The Hague, Netherlands - October 8, 1957
Code Number : 57 HAG 6
It's said that human beings who have reached perfection, who have received God's grace, God's gift, don't die when they die, but rather they then begin to live. As an example that you won't forget, my children, because it's been told of in the Christian religion, there's the Prophet Jesus himself. It's not that the Prophet Jesus didn't die, but he continued living, and it's a life without limits. This is just an example; it's something you can take into consideration in deciding whether what Bapak has said is true or not. However, a person who hasn't yet reached that level, or who still has a body of desires ( nafsu ), when they die - as Bapak has been saying - will have no understanding of the fact at all; the person won't be aware of having died.
This is because such a person's contents return to their source, but not to the true human level, because the person came from below that level. As a result, human beings left behind with their desires ( nafsu ) wander around in whatever they imagined, in the things they gave a lot of thought to when they were on earth.
That's how it is. That's the reason why in Buddhism it's told that reincarnation is a fact, as indeed it is. But it applies only to those individuals who went astray on the path to God, or the path to perfection.
For this reason, in Buddhism there's this teaching: that if a human being has already reached a high level, then that person will be free from reincarnation, will be free from this world. This is why they try to understand the true nature of the spirits ( roh ) that a little while ago Bapak called forces, which originate from material objects, from plants, from animals and from ordinary human beings.
Because it lacks knowledge of these forces, the human soul ( jiwa ), or the soul of a person who hasn't actually reached such a high level, can very easily get lost in any place where the forces are stronger than the soul itself. This is what reincarnation is.
However, we ourselves hope and desire - as far as possible, if God permits it, if God gives us this gift - not to experience this. And we beseech God not to let us return to a place that is lower than the true human level.
In other words, we hope to know where we really ought to return, and that's to the place of origin of the perfect human being - the insan kamil as people usually call it, which means the perfect human being, the human being who is separated from this world in which we are now living. And we hope that after death we'll experience the real afterlife, not the world again. This world is not the afterlife.
Manchester, England - November 11, 1957
Code Number : 57 MAN 1
What you have received, Bapak can say, is within everything that is in you. It is within your thinking, for example, and within your will and the feeling of your heart. Man's thinking and the will of his heart and desires are outside or on top of the life force that you have received. Clearly, then, what all of you have received awakens from within all that is outside and on top of it.
Whereas, if you practice, not this, but what Bapak calls meditation for example, from your will and your mind, you bring many impurities into you. The fruit and result of meditation or contemplation are that one is able to see images brought into one and manifested within by all that clutter. This training ( latihan ) is the opposite. It breaks down and casts out from inside, so you will gradually get to know and come in contact with states outside of man's domain. Eventually, with this training, you can get to know things outside this earth.
While the other, as Bapak just said, brings all kinds of clutter into the inner feeling. If Bapak may draw an analogy, bringing all that into the self is as if you do not go out of your house to see how things are, but you go into the house and lock yourself in. Then all you ever know is in your house. That is the difference.
One day, if you are able to receive it, you will yourselves know and become aware of this difference. You will be able to go out of your house and know the greatness of the life that envelops this earth, and also beyond this earth, so that you are not subject to reincarnation. We have been here for a long time. We are tired, and if we can, we look for a way out.
The other, the practice of meditation, and quieting oneself, is really looking, not for a way out, but for a way into the hall. When Bapak refers to the hall or house within man's self, he means all that is within the self of a human being. The forces below the human being are: the material or satanic, the vegetable or plant force, the animal, and the human. For these, there is reincarnation. So if you only stay in your house, when later you die, you could be here, you could be on the level of plants, you could be on the animal level, or you could be on the human level. In other words, you would come back here. And you would come back, not in the right form but in the wrong form.
What you have received is not like that. There is a clearing out from within. Of course, the clearing out depends on what is in the house. If there are all kinds of things piled one on top of the other, and there are hordes of cats, mice, dogs, cows, water-buffaloes and flower pots in the house, naturally it takes a great deal of work to clean. So do not be afraid, children. 'Ah, why is my latihan like this: "A, a, a, wah, ah, ah!" How come the others are just quiet?'
Well, everyone is different. There are some who have heaps and heaps of clutter piled up in their house. And there are others whose house is not so cluttered, so the removal is relatively easy and does not require the use of much force. But all of it has to be removed, it has to be, because it closes the door by which man can go out and follow the way to his rightful abode.
There are three special places that close the way. The first is in the sex ( hartstocht ), the second is in the heart ( hart ), and the third is in the understanding ( begrip ), or awareness of man. They are the kinds of doors that need to be opened.
If a person claims that he is clever and that he knows this and knows that, it is difficult for the door to be opened. How can a person, through his own awareness, know his own mistakes? It is impossible. There is no way, unless one gets help from the One God. The kind of help man needs from God, to be able to unload his human awareness, is from within everything that is within. And all of you have received this, children. All of you certainly have felt, 'Hey, what is this? I'm saying things without wanting to. I have no desire at all to say what I am saying.'
In everyday human discourse, when people usually speak, their Speech is awakened from the sex, from the heart, or from the understanding. So, if someone says, 'I am a very good person,' it is only words. The person does not realize that the one who says, am a very good person, is not, or is not yet, the human I.
There may be a cow inside that person, for example. And the cow within him borrows the human tongue, the human thinking and the human heart to utter the words, 'I am a very good person.' That is the reason why all the clutter Bapak described just now has to be cleared out. Then the door can open, and we can go on our way, following the behavior of our human soul ( jiwa ). Then, when you profess something, you will be right, because there is evidence and proof that you have received within you.
The training ( latihan ) you receive and do will always be there and you will always be able to receive it. There is no need for you to worry lest it may stop one day. The human soul, your true soul, needs to find its way to God. Even if it were obstructed by every possible obstruction, the human soul has begun to awake because of God's power which envelops and touches it within, and the soul will receive by itself, and will be able to come to the level required for man.
Singapore - November 22, 1958
Code Number : 58 SIN 1
How can we describe the sickness of the soul that is within the self of man? ( The soul ) is the inner content within the self of human beings; the content that enables human beings to think, to feel, to do this and to do that. But it is by no means certain that this content of a human being is truly a human soul. The proof of this is that not a few clever people, who have studied to a very advanced level and who have all kinds of titles, still unwittingly, unconsciously, do things that go against and violate a code of human behavior. The reason for this is that the content of their being - that is, their soul - is not a human soul that is really able to keep its promises to God. It is filled with a low soul that is wrong. Because of their negligence, because of their stressed and disturbed behavior, within their being there is a wrong content or soul - that is, a subhuman soul.
This is mentioned in Buddhism; it's what they call reincarnation. That is to say, there are levels in the souls of human beings, and if the state of a human being is not yet really complete, he cannot possibly rise up, but is still reincarnated. So it is important that the blocks that cause us to be incarnated again should be removed, but... ( inaudible ) ...the Almighty than in this world.
Now, why is it that in Islam and Christianity there is no such thing as reincarnation? The reason is that the names Christianity and Islam signify the state of a perfect human being. But the people who follow these religions are not yet ( perfect human beings ); so while the religion really does not favor reincarnation, its followers are not always able to carry out fully what their religion requires.
And as for what is required in religion, for Christians the example, if you remember, is the story of the life of Jesus. He was not a child who was taught, nor did he go to school. Also, he was not the son of rich parents who would have been able to send him to school in various places. Why then did he become an adviser of humankind, an adviser of the world, whose advice has spread everywhere, so that millions of people believe in it? It was simply because of his obedience, his surrender, his acceptance, submission and faith in God, as a result of which he was able to receive a revelation, a gift from God within his being. It was the same with the other prophets; for example, Abraham, Moses, Muhammad and others.
It should be clear therefore, that the absolute condition for us human beings to be able to receive the true gift from God is none other than for us humans, especially you, to really surrender to the One God with acceptance, submission and faith. Especially you, children, since you have all received the awakening of the soul, the awakening of the Power that is within the self of each one of you.
So Bapak hopes that you will all be patient in receiving, so that you do not hinder the working of the Power that is within your being; and that you can continue to receive without any disruption.
New York, NY USA - May 24, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 7
Also, what we get in the spiritual life is not something to show off to people. No. Because a diploma from God is not a diploma for this world. You can't use it to get a job. A diploma from God is only for God. God's will for human beings is that they should be honest, good, pure, and surrendered to God. So, you don't need to say, 'I am better ( than him ). He is not as good as I am,' or, 'Maybe she is better than that person.' No. God alone can measure such things. God is the one who knows. Take Bapak, for instance. Bapak has never said, and has no wish ever to say, that he is a reincarnation of the Buddha, or a reincarnation of Muhammad, or a reincarnation of a prophet. No. Bapak is, well, just Bapak. Yes, just Bapak Muhammad Subuh for as long as he lives. What there is within him is God's affair; that is a diploma from God, and not for this world. It is not for finding a job, because if Bapak looked for a job using his spiritual ( credentials ), nobody would give him one. ( Laughter )
Denver, Colorado U.S.A. - June 30, 1959
God has decreed that the scheme of life consists of seven levels.
Code Number : 59 DEN 1
. . . As well as this structure of life forces decreed by God in order that human beings should be able to move upwards and be guided in their ascent - to experience and know how things are in the levels above the human - God has also created a life force that is all-holy, all-powerful, and envelops all the life forces in this hierarchy. This is what is usually referred to in spiritual language - especially in religion - as the roh ilofi ( Arab.: ruh ilahi ) or the Holy Spirit.
And so the work of this all-holy life force can be fully accomplished, it is accompanied by a further life force, which is called rah al-qudus ( Arab. ); that is, the life force of the angels. This is also spoken of in the Bible, the Quran, the Zabur and the Torah. These two forces penetrate all the seven life forces so they can interact. They provide an open path for them to move upwards until they reach the level required by their being.
This is the arrangement of the life forces that exist in the spiritual realm and are present in the worship that you practice. From the material to the human - from level one to four - it is indeed possible for us to fathom these four forces by quieting our thinking mind, our heart and our desires. This is because these forces are still connected with the human will. That is why it's said that, for as long as people still use the power of their heart and brain, they will need to come back down and become human beings again. This is something you may have read about, called reincarnation.
But if you are blessed by God and are able to ascend to a higher level - to the fifth level, which is nobler than the human - you may not wish to come back down to this world and become human beings again. For the fact is that human beings - yes, like all of you - do not have contentment, because you are affected by all the things that touch you. For example, you are affected by the cold, by cold things; by heat, by hot things; you are affected by this and that; you still suffer from this and that. Your life is difficult, it is different from those above us; their life is very different from ours. The difference between their life and ours is like that between human beings and animals.
In order to attain that state and achieve what you need for yourselves, you are required, in this latihan of Subud, to surrender everything to the greatness of God. By doing this you will immobilize your thinking, your desires and your heart, and make them powerless. And when our thinking, our desires and our heart are powerless, it is easier for us to receive the influence from what is above. It can take us into its world so we can know that which is beyond our normal knowledge in this world.
And if we always surrender ourselves to God with patience and submission, then the forces below us - below the human level -will spontaneously recognize their own nature and will no longer disturb us. They will return to the place of origin God decreed for them, which God created in the framework of life that Bapak just described.
Calcutta, India - March 28, 1960
Code Number : 60 CCU 1
Clearly, the Subud latihan is not activated by our heart, thinking mind or desires. Therefore we cannot possibly think about the content of the latihan. We can only wait for the time when God grants us His grace; only then will we be able to understand and become aware of what God wills for us. This shows that what we get from the latihan comes from a current that is completely free from the influence of our desires, heart and mind. It also means that the low forces, which exist within the environment of the human desires, heart and thinking mind cannot possibly influence it.
If Bapak may explain: our inner feeling can be influenced by a material thing – by the material spirit or life force – because our thoughts, our heart and desires think about and pay attention to material things. Likewise, the life force or spirit of plants influences our inner feeling because we give plants our attention; we think about them and about the kinds of food we can prepare from them. It is the same with the animal life force. Why does the animal life force influence our inner feeling, influence us? It is because we pay attention to animals; we think about them and eat their meat.
And why does the spirit or life force of the human body, the physical life force of people, influence our inner feeling? It does so because we socialize with our fellow humans and also because we get married and have sexual intercourse. When we associate with other people, even though we only listen to their voices, see their bodies, smell their odour or feel something about them, all this influences our inner feeling; so we automatically think about our fellow humans and pay attention to them. That is what Bapak said just now: the material, plant, animal and physical human forces are still within the sphere of our desires, heart and thinking.
However, in the latihan we are guided and trained by God’s power, which envelops us inwardly and outwardly, so that we get to know our human soul, the rohani spirit, which is beyond the human desires, thinking and heart. So it becomes clearer for us that God wants us to become aware of our life as human beings who have a rohani soul, and who know how to live both in this world and in their life after death. This does not mean that the rohani spirit influences us in the way the material, plant, animal and physical human forces do. It is we who influence it; we influence the rohani, so that its spirit, its life force, may come to be within our inner feeling. But we cannot possibly influence the rohani spirit with our heart, thinking or desires. The way to influence a spirit higher than ourselves is not with our thinking mind, heart and desires but through surrender, through purity, and through the purification of all the mistakes and sins that are within us.
That is why our inner feeling needs to be cleaned. So, in the training we receive, first of all we are cleaned of all our faults; that is, the faults caused by the influence of the low forces, the material, plant, animal and physical human forces that have long been present in our inner feeling. These are cleaned; and our desires, which formerly were used as tools by the low forces, are also cleaned. Only then, when everything is clean and good, can we find the rohani spirit. Only then does this spirit manifest in our inner feeling so that, while we are still in this world, we can actually experience not only how our life is in the world but also how our life will be later, after death.
So for people in general – for you – who are not yet clean and are still very much controlled by the desires, heart and thinking mind, it is really very difficult to receive and feel the power of the rohani force.
As long as you are still enmeshed in the influence of the low forces – that is, the material, plant, animal and physical human forces – you will not be able to ascend when you die. When you die it will be impossible for you to go up; you will still have to come back here. And if you come back here, it is not certain that you will come back as a human being. Perhaps you may come back as a material object, or a plant, or an animal. That is why, here and elsewhere, animals are given special treatment and regarded as holy, because it is indeed possible that an animal may have been occupied by the spirit of someone who was unable to ascend and who returned to this earth and entered an animal’s body. That is what is usually called reincarnation.
There are many people – Bapak is not blaming them, no – but there are still many who revere stones. They picture stones in their imagination and think of them, and consider them to be higher than themselves; so they worship stones; meaning, that they ask for their blessing, their grace, their benefit, and their prayers. Why is this? It is because it really has happened, that a person who is unable to ascend has returned within a stone, within a material object. So there is a kind of power in that stone.
But who makes a stone powerful? Quite simply, people themselves. Especially in the case of an idol. Every night you prostrate yourself before it, and you put flowers and incense on it. Every night before you go to sleep you do these things, and in the end it becomes more powerful than your own self.
It is the same with plants. There are people who worship trees. They consider a tree as sacred, so they bring food and put it on the tree. They bring all kinds of things and put them on the tree. They even make all kinds of sacrifices: they slaughter goats and this and that under the tree, because they regard the tree as sacred. This is also the same with animals and people.
That is why, in religion, God gave instructions to His messengers that people should not behave like that, and that they should give more attention to their own selves as human beings. For the life and death of a human being is within their body. So, if you do not look after your body from the outside to the inside and from the inside to the outside, your self has no value whatever, either in the eyes of human beings or in the eyes – or the power – of God.
If we human beings go on and on paying more attention to material objects, plants and animals than to our own selves as human beings, as time goes on we are sure to descend to a lower and lower status. So, from the point of view of our inner feeling, this human body will be of no use at all. And then there will be no use in God creating human beings in this world with a perfect body like this, whose nature is wiser, more capable, and more intelligent than material objects, plants, animals and the physical life force of people themselves.
These are the reasons why the lives of some people in this world become dark, and why they come to a point where they are at a loss as to how to live and be happy in this world. Whereas, in fact, human beings have been created in this world with intelligence and a conscience, which means that we are more able to work things out, and are more able to possess a noble character than other entities; that is to say, material objects, plants and animals.
That is why, in this Subud latihan, it is as if we are made to repeat the lessons we receive from God. We are made to repeat them, guided by the power of God, because we have lost our way. So this makes it clear for us that God really loves human beings and really has compassion for us. God saves us from losing our way, and from losing our ability to worship God in a way that does not negate, put aside or avoid living a complete life here on earth.
Cilandak, Indonesia - April 6, 1965
Code Number : 65 TJK 3
So, the important thing for you is simply to follow the latihan patiently, without feeling bored. Why would one get bored with the latihan, when it is a training of your own being that starts from your own being, and comes according to your own path? If you are Javanese, you will be able to receive everything you need without taking away or adding to your habits and customs as a Javanese woman. It is the same if you are an Arab: what you receive and what you need will come to you in accordance with your culture and your nature as an Arab. Likewise if you are English: do not have the feeling, ‘Oh, it seems I have now become Javanese.’ No, you remain English.
The reason why you have that feeling is that you still have within you the traces of teachings from other sources, such as Buddhism, where they believe in reincarnation and so on. There are also esoteric teachings where they do all sorts of exercises until they say, ‘I have now become Dewi Suprobo’ [a wayang figure]. Well, if you become Dewi Suprobo it will be worse for you. Perhaps you think you have become Dewi Suprobo, but what has come into you is a chicken. In fact all the things they talk about in the wayang are symbols. Suprobo is su-probo [Jav.]: su means more, meaning convincing or real. So suprobo means one who receives, or a receiving that is convincing; it is not the name of a person. If you think there is a person called Dewi Suprobo you will have trouble, don’t you think? If you become Dewi Suprobo, you will walk the way they do in the wayang. [Bapak demonstrates. Lots of laughter.]
So each of you has your own line. Whatever your line is, it is all right. If you just go, ‘Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh,’ in the latihan, let it be. Don’t let somebody say to you, ‘You have been doing latihan for several years; how can it be that all you can do is go “eh-eh-eh-eh-eh,” while I am able to …’ [the rest is inaudible. Much laughter.]
So whatever grows in your latihan is adjusted to the strength and capacity that is developing within you. Therefore if you are still walking like this … [Bapak stands up to demonstrate, and what he is saying cannot be heard clearly. Laughter.]
There is a story that illustrates this. There was a zebra dove whose call sounded like ‘waahng-koong!’ The owner said to himself, ‘This zebra dove of mine is the best zebra dove there is. I am sure of it.’ He praised it, was very proud of it and spoiled it.
‘Waahng-koong!’
‘But why is its call so soft? Why can’t it be louder, like a rooster? It’s still soft, even though I’ve been teaching it and teaching it. I’m getting quite hoarse, but it still hasn’t got any louder.’
He tried to force it to crow, but it never could. And as a result of all this effort to get it to go ‘cock-a-doodle-do’, finally it couldn’t make any sound at all. There you are. And why was that? It was because the owner wasn’t satisfied with it going, ‘waahng-koong,’ he wanted it to go ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’. How could it? You could search beyond this world and you still would not find a zebra dove that could crow like a rooster. If there were such a thing, many people would want one. ‘Waahng-koong-cock-a-doodle-doo.’ Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist.
Hence you follow your own line, the line that goes with everything you have. The zebra dove cannot sing louder than is normal, because its throat is not strong enough. That is why God looks after you in the latihan, so that you do not go against what you are and what you have. That is so as not to damage anything that you possess. If you can do that, in accordance with what you are and what you receive, you will be safe. You will be all right wherever you are. And when the time comes for you to walk, you will walk by yourself. The parents of a small baby would like him or her to walk as soon as possible. If they cannot, the parents lead them: ‘Hey, leg, you can walk!’
You need to match everything to the strength you have. You receive and do the latihan according to the reality of your strength and capacity. That is where you can feel and understand the greatness of Almighty God. For where is the person who can guide you like that, who can guide others like that? It is impossible.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - October 16, 1977
Code Number : 77 RIO 2
Adam had two sons - Said Anwar and Said Anwas; and Said Anwar always followed in the footsteps of his father, which means that he always did everything according to the will of God Almighty - and from him descended the line of the prophets. But Said Anwas was not willing to follow what was the guidance of God, but always wished to follow his own will and his own effort. And, as Bapak has told, Said Anwas became very powerful and he was able to create a heaven and a hell. But this heaven and this hell that he created was not the real heaven and hell, it was only a shadow heaven and a shadow hell. And everything that he created was not from the power of God, not from the will of God, but from his own will, his own power. And up till now there is still this story, or this history, that Said Anwas exists in the world.
For example, Buddha. In Buddhism you never hear about anyone going to heaven; you don't hear about Buddha going to heaven. Because what is experienced in Buddhism is that you keep coming back again to this world. And this is what is also called reincarnation.
So, it is clear that what was achieved by Said Anwas, and by those who liked to use their heart and mind and their own power, is always limited to this world.
But it is quite different with the descendants of Said Anwar, because they were really able to go to heaven by the will of God Almighty. And that heaven was not imaginary, but was a real heaven that they could experience.
Seattle, WA U.S.A. - December 11, 1977
Code Number : 77 SEA 2
In the latihan we experience a de-activation of our heart and mind, because the heart and mind are limited to this world and cannot go beyond it. As with Sang Hyang Sis, whom Bapak described to you - although he obtained what he wanted, and became something very tremendous, very powerful and very glorious, yet it was all within this material world. This is why those who follow Sang Hyang Sis, those who follow his footsteps and his method, they always require reincarnation. They require always to come back to this world. This is why, for example, in Tibet when they are looking for their new leader, a new king or a new high priest, or what is called the Dalai Lama, they always try to find a baby who was born exactly at the moment when the last Dalai Lama died, so that the fruit of the reincarnation of his spirit or his soul can be obtained. This is then the difference between what we have received.
It is the same, of course, in India. They maintain that they always advise that people should lead a very good life. They should practice asceticism and self-denial in this life, and do a lot of fasting and praying and staying awake at night, and all these things, so that they may become thereby a person who is truly 'Mika' - which means that when they die they can leave this world. But what that means for them is that they are then in a position that when they come back to this world, they can choose where they go. They have a freedom to choose. And then maybe next time they will choose a baby or an embryo or whatever who they can see will be destined to become very wealthy in this life, or very successful, or have a very high position, or become a king maybe. But, of course, there aren't many kings nowadays, so maybe they will become president, or something like that.
So - it always relies on reincarnation and coming back into this world. Whereas in Islam, for example, or Christianity, or in the other religions, it is completely different. There is no reincarnation. Islam means life. So religion as we know it, as Islam or Christianity, means life. That is, in theory. Even though religion is eternal life, it has still to be put into practice - and many people do not know how to put it into practice. They only stay with the theory, and that's why they still practice things in the ordinary way, as Bapak has just described.
Cilandak, Indonesia -- April 8, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 2
Man has been created on this earth to live as well as possible, to live as resolutely, rightly and with as much benefit for mankind as possible in this world.
So don't let it be that now that you're in the kejiwaan, you straight off don't want to work anymore, that you don't eat and then you retire to some far-off place and wear saffron-colored robes !
That's not what Bapak is indicating. That doesn't fit with god's Will for us.
We were born naked. Later, when we die when we return, we will be naked again. And when we leave this world, we take nothing with us.
And yet, as the Dutch proverb says, death is just a continuation of life. And it is when we die that we see our mistakes.
We got stuck in the material, stuck in the vegetable, stuck by the animal, the human. Why did we get stuck on things, on eating, on relations with others? By avoiding those very forces which are supposed to accompany man's life, the result is not strength, but weakness. Instead of rising above these forces, as intended, we fall below them ( after death ).
And that is how it is, brothers and sisters, that what is called reincarnation transpirca as the result of our own mistakes.
By incarnation is meant that which is described and which is said to occur in India. In India they say there are cows which have the souls of people. They say there, "That cow has a human soul". But it's not just that human souls inhabit cows alone: trees can also have such souls in them; material objects, too. This is what is related in India. It's like the story of Aladdin's lamp - the person who rubs the lamp gets sucked into a satanic abode. And why? Because of a person's own mistakes. Why does all this happen? Because of using the thinking, the heart and the mind, in the wrong way.
Cilandak, Indonesia -- April 8, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 1
The aim of the latihan kejiwaan is to make us normal and to make us used to the action of God within our being. The people who are not normal, or the people who can be considered to be somehow sped fl, are not the people who do the latihan kejiwaan. The people you can consider to be special are just the other way: they are people who make a special study and a special effort to get deep into their religion, or who go into kebatinan or something like that, with the result that they attain a state which is called, maginoun. The reason or cause of this maginoun - or the people who get into this state m is that they try to precede God. They try to go ahead of God, they try with their brain to go faster than God and be ahead of God's guidance.
Now the result of that is that they lose their grip on where they are and who they are. The difference with the latihan kejiwaan or the difference with people who are ordinary, is that they simply follow, like the worshipper who does his solar behind the immam. That is called ma'mum - that you just follow. The one who leads your worship, that is the immam, is Almighty God. So it is this, the essence of the latihan kejiwaan, the awareness of the relationship between the immara and the one who follows. The reality therefore, of the latihan kejiwaan, is that it is strange. But that is real. Bapak is taking this description from a popular TV program nowadays, which is called, 'It Is Strange, But It Is Real' or 'It Is Strange, But It Really Happened.'
So the latihan kejiwaan is like that. It is peculiar but it is really like that. Bapak told a little story at that point about a man who was the leader of the Communist party in Semarang, a man called Alimin. It seems that this Alimin Wanted to meet Bapak very much and three times, Bapak made an appointment to meet him and he never turned up. So each time they made another appointment and again he never turned up. It seems that what happened was that he got scared. He got scared because he had a friend of his who was also a Communist, who was called Patmo. Apparently Patmo told him, 'You don't need to go there, you don't need to become a Subud member, because if you become a Subud member, you will experience what I experienced. You will get into crisis. So it is better for you to stay as you are, and don't bother with Subud."
Apparently, what happened to this Patmo was, when he was opened, he eventually got into crisis. Before he was opened he did not believe in God, after he was opened, he was made to worship idols. He was forced by the latihan to go to Jakarta then to go to Jogia and to Borobudur and to go everywhere. Then he would sit and pray in front of all the stone carvings in Borobudur. This was his punishment for not believing in God. It was as if to say, 'OK, you didn't believe in God, so now you'll believe in the statues, in the idols; just in things of stone.' So Patmo said, 'The same thing will just happen to you, Alimin. You'd better not go.'
So, brothers and sister, that is all fine; but rather than thinking about other people, think about ourselves. The nature of the latihan kejiwaan is to show us our origin. It is to show us where we have come from, where we have descended from, or what is our inner content. It will show us whether inside us we have an elephant or a cow or a goat - or whatever it is. These are all real things; if it is something like an elephant or a goat, this is fine because at least you can see it. But, supposing you are a mosquito, it means that there is no reality in your experience. So, brothers and sisters, it is really true that there is such a thing as reincarnation - that you go from the material to the vegetable to the animal to the human. This is what is really important - now that you are on a human level, try not to go back again, to being a cow or a goat. Try to stay where you are, at least, if not go forward.
Wisma Subud, - Cilandak, Indonesia - July 8, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 14
Indeed it is God's will that the religions should become one, since they have all originated from God but the reason why they cannot become one is the nafsu. Oneness can only be achieved in the realm that is out of range of the nafsu; that is the world of the rohani, rahmani, and the rabani. It is only in that world that unity is possible.
Once people discover that what Bapak has received is analogous to the prophets they will say, "How come then, that Bapak still lives like an ordinary man?" Well, for as long as Bapak has to eat and wear clothes, of course he is still an ordinary man. This is the same as Jesus.
When he was in this world he said, "Here, I am vulnerable to whatever you wish to do to me but that is not the situation in the next world." Here in this world we still need food and we are still offended if people don't like us. We are still offended if we make something and people criticize it because we are still connected with what is in this world. And if we continue to be connected, then we end up like the Javanese of the olden days that Bapak described. They still live in this world, they are still here, still working, because of that connection with what is in this world. That is what is called incarnation which leads to reincarnation.
In Islam they don't like reincarnation; but although they don't like it, they also don't understand how to avoid it. The problem is that most religion is still like a fantasy, or rather, people's faith in religion is still in the realm of fantasy. Like Muslims will say, "When you break your fast with a date, every date will be planted in the next world so that when you reach heaven you will have one date-palm for every date you ate when you broke your fast. So eat as many dates as you possibly can.
Well, people don't understand that of course that story is simply to promote Arabian exports ( laughter ) and it was simply, the interest of those who were spreading Islam and had nothing to do with religion itself.
When Bapak talks like this, some Subud members say, "Well, why didn't Bapak tell us that before?" The reason why what Bapak tells you today is different from what Bapak told you before, is because today is different from before. Also, what Bapak tells you is Bapak's own development and Bapak also develops in the same way as Raphael develops. For example, as you told Bapak before you were opened, you couldn't solve your mathematical problems, but after some time of doing latihan, you were able to solve them one by one. Well in the same way Bapak's understanding also grows as time goes on.
Bapak has been told by somebody that they had received that Jesus Christ is within Bapak. Bapak doesn't know anything about that. That's not my problem. That's up to God, but what is important is that once you become the channel of God's revelation, then life really becomes very interesting.
Michelle, once she is the channel of God's revelation her voice will really become an instrument whereby she can attract other people. Fernando will be able to design houses which are quite unbelievable in their beauty and the way in which they affect his clients. But there's no use talking about it. You shouldn't believe this until you experience it. What Bapak wants is that you experience it for yourself because in Subud there are no words which say, "You have to believe what I say. In Subud each of us follows the flowering of the latihan within ourselves and then we worship according to our own nature. Whether we start saying, "Allahhu akbar", or whether we pray in the way of the Christians or in the way of others, that doesn't matter. At least it is in accordance with our own nature.
So in Subud, it is not we who open another Subud member, but it is the power of God that opens them. Similarly, if it was not God who willed Bapak to travel around the world opening Subud members, it wouldn't have happened. Then Bapak would simply have ended up as a local dunkin, as a teacher in his village, or something like that.
Amen. Bapak Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo