Cilandak, Indonesia - September 1968
Announcement From Bapak To All Subud Members
Concerning testing and suffering
Code Number : prwV6-2
When a helper or a member carries out testing in the spiritual way ( kejiwaan ) of Subud it is similar to doing the latihan kejiwaan. The difference is that, when testing, the person who tests has a question to ask before doing the latihan, to which he or she then receives an answer in whatever form he is able to receive it. Whereas when one does the latihan it is necessary first to empty oneself of ideas and imaginings, to surrender in trust and sincerity to the will of Almighty God, and then one will receive and follow the guidance and direction that comes from the Power of God manifested in the latihan kedjiwaan.

This then is the difference between testing and just receiving and following the latihan kejiwaan. If, therefore, a member or a helper tests frequently, because there are many different questions, he will be obliged to reduce the time spent in receiving and practicing his latihan, which is, essentially, following the guidance and direction that come from the Power of Almighty God.

Indeed it is necessary for people to test as well, but if this is done it is for reasons such as the need to know on what spiritual ( kejiwaan ) level a person now stands, or to enable one to know for oneself why it is that after being in Subud for a number of years one is still unable to receive experiences that can be felt. Testing can also be carried out when someone wishes to know how to behave in order to lessen the influence of the passions ( nafsu ) that still continually oppress his inner feeling, and in other cases where there is a connection with spiritual matters ( kejiwaan ). So, too, testing can be done to select someone to serve on a committee or as a helper, since these duties are always connected with spiritual matters.

The cases just mentioned certainly fall within the spiritual category and are inharmonywith the way of the latihan kejiwaan, which is essentially guidance and direction from the Power of Almighty God.

As you know, the latihan kejiwaan of Subud has its being and comes through the Grace of Almighty God. Evidence of this is that its presence stills the thoughts and imagination and causes the working of heart and mind to cease. This is clear proof, and you yourselves have witnessed it.

If the latihan kejiwaan has come into being by the Grace of Almighty God, it is only fitting that we should hold it in high respect, and not practice it simply as our hearts wish. For if we only follow the desires of our hearts when we do the latihan, it means that we degrade the guidance and direction of Almighty God, the All-Glorious and All-Wise.

On the other hand, if we do the latihan kejiwaan and use it following the spiritual way, this means that we truly hold in high esteem the guidance and direction of Almighty God, manifested in the latihan kejiwaan which we have received and are practicing. It is for this reason that, so far as is possible, we do not employ testing for purposes that fall outside the field of spiritual matters.

If necessary, you may also test in order to be able to know your fate, and what to do so as to be able to change it for the better. But you should not then ask about all your various needs, as if you were questioning a "dukun" ( witch-doctor or fortune-teller ). This sort of thing is indeed work for a witch-doctor or fortune-teller. But for us, whose primary aim is the worship of Almighty God in accordance with His direction and guidance, such a habit is rather far removed from our original objective.

The fact is that many questions can be weighed and examined with your hearts and minds, such as wanting to move house, to change your work, to discover how to pay your debts, to know how to manage your property, to find a marriage partner or to improve an unfortunate lot in life. But occasionally, if it is obvious that heart and mind are inadequate to reach a satisfactory conclusion, only then should you ask the helpers to test about such a problem. For if you fall into the habit of asking about all kinds of things, you will eventually get into the way of being just an expert questioner, and you will not understand that the Subud latihan kedjiwaan, which exists by the grace of Almighty God, will enable you to know for yourself all that is necessary. It is better, therefore, not to make a habit of testing such problems.

It may be that you feel such questions as these to be very important for you. Well, yes, if you feel that they are important, maybe every kind of problem that becomes a necessity in your life is important. But the essential purpose and content of these questions does not tally or correspond with your intentions at the time when you were about to enter the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud.

If you will remember the situation at the time when you were about to enter Subud, you were reminded that the Subud latihan exists by and comes through the Grace of Almighty God, and is in its essence man's worship of God according to His guidance and direction manifested in the latihan kedjiwaan.

This is the purport of what you were told. As for questions of healing, setting right the inner force ( jiwa ) and the purification of the inner feeling, which relate to one's fate in life, all this will proceed of itself, because the improvement of the inner force and purification of the inner feeling are carded out in the course of the latihan kejiwaan, which is in truth direction and guidance from Almighty God.

So it is clear that if you really do surrender, patiently, sincerely and trustfully to the Will of Almighty God, your inner force will be raised up towards a superior level, and your inner feeling will be cleansed of the impurities and faults which are the cause of your misfortune, so that subsequently you will be filled by an inner force of superior quality, and the purity of your inner feeling will cause your fate in life to become a good one.

You will not, of course, be able to experience all these results immediately, because your inner force has sunk too low, and the impurities and faults of your inner feeling form a closely interwoven network. Except through the Grace of God, these results could never be achieved at all.

In fact the reason why a person experiences misfortune is only because his inner force has not yet risen to a higher level, and his inner feeling is still full of impurities and faults. This is why their elders advise people to accept the misfortunes that they experience as a test or trial in their lives. For if the experience of misfortune is accepted as a test or trial in one's life, then, far from falling into despair, the heart and feelings will be surrendered. It is from just such a state that there arises a feeling of prihatin ( concern or caring ), of making an effort to correct one's fate by way of cutting down food and sleep, marital relations and all kinds of pleasures.

Indeed, a reduction in eating and sleeping, marital relations and all kinds of pleasures is very necessary, for that is in fact a way to make it possible to obtain an improvement in one's fortune in life.

Brothers and sisters, Bapak is aware that everyone wishes for a life of ease and abundance, but if people will not follow the path of prihatin in the way that Bapak has just indicated, such a wish will remain no more than a hope.

Bapak will take an illustration from ordinary life, where there are prosperous people, clever and well-known people, highly placed people, wise ( waskita ) people. But these have become prosperous because they have previously been thrifty in all things, resolutely denying themselves all extravagant pleasures, which only follow the nafsu ( passions ); they have become clever and famous because they have diligently and persistently pursued knowledge that can benefit human existence; they have become wise because they have been patient, calm, peaceful, trusting and sincere. These last qualities are to be found in the Prophets and Messengers of Almighty God. So, in fact, even though they were Prophets and Messengers of God, yet they were not exempt from experiencing constant suffering and the practice of keprihatinan at an earlier stage of their lives.

This is a short explanation by Bapak concerning the need for people to test, and concerning the question of suffering, which is best accepted as a test or trial in life. Bapak further hopes that this short explanation, touching upon the questions of testing and suffering, may give satisfaction to all of you.

From Bapak

New York, NY USA - May 13, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 5
Ladies and gentlemen, this evening Bapak needs to explain a bit about the testing he does with you, and which he is always talking about, because you are not yet fully aware of its true meaning.

The testing that Bapak does with you is like an assessment in order to find out how far you are able to receive - to what extent all the parts of your body have been brought to life in your latihan. Therefore this - like in your latihan - is not a matter for your thinking. It doesn't need to be thought about but received. So for those of you who haven't been able to feel or receive when Bapak tests with you, please accept this with patience; don't try to figure out the intention of the test with your thinking, and how you should receive it.

What Bapak means when he speaks about the life of the parts of your body, is the life of the feelings, which is awakened as your soul develops and is not something awakened through your will, your heart or your thinking. Because, brothers and sisters, the movements of all the members of your body, before they are brought to life through the life of the soul, are still influenced and ruled by the desires, thinking and heart. And what you are not yet able to know is that what dwells within the human heart and will originates mostly from the lower forces, which are always connected with your heart, wishes, desires and thinking.

The growth of the human soul, which is awakened by the holy force, will eventually remove the lower forces that have been influencing the inner feeling and return them to their original place. The origin of these lower forces is not outside the human self but within it. The human self is like a family or a community, which should be able to work in life as a harmonious whole that includes both the human part and the others. This can be compared to a man who lives a life complete with his family - with his wife, children and various servants. So there are the master and mistress of the house, the gardener, the cook, someone who does the washing and also someone who cleans the rooms. Such is the soul of a human being in its entirety, enabling such a person to live a complete life.

This is an analogy between the soul of a human being and what exists in human society. For, as Bapak said just now, one can say that the state or situation of the complete soul of a human being is similar to the life of a person in this world who has a complete household. There is the head of the household, the housewife, the children, the gardener, the cook, the servant who cleans the rooms and the other servants. But through his own mistakes, because he can't resist the pressure of the influence of the world that he continually experiences, the head of the household, who should remain the master, is pushed aside to a position that is not right for him; while, through his negligence and mistakes, the servants who are supposed to live at the back or to the right and left, and not in the main house, occupy the position of master. This situation gives rise to chaos and disorder in the household.

It is the same with the inner self of human beings who, through their own mistakes, and their inability to put things in their proper places, experience chaos in their inner life. So, it is hardly surprising if the spiritual progress you receive doesn't happen quickly, because, first of all, whatever is in the wrong place has to be put back where it belongs.

The house Bapak has been speaking of represents our entire body, from the head - the brain - to the feet, and from the feet to the head. It's gone wrong. It's all gone too far. Bapak will describe the way it ought to be. The one who looks for money, the one who looks for the necessities, clothing and all that, should not be the master of the house. The master of the house should give orders to the servant whose responsibility it is to do that. But because he doesn't understand and is not yet able to occupy his rightful place, ( he is out ) looking for money while the servants run the house. The result is that eventually, when he worships God, he inevitably carries with him the view of the world that he constantly sees and experiences. It is still with him when he worships God. Therefore, the result of his worship of God will be no better than the results his servants obtain when they occupy his place; it will be something not in accordance with the way a human being should receive grace or happiness from Almighty God.

God knows that something that is good, noble and high for a human being should and must be received by that human being himself. So, even though a person sincerely worships God in his heart, and sincerely believes in God, he may not find or be able to receive anything from God, because God knows that if his request were granted, the one who received it would not be the man but his servants; that is, the material, vegetable and animal forces, and so on.

For if what is needed by a human being is given to someone other ( than a ) human being, the gift would be very dangerous. That is why it is not given to that person, because he is not yet a perfect human being who truly has the right to receive it. As a result, people feel in their heart and mind that their worship of God, their latihan feels as if it keeps meeting obstacles, and that they are making very slow progress in receiving what is necessary for them.

The prophets in ancient times were able to avoid anything ( harmful ) that might befall them, and they could do things that were really miraculous from the human point of view. But, because the prophets were perfect human beings who could receive something from God and know the use of what they received, they would never do anything that was not good, that might be harmful to society or to humanity. This makes it clear that the purer the inner feeling of a human being is, the more they will be able to receive gifts from God, both for their own welfare and for the real benefit of human life.

It should also be clear that something that is true may not always find its truth, if the one who is implementing it does not yet have the right to do so. Bapak will give an example. Take a sharp weapon - all of you consider a sharp instrument as something very useful in the home. It can be used for cutting bread, meat, and many other things. But a person who doesn't know the right use of the sharp instrument might use it to kill or wound people. So, clearly, something that is right cannot be used rightly by someone who doesn't yet have the appropriate nature as willed by God.

And because the One God knows all that, and knows what will happen, God will give to human beings only if they occupy their position as human beings, not interfered with or hindered by the servants or life-forces lower than their own individuality. So it's not that God doesn't love human beings, or that God discriminates between people, but God knows the consequences of giving whatever He may give, to someone when that person isn't yet able to receive it or use it properly.

This is the use of the latihan and what we will receive in it. Therefore in this Subud latihan God requires that through God's working within the human self- the self of each one of you -you can begin to clean out everything that is an obstacle within you. This is necessary so that you will really be able to return to the position you should be in, where you can receive what is required for a human being.

Bapak does this testing with you so that you can more or less correct yourselves, and feel the condition of your self that results from the work being done within you. It is just to know and correct how you are, how you are doing in the latihan; both those of you who have been doing it for rather a long time and those who are new. To be able to receive and feel the tests Bapak does, you should be in that state you are in when you do the latihan. That is, you shouldn't think or imagine things, concentrate on anything, or visualize anything, but just receive as in the latihan. For this testing is the same as when you do the latihan.

Bapak doesn't blame those of you who are not yet able to receive this testing. But you need to be aware that the cleaning of your self has not yet gone very far, and the members of your body are not yet uniformly alive. That is why you still don't receive what Bapak is doing in the testing. But don't worry or feel disappointed, because your condition won't always remain the same; it will keep changing and eventually you will be able to receive and experience the reality of the tests that Bapak gives you.

Why is Bapak doing this testing with you - even though you haven't experienced the Subud latihan for very long - when even in Indonesia Bapak hasn't done it yet with people who have been doing latihan for two, three or four years? For instance, here is Dr. Zakir, who only heard of, received and understood about testing after coming to America, and he's been doing the latihan for four years. The reason is that Bapak knows Bapak won't be staying here in America but will be leaving soon, and may not be here again for three, four or five years. ( Sounds of disappointment from the audience, followed by laughter. ) Yes, because Bapak's journeys - his travels everywhere - won't always be as they are now. As the years go by Bapak will get older - and these trips are really hard. On this present trip, Bapak will have to visit no less than thirty countries. Perhaps in the future, when Bapak goes to America, he may just go to America; when he goes to Europe, just to Europe; when to Asia, just to Asia and not like now. So he will stay here three or four months and then return to Indonesia.

That's why Bapak is doing a little of this testing, so you can understand and be aware of the results and the use of this Subud latihan. It is necessary, so that you yourselves can test and correct yourselves in whatever way you need to in your life. Of course, you won't achieve this quickly, because - as Bapak said earlier - your being needs to be purified first. But, while the purification is going on, you can test yourselves to find out, 'how far the workmen have progressed ( Bapak chuckles ) who are at work within my being'.

But, Bapak advises you not to be in a hurry to do testing in this way, as he is only doing it to give you an example. Bapak isn't saying do this in the way Bapak does. No. For you haven't yet reached the level required for this kind of testing. For that you need to have reached a level where your inner feeling can recognize the awakening of your desire, the awakening of your brain or your thinking and the awakening of the imagination. Because if you are as yet unable to recognize your desires, thinking and feelings, what is tested will always be pre-empted by your desires, your wanting, your thinking and your feelings. That's what is commonly called auto-suggestion.

Clearly, how you test, and doing testing, may not ( seem ) difficult. But we have to realize that it requires us to be free of our own heart, desires and thinking. This is the meaning and purpose of the testing Bapak does with you, so that you do not misunderstand this. It is not something that you need to think about or understand with your mind, but you should receive it with the parts of your body that have become alive. And this life in all our parts - the ones that can be seen from outside as well as the ones that are not visible because they are inside you - is precisely the result of the latihan you have been doing. So don't leave this latihan; Bapak hopes you will follow it as diligently as you can.

Bapak is going to do some more testing now, and after that he will continue with explanations you need to hear.

New York, NY USA - May 24, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 7
Here Bapak needs to remind you that in the helpers' group there is no structure - no chairperson, vice-chairperson, and this and that - and nor should there be. No. In the helpers group, all serve equally and receive from God whatever God gives to each one of them. So, to decide something, you must receive, meaning you must test together and then see what results. This approach will avoid any misunderstanding arising from your hearts and thinking minds.

Bapak will illustrate how to test like this. Suppose you have some sugar, and there are ten of you: 'Come on. Let's all taste the sugar.' All right, you all taste it. Then one says... 'Sweet!' Another says, 'Sweet!' And another says, 'Mmm, sweet!' Certainly, all will say it is sweet. But if you were to try to work it out by thinking about it, then you may have thought to yourselves that you would say, 'Hey, if this sugar was made in China, then it won't taste sweet,' or, 'If this was made in England, it probably won't taste sweet either.' ( Laughter )

So, little by little, the helpers' group should be able to receive the reality, which each of them can receive within themselves. Once that is already clear, there is no further debate. But if they have not verified it through experience, then of course they will go on debating.

'You are wrong. I am right.'

'No, you are the one that's wrong. I am the one who is right.' However, if they experience it for themselves, then all are equal. There is no one who is right and no one who is wrong. This is how it should be, and must be, in the helpers' group. There is no chairperson, there is no deputy chairperson, everyone is equal. And together they each receive God's instructions within their being.

Also, what we get in the spiritual life is not something to show off to people. No. Because a diploma from God is not a diploma for this world. You can't use it to get a job. A diploma from God is only for God. God's will for human beings is that they should be honest, good, pure, and surrendered to God. So, you don't need to say, 'I am better ( than him ). He is not as good as I am,' or, 'Maybe she is better than that person.' No. God alone can measure such things. God is the one who knows. Take Bapak, for instance. Bapak has never said, and has no wish ever to say, that he is a reincarnation of the Buddha, or a reincarnation of Muhammad, or a reincarnation of a prophet. No. Bapak is, well, just Bapak. Yes, just Bapak Muhammad Subuh for as long as he lives. What there is within him is God's affair; that is a diploma from God, and not for this world. It is not for finding a job, because if Bapak looked for a job using his spiritual ( credentials ), nobody would give him one. ( Laughter )

Bapak will go on to say something about testing. Everywhere Bapak hears about the matter of testing he does with all the members. Actually that testing is the same as the testing you do among yourselves. Before doing the testing, it is necessary to empty yourself of everything. Bapak also does that in front of all of you, because when he tests with you, it's not Bapak who does the test. Bapak completely vanishes from everything that is within him; he surrenders it all to the greatness of God. In this way, you are able to receive what is said through the instrument that is Bapak's mouth. So, when he tests, this Bapak is just an instrument of God; this ( body ) is not Bapak's. No. It works by itself. Then, ( when he says ), 'How is your head?' Those words, 'How is your head?' come by themselves. Bapak is an instrument of God by which all of you can experience how far you are able to receive God's gift.

The evidence is in your latihan. In your latihan, you are not yet able to receive properly with your voice. You still go: 'Eo, o, ha, hi, heo, heo, eo.' How then could you test? Whereas Bapak is already used to it. Like this, for instance: ( Bapak sings a melody. ) Why, it comes by itself. Bapak did not compose it. No. You're not able to do that yet. You still go: 'Eok, heok, heok,' still, 'Uik, huik, uik.' It's still like that, so how would you be able to test?

Do not tell others something that you have not yet experienced yourselves. Do not teach others a technique for getting rich if you are not rich yourself. What's the point?

'Ladies and gentlemen, if you buy this and buy that, sell this and sell that, you'll be rich. I guarantee it)' 'What about you yourself ?' 'Oh, I'm not rich yet!' No one will believe you!

So, take care of your self first. Do not be in a hurry to give advice to others if you are not yet right yourself. One day, maybe you will not need to give advice. People may just look at you and say, 'Oh, I would like to be like you,' because the example is already there ( in you ). That is the way the prophets were. Jesus became an example to the world, hajib al - 'alam, as Bapak said earlier, because he was most refined in his walk and in his speech. Jesus really was a human being who was pure and obedient to God. So, he could say to people, 'You must obey God and be pure,' because ( he ) was already pure. In your case, you tell others, 'Be pure and obedient,' but when it comes to you: 'Just a minute, I am not pure yet.'

Coombe Springs, England - August 21, 1959
Code number of Recording: 59 CSP 11
At the moment, the helpers in general are still at the level of sensing, which means that their receiving is still coarse and they are able only to guess at its meaning. Therefore, to check the reality behind a question and answer it, you are limited to interpreting the gestures you receive at that level. For if you try to answer in any other way, you - meaning the helpers - are certain to revert once again to using your thinking and the feelings of your heart. However, your heart and your brain are not yet purified; they are not yet perfect instruments with which to give the right answers.

As Bapak has always explained, ( the latihan ) first of all penetrates the wall of the feeling; that is, this stage of sensing. Bapak will illustrate. Here is Bapak's hand; there is an object lying on it. Of course one can feel that. So, that's the stage you've reached. You haven't yet got to where you can understand 'what this thing is that is in my hand'. When you have passed through this wall, meaning that ( your feeling ) is clean and alive, you will come to the next wall: that of the understanding. It is only then that you will be able to receive an understanding of the meaning of the experience of a person who is asking you a question. Only when this wall has also been passed do you come to a consciousness of your soul and your individuality. At that point you will, instantly, simply through looking and listening, be able to understand and be fully aware of what the questioner has experienced or received.

Perhaps some of you have been able to feel this to some extent. For example, in the latihan you may make a sound like the neighing of a horse, or the roaring of a gorilla, or the barking of a dog. Sometimes you are aware in these experiences that you are not your ordinary self: you feel as if it really is a horse, a gorilla or a dog that is making the noise. But this feeling is not yet clear for you because you are still only at the stage of sensing. The time will come, however, when it will be possible for you to see that it is indeed a horse or other animal that is making the sounds. Then you will realize that human beings really are manipulated by the low forces belonging to the material, the vegetable and the animal levels.

It is only after reaching this stage that you will be able to give a reply about what a questioner has experienced in the latihan. Because they might say, 'In my latihan I saw heaven; in my latihan I saw God; in my latihan I saw angels.' Yes, seeing is seeing, and that is all right; but it is also necessary to know who is seeing. If the one who sees is a horse, then God might be the one who is always looking after the horse - what do you call it? - the jockey. So who they thought was God may have been a jockey; what they thought were angels may have been the people watching the race; and what they thought was heaven may in fact have been a race course.

Truth and untruth, therefore, exist in the realm of God's power. You will be able to receive the reality of this, but you cannot know it by using the thinking mind. No, you can only know it through worship, as in the testing that Bapak has done with you when appropriate.

Bapak will give another illustration. Someone may ask, or report to a helper, or a helper may describe to his or her friends, some experience such as this: 'I saw myself as very powerful or very big, and I saw within myself everything that human beings need, like fruits, and so on. Does that mean that I was in heaven? Does the state I was in indicate that I had gone beyond this world?' Such a question needs to be tested, if you are able, in the way that Bapak has told you: standing before God as in the latihan.

If you are really able to test this, then you may see that this person is under the power of the vegetable forces or the material forces; so their feeling may come from the great size of the material thing that is within their being. It could be a mountain, for a mountain is also a material object, or a rock, or a great building; it could be a building full of all kinds of food, like a department store. That could influence the inner feeling of a person, so that they feel as if their being is full of all kinds of food ( and they think ), 'Then this must be heaven'. So, if your test shows that what is within this person is the material or vegetable life force, you will be able to give the real answer, and the person will be able to receive it for him or herself.

As none of you who act as helpers have fully achieved this ability, for the moment Bapak advises you just to be patient. Indeed up until now the appointment of helpers has been an emergency measure: you are not really helpers yet; you are not yet able to correct yourselves, or really to test the questions put before you. ( Nevertheless ), when members ask questions you should reply with whatever you receive in turning to God; that is, when you do latihan. Bapak therefore hopes and advises that none of you helpers will impulsively answer from your thinking, from the understanding of your brain. You need to find the answer together in latihan, the result being according to what you receive.

New York, NY USA - July 3, 1963
Code Number : 63 NYC 4
That is why Bapak suggests to the helpers: when you are serving the latihan of the members, do not just be satisfied with accompanying their latihan. No. You should worship God together with them, so that whenever you accompany them you receive too. In that way the helpers will be doing latihan more than the members and therefore also receiving more, so that in the end they will easily be able to answer all questions that are put to them.

For the same reason, Bapak also advises you that the helpers need to do latihan just among themselves once or twice a month. If they have the opportunity, even three times. The purpose of doing latihan together is to experience things together. This will increase their progress in their worship of God and also enable them to give answers to the questions that have been asked. That is what Bapak calls testing.

So, it is very important for the helpers to do latihan among themselves. It will not be like the latihan of the members, who only do latihan. After the latihan, when the helpers have finished their latihan: ‘Now what do we need to receive, to decide or to clarify. If there is a problem, what is it?’

Bapak will give an example: the issue is that there is a member who is asking: ‘Is it time for me to get married, or not yet?’

‘We have a question here, brothers. Brother A has asked whether it is time or not for him to get married. So how is it? Let us answer him.’

In order to answer the question, you surrender to God as you do when you are doing the latihan. When you do that, you will of course receive the answer according to the way you normally receive in the latihan. Suppose you normally receive with your hands moving like this [gesture], then you will be shown through your hands. If you normally receive through movement, you will receive the answer in movements. If you can already receive with your voice – with words that make sense – then you will receive the answer in words.

Bapak will illustrate, for example, when you receive the answer through movements. The question is: is it right for him to get married, or is it time for him to get married? Suppose you then – how do you say – start hugging as if you are hugging somebody. Then you start kissing them like this, like Cleopatra, whom Bapak watched last night. It is clear, that means ‘yes’. But if instead you go like this [gesture], it means ‘not yet’. This is the way to find the answer, brothers and sisters, so that you can answer the person who asked the question.

Suppose there is another member who asks, ‘Is it good if I move to place B?’ Of course you will answer, because it is your responsibility to do so. You should not say, ‘Oh, let’s send a letter to Jakarta.’ No, it is enough if you answer it in this way. It is enough if you answer it yourselves. So then the helpers ask the question. If the answer is, ‘Yes, it is all right,’ that will be shown, it will take shape, in your latihan.

Suppose that you ask, ‘If he goes there, how would he be?’ And you receive sadness, for instance, or you even feel like someone suffering: that then indicates to the person who is asking, ‘Oh, if you move there you will have a hard time; you will feel worse rather than better.’

That is the way to do it. It is the responsibility of the helpers to answer such questions. And to make sure that the answer is right you have to test by doing the latihan together. If in the latihan you truly surrender to God, and there is no desire or wish in your heart and thinking, then you will all get the same answer. It cannot be otherwise. It is certain to be the same.

And that kind of testing is also latihan, brothers and sisters. Do not think that that is just playing around. No. Because the longer you go on and the cleaner you become in your latihan, the more you will be able to test anything at all. For example, there is a wise man in a certain place, who is able to do this and that, and he has a long beard and is dressed in black; not only that, but he only eats two or three times a year. ‘So, is it true that he is a man who brings God’s grace and can explain about the true path to God, or not?’ You can test that.

In this way you will not easily be influenced by things around you, and also you will truly obey God. Therefore if you hear that there are members who have been in Subud for a long time, five or six years, and still believe in this and that – in that man with the beard – then they truly have not got anywhere with their testing yet. Indeed, they are not yet able to test properly. So you really need to be firm, truly firm, and obey God.

That is also the reason why Bapak has told you all, and has told members everywhere, that you should not try to get people to join Subud through publicity; you don’t need to create publicity. So, you do not need to give explanations to the public to get them to believe in Subud. It is not necessary. What is important now is that you should be aware of yourself. Do not give explanations to other people in order that they should believe in Subud and join Subud, while you yourself are not aware of the real nature of Subud. First you need to understand and become aware of Subud, which you can do through testing.

Once you have made progress, you will be able to test beforehand whether to give explanations about Subud to people out there: ‘Is it necessary, or not?’

‘No.’

So, you don’t have to. That is how you do it; you need to test beforehand.

Of course your intention is good, brothers and sisters, wanting to give explanations to people so that they will wish to join Subud. It is a very good thing to do, because you are caring for people who do not know about the life of the soul. But do not forget that a gift that is not authentic, because you do not yet understand it yourself, is actually inappropriate. The people you are talking to could misunderstand, and in the end it will just cause you problems. So Bapak hopes that you will not do that. It is better just to let it go.

Later, when you have really become aware – because as a helper you ought to be an example – when people can see that your attitude has changed for the better, they will certainly pay attention to you: ‘Hey, it’s amazing. Mr Erling Week used to be like this, now he is so nice. He has good manners, behaves well and he is always calm. If that’s how it is maybe it would be good to join Subud, to become like him.’ That’s what they would say. [Bapak chuckles.]

Furthermore, brothers and sisters, the growth or decline of the membership is a responsibility of the helpers, not of the committee. No. The committee just arranges the money and the worldly needs. So, whether the members understand or not, whether they are in harmony or not, prosperous or not, making progress or not – all that is the responsibility of the helpers. That is why Bapak says that the responsibilities and duties of the helpers are heavy.

Also, Bapak always advises that if a Subud member rarely comes then the helpers have the responsibility of going to see him or her. Do not just say, ‘Leave them alone if they don’t want to come. If it goes on too long just cross their name out!’

Do not have that attitude; these people joined Subud because of what you told them. Once you give something to somebody, you need to go on until the job is done as well as possible. Do not leave it half done. You have taken the step of opening a new member; you have been willing to give understanding to him or her; if they have followed what you said, then you must finish the job. Because if you stop half way in giving to and guiding those whom you open, that is a sin. It is truly a sin.

Take Bapak as an example. Think about it: Bapak is now going to be away from Indonesia for more than a year. Yes, it is true that he is taking Ibu with him, but his children and his grandchildren are at home and all his needs are at home. I do not need to tell you what those needs are, because they are my needs. One’s needs are a private matter; there are all kinds. If you really knew what Bapak is feeling now, while he is here, maybe you would feel sorry for him: ‘Bapak, that’s enough; just go home quickly!’ Yes, but Bapak will not do that, in spite of the situation at home. Because travelling abroad and giving talks to you to help you understand and become aware is his responsibility.

Therefore Bapak has no choice but to put his own needs second, not first. While for Ibu – if one compares it to walking – she walks and falls over, walks and falls, walks and falls. But I have to take her along. In the normal way she would have gone home by now. She already wanted to, in Australia. But since this is a responsibility given to us by God, what can we do? Nevertheless, Bapak did ask, ‘All right. God is giving me this responsibility, so I will travel. But later when I am travelling, how will it be? Will it be pleasant or unpleasant?’ All that has been answered, so Bapak is not worried about anything. Indeed, he has left it all to Almighty God.

So, brothers and sisters, it is important for the helpers to go and see a member who has not been coming. They should ask: ‘Why don’t you come?’ If they say, ‘I don’t like Subud,’ that is a different matter. But if they say, ‘Yes, the reason is that I have been in Subud for four years and still cannot receive. Why is that?’

‘Oh, so that is the reason! Please start coming again, and I will help you as much as I can.’

So you also need to understand the reasons why they come rarely, or do not come at all. That is your responsibility. And, as Bapak said, it is quite hard. The growth or decline of the membership – whether they are all right or not, harmonious or not – is the responsibility of the helpers, not the committee. The committee organises the money. So, they need a helper in Los Angeles, for example: say they need a helper from New York – because, let’s say, the helpers in New York are already, wow, so high and so deep, so they badly need a helper from New York to go over there – then it is the committee that provides the funds. Not from their own pockets, but from their efforts, whatever they are. So that should not burden the helpers; it is the committee that takes care of the money.

In this way the helpers are like the older brothers or older sisters, compared to the other members. Such is the responsibility of helpers. And in reality they are advisers, not just to the members but also to the committee. So if the committee is working on something or discussing something, don’t leave the helpers out. Don’t do that. Once something has been agreed by the committee, it needs to be witnessed by the helpers through testing: ‘Is this regulation we are going to adopt right, or not?’ The helpers then receive the answer to this test.

If the testing says, ‘It is not right,’ then you have to follow that: it is no good. Because even though we are organised and have an organisation, we have to remember that we are a spiritual organisation; and spiritual life or the realm of the soul actually should not be organised, since it concerns the worship of God. So, the chairperson is none other than God. Therefore although we have an organisation in Subud we should not leave the result of the latihan behind, we should not leave aside the latihan; thus every-thing is decided by the power of God, which we receive in the latihan.

So it is not the person – the helper – that you trust, you trust their receiving in the testing. Hence we trust and take our decisions from what the helpers receive. Do not misunderstand this. If you misunderstand, then helpers will think, ‘Ah! I am the one who gives the orders.’ Do not get that idea. In this matter the helpers only receive. In reality the decision comes from the power of God, which has been given and shown to us in the latihan.

And the status of the helpers is not like that of the committee. The responsibility of the committee members relates only to their own group. For instance, the jobs of the committee members and the chairperson of New York apply only to New York. And they serve only for a few years. Every year or every two years there is an election. So they serve only for two years and only in New York; whereas the helpers are not like that. If you become a helper and then you go to Indonesia, you are a helper there too.

That’s right, if you come to Indonesia, you are still a helper; so you have to be equal to the helpers in Indonesia. The helpers there, in Indonesia, have been active for fifteen or twenty years. You need to be aware of this, so that your progress should not be less than theirs. Therefore it is very important for the helpers to be diligent in doing latihan, more diligent than the ordinary members.

But I have been hearing the opposite, brothers and sisters; that the helpers are less diligent than the members. I asked one of them, ‘Are you a helper?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you do latihan diligently?’

‘No, Bapak.’

‘Oh, how many times do you come to latihan every month?’

‘Once every five months.’

Only once every five months! Well! So Bapak said, ‘If it is a burden for you to be a helper because of your work, or because of other demands that are more important than coming to latihan, then it is best if you return your helper’s card. Then you are an ordinary member and can come to latihan when you feel like it. That is important, so that the other helpers do not wait for you in vain on days and at times they have arranged for you to come.’

Bapak would like to say the same to you helpers here. He asks you to be more diligent in your latihan than the ordinary members. And when you cannot come, give a reason to the others so that they are not expecting you and waiting for you, but you do not turn up.

Another thing that Bapak needs to explain about the status of helpers is that if a helper is needed to sit on the committee, because there is no one else available, it is best if he or she becomes non-active as a helper. This does not mean that they resign. So, suppose that a helper is chosen to be the committee secretary or chair-person: while they hold that position they are not required to open new members, accompany the members’ latihan or give explanations in the way Bapak just said. But when their job on the committee is finished, they return to being a helper because they are still helpers. It is only while they serve on the committee that they cannot and are not required to act as a helper.

There are also other details. For instance, if there is a member with a sick child, he or she might ask the helpers to do latihan near the child in order that the child might recover. That is also a responsibility of the helpers, and Bapak leaves it to their discretion. Of course this is something they should test: ‘Do we need to do latihan with this child or not? Should we do it or not?’ Of course you need to test that.

It is best if in everything you do – even little things – you receive together and do them together, so that a helper does not act alone, without involving the others; because little by little that would divide and separate the helpers from one another. But if you always work together, and cooperate with other helpers in everything you do, you will become more and more closely connected with the other helpers, and so the helpers’ group will become united in their actions and their receiving. That harmony, which the helpers demonstrate, will become an example for the members.

Bapak feels that he has explained enough about the duties and responsibilities of the helpers. There may be things he has left out, but he can explain them later, as he is going to be here for some time. It is now rather late to explain about the committee, because tonight, besides explaining to the helpers, Bapak wants to show you how to test, and how really to receive when you test, so that you can also feel how far you have progressed in the latihan. This is very important for you, so that you can become aware of your own inner state.

Therefore it is best if I postpone the explanation of the duties and responsibilities of the committee. Let us do that on another day; because, although it is important, the helpers are more important, since the progress of the members depends on the helpers. The committee simply deal with money. For example, they look for a place to do latihan and then: ‘Come on! Pay your contributions!’ They run after contributions and give explanations about the needs of the association.

It is very important for the helpers not to get involved in financial matters. If they do, it becomes a mess.

Briarcliff, NY USA - July 22, 1963
Code Number : 63 BCL 9
Bapak sometimes gives you an experience, through doing testing. That is an experience for you to show you the content of the latihan, so that you can see and witness what the latihan is, what it can do, and how it can benefit you. Bapak just gives you a taste of it. He is not asking you to test as he does. No. You cannot yet do the sort of testing that he does. Bapak says this because all of you here can be compared to schoolchildren, who are still learning, whereas the person who does testing is conducting an examination; he or she is the examiner. How can you become an examiner when you are still pupils and still learning?

And there is a danger too, brothers and sisters. You certainly cannot yet recognise whether a wish arising from within is coming from a dog or a tiger, a snake, a frog or from something else. You do not know yet. And if the person doing the testing has a frog inside, those tested will become frogs. If you then ask: ‘But what about Bapak?’ Well, Bapak would be aware. Bapak has been doing this for years and years and knows how it works. ‘Oh, here is a frog trying to get in. [Bapak mimes] Shoo!’ And the frog goes away. ‘Here is a dog trying to get in. Go away!’

Therefore, Bapak advises you that when he leaves here you should not say, ‘Come on, let’s get together and do some testing’. Don’t do that, brothers and sisters, it is dangerous. The danger is that when the testing is over, there may be one or two who will go on testing. If they do that, they will test everything: they will test if they want to take a walk, they will test if they want to eat. That is called acrisis.That will not be to your own advantage.

That is why Bapak advises you all to do the latihan calmly, quietly and diligently. By diligence he means keeping to what has been decided, to what has been arranged by the helpers. To do latihan two or three times a week is quite enough; do not do it every evening. Even here, if Bapak had not prevented you, you would have been doing it every evening. So we are doing it only every other evening. That is best; in fact, that is already too quick, it is too much.

Washington DC USA - July 28, 1963
Code Number : 63 WAS 1
… the end of Bapak’s talk tonight. The night after tomorrow Bapak will continue. Now Bapak will do some testing with you to give you a proof or a demonstration, so that you will be able to get a proof of the results of your latihan. But Bapak would like to warn you that afterwards you should not do this testing by yourselves. You should not make this a kind of hobby, because what Bapak will give you now in this testing is only to give some proof of the results of your latihan. This testing is like a kind of examination, as when someone is studying at school; so you should not do it too much. However, Bapak will do this testing so that you will be able to get a proof about the results of your latihan and check the results of your latihan.

Paris, France - July 14, 1964
Code Number : 64 PAR 3
Thus it is very important for the helpers to observe and be attentive as to who the members are who cannot yet receive the latihan. They really need to be able to feel it. But do not test about this or test each person. Do not test the other members, because you yourself still need to be tested. In other words, you are not yet at the point where you are able to test how far the members have progressed and what stage they have reached. You are not there yet. For now, what is important is for the helpers to make sure that there are not any members who cannot feel what the latihan is.

Because it has happened that A tested about B. He said that B had the soul of a table. Well, B replied, ‘Yes, it is true! My soul is a table; I admit it. But I have also tested about you. You are not even a table.’

‘What am I?’

‘Just a stone!’

So these two tested about each other, and ended up fighting, quarrelling. There you are, brothers and sisters; that was because they had not yet reached the level of really being able to test. For when we test, it is not based on the person; it is based, founded, on God. So at the moment of testing, our ‘I’ has to disappear in the power of God. It is only then that we are able to receive something that can be regarded as true. Therefore Bapak advises you not to test about each member. It is enough to observe the members and pay attention to who cannot yet really receive the Subud latihan.

Also, the helpers are advisers in the group. Why are they advisers? Because, in relation to the realm of the soul, the helpers constitute a meeting together of those who are responsible for testing whatever is needed. So if the committee asks for advice about this or that, the helpers can provide it through testing. But that is if they ask. The helpers must not order the committee to keep asking them for advice. They shouldn’t do that.

You need to do everything with good cooperation: valuing and loving each other and in harmony. Do not just follow your own desire and your own will. You need to base everything on testing; then the helpers will not act in a way that is biased or one-sided, but always in harmony and with cooperation.

Blonay, Switzerland - July 20, 1964
Code Number : 64 BLN 1
About the reality of God’s power within you, and the extent to which you are able to receive and practise it: this is something you will be able to witness when Bapak tests with you. For through testing you will be able to feel what you have received and how you are progressing in the latihan. And not only will testing enable you to find out how far you have progressed and what you have received in the latihan, but also it can help those of you who, after a long time, have not yet been able to receive, or who are slow in your receiving. Testing will make it easier for you to receive. That is something Bapak has verified and witnessed with people with whom he has tested.

Because this is so, Bapak hopes that you will not feel shy or afraid. On the contrary, for those of you who cannot receive at all, or whose receiving is not very clear, it would be very useful to stand in front during the testing. And, as well as testing, Bapak will explain about what you receive and what you do in the latihan; this will be clearer for you than if he just explains about it like this, because he will explain the true significance of what you receive in the tests. Also, in the testing he is going to do with you, you will be able to verify for yourself the explanations he has been giving you.

There are some of you who wonder why Bapak does not give you explanations and talks that are at a higher or a deeper level than he has been doing. Well, you will surely realise that in fact no talk is of any use if you have not yet had the preparation to receive it, because in that condition only your heart and your thinking can receive these explanations that are beneficial for your inner self. And it is inappropriate for you to receive them only with your heart and thinking, rather than with an inner feeling that is truly alive and able to receive them.

Therefore Bapak asks you to forgive him for what he just said, but to feel for yourself that no talk can be appropriate if it cannot be received by an audience really able to understand it. So another reason for having testing the day after tomorrow is for you to be able to receive and to feel the reasons why Bapak’s talks are not very deep and broad.

In short, brothers and sisters, it is better to practise and to receive rather than talk a lot, because a lot of talk will not give you what you hope for; it will instead confuse your heart and thinking. Whereas testing is a reality that you can practise and witness for yourself, and it can be accompanied with explanations that fit with what you receive.

Bapak prays that this short explanation he has given you may awaken your feelings and give you patience; that it will help you to understand that the best thing for you is to experience reality first – through testing accompanied by the necessary explanations – and that you will be able to understand only after you have witnessed and experienced what you have received.

Therefore, Bapak will end his talk now. He hopes that he will be able to do what he has promised and do testing with you in the evening of the day after tomorrow. And he hopes that you will attend and be willing to come to the front to be tested, and that God will give you His grace, enabling you really to receive the tests Bapak will do with you.

Thank you.

The Hague, Holland - September 1, 1964
Code Number : 64 HAG 2
Bapak has already demonstrated to you how to do testing. When there are questions that are not difficult – not too deep – you will certainly be able to do it. The way to test something is first to read out or to understand the problem that you want to test. Once you have understood it – only then – you empty your thinking as you do when you are doing latihan, so that your receiving is not influenced by the question being asked.

What you receive in the test is the answer; in your case, since you are still at the stage of movement, it will be in the movements you receive. You will certainly be able to work out the significance of your movements and decide on the appropriate answer to the question that is being considered.

When you do it for the first time … well, you may find it difficult because you are not used to doing it yet, but once you are used to it, it will not seem difficult any more. If you still have trouble with it and the answer does not correspond to what you are asking, then you can send the question straight to Jakarta, and Bapak can answer it there.

And if the latihan of the person who has the problem or who is asking the question is already reasonably good, it is best if they are included in the testing, so that they feel satisfied.

Usman [to Bapak]: They are asking whether the helpers may also do the kind of testing Bapak is describing.

Bapak: It is like this: these are examples for all of you, especially for the helpers, so that if there is a question or a simple problem, you will be able to answer it by testing. It is not Bapak’s intention that the helpers must do testing in the way that Bapak does it. No.

It is like this, brothers and sisters: doing testing also has its dangers if there is no one among you whose latihan has reached a higher level and who can distinguish between the influences of the low forces. Therefore the examples that Bapak gives you are simply to prove to you that the latihan is not limited to what you have received so far. It shows clearly that the latihan can give you an experience of reality, enabling you to know and feel how things are, things that you always wonder about, and also things that you have not yet received or that have not yet come about.

Yes … I need to explain again that the testing Bapak does is not meant as an example for you to copy. No, the tests he does with you just provide an experience and a proof that the latihan you do has a real result. Then you will become aware and understand that the latihan you receive will really enable you to understand the process of the life you have within you; and you will also to some extent be able to know the answers to things you are always wondering about. In this way your own soul will solve the questions that come up in the course of fulfilling the needs of your life.

[There is a short discussion where Bapak tells Usman that the interpretation seemed too short, and Usman asks the audience whether it was clear enough. Lots of laughter.]

Yes, if there are not too many more questions, Bapak can give explanations and some practice so that you can to a certain degree receive and feel for yourself.

[Someone starts to ask another question.]

Bapak: He is from America. This is an American question.

Question [in English]: This is mainly about European groups. [Laughter.] European groups have had a practice of testing the latihan of people with their consent: how it is and how it should be. I have seen it done and have participated. And I have heard from some people that, at Wolfsburg, Bapak said that this was the same as testing the state of others and that it should not be done. Is that right? I would like to know.

Usman [to Bapak]: [Inaudible] … like here in Europe, especially in Germany, in Wolfsburg, they test what a person’s latihan is like and then they test how their latihan should be.

Bapak: No! [Laughter.] Bapak has already told Richard Engels not to do that, because then you make Subud into something where one follows the trend. You will end up with a method, and it will be a mess. So Bapak has already stopped that. He has already dealt with it in Wolfsburg, and told them no longer to send circulars to other centres encouraging them to follow procedures they have announced.

Now please listen peacefully and quietly, and receive what Bapak is going to say to you all, so that you can in some measure sense the progress of your inner feeling, which the power of God has been cleaning for such a long time, for six or seven years.

The Hague, Holland - September 5, 1964
Code Number : 64 HAG 3
If human beings have been created by God to experience reality and live in reality – as when you and Bapak touch each other and speak to each other – how much more so can God Almighty. After all, God created us! So God is more real than we are; but we cannot know it, because God is greater than we are. That’s how it is.

You have to some extent received the proofs of reality that Jesus Christ and the other prophets spoke of, in the course of testing that Bapak has done with you. The testing that Bapak does with you is not auto-suggestion. Not at all. Bapak is not inserting any suggestion into your being. Bapak simply speaks. If that were suggestion and put some influence on you, then all of you would certainly receive in the same way, it would all be the same or similar. But the fact is that you each receive for yourselves and it is different for each one of you. Those who cannot receive yet will certainly wonder, ‘Is that so? Is that true or not?’ But those who receive can really feel what Bapak says; they feel it the way you feel something real.

For example, if Bapak says, ‘Suppose that you are going to experience something unpleasant and you test now how it will feel, what will the signs be within you?’ At that moment, those who are able to receive will feel really depressed. They feel depressed and hopeless. That is not suggestion, not at all. Those who say it is are just good talkers, who like to analyse, who have read a lot of books and come to that conclusion. But they cannot prove it. If they say that it is only auto-suggestion and that they can also do something similar, the fact is that they cannot.

Indeed, many people are able to criticise, without being able to do it better. No. They criticise but cannot improve on what they are criticising. That is wrong. If you criticise, you must be able to improve on what you are criticising. That is it. Therefore what you have received in your testing is not the result of being manipulated, of being influenced by the will of somebody else. No, it really is received, and it is a beginning. It is a beginning, brothers and sisters, because you are just receiving physically. If, for example, one were to say that you are bright at school, because you are still in the pre-school your brightness is that of a pupil in the pre-school. It is quite different from the brightness of a high school student or a university student. But at least one can say that you are bright.

So, the testing and the latihan that you have received is a beginning. That means it will get deeper and broader and you will really be able to experience the sort of things that the messengers of God who lived long ago used to talk about.

It is certain that achieving what you hope for cannot be speeded up or made as fast as possible. This is because – as Bapak said earlier – there are already too many mistakes and too much dirt accumulated in your inner feeling. So that needs to be cleaned first. And the cleaning process can go smoothly and fast only if it is not disturbed.

Who and what is it that disturbs the progress and development of your soul? It is your own heart and your own thinking. They are the culprits. You have started being cleaned and some dirt has already been removed. If we compare it with a dirty object, it has already been taken out of your house – but you yourself come and pick it up and bring it back in.

What is it about your heart and thinking that obstruct your spiritual progress? It is the feelings of your heart and thinking that do not like to yield; that are impatient; that want to be clever; that want to become capable quickly, and quickly be considered capable; that very much want to blame others and like to claim to be in the right – even though that is not certain; so you only pursue your own interest, ignoring others who are poor or destitute and in need. That is it. All of that becomes dirt in your heart that disturbs the growth of your soul and prevents your inner feeling from progressing towards an open space, towards God.

What is it that causes your heart sometimes to feel envy, so that when you see someone you know looking good, or well-dressed, you feel as if you don’t want to look at him or her? What is it that causes that? It is the content of your inner feeling, the low forces. So if you do not follow the low forces when they cause your heart to react like that, sooner or later they will feel useless where they are and disappear of their own accord. They will move down spontaneously.

But if you always follow these desires that are used by the low forces in your inner feeling, they – the low forces – will feel more and more at home there, and will be content to stay for years. That is because you always carry out what they want to do, and they can influence you. So that is the reason why, besides regularly doing the latihan, as far as possible you need to be able to restrain your own desires, which obstruct you.

For example: ‘Eh, what is the point of doing latihan? Since I started, all I do is just this! Huh, it is more fun to go places and see something interesting.’ That is an example. This too is the ruse of a force that does not want you to become better. If you follow that, it means that you have been influenced. And the force that is influencing you like that, if you always follow it, will be happy to remain where it is for years and years. That is how it is.

That is why Bapak is always advising you that the most important thing for you is simply to do your latihan diligently, to obey what you receive, patiently and calmly. What that means is: do not be influenced by the desires that lurk in your heart and your thinking.

London, England - April 6, 1967
Recording: 67 LON 9
Almighty God knows and is aware of the fact that human beings cannot possibly come close to God, because it is too far. It is not only that such a distance cannot be traversed with their physical body, they may not even be able to traverse it with their soul, with the energy of their own strength. For as they ascend higher and higher and higher their energy disappears; the same thing happens to their breathing: it disappears too. And all understanding that comes from this world also disappears as they ascend. This is not something that Bapak has tested with you, because you are not yet able to receive it. If he were to test it, you might not be able to come back again. That is why the tests Bapak does with you proceed little by little, step by step. If he were to push you to understand this, it could in fact be a danger to you and could damage you.

Manchester, England - April 13, 1967
Code Number : 67 MAN 4
Do not criticise other people when you have not yet corrected yourself. By telling other people how to behave, by criticising others, you will not get rid of the desires that tempt you. In fact, doing so will serve only to strengthen your own desires, with the result that your heart and mind will become their home, the place your desires permanently occupy.

This is why Bapak always advises you that if a member has a question – or even if a helper does – you should test about it together; you should find the best way forward together. Do not think you are right without checking with the others about what you receive. If you think that only you are right, there is a great chance that your inner feeling has been commandeered by your desires, by your mind or by your heart, which serve only their own interests, to the detriment of other people.

The way to test is like this: after you have read, understood and absorbed the questions, you should stand as you would when you are about to do latihan. Then let go of what you were thinking about and turn the problem over to God, so that you will receive an answer from the power of God that manifests within you. The answer, depending on the degree to which you can receive the latihan, will be evidenced in your movements. If you can already move freely and use your voice, the answer may be evident and felt in your movements and your voice. Although each helper will receive in a different manner, the essence should be the same. Thus you will be able to answer the question in the best way.

When testing about problems in the way Bapak has just explained, questions asked by women must be dealt with by women helpers, and questions asked by men must be tested and answered by men helpers. Why is that? It is because between the sexes – although you may think there is no harm for helpers of opposite sexes to test each other’s problems – each sex has, or between the sexes there exist, matters of great secrecy. For that reason, testing for women should be done by women, and testing for men should be done by men, in the way that Bapak has described.

It is true that here, during this visit, Bapak has asked both men and women to be present at the same time and he has not kept you apart, because there was not enough time. If Bapak had kept the men and women apart we would not have had time for you to receive the kind of testing he has done with you here. However, after Bapak leaves, do not emulate the way he tests with you. For the truth is, Bapak has to tell you, that neither you nor the helpers can yet tell the difference between one type of force and another. Consequently, if you were to do what Bapak did here, you could be manipulated, and that could have unfortunate consequences. So, Bapak hopes that you will pay attention to and be aware of what he has just said.

Brothers and sisters, in your latihan you make movements of the kind that Bapak got you to do during the testing session. You need to make those movements so that you become aware and feel the difference between ‘you’ and God’s guidance; or, in other words, between your desires and God’s will.

Take walking, for example. Of course you know how to walk: you use your legs. However, before [doing latihan] you were not aware, you were not yet able to feel the presence of God’s will in your legs. God’s will manifests in your legs via the inner feeling of your legs, but under normal circumstances that inner feeling is controlled by low forces, by your desires, by the wants of your heart and mind. As such you are motivated to walk because you want something; you are not conscious of who makes you walk, who makes you go where they want you to go. The same applies to the other parts of your body.

Even in something as simple as walking, if, for instance, when human beings first walked they had not stood upright but had walked in a squatting position, you would walk in a squatting position today. However, God has placed God’s will within you, in your legs. Therefore if you can be completely free of desire, when you are not motivated and controlled by the desires in your legs, you will discover and understand what your legs are for and the kind of movements human legs are supposed to make. Earlier [during the testing] Bapak showed you how horses move and how humans move. By doing that you find out for yourself – even if you had never seen another person walk upright before, you would discover for yourself – how to walk like a human being of noble and good character.

This also applies to your hands. Your hands too are filled with the will of God; the power of God manifests and fills them. Therefore, if you can set aside your desires – what your low forces want – then through the action and movement of your hands you will receive and feel what God wills for your hands. You will receive indications, guidance, direction and instruction from the will of God that manifests in your hands for whatever you have to do in life. And ultimately, if you can receive that, you will be able to make things with your hands that are truly useful. Thanks to their awakening, the things you make with your hands guided by the will of God can then be described as true culture – culture that is close to God’s will.

This is why what we call ‘culture’ nowadays could be said to be dead: it has no content. In fact, culture is a bridge for humankind. Through culture, when someone masters it, they will find a way to understand and discover the right way to lead their life.

Santiago De Chile - May 26, 1967
Code Number : 67 SCL 3
So if you cannot feel the latihan strongly yet, Bapak asks you to be patient. It is certain that you will be able to receive it. There is no difference between one person and another, and God does not discriminate between one person and another. What is important is to be patient, to dedicate yourself to God; trust God completely and then you will receive.

The testing Bapak did with you has the effect of bringing you to life. The chances are that if you could not receive the latihan properly beforehand, by testing with you in that way you will start to receive it. That is because the testing Bapak does with you brings to life the parts of you that are not alive yet, and moves the parts of you that do not move. It is necessary to do that kind of testing with you to awaken you as quickly as possible from your state of slumber. To put it another way, it is so that every part of you begins to move and comes to life. For, as Bapak said earlier, this kind of testing acts as a catalyst to bring every part of you to life; and when a part of you has been brought to life you can avoid or set aside the pressure of the desires that have been oppressing it.

But this kind of testing is not for you to emulate and try on other members. Do not do that. Although we tested in an open and easy-going manner, if you were to do that kind of testing it would create problems. Therefore do not emulate the testing Bapak has done with you, or test in the way that he did. To make it clear, helpers should not test with the members in the way Bapak tested with you.

Bapak also asks that when it comes to your questions about who to marry or where to live, or the kind of question that helpers should be able to answer: put those questions to the helpers and do not send them to Jakarta. Write to Jakarta only if you have a question the helpers will not be able to answer. The helpers should do likewise: when they cannot answer a member’s question, forward it to Jakarta.

And the way to answer questions, as Bapak has told you, is by testing. Testing means doing latihan after the question has been read out and understood. Then the helpers test together, they do latihan together. Of course, each helper will receive the answer differently. But the meaning of what they receive is probably the same, which will be the way to answer the question.

Bapak also wants to tell you that you should treat each other like family. You need to get along, not just with members but with the other helpers too. There have been many cases of a member receiving more in latihan than the helpers. Then the member loses confidence in the helpers and will even say that he or she should be the helper instead. Bapak has heard of and received letters about cases like this.

Do not let that happen, especially here. This spiritual association of Subud is an association of people who worship Almighty God. What God wants is that when we worship God we have a feeling, we have an attitude, of doing good; we should help each other, love each other and respect each other. You must have that attitude if our spiritual association is to make progress; if it is to demonstrate the benefits of Subud. Even though there are only a few members here, if in this Subud group you can show how well you get along, how well you behave, that will be much better and more beneficial for society at large than if we have thousands of members who are in chaos and cannot get along.

And Bapak asks that if you are a helper, never think of yourself as a spiritual guide or spiritual leader. You should think of yourself as, and act like, an older brother or sister who has done latihan longer than the rest. If you can have that kind of attitude the members will feel that the helpers can be close to them. That is what is necessary and important for the helpers, so that there will never be a situation in the helpers’ group where one of the helpers decides they are superior to everyone else. Also, a close bond will grow between the helpers and members.

Los Angeles, CA USA - June 4, 1967
Code Number : 67 LAX 2
Before we go on, Bapak would like to give you some explanations about] the purpose and meaning of the testing you are doing. There is no difference between this kind of testing and the latihan you receive. It is just that when you do latihan it is left to you to receive for yourself, whereas this testing stimulates those parts of your body to receive that have not yet moved or been awakened. As a result of this testing they will quickly be able to receive. Once all parts of your body have been awakened and all of them can move, the movements will gradually become stronger and will speed up the process of purification in your inner feeling. And also, with regard to things that you often need to know for your life, all the parts of your body that are alive and move will make the answers you receive from within more convincing.

These movements will not always remain the same. They will become wider and deeper with time, so that your connection with your soul becomes closer and closer. Eventually you will truly know your soul, as you did when you were just born into this world.

As you know, when you were a newborn baby your connection with your soul was still close and you were able to receive whatever your soul knew or was aware of. You were not yet aware of the atmosphere of this world. But eventually, as you grew day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year, you got to know the atmosphere of the world. You gradually got to know the world but forgot your soul, so by the time you got to know the forms of this world, the connection with your soul had completely disappeared. That is why receiving and feeling the latihan seems like something new, whereas in fact it is not. This latihan has been available ever since human beings were born in this world.

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 22, 1967
Code Number : 67 TJK 7

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 31, 1968
Code Number : 68 NA 3
When a helper or a member carries out testing in the spiritual way ( kejiwaan ) of Subud it is similar to doing the latihan kejiwaan. The difference is that, when testing, the person who tests has a question to ask before doing the latihan, to which he or she then receives an answer in whatever form he is able to receive it. Whereas when one does the latihan it is necessary first to empty oneself of ideas and imaginings, to surrender in trust and sincerity to the will of Almighty God, and then one will receive and follow the guidance and direction that comes from the Power of God manifested in the latihan kejiwaan.

This then is the difference between testing and just receiving and following the latihan kejiwaan. If, therefore, a member or a helper tests frequently, because there are many different questions, he will be obliged to reduce the time spent in receiving and practicing his latihan, which is, essentially, following the guidance and direction that come from the Power of Almighty God.

Indeed it is necessary for people to test as well, but if this is done it is for reasons such as the need to know on what spiritual ( kejiwaan ) level a person now stands, or to enable one to know for oneself why it is that after being in Subud for a number of years one is still unable to receive experiences that can be felt. Testing can also be carried out when someone wishes to know how to behave in order to lessen the influence of the passions ( nafsu ) that still continually oppress his inner feeling, and in other cases where there is a connection with spiritual matters ( kejiwaan ). So, too, testing can be done to select someone to serve on a committee or as a helper, since these duties are always connected with spiritual matters.

Jakarta, Indonesia - August 11, 1971
Code Number : 71 TJK 9

Jakarta, Indonesia - August 19, 1971
Education for the child
Code Number : 71 TJK 14
Recognition of the children's talents scientifically, from outside, is made by observing the children's progress in the various subjects they study. By this means their talents can be recognized.

But finding their talents through Subud, through the latihan kejiwaan, is not like that, for the talents recognized by a scientific approach are talents of the mind and outer nature, not of the inner self or inner nature.

So, you have two ways of observing. Besides the ordinary way, usually based on the children's school marks, you need also to observe by means of the kejiwaan. The way of testing by the standard of the kejiwaan is not influenced by thinking, by nafsu. In testing, you only surrender to Almighty God. By this approach you can recognize the children's true talents.

This is what Bapak would like you to do later when you have schools, beginning with the lower and middle schools and going on to the higher schools. But it is important to start it in the lower and middle schools. Once you have established through testing that 'this is right for the child', it only remains for him to continue on that course.

Through the mind one really cannot understand a person's inner self, for this demands patience and being empty of thoughts.

Clearly, only Almighty God can lead and guide one to receive and understand about the inner self of another person or a child.

This is only a picture given you by Bapak. For if you later take up educational work your way of teaching children should not be topsy-turvy or the wrong way round, so that they or their hearts and minds become confused. Yes, in teaching children you should follow a way that leads to their progress, to their normal development and understanding.

Besides this, you should if possible make observations from the kejiwaan, that is, through testing. And the testing about your pupils should not be done by you alone but together with other brothers or sisters, so that the receiving is clearly witnessed.

For if you test alone, the results are not positive enough, not reliable enough. You should test with other brothers or sisters, to strengthen your conviction about the testing.

With regard to testing: supposing you have a Subud school, you may ask whether the testing you do is really true. This is why Bapak has just said that, in order not to deviate from the truth, it is better not to test alone or with only two people, but with more, so that together you can witness what is true, even if your testing is not yet a hundred percent right.

Bapak says this because, though they are not exactly the same, the difference between those who are tested and those who test is not so striking, not so great. For, usually, seventy-five percent or maybe more of the content of a person's self is material life force.
Read the complete talk: 71 TJK 14

Johannesburg, South Africa - April 20, 1972
Code Number : 72 JNB 2
Brothers and sisters, actually Bapak was not going to do testing this evening, but because there are members who have just arrived here and who seem to want it very much, Bapak has changed from latihan to testing.

Testing is in fact of more benefit to you, because when testing is done, many parts of your self are aroused or wakened. And testing also includes something of just the same nature as when you are doing the latihan kejiwaan.

That being so, Bapak considers it important to test with you all, because if it is a matter of doing the latihan, you can do that by yourselves in the care of helpers. But when it is a question of testing, that is not possible, because this testing is like an examination, so only Bapak can conduct it.

( Testing )

Mexico City, Mexico - April 26, 1972
Code Number : 72 MEX 1
Brothers and sisters, Bapak will actually begin by testing with you, but the members here would probably just like to hear and to know what Bapak has decided to do. Bapak will do some testing with all the women. As a rule, the men stay in the same hall, but there is so little space that it means that the men cannot stay here, and so Bapak would like them to wait somewhere else. Then later on it will be the other way round, so that when it is the men's turn to test the women will have to sit and wait somewhere else.

Why does Bapak choose testing rather than latihan ? It is because you can do the latihan on your own, watched over by the helpers. It is not possible to test on your own, for only Bapak can do the testing with you. And also the testing includes or contains the latihan kejiwaan. You will be able to feel it, and apart from that, Bapak will be able to know what progress you have made. You yourselves will also wish to know, and you will be able to know how far you have got in the spiritual field.

After that, if there is time, Bapak will take the opportunity to give a talk, so that you can know and understand the uses and benefits of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. So now Bapak asks the men to leave the hall and be sincerely ready and willing to wait in another room.

( Testing )

As you have witnessed for yourselves, if you have really been able to grasp and feel it while Bapak has been testing with you, Bapak keeps it in accordance with what you have already experienced in the latihan kejiwaan. That is, Bapak wants every part of you, every, part of your body, to feel an awakening each time Bapak wishes it to do so. That means when he wishes you to walk, when he wishes you to move your hands and to make gestures and to move your body and also to move other parts and organs of your body as in what Bapak has been giving you. Like when he asks where are your eyes, your ears, your nose, your mouth and what are they necessary for and what are they used for.

This demonstrates, so that you can really be aware of it, that in fact if you are careful none of your actions and activities - none of your daily lives, in short - are cut off from the protection of the One Almighty God. That means that you are always under the protection of the One Almighty God. It is because you are not yet careful and because you have not yet grasped this, that you still feel that there is a very great distance between yourselves and the power of God.

But when this has become a habit, so that you are careful and watchful, really watchful, you are able to feel that you are indeed really very close to the power of God. And then, through your well being and happiness, the closeness of God which protects you will really open the way for you. It will really open the way for you to lead your life and receive and experience happiness so long as you live.

Edinburgh, Scotland - May 27, 1972
Code Number : 72 EDI 2
Brothers and sisters, what happens in the latihan kejiwaan, and also what you receive, confirms and proves that guidance and direction from the One Almighty God - which are in fact your worship of God - are something that you receive under ordinary, normal conditions; normal in the sense that this is the way one normally behaves in this world. Thus there is hardly any difference between this and when you are working at something. On the contrary, by receiving in the testing, by the method of testing, you can confirm all the more surely that the One Almighty God permits us to worship Him, and that He also guides our worship, under ordinary conditions, really ordinary everyday conditions. Indeed this is the hakekat, the inner reality of worshipping the One Almighty God. For God is close to human beings, and the power of God envelops human beings; not just from time to time, so that special occasions are required for this, but all the time. In short, your worship of God is present in your every movement, your every action. This clearly shows that the love of God for human beings is limitless, and it is always there. To repay this love, we of the spiritual brotherhood of Subud, who have received this confirmation, must therefore never give up worshipping the One Almighty God in everything we do, in every action and in all our work.

You have proof and verification for this also, as for instance, when Bapak tests what you are like if you are boxing or if you are playing golf. Yes, it looks as if it were quite ordinary, but in fact it is really the worship of human beings for God. The nearness of God to man is also something normal and ordinary, for if God were not near to man, man would not be alive. Also, if they do not constantly worship God, human beings will always be turning aside to the worship of material things.

Clearly then, we are not meant to be like that, brothers and sisters, Because we are always in touch with material forces in our lives, it is now very necessary for us to behave in such a way that we are no longer also influenced by them. Little by little we begin to use them as our instruments, and thus the material forces are now beginning to be our tools.

Is it possible to do this? Why not? For it is not we who are making the material forces into our instruments; we are willed by God to do this. Thus we can use material forces as our instruments because the power of God gives us strength. And in order to obtain strength from God at all times, which means that it is always present in us, we now need to act in ways that will not cut us off from the guidance and direction of the One Almighty God. This is the kind of action that Bapak proposes to you; that whoever of you can do so should, insofar as possible, run enterprises. You should run some sort of undertaking or business which originates from your inner self.

You must not go on just doing the latihan for years and years. When Bapak comes here and asks how things are going, you reply "I go on doing the latihan, Bapak, every Monday, every Tuesday". "What are the results?” asks Bapak. "I don't know", you say. Well then, find out. You have to be able to receive what the results are and what the fruits are; you have to be able to receive what they are. See how it is. You remember that when Bapak was here last time he did not do any testing such as he is doing nowadays. There was not yet any testing then. Why is Bapak doing testing now, whereas formerly he did none? It is now time to do it, brothers and sisters. Perhaps later on, when Bapak has been here several times more, he will test in still another way. This is done according to your progress. Now, after all this length of time, you have made just a little bit of progress. That is why Bapak is doing testing in accordance with the level on which you receive now.

That, brothers and sisters, is why you should not think it strange that there should be enterprises and a bank. You should not think this is something novel, something that conflicts with activity in the field of the spirit. It is not like that at all. On the contrary, this is what God wills, so that you will be secure in this world and the next, safe and happy in both your worlds. That means safe and happy in your life here as well as in your life after death.

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 12, 1973
Code Number : 73 CDK 2
At the present time many things are happening, various things are arising here and there. For instance, one man is claiming to know God, one is claiming to receive this and that. Yes, of course, God is always giving to mankind, and of course there are always chances for people to be able to receive something from God. That is indeed what God wills. But as for you, don't be easily affected by such things; meaning, don't then become confused. Bapak hopes you are able to some extent to test whether a thing is true. You do your testing before God Almighty. Don't direct it anywhere but to God. If you really keep yourselves free, with sincere submission and trustful acceptance, it signifies that there is no one who knows or can know these things that are wrapped in mystery, except God Almighty. You yourselves are shown to be wrong, if it is necessary and if you really are wrong.

So don't be influenced by anything you hear, nor by your own hearts. Of course you often say, 'I am clever at this', but you yourselves cannot yet test for yourselves what abilities you have, nor how far these abilities extend, nor whether your abilities are weighed or compared with some reliable standard, such as Bapak will give you later. For indeed it is required of Bapak that everything Bapak tells you, everything Bapak says, has to be and needs to be accompanied by evidence in the kejiwaan that you are able to prove for yourselves. For to give explanations to people who cannot prove them and cannot realize them is just the same as talking in one's sleep, like a sleepwalker.

Melbourne, Australia - April 14, 1976
Code Number : 76 MEB 2
Bapak wants us to understand about testing. That what is important for us is to have faith in God Almighty and to go ahead with confidence and do what we have to do. And not always to stop and test. In other words, you want to do this, you first stop and you test. No I shouldn't do this. O.K., you won't do it. Should I have my lunch? You test it. No, you shouldn't have your lunch. So finally you cannot do anything. You can never get anywhere because you are always going around in circles. So don't do that. Simply have faith in God and go ahead with confidence in yourself and in the power of God.

So, if it comes then that there is something really important which you do have to test about, then it should be done always with the one who asked the question present. And second, apart from you yourself as the helper, there should be at least one other helper present or maybe two or more, at least one more, so that there is a witness which will also give more confidence to the one who is asking the question. Now Bapak wants to answer the other question that someone asked about a certain group where the latihan seems to be, he feels that the latihan is very quiet, like the latihan doesn't exist. This is something that Bapak has already explained. The latihan is not always the same. The latihan is not always felt as very strong or very powerful. Because what happens within us is that God gives us various different kinds of training. It is like in the school. One time the teacher will tell a story, at another time we are told to draw, another time we are told to write, another time we are told to do arithmetic, for example. So it is not always the same, and at certain times it is necessary for the latihan to be quiet in order that things within us, which we are not aware of, can be exercised, can be trained.

San Francisco, California - April 24, 1976
Code Number : 76 SFO 2
The ways by which people seek to understand this life after death are various. There is the way of samadi or meditation; there is the way of turning entirely towards the next life and not think about the needs of this world, which means isolating oneself in some lonely spot away from the crowd. And there is also the way of faith, which depends upon worshipping the One Almighty God.

Brothers and sisters, this is because in order to obtain evidence, in order to obtain proof, it is of course necessary to go by way of one's inner-self. For instance, in order to be able to see something visible, you have to see it with your own eyes. It is also like that when Bapak tests with you, so that you can feel with your own feelings what Bapak is doing with you. Although this is not yet one hundred per cent perfect, yet the preliminary steps have been taken towards subsequently rising to the point of discovering the truth.

Los Angeles, California USA - May 2, 1976
Code Number : 76 LAX 2

New York, NY U.S.A. - May 5, 1976
Code Number : 76 NYC 1
CLARIFICATIONS GIVEN AFTER LATIHAN New York City, May 9, 1976

There is something that Bapak would like to tell you now. Bapak has heard that in the past here in the United States that there has been a kind of order given from the national helpers to the helpers in the groups to do testing, or to test certain questions among themselves, among the helpers, and also perhaps with the members. This is something that really, Bapak does not agree with because it is not the will of God; and this kind of thing can, in fact, arouse disagreements, friction, and all sorts of things which are better avoided in the helpers' group.

So, in fact, Bapak feels the best course would be not to go on doing this and therefore Bapak takes the step of canceling this instruction from the national helpers.

London, England - May 29, 1976
Code Number : 76 LON 3
So brothers and sisters, Bapak does not tell you that God is testing you or that God wants to put you through an examination, but it is the latihan kejiwaan of Subud which you have received which is testing you, which puts a test in front of you. Can you grasp and get to know and understand the use of this latihan kejiwaan which you have received?

Brothers and sisters, another example is music. If for example you are a musician and you play the violin, if your arm, as you are moving the bow, is filled with the power of God, then it means that when you play, those who hear you, if they are sad they will become happy, if they are sick they will become healthy. It doesn't mean that if they are really poor they will then become rich ( laughter ). But it is really true that your playing will affect the feelings of the people listening, so someone who came sad will feel happy, and that is providing that your hand, your arm which plays the violin, is already filled with the power of God.

So it is clear, brothers and sisters that the latihan kejiwaan is the source of every culture, that from the latihan kejiwaan you can receive every kind of culture that man normally practices, that the whole human race experiences. Bapak has often tested this with you, but the trouble is that the testing is not yet the reality. In other words you have received ( and all of you have experienced this already, that Bapak tests with you ): 'How are the movements or the behavior or the dancing of such-and-such a race different from your own?' And at the same time that you can see it, you can feel it, you can do the movements.

This is a reality for you, but you don't then make an effort afterwards to find it: 'How can I do that, how can I get to that in my life, how can I achieve that for myself?' You don't have that wish yet, so all that happens is that from the testing you feel very nice, you feel satisfied but you don't yet have the urge to find the reality. But in fact the latihan kejiwaan is something that has a very great benefit for you in your life, so you should begin to learn how to use it, to experience it in your everyday life, as a source of answering all your own problems, of guiding you through your own difficulties.

So why is it that after a long time in Subud, let's say after ten years in Subud, you still ask questions about this and that? All the answers are already within you. So when Bapak tries to advise you not to ask so many questions, it's not that Bapak is fed up with answering questions, or Bapak doesn't like to answer them; it is that you are simply getting yourself accustomed to depending upon someone else. What Bapak wants you to do is to find the answers within your own being, because that is the meaning of the latihan kejiwaan.

Wendhausen, Germany - June 23, 1976
About testing
Code Number: 76 WEN 2
This is a rough transcript of questions put to Bapak about testing. Other persons that were present were Tuti, Muti, Siti Rahaju and about twelve other Subud members, mainly helpers, who were saying goodbye before leaving to their own countries.

Cilandak, Indonesia - July 25, 1976
What is the use of the latihan kejiwaan?
Code Number: 76 CDK 6
People certainly are hard to please, brothers and sisters. Where should we go, then? To God Almighty. By what way? By way of surrender to God Almighty with patience, trust and sincerity. How much more does this apply to you, who have really received the grace of God, as Bapak has just shown ( in the testing )

There's no need then, brothers and sisters, for you to think about the kejiwaan, because God doesn't want your help, doesn't want you to help Him make your latihan go smoothly. No, God is all-powerful. Before you could help, God has done it, so no one could possibly be ahead of God.

So now what should you do, brothers and sisters, to enable you to understand and enable you to feel satisfied with the latihan kejiwaan which you have been doing for a good many years? Yes, certainly, it's your outer part that has needs; your physical bodies, your minds and hearts, certainly need what can be achieved by the heart and mind: that is, worldly work.

If God Almighty by His grace, by His bountifulness, has given you guidance and direction in the kejiwaan, it extends, of course, not only to spiritual matters but also to outer things and the physical body. Now it remains for you to put this guidance into practice. Many of you have received a variety of indications from within, but have never applied them. Why? Because you are frightened in case they are true, frightened as to whether you are really capable of carrying them into effect. So you are overshadowed, you are frightened by your own hearts.

In these worldly matters it suffices to use your worldly instruments, your minds and hearts. They will do these things.

Leave spiritual matters to God; they will follow their own course. God doesn't want your help. Well, now it remains for you to look after yourselves. By what means will you look after yourselves? By doing something. Especially now that you have received guidance and thus are able to receive some measure of guidance and direction from within.

Older people say that however fortunate someone may be who is not close to the Lord God, more fortunate still is one who is close to the Lord God. Then more fortunate is one to whom the power of God has come close. The difficulty is here, brothers and sisters. The power of God, which envelops you both inwardly and outwardly, has come close to you all. Well now, it's up to you to put it into effect. This power has come close to you, but you just bask in it. Why is it like that?

This is why older people who have received grace say also that God will give human beings nothing unless they do something. Yes, you may pray a thousand times an hour, but do nothing and you will receive nothing. Do something, then! Get going! And if you do something that is right, not something that carries a curse with it but something willed by God Almighty, then all the more will you receive guidance and direction from God Almighty.

This something which Bapak keeps talking about nowadays, both here and abroad, is enterprises. Through the existence of these enterprises you will then be able to assess and understand oh, how lucky you are, we are, because of the guidance and direction from God Almighty in the latihan we always do.

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 15, 1976
Code Number: 76 CDK 7
That is why it is truly said that God precedes all beginnings, God follows all endings, God is within everything inner and beyond everything outer. There is nothing more than God. Nothing more; He comprises everything.

Well, then, brothers and sisters, don't just talk about this. Don't do that, but put it into practice, feel it, act on it, do it.

How is this to be done? You can do it for yourself, for mankind exists, the universe exists, by God's will, to test the being of God the Almighty Himself. Such is the case for mankind too, such is the case for you all. Put yourselves to the test, brothers and sisters, to see the extent of your capacities and abilities.

To put yourself to the test is certainly not easy. If someone else tells you to do something, that is easier than if you tell yourself to do it. If someone else tells you, sometimes you trust him, sometimes you obey him and do it. But if you tell yourself to do something, you will sometimes deceive yourself. To be clear, then, it is a sin against yourself if you cannot yet test yourself.

Quite by chance, brothers and sisters, the ( Ramadhan ) fast is almost here. As Bapak has often said, the fast is essentially a test for people, to enable them to test their own sincerity of heart and mind and feelings. Are they really sincere or not? Do people like to tell lies or has that stopped? We are not studying, then, but setting ourselves an examination. We are trying ourselves out, testing whether we are still faint-hearted or not.

So you who have received this latihan kejiwaan, which is so easy to receive, all need to begin to test your own being. Naturally, brothers and sisters, testing oneself begins at the bottom, begins with small matters. Don't immediately ask, don't immediately wish to become important if you cannot yet put yourself to the test.

It is like this, for instance, take some material object, suppose you want it to be seen by and to please someone else, to please other people, then you take care of it, you try to make that object a thing of real value, whether by zealously polishing it or by doing this and that to it.

That's how it is in the case of a material object. In the case of a human being, the heart and feelings have to be cared for. The heart is polished up, the feelings are polished up, so that the person becomes a really good person, and reveals a good character, so that other people can see it. There is no need to tell them you have a good character, for your actions will reflect what you have been practicing.

It is like this, brothers and sisters. So it is a gradual process, little by little. You may be sure that the results of the good and the best of what you have done will increasingly perfect your worship of God the Almighty, the longer it continues. And perfection in your worship of God the Almighty is not only in the interest of the world, but directly in your own interest, so that later you will be able to take leave of the world conforming to the will of God, that is, in the best possible way.

Brothers and sisters, in connection with what Bapak has just said, it is only proper if you, you Subud members, refrain from discussing things which cause quarrels, which cause dissension, which cause disharmony. Only suitable things should be discussed, for otherwise what is the need, what is the use, what is the benefit of the discussion?

Wendhausen, Germany - July 29, 1977
Code Number : 77 WEN 1
Thus it will not then be necessary for anyone to run an enterprise on a basis of testing. That is not the duty of the helpers. The helpers themselves do not understand how to test in the field of enterprises. They cannot do it. On the contrary, that is the reason why so many of the members who run enterprises actually come to grief, as Bapak has heard, and they do not actually achieve any success. On the contrary, they actually fail, because they only lean upon the helpers' testing, whereas it is not the work of the helpers to test the buying and selling of goods or to test about enterprises. No.

Huntington, New York USA - September 10, 1977
Code Number : 77 NYC 2
Bapak will begin with the question from Perry about healing the heart. It is not a question of the heart being healed, but its contents, through the presence of the latihan. Bapak is always testing with you, for example, how is your receiving when you are troubled or suffering, so as not to feel it and so that this suffering will not cause illness or be bad for your health. So Bapak tests with you, how do you feel when you surrender to the One Almighty God, so that you do not complain when something hurts you but only surrender to the One Almighty God, so that there is nothing there but surrender, just as when you are in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. Brothers and sisters, you have been able to experience for yourselves how, when you are receiving the latihan kejiwaan, you are separated from your suffering and do not feel it at all, which means, in fact, that you are not being effected by the nafsu, which are ruled by the lower forces; by the material, vegetable, animal, and ordinary human forces. That is how to heal the heart and make it healthy and happy - not the physical heart, but its contents.

Now there is another reason why these enterprises go wrong. This also needs to be elucidated. That is why Bapak tells all of you who are doing enterprises that you must not get into the habit of just asking the helpers about it. The helpers are by no means certain to be experts in the field of whatever it is that you are asking about. Sometimes they may know nothing about running a business, so that they just do some testing. And furthermore, brothers and sisters, one cannot be sure that their testing is correct, because as Bapak said just now, there are many lower forces present within the selves of all of you; the material, vegetable, animal, and ordinary human forces. You have of course had proof of this, brothers and sisters, in what you experience in testing about something that involves your wishes or desires; these are sometimes confirmed. For instance, you may very much want to get rich through buying a lottery ticket. “Shall I be able to become rich through buying a lottery ticket?” This is tested and the answer is “Yes”. But it is not true, for the lower forces which are always tempting human beings tell lies ….

Brisbane, Australia - January 24, 1978
Code Number : 78 BNE 3
Brothers and Sisters, one of the first things that Bapak wanted to explain to you is the structure of what might be called the helpers' organization; that is, the existence of national helpers, regional helpers and local helpers. In other words, there is the local helpers' group, then we have what is called usually the dewan of regional helpers, and then the dewan of national helpers. What Bapak wants to explain to you is that this structure or this organization has been set up in order to make the helpers' work better organized, to spread the burden more evenly and to enable the helpers to work better together. It is not supposed to indicate a difference in level or degree of spiritual attainment among the helpers. In other words, do not in any way get the impression that there is a tremendous difference in spiritual stature between a national helper and a regional helper, for example; so that the national helpers are very very high and the regional helpers are also rather high, but nothing like as high as the national helpers, and that the group helpers haven't got anywhere yet. Because this is completely untrue. Actually, the reality is that they are all more or less the same.

And if there is a difference, then the difference is very very small. On the other hand, it often happens that it is just the other way. Bapak has come across quite frequently, for example, that there is a helper who, perhaps, ,has been doing the latihan for more than 15 years, and yet he is not able to receive clearly the reality of what is received in the latihan. What that means is that he can receive, he can do the latihan, but when it comes, for example, to testing, having to test something, having to receive in testing - which is what helpers often have to do to answer the members' questions - it turns out that he really can't receive anything yet. Whereas it can happen that someone who maybe has just been made a helper, or isn't even a helper, can receive much more - and much more clearly - than this person who has been doing the latihan for such a long time.

Now what this shows is that progress or advancement or achievement or a level in the Kejiwaan is something that cannot be known with the heart and mind. It is something that can only be made known to us, to human beings, by God Almighty, if it is God's will; and we, on the other hand, can only receive it. As when, for example, the helpers do latihan together and they surrender completely to the power of God Almighty and then receive something together which they need to know. That is the only in which, if it is God's will to give it, we can receive something about the level in the Kejiwaan.

So, there should never be a feeling among the helpers - for example, among the national helpers - that they are already very high, or have already reached a very advanced level, using, as it were, their minds, because they think: oh yes, we have been in Subud longest, or something like that. From their minds they think: oh yes, I must already be very high, or I must already be very advanced, or something like that. The fact is, if there is any trace of that feeling, it means that the helper who has it is actually closing the door to further progress in the latihan; and,, in fact, makes for himself or herself a blind alley so that there is a block to any progress in the latihan. Therefore, Bapak can only advise you to throw any feeling of this kind as far away from yourself as you possibly can.

Bapak just had an experience in Christchurch when Bapak actually wanted very much to do testing with the group in the men helpers' latihan, but it so happened that a neighbor complained. He said he felt disturbed by the noise that was coming from the latihan hall and threatened to call the police. So Bapak cancelled his wish to do testing with the brothers there. Bapak cannot tell you how disappointed Bapak feels, that he was unable to do testing at that time. Bapak knew that this person was right, that if he did call the police they, of course, have to uphold the law of the land. And the law says that you shouldn't disturb other people, that you shouldn't make a noise after it is time for sleeping and so on.

Brothers and Sisters, if Bapak really told you how your state really is, you would be very upset, you would be very very shocked. Bapak knows very well that what all of you are hoping for and wanting is that Bapak should tell you the truth; you are all waiting and longing that Bapak should tell you things as they really are, that Bapak should really come out with it and not beat around the bush but really get to the point. But the truth that you want to hear is only the good truth, you don't want Bapak to say it if the truth that Bapak tells you turns out to be awful - then you would rather not hear it. This is how the heart is. Your wish to hear the truth, your wish to hear it as it is comes only from your heart, from your mind. What you want to hear, actually, is something nice and you don't want to hear something that turns out to be not nice or discouraging, or something like that. This is why Bapak wants to explain to you what Bapak means when Bapak does testing. The fact is that this wish to be told the truth, something that is nice, is actually impossible - because, in fact, there is no human being who is good, there is no human being who is right or who is good. Because the nature of man is kavadis, which means man is weak, is easily hurt by the heat of the sun, easily chilled by the cold air when it is cold; man is easily affected by shortages in his surroundings, by his environment. Above all, man has to die. So man is truly something weak. There is no such thing as a man who is good or a man who is right. The only One who is good and the only One who is right is God Almighty.

Sydney, Australia - January 30, 1978
Code Number : 78 SYD 2
Now in this it is not that Bapak is trying to compare all of you to the prophets or the messengers of God, but in fact it really is like that, because in front of God there is no distinction. God does not discriminate between people. For God, everyone is the same. Actually, this is the way, this is the way in which we can receive something from God Almighty through patience, submission, acceptance and sincerity. Therefore, the attitude of trying to gain God’s grace or God’s revelation by quarrelling over it is something that one can say is kind of ridiculous or a complete waste of time.

This is why Bapak wants to see that the helpers’ group are people who truly can work well together, in harmony and complete unity of feeling, and without any disagreement or dissensions or quarrels and things like that. The fact is that all of you still need very much to do a lot of testing in order to be able to learn to feel and to receive and this is something that Bapak will do later today with you. Bapak would like to do some testing with you so that you can really begin to feel for yourself whether what Bapak has said is true, whether it is useful or not and whether it is something practical or not.

Another thing, as a helper you should be able and competent to receive the character of someone else. Bapak doesn’t mean someone outside, apart from you, but someone among your own brothers and sisters, so that you do not make statements that someone among you is no good, or stinks, or is a terrible person, if it is not something that you have really felt and received for yourself in your testing. This is something that Bapak will test with you to show you the reality of what Bapak means by this.

Yogyakarta, Indonesia - December 23, 1978
Code Number : 78 JOG 2
This is the use and benefit of the latihan kejiwaan Subud. Frequently has Bapak done some testing on you, about your character, about the life of this people, or that people. It is already expressed. People from Europe who have never been to Solo before, never been to Jogyakarta too, have been tested by Bapak : “Stand up, follow according to your jiwa”. Because the one that knows about the secret of life is the jiwa, not the heart and mind of the human being. There, he received that he should crawl. And now another person. How’d be the behavior of a person from Mexico. He has never been to Solo, never been to Jogya either. The moment Bapak tested him about persons from Solo and Jogya; they are exactly like persons from Solo and Jogya.

Cilandak, Indonesia - May 20, 1979
Code Number : 79 CDK 14
You walk, and they take part in the walking; you eat, and they take part in the eating. You think about something, and they also take part in your thinking. That is why Bapak says that you must fear your own selves, and it is the reason why you must really respect your own selves. That is the reason why you have to be afraid of saying anything that is untrue. So you must not tell lies, but you must be sincere in everything that you say. If you always wish to say things that are not true, it means that you are always caught up in deceit, and you will also be deceived by your own selves.

That is the reason why the testing you do is not yet certain to be true, because you are still accustomed to lie to yourselves, and when you ask a question of your own self, it still deceives you. Well, what we had just now was an example of how the latihan kejiwaan of Subud is the actions and behavior of your selves in their daily lives, whether you are awake or asleep. Thus you need not be afraid, and neither need you or should you disparage your own selves. You must value yourselves, respect and believe in yourselves and not be deceived by yourselves. For if you deceive your own selves, then your own selves will also deceive you. Besides these explanations let us also have some practice.

Cilandak, Indonesia - March 6, 1981
Code Number : farwell-talk
So it is clear, brothers and sisters, that we should not try to exceed God's Grace to us, or God's Guidance. So in your thinking, in your understanding, try to receive with an honest attitude. By honest here Bapak means that you try to stick to what you need and what is there, to what God gives you; that you limit yourself to that.

And this is something which is connected with what Bapak always tests with you. You remember Bapak often does this test with you: "walk according to your will," and then "Walk being made to walk by the' power of God." And the reason why Bapak tests this with you is because this is the basic thing you all have to understand: How it is when you walk with your will and how it is when you are made to walk by the power of God? Similarly, you have to understand: how is it when you think and how is it when you are made to think by the power of God. How is it when you speak and how is it when you are made to speak by the power of God?

Supposing you have to give a speech, the normal thing is you just write it all down, what you are going to say. But what you have written down, when you read that, it is not a speech that is being made to speak by the power of God. It is something that you have printed from your head. So it is like you are printing your thoughts, and then you say them, which is the opposite of what Bapak means by the honesty of receiving what God gives you at that moment; that is, limiting yourself to that which God is guiding you, at the moment whe

Slough, England - August 11, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 17
There is nothing difficult for a human being in this world, providing he is willing to examine the use of the components of his being, the parts of his being, in the way Bapak always examines you when he tests with you. You know what Bapak means. Bapak says, "Do you have legs? Where are your legs? What is the use of your legs?" And then your legs start to walk and they walk here and there and then run on the spot, etc.

And then Bapak says, "Where are your hands? What is their use?" And your hands start to write and to touch this and touch that, and take this and take that.

This shows that within these parts of your body there already exists their use and purpose. You can use what is in them not only to find your own way in life but also to help other people.

Suppose you are already a helper and a member comes to you and asks, "What is my right work, what is my true talent, what should I do now?" Well, then, you are able to do this testing. You receive what his true talent is and your legs and hands are able to show what type of work he should be doing. And that is only the hands and feet.

Later, when this ability to receive goes deeper to your understanding, then when someone asks you what their right work is, you no longer need to move your hands and your feet to recognize the answer, because the answer will be there within the question. When he asks, you will understand. It will come directly into your understanding.

This truly is the use, the purpose of the latihan kejiwaan we are doing.

It grows deeper and deeper as it goes along. At this moment, suppose a member comes to you as a helper and asks, "Please, can you tell me what my right work is?" Because you still have to receive it by moving around, first stand up and then test, and your body will move like this and you will say, "Oh yes, you're a dancer."

But that won't always be like that. If it's always like that there is no progress.

Later, the time will come when the person will come to you and will say, "What's my right work?" and you will go like this ( pause for a moment ) and then realize directly, "Dancer!"

It's clear that the progress goes deeper and deeper and there is a use and a benefit to the latihan kejiwaan and you won't always have to do things in the way that you do now.

You'll be able to do this not only for members, of course, but also for you yourself.

Brothers and sisters, this is why really you should not all your life depend on fortune tellers, should not all your life have to go to the lady with the tarot cards, or look in the tea leaves or in the coffee grounds in your cup to say, "Oh, yes, what you're going to do is this, this and this".

In other words, as far as possible in your life try not to depend on other people.

But dig out your own nature, dig within yourself to find your own nature and its use.

You should get to know, understand, respect and appreciate the quality of your own self as a human being.

Melbourne, Australia - May 2, 1982
Code Number : 82 MEB 2
So you can find out for yourself instead of asking Bapak who is very far away in Jakarta and has more than enough work to do, with a pile of letters always following him around ( laughter ). We should feel sorry for Sharif who has to translate them ( laughter ). Some people ask such questions as 'Bapak, where can I find my spiritual partner, what is his/her name and is he/she rich or poor?' ( laughter ) And Bapak has to answer that... It can be really funny... She also has had to become an answerer of questions ( Bapak points to Rahayu ), but sometimes she gets exasperated and says 'What shall we do, Bapak? Shall we just...?' So now there is a new rule: if there are questions of this nature, it's enough for them to be handled by the local helpers, at group or national level, or even at international level if the others can't manage it. Let the helpers have some work to do, don't send it all on to Bapak or he won't be able to work at all on account of the number of these questions, which can be adequately answered by the local helpers. Also it is an opportunity for the helpers to test themselves, so that each of them may become aware of his or her own progress.

It is clear then, brothers and sisters, that the latihan kejiwaan of Subud is very useful and very beneficial indeed, since it will enable you to become useful people, of value in the world. What people usually want is to make a name for themselves; well, with the help of the jiwa that's easy. Once you have developed far enough you will reach a point where many people, even those who are not Subud members, will feel that you are as close to them as a brother or sister, and they feel that they share in your sufferings and sorrows. Bapak has himself had such experiences. When his grandson was studying at the University, his professors were wondering about Bapak and asked him whether it was true that Pak Subuh was a very clever or learned person, whose knowledge had enabled him to set up a limited company ( P.T. ) whose achievements were there for all to see. His grandson replied: 'I really don't know, this is my grandfather's affair, not mine. Nor do I know whether this comes from Subud.'

Melbourne, Australia - May 7, 1982
Code Number : 82 MEB 4
Bapak will now go on to explain about how to test someone you need to appoint. First, ask the person to be tested to stand facing two or three helpers. Then, you should all relax and ask for guidance, for an indication about what you wish to know, for example, 'Is this brother ready to be a helper?' Three helpers and two candidates might stand together and then do the latihan together, after surrendering the question as to whether the two brothers doing the latihan are ready to act as helpers, and then you will obtain the right answer. If, however, of the three helpers present, one receives 'Yes' and two receive 'No', or 'He isn't ready yet', or are in doubt, the testing can be repeated on another occasion. If two receive 'Yes', and only one 'No', then the brother may be appointed as helper. You should get used to doing it this way. It isn't the way Bapak does it, but for Bapak it's different.

Cilandak, Indonesia - July 3, 1982
Code Number : 82 CDK 4
Brothers and sisters, Bapak is now going to carry out some testing so that you will not have to be satisfied merely with commentaries or explanations; if these are not accompanied by proofs and evidence, they will remain confusing and unsatisfying, even if not entirely useless. It does reduce matters to what is said and heard, without any evidence to support it. That is why Bapak carries out a certain amount of testing with you, especially with the helpers, for they have to show the way to the others. They are Bapak's helpers and do the same work as Bapak himself, there is no difference since they must be responsible for all that they do for you. In this manner, brothers and sisters, you are really performing good works, giving knowledge to the ignorant and an understanding of the nature of the latihan kejiwaan Subud to those who did not know what it is.

Cilandak, Indonesia - March 20, 1983
Code Number : 83 CDK 5
Brothers and sisters, if one thinks about it in the ordinary way, everything has to be properly arranged. Bapak takes by way of an example the fact that it is very necessary that the helpers should give explanations to the members so as to make them aware of the nature of the latihan kejiwaan, as Bapak is always saying, and besides that the helpers should do their own latihan; not to be more, but so as to have more conviction in what they do. Because when the helpers test with the members, it sometimes happens - as Bapak knows - that the members are more certain about the results than the helpers themselves. That is why, so far as possible, the helpers should arrange their own special latihans, as Bapak has everywhere said. This is necessary in order that what the helpers do can really be convincing, so that the members will be able to trust the helpers.

Just to illustrate this, suppose some member asks a question such as: "Why can I not receive quickly?" or "Why do I feel so heavy when I do the latihan?" Then it is necessary for the helpers to do latihan and really empty themselves of all the influences of the nafsu. For it often happens, brothers and sisters, that these questions cannot really be answered correctly because the helpers themselves are still much influences by nafsu, so that the answers they give to the members are more or less according to the helpers' own feelings in the matter. In fact what takes place in what is called testing in the latihan kejiwaan is something resembling what happened to all of you when you were opened; that is, through emptying themselves of everything in them, the helpers truly feel that there is no power and no reality in them except for what comes from the One Almighty God on the basis of their sincere surrender to Him.

It is, for instance, like what so often happens - people come and ask the helpers questions such as "Shall I be able to win the first prize if I buy a lottery ticket?" Because the person asking that has at that moment a very strong desire to win a prize in the lottery, the answer will be: "Yes, you can win it”. Because he has received the answer "Yes, you can", the member will really believe from his heart that he is going to win. Then, when eventually, having bought a ticket, he does not win a prize, he wonders why in that case was the answer "Yes", when that was evidently not true? Thus in order to clarify and verify the truth or otherwise of answers to questions, it is better if the helpers do not rely just upon themselves alone until they are really able to receive and to achieve a total surrender to God.

It is better if they do not test by themselves but with other helpers, so that there will be witnesses. Even so, brothers and sisters, they may still be unable to be certain. This is proved by the many such situations experienced by the members everywhere. This is why it is that so many of the enterprises undertaken by the members fail, and why so many of them fall by the wayside. Well, that is where the difference lies, brothers and sisters, and that is why Bapak's enterprises are more successful and profitable than those of other people in other countries. That is what Bapak has experienced, and that is the example he has set for those who follow in his footsteps here.

Many of the things for which people hope and plan are not achieved. What is the reason? It is caused by our own hearts and feelings, which are still full of deceit and lies. This is the reason. Thus it is clear that the reason why God does not give one and the same high soul to all, why he does not give us clear, true answers, is because we are like a path which is still dirty, so that everything that passes along it will of course be affected and influenced by the impurity of our own inner-feeling. This is the reason, and this is why Muslims practice the wudlu ( ablutions ) each time they are about to worship God. Wudlu means purification: That purification does not mean that one immediately becomes clean once and for all. That is why when people do their ibadat, say their prayers, they go on performing the ablutions every time. Thus they always purify themselves first, and there is no certainty that after ten or fifteen years of doing so they will have become clean. That is not certain. We need to look at and to verify the facts for ourselves. So, in our worship of God, we always examine our own selves to see whether our worship is really sincere. Is my behavior and attitude towards everyone, for instance, already honest and what can be considered pure, or is it not?

This will bear fruit, and you will be able to receive these fruits in days to come. That is why yesterday evening, or whenever it was that Bapak first gave you all a talk, he spoke of what in Islam are called zat, sifat, asma and af'al. Thus all that will become apparent in your af'al, in the proof, the reality. You appear to be worshipping, and you just keep on worshipping. What is the proof? Is it true that God loves us? Is it already sixty per cent, seventy per cent true or is it less than fifty per cent, forty per cent? That we can always receive. Thus we have all the time to examine our own selves. That, brothers and sisters, is why I say that it is not very easy for the helpers to make the members understand; it is not easy if the helpers themselves cannot yet prove the truth for themselves. Can that produce clear results in sixty per cent of the questions which they are asked, or in seventy per cent or fifty per cent - can they produce really successful results which are really what are hoped for, or not yet?

London, England - October 2, 1983
Code Number : 83 LON 22A
Bapak needs to repeat once again that the latihan kejiwaan of Subud will go on by itself. God cannot be ordered about by human beings. God cannot be governed by the human mind. There are many people who do extraordinary things, as in India and also Java, Indonesia. The cut down their food and sleep, they live isolated in lonely places, contemplating and meditating for no other reason than that they hope to purify themselves and make their jiwas rise to a higher level. But they cannot do this. God is not similar in kind to human beings. God includes and envelopes all things. God can in no way be described as being like anything, no.

That is why Bapak has formerly explained about the structure of life and the life-forces; that is, the seven levels plus two more, making nine, or ten in all. Thus you must not try to drive out the nafsu from your minds in order to be quickly able to achieve something. You must not do that. In due course this will happen by itself, for this is indeed what is called wahyu ( revelation ), ilham ( spiritual knowledge ), rahmat ( the grace and mercy of God ). These come of their own accord, not by asking. But human beings must make their own effort along the way; that is, by receiving the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, while as for the mind and heart, of course they must be made to work. There is nothing wrong with earning money, there is nothing wrong with becoming rich, nothing wrong with being clever, but you should use those skills, those riches, to make amal ( good works ) out of your life in so far as you are able. This you cannot do through the nafsu or the mind, but only through the guidance of the One Almighty God, which is free from the influence of the nafsu which dwell in the heart and mind.

That is all, brothers and sisters. Thank you very much.

Wisma Subud, Cilandak, Indonesia - June 26, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 6
So, brothers and sisters, ( especially brothers ), you have clearly been able to receive m and Bapak gives praise and thanks to Almighty God m that you have been able to receive God's blessing and God's grace in your latihan kejiwaan. Although your latihan has not yet reached the summit of experience, yet what you have received so far is already pretty good. And with what you have received comes now the responsibility that you spread it and pass it on to as many people as possible, so that there shouldn't be still always a such large number, a majority, of human beings in the world who have not received what you have received, who have a true understanding of life, being constantly spun around by their nafsu. This is your responsibility: spread now this latihan to people throughout the world.

Thank you.

Bapak's Last Talk
Wisma Subud, Cilandak Indonesia - May 27, 1987
Code Number : 87 CDK 5
The latihan is actually full of every form of culture and knowledge. Through the latihan you will not only get to know your fellow human beings, and get to know angels, but even you will get to know Almighty God when the time finally comes for that. That is why people of old used to say not to feel sad if some sorrow or misfortune befalls you, nor to feel happy when you experience some good fortune. Let your own jiwa be your guide and give you the reality.

Don't let there be too many gaps between the times when you are praising Almighty God. ( Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah. ) Because repeating the name of God within yourself will put aside, will chase away every kind of sadness and every kind of obstacle within your heart.

And you don't need to be afraid because the latihan is the guidance of Almighty God. So as long as what you are doing is right and doesn't deviate from the truth, you have no cause to fear anything. And in all your actions and activities you will never be without some form of teaching and guidance from within.

That is all. Thank you.

Amen. Bapak Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo

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