Talk given at the selamatan held at the offices of Bank Susila Bakti to celebrate the anniversary of B.S.B.’s move to the S.Widjojo Building, Jakarta.

After Pak Wahono, as a Director of B.S.B., had given a short summary of the history and of functions of B.S.B., Bapak spoke as follows:

Brothers and sisters, assalamu alaikum wa rakhmatullahi wa barakatuh. Having heard the whole story of B.S.B. which has just been recounted by Wahono, Bapak will add only a little mores because otherwise it would take too long. First of all, Bapak says Alhamdulillah ( praise be to God ) that God has granted us His grace, and in particular that He has granted it to us in Subud who have conceived the ides of setting up a bank.

As a matter of fact, brothers and sisters, at the time when all this was still, at the planning stage, people both here and abroad were saying that it was not possible for Subud to establish an international bank. For how could Subud do this when even the United Nations Organization had not yet been able to unify general economic matters, which also includes banking, so that one could say that not even U.N.O. could possibly set up the kind of financial structure that could be used for the general public all over the world. At that time, brothers and sisters, Bapak therefore felt that it really was like that; not possible. But Bapak could always feel what one could call an indication that in fact this could be established though not immediately as an International Subud Bank, it could still be set up as a National Bank. Thus it is still disguised as a national bank, but in fact its inner content, under that mask, is international. For instance, there are of course holders from outside this country, because of course Bapak guessed that it would probably not be possible to fulfill Bapak’ s hopes of establishing this bank from within the country. By the grace of Almighty God, brothers and sisters, and Bapak’s perseverance in giving explanations to the membership abroad, finally the bank got established.

For the bank which Bapak was going to set up was not to be a bank for the pursuit of personal wealth, but for looking after our joint needs. This Subud Bank is not for the benefit of any particular person or persons, but for all of you as a whole, and is really earning money to provide the conditions for our worship of the One Almighty God. That is the reason why Bapak has been granted the fulfillment of his ideas, so that they are eventually being carried out.

Many people from other countries have given their attention and interest to this. What they actually said was, “We do not want to set up a bank, we do not want to establish this, but all that we can offer to Bapak is the faith of all of us. We will all join in this together, and together with Bapak we will really worship the One Almighty God.” That is the story, and that is how the money that Bapak needed for the bank was able to be collected. But because of course no one race ever owns this world, brothers and sisters, and because the world is not inhabited by just one race only, but by races of every color and kind, with all their various customs and beliefs, it was difficult to collect it quickly and to unite people quickly in following one aim. But the blessing of the One Almighty God is upon us, and so, little by little, this has been achieved and we have been able to collect the money from our brothers and sisters outside this country, and to accumulate roughly one and a half million dollars, which amounts to six hundred million rupihs. What came from here was about half a million dollars, or two hundred million rupishs.

That shows how much faith our brothers and sisters in the other countries possessed. That was the faith shown by the Subud members outside this country, brothers and sisters. That was not something that came from those people, but it came by the grace of God, Who so moved their hearts, their inner hearts, that they really did contribute, voluntarily and sincerely, what Bapak hoped for.

Of course, brothers and sisters, Bapak felt pleased and happy and satisfied at this. But together with that, brothers and sisters, Bapak submitted to the power of God. In this way, God had compassion upon Bapak and upon what Bapak had established, Subud that is, so that the ideas which Bapak had conceived were brought to fruition.

That is why we should not neglect or overlook the love of his children, the love of all the members overseas for Bapak, brothers and sisters, So although Bapak is already old, and should be able to stop, and just to stay at home and not need to travel about everywhere, yet Bapak bears in mind the love these people have for Bapak, and of course Bapak must also love them in return, so that however old he is and however bitter and difficult it may be, Bapak still goes traveling and still comes to visit them.

Thus the money has come from over there and the effort and expenditure of energy from here. From Bapak comes the effort and the energy to arouse the constant feeling of a close link between the people outside this country and those inside it, between the members overseas and the members here in this country. That is how it is, brothers and sisters, and so this is by way of an example of how, if one wishes other people to be close to one, one must come close to them. If one wishes other people to love one, one must also love them. If someone else loves one, one must also love that person in return. That is to return like for like. That is indeed the will of God for His people, for His creatures, so that His creatures may be in harmony together, united and able to unite in following one direction, the direction that leads to On God, Who is One for all peoples, for all His creatures.

This bank, brothers and sisters, will provide for Bapak and for all the Subud members. Subud will become safe and secure. The Subud brotherhood will become an example; the Subud brotherhood will become a glass, a mirror held up to the general public to reflect to them the fact that Subud’s worship of the One Almighty God is not casual but is really true worship of the One Almighty God. For the training we have had in the latihan, and what we have received in the latihan kejiwaan, is a training whose nature it is to make closer our connection with the power of the One Almighty God, which Bapak always calls the Dzat Allah or power of the One Almighty God, the All-Pure.

Of course, brothers and sisters, the Dzat Tuhan, the power of the All-Holiest, is not something that we can see as we see the things around us, for the power of the One Almighty God is the power of the All-powerful, the All-great, and it cannot be compared to anything whatsoever, So God’s closeness to us is closer than the closeness of anything we see; it is closer than the thoughts people think about the things they need in life.

That is because God is All-powerful and He existed before anything existed, and He will exist after everything has ended. This is a mainstay directive, a standard rule, provision, for us Subud people. So for us, as Subud people, brothers and sisters, our resource, our capital, our stock in trade, is nothing else but our honesty and sincerity. We must not dare to deceive our own hearts. Truly a person who sins is a person who deceives his or her own heart. Not the hearts of other people, no, but one’s own heart, saying one thing today and something else tomorrow, saying that tomorrow and something else some other day. We must not do that. We in Subud have been trained in the latihan; trained to become human beings, to become creatures of God who follow the guidance of God, Who is All-holy, All-pure. So of course we are following in the footsteps of God in the field of holiness and purity.

This is the very best resource for us; there is nothing else. What enables human beings to live so that their lives in this world are happy, so that their lives in this world are safe and secure and so that their lives are kept free from all danger, is nothing other than to hold fast to the guidance and direction of the One Almighty God. Accustom yourselves to being honest and sincere, and never to lie to your own hearts. Because if we deceive and tell lies to our own hearts we shall also be tossed about by our own hearts. This is proverbial. People should not rely upon their own cleverness, for a clever person can be blinded by his own cleverness; rich people can be driven mad by their riches; beautiful people can, in the case of women, can be brought low by their beauty. We have to remember this. When we are comfortable and at ease we must not forget, and we have to do prihatin when we are unhappy and in trouble, we must not feel that we are suffering, but must worship God and surrender to God. We are fortunate, brothers and sisters, in being kept far from all dangers and far from the confusion of our hearts, and we are also fortunate in that we stay young.

Of course, brothers and sisters, you yourselves already know that Bapak is about eighty years old. On February 3rd, 1979, Bapak will celebrate his tenth windu ( eight years cycle according to Javanese reckoning of the year ); eighty Javanese years. Bapak is lucky and he gives praise and thanks to God, because this is by the grace of the One Almighty God, that Bapak is lucky in still being able to speak like this. As a rule people of sixty or eighty, “yes, yes; they speak like this” ( Bapak says this in a whisper ). This, brothers and sisters, is because it is God Who begins and God Who ends this. So too for human beings; if one says good things, that starts from a pure heart, the heart of the jiwa, well, this is why Bapak does not forget the kejiwaan even when he is talking about money. But he speaks of that money from the jiwa.

That is how it is, brothers and sisters, so for us our best resource, our best stock in trade, is to act honestly. We have to act in such a way that it will do us no inward harm. If we do not deceive our own selves, if we love our own selves, if we also correct our own selves and acknowledge it is our own selves when we are wrong, then we shall also be like that towards other people.

This is already obvious, brothers and sisters. Bapak does not ask to be respected, no, but wherever Bapak goes people declare their love for Bapak. Sometimes, even, I am embarrassed by it, if some woman makes it personal and says “I love you very much”; “you”, in this case, meaning Bapak. Well, someone who did not understand might think that this would please me. But in reality this love for Bapak is not a passionate love; no, it is like the love of a child for a parent. It is possible that if when they met Bapak he were to weep, these people would weep too. It could be so. Well, Bapak seldom weeps when it is not necessary. Sometimes he has no need to weep.

The gist of what Wahono said just now, brothers and sisters, was that it is necessary and important for us to make efforts in this world. That is what Bapak calls enterprise. We have to use our strength, we have to use our capacities, both of mind and feeling, as well as of every part of us. Supposing that Bapak here were still thirty years old, oh yes; Bapak would still be very happy to study. Well, he is already old and, let alone being able to learn things, even when it is only a question of remembering somebody’s name he has forgotten it after two days. Thus supposing that Bapak were to study English, for instance, five words would go in and ten words would be lost. Yea. Thus where he had previously known fifteen words, when he started learning English, that has actually all disappeared. But sometimes it comes back of its own accord. Yes. This is proved when Sharif is translating Bapak’s talks, and sometimes I remind Sharif that what he is saying does not come yet. “Oh yea, Bapak”, says he, “that does not come yet.” It is not that I understand it, but sometimes it is as if I really can speak English, whereas in fact I cannot.

That is how it is, brothers and sisters, and so Bapak really does confirm what Wahono said just now. Those of my children who work here, the staff, are still young, and there is still time for them to learn more. They should study everything that is in keeping with the development of this century. Do not hark back to the time of Brawidjaja. You must not do that, so that you do nothing that is not what you consider suitable. Suitable or unsuitable, “done” or “not done”, there is an end to all that. You must not be like that. You are honored for your diligence and for your steady work

If you think, brothers and sisters, you do of course understand that even up to this moment there are still people in this world who do not yet know what it is to wear clothes, like the people in West Irian and other such places. Yet they are descended from the same people as we are; their ancestors were the same as ours. Perhaps Bapak’s remote ancestors and their remote ancestors were like that. But they are the same as their ancestors were. Why is that? What is the reason for that? It is because they were lazy. Of course lazy people eventually become stupid, and stupid people are always strangers to the clever ones, who drive them away. Yes, of course you understand that even though a stupid and ignorant person may be strong, yet he must always be beaten by a clever one, because the latter is intelligent even though he may not be physically strong. Thus it is clear, brothers and sisters, that the reason why these people are still like that, even up to the present, and the reason why they are still living in an age of ignorance, is because they are lazy. For laziness is the enemy of diligence and progress.

This is how it is, brothers and sisters, and so Bapak hopes that all the staff will really work sincerely, and will learn anything that you do not yet know or understand, so that what you learn will bring you up to the level at which you hope to be, the level of perfection, of honor, of happiness.

This is how it is, brothers and sisters; Bapak will summarize his final words, which he has not yet said, by saying briefly that Bapak, as a father, only prays that all his children will heed what Bapak has said here, and also what Wahono has just suggested. And the Subud members who are working here should also remember that the difficulties which Bapak has experienced have really proved the fact that we can establish a Subud bank, even though it is not as yet an international one. But who knows, later on in this century there will be changes, and the Subud national bank will become a bank for all the world, and will be no less strong than other powerful banks.

May the One Almighty God grant His grace, and may these words that Bapak has spoken, and also Bapak’s prayers, be successfully fulfilled. And now, brothers and sisters, Bapak prays that all of you, my children, all the staff, all the employees, may receive the protection of the One Almighty God, and may you be able to work well and happily in a family atmosphere, and may you lack for nothing.

That is all. Assalamu ‘alaikum we rakhmatullahi wa barakatuh.