Coombe Springs, England August 10, 1957
Code Number : 57 CSP 6
The journey on the spiritual path - or what takes place in the training ( latihan ) you have received, and will receive - begins from the coarse body. What begins to be exercised first is the coarse physical body. This coarse body is not just what can be seen externally, because what is inside it can also be included in the coarse body. This begins to be exercised until the whole of this body becomes alive. The movement or movements that are felt, and which appear to be only movements, actually clean the inner self.
Therefore, as some of you have already been able to receive, the movements you receive lessen the suffering that you really used to feel inside. This will continue until all your body - the whole of you, all the parts of your body that up to now have felt unwell and not yet healthy - will through these movements become healthy, healthy in the true sense of clean and pure. And from that stage it goes deeper and wider, even as far as the body of the feelings that nest in the secret place of man.
The journey from the beginning to this second stage takes an unspecified time, and it all depends on your inner strength and capacity. Because of this, there can be no forcing in the training ( latihan ) in order to obtain and receive quickly, because it does all depend on your inner strength and capacity. And we should also remember that there are motives and states that surround the feeling of man and of which we are not aware, namely the forces lower than man, which hinder us in our journey to the true human state. And because these obstacles exist, the process of inner purification, even though it comes from the power of God, needs time, the length of which, as Bapak said, cannot be determined.
The Hague, Netherlands September 18, 1957
Code Number : 57 HAG 3
As for the course or progress of this latihan, Bapak says that within the self of a human being there are four walls, if they can be described as walls. The first wall - what Bapak calls a wall - is the coarse physical body, and envelops the whole of this [body], both what can be seen and what is invisible within, namely what Bapak calls the badan rasa [body of feeling].
The second wall is what Bapak calls the spiritual feeling, or rahsa [secret feeling] - in other words, the feeling of bliss experienced within the self of human beings, both male and female. It is situated - but don't say it's definitely there, this is only for clarification purposes - in the secret parts of man and woman.
The third wall is the wall of understanding, located in the hati sanubari [inner heart] of man.
And following that, there is awareness, so that you can be truly aware of what life is and how it is. This is in man's head.
Bapak says this is so, and yet it isn't. It's very difficult to explain. So don't assume that what is in the head is in man's brain, what is in the hati sanubari is in the heart, that the hati sanubari is the heart and that what is in the sex is in the ordinary secret parts. Not so. In reality the location is not there, and yet it is. For, if Bapak were to say it is indeed like that, you could then say everyone is the same. For instance, Bapak will put it like this: generally speaking, all of you are educated, and certainly you are the same as other people in what you do. But in some ways you are not like other people, because of their position in society or their cleverness.
New York, NY U.S.A. - May 3, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 1
Before Adam's creation in this world he was very sad about being separated from his God. But later, after he arrived in this world, he really received someone who became the delight of his life, namely Eve. Prior to that he had not yet been given someone who would arouse his desire, which is symbolized by a snake. That's why it is customary to say that when a young girl dreams of being chased or bitten by a snake it means she'll soon meet the man who is her mate. So it's clear that the snake is a symbol whose reality is the secret of a man.
New York, NY U.S.A. - May 9, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 4
You are awakened differently, you are moved differently, and you are purified in different ways of the life forces that constantly rule within you.
In the case of material objects, what is called a table is different from what is called a chair or a cupboard. It's the same with plants: what we call an apple tree is different in its nature from a coconut tree or a mango tree. Likewise with animals: what is called a tiger is different in nature from a cow or a goat. But people, although they have different names, ( appear to ) have the same essential nature. In fact there are differences, but since a human being is a creature of high degree, higher than other creatures, you need to know the secret of what is there within the human self.
Montreal, Canada - May 18, 1959
Code Number : 59 YUL 2
Through the latihan we've been doing, and as you progress in what you have received, you will become aware of your own original talent, the authenticity of what you need to do, and the work you should be doing and how to do it. This will always be present within you. What this means is that you will become aware, and understand the plan of your life that is present within each one of you individually, which belongs to you, and which you have been given by God.
Even human beings, when they construct an automobile, or this or that instrument, always provide drawings and instructions for operating that machine. How much more will God do so! God is far wiser, far more skilled than human beings. So when God created the human race, God didn't do it in vain; God didn't just create them and stop there. No! Certainly God has placed the drawings and the instructions within them. The thing is, that because these are a gift from God, and so not like a gift from a human being, they are very, very secret. That is why, in your latihan, guided and led by God, you will come to know what they are, these plans of your life, these plans that need to be carried out according to the instructions willed by God.
New York, NY U.S.A. - May 24, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 7
The secret of giving explanations to the members is - if he may say so - the way Bapak does it. Bapak is not by any means saying that he is right. However, when he gives you clarifications, there is no self interest in it for Bapak; it is really only in the interest of all of you. So, once you can be like that, and be free - free of self interest - then you may give explanations. However, most people are not like that. Generally, their self-interest enters into their explanation, so they influence the person they are addressing.
That is why Bapak's talks in different places are always different. Even if their intention is the same, they are always different, because they do not arise from Bapak's thinking or his heart. He simply receives what is willed from within for all of you.
Olso, Norway - August 7, 1959
Code Number : 59 OSL 3
Eventually there will be a division of work: for instance, part of the brain will contain forces dealing exclusively with matters of this world, while there will also be a section in the brain capable of being aware of, and apprehending, life after death. This has been well exemplified in the life-time of Jesus. He certainly made use of his thinking, and he let his heart have feelings, making use of his emotions; but you must not forget that Jesus did not think with the thinking mind fed on worldly influences: Jesus thought about heaven and about life after death, not with the thinking mind fed on worldly influences, but with the mind filled with the current of forces emanating from the higher world, from God; and the same held good for his heart.
In Islam there are other names beside the ordinary names. Thus, the place of the desires or passions which is situated lower down, is called the ordinary secret organ ( that is sex organ ), but when a person has been sanctified, consecrated and confirmed by God as a perfected human being, then the name is changed and it is no longer called the secret organ but baithalmukaddas. The same happens to a person's heart; after he has been sanctified and confirmed in the heart, its name is changed to baithal-mucharram. And it is the same with the brain; when a person is clean and has been confirmed by God, it is called brain no longer but baithalmakmur.
Vancouver, Canada - September 21, 1963
Code Number : 63 YVR 2
And that is the reality, because each of you will be able to receive from your own self. So you are required to worship that which in your own self leads to God. You are also required to look after yourself and to know and correct your own self. Therefore you will not get anything from Subud. No. Whatever you get will be from yourself.
But every kind of group needs to adopt some guidelines, so those who have concerns can know what it is about. And who is it that has concerns? The government. So if you were to get together but did not have a name, or any information for those who need it, naturally you would be considered a dangerous group, a secret group, or one that nobody is supposed to know about. That would arouse the suspicion and concern of the relevant authorities; meaning, the government.
But what we receive in the latihan – because it is all from God and given by God – cannot be described or written down on paper. It is not that it is secret or that we are not allowed to write about it, but someone who has not experienced or received what is in the latihan will not believe it. So in the statutes or by-laws of our association we write only what the general public can understand and accept.
Auckland, New Zealand - March 30, 1963
Code Number : 63 AKL 3
As you have seen, the Subud symbol with its seven circles actually symbolises the seven stages of the spiritual world. The first is the material force – the soul of the material forces – then the vegetable forces, the animal forces, the soul of a human being; then higher, the fifth is the soul of a perfect human being, the sixth is the roh rahmani, the soul of angels, and beyond that is the roh robani. And there are two more beyond those seven. Those seven forces are symbolised by the seven circles of our Subud emblem. But each of these forces has within it seven stages; each is divided into seven stages, from the lowest to the highest. In the world of the material forces, for example, there are different degrees or different stages. For instance, they have clergymen in their world, they have prophets in their world, and so on, Bapak says. And, for that reason, these forces are very very powerful and can foretell things, or make people know about things from the future. So you must not underestimate the power of the material or satanic forces; they sometimes know things better than you do. Even in the spiritual world they are so powerful that they can disturb your latihan or your worship – your develop-ment in the spiritual world.
Bapak knew someone whose great-grandfather could tell things that had not happened yet – a kind of clair-voyant. He knew about things that were yet to happen. But when you look at that from the spiritual point of view, from the human soul, that power he had still came from the low forces. This proves that the low forces are powerful. And maybe the power he had, the great-grandfather of the person Bapak met, is from the low forces but from the higher stage of a low force.
Human beings, as you know, have a human soul. But among human beings there are those – for instance the maharishis – who are very much developed in the spiritual world; who you can classify as being the prophets in the world of the human soul; they are at the highest stage. And it is said that when these people have reached that stage, after their death their soul can come back again so that they can develop to a higher stage.
This explanation of Bapak’s is to show you that there are forces in this world that cannot be understood by the human mind. If a human tried to understand with their mind, they would be disturbed. It would be an obstacle for them in their spiritual development. You will be able to understand about those things, those secret things, which cannot be understood by a human mind, when you can test.]
[Inaudible] … the realities of those secret things when you do not use your mind and heart,3 so that truly, only God’s power, God’s wisdom and God’s knowing or understanding exist within your inner feeling. Then something will be created in your inner feeling that is truly able, even if not completely, to know those secret things.
Solo, Indonesia - February 11, 1965
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 64 SOLO 1
With regard to the soul, certainly it would be easy for us to think that man would necessarily have the soul of a human, since man is different from animals, plants and material objects. Of course it is true that man has a mind or intellect, while animals, plants and material objects do not. But the self of a man who, due to his own fault, spends his whole life paying more attention to material objects than to his worship of God and trying to live in a way that is in accordance with His Will, can easily degenerate and result in the acquirement of a material soul. What is more, if a man has acquired a material soul, then automatically his mind or intellect will be used by this material soul, so that his life and death will entirely depend upon material existence. For this reason we often hear of people who, after losing their material possessions or position, become confused and give way to despair, or meet with a quick death.
Brothers and sisters, we truly cannot blame those people who fall into such a state, for material things do really become necessities to man. Who doesn't want to acquire clothes, ornaments, a house and material objects in the form of tools necessary for producing food and with which man can protect himself? Nevertheless. man must not forget that he exists in this world because of Almighty God and that he moves and has energy because there is life within him. And it is this life within him that he should come to feel and know, for through this knowledge he may be able to meet with the contact from the Power of Almighty God which will always envelope his life both inwardly as well as outwardly.
This, brothers and sisters, is the secret of life and the secret of the kejiwaan. It is for this reason that you should not be so ready to say that this is right and that this is wrong because you cannot yet really know what is right and what is wrong within you. Nor, Brothers and Sisters, should you judge others, as long as you feel that it is "I" who knows. For in reality it is only Almighty God who can judge whether a man is right or wrong.
Bapak says this because, as long as you still hold on to the "I", your standard of judging what is right and wrong in a situation will be based upon your own self, while in truth, the nature of yourself is just a tiny piece of the whole, which has been created by Almighty God. If you go too far in this direction, you will become easily affected by the illness of asking: "Who are you and who am I?" This way of thinking is really a very dangerous illness, for it can easily lead to the arising of an atmosphere of disagreement, as well as a lack of cooperation, mutual love and appreciation, etc., among yourselves which will eventually cause a lack of unity in the Spiritual Brotherhood.
You may claim that the words you have spoken have come from within, by which it is usually meant that they come from Almighty God, not just from a wish of your own mind, but it is necessary for you to know what is the content of your self, and the power that has control over your life.
Malang, Indonesia - October 25, 1966
Code Number : 66 MLG-1
The influence of the desires that reside in our heart and thinking, which we will leave behind when we die but which serve us and take care of our welfare and happiness in this world, it is that which brings us misfortune in the end. Imagine that! It is quite distressing if you ponder on it deeply. It is the heart and thinking that look after your welfare. If you give them up you cannot work or earn money. However, let’s say that the necessities of human life consist of food and clothing – well, in the old days we were just naked, so most important is food – you will not be able to get food if you do not look for it or if you cannot buy it. So, you are certain to use your heart and thinking. Indeed you need to use them. It is wrong if you don’t.
But do not use them to understand your life or your soul, because your soul is the content of your whole being. That means it is the one who steers you, the one in charge. So if your soul is changed, you die. Your soul is the driver in your being and makes use of all the parts of your body. So your heart, your thinking mind and all your organs, such as your eyes, ears, nose and mouth, are driven by your soul. That is the reason why people who are highly educated and know the secrets of how things work, of how to do things the right way, still do things that are wrong. That is what is so distressing! Like in America or in Europe, the most expert criminals could be doctors or lawyers. How can that be? Imagine, the master-engineer, or the master of master-engineers, becomes someone who breaks into safes. Good heavens! They already know that it is wrong, so why do they do it? Because of their soul! If their soul is a material soul, what can they do? Indeed, their soul is the soul of a thief. No matter what they do, that is their soul. There will still be times when they remember that there are other people around, and that is good. But when they forget, and when there is nobody there, then that soul gets to work: ‘Come on, that’s all nonsense! What we need to do now is to break into the safe!’
This applies equally to spiritual knowledge. There are quite a few holy men who sell their spiritual knowledge. Well, if they need to sell something it would be better for them to become merchants than to sell spiritual knowledge.
‘Are you seeking spiritual knowledge?’
‘Yes.’
‘Four lessons will be four hundred rupiahs; five will be five hundred. If you want to go up one level, that will be a thousand.’
That is just an example. And he will want it in new banknotes, not used ones.
‘You can buy twelve discourses or you can buy nine, at ten rupiahs each. If you want seven discourses, you have to pay seventy rupiahs.’
In the old days seventy rupiahs was a lot of money. So,the result is that this spiritual knowledge is only for the rich, for those who have money. If that is the case, then God is for the rich, for people who have money. One could call that the god of millionaires.
Therefore, it is your soul that needs to be changed, so that it becomes a good soul and is in accordance with your form. If your form is human but your soul is not, what will happen? This beautiful form will be manipulated by a low soul. This is something you can test once you have made progress. In your testing you can feel the reality. That is what you need to look for and that is also what needs to change, so that your content becomes good.
Why is it that Bapak is speaking about the soul all the time? Surely, everybody’s soul is the same. The soul of a human is, well, human. Yes, that is what your mind tells you. Think of bananas: there are raja bananas, ambon bananas, susu bananas … they have different names, different forms and different natures. This is even more true of material things. What about animals? The form of a cat is different from that of a goat; the form of a goat different from a cow. Yes. That is true for trees and animals; so what about human beings? Of course, the same thing applies. But because human beings are higher creatures than material things, plants and animals, the true nature of their individuality is hidden. That is what is called the secret of life. Because it is so complex, people who lived long ago and were able to receive an inner reality illustrated this through the wayang [shadow puppet plays], so that people would be able to understand it, little by little.
Those spirits below the human level disturb and influence human beings because they would like to experience the glory, they would like to share the happiness and feel the bliss of a human being living in this world. Of course this is because the level of a human being is high, and in every way exceeds that of a devil. So they hitch a ride: ‘Excuse me, please share with me ...’
In fact, they don’t say ‘excuse me, please share’; you have left the door open and they just come in.
So a person who always acts wrongly – in other words, a person who never remembers God is full of hitchhikers within their being. Do you know what I mean by hitchhikers? They are people who thumb a lift; they ride in a car without paying. Any car that passes, they go like this [gesture]. It is more and more common these days. It used to be just lorries, later it was Jeeps, then Land Rovers, and now they even flag sedans. Yes.
When Bapak goes out: ‘Oh, look, there’s a Mercedes coming.’ They go like this [gesture]. ‘May I come along?’ They get a free ride.
Well, within you, you are full of them. You do not suspect that you have a lot of hitchhikers within you. They want to experience the bliss of a human being. They want to experience the glory of a human being. Well, if that happens while you are eating, getting dressed or going dancing, that’s not so serious. But if it happens during intercourse between a man and a woman, you need to be aware of it. They want to join in and feel the ecstasy there. That’s all right if no child is conceived. But if a child is conceived, whose child is it? It belongs to the hitchhiker. Isn’t that a nuisance? That is where the trouble lies.
Outwardly you can claim it’s your child.
‘Whose are these?’
‘That is my child; that is my child; that is my child.’
No, they’re not! They are the hitchhiker’s children. Oh, my! That is what Bapak means by the secret of life.
Surabaya, Indonesia - October 27, 1966
Code Number : 66 SUB-1
What is this purification for, you might ask? It is to clean out all your faults and all the dirt within your inner feeling. The fact is that the dirt and the faults within you do not come just from your own actions, but they have entered and become entwined in your being from the time of your ancestors. You certainly would not guess that your ancestors were able to pass on their faults and their dirt to you, but in fact it is so.
Just to take an example: for those of you who are married and have a spouse, if you always have a feeling of hatred towards somebody, and you are then granted a child, your child will automatically have the same character and behaviour as the person you have been hating. This shows that the power of that kind of feeling is like a camera: it creates a lens in a person’s inner feeling. Without your ancestors being aware of it, such a lens within them got passed down to their descendants and eventually reached you.
So it is clear that if you are not able to receive yet, if it takes a long time before you become aware and reach the point where you know the life that is right for your individuality – before you find your path and discover the secret of life in this world and the life after death – that is simply because your being is malformed or unclean. Bapak is not saying that you are unclean; maybe you are already all right, already clean. But it is this spiritual experience that gives you the evidence: this is what you experience and this is what you have within you. You will eventually be able to experience, become aware of and understand what Bapak is saying. But as he has told you, you will experience the proof of its reality for yourselves, you will not decide that it is true just because Bapak says so.
That is the point. Because human beings are higher up the scale, it also means that the secrets of their life are deeper and more difficult. So it is this difficulty that we need to try to solve, and we are able to solve it easily by doing the latihan. Therefore do not miss the opportunity; do not wait: do it.
London, England - March 27, 1967
Code Number : 67 LON 2
So it is clear that marriage is very important in your life. And indeed it can enable you to discover how you exist, where you come from and why you are here. Actually, you can grasp this and understand it when a man has sexual union with his wife and when a wife unites with her husband. For when a couple have a child, that is a reiteration, to enable them to know where they came from. For their own origin is the same as that of their child. There is no difference.
What this shows is that in reality the path to God and to the understanding of the worship of God comes through marriage between a man and a woman. This is a secret of life that people cannot easily discover unless they have received guidance and direction from Almighty God.
That is why in Islam, marriage is given highest importance. A marriage is not considered valid or complete if the couple do not pronounce the confession of faith: ‘Ashhadu al-la ilaha illa’llah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulu’llah’ [I bear witness that there is no God but God and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God]. If that is not spoken, the marriage is not considered valid. What is the reason for that? It is because marriage is something very important in human life. Before human beings marry they need really to believe in the existence of God and to bear witness that they are God’s representatives in propagating human beings in the world, and in looking after and improving the world.
Bapak is not saying that the Muslim way is the example or the right way for people to marry, for other religions probably have something similar. It simply reflects the reality that human marriage is something very important, and we need to understand and be aware of that.
Paris, France - April 20, 1967
Code Number : 67 PAR 3
So Adam was sent to earth. When he reached earth he encountered all the things found in this world and he began to think that this world was beautiful and good and enjoyable. And his heart and mind began to forget what it was like before he was sent to earth. So [God] made a companion for Adam, someone to be his life companion on earth. Then by the will of God, with the companion God had made for him, Adam had children; he had descendants like himself. And God told Adam, ‘Your companion can become the way for you to find out how human beings are put on this world.’
Only then did Adam begin to understand and experience what his life had been like before he was born, and how a human being lives before falling under the sway of this world. For whenever Adam had intercourse with his wife he would receive God’s words that he should always be vigilant during lovemaking, so that he could feel and know how a human embryo is formed in a human being. Through that experience, Adam understood that the union between a man and woman – in other words the way a human embryo is made in a human being – is a test or a reminder for a human being. Through intercourse a human being experiences and receives how they were made, what it was like before they were born and what it will be like after they die.
Clearly then, marriage is a secret knowledge for human beings. With that knowledge a human being can find the right path in life; they can understand how they were made and what it will be like when they die. That is why, symbolically, a marriage or the joining together of two people should be held in a church or mosque. A church symbolises the house of God – it is only a symbol, because a church is not really God’s house. Similarly, a mosque too symbolises the house of God.
This supports what Bapak just told you about marriage, that matrimony is very important for human beings. By being vigilant, patient and accepting, and by having complete faith in the glory of God, through marriage, through two people sharing a life together in this world, they will automatically discover what is known as the secret knowledge of how to reach God and God’s power.
Los Angeles, CA U.S.A. - June 6, 1967
Code Number : 67 LAX 3
Brothers and sisters, you have probably never seen a baby born wearing shoes, wearing a dress or wearing lipstick. Of course not, when a baby is born it is naked. This is a sign. When you came into this world what did you bring with you? Nothing but your own being, which was completely naked. That is why [in Islam] when someone dies it is enough to wrap them in a white cloth in order to cover their nakedness. But in reality they are completely naked. So we come naked and go back naked. That is because all that we wear – all this – belongs to this world. It all belongs to matter.
This is a symbol, a secret word, a hint, that when people die they should not take the influence of the world with them, for the influence of the world is heavy. You will not be able to pass through the light of day and reach the heavens if in your inner feeling you are still influenced by the world; it is heavy. But once free of that you can pass through anything, quickly. That is the symbolic meaning of [burying] people naked when they die. It is so that when someone is about to leave this world they should not take its influence with them.
But human beings will not be able to do that. They cannot do without the influence of this world. Maybe they can do without clothes – to live all their life without clothes, like Tarzan in the jungle. But as for food, it is certain that they cannot do without food. That is why nothing can help you to give up the influence of the world unless you get help from God, from God’s power. It is God who will bring you to where you are not influenced by anything at all.
Cilandak, Indonesia - August 22, 1967
Code Number : 67 TJK 7
There is a legend about the life of a young man who lived long ago, whose name was Djaka Tamp.
So the legend goes, and if you cannot receive the secret that is hidden in this story, you will think that it really happened, or else you will take it as a mere fantasy. Whereas, although it did actually happen, it is not told in the ordinary way, so that many people misunderstand it. Moreover, there are also people who think that what is told in the legend really happened in that way, and so they imitate Djaka Tarup by going into the forest to do samadi or to live in solitude in the hope of being able to have the same kind of experience as Djaka Tarup.
If you just consider one point in the story: how can it be that an angel from heaven should have come down to earth only to bathe in a lake, when the angels are said to be creatures of God of a different kind from man, and heaven is said to be a place far more noble and excellent than the earth. In fact, it is quite impossible that angels from heaven would come down to earth just to bathe. You should, therefore, not be in a hurry to draw any conclusion about this legend. It is much better for you to do the latihan kedjiwaan diligently. This is necessary so that you will be able to know the truth of the story's content.
As you know, it was customary in Java for authors to disguise the actual happenings in their stories. They did this on purpose in order to make it more interesting and enjoyable for the reader. Therefore, if you read a book or a story you should not simply believe it, but really feel it in order to check the truth of it, and if you are able to test, this can be done through testing. Then you will no longer be superstitious, you will no longer be gullible.
There are still many stories in which the truth is purposely hidden. It is covered by such nice and beautiful words that it is not easily understood, except by those whose inner feeling is already alive.
Take, for instance, this matjapat Dandanggula melody:
Semut ireng anak-anak sapi,
kebo bongkang njabrang ing bengawan,
kyong gondang djarak sunggute.
Translated literally, the meaning of this Javanese song is:
A black ant has a cow as its child,
a kebo bongkang ( a small insect that walks backward ) crosses a large river,
a big snail with long feelers...
Just consider now, is it possible for a small ant to have a cow as a child, and for the little insect to cross a large river?
If it were only that the first line of this matjapat verse needs to end with the letter "i" in its last syllable for the sake of rhyme, then one could easily make it up as follows: semut irerig manak semut tjilik, which means "the black ant has a small ant as a child." Clearly then, the "i" in the last syllable is not for the sake of the rhyme but has a secret meaning behind it. You should be able to discover the reality hidden in such rhymes, too.
In short, there are many stories in which the truth is hidden in allegories, the secret of which has still to be uncovered. Therefore, in order to be aware of and to discover these secrets, there is no other way for you who have received the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud but to follow it faithfully and diligently, because it is, in fact, guidance from the Power of Almighty God.
Concerning dreams, maybe there are some among you who think about the dreams you have had while asleep, because Bapak receives many letters from brothers and sisters from abroad asking about the meaning of their dreams. So Bapak would like to explain here that a dream is actually a projection of the ideas and imagination of the person concerned, and is seen with the eyes of the feeling during sleep. For instance, someone who is experiencing difficulties and ill-fortune in life usually has very strange and terrifying dreams when he is asleep. Sometimes, too, people have a dream which in its nature is an ilafat or an indication of what is going to happen. It then turns out that what they have received in their dream really comes true. But such kinds of dreams are rarely received by people whose hearts and minds are still full of thoughts and emotions. It is better, therefore, not to pay too much attention to dreams; it is better if you just let them pass by, for if you always pay attention to dreams - and you certainly do dream whenever you are asleep, even if you do not remember it - your faith, submission and sincerity towards Almighty God will lessen, so that doubt and anxiety will arise in your inner feeling. Especially if you have dreams which, according to the interpretation of others, mean that you will face difficulties or death - this will be even more alarming to you, whereas it is not certain that it really will happen to you.
In short, it is better for you not to take too much notice of dreams. It will be better if you obey and follow faithfully the way of the latihan kedjiwaan which is, in truth, guidance from the Power of Almighty God. For with the guidance of Almighty God, your inner feeling will be filled with strong faith and submission, with trust and sincerity towards His Power, so that you will not be afraid to face death when this is indeed willed by Almighty God.
Cilandak, Indonesia - December 16, 1968
Code Number : 68 TJK 6
The improvement of the jiwa, to make your lives happy and good, cannot possibly be achieved through the intelligence of your mind, because your mind has too long been the tool of a that is not yet good. Therefore the only way to improve the is for you to surrender your and your physical body to Almighty God, because only He can change what cannot possibly be changed. And in order to make this possible, you must have the feeling of patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission to His Will. Do not rely solely on the existence of a strong desire, thinking you will be able to achieve your pure and noble aim by means of that strong desire. In fact, this is even dangerous, because you are not yet able to recognize whether the governing your heart is good or not, and the resoluteness of your heart can easily divert your aim in a direction you do not wish-that is to say, it can lead you astray so that you become a person whom others fear. Then you become like a bogeyman in your life on earth, and even more so when you are dead.
Such is the secret of the life of man. Hence one who is not yet able to receive awareness of his life feels that everything he does is good and right. So it happens that not a few people have faith only in their own will, whereas their so-called own will is clearly the will of a low which completely governs them.
It is necessary for Bapak to clarify something else, because quite a few Subud members say that they receive inspirations from within and that they follow only their inspirations. Yes . . . it is indeed difficult to assess what is true, because this too comes from within. But, in reality, the understanding or the result of your thinking, which has become buried in your thought and imagination, is being broken up from within while you undergo purification. It frequently happens, therefore, that you give expression to whisperings from within. However, some of them are communications of a nature that can be felt.
It is therefore very necessary for you, brothers and sisters, to have a feeling of patience and to keep far from the nafsu that make you wish to be clever quickly, and to become a guide or leader quickly.
Cilandak, Indonesia - May 11, 1969
Code Number : 69 TJK 1
Brothers and sisters, Bapak has often heard people say that Subud and its latihan kejiwaan can be regarded as some new religion. There are also some who say that the latihan kejiwaan of Subud is incompatible with religion and others who think that Subud is a form of spiritual teaching using dark occult science; that is, secret knowledge, secretly applied.
Such surmises are not surprising and people cannot be blamed for them, because it is difficult for anyone who is not yet following the latihan kejiwaan of Subud to understand it. Sometimes even Subud members themselves do not yet understand the principle and aim of the latihan kejiwaan. Therefore, although Bapak has already explained these many times, he still feels that further explanation is necessary - in order that you may understand and thereafter be able to explain clearly to others who may wish to know about its principle and aim.
Cilandak, Indonesia - October 15, 1969
Code Number : 69 TJK 6
Bapak will clarify this a little by telling you about an experience in receiving and following the latihan kejiwaan of Subud which you too may perhaps have had. Sometimes, when you receive the latihan together with other members and you are close to them, your body suddenly feels uncomfortable, or you suddenly feel troubled. This shows that you are in front of a member who feels sick or who is in a troubled state. Sometimes, too, when you stand in front of a member, your mouth, nose and eyes feel large. This indicates that you are in front of a member who is filled with a jiwa of a lower life-force. In short, when your inner feeling has begun to be somewhat purified you feel many things in receiving and following the latihan kejiwaan together with others. However, it is a helper's duty to be an attendant or servant and it is best to keep such experiences secret and not to be quick to criticize a person. It is better to wait until the latihan is finished and then advise the person not to be angry, quarrelsome or disagreeable with other people. This is the way the helpers should take care of new members, if they wish to avoid disagreements between themselves and those members. Because usually, if a person is told about a fault, he does not care to acknowledge it, even when he has really acted wrongly. There are many more experiences which helpers have in attending the latihan of members or new members, but Bapak does not feel it is necessary to talk about these experiences here. Later, however, if there is still time, Bapak will do some testing with you, because it is necessary for you to witness yourselves what is true.
Cilandak, Indonesia - December 5, 1970
Code Number : 70 TJK 7
When one is home from the pilgrimage, one's name is changed. Name in Javanese is djening, meaning that which is enthroned within, that which has been placed in the inner self. As the dalang ( wayang puppet master ) tells, there was once a man called Narajana, but he rose through many levels and was changed and thereafter was named Batara Kresna ( the Lord Krishna ). His own nature was that of Narajana but, as they say in Javanese, he was hasalira batara - filled with the divine nature. Hasalira is the secret content within. His outward form is therefore shown black, signifying of one color, eternal.
So when one returns from Mecca, one's name is changed. A man previously called Suta, for example, may become Abdulhamid. When it accords with the hakekat, a change of name conveys a deeper meaning.
Here is another story. Before the Prophet Muhammad Rasulullah became Muhammad, he was called Ahmad, it is said. Later he was named Muhammad, which means to become of the Nature of Allah, because it symbolizes manifesting the Power of God. That is why he is called Muhammad Rasfilullah ( Muhammad, the Messenger of God ). This is as seen from the kejiwaan, not taken from books - in case anyone later on asks which book it comes from.
Jakarta, Indonesia - August 11, 1971
Code Number : 71 TJK 9
One councilor is enough in the organizational section, either a man or a woman, but in the Kejiwaan section one is not enough; there must be two. This is because the Kejiwaan, that is to say the inner content, will reveal things that are highly secret as between men and women. It is out of place if what is secret to women is made known in public to men; and vice versa. A matter may be all right among men, but for women some things are very secret.
San Francisco, CA - U.S.A. - April 14, 1972
Code Number : 72 SFO 1
In the old days, brothers and sisters, people only needed to have faith and to believe in the existence of the One Almighty God. So far as Bapak knows and receives, there was still nothing to confirm it; nothing that could be verified by those who listened to the instructions and advice their teachers gave them. But now it is no longer like that; now, with the arising and the advent of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, it is not necessary to be given advice, but it is necessary to be given proof, to be given something that can be verified. And what is this something? It is what Bapak has been doing, when he tests with you, showing that your selves are really filled by the power of God and that your lives are really enveloped by the power of God. Of course you will not be able to see this with the ordinary eyes in your head, nor to hear it with your ordinary ears; nor be able to see or hear it with your physical body, in short, but with your jiwa. Bapak tried this last night. Last night Bapak showed you that besides being able to see with the eyes in your head, you will be able to see with your jiwa, and as a result of seeing with your jiwa you will be able to know hidden things and see secret things.
This example shows that the One Almighty God can know all those things that human beings cannot see! What Bapak has done in testing with you is like giving you a sample of reality. In connection with that, therefore, every action, everything you do, all your usual activities, constitute your worship of the One Almighty God. Such is indeed the will of God for mankind, brothers and sisters, and for every creature He has created, so that they shall not forget Him and so that their inner selves and their natures are never far from God.
Capetown, South Africa - May 23, 1972
Code Number : 72 CPT 1
. . . of course when people embark upon the life of the spiritual, the deeper it goes and the stronger it is, and the stronger it is, the more often - they carry out their spiritual practices, and then they gradually begin to forget this world. That is indeed the usual thing. That is why in Indonesia there are two groups of those who practice the spiritual life. The first of these is the younger age group; spiritual teaching for the younger people. This teaching for the younger people is called spiritual, but in fact it is really nafsu - such things as magic and the various isms; spiritualism, hypnotism, magnetism and the rest of it. That is for young people. They say that spiritual perfection is for older people; that is the spiritual life that enables people to obtain to the highest levels after death when the time comes.
That is how it is, brothers and sisters, and that is what is indicated by the existence of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. But that it is so is the fault only of these people themselves. It is not the will of God; it is the will of God for every being, every human being, to worship God. For to worship God means caring for one's own self. It does not mean taking care of God. God asks for no contribution from human beings. God does not ask people for money, nor does He ask for the least support from human beings. Thus if people are good it is for their own good. It is not that their being good does any good to God; no, for God is All-Powerful and can eliminate from His Self anything that feels unpleasant. It is the same case as God creating the universe and all its contents through the will of His Self.
It is thus obvious, brothers and sisters, that if people try to find what is good for themselves: what is best for themselves, their effort it is in their own interest. It is not done for God; it is done for one's own self. It is therefore very necessary for each life to worship God, every kind of life; and how much more necessary this is for human beings. For to worship God means to care for oneself, to safeguard oneself and to make oneself happy.
As an example for this, Bapak has just tested "What is the use of the hands?" Like this, like this, like this. That is just an example. If you are really aware, you will not lose your way in life. You will be able to know your way in life and where to find a livelihood. Take the birds, brothers and sisters; what school have they? They have none. Each day they fly out and fly to their destination; and their destination is where they can find a living. But where human beings are concerned, they are in the dark in their lives, so that they cannot even find work.
The secret of it is this; man is the highest being, the perfect being. The roh raewani is the material roh or spirit; the roh nabadi is the vegetable roh; the roh khewani is the animal roh; the roh jasmani is the ordinary human roh. The roh rohhani is the roh of the perfect human being, five levels up from the bottom. Yet if a man is unable to find work, an ant is worth more than a man, a bird is worth more than a man.
Capetown, South Africa - May 24, 1972
Code Number : 72 CPT 2
Thus nowadays things are no longer the way they used to be in the past. In the past there was no faster means of travel than on horseback; it was fairly fast on a camel and not fast at all on foot. Thus nowadays we have to take into consideration the atmosphere of this world. Even if something is said to be spiritual we have to do it quickly. Formerly, brothers and sisters, people needed to study spiritual matters not for one year or two but for tens of years, and still they had not arrived at understanding what the 'I' is. They do not even understand the 'I', let alone understand God.
So the situation in former centuries was such that if someone could say this and this was so and so, that was already taken to be something esoteric, something correct, and he became famous and other people looked up to him. This was so in the past centuries, brothers and sisters, but now it is not like that. Nowadays, not only adults are clever, but sometimes the children are already more clever than the adults.
It is therefore clear that for the present times we need something quick, something to bring us speedily to conviction, something that we can quickly verify. The only way to be quickly able to feel that the power of God really does exist and that there is some secret in our lives - which means something we feel to be new - is in the experience of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. Because of that, it is therefore very fortunate for Bapak and for all of you that God does truly love us, and that He has given us something that is appropriate to the ways of these present times.
The latihan kejiwaan of Subud, to use a current expression, is a blitzkrieg latihan. It is fast, for nowadays people want speed. And they want something self winding, like a self winding watch. If human beings can make something that goes by itself, just from movement, why should they not look for something to make themselves move? This they find in Subud.
It is truly amazing, brothers and sisters, it is really strange how this latihan kejiwaan of Subud balances what is happening in the world. Although what we have had in this world has up to now been man made, yet this really does balance it. The range and content of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud is such that you will be able to receive something that you will really feel to be guidance and direction from the One Almighty God.
If you get guidance and direction from the One Almighty God, it automatically means that God comes close to you and you come close to God, or that you have been able to come close to God and to find Him, so that eventually everything will develop automatically; it will awaken by itself and it will progress by itself.
So that you become used to this, and in order that your hearts and minds shall not always behave according to the old habits of long ago, it is therefore very necessary for you to establish the undertakings that Bapak calls enterprises. And the enterprises you run will be like what Bapak has just said, moving of their own accord by the power of God which always overshadows you and protects you, and which is always there to the right and to the left, above and below your actions and activities.
Such enterprises will accustom you to being close to God at all times, always conforming to the power of God. That is really what God wills for the human self, so that people should not want to meet with God only when they die. It is not certain that they will, brothers and sisters; if you have never known and never felt what God is like and what His power is like while you are still alive it will not be possible for you to be able to find God afterwards, when you are dead.
Cilandak, Indonesia - September 25, 1975
Code Number : 75 CDK 5
( Testing )
Bapak does not say that Islam is the best religion. No. All religions are the same. It all depends on the person.
Therefore we have to translate all this into good deeds ( amal ) and what are good deeds? What Bapak said earlier: the way whereby we can obtain an improvement of our nature is the fast so that our nature may become that of people of excellent character. And through the fast we can obtain God's ilham or Grace. It is the Grace which has the results that within man there grows by itself a nature with this excellent character. Again...
( Testing, about ogres and knights in the wayang )
They didn't exist. If ogres had existed like that then, they would still exist now. So it is just a symbol. In other words, in the old days there were no ogres, they didn't exist; and knights as handsome as Arjuna also didn't exist, they are only symbols, symbols of men with pure hearts, whose behavior is excellent, such as Arjuna. Their eyes look good, their noses look good, their mouths look good, in other words, they look beautiful, like that. A man who is not good: his eyes are large, his nose is large with great big nostrils as big as two ovens; his mouth is big, his teeth, wow, they are enormous! All that is a symbol.
All this Bapak has shown you by way of testing, so it can be said that you lack nothing. Really, there is nothing you lack, brothers and sisters. You can already test yourself: what am I like? Do it yourself, and if you can already test yourself and you still go on the same way as before, well, isn't that your own fault? Why do you persist? Why do you go on the same way?
For if later Bapak tests you one by one, that gives away your secrets. So this is in order that you know your own secret. If you already know your own secret, then you can keep it to yourself. The one who knows is you; even if the others know it too, it is not necessary to show it off.
San Francisco, California - April 28, 1976
Code Number : 76 SFO 4
So, brothers and sisters, with the latihan kejiwaan actually, once we have received the latihan kejiwaan, it is something that will go on by itself. That is, we don't need to do anything more because the latihan kejiwaan works by itself. And all that remains for us to do after that, is simply to look after our own life, to look after the needs of our life while we are in this world. Because the needs of our life in the next world have already surrendered to Almighty God. So, it's true to say that this latihan kejiwaan is something of very great value because it is a gift from God Almighty which is the only thing that can subjugate the lower forces, something which it is impossible for us to do ourselves. So when we have received the latihan kejiwaan, it is as though we have received a discount on our duties that have been given to mankind by God, duties which by ourselves, we could not carry out. So, we have a very easy job of just accepting, of carrying out the latihan kejiwaan by just receiving it. For there is nothing else we can do except just to receive it. It is something that works by itself, without any effort from us. And all we need to do is to practice it so that we can receive the receiving and the gift that we have got.
This is something, that if you do not believe it, there is an example that Bapak can give. In fact, do we, let us say, make a plan that we will create a man called Henry before he has been born? Or do we make a plan that later this Henry will also have a son? We usually don't do that. Usually people arrive without our having made much effort. This is something which is actually a secret, but Bapak has no choice but to talk about it. When a man and a woman want to get married, the woman wants to get married to the man, the man wants to get married to the woman, they rarely have a plan that they want to get married because they want to make a baby. Usually, they want to get married for pleasure, because of love. The woman wants to marry the man because she loves him and the man wants to marry the woman because he loves her. Very rarely do they get married because of the love they feel for their future children. And yet, without doing anything special, just what men and women usually do together after they have gotten married, they get a child.
So it is so simple because it is God's will. And it is God who has made that child. Because if you think you have made it, then compare it with the effort that you need to put in to make something quite simple. Let us say you want to make a table. You have to work it out, you have to measure every piece of wood, you have to saw, you have to sandpaper, you have to glue, you have to do this and that and, another thing, in the end, when you sell it, it is maybe worth ten dollars. And yet, when a man and wife come together and have a baby, that baby is worth one hundred tables, and yet they have done hardly anything, made any effort to bring it about. So this shows God's power, and if you can think logically and draw the conclusion, you can see that for God, many things are possible that for man's effort are not possible. So similarly, in the latihan kejiwaan, God is able to do something for us, which we ourselves with our own effort cannot do.
Los Angeles, California - May 2, 1976
Code Number : 76 LAX 2
( Testing - women )
So, in this way as time goes on you will be more and more able to receive things which people normally cannot receive. But quietly within you, in other words, to put it into ordinary language, in secret. In other words, nobody else need know what you are receiving. And this is right, because this receiving is in the interest of your relationship with God. It has nothing to do with your relationship with other people. So therefore, what is important is that when this happens, when you begin to receive you will begin to fear God but you also will acquire the courage to be near to God. And you will he able to pray to God, you will be able to worship God within you, without other people around you knowing, or being aware of it.
If we pray to God, if we happen to be Muslims, of course we say, something like "La ilaha ill-Allah.' If we happen to be Christians, then naturally we say whatever it is normal for Christians to say, something different. And now you can receive and feel the reality of it. When Bapak says this, when Bapak says the prayer, it is the same prayer for men and for women. But their place of receiving it is different in each case Were you able to receive that? What was the part that was moved? And now Bapak asks first the ladies. You can say yes or no depending on your receiving. When Bapak said that for the ladies what should move is, when Bapak says 'ia ilaha' the right breast, and 'ill-Allah' the left breast. So Bapak will now do it quicker and you can feel it maybe easier. If you translate this prayer into our language, it means, the first part, "I am your creature", and the second , "You are my God". So, how was it? Where was it? Is it moving or not? So the secret of a woman is located in that place. So the secret of a woman is located there, and that is the reason why when a man looks at .a woman he always looks at that place first. And you should be aware that men are constantly devising ways of being able to see more. But you the ladies don't understand so you follow these plans. The more people see the happier you are, in fact you misunderstand.
Toronto, Canada - May 12, 1976
Code Number : 76 YYZ 1
Now the question of the committee. The committee can be regarded as the secretariat of the kejiwaan. It's quite clear that the principal thing in Subud is the kejiwaan. And the kejiwaan is something that cannot be controlled by the organization, because the kejiwaan relates to man's worship of God, and there is no one who can organize it or control it, or check on it or direct it except Almighty God Himself. So it is something that is completely secret between the man and God and it is impossible for someone else to legislate about it, or to lay down anything about it. Because, for example, it is quite possible for man never to set foot in a mosque, never to set foot in a temple, never to go to a church, and yet to be worshiping Almighty God. Nobody needs to know, nobody can know.
So it is quite clear that the kejiwaan is something that cannot be organized and cannot be dictated. And the Organization therefore, the committee, is the servant of the kejiwaan in the realm of taking notes, of keeping track of the membership, of doing the bookkeeping, of collecting the contributions, of paying for the latihan hall, of making sure that the accommodation for latihan is provided, and paying out the financial needs of the helpers who need to serve the brothers and sisters. So these are the problems and the responsibilities and the duties of the committee. And if they feel that these things are very heavy and very awesome and put them in a way to make them superior to the helpers because they have far more work to do, and their work task is far more difficult, then the answer is that this is really not true. Because don't forget that the helpers have the duty and the right to open new members, and without new members there will be no Subud, Subud will not spread. So it is clear that the helpers are the pioneers of Subud, just as Bapak himself is the pioneer of Subud; if there was no Bapak there would be no Subud. So similarly if there were no helpers there can be no new members.
Toronto, Canada - May 12, 1976
Code Number : 76 YYZ 2
Experience has shown, brothers and sisters, that it has happened many times that people who have only recently been opened, and who have only been doing the latihan for about six months, are well able to receive; because of the grace and mercy of the One Almighty God and also because of their own heredity and natural endowment, these people who have only been opened for six months, and who have done the latihan diligently, are able to receive. They receive in the latihan in really quite a remarkable way. Because they know things that have not yet happened and things that are still hidden in other people's hearts, many of the Subud members believe that these are people to who the One Almighty God has granted ilham, divine inspiration.
Such things have happened not just once but many times. And when such things are reported to him, what does Bapak say? Bapak says that God does indeed give freely to mankind. He gives freely to His creatures; He gives to whoever is really obedient to Him and who has really good feelings, a good heart and a good character. Such people can indeed receive the gift of God quickly, so that they can know things that are still hidden, still secret, but in spite of this it should not be said that they have reached the summit or reached the limit of what is necessary for human worship of God. They have by no means got there yet; this is the path, the way that leads there. Of course, brothers and sisters, the path you follow in the spiritual field, the path which leads from this world or from yourselves to God, is not to be measured by counting one, two, three, four, five up to ten, but in millions of steps. It is like what the scientists themselves say; that in the great world of the universe there is not just the one sun, but many, many suns and many planets. Thus the universe is full of things about which human beings cannot know the whole truth.
Wendhausen, Germany - June 23, 1976
Code Number: 76 WEN 2
Bapak’s advises you not to make a hobby out of testing, or test about things which are unnecessary; there is more and more danger that you get wrong things and so on. Bapak said to be able to receive clearly in other words without disturbance, to get a real clear answer you must be able to be completely non existing at the moment of testing, your jiwa is gone. For example when Bapak tests, at the moment Bapak tests Bapak is gone, there is only the situation, only the reality, so that Bapak can be completely objective of what the truth is. But if the one who tests is mister Thorenaar for example: if Mr. Thorenaar is still there at the moment of the testing, the testing cannot really be clean.
So Bapak says the important thing is to mainly stick to things which are really, really necessary. In the latihan you receive all sorts of secrets about other people and in the latihan we understand about each other, so this is like a secret. In other words the latihan is full of secrets of life, Bapak says. But if I know your secrets and then I tell it to somebody else, that is like I'm slandering you or I am giving away your secrets. This is what is not allowed so therefore you should be very careful about other people, especially when they don't ask you to test.
Mexico City, Mexico - April 26, 1972
Code Number : 72 MEX 1
This is the usefulness and necessity of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, so that all your faults and all the things you have done wrong can be forgiven. For people do wrong and they do act wrongly, and this has come to be habitual; not only for you. Bapak is also like that, and there is no one who does not do wrong. Because of that we must try to obtain forgiveness from the One Almighty God for the wrong we have done. That is why you all very much need to experience this. It is like someone in a crisis. Of course you do not want a crisis, because someone in a crisis, a member who is experiencing a crisis, does strange things; things that you do not want to do. You only want to do good things, but you do not know and do not understand that in your good deeds and your good actions there is something wrong, something that is not good.
You can feel it for yourselves. You make your face look good; you make yourself beautiful with powder and scent and all sorts of things. Your clothes; you make your clothes nice, so that you can be called a good-looking woman, a sweet and pretty woman. But you forget that in your stomach, in your inside, there are nasty things that disgust you and which you yourself would not like if they were outside. This is the evidence that there is still something bad and ugly contained within people's good actions. That is why, even though you may not be aware of any sin and may not feel that you are doing anything wrong, it is still very necessary for you to ask the One Almighty God for forgiveness, so that you can be set free of all the sins of which you yourself are unaware, and so that the One Almighty God can pardon them. And because the latihan kejiwaan of Subud is guidance and direction from the One Almighty God, therefore your correct path, the path that clearly comes from God, is the guidance and direction of the One Almighty God which is embodied in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud.
Because of that, brothers and sisters, it is very important and necessary for you all to do the latihan diligently and to accept whatever happens. Accept what is necessary for your life, so that you can know the secret and hidden things that as a rule cannot be seen or known.
The forgiveness and the mercy God grants to human beings are not like what one person grants to another, saying, for instance, "I forgive your sins". It is not like that. Forgiveness from the One Almighty God, the mercy of God to man, is joy and happiness, a state of bliss. Then you can find whatever is needed for your life, so that whereas formerly your dull brain did not understand anything, yet because of the forgiveness of the One Almighty God, because of the mercy of God, your brain then becomes clever, becomes intelligent, so that all sorts of things emerge from your mind that can be used as equipment to make your life in this world secure.
New York, NY, U.S.A. - May 9, 1972
Code Number : 72 NYC 1
Brothers and sisters, we have a basis, we have a foundation, we have a platform upon which to base our ideas; our selves, that is. The human self came into existence with the creation of mankind, and it has continued the same until now. Nose, ears, eyes, mouth; the whole body is the same. Only the men of former times were very big. Although they had the same form, it was much larger. It is this that forms a basis. It is this that forms a foundation for consideration in looking at things. There is no other way leading to God and enabling man to place his hope in God except the one that passes through a persons own self. It cannot go by way of books, it cannot go by way of anything else. Your own self is the way.
You can see its tracks when a motor car has gone past; you can tell from its tracks that a car has gone by. For men there are traces of the power of God, not tracks like those of a car. Thus Bapak pictures the human self as if the power of God has passed through it.
In this your own observation will enable you to feel and know "Ah, this is the One Almighty God." It forms the path, it forms the conditions that enable one to know all the most secret things. Why should people not make use of it? They even use stones so as to find things out. It is not necessary to use stones; this is enough, this is the best way.
You will be able to know these things, brothers and sisters; you will be able to experience them and you will also be able to understand them, because the guidance and direction of the One Almighty God are already present in your selves. Thus you simply have to put it into practice. Put what God has given you into practice. Put it into practice means it is as if you contract to build a house. The stone is already there, the cement is there, the iron is there, the constructional steel is there, the wood is there. Everything is already there. It remains to do the job; it is no use just wishing.
This is it. What you need to do is to follow the traces that are already there. And these traces are what are called tipaking kuntul nglajang in Javanese. That means "the trail left" by a flying bird". Where is the trail of a flying bird? There is its shadow, but there is no trail. It is because of that that Bapak always says that you are under the Shadow of the Power of the One Almighty God. Though at present it may be just a hand, a leg, a nose, a mouth that moves, it will gradually become more and more inward until it reaches the inner feeling itself, until it reaches the heart of the heart, which means the hati sanubari. This hati sanubari has its structure. According to the teachings, it has seven layers. The further in one goes the finer these are and the more extensive. And the condition that makes it possible to go further in and spread out wider is patience.
This is very difficult. You are not yet able to accept that "if someone finds fault with me or abuses me I must remain silent and even smile." It is not at all funny when people find fault with you; it is as if your feelings were wounded. But if people praise you, you are not a little flattered, you are not a little pleased. This is the nature of the heart of someone who is not inside his self. If that goes on one cannot get inside, but just remains on the outside.
In short, that is how it is, brothers arid sisters. For if Bapak were to explain point by point, like a teacher with his pupils, it would not only take a long time but it would have to take into account the pupils receiving the lesson. What class are they in ? You may, for instance, be in class one; you have to spend six years in the primary school, five years in the secondary school, and then a further five years adds up to sixteen years. That is in the ordinary way. Sometimes some of the pupils are very dense; sometimes it takes then three years to get through one class. So how many years will they need ?
Norwich, England - June 23, 1977
Code Number : 77 NWI 1
Among Subud members and also among people outside Subud there are still quite a few who consider that Subud is a form of religion or a new religion, but the truth is something very different from that. Subud can in no way be called a religion, and this is Bapak's own opinion and also the opinion of all Subud members who have really practiced the latihan and experienced the truth of the latihan. The reason why Bapak says this, and this is Bapak's own view, is because in Subud there is no form of special theory or study that we have to undertake.
But it's very different in the case of the religions, the established religions where, besides doing the regular worship that exists in the religion, people also study the content of the writings on which that religion is based. For example, in writings which in the time of Abraham were handed down in the form of psalms, the psalms of David; in the time of Moses in the form of the Torah; in the time of Jesus Christ in the form of the Gospels, and in the time of Prophet Muhammad in the form of the Koran.
So in fact, although Subud is clearly not a religion, yet there is some truth in the saying that Subud assists or helps those of its members who have their own religion to understand it better, Subud has the effect of opening up the secrets that lie within the religion of its members. Bapak frequently has had letters from Subud members who are Christians, who belong to the Christian faith, who have told Bapak that as a result of receiving the special grace of God in doing the latihan, or having done the latihan for a long time, they have been able to understand really deeply the purpose of the Christian religion, the need for and the importance of the Christian religion for themselves and for others. As a result of this deeper understanding they are much more steadfast in their faith and are no longer easily influenced by all sorts of ideas and teachings that go against the nucleus or the inner meaning of their religion.
Similarly, Bapak frequently has had letters from Muslims, Subud members who are Muslims, who have written to Bapak and said that as a result of doing the latihan kejiwaan they have been graced by God with a much deeper understanding of the basis of what is written in the Koran and the various other teachings in Islam that have been received by those who have received the revelation of God Almighty. These people now feel they understand the secret of their religion, which before they could only understand superficially.
A few of these people who write to Bapak then go on to ask, "Having now understood the deeper inner meaning of my religion, is it still necessary for me to go on with the latihan kejiwaan?" To these people Bapak answers, "It is precisely because you have been enabled to understand the inner meaning of your own religion that it is necessary for you to continue even more diligently with the latihan kejiwaan, so that your understanding will be progressively deeper and deeper and clearer and clearer about all that you need for your life.
So, brothers and sisters, it is absolutely clear that Subud is not a hindrance to people in following their religion; on the contrary, it is a help to religion; yet Bapak is well aware that there are many people outside Subud who look on Subud as a threat to religion, or as something that is harmful or detrimental to religion. This is commonplace in the world today. We are used to the fact, it is the nature of the world, that people tend to criticize each other, people tend to distrust each other and people tend to regard their own group as superior and more right and correct than that of everybody else. People who feel like this are unaware of the real purpose of religion. They have forgotten the real reason why God instructed His messengers to spread their religion to the furthest corners of the earth, not paying attention to race, color or nationality, but to try to spread their religions to all humanity.
London, England - June 25, 1977
Code Number : 77 LON 4
The reason why the material forces are an obstacle and a disturbance is because of their continuous contact and very, very close association with our heart and mind, particularly our thinking and our heart. These material forces are always in contact with our thinking and, therefore, they provide a constant temptation and a constant obstacle if we wish to surrender and really be able to receive something that we need from God.
Also there are all the other life forces which provide this kind of obstacle, but yet this understanding of our mind - viewing these forces as obstacles - is also something not correct, because the mind, in fact, is unable to comprehend the true nature of what is within us. Actually, these lower life forces are essential to our existence as men, because you can compare our being with a large house. A house cannot exist, cannot be complete, unless it has a roof, floors, windows, columns and all the other things that make a house. Therefore, if it is not complete, if some of these things are missing, it is not a house. Similarly with us. These life forces are the framework through which we are alive, through which we live, and the mind is actually incapable of understanding what is within us, because what is within a human being is, in fact, a great secret - and the One who knows and understands what is within man, and can arrange it and re-arrange it, is only God Almighty.
Now we say God Almighty - but it's not God personally who comes and sorts out what is within us. It is God's power, and the agents for God's power are what we call the angels. Now we always say everything is arranged and is done by the power of God, but to execute God's will God uses beings or messengers of God and these messengers are the angels; and these angels - actually we can see what they are composed of, they are made of light - they are the ones who act for God and do God's bidding as his messengers.
So one thing is clear - that because of God's love for man, God has given man something within him which can pierce through all the barriers in his feeling, and that is the vibration of God's power, the qadar ilham which Bapak explained to you about previously. This is something that God has given to man so that it can push aside or deflect the pressure of the lower life forces to enable man to worship God Almighty through God's will. This is something that we have all received in the Latihan Kejiwaan as a proof that God really loves man and gives to man His power through which man can receive God's guidance and God's teaching free from the influence of the lower life forces.
Singapore - June 28, 1976
Code Number: 76 SIN 1
( Testing )
This is how it is, brothers and sisters. You have to some extent been able to witness and to clarify it for yourselves. Indeed, brothers and sisters, nowadays people can no longer just believe in what they are told without any clear proof of the story, even though this proof may be in the feelings, even though this proof may be in secret. That is why people from abroad believe in Subud, meaning that Europeans and Americans believe in it. For Subud can give proofs, so that clever and intelligent people can believe in it, because they really witness the proofs and evidence that exist in Subud. At the present time, there are many people in Europe who have no religion, and who previously had no belief in God, who have come to believe in God because of the latihan kejiwaan.
That is so, brothers and sisters, and then Bapak receives news from Malaysia that the Muslims are not allowed to enter Subud because Subud accepts people who are not Muslims. That is what they say, and they also say that Subud conflicts with Islam. That is up to them, but in reality Subud does not conflict with Islam, nor does Subud harm any religion, but on the contrary, it is of a helpful nature. As in Indonesia itself, in Jakarta where Subud has brought at least 300 converts to Islam who were not previously Muslims, possibly more than that. That is just in Jakarta, not counting other places such as America and such as London itself, were some people are now actively following Islam because of Subud.
Thus Subud has been of service, not to Muslims, but to Islam. First and foremost, it follows and obeys the will of God. If it is unpopular with the Muslims who follow the shariat of that religion, that is up to them. But it has the approval of God, and it is a sign of this that Subud has spread all over the world, to 74 countries.
This is why Bapak hopes that you will all remain faithful, brothers and sisters, and keep on with the latihan, and wherever there are people who do not believe in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, just leave that to them. But what matters is your own selves, and whether you yourselves really do believe in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, and want to do it. Bapak hopes that you will all always keep on doing the latihan diligently, and in harmony with one another.
Oslo, Norway - July 24, 1977
Code Number : 77 OSL 4
Brothers and Sisters, as Bapak has explained to you, the lower forces are part of our being. In other words, all our functions and all our actions and everything that we do, are always accompanied. We share our body and our senses with them - that is, the material, the vegetable, the animal and the human. In this there is also a very great secret which is particularly important for women; and although this is a very great secret, actually Bapak is not allowed to leave it out because it is something that we very much need for our life. That is, that the greatest danger to man is the union of man and woman. Of course, if we only judge everything from the point of view of pleasure and desire, there is no need to think about this. Whether it is right or not, or whether something is right to do or not right to do - this all becomes irrelevant. But if we really want to know, if we really want to know the true situation then Bapak has to explain it to us like this. That if we have sexual relations, no matter how we lock the doors of the house and lock the doors of our bedroom till we are quite sure that nobody can possibly disturb us, all these precautions are completely meaningless to the lower forces which are within our being, because they can influence us and disturb us at any moment. It is this that is the real danger - because although a husband and wife may lock all their doors, close the windows and feel they are truly private, yet for the lower forces, the material forces, the vegetable forces, the animal forces, there is absolutely no obstacle for them to get in at that moment of union. And what is the result? The result is that you have people who are very good who have children who are not good at all. It can even happen that people who are not good have children who are good. And all this comes about as a result of what happens at the moment when husband and wife, or wife and husband, have their sexual relations.
Wolfsburg, Germany - July 27, 1977
Code Number : 77 WOB 1
Brothers and sisters, all the life forces which God has created, and all the living beings, and all beings and all creatures that God has created, exist by God's decree; God has not created the lower forces which exist in man to be an obstacle or a disturbance or a burden for man. So therefore God has also created something to provide the way for all his creatures, for everything that God has created - something that fills the whole universe. And this something cannot be called a life force, but rather it is the clarifier or the enlightener of every creature that God has created.
It is this something - like a radiance - which fills the whole universe that God has created and can touch all the life forces of every level, and exists on every level. So it is not itself a life force, but is an illuminator or an enlightener for every life force on every level; the name of this is the roh ilofi. And also, among all beings, God has given man this contact or an experience of this power. How can man experience this power? Certainly it cannot be done with his heart and mind, but it can only be done with his inner feeling at a moment when his inner feeling is truly patient and surrendered and full of acceptance. The moment there is no influence of any kind within man, the roh ilofi will work, and the moment the roh ilofi works all other influences are stilled and are removed.
So for man, actually the existence of this roh ilofi has always been, in all ages, a great and deep secret which has been kept by all mankind because it was always considered something very dangerous for people who could not keep the secrets of life to themselves.
So the evidence or the symptoms or the workings of this roh ilofi can be felt by man when it is willed by God. Bapak asks, 'What are the symptoms for the working of the roh ilofi?' Then since Bapak asks, then Bapak also answers, that this is the vibration of life which is received by all of us when we were opened in Subud and when we do the latihan.
We should be able to understand from this that having received this contact in the Latihan Kejiwaan, that it is something of a good fortune or an extraordinary situation which we cannot really talk about. It is beyond price or beyond thinking and we cannot talk about it, but we can only experience it. So the important thing for us is to understand that this what we have received is no different from, for example, the radiance that used to illuminate Jesus Christ when he was on this earth. You have all seen pictures of Jesus where he is portrayed as though there is a radiance emanating from him. It is this radiance which is the roh ilofi, or as it is called in Christianity, the holy spirit.
When we say these words, then certainly many of you feel, 'Oh this is much too high for us - we are talking about things that are beyond us, that are too high for us.' But although this is a very great secret, Bapak does not wish to keep it from us and does not want to keep it secret, because Bapak knows that we need to have clear information and a clear statement so that our actions will also be correct and not done at random, but that we should be able to act correctly in our lives.
. . . Now all this experienced by the prophet Muhammad was through the action of the power of the roh ilofi, which is this radiance that not only carried prophet Muhammad to God, but also was the radiance that always illuminated Jesus Christ, which Bapak mentioned earlier.
So this experience that was had by the prophet Muhammad is something that is very clear and there are no secrets in it; God does not keep secrets from His creatures, but it is man who makes it into a secret. And the reason for this is because it is truly something that is beyond the understanding of the mind. And that is because the whole experience is something that is beyond this world, and that's why, in fact, there is no need for men to be told about such things like the journey of prophet Mohammed because they are bound to misunderstand the moment they hear it. But the fact is that the power which was able to take prophet Muhammad to God, and also the power which enabled Jesus Christ to be called by God, is the same power that we have received in the Latihan Kejiwaan which we do every so often.
Hamburg, Germany - August 6, 1977
Code Number : 77 HAM 3
Because we cannot know what Almighty God will give to each of us, the helpers ,therefore have truly not to have a feeling of being higher than each other or lower than each other, but simply to wait together for God's grace and God's blessing for them. This is the reason why in the spiritual, in the kejiwaan, it is absolutely forbidden to have a feeling of being higher, of being above other people. This is what is referred to in the spiritual sense as Tokkaburr, especially in Islam. It is a quality where people like to make claims or to determine that such-and-such will happen in the future, although they are not quite sure yet whether it will happen or not. In other words, people who like to 'show off'. This is something that is absolutely forbidden in religion. The corresponding term in Dutch, maybe you know it, is forbarrer: those of you who can speak Dutch - forailich - premature. So this is something that is very much forbidden in religion. The reason why ,this is so much forbidden in religion is because a feeling of pride or a feeling of being higher is truly an enormous obstacle or barrier to receiving any kind of grace from God Almighty.
This is why - Bapak again reminds you now, repeats once again - that in your situation as helpers you must not ever have a feeling of being higher than another, or something like that. That is why the question of spiritual degree among helpers is a great secret which we never think about or discuss because, actually, as helpers we are all equal, all on the same level, all equally high and equally low.
It is Bapak's wish that in the kejiwaan everybody should have their turn, that nobody feels left out, or something like that. So for that reason there will always be a change, and after four years there will be elections and the national helpers will be replaced and so on. Then all the people who have been national helpers will feel depressed because they have to go down to the local level, and they feel 'I have gone down very far, and my spiritual degree has fallen right down' and so on. Because, as Bapak said, the question of spiritual degree is something that is very real and when we receive the revelation of God or, let's say, we become complete men, complete human beings through God's grace, then that is something that we will really know for ourselves in this life. And when we have reached that stage where we are complete human beings, at that moment all distinctions between life and death will disappear for us, or the boundary between life and death will become as something that doesn't exist.
Lausanne, Switzerland - August 13, 1977
Code Number : 77 QLS 1
Brothers and Sisters, this is something very important to understand, that nothing that man can achieve can be achieved without sacrifice, without bitterness, without suffering. There is no exception to this at all. If we look for a moment at the invention of something very, very convenient, like an airplane: certainly, an airplane is something very convenient and we don't think much about it. It's very easy for us. We just pay our money, we buy the ticket, we get on the airplane and we go to somewhere we want to go. It's very pleasant. But it was not always like that. The people who first invented the airplane went through many hardships and great losses of life. Many people lost their lives in trying to make the airplane work and if, at that moment, they had become scared, if the fact that maybe somebody crashed they would then stop -'Oh no, it's too dangerous, we mustn't try to perfect the airplane?' -maybe today we would not have an airplane, we would still be going by train everywhere. So it is clear, Brothers and Sisters, that everything that man does in this world has to be preceded by suffering, by sacrifice and by bitterness, before man can achieve something that makes him happy and gives him the fruits that he is looking for. This is the case, for example, in inventing an airplane, because it is from the failures that people learn the secret of making an airplane fly.
This secret, actually, is something very simple, and although Bapak is not at all an expert in these things Bapak understands very well what it is that they have discovered - and this all comes from what we know as the kite. We know very well that if you make a kite and there is wind and you pull on it with a piece of string, the kite will fly up in the air. So they discovered a way whereby you have something that pulls you along, like a propeller - now you use a jet turbine which provides the pull instead of the string. In the plane, then, there is something like a kite which lifts it up. But to find this people had to go through many difficulties and search and search to find a way how to make it work. This is the case in everything that we do. If we look at people who are very wealthy, maybe people like Henry Ford or Rockefeller and so on, don't imagine that it was easy for them to achieve what they achieved. Before they were wealthy they had their ups and downs. They failed, they made losses, they fell down and stood up again until finally they found a way. So it is because of this, it is because men had the determination and a really strong heart to pursue, for example, the airplane, that they were finally able to invent it and achieve what they wanted.
So we also, in doing our enterprises, must not be faint-hearted or cowardly and afraid of things that might cause us loss or problems or difficulties, but we must face them steadfastly so that finally we will achieve the success that we are looking for as a result of our experience and our hard work. So this, Brothers and Sisters, will finally permit us to establish enterprises which will permit us to express our true human nature, such as Bapak described earlier - that is, of people who are truly charitable and have a feeling of social responsibility in society.
This can be summarized by Bapak as saying that we have two duties in this world. One, to worship God Almighty in accordance with His will; that is, through complete surrender to Him with a feeling of patience, acceptance and submission. And secondly, to live in this world, to work using all the faculties that God has given us; that is, our heart and mind and all our senses, in order to fulfil the needs of our life in this world. It is for this that Bapak always tells us that we must do the Latihan Kejiwaan, surrendering to God Almighty in our worship, and secondly to do enterprises. These enterprises will not only supply the needs of our lives in this world, but will be a training for us to find our way by our own strength, by our own ability: that is, not always to depend on someone else, because if we always get used to depending for our life on someone else - some powerful person or some powerful institution; if that institution or that person falls, we will fall with it.
So what Bapak is trying to encourage us to do is to learn gradually to stand on our own feet, so that in this world we can truly be master of our own fate. Also, in doing our enterprise, although we use our heart and mind we will base our work on the guidance of the power of God Almighty, since we have already received the Latihan Kejiwaan. So that our actions in this world, in our work, will come closer, let's say, to the nafsu Mutmainah - that is, the nafsu of wisdom - than to the nafsu of greed and arrogance which is so prevalent in the world today.
Blonay, Switzerland - August 15, 1977
Code Number : 77 BLN 1
Man cannot possibly know the power of God which envelops everything -everything that God has created. And the reason man cannot know it, or understand it, is because man is not God, and God Himself is not man, but God is the One who has created mankind, and that is why we are able to be in contact with God's power. The only way we can understand God's power, or the extent or the greatness of God's power, is when, for example, Bapak tests with us - Bapak has often tested 'Where is God's power? How is God's power?' Then we are able to bear witness to it with our movements, because that is still the only way in which we can receive something that is miraculous, something that is beyond the knowledge of this world, something that is secret. What this shows is that since the latihan is something that is handled, that is worked by the power of God which is so great and so much beyond man, it follows that it's something that cannot be worked and cannot be handled by the power of man because the power of man does not come near to that power which is actually doing the latihan; until we reach a point where it is God's will that we have reached a certain stage - then at that stage we can begin to understand things not only with this coarse body, with our movements, but with our own understanding, so that then we can begin to understand things which belong to the next world, which cannot normally be understood by the mind of man. But at that point we can really understand them, we can really see them for ourselves, in a way that is part of our own understanding, which at this point we cannot get to because we haven't yet reached that stage -and that stage we can only reach by the grace of God Almighty.
Barcelona, Spain - August 27, 1977
Code # 77 BCNa
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.
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
.Lisbon, Portugal - September 5, 1977
Code Number : 77 LIS 3
Such is the perfection of the nature of God Almighty in its completeness. Therefore, it is clear that one who has received a closeness, or a contact, with the power of God, will certainly feel its benefit, not only in his life after death, but already in this life he will receive a guidance and a welfare which is eternal. If it were not like that, then the Prophets and the Messengers of God would not always have advised men to follow and to worship God Almighty in order that they might receive guidance both for their life in the next world and for their life in this world. This will be experienced by anyone who worships God, as long as he does not worship God only half - that is, only for the next world - as long as he worships God both for the next world and for this world.
And this exists in Subud - because in Subud we do not only do the Latihan Kejiwaan, but we also do enterprises in order to be able to experience the guidance of God Almighty in our everyday life. So for those who are afraid that doing enterprises may hold up their spiritual progress, or disturb their receiving in the latihan, the truth is exactly the other way around. Because through their work in enterprises, they will be able to receive a proof that God's guidance will help them not only in the next world, but also will bring them to a complete life already in this world.
Brothers and Sisters, returning now to the lower forces - it is really true that the lower forces ( that is, the satanic, the material forces, the vegetable, the animal and the human forces ) are all actually within our being. So it is rather amusing when, for example, a spiritual teacher says to his pupil: 'You must be very careful that you do this and this action without telling, or keep this a secret from the satanic forces. The satanic forces must not find out. The devils must not find out what you are going to do, and you do it like this and like this and like this.' Because the one who gives this advice forgets, does not realize, that the one who hears his advice is not only the human being, but also the satanic forces, the vegetable forces, the animal forces - all of which share the ear of the person who is listening. So it is very normal for the lower forces, or the devils who are not supposed to understand what this advice is, to chuckle to themselves and say: 'You don't realize that we have heard all this advice that you have had and it will be very easy for us to lead you astray, because we will suggest to you that the right way that you should go is like this and like this and like this - which will lead you into the wrong direction.'
This is the situation - that the being of man, the whole being of man is shared with the lower forces who live within him. This is something you must be very much aware of, because you will be very sad later, if you have children, for example, who do not at all have the character that you would have liked. This can easily happen if, at the moment you are making your children, you have been kidnapped or taken over by the lower forces - for example, the material forces, or the vegetable forces, or the animal forces.
Honolulu, Hawaii - December 24, 1977
Code Number : 77 HNL 2
But what is clear is that if you have received the Latihan Kejiwaan, then you have the method - providing you go on with the Latihan Kejiwaan - you have the method of going back again, of correcting all the mistakes. Not your mistakes, but the mistakes of all your ancestors before you. Actually, the purpose of this latihan is not for your own salvation alone, but more than that - for the salvation of all those from whom you have descended: your parents, your grandparents, all your ancestors. Through your latihan they can be saved and redeemed from their poverty in hell, to a place where they can rise up again - thanks to the latihan that you have done. It is not only your mistakes that are forgiven in the latihan but all the mistakes of all those from whom you have descended. So it is sure that through doing the latihan, gradually all these mistakes will be forgiven, removed, broken down and annihilated.
This is the purpose and the secret of the latihan. And if you want to know: 'Is it really true?' This is what Bapak told you: If you do your duty as helpers, if you really carry out your responsibilities, you will receive in the end what Bapak has told you - your true way of life.
If you ask Bapak: 'Is it really true?' then the example is Bapak himself, that it is true. Although Bapak is a Muslim, Bapak's understanding of Islam is limited to being able to do the prayers, so that Bapak's knowledge of Islam is limited to that. If you asked Bapak to read the Koran or the Holy Books of Islam, Bapak won't be that good at it. But the fact is that for Bapak, Bapak's worship is not limited to saying his prayers five times a day. Do not imagine that the worship of God is limited to saying 'Allahu Akbar' and all that.
The worship of God is in everything that we do. That is why, for example, when Bapak walks, he is filled with the power of God - whatever Bapak does. That's why people say: 'Bapak, why do you go on this long journey, you are an old man?' If you reckon Bapak's age in Javanese years, Bapak is already 79 - nearly 80 years old. But people say: 'Bapak, you don't need to go all that far. Supposing something happens to you, you are already an old man?' But for Bapak this doesn't matter, because Bapak surrenders everything to God Almighty; every step of Bapak is in the hands of God Almighty.
For Bapak, everything he does is the worship of God. For example, when Bapak is typing, like that, the content of that, if Bapak were to vocalize it, is: Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah. And the meaning of that is - I am close to God, I am close to God, I am close to God, I am close to God. Bapak says don't imagine that your worship of God is just limited to saying your prayers five times a day or something. It is in everything you do -like Bapak showed then. When Bapak walked, Bapak showed that in that walk is the worship of God. Not like, for example, in Islam where there are people called Majunun who have little beads, and when they walk they are always saying Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah and moving those beads along. But, actually, they forget that God sees what is inside them at every moment. God knows very well that it is only a charade, it's only a play. They are doing it in order that everyone can see that they are in Islam, and that they are very holy people or something, that they are loved by God, and so on. But God knows what is inside their heart. God knows that that's all just make-believe.
What is the real way of worshipping God? Bapak showed you then. It's just walking, just an ordinary walk, no special way of doing it. That is the worship of God Almighty.
Honolulu, Hawaii - December 27, 1977
Code Number : 77 HNL 3
Brothers and sisters, Bapak has explained how the composition or nature of human beings is not exclusively that of human beings, but is made up of everything connected with life and the nature of life. When Bapak says life, brothers and sisters, life is usually taken to mean only this life here - just life in this world. Yes, for of course people cannot understand all its complications and details, or its true nature, because that is God's secret, that is the power and the nature of the One Almighty God. But human beings can also grasp how great God is, and their grasp of the nature of the greatness of the One Almighty God does not come from the human beings themselves. It is because of the grace and mercy of the One Almighty God that human beings can understand and know the power of God.
Brothers and sisters, Bapak speaks of life as a hierarchy. A hierarchy means that it has levels or layers. If one says that, it is very hard for people to find the language in which to express it so that it really agrees with the reality. Even in the holy books themselves, it cannot be expressed one hundred per cent clearly. For human beings need a language which they can grasp with their minds. This is the reason why the language used, even though it cannot be said that it really touches the true reality that exists in life, is yet the one that human beings are forced to use; it is the language human beings use so that they can understand it with their minds.
Bapak says that there is a structure or hierarchy of life, brothers and sisters. This is composed of the material force, the vegetable, animal and ordinary human forces; the forces which are called the roh raewani, rob nabadi, roh khewani and roh jasmani. But besides these, there is another structure. Above the roh jasmani or human force, there are what are called the roh rohani, roh rahmani, roh robani, roh ilofi and roh kudus.
How can human beings know that? Yes - they can know it because of God. It is God Who gives the knowledge to mankind, so that human beings can know it. In this way human beings can know how to do what is according to the will of the One Almighty God. And what is the will of God, brothers and sisters? And how can human beings know the will of God? Yes, this is also because of God. It is God Who gives the knowledge to human beings, so that everything happens by the will of the One Almighty God. And the will of the One Almighty God can be known to mankind because the One Almighty God has embodied and manifested His will in the human self.
Osaka, Japan - January 5, 1978
Code Number : 78 OSA 1
Indeed God does not keep anything secret, brothers and sisters. No, on the contrary, God keeps nothing whatever secret. It is thus clear that human beings worship of the One Almighty God is created in the inner self of human beings. It is there when they see, when they hear, when they smell and when they speak, and so on; it is in all their activities, all their movements, all the habitual actions of human life. Or in other words brothers and sisters, all these things are in their worship of the One Almighty God. It only remains for them to be aware of it or not. Why is that? It is because God has decreed that in all of you there shall be a mind and a heart, and also all the equipment for human life, all the equipment necessary for the lives of all of you in order to be able to develop your minds and your hearts, so as to provide for your lives so long as you are living in this world. That equipment consists of the material, vegetable, animal, human and other life forces.
Cilandak, Indonesia March 4, 1979
Code Number : 79 CDK 6
Bapak knows that man cannot be at peace in this world. And Bapak has heard that people try to overcome this. For example, Bapak has heard of people, or a person in this case, as an example, who try to find out what is life. And to find this out this person has spent years and decades reducing his sleep, reducing his food and, in other words, abstaining from many many things in this life, to try to find out what is really the secret, or the inner reality of life. But the result of that was that in fact he slipped. He went astray. He did not find out what is the secret of life, but on the contrary, he fell into the world of the satanic. This world of the satanic is the material world. So, in fact, he was precisely caught, through this practice, in the material world.
Cilandak, Indonesia - February 4, 1979
Code Number : 79 CDK 4
You live in this world, and do you feel that your life was made by anyone? No; it just suddenly happened. Yes, it really is like that. It is thus clear, brothers and sisters, that things just suddenly happen in your inner self. That is the heart of the matter; at the same time as you live your ordinary life, you can find the way to God; it is the easiest and the pleasantest way, to which no other way can compare. You can feel how when you are close to someone who has to some extent received the qodar from God you feel calm, peaceful, at ease. But if you are close to someone who is unhappy, who has a lot on his mind and who thinks a lot, that is no joke. It feels like, one should not say like hell, for you yourselves do not know what hell is like, but it feels as if you are in a really troubled state, not at ease, not peaceful, not calm.
You have already been able to feel that, brothers and sisters. You can test it for your selves. If this is how you still are in your life, there is no need to ask whether you are already near to God or God to you. It is not Bapak who says that you are not, or not yet; you cannot yet receive. However peaceful your inner feeling, however great your inner feeling, however pleasant your inner-feeling, it is not like it is when someone has really received the qodar from the One Almighty God, so that he or she has no feeling of unhappiness. What is there to make him unhappy? If he is to die, he is willing to die, and he is also prepared not to die. For it is God Who reveals the secret of the symbol of life, which, as Bapak has just said, is Alif, Lam, Mm, has been revealed, so within human beings are contained all the stories which make up the story of the life of mankind in this world. Thus when you have solved the secret in the first words of the commandments of God, the story of your life will always be an open book for you. It will only remain for you to feel, to put it into practice, to follow. That is why Bapak therefore says that this is because of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’a1a, because of God, the All-pure and All-High.
Thus human really are like that, brothers and sisters. Many people search far and wide but how is it really? The people of Java say that Gusti Allah, the Lord God, is closer to you than when you see with your eyes, he is even closer to you than the movement of your own thought. If and when you reach that point you will know that everything that happens is because of One Almighty God. That is why it is just because of their own self deception that intellectuals say that there is no God, but only mind.
Cilandak, Indonesia March 17, 1979
Code Number : 79 CDK 8
Now, looking at our brothers and sisters here in Java, one of their qualities or propensities is to be too easily influenced by stories or fairy-tales. For instance, there is a story in Java that the temple of Borobodur was built by a holy man in a very short time. Another story tells that the temple of Rorajungang was built in only one night by a holy man. These of course are symbols because such things can not really happen. If it were possible for someone to build a temple like that in one night, then there would still be people in the world who could do it; but it is obvious that there are not. So it is clear that these are only symbols.
Similarly there is a story of Jokatingur who, it is said, came down the river to Damak riding on a bamboo boat. On the way he was held up by some crocodiles, but because he was able to overcome the crocodiles, they helped him by pushing his boat to Damak. In another story Jokaturu managed to find himself a wife who was an angel from heaven. So it is clear that all these stories actually have a meaning that you can only find through the kejiwaan.
Now Bapak wants to test you on such matters. Bapak calls especially S, B. and the other members of the Secretariat to see whether you are yet capable of finding out the secret meaning in things where the meaning is not clear. (Testing.)
The real meaning of Bandbondwasa is that Bandung is "much" bondo is "strength" and wasa is "authority". So the meaning of this name is that this temple was built with extraordinary, giant strength. It was not built by one man, but by thousands, because it is patently impossible for one man to build such a temple. And this is therefore the sign that all these stories are only symbols. Our brothers and sisters in Java are too easily influenced by these symbols, or by a belief in the unseen or the occult. What we are taught in the latihan is to live in a normal way, to live as normal human beings.
For example, if someone, a has magic amulets - which are very common in Java - or some magic secret for making them look beautiful, to give them strength or invincibility, or make them bullet-proof or something like that - when they are opened in the latihan they lose all these things; these things no longer have any power. This shows that the latihan kejiwaan is truly proof against magic and the influence of the occult world, let us say. We are taught in the latihan to be normal, to use our normal faculties as human beings. Having explained this, Bapak would like to test again.
( Testing )
How can God understand that you are worshipping Him if you yourself do not understand the content of your worship? God will never give man understanding that he is not capable of receiving. ( Bapak sings )
London, England - September 2, 1979
Code Number : 79 LON 6
Reigate, England - September 8, 1979
A Message For The International Helpers
Code Number : 79 REI 1
Cilandak, Indonesia - February 3, 1980
Code Number : 80 CDK 1
Cilandak, Indonesia - February 16, 1980
Code Number : 80 CDK 2
Sri Lanka - March 13, 1981
Code Number : 81sri-lanka
Sri Lanka - March 20, 1981
Code Number : 81 CMB 4
London, England - March 22, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 1
London, England - March 23, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 1a
London, England - April 20, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 9a
Cilandak, Indonesia - August 30, 1981
Code Number : 81 CDK 6
Bogor, Indonesia - February 27, 1982
Code Number : 82 BGZ 1
Melbourne, Australia - May 2, 1982
Code Number : 82 MEB 2
Singapore - June 12, 1982
Code Number : 82 SIN 1
Jakarta, Indonesia - December 23, 1982
Code Number : 82 JKT 6
Cilandak, Indonesia - March 18, 1983
Code Number : 83 CDK 5
London, England - July 31, 1983
Code Number : 83 LON 1
London, England - August 2, 1983
Code Number : 83 LON 2
Anugraha, England August 8, 1983
Code Number : 83 LON 4
Hamburg, Germany - September 18, 1983
Code Number : 83 HAM 2
Cilandak, Indonesia April 8, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 2
Cilandak, Indonesia - July 2, 1985
Code Number : 85 CDK 13
Cilandak, Indonesia - May 29, 1986
Code Number : 86 CDK 2
Cilandak, Indonesia - June 12, 1986
Code Number : 86 CDK 6