Brothers and sisters, first of all Bapak and his party say good evening, and we are happy to meet you. We also thank you very much for your reception; especially we thank the committee, who have also housed Bapak in really good quarters.

This is the first evening that Bapak is here, but because Bapak only arrived last night from San Francisco, where he has been working every evening, Bapak tells you frankly that Bapak feels tired. Bapak therefore hopes that you will not be disappointed if he does not talk to you for too long.

Brothers and sisters, Bapak feels that the most important thing for him to do is to give you an explanation about nothing other than the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. Of course you already know about this, for you have also been for many years in Subud and also you have often listened to Bapak's talks. You have also read what is published in the Subud magazine and Subud News, the news from our spiritual brotherhood of Subud. But there is no harm in Bapak repeating it again, in order for you all to understand more clearly the nature of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud.

Bapak is not blaming you; in Indonesia itself, although Indonesian Subud members are close to Bapak, or closer to Bapak than you are, there is still a large number of them who do not yet understand very much about the nature of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. For indeed the latihan kejiwaan of Subud really is a latihan that is beyond our understanding; it is beyond the understanding of mankind in general. Bapak says this, brothers and sisters, because there are many people who study spiritual or esoteric matters, matters concerning divine knowledge, the science of life; that is, the knowledge that will enable them to understand and to be aware of what that life is which exists within their lives here in this world. That means that they study these things in order to be able to find the life that exists within their lives.

So far as Bapak knows, brothers and sisters, and so far as Bapak has heard, up to now spiritual or kejiwaan matters, let alone matters concerning God, are still always being made the subject of discussion. What is the reason for this? It is because people think that matters concerning God are like ordinary matters; like matters that can be studied, that can be understood by the heart and mind. Whereas the science of the jiwa, or the science of life, is more inward than everything that is innermost, which means that it is more inward than the human heart and mind.

Obviously anything that can still be studied with heart and mind can be studied with the nafsu, and does in fact belong to the same category as the nafsu thus it is clear that whatever can be studied is nafsu. That is why this latihan cannot possibly be analyzed and studied except by surrender to the One Almighty God. You can of course feel how those who have been able to receive the science of the jiwa, the science of life through which human beings can know the life after death, are those of whom the old stories speak, that is, the prophets, the messengers of God.

Those of whom the stories tell are, for instance, the prophet Abraham, the prophet Moses, the prophet Jesus or Jesus Christ, the prophet Muhammad and all the company of the prophets. That the prophets were able to know about that life and about the power of God which envelops the whole universe and all that it contains, was because of the grace and mercy of God; it was because of the blessing of God, because of the ilham ( divine wisdom ) that in Indonesia is called wahyu ( revelation ). In Dutch, and perhaps also in English, it is called gave, a gift from the One Almighty God.

What is the real nature of such a person, a person who can receive wahyu? Bapak said just now that this is not achieved by studying it with the heart and mind; the prophets and messengers of God who have received gave ( revelation ) or ilmu ( divine inspiration ) have done so because of surrender, total surrender that was totally sincere and which exceeded their faith in their own selves.

As an example, Bapak takes a story which those of you who are Christians will of course have already heard; the story of how God tested the prophet Abraham as to the extent of the prophet Abraham's faith in God. Brothers and sisters, you can of course all feel what the love of parents for their child is like. It surpasses even one's love of oneself, because a child is the heir and successor to one's life in this world.

When God tested Abraham, he heard a voice saying, "Abraham, take your son into the wilderness, into the forest, and cut your son's throat with your own hands."

"Oh God, how can I do that, when Ismail is my only child? I waited for a very long time to have a child, and it was only when I was a hundred and fifteen years old that I had one. And now God commands me to cut his throat with my own hands."

"Abraham, do you have faith in Me? I am God, who created you and all things else."

At that moment the prophet Abraham realized that this was a test, and so he answered, "God, I will carry out Thy command, because my faith in Thee is greater than my faith in my own self." That was the answer of the prophet Abraham. Then, brothers and sisters, he took Ismail into the forest, deep into the forest. And the prophet Abraham took with him his knife, his saber, his sword. And because Ismail was his only son, and he had only had this son when he was already old, and because he had been commanded to cut his son's throat before his eyes, Abraham was forced to close his eyes, and he could not look.

Thus he turned away as he cut Ismail's throat, and it felt to him as if really had cut Ismail's throat with his knife. And the blood gushed out and spattered his clothes. Having cut his son's throat, he immediately ran away back to his house. But cutting Ismail's throat had only been to test Abraham's nature, and through the power of God it was not really Ismail whose throat was cut, but a goat. Thus when the prophet Abraham took hold of Ismail's throat, it was not Ismail's but a goat's. When Abraham had cut his son's throat, he ran away home, pursued by Ismail.

"Father, father, why are you leaving me behind? Here is your knife; I am bringing it, and the goat is dead." When Abraham heard his son's voice, he was amazed. "How can my son still be alive when I have cut his throat?" When he turned and looked behind him, it really was Ismail who was running after him.

"How can you still be alive?" "Well, what you killed was not me, father, but a goat". "So that was it!"

At that moment he received an answer and heard a voice from God. In the story, what the voice said was this: "Abraham, I know and I understand your faith in God truly exceeds your love of anything whatsoever, and I bless your son, so that he can live and be happy, and eventually he will become a great prophet." With that, Abraham went home.

Bapak only tells you this story, brothers and sisters, to show that God will not despise a faith in God and a surrender to God that are truly patient, trusting and sincere. God will recompense these and God will respond. That is why the holy scriptures say that human beings will be given whatever they ask if they truly ask it with patience, trust and sincere submission.

Obviously this asking is not yet certain to be truly patient, trustful and sincere. For when people ask, when they ask for something, of course they will use that thing. For instance, you want to give something to somebody, but you have nothing to give. So you ask God, "Please God, give me some money, just one example, let us say a thousand dollars, so that I can give something to the person who is asking me." If this is really asked with trust and sincerity, then if God grants your prayer, you will give the money to the person who asked you for it. But as a rule the heart is not like that. People ask, but when they are given what they ask, they keep if for themselves. This is how it is. They will not give it to the person who is asking for it, who is truly in need of it.

That is what Bapak said just now, brothers and sisters, about the question of ilmu; that is, this question of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. What is the reason why this latihan kejiwaan of Subud is a latihan that cannot be learned or studied? It is because it really does come without learning it, without studying it. Thus it comes not because of study but because of surrender.

This is proved by the fact that you do not learn anything except to surrender to God. To put it into words, "I believe in the existence of the One Almighty God, and I will really do sincerely what I have promised to do." You say this for it to be witnessed by the helpers, and in the first place by Bapak. You are able to receive; you receive a movement which comes from within yourself. The first time that you receive it, you do not expect it, and you wonder what it is, and why you can move when it is not an intentional movement. It is the first time. That is the stirring of the life which is within the mind, the heart and the nafsu. And if you still use these, or if you seek for ilmu or if you seek for something that Bapak calls something with which you can understand your life by studying it, that means that you are still using heart and mind and nafsu. And if you are still using heart and mind and nafsu, you are of course influenced by the lower forces that are present within the selves of all of you. Whereas with this latihan it is not so.

Although Bapak has often told you this already, you need to understand that the human self is like a large house. For human beings are the first and foremost of creatures, who can be said to have dominion over all the creatures of this world.

Take the material objects that are made from what is originally iron. You alter this, alter that, change this, change that, so that eventually it can become a locomotive; a railway train; it can become a fire-arm; it can become a sword; it can become all manner of things.

Then there are the plants: You can do like this and like that with them, make a graft or a cross between, say, one kind of citrus and another, so that they are improved and become bigger and more beneficial. And then the animals: you can do like this, do like that with them. Thus it is clear that 'human beings are the dominant creatures in this world.

Thus besides being inhabited by the true human jiwa, the human self is inhabited by the jiwa of material life, the jiwa of vegetable life, of animal life and ordinary human life. Of course you would not imagine what happens when you look at something; indeed, you feel that it really is you who are looking, as if it were yourself looking. You really do feel, "It is I who am looking." But what is inside that "I"? You do not yet know; you do not know who and what is inside that "I." Why do human beings, to whom Bapak has just referred as being superior creatures, superior beings who know what is wrong and what is right, why do they find it in their hearts to kill people and to damage the lives of other human beings, to ruin and humiliate people; in short to take away other people's freedom and independence? And why do they do things that are not right, until they become like animals, for instance?

This is what is necessary, brothers and sisters; it is necessary to be watchful and for you to know that your selves are inhabited by lower forces from which you cannot free yourselves. You cannot free yourselves. If you were to free yourselves from any one of these forces, you would be unable to live.

Bapak will tell you about it. You have your ability to build houses because you are affected by and influenced by and accompanied by the material life force, the satanic life force. If you were not accompanied by the material life force, the satanic life force, you would be unable to make clothes, nor would you need them. And you would be unable to meet together as human beings, as you are doing now. This is the achievement, the strength of this material force.

Bapak will give you an example. Yes, of course it is because of the value of material things that before you have any money, for instance, that when you are walking you walk like this ( Bapak makes movements and walks about ). You trip over a pebble, you slip and fall, because you have no strength. But when you have five million in your pocket, a check for five million, then you walk like this... If a friend passes you - "Oh, did you not see me? .... Oh, I don't know if I did." – You do not want to see your friends.

Again. Before you have a weapon, a knife or a shot-gun, a revolver, a pistol, a sten-gun or a bren-gun, then if you hear a sound as you walk alone - tik, kitik, kitik.., cok, kocok, kocok - you go towards it and "Oh dear, it's a frog"... But when you are carrying a pistol on you, let alone a sten-gun, you feel brave. This is just by way of a small example, brothers and sisters.

Thus it is clear that these material objects have an extraordinary power. If you have ever seen that wayang play, what is the name of that character? The one who has the material force one hundred per cent in that story? If you have ever been in Indonesia you may know it... the king of Ngalengkadiraja; King Dasamuka. He was already married, but he still wished to posses the wife of another man, this Dasamuka. He already had a wife, who was actually a bidadari ( an angel or dewa). Dasamuka's first wife was named Dewi Untoro, and she was very beautiful. She was sweet and lovely. Why should he, when he looked at Sinta, who was not an angel, not a dewi, why should he wish to marry her, when he already had not just one wife, but forty? Yes; where the nafsu are concerned they never stop.

When you work, you adjust your daily needs to your income. But there are many people who, supposing they earn a thousand dollars a month, sometimes still find it is not enough: "Oh, when will my salary be raised to one thousand, one hundred dollars?" His employer agrees to give him this, and he gets one thousand one hundred. Again it is not enough. This goes on until he is getting the same amount as his boss, but it is still not enough. Eventually he is getting more than his boss, and it is still not enough. That is the heart.

As another example, brothers and sisters, let us take someone in trade. All the time he has been engaged in trade he has been making a profit of ten or fifteen million rupiahs a year, but on one occasion he only makes five million. Well, you can imagine how it is. Just because his profit is down, he is miserable. That is the heart. Yet he is still making a profit. It would be even worse if he were making no profit at all.

Thus it is clear that the influence of the nafsu, or of the nafsu that are always being ridden by those lower forces, the material or satanic forces, do not understand justice, goodness and virtue. Luckily for human beings, luckily for yourselves, besides being inhabited by the satanic or material force you are also inhabited by the vegetable force, the animal force, the ordinary human force and the force of the perfect human being who has been granted the grace by God to receive wahyu or revelation from God, that is, the rochaniah life force. That is fortunate for you.

Supposing you ask, "Bapak, how much per cent am I now of the rochaniah force?" Bapak will not answer you, because you have not yet finished with the material level, let alone talking about the rochaniah.

Well, you will be able to see this and to learn a little about it in the book which Bapak has produced. Actually it is already time for you to do that, which is why Bapak is just now reminding you to look it up and to read that book of Bapak's, Susila Budhi Dharma, which is quite a thick one. Bapak has written all about the influence of the lower forces and how they affect all human requirements and activities.

Just to take an example, why does a man, I am just talking about some person or other, not you, why does a man feel excessively happy when he is with a woman? Yes; you feel happy too, but not like what Bapak is talking about. What is the reason? It is because he never tires of eating goat. You know goats? They bleat, baa-aa, like that. If one eats goat's meat every day, one becomes like a goat. Yes. When you see a woman, you go "baa-aa". Yes, it is so. Well, I don't know what kind of man that is, or from what place he comes, if, when he sees a woman, he always goes "baa-aa," but that is how it is.

Thus the inhabitants who exist within your selves take part in your lives, in your work, in whatever it may be; in everything you do. You eat, and they take part in the eating. You wear clothes, and they take part in the clothes you wear. There is something else too, brothers and sisters, which you may not guess; they also take part when a husband and wife sleep together. Yes, indeed. Of course you do not imagine that when you sleep with your wife the satanic force is riding you; the material lower force. You do not imagine that when you sleep with your wife the animal force is riding you; you are being ridden by a goat, ridden by a horse. You do not imagine that.

Everything that inhabits the human self is under the power of God, which envelops you all both inwardly and outwardly. In the language of Islam, this power is called the zat tuhan, the zat Allah, the power of the One Almighty God. You will feel the power of the One Almighty God within you when you are empty, empty of the nafsu which form the method or the means for these inhabitants to follow or accompany you.

There are some other things which people compare to Subud. Many people in Indonesia are said to be able to do this or that, brothers and sisters, but they use what are called mantras. These mantras make use of words. That is the reason why I remind you that after you have joined Subud you must not still go on looking for the kind of understanding or esoteric knowledge that is expressed in words, in mantras. That is dangerous. For something to be expressed in words means that this is an understanding put together by those who understand it, and those who understand it are the nafsu. It is like something in the middle, and what is above it and below it and within it is the power of God.

It is different from what you have received in Subud. Although your movements resemble children at play, yet they are movements that come from within. They are what in the language of Islam is called, by the people who know about these things, the khatir ilham ( the vibration of divine inspiration ). This is ilham from God. It is always said that this can only be obtained by human beings, if they are lucky, after they have fasted for twenty days in the month of Ramadhan; it is the qodar, what is called the lailatul qodar from the One Almighty God.

This is what changes everything that exists within the human self, so that people who formerly used to enjoy hitting other people, who enjoyed quarrelling and so on, no longer knock other people about. But they become quiet, peaceful people, honest people, better people. Those who receive this, if they are lucky, are those who fast in the month of Ramadhan, as Bapak said just now, or who have fasted for a full twenty days. Whereas you, who have not fasted, have received it.

That is what Bapak means by saying that you are truly blessed by the One Almighty God. What is the reason why you, why the Subud members, are blessed by God? Why not other people? Bapak himself does not know. That is what God wills. Maybe it is in accordance with the times. The present era, brothers and sisters, is one which there are many people who do not believe in the existence of God, many people who do things that are forbidden by religion, whether it is the religion of Islam, the Christian religion or any other. These people do things that are not right.

And how about the heart and mind, brothers and sisters, which are like a human possession or attribute; a possession that enables you really to be people, true human beings, who understand human civilization and how to live as true human beings? How is it if you are not to make use of them? Why then has God given them to you? Why has God given them to human beings if the heart and the mind and the nafsu constitute a temptation and a hindrance in your life, in your worship and in fulfilling your worship of the One Almighty God?

Brothers and sister, this is really and truly a blessing that God has bestowed upon you; to be able to be emptied to all the influences of the lower forces, which inhabit the selves of all of you, so as to be able to receive a contact from God. You can all receive a contact from the power of God, which envelops you both inwardly and outwardly. And indeed, brothers and sisters, the power of God which envelops you is really given by God to human beings, but it is inside everything inside and beyond everything outside.

Why is that? The reason is that this brilliant gift from God, which is so valuable for the life of mankind, should not be used, not be made use of, not be illegally employed, by the lower forces. The One Almighty God is all-wise. And this is the very best means that has been created so that we, so that all of you, can worship the One Almighty God with His guidance. Thus you are able to worship God because you are guided by God.

What is the reason for that? It is because you can already receive the zat tuhan, the power of God, within your selves. Thus you are able to worship God genuinely, because you are guided by the One Almighty God. This is something that agrees very closely with what, according to the holy books, is said by the people of religion, and in particular the people of Islam, who say, "We come from God and to God we return again."

Formerly nothing existed; it was all empty; no darkness, no light. In short, there was nothing that could be named. There was only Allah. Allah means the All-powerful, the All-enveloping, the All-protecting. Only God existed; that is, Allah. He brought forth, awakened, created; that is, He worked, so that in the first place there was light. In esoteric language this light is called nur ( the divine light ), nur goib ( the light that shines in the unknown ). The nur, the light of life, began to shine and to give light to the universe, so that gradually a distinction was created between the denser and the finer, the finer and the finer still.

Scientists also know about these distinctions. The coarsest forms, the material, are what are called aardstof. That is the most material form; earth, solids. Then there is a finer stage, which is called waterstoff water or liquids. Finer still is what is called luchtstof air or gases. Finest of all is what is called vuurstofi light or radiation.

These four divisions of the light have in fact been made into dewas or gods by the Hindus, but in reality they arise out of the nur. That is the way to picture it, brothers and sisters. Thus it is God who exists and who envelops everything in His power, both inwardly and outwardly. This is what you have received. From whom have you received, so that you are able to receive it? Yes, of course, everything has its beginning.

Bapak himself does not know why God willed that Bapak should be the first to receive. Just by chance, Bapak's name happens to be the same as that of the Prophet Muhammad. The prophet's name was Muhammad; Bapak's name is Muhammad Subhi, Subuh. Bapak was born at the same time on the same day in the same month of the same year; Bapak was born at half-past four in the morning, in the month of Maulud, in the year Dal, precisely the same time as the birth of the prophet Muhammad. The same. Yes, just by chance; Bapak is not saying that perhaps he is brother to the prophet Muhammad. No, for Muhammad was born in the six hundreds, and Bapak was born in this present century.

Bapak was the beginning, as it were, and at the moment when Bapak received this he was not seeking for ilmu or spiritual wisdom. The ilmu came to seek out the man. It was very funny. Bapak was asleep. Bapak was still studying; he was already working at a job, but he was still studying. Bapak was asleep when something aroused him and woke him up. So Bapak got up and walked. Presently he found himself in an empty room, where Bapak did like this ( gestures ). Bapak grasped what it was; it was the solat, the prayers. Thus, on the first occasion, Bapak was taught to do the prayers. Of course, Bapak was already doing the prayers anyway, for of course Bapak is a Moslem. After the last attahiyat ( prayer cycle ), Bapak stood up and walked again, back to bed. Then he went back to sleep as usual.

"Well, what was all that about? Just now it seemed as if I were being moved, when I woke up and got up. It seemed to be happening of its own accord, and I just followed it." Yes; and that is why I therefore train you in the same way. The helpers who look after the members' latihan must not, if someone's latihan is just like this, tell him that he must do like this. They must not do that. Also, if a member's latihan is only just like this, they must not tell him to do like this either. Just leave the members alone.

It is like it is with trees; one should not interfere with their growth and development. Then what they are will become apparent. If the tree is an apple tree, it will grow apples. If it is a coconut palm, it will grow coconuts. Thus neither will you grow like Bapak. You cannot. Bapak is also like that; the way he grows is not your way. Thus you here, you Americans, will of course grow like Americans. Then it will not be a case of singing "semut irerig anak-anak sapi' ( Javanese song ). You cannot do that, for it is foreign to your nature.

Thus it is clear, brothers and sisters, that God will not guide or lead human beings or any of His creatures except in accordance with their nature; God will not guide a goat to talk like an Englishman. No. If a goat could talk like an Englishman, you would all run. Thus God guides the goat to bleat like a goat - "baa-aa".

Yes; that is how it is. God guides Americans to say "I," not "aku; .... I have," not "sayapunya." Not so with Bapak; he says "sayapanya." If in my own country of Indonesia I were to say, "I have, I have, I have," people would laugh at me and think I was mad.

Thus it is clear, brothers and sisters, that what you receive now is what Bapak receives. And what Bapak receives is not a teaching. There is no teaching, because the teaching which comes from God is manifested within the inner self. If it manifests in the hands, the hands do like this; if it is in the legs, the legs do like this ( Bapak demonstrates ). Thus God created human beings to walk, but not like this. That is wrong. If there are people in Java who walk like that, it is not God who is wrong. Thus it is clear that it is not God, but the devil.

God guides in such a way that, when you see, when you use your eyes, they will see well. If you look like this ( Bapak demonstrates ) it is wrong. If God is guiding your seeing, this sort of thing ( gestures ) looks wrong.

God leads you and guides you in accordance with your capacity and development. Thus if after fifteen years in the latihan you still receive like this, well, this is your fate. Why are you still just like this? God knows that this is all you can do. If you were to be hurried and speeded up, it would actually be wrong; it is like that. Thus if for instance, just for instance, you are dragged about and made to walk before you are able to crawl, then your feet get tangled up.

Bapak said just now that he would give a short talk, for although Bapak does not feel terribly tired, yet he does feel tired. So Bapak will continue this talk the day after tomorrow, and tomorrow Bapak will do some testing latihan; latihan with testing.

That is all, brothers and sisters, and Bapak asks you to not to feel disappointed because of what Bapak has said he would do. So you must give Bapak a chance to get a little rest. Thank you.