'.. The latihan kejiwaan really provides proof of what has been taught to mankind from the distant past up to the present.'

Brothers and sisters, this evening Bapak will give you a talk, as promised. As Bapak frequently talks about it and you have often heard him, you of course have some understanding of the latihan kejiwaan called Subud - Susila Budhi Dharma. But it is just as well for Bapak to speak of it again and explain to you further, to enable you to receive and understand more clearly.

The latihan kejiwaan of Susila Budhi Dharma has come to exist by the Grace and Mercy of God; in other words, by the Will of God. It is God's Will for mankind. God also willed that the first person to receive it should be Bapak Muhammad Subuh.

Bapak did not in fact obtain this latihan kejiwaan from any source of learning; not from a teacher nor from the study of any teaching. At the time, Bapak was not even taking any interest in spiritual matters; one might say he was still engaged in worldly matters.

Evidently, then, what Bapak obtained from Almighty God - what he calls the latihan kejiwaan of Subud - he obtained solely and exclusively by the Will of God, so that mankind might be able to become aware of and understand the essence of all the counsel and advice already given by the messengers of God in days gone by.

Bapak tells you this; apart from what God has willed for him, Bapak bears witness through the latihan he has received, which demonstrates that this latihan of Subud truly is counsel together with evidence; hence it can be said to be of a practical nature.

It is not just something to hear tell of, something to be taught and advised, but something which at the same time can be witnessed and proved. So the latihan kejiwaan really provides proof of what has been taught to mankind from the distant past up to the present day.

Bapak received this latihan in the same way you receive it, so he is not different from you. Only, you were able to receive the latihan by being opened and receiving the contact through a helper; it was not like that for Bapak. At the time of receiving it, Bapak did not even understand what was happening. For Bapak was suddenly raised up from the place where he was sleeping. He was, of course, somewhat astonished at the time; he was not upset, but did not understand its cause. In spite of that, he experienced no doubts or misgivings but simply followed it, and felt very happy and blissful.

Then, after receiving and following the latihan every night, Bapak suddenly became aware that each time he received it his heart and mind were changed to a state other than their usual one. All Bapak felt was just the gift of God, just his own worship of God and his faith in the One God, and so he was quite unconcerned about what might happen if he died.

Things beyond expectation and beyond feeling and thinking did indeed happen to Bapak in the course of his receiving. So, if Bapak had immediately died in that state, he could not have prevented or avoided it; he could only follow the Will of God. For he took hardly any more interest or pleasure at all in this world. Even towards his wife and children he felt, not so much strange, but as if they did not belong to him. Bapak felt himself to be alone with God, as if he stood alone in the presence of God. Not that Bapak wished to feel like this; it happened of itself.

Clearly, then, it was through the Power of God that this happened to Bapak, and he felt thus towards his wife and children through the Power of God. God willed this to be a total experience for Bapak, so that he did not think about this world at all.

Many such things happened to Bapak, but they need not be recounted for the story would be too long, not finished even in ten or twenty days or a month. So Bapak only takes the salient points, just those necessary to enable you to understand in some measure.

Consequently Bapak can give no decision or answer about the point included in your articles of association here in England stating that Bapak Muhammad Subuh is the spiritual leader and will indicate who is to succeed him when he dies. ( This point was in the original Guiding Principles drawn up at the First International Subud Congress, held in England in 1959 ).

Bapak cannot decide or pronounce on this, for it is a matter truly dependent on the Power of God, to Whom it must be surrendered. No one can be instructed how to fill this position, nor can there be any prospective candidate for it.

Not that Bapak is comparing himself to the Prophets, for he is not. But to take the instance of Christ, was there any candidate to succeed him after his death? There was no one. Similarly with the Prophet Muhammad, who was there to take his place when he died? There was no one. So, unless God wills otherwise, the most there can be is, not a deputy but as it were a continuation through the latihan kejiwaan, which via yourselves is spread widely over the whole world.

Thus, it is, so Bapak can give no answer. If you ask him who is to be his successor after he dies, Bapak cannot and may not answer, for only the One God can give an answer, if He so wills.

Plainly, then, where grace and inspiration and revelation from God to man are concerned there can be no comparison with people holding certain positions, not even when the position is that of king or president. A king can be replaced and another person become the king. So too with a president; another person can replace him and become the president. But a prophet or a messenger cannot be replaced.

As Bapak has just said, there was no one who could become a second Christ, no one who could become a second Muhammad, Peter and Abubakar only continued what the Prophets had done, in accordance with the Will of Almighty God.

Those of you who have already received a fair amount and over a fairly wide range will be able to understand what Bapak is saying and that Bapak cannot possibly choose a successor unless God wills it and grants His Grace. Bapak is not obstructing the existence of some future Bapak. Indeed Bapak prays that there may be more than one such to fulfill your desire and the desire of all mankind. Bapak prays to God that there may be at least ten such as Bapak in the world. Bapak just prays to God, but leaves all to be as God will. Bapak can neither know nor demand the answer.

Hence this point should no longer be included in your statutes or articles of association, for it is not fitting. ( Future procedure in the brotherhood was covered at the Fourth World Congress, held in Cilandak in 1971 ).

Bapak has told you how the latihan kejiwaan of Subud came to exist through God. Since it comes from God, then all it contains and everything constituting it has to be surrendered to the Power of God. To be able to receive God's guidance and direction, manifested in the form of the latihan kejiwaan, has been a great good fortune and a great blessing for us, for you.

The latihan you receive, brothers and sisters, may indeed appear outwardly to have no meaning. In fact, many people ( not only here but in Indonesia itself ) do not understand that all these things, such as the movements you receive, are guidance and direction from God. Many people fail to understand - and why? Because this latihan truly cannot be known and understood with the mind.

This is why they do not believe that the latihan kejiwaan can be called teaching from the One God. But if they truly understood what is already there, in the Qur'an for Muslims and in the Bible for Christians, they would not really find it strange. Christ moved and received even from babyhood. While still very young, Christ understood when people came to him. How could this baby speak? People asked questions and he could only make sounds and cry 'Eh eh, eh, eh'. He could not yet speak, but his responses answered clearly. If, for instance, someone came asking whether it was all right to marry the woman accompanying him, the baby would cry, as just demonstrated. That meant the answer was 'No'. The baby could not give a proper answer because he could not yet speak; he could only answer 'Eh, eh, eh'. That was his first response.

So with the other questions from people who came to him; he answered by gestures. As he grew older and able to talk and had the use of all his senses, he could speak out the truth, and what he then said could be understood by many people.

Likewise Muhammad. From childhood his nature differed from that of ordinary people. He was honest and truthful, and had no understanding other than that given him by the Will of God.

Without making comparisons, it is something like that when you yourselves experience the latihan. Many of you at present do not understand when you receive the latihan. You do not understand why your hand should move in this way or that. Then you start to make sounds. You do not understand this either - just why you should go 'Oh, oh, oh, oh' in each latihan, or, if you are a woman, 'Ee, ee, ee'. None of you as yet understands; only God understands. You can only receive.

Why can you not yet understand? Your latihan is as though it were a small baby, not yet old enough to think or use its mind, or for its five senses to work. It is still, so to speak, just the physical body, muscles and sinew, skin and flesh. So it still takes the form just of physical movements. Later on, gradually or in the long run, it will reach a higher level.

The difference between Christ or Muhammad and yourselves is only that Christ was born pure. His self was indeed pure and immaculate. The Prophet Muhammad was the same. He was pure and immaculate from birth, whereas you are not like that.

You have faults and impurities and disordered feelings. These have come down to you from your ancestors. You must not imagine they have not handed on their faults, for they have.

You can see evidence of this for yourselves. Does a coconut palm ever bear mangoes? Of course not; a coconut palm bears coconuts every time. Nor will a mango tree bear coconuts. Similarly with people: if there has been some impurity in an ancestor, it will be carried on and will even increase. If your grandfather had some fault, it will be handed on to his son, your father, and the existing fault will become greater. So a fault grows even bigger and is multiplied. The fault that comes down to you is doubled. This is taken only as far back as your grandfather, whereas these faults may have descended through many generations.

You differ from Christ and Muhammad just in this. Do not ask how it is for Bapak. He is the same. Later on you will be able to know this. So Bapak need not explain much because, no matter how clearly he explained, you would still not know whether it were true or not, because you have not yet felt and experienced it for yourselves.

This is exactly what you need to do. Subud requires you to verify and see for yourselves, because you will not be satisfied with anything you have not verified. This is most necessary.

At the time when Bapak received, he was told among other things that after another great war, the Second World War, he would have to travel round the world and make this latihan known to mankind. And mankind, though not everybody, would accept it and accept that what Bapak brought did truly come from Almighty God.

Bapak wondered at the time how this could be possible, for to travel round the world certainly costs no small sum, and at that time he had no money. At least, he had about enough to travel round Java, just round Indonesia, supposing he had to. But if it had been a matter of going round the world, that would have been impossible. He was told he would go round and round the world. Bapak only half believed it; he did not disbelieve but felt he could not quite accept it. It was still a case of 'Well yes, I only hope I may see it come true'.

That was still in the year 1932, whereas not until 1939, seven years later, did the Second World War begin. In 1932 Bapak had by no means envisaged a second world war; then it came. Bapak felt that all this fitted in, only how would it be possible for him to go round the world afterwards? Maybe later on someone would appear and provide the means for Bapak to do so.

Then, after the Second World War, such a person did appear, a man who was simply used by God as an instrument. What happened was not because of the man himself; it all came from God.

At the time when Bapak moved to Jogja, a foreigner named Hussein Rofe happened to be there. Bapak will tell you about him. He originally came from this country, England. This Rofe was a seeker, and while pursuing his search he earned his living by giving English lessons. Eventually he spoke of his search to one of his pupils, telling him that the real reason he had come to Jogja was to look for someone who had real knowledge; if it was just a matter of religion he was not interested, since he was himself fluent in Arabic and well able to read the Qur'an.

So, plainly, Rofe was already tired of that and did not want it. What he sought was evidence. His pupil told him such a man did exist, and asked whether Rofe would like to have a guru ( teacher ), because this man happened to be the pupil's guru. Rofe asked to be taken to meet him.

The pupil brought Rofe to Bapak's house and introduced him. Bapak asked what had brought him there, and Rofe said he very much wished to learn from Bapak. 'Oh', said Bapak, 'I have no knowledge; the knowledge is God's. I am merely someone who can give you this contact if you truly desire it'. Rofe said he did indeed desire it, and he seemed very eager.

Bapak opened Rofe. He opened him at once, and Rofe performed the sembahjang ( Islamic praying with prostrations ). After worshipping, he began to spin round and round while uttering sounds like 'Wo-ong, wo-ong, wo-ong'. Then he fell to the floor and sat there. Bapak stopped him.

Bapak then asked him how was it, what had he received. This, he said, was exactly what he had come from England to Indonesia to look for. He had gone off course in going to Bali, where he saw the Balinese doing various things he did not want. He came back and met all the kiaji ( holy men ) of the Muslim faith - Muhammadiyah and Ahmadiyah. They all produced reasoned proof from the Qur'an but he said there was no need to tell him those things, because he had already read them for himself. They asked him what, then, was he looking for. Rofe told them he was looking for the content; if any content did indeed exist, that was what he sought above all else.

That was how it began. Days, weeks, months went by, and Rofe was making reasonable progress; once he had received, he received quite well. But Rofe had a very strange character. He never felt at home or contented anywhere. He always wanted to keep moving, moving, moving on. After a while he wanted to move on, and Bapak told him in the first place to go to Palembang. But after a year or eighteen months in Palembang he no longer felt happy there either. He asked Bapak where he should go next, and Bapak told him to move to Hong Kong.

Rofe had his profession, of course, which was writing for the press about his experiences and the things he saw. As he happened to have received Subud, he wrote an article about it for a paper circulating in Turkey and Cyprus. He was also fluent in Turkish.

There chanced to be a group of English people in Cyprus under the spiritual leadership of Mr. Bissing and, later on, of another specialist in this field named Meredith Starr ( later Roland Starr ), who died in latihan at his home in England while this talk was being prepared for press). The latter must eventually have read Rofe's article, for Bapak received a letter from Cyprus bearing Meredith Starr's name and address. Bapak was astonished, for he had never had a letter from overseas. Well, here was a letter from overseas. Bapak opened it and had someone read it. Rofe was already in Hong Kong.

Bapak read the content of the letter: 'May I introduce myself - Meredith Starr. I devote myself to the search for spiritual knowledge, and I have read a magazine article by Hussein Rofe in which he says that Bapak, who is his teacher, can give explanations of spiritual matters. As this is something I very much need, I hope Bapak will come to Cyprus and open me and instruct me'. Well, at that time the word 'open' was not in use - he said 'teach me'. It was signed Meredith Starr, and beneath the signature was written: 'If Bapak can indeed come and visit us in Cyprus, I will at once send the money to cover his expenses'.

When Bapak read this letter, he remembered Rofe who very much wanted to get back to England. So Bapak made a copy of the letter and sent it on to him, so that he might take up Mr. Starr's invitation to go to Cyprus. Then, of course, he would be quite near and could go back to England. To Mr. Starr himself Bapak wrote that he had forwarded his letter to Bapak's pupil, Hussein Rofe, then in Hong Kong, because Rofe was actually English and wanted to return to England and could open the people in Cyprus.

Bapak then received an answer from Rofe agreeing to go to Cyprus provided the money were sent to him. This was done, of course, and Rofe got his expenses. He then went to Cyprus where he opened Meredith Start and others.

Not long afterwards, Rofe wrote to tell Bapak that, by agreement with the people he had opened in Cyprus, he was going to England. He said Mr. Starr and the others would follow him to England, and they hoped Bapak, if he had the time, would accept an invitation to come there. Bapak was invited to come to England and expenses were at once sent to him. That was the beginning.

Bapak accepted the invitation, which clearly signified that human beings would provide Bapak with money, not God. That was how it was; as there was no way for God to give Bapak money, the Power of God induced people to do so.

Then Bapak went to England, where strangely enough there were people who knew why he had come, among them those then at Coombe Springs. Mr. Bennett happened to be holding a seminar at the time Bapak went to England. Well, that was very curious: something was going on that would never have occurred to one - there was a Gurdjieff seminar.

Because of this seminar, pupils of Gurdjieff from everywhere had of course come on a visit to England, to Coombe Springs. People had come from South Africa, from Ceylon, from Europe itself - Holland, Germany, France; and from North and South America, Chile and Peru. The Gurdjieff system was going along fairly well and its followers, though not numerous, were widely distributed.

All this was quite by chance; Bapak had not reckoned on people from other countries outside England being there. He had not reckoned on it nor had such a possibility even occurred to him.

So Bapak came to England and went in the first place to where Rofe lived in a street whose name Bapak now forgets. And because the quarters were very cramped, very restricted, Bennett took Bapak to his house at Coombe Springs. Bapak opened all these people, because Starr and the others whom Rofe had opened asked for Bapak to open them again. So Bapak did as they wished.

On moving to Coombe Springs, Bapak conducted openings and did latihan with Bennett, Bissing and the others. The people attending the Gurdjieff seminar seemed to wonder how it came about that their master and guru now had a guru himself. They were rather puzzled, because they had come to visit Bennett, whom they trusted, and now Bennett had entered Subud. By implication, Bennett was in fact asking Bapak to teach him. 'Oh', they thought, 'this visitor must be someone higher still; it must be that'. So they asked Mr. Bennett's permission to join Subud too, and be opened. Bennett asked Bapak, telling him that the Gurdjieff people at the seminar were asking him if Bapak would allow them too to follow the latihan kejiwaan if they wished. Bapak said they could, as the latihan was indeed for all mankind.

As soon as Bapak gave permission, one, two, three, ten, twenty joined, and on to a hundred, two hundred. Bapak had an English visa for only three months to begin with, or maybe only for one month, or two. But because so many people at Coombe Springs were asking to be opened, until they numbered over a thousand, Bapak was obliged to extend his visa to seven months.

Thus, on his first visit, Bapak stayed in England for seven months on end; one might say he was opening people every evening while there. Every evening thirty or forty people were opened, sometimes a hundred, but at least thirty, forty, fifty. Well, Bapak had to stay for seven months, to make sure that the people from outside England really could in some degree receive and understand what the latihan kejiwaan of Subud was. After that Bapak went home again.

The people returning to their various countries after receiving the latihan probably felt it was very beneficial. Many did indeed say that this was what they had been looking for. From the people returning to their various homes, after Bapak had opened them, Subud began to spread; this was the cause of its spreading in other countries.

When Bapak experienced all this, he became convinced and was certain, whereas formerly, when he received the gift of knowing from God in 1932, he was still only half convinced. Well, yes, Bapak did believe, but was not yet truly convinced because he had not yet had the experience. But, in due course, Bapak experienced that all this was really true. What he had been told and what he received really did come to pass.

You have had similar experience in some measure, and you should testify to its truth. The latihan does not take the form of teaching or advice. As now, when Bapak is giving a talk he is not teaching you but giving you explanations and telling you Bapak's experiences during the time he has been receiving the latihan kejiwaan of Subud.

It is the same for you. If you just continue following the latihan kejiwaan, it will of course develop more as time goes on, and Bapak hopes you will really benefit from it. You need it in order to become more sure and established, to have more faith and not feel bored with following the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. This is what is important and needed, and the helpers especially should be aware of it.

This is the point, brothers and sisters. And that the helpers should understand is most necessary, in order that they may be more active than the ordinary members and able to give them clear explanations, so that members will receive proof for themselves and will no longer tire of following the latihan kejiwaan, which all helpers will have explained.

Brothers and sisters, truly we are convinced ( by our receiving ) that this latihan kejiwaan of Subud comes from the Grace of God, comes from the One God. Conviction is summed up in such receiving, for every time you receive the latihan kejiwaan, or every time your inner-feeling is in contact with the Greatness of God, the influence of the nafsu, which dwell in heart and mind, is brought to a stop.

But the influence of the nafsu dwelling in heart and mind is something that cannot possibly be dealt with by a human being. Why is it not possible? Because for a man to be left without nafsu in heart and mind would mean he was dead, had no vital energy.

And why is the influence of the nafsu, which are present in your selves, or in the human self, so strong? Because those nafsu are the essential content of the life forces which participate in human life.

There is the life force of matter, the material life force, the essence of the life force of matter; that, when makarti - when it is working in the human self - manifests as the nafsu called amarah.

Second, the vegetable life force. When the vegetable life force, which is a participant in man's life, works in the human self, it manifests as the nafsu called aluamah.

The essence of the animal life force, when the animal life force works in the human self, manifests as the nafsu called supiah.

Now the fourth life force, the jasmani life force, the life force of man, of the human being. When that works in the human self, it manifests as the nafsu called mutmainah.

How could a man live without these nafsu? Could he exist in this world? It is not possible. This is why the nafsu cannot be separated from the self; it cannot be done.

So long as a man is still affected by the nafsu, he will not be able to receive anything from Almighty God. Well, what is this! While still possessed of nafsu, he cannot possibly receive, and when no longer influenced by them he is able to receive something from God. This is a thing man cannot learn or come to by thought.

First, the life force of the material, of matter: how does the life force of matter affect man? If he were not influenced by the life force of matter, man would know nothing of clothing or housing, nor could he sustain a human way of life in this world, for he would be unable to produce any such aids to living as cars, trains, airplanes, and so on. Because he traveled by plane, Bapak could get to England quickly, even coming from Indonesia. So Bapak is obliged to make use of the material life force, which means it affects him. Yet people do not want this; they want to remove the influence of the nafsu from within themselves. This is not possible; they would die if they did that. Why is that so? What concentration of material life force lies closest to them? The physical body. So while still possessing a physical body a man cannot be unaffected by the material life force, for the body itself is matter.

What would it be like if the body were left without clothing? It could have no house, not even a cave, for that is also a material object, if you think about it, so housing would not be possible. Furthermore, your mind would not function; your mind would not work and act unless influenced by the material life force.

The mind develops through the material life force. That is why the human intelligence and mind and heart make material things and are able to shape the materials of the earth into a building such as this one. This derives from the earth - earth transformed into this or that, into bricks and tiles and mortar, into a variety of things having material form. These are derived from earth, and earth is material, a material thing.

What is the reason for this? It is because man himself can be said to be a material object, for he is composed of four elements - earth ( the essence of earth ), water ( the essence of water ), air ( the essence of air ) and fire ( the essence of fire or light ). Even though men retreat to isolated places such as a mountain peak or the shores of the sea, even though they refrain from marrying, they cannot eliminate the influence of the material life force from within themselves; they cannot.

This applies even more to the vegetable life force, without which man could not live in this world. For, in the long run, flesh and blood, bones and marrow, muscle and sinews, and all the rest are sustained by plants. But for plants, you would have no vegetables or grain or other things to eat. You would certainly not have your present form. Maybe your form would only be that of a shadow.

Similarly with the animal, similarly with the human life forces. Were you not influenced by the djasmani life force, you would be the only person in the world; there would be no one else. If so, you would be complete in yourself. Of course, God's Will is that man should live in this world together with the lower life forces, those below his own level - the material, vegetable, animal and ordinary human life forces.

But how is a man to receive anything from God so long as these nafsu are still present in him all the time? That must be left to God, who alone can order all those things that we cannot order.

This is why Bapak has to say, time and again, surrender to the One God. That is the way, and there is no other. There is proof of this. You can do a certain thing; why? Have you learnt how to do it? No; suddenly it's there, suddenly it happens.

Bapak too has had this experience. Bapak is able to know things that in the ordinary way he does not know. So far this is like a story, not as yet true for all of you because you have not experienced it, so Bapak has to tell you about it. But don't believe it until you have experienced it for yourselves.

For Bapak this extends so far that he can picture heaven as if it were in his head. Bapak thinks about the next world just as if he were thinking of this one; it is the same, and so at no distance. And who brings it near? None other than the One God. This is what is called wahju ( revelation or vision ); this is what is called anugerah ( grace ). Only through surrender can it be obtained. This accords clearly with what is related in both the Bible and the Qur'an.

So everything agrees, of course, because the gift of God is not for the present time alone. God's gift began with Adam and was always present in the time of the prophets. God always gives to man. Man was created by God, and is watched over by Him.

It is told that a long time ago, when there was nothing, God existed. Not that God was 'God' by that name; no, nor expressed in words. What the word God means is He who holds sway throughout the universe He has created. Only God existed. Because God existed, of course His Will existed. As when you create anything, whatever your intention is, that is your will. Whatever exists certainly has its will, certainly has its intention. And where is this intention located? It certainly belongs to something - something All-Enveloping, All-Powerful. Thus God is the reason why the world exists. God is the reason why you exist. God is the reason why mankind exists. Hence God not only exists, but exists and works.

The meaning of this work is solat; solat means worship. So don't think God does not work. If God did not work, this world would vanish. So you live in order to work. Don't live without working; life is for working. Working, moving or activity, is a mark of life. Being active is working - a sign of being alive.

Since God exists, He has Will. This Will of God is light. Light means power - not light such as the light of a lamp; no. The Power of God was the beginning; thus once God existed, His purpose - i.e. His work-existed. He created the universe and all it contains. If God creates some vessel, it must of course have its content. There is no vessel without a content, no content that does not require a container. For instance, this world certainly has its content - mankind and all the rest. So this point was proved when God created the universe.

Nowadays, with the development of the mind, man can make what are known as space ships, enabling him to reach and set foot on the moon.

Clearly, these other worlds are other vessels; some maybe are greater than this one, and some are smaller. And where there is a vessel, there will certainly be its content; there will be creatures to parallel those here. But some creatures here may be inferior to creatures out there, and others out there may be inferior to those of this world. Out there are also beings on the human level, so we may draw the conclusion that not only does mankind here on earth believe in God; so too do the inhabitants of those other distant worlds created by the One God. Those beings believe in God. If they believe in God, what is their name for God? Will His name be God? No, that is the English name; the Indonesians say Allah, or rather Gusti, for Allah is the Islamic name. For the Indonesians, the Javanese, His name is Gusti.

Now, if this is so, are the names man has invented for that which they call God really His names? We do not yet know. On earth they are His names, but there will be no true name unless God reveals it to man. For God alone can tell the true name of God.

This is how it is when seen from the viewpoint of receiving the latihan kejiwaan, which enables us to penetrate to matters that it is not possible to think about.

So this is what Bapak has always said in his talks: whence did Christ and Muhammad get their knowledge? There were no schools in those days, yet Christ had a knowledge of life far surpassing that of any ordinary man.

Similarly with Muhammad. Who was there at any time to teach Muhammad? Only God, whose Power is immersed deep within the human inner-self and manifests there.

And by what method does God manifest His Power within the human self, so that a man can know and understand and feel with the whole of himself? This happens when the man is able to receive.

That is why Bapak always says to you, receive now the Power of God manifesting within you. And you may at first receive by sounds such as: "Ee, ee, ee, ee" or "Oo, oo, oo, oo".

Don't think about God or ask what is God like. What is that bell like; what is God like? - Don't ask in that manner. God will give you understanding and awareness in accordance with the basis, the vessel and the strength that are in you. When you have indeed become strong and pure, the Power of God will manifest in your brain, so that you can think about things far beyond the scope of your ordinary thought. You will thus be able to know the processes of your own thinking.

You are thereby able to know, 'Ah, this is what is wrong in me; this is what is right'. So, when you are able to receive, you are also able to know and to measure your faults and your good qualities. For Bapak to explain it clearly, so that you can understand, is impossible if you cannot yet receive and witness it for yourselves.

Just now Bapak said that your faults and the things not right in the course or condition of your present inner feeling begin with what you inherited and go on to include your own actions as well, the things you yourselves have done - a cumulative process. Through this accumulation, and also because the faults in your inner feeling are of long standing, one can say it is not possible to separate them from what may be right, just as with sugar and its sweetness; if you take the sweetness, you have to take the sugar as well.

So if you really have set things right, you have to die; having reached your highest point, you die.

This is why the many people who become ascetics by their own will and use force in order to separate themselves from the nafsu can never achieve this until they die. What happens to them if they are able to go on in this manner until they die? They become devils; they die as devils or beings on the material level; they become tempters or deceivers. They possess people and make them do this and that. They are what we call spooks, ghosts.

So please don't become ghosts when you die - no. Become perfect human beings, such as Christ and Muhammad; even though not on their level, you should at least be on the same lines, going the same way.

The numerous faults entangled in your inner feeling can be likened to sugar and its sweetness. So you need to do the latihan and practice patience and receive with trustful acceptance and sincere submission.

You are not alone in seeking your own comfort and well being, nor are you the only ones in a hurry to achieve them. Everybody wishes to reach a state of well being quickly. But they do not realize that their selves are not yet strong and cannot yet receive it. They are not yet vessels able to accommodate the gift of God.

This is where you must be patient, and trust. Is it better to force yourself till you die? It would then be worse when you were dead. If your death were the death of something faulty, this could never be made good, however long it lasted. So anyone suffering from some illness would not lose it when he died. He would suffer forever.

What we need to do, therefore, is to be repentant to Almighty God. This is why Jesus himself said 'No one can purify your life and make it easier and bring you to the way to heaven but Almighty God'.

For this reason, do correct your actions, your behavior and your habits, and set them right. This then is why when the Grace of God enables you to curb your conduct - enables you to bring your life up to the necessary level - the faults which have seeped into your blood and marrow and inner feeling will be restricted, will cease, will disappear. Then you will be able to bring into existence new beings who have a pure jiwa, a high and noble jiwa, in accordance with the Will of the One God; children who will truly be able to make the world peaceful, safe and prosperous.

Brothers and sisters, truly we are most blessed, most fortunate that by the Grace of God we are able to receive His guidance and direction.

As for those others, in spite of all their efforts, they are in fact still unable to obtain anything like that which we receive and practice. Hold firmly to the latihan kejiwaan, so that the Power of God may always fill your actions and behavior; the Power which can in truth cleanse all the faults and impurities that have soaked deeply into your flesh and blood.

Thus, besides being beneficial and useful, the latihan really does perfect your life, both in this world and the next, which means that it has no limits. This too was spoken of by Christ, when he said that death is not a limitation of human life but a continuation of life for mankind.

This is why you are really to be pitied if you still lack concord and harmony, meaning that you do not yet truly give and take and respect one another. For disharmony among you obstructs your purification. Such a state of affairs means that you feel no gratitude to the One God nor to your jiwa which is being purified and developed by the Power of God.

Bapak therefore hopes you will cease to be split, and to lack harmony, and to fail to fit in with one another, for this condition can be described as fighting over bare bones - quite useless; and it just augments the impurities in your inner feeling. Then everything you have done, all the efforts you have made over the years to attend the latihan regularly, can be called useless.

This is just why you should not waste the time that is of use for your life. Don't throw away time that would truly benefit your life. The nafsu are an integral part of your life, as Bapak has just said. You cannot get away from them. The nature of the nafsu and the nature of their purification are therefore as if connected, similar in form but different in character. So don't suppose that someone already purified is in no danger; he is. A purified person is always being approached by the impure. That is really the way it is. That is why heaven and hell are said to be close to each other. That is why we have to be very careful and why we must always surrender to the Greatness of God. And then you who have received God's guidance and direction will be guided and directed in everything. Your path will always be watched over by the One who is able to cherish and guide you, set you in order, and show you the way.

Bapak's latihan experiences

This is apparent in what you have now received and are doing, as Bapak witnessed last night when you did the latihan; it was indeed like that. It does not differ from the way Bapak received before you. For him there was even more than for you. Bapak rolled over and over in the latihan; he rolled down the mountain and ran up again; rolled down again and ran up again. Bapak was required to plunge into the ravine and into the river. Yes, Bapak did it - you must not be afraid, not of anything. Yes, there was even one occasion - but you need not believe what Bapak says or take it for fact; better just listen to Bapak - there was an occasion when the river was in flood and Bapak was required to cross it, to cross over to the other side. How was he to do this when it was all water? He was sure to be drowned. But in the belief that God is Almighty, Bapak crossed the river. At that moment he remembered that this was how Christ was able to walk upon the water - through the Grace of Almighty God.

That is an account of something Bapak experienced, but you must not now say, 'If that's so, I want to see him do it. Pak, please try to walk across the Thames'. Bapak must not try to do that; he could not now. Then he was commanded to do it. Yes, it is another matter when God wills it.

There was more than this, for the way Bapak was made to do the latihan was no laughing matter. There was more than there is for you, brothers and sisters, far more. In the latihan Bapak danced every kind of dance, made every kind of movement, even to moving like a tiger, a buffalo, a cat, a snake, a mosquito. All these things Bapak did, and the things that happened to his body are indescribable, yet Bapak felt quite at ease and not in an indescribable state.

So you should not feel it strange that you do all kinds of things in the latihan. This is how it goes; the further it goes, the more you receive. But it is not always as now, for it changes. Thus, supposing God wills that His Power should cause you to move like water, you will not, of course, begin to bark like a dog; you will resemble water. If God causes you to move like the air, like air you will move. Sometimes you may be made to move like the propeller of an airplane; that too can happen. It may worry an observer but is nothing to the person doing it.

So the important thing for you is just to be patient and no longer succumb so easily to the disease of being quick to anger and quick to worry, nor to the disease of being jealous of other members. If someone else is receiving more rapidly than yourself; just let it be. Don't say he is faking when he does that, no. False or not false, you do not know. If you say he is being false, that is just talk so long as you yourself do not know. Supposing you know and are asked, 'If you know that I am behaving falsely, what is the proof?' 'It is just supposition.' Ah, just supposition, not fact; that is all it is.

That is just a joking example, brothers and sisters, but it demonstrates that the latihan kejiwaan fills the whole of the self, moving not only the visible hands and feet but the whole of you. So in doing the latihan you will feel and receive in such a way that eventually you will be able to understand and be aware of the extent of the kejiwaan in Subud.

This is why Bapak hopes you will remain harmonious; quarrelling is of no use. Nor will quarrels and disagreements among you add to your progress in receiving the latihan kejiwaan; they are just what blocks and hinders the development of your jiwa and the progress and purification of your inner feeling as it is cleansed by the Power of God manifesting within your self.

That is all, brothers and sisters. It is precisely twelve o'clock, and Bapak brings this meeting to an end. He will say no more except to wish you good night. And he hopes you will sleep well and not have too many dreams.