give your desires, heart and thinking a rest, your inner feeling will become wider and will become clean. Indeed it is so, because it is the desires, heart and mind that cause the accumulation of the faults and the dirt in your inner feeling.

That is why, in earlier times, people forced themselves to live in isolated places and reduce their pleasures, and even to give up dressing like ordinary people. They did this only because they were trying to find peace in their inner feeling and the cessation of the influence of their desires, heart and thinking. This would enable them to receive the contact that would show them the way, in order that they could know the direction of their life.

Of course, if they could discover the direction for their life they would also know what to do in their life; for instance, the nature of their work: what field they should work in for their life. For as long as a person’s activity deviates from the direction laid down in their inner self they cannot be happy in their life.

That is why many people who are very rich, who have accumulated great wealth, still suffer in their lives. They suffer more than you, because they consider any drop in their profits to be a big loss. And so it goes on. There are also many people who are very clever, who have developed their minds to an extraordinary degree, but that high level of knowledge has caused them to forget their [everyday] life. Sometimes they cannot even remember what day it is; or they give something to someone and forget that they have given it. This is simply due to the fact that they are disturbed, deceived and manipulated by their own thinking mind, or manipulated by their great wealth.

This is it, brothers and sisters: how wonderful it would be for a clever or wealthy person if, besides being clever or rich, they were also good at quietening their inner feeling. This would make them truly happy; happy in their life on earth and also in life after death.

You might ask, ‘Can one really achieve the level Bapak is talking about – that is, understanding and becoming aware of the path of one’s life – just through receiving what we receive in the latihan?’ Bapak will not answer this just like that. It would be better if you yourselves try to remember what you may have heard about the messengers [of God] and those who received the grace of God, like the prophets and like Jesus Christ. Most prophets, and Jesus and also Muhammad, never attended school; they never studied. They could not even read or write. But, because of their submission to God, because of the purity of their inner feeling, because of the peace in their heart and thought, they could receive. They received commandments, they received the gift of God within them. They received this in their inner feeling and also in their brain and heart, and so they were able to give advice; they could understand and give guidance to the many people who followed them, praised them and followed their commandments.

Clearly, the right approach for a person to be able to know things that cannot be known by the thinking mind depends simply on patience, acceptance, peace, willingness to let go and submission towards the greatness of God, while still doing the daily work that they need for their life on this earth. Of course, being Almighty, All-powerful, All-knowing and All-understanding, and having created us human beings, God does not lack anything that is needed to improve the content or individuality of a human being from being bad and faulty to becoming good and true.

Brothers and sisters, this action of God’s power within you cannot complete its work quickly, because of the condition of your inner feeling. And what is this condition? It is the faults and dirt that have been brought there by the desires, heart and thinking. These need to be cleaned and put right in such a way that the process of cleaning and repairing does not harm what you have within you. Therefore you can only obtain God’s guidance in the latihan little by little. Not all at once but gradually, so that during the time of cleaning and repairing, cleaning and repairing, your inner feeling is not damaged. And so we simply surrender to God according to His will, because God is All-knowing. For you it is only necessary to have patience, to receive and always be diligent in worshipping God. And the time has now come for us to receive something that makes it easy to do this.

Truly, Bapak can tell you that the Subud latihan is a very easy training. It is really easy. It is so easy that before we know it we understand, we are aware and we receive. But for people who are clever, who have developed their thinking, who are used to studying whatever they need to understand, so they always use their thinking and their heart, for them it is difficult. If you still use your thinking and your heart in the latihan you will always find it difficult, and there will be nothing. After two or three years you will still not be able to receive anything. But if you can really let go of that, really surrender to God, you will be able to receive in the way Bapak just described: before you know it you are aware, you receive, you understand.

There are already examples; not just Bapak’s, because he also needs proof from you, who have followed this Subud latihan. He received a letter from someone in Chile, in South America. In her letter she said that once during the latihan, while she had her eyes closed, she saw a light in front of her. It was so bright that she opened her eyes. When she opened them it was still the same. It seemed it made no difference whether she had her eyes open or closed. And it carried on.

When she saw the light in front of her she could no longer see the walls she had seen around her before she started her latihan. She seemed to be in an open space, which had no limit or whose boundary was very far away. At that moment she felt her two hands grow longer and longer and longer. She remembered what Bapak had told her: ‘Just follow what you receive and don’t let your heart hold you back. Don’t let your heart feel surprised or that some-thing strange is happening. For when your heart feels like that, whatever you are receiving will stop.’

When she remembered that, she just followed the movement of her hands growing longer. They stretched and stretched until eventually they reached the seashore. Then they crossed the ocean and finally reached Java. Having reached Java, she followed until they were in front of Bapak’s house in Jalan H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto. When they came in front of Bapak, her hands moved like this [gesture]. They stopped and were both lifted up and then came down again. Then her hands started to be pulled back, getting shorter. They became shorter and shorter, until in the end they were precisely the way they had been initially. And she felt that she was back in Chile.

Then it began again, not with her hands but with her body. Her body stretched and grew higher and higher; it continued to grow higher until she felt that her body was touching the clouds. When she touched the clouds and was very high up [she exclaimed], ‘Is this really true?’ She looked down. When she looked down, it was as if she was looking down from an aeroplane, high up. Having grown so tall she looked down and could see it clearly. ‘This is strange,’ she said to herself, ‘Strange!’ She was surprised. Then she began to descend, and returned to how she was in the beginning. After that, it was over.

She asked Bapak, ‘What was that, Bapak? Was it real and willed by God?’

Bapak answered, ‘Yes, it was. In short, you have received God’s grace and your soul has been awakened, has begun to develop and grow. No one can do that but God. Bapak can tell you this because he has experienced something similar.’

The person who sent this letter to Bapak is a widow. She is a woman of fifty-two or fifty-three years of age. Clearly, the fact that she is a woman does not make any difference when God bestows a gift. When God gives His grace, she is able to receive something that is beyond her thinking and her heart. Therefore you women need not feel discouraged and think that only men can receive. No. Both men and women will certainly receive, when God wills it.

This is the end of Bapak’s short talk; he will continue the day after tomorrow if nothing prevents it. Besides that, he would like to ask your forgiveness, and say please do not feel disappointed that he has given such a short talk. He hopes that this short talk has given you satisfaction, even if only a little. That is all. Thank you.