Brothers and sisters,

Bapak wanted to have a meeting especially with the helpers and the committee in order to explain the duties of the helpers and the committee to you all. The reason for this is that Bapak has seen in many places that there is still a confusion between the duties of the helpers and the committee. A lot of the duties of the helpers are actually carried out by the committee, and a lot of the duties of the committee are done by the helpers, so that in general there is no clear definition, or no clear distinction, between the duties of the committee and the helpers. The result of which is all kinds of unpleasantness and disagreement and so on, which then leads to quarrels and general lack of harmony between the helpers and the committee, and among the helpers themselves.

Now, first of all, about the question of the increase in the membership, or new members, getting new members - it is true that Subud very much needs new members and to increase its membership, and for that it is necessary for us to explain to people about the worship of God - explain to people who are not yet aware of the worship of God according to the hakekat, or about the duty of human life other than the way people normally understand it, about the real obligations of a human being. It is certainly true that it is our duty to explain to people who do not yet understand. Nevertheless, we must always hold fast to one principle: and that is that as we are people who follow the will of God in everything, and Subud exists by the will of God, it is absolutely essential that we make quite sure that we only open people who really have a firm wish and a clear intention to join Subud - and never to open people who join as a result of being enticed into Subud, or that we should entice people into Subud, because the result of this will be that it is very unlikely that people who are enticed into Subud will be faithful and really do the latihan and devote themselves seriously to what is in Subud. On the contrary, it is more likely that they will have an attitude that they couldn't care less, and will probably neglect their latihan after a time.

In fact, the worship of God Almighty is a duty for man because the fact of man's existence is proof of the existence of the One who created man, so the existence of man also confirms the existence of God who made man. And between the one who is created and the One who created him, there must be a connection, or a link. In the same way as, for example, a car which is called a Ford, was made by Ford, so that actually there is always a connection between Mr. Ford and the car which he has made, so that if that car likes, if once it maybe quietens itself and tries to feel 'Where have I come from?' then he will certainly be aware, at that moment, 'Oh yes, the one who made me is Mr. Ford.' This is, of course, only an example and you cannot compare the greatness of God with the greatness of a man - you cannot really compare the relationship between God and man to the relationship between someone who makes a car, and the car. It is just an example to help you understand what Bapak is saying.

If a man wishes to feel his connection with God, actually there is no special effort required. It is not needed for man specially to ask God to receive him, or something like that, because all that is required is that he simply quieten himself and surrenders himself to God Almighty - and then automatically, or inevitably, man will become aware of his link with his Creator. Even the words 'surrendering to God' - those are only words and we use them in order to make sure that our minds are not thinking about something else; we talk about surrendering to God in order to keep our minds from straying to other things. But, actually, without using those words we can still receive the contact from God Almighty. To be quite clear, without any words at all a human being can receive the contact and can feel the contact with his Creator.

Brothers and Sisters, if we speak badly about something or criticize something - it needn't be a human being, it could be anything, an object, a material thing - it means that we have already committed a sin. Because that thing - whatever it is we speak about - was created by God Almighty. By a sin Bapak means something that leaves a trace within our being. And that is not all. In living our life we have to make things, we have to wear clothes, we have to eat, we have to eat animals, we have to slaughter animals, we have to kill trees - if we want to make a table out of wood we have to kill a tree which is a living thing created by God, decreed by God. Actually, all these things and actions are sinful, so that it can be seen that no matter what man does in this world, he cannot avoid committing sins. So that the belief that some people have that providing you follow exactly what is laid down in religion - in other words, you follow exactly the description of how to worship God and what to do - then you will be free from sin - this is not true. In fact, man cannot live in this world without being affected by sin all the time. But the point is that these sins, or these traces that build up inside man - these are the things that prevent him from being able to feel and be aware of his worship of God Almighty.

Now the possibility for man to correct this situation, or to feel his relationship to God Almighty, can only come about - or he can only get over this situation of all the sin that he has to be part of when he is living in this life - if he can receive something at the moment when he is not influenced by the lower forces. And, actually, the moment when a human being is not influenced by the lower forces is the moment when he unites with the opposite sex. In other words, at the moment of union between man and woman. Because at that moment when we experience the union between man and woman, at that moment we are not aware of our needs in this world, of our worries, of our problems and so on. We only feel at that moment the bliss of our being. And this is something Bapak tells you - actually, it is a secret of life, but Bapak feels it necessary to explain this to you - so you have a rather wider understanding of life than heretofore. It is at that moment that we have the opportunity to remember our Creator, or to feel our bond with the Creator. But usually it is not like that. Usually, at that moment, the man is only aware of the woman, and the woman is only aware of the man. But, in fact, that moment is provided in order that they can both be aware of God. So for the man, the existence of the woman at that moment is only the equipment, or what he needs, for that. But actually the purpose of it is to be aware of his connection with God Almighty, and vice versa for the woman.

And this is true, not only of man, but of every form of life. That is why, you know, for every form of life there is male and female. Even little insects which fly around, like mosquitoes or fleas or whatever, you always know that there is male and female; and you know that very well because if you see two little mosquitoes you immediately know if they are a man and a woman because when they meet they fly around like this.

So, actually, man and woman, or male and female, exist throughout creation. The only One who is not male or female is God Almighty -because God has no sex, God has no age, God has no color, God has no attributes at all. His span, people say, God's life is the life of the universe. But when all the universe has disappeared, God will still exist. So from God down, everything other than God, everything that has been created has male and female. If there was not male and female in everything, this world could not exist. So that, actually, the moment of union of male and female is the opportunity for all creatures to feel their connection with their Creator because at that moment they are free from the influence o~ any other extraneous forces. This is something that is very much in line with what we receive in the Latihan Kejiwaan. Therefore, the Latihan Kejiwaan is actually a source of knowledge and understanding whereby all the secrets of life can be opened up and can become clear and understandable to us. This fact, that Bapak has just told you, is something that is particularly understood or emphasized in the religion of Islam. That is, that man really must not put aside the experiencing of the union of men and woman. But the trouble is in Islam sometimes it is taken too far, and people only imitate it outwardly - that is, they do not really understand what is the purpose or what is the real meaning of the teaching of Islam. So it is important for us to understand that this is a secret for us, that we can know, that it is through this that we can experience - that what is meant by worship of God, by the words 'worship of God' for man is, in fact, the union of man and woman.

Therefore, we cannot criticize or we cannot blame a man if he needs a woman, or a woman if she needs a man. Only what is very important is that at the moment of union, we must approach it without leaving aside or letting go of our feeling, the feeling of our own being, which is submitted to God Almighty and which remembers and worships God Almighty. Then this union of man and woman will become for us - will bring us closer to God Almighty. We will experience - very often as though unintentionally, maybe we say something, or we express in some way the greatness of God Almighty, because at that moment the male and the female become one, so there becomes one human being - one human being who worships God Almighty. It is for this reason that, at that moment, the man can become aware of the thinking and the feeling of the woman, and similarly the woman can become aware of the wishes and the needs of the man. So it will be that at that moment we can receive a real understanding and knowledge from the power of God Almighty, exactly as we can when we are doing our Latihan Kejiwaan. This is why, in the latihan - if we do our latihan and we can become truly quiet so that we remember nothing except the power of God Almighty, and are not influenced or disturbed by anything else - we receive a feeling which is a bliss that has no comparison, and is in no way less than that which we experience at the moment of union with our husbands or our wives.

It is true that what Bapak is talking about is what is usually referred to nowadays as sex, but this fact - that is, the union of man and woman - is actually the basis or the most important thing in the life of man, because it is the cause or the motive for a man to work hard. In other words, the thing that makes a man willing to work hard in life, and to wish to achieve something in life, is his wife. And through his wife he will receive children. So it is clear that the fundamental or the foundation of man's life in this world is the union between man and woman. A man will not strive to achieve in life unless because of the needs of his wife and his family. That is the reason why, in religion, it is very strongly forbidden for a man to have sexual relations with women of bad character, or something like that; and also it is very much forbidden for a man to have relations with a woman other than the woman who is his wife, because if he does that he will not be able to obtain the reality of the union of man and woman, such as Bapak has described. That is why Bapak advises us Subud members now who have received the Latihan Kejiwaan - from now on, whenever we experience, whenever we have a union with our husbands or wives, that we should, at that moment not bring into it any form of thinking or any problems or anything at all that we have, but rather to put aside completely everything other than just to be aware of the power of God and to be aware of ourselves exactly as when we are doing the Latihan Kejiwaan. If we can do that we will, sooner or later, be able to receive the proof of the reality of the union of the jiwa. That is, as a result of the union, at the moment of the union and afterwards, we will experience a satisfaction which we cannot compare with anything else in this world. From that feeling which we get at the moment of the union of the jiwa, there will arise a true feeling of love between husband and wife, so that they will feel completely united and this will make their life together completely harmonious.

So this is, in fact, the way for us - because who are the people who know heaven? The people who know heaven are the people who ,have been there before. Similarly, a person who knows London or can describe London, is someone who has often visited London. Or an Englishman who knows Paris is someone who has been in Paris often. So someone who knows and understands about the life after death, is someone who has been there before. And the way to follow if we want to know heaven and to be aware of heaven in this world is to practice the union of husband and wife in the way that Bapak has described, because it is through the jiwa that we can get into contact with other jiwas and other levels and other things in this world. That is the meaning of the seven circles that is the symbol of Subud - that is, ,the various levels of the life forces, that is the seven circles. You see that between them ,there are also seven lines connecting these seven circles, and these are ,the lines through which the jiwa can get in contact with and experience everything that exists in this world, and it is through this, it is therefore through the jiwa that .man can receive understanding at that moment, as Bapak said, of the union of husband and wife. Bemuse this world is a place of trial for man. This world is a place full of suffering, full of danger, full of trials and accidents and difficulties. But .at the center of this life, which is a 'life of suffering and a life of trial for man, there is also a great peace and a great bliss -if we are able to surrender everything at that moment, if we are able to surrender everything to God Almighty and put aside everything else other than our worship of God Almighty. Then in the middle of all this difficulty and all this suffering that exists in this world, we can experience .the life in the next world, that is, heaven.

So it is true to say that the union of man and woman is the most important thing in the life of man, because it is at that moment that man and women can become aware of their relationship and .their worship towards God Almighty; and because this is the foundation of man's life in this world, a great deal of attention is paid in religion to the relationship between man and woman. For example, in Islam, when a man and a woman want to marry they have to go through the wedding ceremony, in which it is essential for both the man and woman to say the creed ~- that is, to say 'I am convinced that there is nothing that deserves to be worshipped except God Almighty.' And they add 'And I believe that the Prophet ',Muhammad was the messenger of God.' And if they do not say this, then the wedding is not legal or not official - and the purpose and reason for this is because in Islam they attach a great importance to the fact that man and woman should always, in their relationship, be aware of and remember the power of God Almighty.

Why then is Bapak thinking about this now? Why is Bapak referring to this fact in talking to you today? Because in the latihan we receive the worship of God as one, in a state of unity - that is, we do not feel male or female, we do not feel man or woman at that moment. And that is why if the latihan were done together between men and women - in other words, if in the latihan men and women were doing latihan together - then if they really followed the latihan they would end up having union between male and female, between man and woman. In other words, having sexual relations. And this is something you are not allowed to check for yourselves if it's true or not. But Bapak does not mind if a husband and wife wish to check it for themselves. Then they will understand how it really is.

And what is very important - because of this fact that we, in the latihan, feel our unity with God, it can happen that in Subud between helpers and between members, but usually more between helpers, there arises a feeling of closeness because of our common worship to God Almighty, there arises a feeling of closeness and close brotherhood between, for example, men helpers and women helpers. Although Bapak has often explained this and has clearly given instructions and has forbidden this sort of thing, yet it still frequently happens that, for example, in his latihan, a man will receive a feeling that so-and-so, his girl friend or his woman acquaintance, another Subud member, is his real wife or is his real partner. And maybe she also receives the same thing in the latihan - but the ,trouble is that she may be already married to someone else. This is something ,that is very dangerous, and that is why Bapak has ,to speak about it very clearly, because Bapak reminds you again that the thing that penetrates everywhere and can. become one with everything is the jiwa - but the physical body is something that is local, is just here, and cannot go everywhere and be everywhere and be in contact with everything. So what is possible for the jiwa is not possible for the physical body. So what is experienced by the jiwa, it is not necessary for the body always to follow that.

That is why in religion there are rules made and very clear rules laid down about the relationship between men and women, so that if a man wants to marry a woman then he has to go through a certain ceremony, and only if he has gone through that ceremony are they allowed to live together and so on.

This is why Bapak wants to warn the helpers that you should be aware of this problem and you should be able to give advice to members so that there is not confusion and difficulties and problems arising as a result of a lack of understanding of this. Because if there were not these rules and these regulations that, for example, exist in religion, our life would be completely chaotic, and it is only through ,this that human life can achieve a true morality and a correct organization.

Brothers and Sisters, this is one of the reasons ,why Bapak has separated the kejiwaan and the organization. The two are in fact one, but Bapak has separated them for this reason: because the kejiwaan deals with the inner, and the organization deals with this world. So one can say it is the inner and the body, or the jiwa and the 'body. This is why Bapak has separated the kejiwaan ( that is, the helpers ) and the organization ( that is, the committee ). Actually, the two are one, but because each has its own way of working in its own way of organization, it is necessary to separate them. It is most important that the committee and the helpers should each understand their duties, which are different one from the other. The helpers' province is only the kejiwaan - that is, what relates .to the inner or the feeling, and they should not meddle in the arrangements or the work of the committee: they should stick only to their own responsibility and their own work. Whereas the committee have the duty of taking care of the worldly side, of worldly matters, of money and so on, and they also should not mix in the duties of the helpers. Because the helpers' work relates to the feelings, to the inner, so therefore the helpers must truly be people who are able to set an example - that is, they must really be people who are looked up to and who are liked by the membership. Both in Subud and in their outer lives, in their normal everyday life, they must no longer behave like normal people like to behave; in other words, still to tell lies and to do all sorts of things that are ,wrong, because in that case they are in no way setting an example, as they should be, of how a Subud member should live. The helpers are, in fact, the pioneers of Subud. Without the helpers there will be no members, because it is the helpers who open the members. So it is truly the helpers who hold the position of guidance or leadership in the spiritual Brotherhood of Subud; it is they who have to be able to give explanations and to make the members aware of what the latihan really is and what Subud really is.

For this it is necessary, as Bapak has said very frequently before, that the members must have a feeling of love and admiration and respect for the helpers, so that they like to hear and to follow the indication and the explanations of the helpers. The helpers should not any more have a feeling that they cut themselves off from the members, or that they keep their distance from the members, because actually they, as pioneers, have ,to help the members, advise the members, serve the members. So it should not be the other way around, that it is the members who look after the helpers and take care of them and serve them.

As for finding new members, or trying to increase the membership of Subud, actually it is not necessary for you to work hard and try to attract members to Subud and to find new members, because if you really do your job as a helper, if you are a real helper and really act and behave as helpers should, then the number of members in the group will increase automatically ,by itself without your doing anything about it. The job of the helpers, therefore, is that they are actually responsible for building up the membership - that is, for looking after the composition of the group; that is, guiding the whole membership and looking after the needs of the membership.

Now Bapak would like to say something about the helpers' organization; that is, the existence of national helpers, regional helpers and group helpers. It is very important that you should understand that these different kinds of helpers - this is only a separation of functions, or a division of labor, and that these helpers have the same level and the same responsibility and the same right as each other; in other words, all the helpers are the same, have the same responsibilities and the same right. It is, therefore, not at all the case that the national helpers are in some way higher or more powerful or more advanced than the local helpers, and vice versa - because Bapak has seen in many places, where helpers did not understand this, that it happened that when a national helper reached the end of his term in office and then was replaced and returned as a normal group helper, he or she felt like a demi-god who had been banished from heaven and been forced to live in the world like an ordinary human being. Similarly, the one who is then promoted to be in the national helper's place feels like a human being who is suddenly elevated to heaven and becomes a dewa, or something like that.

It is clear that this is the case when helpers do not yet understand what Bapak has just explained - that is, Bapak's purpose and wish in appointing helpers on the regional and national level is simply to take care of the work of the helpers in the most efficient way, and to have a distribution of work and of functions that makes the work of the helpers easier. There is no implied difference in level, or difference in ability, or difference in power, of the helpers on these different levels. If this is not understood, then it leads first of all to a feeling of superiority and inferiority, and then from that it leads to jealousy, and from that it leads to quarrelling. If the helpers quarrel, what will the members do? They will quarrel twice as much, or ten times as much - anyway, even more than the helpers. Bapak also mentioned ( which I left out ) that the helpers should be people who are loved by the members and admired by the members - but by members of the same gender if possible. Bapak is not saying that the men helpers have to 'be very much loved by all the women members, and vice versa ( laughter ).

Now comes the turn of the committee. Bapak already knows that it is a normal thing for organizations to have a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, and book-keepers and people who look after contributions, and so on. This is nothing new in Subud and, ,therefore, Bapak feels that you understand it well enough and Bapak doesn't have to explain very much about it. But there is something that Bapak wants to say to you, which Bapak would like you to put into action as quickly as possible. And that is that Bapak would like you now to set up a group of experts who possess knowledge, or know-how, or experience, in various fields of work. Now you do it according to what is available. Bapak doesn't know what sort of experts you have, but if you have experts in various fields - for example, in business, or in finance, or in law or industry or so on - that you should now make a group of these people who have some know-how, who will then have the function of assisting those Subud members who would like to start a Subud enterprise. They can then help with advice and supervision and assistance all those members who are ready and would like to start work in some field and set up a Subud enterprise. The purpose of this is that enterprises can quickly start here and become successful, so that all the needs of the enterprise are fulfilled - that the enterprise will go well and will succeed, so that here in Barcelona there will soon arise Subud enterprises. Because it is through Subud enterprises that Subud can begin to do things which it needs, without depending on contributions and things like that. As Bapak explained to you three nights ago, it is through enterprises that we will finally be able to start all the things that we would like to do - like charitable enterprises such as hospitals, old people's homes, schools for destitute children, and so on and so forth. This is something very important for Subud to do - and what is important is that in these charitable enterprises, charitable undertakings like hospitals or schools, we can then put into these hospitals and schools our own members who are already helpers, but have diplomas in the field of medicine or in the field of teaching, so that they can truly treat and assist the people, not only outwardly from their knowledge, but also inwardly from the kejiwaan. This doesn't mean that we should put, for example, in a school a Subud helper who is not a teacher, because he will not be able to teach children from the kejiwaan - you have to do that in the normal way. It is through starting enterprises that we will be able to undertake all these charitable undertakings. If we always rely on contributions we will not only not be able to start charities, but we won't even have a Subud house, like here Barcelona. If we only rely on contributions which are never very big, Subud will never have anything. It is only from enterprises that we will be able to find the money we need; that is, for contributions first of all for the needs of Subud itself - that is, to have Subud houses and all the other needs of Subud, and to start charitable enterprises. This is entirely the responsibility of the committee and not at all of the helpers, because looking for money is not something you can do with the kejiwaan. God does not help you to look for money, because money is something created by man and also has to be looked for by man.

If you put this advice of Bapak into practice - that is, starting with a group of experts who can help you to set up enterprises - you will soon experience having your own Subud house here in Barcelona. More than that, you will be able to build a latihan hall like this, so that if we have to have a meeting together we won't have to rent one from someone else, but ,we will have our own any time we want. Also, when helpers are needed to travel a long way to visit members who are far away from a group, or who do not yet understand very well how to do the latihan, then it is not right for the helper to have to take his own money for expenses. It should be paid for by the National Subud Committee.

All this will become easy once you have enterprises from the profits of which you can rely on a certain proportion for the Subud treasury. Also, looked at from outside, Subud will begin to look like something that is interesting and attractive. If you look at Subud from outside, and we only do the latihan and nothing else - in other words, all people see is that we are standing around making funny movements - that is not at all interesting and not attractive. People cannot see your jiwa. If you think that the public outside ,will see your jiwa, your beautiful jiwa - it is impossible because, as Bapak explained, nobody can see the jiwa unless he has himself experienced already the grace of God Almighty. But if people see that Subud is setting up orphanages and hospitals and old people's homes, and is helping children who have nothing to get an education -that is interesting and that attracts people. If we only do the latihan, people do not understand what we are doing, and many will imagine that this is just something ordinary - that we are just having fun, or that it's a kind of sport we do for our health, or something like that.

So to sum up, in Subud we have two duties. One of them is to worship God Almighty through God's own work. In other words, in this there is nothing that we can do - there is no plan or no way or no self-interest. We can only surrender completely and follow God wherever He leads. In this ,we cannot use our own ideas or have any self-interest whatever, because if we have an idea in the latihan - 'Oh, I should do it like this, or I should do it like that' - then at that moment we cannot receive anything. It is clear, then, that the latihan, or our worship, or the progress of our jiwa, is completely and entirely the work of God Almighty who works in the life of man.

The second duty, is to look after the needs of our life in this world, and that of our family, by using all our physical body; that is, our heart, our mind, our senses and all our organs. It is completely wrong if, after we have been opened then we get the feeling: 'Oh, it's no longer necessary for us to work', because it is essential that besides doing the latihan we also continue to ,work and to use all that God has given us, so that then our life will be successful in both fields - that is, on the one hand we will succeed in our inner life through the guidance of the power of God Almighty, and our outer life will also be taken care of by our efforts and our work, so that the aim of Subud will be reached both inwardly and outwardly.

With that, Bapak concludes his advice to all of you helpers and committee; of course, you can still go on hearing Bapak on the nights that are coming, when Bapak will give further talks. Now, for the time being, Bapak says goodbye to you all.