Ladies and gentlemen, on his arrival here, Bapak would first like to greet you all.

As you have experienced and witnessed in the spiritual training you have done – even if not deeply or very much – the content of this spiritual training that we call the latihan is really a receiving, which comes from the power of God whenever our desires, heart and mind are brought to a stop.

Why is it that you are able to receive the gift of God only when the influence of the heart and the thinking mind ceases to work? It is because the heart and the thinking are in fact the home of the desires, which can always be manipulated and used by the low forces: the forces that continually disturb and obstruct the worship of God by human beings.

So it is clear that when your heart and thinking mind are working, you are still manipulated and influenced by the low forces. This is something you worry about, because when they influence you, you cannot truly receive whatever God gives you.

Brothers and sisters, it is normal for people who use their brain and heart a lot to feel dissatisfied if they cannot analyse and make sense of something with their understanding. But do not forget that when human beings worship God they are in front of their Creator. Clearly the Creator is greater than the human being. So what God gives to you, and God’s will for you, is not something that you or any human being can understand. All you can do is receive it; just as if you were a material thing in front of a human being.

And, furthermore, if a knowledge or science can be understood by the thinking mind, by the human brain and the human heart, it means it is human knowledge; knowledge that exists in this world. But what you long for and would like to receive is the trans-formation of your soul and the content of your being, so that later, at the point of death and after you die, you can continue to live and understand your life.

That is why in religion – in Christianity, Islam or any other religion – human beings are required only to trust God; to really trust God. This means we are required to have more faith in God than in material things – than in the things we need for our life. In fact we must believe in God more than in ourselves. This is because human beings cannot know the way to God and God’s power unless God wills it. Take Jesus Christ – who else was like him? Nobody; because nobody else was willed by God to be like that. So, everything connected with becoming aware of and under-standing the Great life – the life beyond this world, the life in the kingdom of God – depends on God.

When Jesus was alive there were many priests who wanted to find out what it was that Jesus had really received, and who Jesus really was. But they did it in the way they were used to doing things, through thinking hard and refining their feelings. All of that came from their human power, from the power of the priests themselves, not from the power of God that is given to human beings. Therefore, although they tried for years and made great efforts, they still could not discover the true nature of Jesus. So, because they did not know and could not understand the truth about what Jesus had received, they did things that were not in accordance with God’s will.

So you see, the gift of God, the revelation that God bestows on human beings, and the way to God and God’s power, cannot be understood by human beings using their thinking minds and their hearts. But they can know it if God gives them His revelation and grace, something that can guide, direct and educate them, enabling them to act rightly, in accordance with God’s will.

The same applies to prophets like Prophet Muhammad. His brothers, uncles and friends did not understand what Muhammad had received. This was because God did not will that they should receive it. And they could not surrender like Muhammad, who really surrendered to God more than to himself and paid more attention to God than to himself.

That’s how it was. So it is really true that we human beings can only turn to God, can only find the path towards God and do something that reaches God, if God has guided and educated us, if God has given us something that we can use.

We are living in a time when our life is full of obstacles and disturbances. Bapak says this because whenever you go out of your house, step out of your front door, all your needs are listed in your mind: you need this, you need that. Then you go further from your house; you reach the street and see everything around you: you want this, and you want that.

Such are the distractions in your life that make it impossible for your heart and thinking to be calm and quiet. And because of all this disturbance, your feelings seem always to be occupied with strange things and you think about things that do not make sense. It is our good fortune that at such a time, in this century, we are able to receive something from God’s power. Bapak says that it is from God’s power because it comes to us when we are in a state of emptiness, when the influence of our heart and mind has been emptied out. That is how it is, brothers and sisters; the emptiness of our heart and mind is like a wide, open path for human beings to receive something from God’s power.

The proof that what you have received – the latihan – is willed by God, and is a gift from God, is that there is no method as to how to receive it; that it is not accompanied by any teaching; that the opening is not done using any mantra; and that it can be received by the whole of humanity, with all its different nations and languages.

In Subud there is no method or system, it is not a religion and has no prohibitions. This is because it is a technique; it is reality. If Bapak were to describe it, Subud is like a laboratory [for testing] teachings and religions. You can find the reality of the religions through what you receive in Subud, in the latihan.

Furthermore, each person will receive for themselves according to their individuality. Even if they belong to the same nation and religion, they will each receive the latihan in line with the measure of their individual nature. And eventually what they receive will, little by little, envelop their whole being. It will fill their whole body, both the coarse and the fine parts. So the development of their soul and their inner feeling will influence the circumstances of their life: what is not good will become better and what is out of tune will become harmonious.

As a result of that kind of development you will also find out about the path of your life, and you will not experience despair through darkness on your life journey. You will find happiness both in this world and in your life after death.

In reality this gift was given to human beings from the time they were born on this earth, but due to the worldly influences Bapak described earlier, their connection to the things of this world and to their heart and mind became closer, while their connection with their soul and the power of God became extremely remote.

God does not only love one person, nor just one nation. God loves everything that God has created, especially human beings. So every human being is given and possesses guidance within their individuality. But human beings cannot possibly know or feel this guidance if they cannot truly quieten their heart and mind.

So it is very fortunate for us that we have received this opening and contact with the greatness of God, which has long been forgotten by human beings because they are always pursuing the progress of their thinking and their heart; meaning that they are always pursuing or following their desires. Clearly then, [regaining] this is something that is difficult for you to do and takes a long time, because it has been long forgotten; only now are you starting to receive once again the lessons and the true education from God that human beings need to follow and obey. And, during your time of forgetfulness, the things of this world have piled up to block your way towards God.

It was said by people who lived a long time ago that only with a feeling of patience can you reach God. Indeed brothers and sisters, the absolute condition for you – for human beings – to receive what God gives you, is a feeling of patience, acceptance and willingness to let go. But how is it for you? Your desires have become too strong, and so have your thinking and your heart, so to experience patience or to be patient is actually very difficult.

So Bapak asks that apart from having faith in God, you should also have a feeling of patience, acceptance and a willingness to let go, and do your latihan diligently, as you have committed yourself to do. Because according to our experience – certainly Bapak’s experience – you cannot possibly find patience and quietness in your heart and feelings without doing the latihan. Therefore, through doing the latihan, gradually you will be changed. This is what happens and what we have experienced. Maybe there are those among you who have experienced this yourselves.

As you have also verified, each person receives for himself or herself. So please do not worry or feel envious towards others, because what we each receive is in the measure of our own individuality.

However, you have to be aware that the latihan needs to be done in a space that is quite large. So it would be best if on the coming days – meaning while Bapak is here, after that it is up to you – you do the latihan with enough distance between all of you. For instance, if you are doing latihan in this room it should be used by only ten people or less, so that you feel free in the latihan. That will make it easier for you to receive changes in your latihan.

Also – and Bapak is telling you this not because he wants to interfere, but for your own benefit, so that you can find what you need for your inner self – when you come to latihan it is better if you do not think about or discuss all sorts of things, but rather come to the latihan peacefully and in a state of quiet. Once you have finished, once you have done your latihan, you are welcome to talk about this and that. Bapak is saying this because you come to the latihan hall to do latihan; meaning, to worship God, so you can receive something from God. So if you come there and then talk about all sorts of things, it means you are not coming to worship God but to discuss things that you feel are important or that you think are important.

It is not only here that people do this; it is the same every-where. That is why Bapak needs to give you this advice, so that you can experience the development of your soul and receive more quickly, not the way it has been up until now. The benefit of getting used to doing it this way is that you are not then constantly using your heart and your thinking and making them work. Your feeling will therefore be awakened, so that it becomes alive and able to receive in the way you ought to receive when you do the latihan. Then you will not just be wasting your time and energy.

So you can verify to some extent how far you have been able to receive in the latihan, Bapak will now end his talk and continue with a bit – not a lot – of testing, which will certainly awaken your inner feeling and bring it to life.