Jakarta, Indonesia - June 9, 1958
Code Number : 58 JKT 1
Bapak already received much earlier - in 1932 in fact, before he stopped his ordinary work in an office - that there would be a very big war. Besides this, Bapak was also shown that Indonesia would be free, would no longer be under the Dutch. And after the big war was over, then his opportunity would come, the opportunity to travel abroad -'to go around the world'- Bapak was told.

. . . . The proof of what Bapak had received would be shown later.

And truly - not long after that, as the 1940s approached, there was already news of war, which finally became the last war, normally referred to as the Second World War, so that things happened quickly, and Bapak does not need to tell you about the arrival of the Japanese and so on. Finally Indonesian independence became a reality.

Jakarta, Indonesia - September 29, 1958
Code Number : 58 JKT 5
It is difficult for us to know our human soul, because in giving to human beings, God waits until they are powerless. Usually, someone who is powerless is dead. But once one is dead it's too late. So what we are doing is that before we die, we are training ourselves to experience death. And the meaning of death is that the desires and the thinking and the heart do not work. So if sometimes when you are in a state of quietness, you have a feeling you are going to die, do not be afraid. If you are afraid, it means your heart is making you afraid. Do not be afraid.

In telling you not to be afraid is Bapak urging you to be reckless? Oh no! Bapak does not tell people to be reckless. No. Bapak is not teaching you to be reckless. Not being afraid means you truly have faith in the greatness of the One God. So that's good, isn't it?

If you are just a little bit afraid, it means your faith is less. If you are more afraid, it is still less; still more afraid, your faith is even less than that - like maybe about half. So you can gauge it for yourself, you can see for yourself, 'If I am still scared like this, I must lack faith.'

So when they say that a Muslim is someone who has faith in the One God, in reality that's very hard. Professor Dr. Halepota said recently, 'In the Quran it says, Pak, that a Muslim must have the courage to go to war and must have the courage to die.' True. But not to die arbitrarily! Not to go into battle casually, just for the sake of bravado! You might as well hang yourself- is that how a Muslim behaves?

So, having the courage to go to war does not mean being tough and using force, like, 'We're off to war, a real war!' No. Having the courage to die does not mean dying recklessly. No. It is an expression that shows a person is really obedient and believes in the existence of God and God's power. This is what is called sabilullah ( Arab.: the path of Allah ) and is necessary.

New York, NY U.S.A. - May 24, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 7
If someone wants to become rich, first he must have the courage to spend as much of his wealth or possessions as possible - the way people do in business - on advertising. For instance, Bapak has heard about those who are now selling Coca Cola. During the world war, they distributed Coca Cola just like that, without charge, to the soldiers who were fighting in the war. People thought it was simply charity. But once it was made available to everybody, people became accustomed to drinking Coca Cola. After the war, well, they just had to drink Coca Cola. However, now the war was over they had to buy it. So, before, they just gave it away, but later they made huge profits.

They say that if you want to be knowledgeable, first you have to get rid of what you know. So, if you want to know something and you want to learn something from others, but you are always debating with them and showing off your own knowledge, you cannot possibly get the knowledge you need. Similarly, you will never become a wealthy merchant if you don't have the courage to take a risk. So, if you want to trade and get rich, you must have the courage to risk a loss.

This also exists in the spiritual life. Our Subud latihan is a training for death, so we can experience life through death. Therefore we must have courage. If the latihan is a training for death - a training for meeting and being before God and for whatever God wills for us - then we must have the courage to die. However, it must not be the courage to die in the wrong way but when it is God's will for us. This is symbolized in the inner nature of Jesus. When he was crucified he surrendered to God with complete submission. That is how Jesus was when he faced his death. Whatever God willed for him, he submitted to God and let go. So in the end he did not die, but rather came to life and became blessed and noble in heaven.

That is the broad meaning contained in the words Susila Budhi Dharma. So it is clear that if you are really Subud, it means that you become an example to other people, an example to the world. In Islam they say that such a human being is hajib al-'alam ( Arab. ), which means an example to the world, an example of how to live in this world. So, when you leave this world, when you die, you will leave an excellent legacy for those who come after.

Chicago, Illinois U.S.A. - June 23, 1959
Code Number : 59 CHI 2
Through the mistakes of human beings themselves, through your own mistakes, you bring the low forces, which should sit in a low place, inside yourselves. For instance, take clothing. You wear clothing simply to cover your skin. The purpose of the clothing is to protect this ( body ) from the wind, the heat of the sun, and the cold of the ice in winter; but through our mistakes they enter our heart. It's as if our heart is wearing the clothing and not our body.

Here's the proof. For example, before you owned these earrings with the big diamonds, you were like this. Before you had them, you walked like this, just normally. ( Bapak demonstrates ) But after you started wearing these expensive earrings that cost about, say, five thousand dollars, you start walking like this. ( Bapak demonstrates ) Your walk has changed. So just this has already influenced your heart. Before, you walked like this; after wearing this thing costing ten thousand dollars, you move like this. ( Laughter ) It's different. That is their influence, the influence of material things.

Such is the influence of matter. In fact you have experienced it yourself. In times of war, everything disappears. The fields and grain stores, the rice, the wheat, were all lost due to the great war. What did you need ( then, ) in order to live? Simply food. A diamond as big as this had no value when there was no food. So it's clear that material things can only touch the outside of your skin - they cannot enter your being.

So, it's clear that once you are able to organize the material forces they will not reach into your heart or your thinking. And images of the beauty of the material things you have seen will not keep appearing here, in your heart and in your brain.

There are some people who still believe that if you are very rich in this world you will be equally rich in the hereafter, for they say they can take their material wealth, their material things, with them, albeit in a finer form. In fact this is not so. It's not possible, because in the realm beyond this world everything is different. Even if there were money over there, for example, it would have to be different. The money over there, if it existed, would be one million times bigger than the money here.

London, England August 17, 1959
Code number of Recording: 59 LON 2
People try to cure their illnesses and the faults within their being using their intelligence and their thinking, but that just patches up something that is inherently defective or damaged. So, even though it is repaired, it still remains damaged. They are unable to discover the prime cause that lies at the root of all that has gone wrong, since their effort does not go beyond the use of the thinking mind.

The fact is that the most dangerous disease is not the kind that produces physical symptoms, but the kind that lies in the character or inner nature of a person. This is a more dangerous kind of disease than cancer and the like. Bapak will illustrate. Out of a thousand people perhaps only ten are afflicted by physical illness; but if one person has a flawed character that causes him to seek only his own advantage and to strive for the total gratification of his desires and passions, he may drag down thousands of others to misery and death - as happens in war and other calamities.

It is truly a paradox that on the one hand people look after themselves and look after their health very well, yet on the other hand they incite others to fight one another through war. So they are spared from illnesses but succumb instead to the sickness of war, which demands thousands and millions of casualties. As a result of this, in time of war people hardly know the meaning of good will towards other human beings. Such is the effect of forces that are out of place within the self of human beings - they provoke people to destroy each other.

Therefore the best way - the way we need to find - is one that enables us to transform people's character so they truly come to appreciate human life; to feel the feelings of people everywhere; to know what harmony in human life is like, and to know one God and one human race.

Coombe Springs, England - August 26, 1959
Code number of Recording : 59 CSP 15
Bapak will first explain about the noise when you do latihan together. As Bapak has frequently explained, God knows the present situation of human beings in this age in which they live. God knows that the world at this time is noisy and that people are noisy too. One could say that human beings today have been created in a noisy environment. Clearly, therefore, today God educates human beings in the midst of noise. To what purpose? So that they, with constant noise all around them, will no longer be disturbed by it; so that all this noise will just become a normal state of affairs for them that cannot stop or prevent them from worshipping God. Therefore, doing latihan with people who are noisy is in fact best for you. If you can, you should eventually be able to do latihan when you are on a merry-go-round at a fair, driving your car, sitting in a train or even - and this is just an example - if you find yourself involved in a war. And what is the purpose of this? So that you are not disturbed or overwhelmed by what is going on around you.

Now, of course what you hope is: 'When I die it will be at home, close to my family, at midnight when all is still.' That may be your hope - but how and when one will die cannot be foretold. It may be that you will have a collision while driving your car and be killed; you may go swimming and be drowned; you may die in an air crash; you may be killed in war; or you may drop dead while you are talking to someone. God knows these things; God knows all the obstacles confronting people and preventing them from standing before Him. That is why God has given humanity a very great opportunity: to be able to worship God without being disturbed by any surrounding circumstances. This is it.

Melbourne, Australia - March 10, 1963
Code Number : 63 MEB 3
Maybe when you are face to face with Bapak like this you don’t feel he is different, an Indonesian, whereas you are English. No. Bapak has confirmed this with members abroad. When he travels abroad they say, ‘I feel as if Bapak is my father.’ They even say, ‘more than my father’. This is clearly from the power of God that has been given in Subud, which brings human beings closer, really close. Now, just supposing that were to happen to many, say to about fifty per cent of all the people in the world, there would be no possibility of war. There would be no war, because people [would say] to each other, ‘What’s the use of war, because you and I are brothers, and when you feel pain, I feel it; when I feel pain, you feel it. When you don’t have enough, I feel it too; so that whatever you suffer, I suffer as well.’ [That is how it could be] if it could truly spread all over the world. Well, it’s all up to God.

Such are the realities in Subud. That is why it is very necessary for you to act and behave in harmony, feeling empathy with one another. It is necessary because, when you are like that in your feelings and also have patience, it will make your journey to God possible. It will make it possible for your latihan, which leads towards perfection, to go faster and for you to receive more than if you are not like that.

That is why, for you in Subud, what you receive when you do the latihan is a feeling towards each other of being one family. Truly, in Subud there are no secrets any more. What you keep to yourself, what you conceal, the others will certainly get to know when they die. That includes Bapak himself. You will be able know who Bapak is and what his character is like. And the other way round: Bapak will easily know what you are like. So, as Bapak just said, the secrets we have between us truly will be revealed. If among us our secrets are revealed and we cannot keep them any more, it means we have to be, and it is our duty to be, in harmony with one another. For if we know each other’s secrets and are not in harmony, it will certainly damage our association. It will certainly break up our community, so that we will not reach what we are aiming for, but will just end up quarrelling. That would be like fighting over a bone that has no meat on it.

Briarcliff NY USA - July 15, 1963
Second Subud World Congress
Code Number : 63 BCL 6
Question: What should we do if we are compelled to join the Armed Forces and participate in the fighting of national wars?

Bapak: Brothers and sisters, human beings living in this world need to be able to organise their life. Regulations that are made by human beings are necessary for them. So laws and regulations that are established in a country in order to bind people together are made by human beings themselves. You yourselves have created such laws and so you have to obey them. Of course, you have not literally made these laws yourselves, because they were passed before you were born, yet they have been established by your own countrymen or forebears. So it can be said that it is we ourselves who have made them.

Laws relating to waging war and to the armed services have also been made by you for the purpose of strength, or for warding off or deterring any danger that might threaten you; so you must obey them since they are your own laws. It is true that in this you are represented by your country, but there is no country if there are no citizens. So you cannot separate a country and its citizens, because it is the citizens who create the country. Therefore, from the spiritual point of view, you are not forbidden to join the armed forces or do military service. It is not forbidden, because these are your own laws: human laws that are necessary.

Magelang, Indonesia - May 31, 1964
Code Number : 64 MGL1
When it comes to your interaction with other members, if you are not attentive it can happen that your heart continually disturbs you. You may be able to receive and others cannot, or you are not able to receive while others can. Sometimes your heart feels resentful, whether you want it to or not. This is something you need to fight against. In fact it is said, in the words of God or in the Quran, that human beings must wage war and must be good at waging war. This is what is called waging jihad or sabil Allah [Arab.: the way of God]. But, this does not mean war between people but making war on our own desires. This is hard. Our desires are invisible, and it is very hard.

If you see somebody who is better than you are and you are able to keep quiet, you are a champion. If you can see Bapak wearing a tie and think to yourself, ‘So, Bapak still looks dashing!’ without feeling resentful about it, wow, that is really good. Because normally you would say, ‘Oh God, I could be like that; I am no less dashing than him.’

It is that kind of feeling in your heart that you need – not to suppress, but … try not to feel that way all the time. Also in your relationships at the office: for example, your friend gets promoted and you protest. There is no point. There is no point in protesting when your friend is promoted.

‘But, come on, it is unjust!’

That’s not true, it is your own fault. If you want to improve yourself and find justice, do your work well. It is sure to be noticed.

That is how it is, brothers and sisters. It is the same if you were to see one of your friends wearing two pairs of shoes. Don’t react. Let her wear three pairs if she wants to. Don’t worry about it; let it be. Because if I don’t let it be, I may end up wearing six pairs, and that will disturb my own well-being.

There may also be many of you who say you have been feeling annoyed ever since you have been in Subud. You are sick more than before, or your boss at work hates you. Do not blame Subud for those things, because there is no Subud, there is only you. Subud is you; meaning that if you did not exist there would not be any Subud. So, if you blame Subud, you are blaming yourself.

There is no rule in Subud that whoever joins Subud must first get rheumatism. There’s nothing like that. The only rule that you have received from those who were members before you is that you should surrender to God with patience, acceptance and willingness to let go, and follow what you receive. That’s all there is. There isn’t a rule that you must go through trials for a year, or that you must be poor. There’s nothing like that. But those who join Subud and then win the lottery, get promoted or make a lot of money – they keep that to themselves. Well, that is normal in life. If you do that, Bapak will just smile, he will just laugh. It is fine with him.

Eindhoven, Holland - August 27, 1964
Code Number : 64 EIN 1
God does not create human beings with hands just for them to hang there. No, God has imbued the hands with their purpose; so if you can receive that, you will use your hands in accordance with God’s will. That means you will not hit people, but you will write, or count money, or search for something good. Not like this … Pow! [Bapak demonstrates.] No, absolutely not. What makes you go like this, or like this [Bapak demonstrates with movements] are your desires. And it is the same with you eyes, ears, mouth and nose. God’s education is embodied within them, so you will use your eyes to see something that is useful, not just for watching rock-and-roll.

That is how it is; and you will be able to receive the reality of this and receive it completely if you are patient and obedient. The meaning of obedient is that you have faith in God and are diligent in doing the latihan – you always do your latihan patiently, three times a week. You do not need to be in a hurry. But do not neglect it and do not be casual; do not say, ‘Uh, if it’s not raining I’ll go and do latihan, but if it’s raining I don’t need to go.’ Do not do that. Do the latihan. You can do the latihan in the group or at home, as long as you do it.

Oh, brothers and sisters, God knows; God understands the needs of human beings. The most important thing for you all is to make war on the will of your own heart, and restrain it. Indeed this is a very difficult thing to do, because it means subduing your own heart. Suppose that your heart wants to do this, and you tell it, ‘Don’t!’ That is very hard. But it is the most important thing for you.

Cilandak, Indonesia - July 31, 1966
Code Number : 66 TJK 2
So according to the latihan, and by God’s will, human beings are not intended to discriminate between each other. God does not want us not to get along. It is God’s will that we get along so that this world becomes a safe place. If the world is a safe place, who will be happy? Isn’t it human beings themselves? But human beings are quite strange. They would like to be at peace, they would like to be happy, but they themselves create bad things, with the result that they are unhappy and not at peace.

Cilandak, Indonesia - January 22, 1967
Code Number : 67 TJK 1
What has been given to us is more than good, more than beautiful. Therefore, whatever we do that is in accordance with our religion educates us to be in harmony with each other, to be straightforward and honest, and not pretentious. If human beings were really like that throughout the world, war would be impossible. But until then there will be war. Forget about humankind throughout the world, we even fight with our wives. If I may ask, are there any among you who fight with your wives only once a year? There may be some who fight only once a week. Some of you fight once a day. [Laughter.] Why is it that when it’s your wife, just a small thing can turn into a quarrel? But don’t misunderstand, brothers and sisters, that is a latihan too. But if you are not aware, you could say that it is not latihan but just a habit.

Whatever it is you experience, you must look for the reasons behind it. As a human being you must be truly aware, truly alive. For example, say you are lighting a match: you are supposed to do it this way, aren’t you? But you do it like this [Bapak demonstrates]. Why doesn’t it light? Oh, it’s the wrong end, it should be like this.

So, you have to look at the causes behind everything you do. If you are quarrelling with your wife – just suppose – then why are you doing that? What is the cause? It is this that you are given to understand when you receive the qadr. And if both of you become aware of it together … that is why the fast is not just for the men. No, it is for everybody: husbands, wives, and children too if they have attained majority. But even if not, they can still do it as a form of training.

If both of you have become aware, when you quarrel one of you will always give in.

[Bapak demonstrates, speaking in an angry voice] ‘How can that have happened? After all …!’

‘Ah, well, it doesn’t matter. I’m the one who’s wrong,’ … and the quarrel’s over.

When two people quarrel and neither wants to give in, then what? They both want to win. If this one wants to win and that one wants to win, they’ll go on fighting all night. But then later they’ll be snuggling up to each other. It doesn’t add up: they’ve gone to all that trouble fighting, and then they’re embracing each other again. It makes me think, ‘Oh boy! Aren’t people strange.’

Manchester, England - April 10, 1967
Code Number : 67 MAN 3
. . . After that, Bapak was made to do latihan every night for another year. Then the same thing happened again. He had finished making the movements his inner had wanted and was sitting, when something fell on him. But Bapak remembered what had happened the time before, that it would surely disappear. I held the book very tightly, like this [Bapak demonstrates]. But then I opened it. This book was different from the first one. It was the size of a Van Daale dictionary. As thick as this [gesture]; it was very thick. I opened it. There was nothing in it; every page was empty. Every page in the book was blank.

Then Bapak thought, ‘What is this book for? The book is empty.’ Writing appeared on the blank page: ‘This book is intentionally blank. It will be filled only with what you want to know. If you ask a question, the answer will be written here.’ Ah, now he knew what the book was for. Bapak asked lots of questions and asked about all kinds of things. They were all answered in writing. Bapak read everything.

Bapak asked what was going to happen, what he would have to go through in the future. The book said, ‘Later, after a great war is over ...’ At the time there was no war, there was no hint that there would be a great war. ‘There will be a great war, a world war, and after it is over, God wants you to travel around the world. You must believe these words, do not deny them. These are God’s words and you must obey and follow them, because this is going to happen to you.’ That is what was in the book.

Then Bapak held the book. [He thought,] ‘This might disappear like the other one.’ He held on to it very tightly, but it too disappeared. He wondered, ‘How did that happen? How could it disappear?’ Then he felt there was something bulky in his chest. And then that feeling went away too, just as before.

The book also said, ‘You will travel around the world and you will guide people of every race and every religion in the world. And you will be regarded as the father of humankind, not as a friend. Have faith, you will be at home wherever you go.’ . . . read the complete talk

Cilandak, Indonesia - December 10, 1968
Code Number : 68 TJK 5
Jesus Christ, who steadfastly spread the messages and advice he received from Almighty God in order that people might change their ways and bad behavior to their fellow men. In fact, however, the people did not follow or adhere to his advice, but opposed and even slandered him.

Later, the Prophet Muhammad also experienced during his lifetime the ignorance of people who did not want to believe his message, so that he was forced to make war on them.

So, clearly, many people did not heed God's loving compassion for human beings which was given and channeled to them, and which was necessary for them to become of really good character.

For this reason, you who live in the present century should make efforts to lead good lives, as far as possible, and not forget again and again this love of Almighty God for man. So it is essential for us to observe the religious practice of fasting during the month of Ramadan, because it is during this month that we are being trained to know how the influence of the nafsu causes us to be in darkness.

Cilandak, Indonesia - April 13, 1974
Talk to Asian Councilors Conference
Code Number : 74 CDK 5
The concern of the United Nations generally, at this time, is how to bring peace to mankind; how to bring peace to the different, warring, competing interests of different countries, of different groups; how to ensure that war does not break out, and how to limit the use of destructive weapons; how to try to make sure that the weapons of tremendous power and destruction which have been invented by mankind, that is, nuclear bombs and guided missiles and so on, are never used. Well, the hope of achieving this aim is to attract to Subud people whose responsibility it is to work in this capacity, in these negotiations; people who are responsible for the use of destructive weapons for waging war, and so on. If these people can feel and get to know and be filled with the power of Almighty God, with the guidance of Almighty God that we experience in the latihan, there is a very great hope that these weapons that are facing mankind today will not be used. And that the war and the strife between nations can be avoided and minimized. For this it is necessary to establish enterprises.

For us, enterprises are a way of attracting people to Subud who normally do not care about the kejiwaan; it is through the existence of enterprises that we can get people interested in the latihan, who normally do not pay any attention to the kejiwaan. In fact not only things like war and international problems, but also other negative situations in the world today which tend to ruin the life of man and society, can be avoided if statesmen can be attracted into Subud.

People who normally do not pay any attention to spiritual matters can come to feel the power of Almighty God and the guidance of God. For example, Bapak means things like corruption. Corruption, it is said nowadays, is already a form of culture. Well, this is what people say, as a matter of fact it's not true because corruption is just something that ruins society and ruins people. If statesmen and people in high positions, important people, have within them the Power of God and the latihan kejiwaan, then it is really to be hoped that this corruption can be avoided, and that they can find a way to do away with it.

So, Brothers and sisters, it is true to say that for us it's already a very great good fortune that in this century, something has grown, something has arisen, to which we have given the name 'latihan kejiwaan'. Because this latihan kejiwaan is something extremely simple, extremely straightforward, it's not easy for people in religion on the one hand, and people in spiritual ways or spiritual teachings on the other hand, to ask the question: What really is the latihan kejiwaan?

Well, in the case of people who give or follow a spiritual teaching, they often take the view that the latihan is only a kind of sport, something that you do for health reasons. It is just a kind of movement of the body, something that you do for physical relief or health, like sport. On the other hand, many religious people regard the latihan kejiwaan as a kind of satanic exercise or latihan, something like Shamanism, or as in India where it is called 'occultism' or 'spiritualism' and this and that. Well, in a way there is some truth to this. To put it very plainly, Subud contains everything. The whole of life and the whole world is contained in Subud. So everything that exists in this world, everything that God has created, is encompassed and can be found within the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. There is no limit, all of life and everything that is known to mankind is contained within the latihan kejiwaan, including these things that Bapak has just mentioned. Not only that, but every form of culture, every kind of movement - let us say, the culture of Indonesia, the culture of England, of America, of South America, the culture of every kind of country in the world, can be felt, can be learned, can be known through the latihan kejiwaan. This, of course, is because the latihan kejiwaan comes from God. And God has created and enveloped the whole world.

Cilandak, Indonesia - March 16, 1975
Code Number : 75 CDK 2
Brothers and sisters, it is evident that the latihan kejiwaan of Subud is like a clear guidance for you all and for those who receive it, in order that they should become human beings who are not easily disturbed by the situation around them, in order that you may become people with a firm standpoint. Like the news of what is happening today: the atmosphere in the world is becoming hot. We often read in the newspaper forecasts that there will be a world war which may take place this year or in the near future. If you hear or read this kind of news and you don't have your own firm standpoint then you will be disturbed by such news, and then your life will become uncertain as to its security and its comforts and you will always be worrying about what will happen supposing there will be war. Then Bapak also has to answer questions like this. Bapak has recently had a letter of this sort.

This is why Bapak said what he did earlier, because it is necessary for you to become aware of it, that everyone moves on their own rails according to their own actions. For example, how is it possible to avoid a world war if men really want to have one? Those who don't want it are only we Subud members. For many people, other than we Subud members, really want this war to happen. If you ask, 'How can that be true, Bapak?', Bapak answers, 'How can it be untrue since they have already made all the equipment needed for a war. All that is already prepared. If you make yourself a fishing rod, is it possible that you will never go fishing? If you get yourself a ballpoint, is it possible that you will never write with it?' It is clear that whatever we make we will certainly use. We don't know whether it will be sooner or later, but it is sure that it will be used.

It is in order that we should not be disturbed by such things that Bapak hopes that all of you Subud members and even those outside Subud should maintain their standpoint; that is, worship Almighty God. Say, those who are Muslim worship God sincerely according to the Muslim religion; similarly with the Christians and all the other religions; while for you all, as well as the Muslims doing their Muslim prayers, Bapak adds this latihan kejiwaan of Subud.

So this latihan kejiwaan does not contradict anything. Absolutely nothing. There is nothing you learn; there is no manner of doing it; there is no mantra to be learned; there is no theory; so how could it contradict anything?

So, should it happen - and don't say that Bapak determines that it will, because these things are determined by the situation which is created by man himself - supposing there is a war, then just let there be a war. Just let it go, and here you worship Almighty God. And if, while you are worshipping God, you are touched by the war, well, so what? - since you are surrendering to Almighty God.

Once you surrender to God you are not afraid of anything. If something happens to you while you are worshipping Almighty God, you will then go to God. Can we prevent ourselves from dying? Of course we can't. As an example, here is something Bapak experienced. Two days ago Bapak met someone who looked fresh and healthy but today he is already dead. 'How is so and so?' 'Oh, he is already dead.' How come? Yesterday I was still talking to him and as we talked he even exclaimed, 'Don't be afraid of dying!' with great confidence, and now he is dead himself. While Bapak, who only leaves it to Almighty God, is not dead yet. But who knows, maybe tomorrow? Bapak cannot know. And that is why Bapak says, if God wills then it is up to God.

Cilandak, Indonesia - September 29, 1975
Code Number : 75 CDK 6
So it is clear brothers and sisters, that the fast is a training which you may not give up. Although you have already done the fast a few times, still you must go on with it. Because by repeating it over and over and over again, you will accustom yourself more, so that you will be more used to it, and if you are more used to it, it means you are more relaxed, and once you are more relaxed, then no matter what you think about, you will always be in a state of worship.

As Bapak tested with you the other day, the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, did not think only about God. No, he thought about war and whatnot. For if he thought only about God, what would become of the war? No, he thought about war, about the state, about his wives, about his children, he thought about this and about that, he thought about the economy and so on ( not forgetting development ). But relaxed.

In that way, although you are thinking about whatever it is, your eyes or your seeing can see all around; that is, by themselves. So each member of your being functions individually. So we can say that we don't only have democracy outwardly, but also inside, within our being. This also Bapak will later test or try out with all of you, so that you don't only listen to Bapak's words but also to some extent acquire conviction.

Cilandak, Indonesia - February 13, 1976
Code Number : 76 CDK 1
Possibly through Subud, through the Latihan Kejiwaan, the very rich people may realize that their wealth should be used for peace, for the prosperity and for the harmony of mankind in general, or for the prosperity of the world, not for quarrelling or warring.

This is included in the aspirations, in the aims of these enterprises. Thus, should we become rich like that, we can so channel our riches that they bring prosperity to mankind in general. Not for waging war, not for killing, not for causing turmoil in the world like that.

San Francisco, California - April 26, 1976
Code Number : 76 SFO 3
Now we come to the time of Muhammad, who corresponds to the growth of man's faith in Almighty God, so that for the first time man rejected faith in material objects, in idols. And this is symbolized by prophet Muhammad as a war lord or a general. Of all the prophets, Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, he was the only one who led an army. Again this is only a symbol. It symbolizes the fact that he had the ability or was given the power to make war, or man was given the power at that time to make war on the passions of anger and greed. And at that time there truly arose men whose faith in Almighty God was very strong. But of course not everybody had this faith, there were those who had a very strong faith and there were those who did not. Because this is always the situation of man in this world. For if everyone had faith in God, if there were no people whose faith in God was weak or non-existent, then this world would cease to exist. For it would no longer be required. And the revelation of the prophet Muhammad became known as a book known as the Holy Koran.

Kendfield, England - May 26, 1976
Code Number : 76 KFD 5
Brothers and sisters, from the reports that Bapak has heard, that we all have heard from the various zones from Central Europe down to Africa and America, it is very evident that the reason why Subud has not progressed, or is still slow in progressing, both in terms of the organization and the kejiwaan, is largely due to the conditions prevailing in world at the moment.

Kendfield, England - May 27, 1976
Talk given at the meeting of the Compact Council
Code Number : 76 KFD 6
Brothers and sisters, from the reports that Bapak has heard, that we all have heard from the various zones from Central Europe down to Africa and America, it is very evident that the reason why Subud has not progressed, or is still slow in progressing, both in terms of the organization and the kejiwaan, is largely due to the conditions prevailing in world at the moment.

These are as Bapak described earlier today, that it is really true that at this moment the situation in the world is one where God is testing man. It is a time of test for man in that everywhere men are forced to undergo a situation which is chaotic, so that men are forced to live, no matter where men live in the world today, they are forced to live and undergo situations that are in the nature of chaos. And the reason for this is that the greed of man in the world at the moment has reached a kind of peak, as man's intelligence or cleverness has also reached a kind of peak. Why is it that the result of man's intelligence reaching a peak is chaos? The reason is that this cleverness, or this intelligence that Bapak is referring to, is a cleverness which is entirely motivated by the nafsu, by heart and mind and by the lower forces. In other words, being of a cleverness that comes only from the heart and mind, it is something that is influenced by the nafsu, by the lower forces which have their abode in the heart and mind, so that everything that man does with his cleverness which he has developed has always the result of ruining something for other people. No matter what man obtains, what result man obtains from his labors, nowadays it is used immediately to make chaos in someone else’s place, in a place other than where the person is who is doing it, whether it is in the form of provoking or trying to wage war, or making trouble in some other way. And this is one of the reasons why Subud cannot, in fact, progress at present in the way that we would hope, because indeed this is the situation throughout the world, and it is by the will of God that man, at this moment is forced to undergo a state of general chaos.

Another reason is clearly the situation of money or the economy, which is certainly on the way down and this is very evident. Of course it is most evident if you hear reports from South Africa and South America and the northern part of Africa, but it is also the case in countries like the United States. For example, in the past, the United States thought of itself as a place where they had a surplus whereby they could help other people in other countries, and they could even export things or export ways of doing things to other countries, so that people who received these things would be able to organize themselves better than before, now, it is just the opposite, that people in the United States are finding all sorts of things These are as Bapak described earlier today, that it is really true that at this moment the situation in the world is one where God is testing man. It is a time of test for man in that everywhere men are forced to undergo a situation which is chaotic, so that men are forced to live, no matter where men live in the world today, they are forced to live and undergo situations that are in the nature of chaos. And the reason for this is that the greed of man in the world at the moment has reached a kind of peak, as man's intelligence or cleverness has also reached a kind of peak. Why is it that the result of man's intelligence reaching a peak is chaos? The reason is that this cleverness, or this intelligence that Bapak is referring to, is a cleverness which is entirely motivated by the nafsu, by heart and mind and by the lower forces. In other words, being of a cleverness that comes only from the heart and mind, it is something that is influenced by the nafsu, by the lower forces which have their abode in the heart and mind, so that everything that man does with his cleverness which he has developed has always the result of ruining something for other people. No matter what man obtains, what result man obtains from his labors, nowadays it is used immediately to make chaos in someone else’s place, in a place other than where the person is who is doing it, whether it is in the form of provoking or trying to wage war, or making trouble in some other way. And this is one of the reasons why Subud cannot, in fact, progress at present in the way that we would hope, because indeed this is the situation throughout the world, and it is by the will of God that man, at this moment is forced to undergo a state of general chaos. Another reason is clearly the situation of money or the economy, which is certainly on the way down and this is very evident. Of course it is most evident if you hear reports from South Africa and South America and the northern part of Africa, but it is also the case in countries like the United States. For example, in the past, the United States thought of itself as a place where they had a surplus whereby they could help other people in other countries, and they could even export things or export ways of doing things to other countries, so that people who received these things would be able to organize themselves better than before, now, it is just the opposite, that people in the United States are finding all sorts of things happening to them which are not at all what they had anticipated or hoped for.

Singapore - June 28, 1976
A Talk To Malaysian And Singapore Members
Code Number: 76 SIN 1
Now for the matter of enterprises, brothers and sisters. Yes, although in Enqlish the word is "enterprise" in Indonesian it is "usaha". But in fact an enterprise is a human effort. Enterprises can also be in the teaching field, as a teacher, or in the field of medicine, as a doctor, or in whatever field it may be. Those are enterprises. For the progress of the mind, the development of the mind, if it is not accompanied inwardly by the power of God working in the inner self of human beings, such a development of heart and mind is dangerous.

It is as Bapak said just now; the more clever the more dangerous, and also the more stupid the more dangerous, it is just the same. Thus it is important that people should be clever and that they should be well off, but they have to know how to be rich, know what these riches are for, know what that cleverness is for.

That is how it is, brothers and sisters, and that is why nowadays this world has become the way it is; all confused. The world at present is in general like that everywhere; both here and in Europe and America, people's hearts are always like this. It is illustrated by the question of whether there will be war, and if there is war, what then? Nowadays people and their minds have progressed a long way. Is it not possible for them to make use of nuclear weapons? Of course it is. Why are they not being used? They have already been made. Yes, so long as they are not squeezed into a corner, so long as they are not too hard-pressed, people will not use them. But when they are hard pressed, brothers and sisters, and when there are no other weapons that can get them out of that tight corner, except nuclear weapons, how can these fail to be used once they have been made? Of course they will be used.

That is what I said, just now; gradually human beings are being beaten down by the progress of their own minds. This is what is needed to learn. People say that it is the progress of technology that is the danger, but in fact it is not, brothers and sisters. Whatever is known to human beings is known by the will of God. And whatever is known to human beings is indeed a gift from God. Unless by the human mind, it could not be known. If human beings claim to create things with their hearts and minds, but without help from God, that is what can be said to be dangerous. Whereas human beings can make nuclear devices and other things with their hearts and minds, and within all this there can still be the power of God.

Malang, Indonesia - November 20, 1976
Code Number: 76 MLE 1
If a Moslem and a Christian are both in Subud, they are in harmony with one another. Who is it who makes them harmonious, when there are various differences between the teachings of these religions? If one really looks at it, the teachings of these various religions would actually produce enmity between them, and they could not possibly be brothers. It would not be possible. Yet after receiving the latihan kejiwaan they are in harmony with one another.

So it is really true that it is the will of God for people to live in this world in harmony. If human beings could be in harmony, if the people of this world could live in harmony, wars would not occur. They would not occur. These wars are caused by people being out of harmony. It is human beings who make these wars. People used to call this "fighting”. How could anyone fight with a younger or older brother?

If you continue in harmony, then if you have a banana, you will share and share alike, half each. You will go on being in harmony. Only one creature fights; man, who if he has a plateful of food will only spare one grain of rice and will eat all the rest himself. How can they?

Medan, Indonesia - May 21, 1977
Code Number : 77 MES 3
You are familiar with money, you are familiar with clothes, you are familiar with all the various things in this world. So you make corrections where something is not quite right and if something is not very good you improve it, although what is good can cause damage and what is imperfect can be perfected. Gradually, by degrees, everything made by the mind becomes a stick to beat people.

This is being proved at present. People nowadays are inwardly afraid of the things that they themselves have made. Bapak travels all around. In America, everyone is worrying and asking Bapak when the world war is coming. There are even some who ask Bapak when the end of the world is coming ( kiamat ). Well, there is kaki Amat ( Amat’s foot ) but not yet kiamat ( Javanese joke ). Suppose Bapak were to say, "Yes, it is coming in about three months time". Well, everyone would move away. So it is a good thing that we are able to receive this latihan kejiwaan of Subud, because even though it is not yet to a very great extent, yet there is already a small amount of strength in our inner selves.

If it really is the will of God, we shall not be able to prevent it, but people over there in Europe and America are saying that by the end of the twentieth century, by the reckoning of this world, doomsday ( kiamat ) will be upon us and a great world war will occur. Even the Shah of Iran says so. Why so? Well, by the 1980's they will have begun making atom bombs even here, in this country. Thus, they will be making weapons that can destroy, can kill human beings not by ones and twos, not by tens or hundreds or thousands, but by millions.

So obviously, brothers and sisters, the cleverer we are the more dangerous it is. How can we not allow people to be clever? Yet if it is allowed, it is dangerous. Thus it should be kept in equal balance. What makes it equal? Keep it just half and half, not too clever, not too stupid. What we look for now is a harmonious balance.

But how can human beings be harmonious? How can they? Especially how can people of different races be in harmony when it is not even certain that they can be in harmony with their own kith and kin? They cannot be in harmony, especially when questions of money are concerned. They cannot do it. Children dare to defy their parents, and parents also find it in their hearts to oppose their children. Brother is willing to damage and malign brother, all because of money.

If that is how it is, why has God decreed the existence of money? Well, it is not God who creates money. What creates money is your thinking, your minds. Well, now your minds can work on it and of course they can improve matters, they can understand the way to do it. Clearly, brothers and sisters, it is not nuclear energy itself that is dangerous, but people. What is dangerous is not the rifle but the man behind it. What is dangerous is not the sharp sword, but the man who wields it.

What is to be done now, so that people will not use nuclear weapons, or rifles, cannon or swords for killing each other, for instance? Human beings should turn toward the One Almighty God, so that their hearts are purified, so that every part of them is brought to life, so that people know how to run their lives, so that they know what will have good results and what will have results that are not good. Even though you may be handling a revolver every day, if you only handle it, but do not load it, it will not be dangerous.

So far, up to the present, the benefits of the latihan kejiwaan are not yet very apparent; it’s usefulness is not yet very obvious, brothers and sisters. But we hope that God will give a way for this latihan kejiwaan to become a little more wide spread, especially among people who are experts of some kind, or who are important or who hold power. If the people who hold power know how to live, nuclear weapons will of course automatically be buried. At present, how can people be asked to bury their weapons? They have paid a great deal for them. Yes. What is the cost of a plane that can be built for carrying bombs, and that travels at more than twice the speed of sound and is different in its construction from those already existing? They cost forty million dollars each. That would pay for two sugar factories, and if it were used for buying cattle, it would buy fields and fields full. But what is this type of plane for? It is said to be for self defense, but it is not for self defense; it is for killing people. Yes.

Thus nowadays, if one thinks about it, as time goes on the world becomes more and more what is called advanced, as there are more and more clever people. But there are also more people who, Bapak does not say that they are wicked, but there are more people striving for supremacy. Yes. But that is how the world is, brothers and sisters.

This is why it is better if, rather than thinking about these things, you do the latihan kejiwaan diligently and really pray to God sincerely. And have faith in your own selves and do not believe so much in all these stories, or you will lose sleep over them, and lose your appetite, because you worry. At present there is a lot of that sort of thing in Europe.

Wendhausen, Germany - July 29, 1977
Code Number : 77 WEN 1
God created human beings for mankind and the uses of mankind. If it has subsequently happened that people have gone wrong, that is the fault of the people themselves. For that reason, people have to improve through their own work. Thus the life of human beings in this world is like someone sowing seeds. Whatever is sown, its fruits will automatically be reaped. If in his life in this world someone sows the seeds of something to kill other people, that is what he will subsequently reap. But if what is sown is something really beneficial for mankind, such as wheat, apples, and so on, that is also the harvest that will be reaped.

Thus whatever is sown, that is what the harvest will later on become. It is like the way things are at the present time. At present people in general nearly all feel worried, and even more so in America. They are worried about the possibility that a third world war may break out, and that if that third world war does break out, that it will annihilate a large part of mankind in this world. That is always on their minds. Yet what destroys mankind is mankind itself. Thus it is clear that nowadays it is as if the weapons feed upon their masters. What human beings themselves have made becomes an object of fear to human beings. Thus the things that they have made are like a bogey haunting human beings at this present time. Yet these things will be no danger unless people use them. Like firearms; people need not be afraid of a revolver, they need not be afraid of a pistol, unless that pistol is used. Thus what is dangerous is not the pistol but the person who uses it.

Because of this, if God grants that the development of this Latihan Kejiwaan flourishes, so that it can become widespread, then eventually the person who holds a pistol in his hand will not use it for anything out of place, for instance. So too with nuclear weapons, the nuclear weapons will be annihilated and destroyed. If the people who possess these nuclear weapons and have authority in nuclear matters have a human jiwa, which they have obtained through the Latihan Kejiwaan of Subud. It will therefore be of very great significance and benefit for human beings, if we are able to make the effort so that it can become widespread. That is all.

San Francisco, CA USA - December 6, 1977
Bapak's early experiences of the latihan
Code Number : 77 SFO 4

Christchurch, New Zealand - January 18, 1978
Code Number : 78 CHC 4
According to Bapak’s receiving and perhaps it is the will of God that the one and only way should be something very simple and very easy to do. It is only necessary to have a feeling of surrender to the One Almighty God, and to have a feeling of patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission. That is indeed the one and only way that is important for human beings, so that they can worship God by following a simple way, but following it with an inner feeling of patience, trust and sincere submission and surrender to the power of the One Almighty God. This is what was done by the prophets who have just been mentioned; the prophets Abraham, Moses, Christ and Muhammad. This was the kind of religious practice they followed; that is, the prophets Abraham, Moses, Christ and Muhammad surrendered to the One Almighty God with patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission.

So if you wonder whether it really happened like that brothers and sisters, both yes and no, for that is just symbolic, as it was with the prophet Jesus Christ. He knew and understood when he was to be crucified. But because that was really necessary for the prophet Jesus, as an example for the world, he submitted. If God had decided that this was to be so, he had to do it and he had to go through it. It is said that the prophet Jesus, or Christ, himself said, “If someone strikes you on the left cheek, offer the right cheek also; if you are struck on the right side, offer the left. That was because of his full submission.

And it can be said that out of all the world it was only the prophet Jesus, only Christ, who was so truly obedient and so sincerely faithful to the One Almighty God that he faced death. But in the end he did not die, but he lives. So this can be taken as symbolic. Whether it happened like that, we do not know, nor can we understand it or do likewise, but it has become a fitting symbol.

It was the same with the prophet Muhammad, not a few people blame him for waging war, but the meaning of this is that he waged war on what was wrong. Well, that is what it was, and the prophet Muhammad himself said that the greatest amal ( good works ) for human beings is to be able to worship God in full sincerity, and to obtain His blessing and His qodar ( revelation ) so as to be able to understand about one’s life. That is the amal that is called amal ma’ ruf nahi mungkar, That which means “draw near to the good and avoid the evil.” That means that one can endure every temptation, every wrong. Nahir mungkar means to endure trials.

So it is clear, brothers and sisters, that you not only need to, but must, be able to endure and not be swayed, not be shaken, not be influenced. For instance, brothers and sister, supposing that you are very poor and have no money, and then you see that there is someone who does have money, then you must not immediately be influenced by that person. Who know but that this person who has money may be like what you see on the films; he may have stolen it. So you must not be in any hurry to come under his influence. If it is really out of place for you to be rich, and if you do not have the talent to be rich, you will accept that.

Cilandak, Indonesia - June 4, 1978
Code Number : 78 CDK 10
Indeed this world is now being shaken by the satanic power. Pak Bardjo is going to New York to discuss such matters as the reduction of armaments, and of such things as nuclear weapons and atom bombs, to see whether these super powerful weapons can be eliminated. When he asked for Bapak’s opinion. “Well, you are going to consider it, and yet you still ask me for my opinion? I have no power at all in this matter.” “Yes, but I am just asking whether anything can be done?” “Probably not, I think, because it means asking the people who possess these things to get rid of them.

After they have made them, at a cost of however many millions of dollars it may be, and with no small expenditure of effort, then they are asked to throw them away. Well, who wants to throw away even their old clothes? Even that seems a pity. How much less will they want to throw away the nuclear weapons and atom bombs which are the prized possession of their country and their nation?” “Then what can be done? “Nothing, just go along with it.” Bapak has indeed read this in the newspapers too. The people who discuss these matters cannot possibly come to any decision because it is too difficult. On the one side, the Russian side, they ask for a reduction of armaments. “Yes”, they say, “we will reduce ours”, but they go on making them somewhere back out of sight. On this side they ask for an abolition of these weapons. “Yes”, they say, “we will abolish them”, but here too they go on making them again. What can be done? So both sides practice lying and both are accustomed to deception. Therefore they report that it is impossible to reduce armaments, and there is a possibility that this world will once again experience war, so they say.

Then people come and ask Bapak, “What do you think, Bapak? Will the world have another war now?” “It is human beings who make wars; go and ask these public figures about it. There are plenty of them. As for Bapak, he does not know how it will be.” “Then what, Bapak?” “If there is a war, that is that.“ “They say that if this happens, and if there is a nuclear or atomic war, then at least two thirds of the inhabitants of this world will be destroyed. Then what will happen, Bapak?” “Those who are destroyed will be destroyed; those who are not destroyed will not be destroyed.” “Well then, roughly speaking, Bapak, will the followers of Subud be destroyed or not?” “It is bound to be half and half. I cannot say how it will be. Now we only surrender to God. Having surrendered, we leave it to God as to, whether or not we are amongst those destroyed or amongst those who are saved.” “Oh dear, it is difficult to think about it.” “Of course it is; everything is difficult if one thinks about it. So don’t think about it. Don’t do it. If one thinks about it, what people fear is death. Yes or no?

If it is death that frightens them, we ourselves can already feel that we are happier after death than we are in our lives in this world, and then we shall not be distressed.” “Oh, it is like that, Bapak?” Yes, it is like that. Then they go on to ask, “What sort of place is heaven, Bapak?” Indeed, if one gives out information, people just go on asking questions, and there is no end to it. Then if Bapak were to say that everything is very glorious there, they will probably ask how many wives they will have. Yes, they ask a lot more extradordinary questions. In short, they are just seeking for the pleasures of the heart. This is the heart.

That is why you must not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if things do not turn out well, and if things should happen to be pleasant, you must not be greedy. Thus we shall be able to live a normal life, and not be tied to material things. If one is tied to them, and then they disappear, this can be dangerous. What effect will it have? You may even lose your life. It is not seldom that these things happen in this world. Things like that can easily happen in this world, because, of course, this world change. In the Javanese language, it is called donya. Donya is taken from the words don, meaning a place or vessel, and nya, which means sunya, empty, an empty vessel. But if you have no money, you feel unhappy, my children. Sometimes when Bapak goes out he feels unhappy if he does not take at least five thousand rupiahs. Well, not exactly unhappy, but he feels that his pockets are empty if he should then want to buy something. But you must not feel that if you cannot buy things, then you would rather be dead. You must not feel that.

Toronto, Canada - August 14, 1979
Code Number : 79 YYZ 3
Next Bapak goes on to the birth of the prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace. The prophet Muhammad is the prophet who brought Islam to the Arab world. The prophet Muhammad was called the Rasulullah, the messenger of God. Rasulullah means, not a messenger in the sense that you send a servant to carry a message, but it means that the prophet Muhammad is like a symbol of the One Almighty God. Thus all his actions, his deeds and everything about the prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace, represented the power of God. That is why the prophet Muhammad is said always to have been at war. He was not at war just with people, but he waged war on the nafsu. He always waged war on his own nafsu. Indeed the greatest temptation is nothing else than the nafsu; that is, the mind and the heart. That is why he was called the Rasulullah. The prophet Jesus, the Christ, was called the beloved son of God. The prophet Muhammad was filled by the power of God. Bapak is not saying that he was the same as God; no, for Muhammad was human. But inwardly he was the Rasulullah; that is, the power of God.

Reigate, England - September 8, 1979
Code Number : 79 REI 1
Although Christ was said to be loved by God, and he could also be called the roh Allah, the spirit of God, and can even be called the son of God, yet Christ was a human being. If you wish to know the extent of Christ's power, it is not here, but in heaven, and heaven means beyond this world. This is something you need to experience, if you can.

So too, why did Muhammad still wage war? In fact Muhammad even met his death in war. He was vulnerable to wounds; he was wounded and he died. Why? Although the prophet Muhammad was the messenger of God, the rasulullah, yet he was still vulnerable. He himself said so. Christ also said, 'Although I am the son of God, the roh Allah, yet I am human. Thus of myself I can do nothing.' Because he was human, he could also be crucified. Muhammad was also like that. This is what we need to guard against; there are many people who are said to be on a high spiritual level who can die. This has happened with the Sufis in Iran. These Sufis were so deeply absorbed in their devotion that they remembered nothing: 'La ilaha ilalla ( There is no God but Allah ), la ilaha ilallah, la ilaha ilallah.' They did not want to work, but they still wanted to eat.

Lewes, England - September 15, 1979
Code Number : 79 TBW 2

Tunbridge Wells, England - September 16, 1979
Code Number : 79 TBW 1

Jakarta, Indonesia - July 10, 1980
Code Number : 80 XJK 1
In Subud there is nothing more to be learned. Now it needs to be practiced. That is why Bapak said just now that Subud is the technique of religion. If then people say "if Subud is the technique of religion then it must be higher." No. Because even if Subud is the technique of religion, who is the one who receives it?

For we can also say that Islam is beautiful, Islam is good, it is a holy religion - but there no lack of Muslim thieves. Both in Christianity and in Islam, there is no lack of thieves. Both in Christianity and in Islam there is no lack of criminals. In Italy there is something called the mafia where people are very relaxed about killing people. Isn't it true? And yet they are Catholic.

So it is clear that our point of view in Subud is very, very wide because it is already beyond this world. So from our worship of Almighty God which we receive in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud I am able to receive a nature that is free from and beyond all of this. This is what is needed.

That is why in religion it is said: Do not think of yourself. Living in that way, thinking that way and feeling that way, you will finally be able to escape from this human cage. This is your own responsibility. So what we need to learn, is to live in a way that we can feel the life which is beyond this cage. Once we can feel this, there is no longer any disappointment nor any fear.

How will it be later if there is a war? How will it be if there is a nuclear war?

Just let it be, nuclear war or not, life will go on. Isn't this a cage for man, this body? It can be vanquished and it will return. Return to where?

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 8, 1980
Code Number : 80 CDK 9

Cilandak, Indonesia - November 9, 1980
Cod Number : 80 CDK 14
Continuing now with what Bapak explained about the reality of the jiwa being evidenced by the movement within ourselves. After saying "Allahu Akbar", you feel this movement or feeling which Bapak expressed with the word "Hu, hu, hu, hu ,hu." This sounds like the going in and out of the breath. Indeed it is analogous to breathing in and out.

Once you feel this, once you have this, then everything you need is provided. Because that is the movement which comes from the Power of God.

This shouldn't be new to You because Bapak has often told you how the Power of God is within you. that each of you has within yourself a "particle" of the Power of God.

This movement comes from the Power of God and it is closer to our being than any of the members of our own body, closer to us than any of our own functions, closer than our seeing, our hearing, or Our legs or arms. There is no barrier between us and this movement, this "something".

Once we have been really able to feel this something in our everyday life, then everything we need will be provided for us. What we do during the day we will 'do in a way which is really released, because we no longer have anything to worry about or get excited about. We will be able to live our lives in a state which is one of continuous release, one of a feeling of true relaxation and surrender to the Power of Almighty God.

Brothers and sisters, this is something which all of you should now be familiar with and if you are not able to feel it, if you're not familiar with it, then Bapak tells you quite frankly that it is not only strange but it is even a little incomprehensible that you have not been able to experience this.

Once you feel this and it becomes part of your daily experience, it has no limit. It is present when you are sleeping, when you are walking, working, speaking. Everything you do is filled with this movement, this power of the jiwa.

Once this happens, once there is no longer any barrier between this movement and your everyday life and activity, then if all of you were able to feel this, and put it into practice, truly Bapak can tell you that the world would not be in the confused state it is in now.

Events like the ones taking place today in the world couldn't take place. Like the war between Iran and Iraq which is going on right now, events like that in which people have the heart, can bring themselves to do things which hurt other people, kill other human beings.

Such action is automatically prevented once your behavior, is truly accompanied by this movement, feeling of life or guidance from within. You are unable any more to do things which would hurt or bring suffering to others. Because, in fact, even if you want to do it, you can't. You are prevented. It is like you raise your hand to hit someone, and indeed if you were to hit him, it would hurt him, but at that moment, your hand can no longer move in that way. The nafsu which would like to have brought your hand forward to strike, is already too weak. It can no longer make the movement. Behind it already is the Power of God.

But it seems that people who do not have that within them really are able to do actions which hurt others. Once they have done such actions, they cannot be forgiven. They cannot be forgiven the result of their action until on,: day they right the wrong they did at the time. And actually, this is correct. Once you act in a way that hurts somebody else, you can only be forgiven for it later when you do something that puts it right again, something which corrects the error or mistake you made before. This is why, in religions, and especially in Islam you have the tradition - in Islam, at the end of the Ramadhan fast - of going and asking forgiveness of other people. You have to put right, things you do wrong in your life, in order to be free of them and not to suffer the consequences of your action. The important thing is, of course, don't go back and do it again! For as long as you continue to do it again, you will always be in a state of going backwards and forwards. You will never make progress, your life will never know success or resolution in the right way.

Wisma Subud, Indonesia - January 16, 1981
Code Number : 81 CDK 1
So Bapak hopes that, eventually, through our work, Subud may spread to the Middle East where war is going on, so that those leaders, who very much want to fight, by doing the latihan, realize that fighting is actually a complete waste of time. And then there will no longer be wars and problems in the Middle East all the time.

S. Widjojo Center, Jakarta, Indonesia - January 17, 1981
Code Number : 81 JKT 2
Such is the greatness and the power of Almighty God that truly He provides everything mankind needs. God is aware of everything man needs, God is aware of everything that is going on with man... Man as a single race.

You, too, must be like that: You must never think of races and nationalities, you must only think of the one human race. You must only think of people and human beings. Then you will be able to have influence in this world, to set examples which help prevent wars and avoid conflicts, terror and all the frightening things we see.

All such frightening things come from our consideration of what is material. Those who think about nations and races are basing themselves solely on the material forces.

That is what people fight about in the world: what is material. Yet think to yourself: What they are fighting about is something that is of very tenuous value to them. After all, when you die, you will not remember how much money you had when you were alive. For even when you sleep you become oblivious of whether you're wealthy or poor. You become totally unaware of what you've got in the bank. To take it perhaps to an extreme, look at your wife whom you go to sleep in the same bed with. The moment you're sound asleep, people could come along and take her away and you would be none the wiser. This is only to indicate how much greater will be your forgetfulness when you leave this world.

It is clear that all the wealth people fight about is actually like nothing. It is non-existent. Yet people are willing to take out guns and shoot and kill over it.

Brothers and sisters, when you look at our life in this world, it looks as if we come out of nothing, get born and have our life in this world, and then we go back into nothing again.

The truth, which you will know later, is that we come out of being and that we return to being. We come from reality and we return to reality.

The true evidence of this, and product of it, is the latihan kejiwaan.

Brothers and sisters, to obtain a sufficiency for our life in this world, it is not necessary to fight, it is not necessary to go to war, nor to be jealous of one another. God has given each one of us sufficient equipment to satisfy the needs of our life in this world. We have been given a brain, a heart, eyes and ears and all our senses and organs: all of these are tools sufficient for us to find our livelihood in this world. And to do so without having to take from each other or to be envious of each other.

The reason why we are largely unable to make use of these tools is that we have neglected them. We have not made full use of the gifts we have been given by Almighty God. And Bapak has always told us that it is necessary for us to make use, full use, of the gifts God has given us.

Sri Lanka - March 13, 1981
Code Number : 81sri-lanka-1

Wolfsburg, Germany - May 3, 1981
Code Number : 81 WOB 6

Baden, Austria - May 5, 1981
Code Number : 81 VIE 1
So actually, if you look at the history of God's revelation, there is no shortage of good advice, no shortage of teaching from Almighty God for mankind. And yet man is still in a state of chaos, still in a state of continuous quarrelling, and when this quarrelling gets big we call it war. It seems that religion is unable to overcome this disease of mankind, because even people of the same religion who follow the same teacher now go to war. So it is clear that man has not been able to - in the long term cannot - truly absorb into his inner feeling the teaching of the prophets and the messengers of Almighty God. And the reason why, is again the influence of the nafsu. Man is not able to put aside the influence of the nafsu because man is not able to rid himself of his self-interest.

This is something that you can truly understand: there are very few people who, when they see something nice or beautiful can give that to somebody else, or even give a little of it to somebody else. Generally you want it for yourself. It is very difficult for people who experience something pleasant, delightful and sweet, to not want to keep it for themselves and not share even a little of it with other people. This is the nature of the nafsu, though this nafsu is not meant to lead man astray. Actually man needs the nafsu to be able to live in this world, because nafsu is given to man as a means to surviving in this world. That is, it is a source of knowledge, a force and an urge within himself to achieve something.

Bad Voslau, Austria - May 9, 1981
Code Number : 81 VIE 3
So it is clear that the inability of people of different religions to be united and to live in harmony is due not to the will of God, but to the will of their nafsu, which always wants to be superior and is unable to accept other people. And this is something that Bapak has explained to you before, that actually the prime reason or the factor that makes it impossible for people to achieve harmony, to live peacefully together is always the nafsu and in particular the nafsu which has a strong connection with the material forces. And this is the reason why today we even see people of the same religion, and the same race fighting each other, that is in the war between Iran and Iraq. So what is the reason why Iran and Iraq are at war, it obviously has nothing to do with their religion or with their nationality, it has not to do with their race, it has to do with material things, with the power of the material or the satanic force.

Sao Paulo, Brazil - May 28, 1981
Code Number : 81 SAO 2
If you think, for example, of gold, silver, diamonds and all the things that are most precious and most beautiful in the world, then all that is possessed by the satanic life force. All the things which men strive constantly for in their life in this world - like the things Bapak mentions - are the realm and the property of the satanic life force.

It is precisely these things, these possessions of the satanic, that mankind strives for while living in this world. All of the things we spend our lives working for and trying to get a hold of, are still on the level of the material world. These are things we cannot take with us when we die. We cannot take them with us to heaven.

That is the reason why it is related in the stories of the prophets, that it is as though the prophets did not place much importance on material things, on wealth, money and so on. This is because, indeed these things have no value outside of this world, have no use when we leave this world. And, in fact, they do act as a real barrier or disturbance for man in trying to worship Almighty God.

But, once again, Bapak tells you that Bapak is not trying to frighten you with this, because the fact is, providing God gives you His Grace, providing God decrees that the material forces will not be a barrier for you and will not impede you in your worship, then, of course, they will have no power any more.

For man as he lives in this world, these things seem truly valuable, and the value man gives them comes from man himself.

For example, if all these valuable and beautiful things like diamonds and silver and gold, are valuable, they are so because men consider them so. If men themselves did not want them or consider them valuable, then of course they would have no value in and of themselves... ( tape change )... That is the reason why people who are interested in the spiritual, in general, are not interested in nice things: nice furniture, nice clothes, nice houses, nice cars and so on. And this is why Bapak always calls you very fortunate, very lucky that you have received something that enables you to worship Almighty God free from the pressures and influence of the nafsu even though you are still living as normal human beings in this world.

The evidence of the fact that these material things get their value from man is that, if there is a war, they suddenly lose their value. Suddenly they have no value any more. Instead, what suddenly becomes valuable is food. It is clear then that actually food is something more valuable for human life that material objects. And this fact indicates to us that food belongs to a higher level than the material.

Bapak is not saying that we do not need material things in our lives. We do need them. They are actually a very important requirement for our lives in this world.

What Bapak is trying to say is simply that material things have no intrinsic value, that their value is only when we happen to need them or want them. They have no value whatsoever in themselves. This is why, when the world is going through a big change, a cataclysm, a war or something like that, people do not need clothes. They do not need furniture and material things. What they need is food. In the scale of created things, food is actually a greater need for man than material things. But, of course, at the same time, man has indeed been able to produce things which he needs to protect him from the elements that may surround him. For example, if we did not have houses, there would be nothing to protect us from the rain, sun and weather. Similarly, if we had no clothes, we would lack other protection from the cold and the heat.

Jakarta, Indonesia - August 22, 1981
Code Number : 81 JKT 4
. . . God doesn't put a limit to one's efforts, no, He will bless any undertakings, like for example man could already invent the nuclear now, the jet, and the means to go to the moon and to any destination with. God allows and blesses that as long as it is meant well, carried out for the benefits of one's life. That is why Bapak's visit abroad recently is to advise our brothers that Subud really becomes the possession of many of the people there, as the nuclear, the atom bomb and other weapons are really not dangerous, it is the man who is dangerous. Even though there are a hundred of pistols on the table in front of Bapak now, if the trigger is not pulled, it won't go off.

So it is clear that actually it is the man behind the gun who is dangerous, not the object or the gun itself. That is why we are free to invent or make anything, God will bless it, and Bapak is of the opinion that what man has invented so far is not yet 100%, it is even less than 50%, what would it be like, if it is more than 50%, because now it is already like this.

Well, that is why if you do the Latihan Kejiwaan Subud then through the latihans you could become somebody who possesses the ability to control yourself and you would be able to keep from doing things which God would not like you to do.

As you would certainly know, the nuclear, the atom bomb and others, we find difficulty in either throwing it away, burying it, throwing it away in a drum or putting it away, what then, make use of it will cause even more trouble, then what ....... then, just let it be like that. Let it just become a possession, like an inventory thing. But this is of course not possible, that is why what the fortune-tellers have predict about World War III might come true, but of course everything is in God's hands. Should World War III really takes place, then lots and lots of people will die as these modern magic weapons are really very powerful. Should these nuclear weapons be aimed to us here and the atom bombs be dropped here, well, we don't expect something like this to happen of course, but should it be dropped here, then there will be nothing left of us, really. It will be impossible for us to hide away, yes, it is not possible. There is no other way except to make people realize the catastrophe it could cause.

If people had a latihan such as ours then they will have the feeling of love towards their fellow-man. We live in this world not to kill one another, no, but to make this world a holy place, a place really useful to mankind. We don't hope this to happen, but should God get angry with us and cut off radically the contact between God and us ....... "I have made you a nice place to live in and still you are obstinate and rebellious, now I am going to destroy you, let the ocean cover you", then we will be gasping for breath and that is then the end of us.

Cilandak, Indonesia - January 2, 1982
Code Number : 82 XTY 2
Bapak is not a politician. But Bapak can understand the essence of politics. How? Because Bapak can live in two worlds, in two places at once. In this world and in the hereafter at the same time.

This is why Bapak can see very clearly what's going on in the world. And what is going on is a kind of destructive process. Man is able to destroy, but he is unable to create. Man is able to make things from what is already there: but he cannot create anything. He cannot make in the real meaning of make. That is why, when Bapak gets letters from people who are frightened of nuclear weapons and afraid of what may happen in the world, Bapak says, "You don't have to worry. Because there is nothing you can do. You cannot improve things. Only God can improve things. All man can do is destroy. So if you, if man, want to improve things, you have to leave everything to God. Just surrender completely and worship God.

For the world was already there before man was created upon it. The reason why man can live in the world is because the world was already made by God. And this alone should give man pause and cause him to realize that he cannot create. And because he himself cannot create, he should, on the contrary, be beware of destroying - beware of war.

Even Russia today is beginning to realize that, with all her power and with all her might, she still has reason to fear. Because war doesn't solve anything.

In World War Il, the ones who won had to rebuild the ones who lost. The ones who lost became a burden on the winners. And back in those days, the losing countries were only destroyed, say, 50% or so. How much worse will it be with nuclear war if you have then to rebuild a country which has been almost 1OO% destroyed.

Therefore: War is a waste of time. It is no use. It is better to work things out without having a war, without conflict.

That is why we all should feel for ourselves and say to each other, "We can work things out. Let's work things out together."

Bapak knows how some orthodox religious people like certain ulama of Islam are always saying, "Oh, Almighty God, please help us!" Please help us and show us the way how to defeat other people!"

How can that be? Bapak asks. How can such a prayer be considered? It's nonsense! What do they expect God to do when they ask God to do something like that?

But this is the point now. Today with the coming of Subud, all lies will be laid bare. All the lies and shams perpetrated in religions and politics, will now be exposed, revealed and will disappear. And the reality will appear.

Bapak gets many letters from abroad from Subud members saying, "Bapak, I am beginning to have experiences now which confirm everything Bapak has said in his talks." And indeed, from what they write. Bapak can see that they have begun to experience for themselves the reality.

The problem is that if Bapak says to them, "Yes", you've really understood now," then this immediately creates that little pleasure in the heart - you feel you understand. And the next thing you know, you go immediately down the drain. This feeling you get of, "Now I understand”, is a feeling of hubris or spiritual pride: and that's what always gets you into trouble.

Some of these very members then say to Bapak, "Well, now that I have understood all this, shouldn't I tell everyone? Shouldn't I announce it?"

But Bapak says, "Be careful." To tell someone who doesn't yet understand will turn them into your enemy: because they cannot understand what you are telling them, and this bothers them. You have to be careful who you tell and how you tell what you understand.

That is because: Advice never changed man. The proof that advice can't change man, is the prophets.

Cilandak, Indonesia - February 21, 1982
Code Number : 82 CDK 2
If I am Subud and I own a big house, whether that house is used for latihan or an enterprise is all the same. In other words: If I a m Subud and I own a big house, whether that house is used for doing latihan or doing enterprise, is all the same. There is absolutely no difference. The important thing is that it is mine and I am Subud.

This is because, once we are opened, what we have within us is something real. The reality is what enables us to be close to God at any moment. So, whether we die in an accident or die on a beautiful mattress or die in the middle of war, we are still close to God: no matter where we are or what our situation.

It is not required to be spiritual towards the world It is the same with Jesus. Jesus was crucified. At that moment, Jesus had the choice to resist or not. And he said to his captors, "If I wished to resist you, you would have no power over me", because a million angels would be on either side of me. But because God has surrendered me to you and it is God's Will that I go through this, so you are able to crucify me."

In such a case, in a similar situation today, however, the right thing would be to resist. In our case we are permitted to resist and we are permitted to not-resist.

We meet the world and deal with the world in the worldly way, and we deal with the kejiwaan in the way of the kejiwaan.

It is not required of us to be spiritual towards the world. This is why, in his time, it was right for Prophet Muhammad to go to war. He was permitted to do so in his age as Jesus was permitted to do what he did in his age.

Bogor, Indonesia - February 27, 1982
Code Number : 82 BGZ 1

Perth, Australia - April 28, 1982
Code Number : 82 PER 3
. . . This is how it is, brothers and sisters, so you need not worry that, if you set up a business, it will interfere with your spiritual life. Not at all. This was why it was necessary for the prophet Muhammad to wage war. Why was it? The prophet had been granted the grace of God so that he became the Rasulullah the messenger of God, so why was it still the will of God for Muhammad to wage war? He had to fight worldly wars, for the safety of this world, whereas the worship of God was something God bestowed upon him. Thus we really have to be able to be aware of these two obligations. That is why religion in Dutch is called Godsdienst. Dienst means work; God means God - God's work.

. . . If Subud can spread, brothers and sisters, there will be no war, for people who have received the latihan kejiwaan know and understand that it is a sin to behave like that. At the present time people go in fear of the things which they themselves have created. What need is there to create nuclear weapons, when these can destroy human life? If they are detonated, not just one or two people will die, but thousands, millions. Well, now these weapons have been made, and it is dangerous to throw them away, dangerous to keep them, dangerous to destroy them, so what is to be done? Yes; they are to be used in war. How is it, brothers and sisters, that human beings themselves have made things which now haunt them like demons of their own creation, and of which they themselves are terrified? Do you imagine that, having made such things, Russia is not afraid of them? She is just as afraid.

Toyko, Japan - June 6, 1982
Code Number : 82 TYO 4
Fifty years ago, man already had brains, objects already existed, so why could nobody create things the way they do today? Because it all depends on God, who enables man to progress so that he may be protected from difficulties when attending to his worldly needs. Sometimes however, man misuses these gifts and utilizes them to exalt himself, leading to the disturbances in the world which we call war. War is a form of human rage designed for self-aggrandizement. It is clear then, brothers and sisters, that the desires, thought and intelligence, while being of the greatest importance for human welfare, may through misuse produce a contrary effect, and threaten humanity with catastrophe, as happens with nuclear weapons. They are dangerous to store and a danger to destroy, so what's to be done with them? People conclude that they have to be used.

Thus, in the present-day world, man is filled with fear and anxiety over the very things he has himself created through his passion. Through the coming of the latihan kejiwaan Subud, however, there is a possibility, there is hope ( being a human being too, Bapak cannot predict with certainty ). It is the nature of man that if he does not eat, he becomes hungry; if he doesn't drink, he becomes thirsty; if he remains unclothed, he becomes either cold or sunburned, depending on whether he is exposed to wind or sunshine. We're all affected this way, don't imagine that Bapak has never felt cold. It's happened to him as often as once every two or three days. Bapak in fact recognizes the weakness of mankind. Yet when man is successful, he seems as strong as an iron mountain, impervious to every sort of assault or weapon.

So, brothers and sisters, we should strive to the best of our ability, that, with the help of the latihan kejiwaan Subud, our habits can gradually be modified and imperfections be corrected, getting better and better all the time. From being unaware of things we need to understand, we shall gradually gain a better and better understanding of them. Obviously then, it is not objects that constitute a threat but the people who use them. This table here might be full of pistols and grenades but if nobody grabs hold of them, there's nothing to fear. It's the people and not the pistols that represent a hazard, its their hands. If then people accustomed to use pistols could experience the latihan, when they seize pistols, they will no longer misuse them. Possibly this is the only solution left, if people can get a feeling of the latihan kejiwaan Subud, there will no longer be this fear of war, this threat of the destruction of millions of people. That danger will no longer be there. What is of great importance then, brothers and sisters, is that you should give an example to other people so that Subud members truly express the qualities of Susila, of Budhi and Dharma.

Toyko, Japan - June 7, 1982
Code Number : 82 XTY 1

Jakarta, Indonesia - December 15, 1982
Code Number : 82 JKT 5
Recently Bapak was visited by a lady representative of a spiritual movement in India, who wanted to meet Bapak and to know about Subud. It seems she wanted to join with us or to invite us to join with them. But Bapak started by explaining that Subud has come from God, not from man, so that it is not possible to invite us to exchange ideas, for what we can do and what we understand is from God. I explained that that which we receive in the latihan is not the result of what we possess or what we want, but of God's grace. Once we surrender to God and empty ourselves of all our desires, then we receive it. Once we surrender and receive this from God then we move - move according to what our individuality happens to be. For this reason we can come together with other nationalities and also with other religions. We can live in harmony through our worship of Almighty God. And why? We can do it thanks to Almighty God. So in our latihan kejiwaan our behavior is not only that of humans, but also that of animals - or that of any creature that has been created by God in this world.

She replied: 'I cannot say anything more than ( that we are ) also like that.'

Bapak replied, 'Alhamdulillah, if in your association you have the same basis, Bapak prays that you can truly bring understanding to mankind throughout the world and that mankind may achieve harmony, so that a third world war will not take place. But as for me, I am not going to do that, for it is up to God. The world exists because of God, so then if something happens, it is man's fate.'

I then explained briefly: Religion was brought into the world for the first time by Prophet Abraham, who is referred to as Chalam Allah because Chalam is guidance, advice. Later, much, much later, when mankind no longer gave importance to or followed Abraham's reminders, Prophet Moses was sent down, known as ChalilAllah, and brought a religion known as the Torah ( Abraham's was the Jabur ). Mankind was still unable to live in harmony so Jesus was sent down - called the Roh Allah. Roh means 'child', and the 'child' is also the feeling.

Man, therefore, had been given teaching to enable him truly to feel God's power which is within him, and yet there still arose wars, man still wasn't able to live in harmony. Once more a prophet was sent, prophet Muhammad, the Rasulullah. Rasulullah doesn't mean servant, rather it is as if the two became one - it was said that whoever didn't believe in, or hated, Muhammad, it was the same as hating Almighty God.

Anugraha, England August 8, 1983
Code Number : 83 LON 4
Supposing you ask: 'Is there anything more God could give to us to make it easier for us to worship Him?' The answer is, that is not possible. God is All-Knowing and All-understanding and He knows the measure of human beings in their lives. Even when you receive just a little you already have a crisis, brothers and sisters.

You have presumably heard of members who have experienced a crisis or what is called a crisis. When you are confused by your own mind, by your nafsu, that is called a crisis. A person in crisis acts as if he were mad, but it is not madness, for when it is finished he is sane again. So you need not be afraid to come into Subud because you might have a crisis. If you are already afraid even of a crisis, what about the experience of prophet Abraham, of prophet Moses, of Jesus m or of Muhammad, who was told to go to war, one man against many.

One time he was surrounded by the enemy and, being unable to resist, he hid in a cave. And because he was blessed by the power of God, Muhammad was protected in the cave by a spider which spun its web there, so that when the enemy came past they thought there could not be anybody in the cave because of the spider and its web. But, so it is said, there was also an animal which was an enemy to the prophet Muhammad, that is a cicak ( house lizard ). This cicak uttered its cry - 'chik, chik, chik.' Of course, that is just the sound a cicak makes, but there is a saying which is true that where there are cicaks there are human beings. So they said: 'Ah, there must be someone here', but because they were not certain about it, they decided just to shoot an arrow, so that if there was someone there he would be killed. And if there wasn't, too bad - what is the loss of an arrow. They didn't use a rifle, for there were as yet no rifles, so they shot an arrow and it struck the prophet's tooth. They say that that is why some Muslims file their teeth. All this just illustrates the commitment, the honesty and the obedience of the prophet Muhammad towards God. This is just a little story, but it serves as an example.

The latihan kejiwaan looks like children playing games, and indeed some people say that this cannot be spiritual knowledge for spiritual knowledge is something to be spoken in a whisper, so that no-one else can hear. That kind of spiritual knowledge is called occultism and those who practice it become demons when they die, unlike us. If you can perceive it truly, this latihan kejiwaan is no different from that which was received by the prophets, by Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

Anugraha, England - August 13, 1983
At Seventh World Congress
Code Number : 83 LON 16
Brothers, this is only going to be a short explanation, because Bapak will be in England for some time, and there will be further opportunities for Bapak to give you the explanations you need. To come back to what Bapak was saying... For someone who receives spiritual knowledge ( ilmu ) such as the prophets and holy men received, it is unusual to continue working in the world. But you have to realize that that was hundreds of years ago. Things are different now. In the present age, man's mind has made tremendous progress. Man has been able to use his mind to find a way of going to the moon, and to make things that imperil his own life, formidable implements of warfare, such as nuclear weapons, and the atomic bomb. So the present age is incompatible with times long ago. We can no longer devote our attention solely to our state after death and give no thought to our life in this world or to our descendants - children and grandchildren. We live in this world as people of the world, but, for the hereafter, we have received something from Almighty God. This is why Bapak says we are lucky. We have been given a heart and mind which we can use to fulfil the requirements of our lives in this world, so we can really live as human beings. And we have also been given something beyond the mind, namely, the latihan kejiwaan of Subud.

. . . The present age is one of vast progress, and is streaks ahead of times 500 years ago, let alone 100 years ago. Tremendous progress has been made, so that things which used to be told as fairy tales have now actually come to pass. Man can fly to the moon and has actually set foot on it. One would never have imagined it would be possible for man to get to the moon, because the air there is so different from the air we breathe. But man's mind has progressed so far that he has been able to make oxygen tanks and other instruments required for survival on the moon. Moreover, man's ability since the dawn of history to make all kinds of implements of warfare has now culminated in deadly powerful nuclear weapons, like the atomic bomb.

Hamburg, Germany - September 17, 1983
Code Number : 83 HAM 1
. . . Such is the acuity and the power of the human mind and heart, and so it is in these that God has placed the nafsu, in order that human beings can know their mistakes and faults and know what they are doing wrong whenever they discover something out of the ordinary. But in spite of that, brothers and sisters, a great part of mankind still do wrong because they are pushed into it by the nafsu in their hearts and minds.

So then God caused another messenger to be born on earth; Jesus Christ. Although the teachings and explanations which Christ gave were really true and really excellent and really able to bring about the well-being of mankind living in this world, yet human beings continue to make mistakes, so that you can see for yourselves how people of the same religion, who worship in the same way, still wage war amongst themselves, like what happened in World War II between Germany and other countries with the same religion.

Supposing you should ask how God acts, the acts of God are what in English are called "consequent", consequential. Thus before the house is built God has already created its buyer. Thus if there is a house there is a buyer, so that the house is not built in vain, and that is also the case with human beings. God has created human beings with everything prepared ready for them, so that if a human being exists and he is short of food and complains that God is unjust and that he cannot get work and cannot live well, that is his own fault, not God's. Why should you, who were created human, with a jiwa higher than the material, the vegetable or the animal jiwa, be defeated by the animals, the plants the material objects which you, yourselves, have made? If there were no human beings, there would be no nuclear devices.

Hamburg, Germany - September 20, 1983
The Nuclear Dilemma
Code Number : 83 HAM 3
During a visit by Bapak to the Erler & Pless photographic laboratories in Hamburg on September 20, I983, Lorenz Pless expressed the feelings of many when he spoke to Bapak of the threat of nuclear war:

( Lorenz ) Sometimes we discuss more than others the problem that Hamburg is really a place that will be destroyed in the first ten minutes of any war between East and West.

It is said that most of the nuclear weapons are stored in Germany now - and it's not a nice feeling. What can we do to stop this? Shall we run away to Australia? Or is it our duty to sit here and try to stop this trouble?

BAPAK: There is no method for what you say, except one thing - and that is to have great faith in Almighty God. Because what human beings figure out for themselves is not necessarily what will happen. For example, you calculate that if there is a war between America and Russia, the first city that will be bombed will be Hamburg. Can you be sure?

You cannot even be sure that the war will be between America and Russia. It could even be between Russia and Russia.

What human beings plan hardly ever happens. As you yourself said, you plan one thing, but what happens is something different. So all you can do is to surrender, to really have faith in Almighty God and deal with whatever happens.

So you react to the situation in which you are: and if the time comes when you have to move to Australia, then move to Australia. And that move will be safe because it will be by God's will - not because you have thought something out for yourself.

All you can do is really to have faith in Almighty God, and the result will be that you will be much clearer and much quieter in your thinking and much more at peace within your heart. Your good fortune won't be disturbed by all your worries and concern. Your profits won't be disturbed.

For example, who foresaw a few years ago that Iran and Iraq would go to war, since they were the same nation basically, of the same religion, the same everything. And yet it has happened.

Normally, people do not foresee what is going to happen. You can think of all sorts of things.., the world is really like that.

If you really think deeply about what goes on in the world, it is really frightening. But the thing to remember is that it is all in the hands of Almighty God. The way things happen, only God can know, and only God can decide.

Certainly, the communists have the theory that you cannot have peace without first having a war. In other words, things can only come right if you make a big mess first of all.

Actually, that is correct. But they don't know that the One Who decides how it will work or how it will happen is God and not man.

Man can work it out, but that is not what will actually happen. Because the nature of the world, the content of the world, is simply people fighting for themselves. In other words, people trying 'to compete for what is good and what is valuable, what they consider precious. That is the nature of the world.

If you want to be free of that competition, if you want to avoid getting caught up in it, there is only one way - and that is to stay quiet.

In this constant fighting, this constant competition, the one who can remain steadfast, who can hold on and can possess a quietness in himself - that is the human being who is praise-worthy in the world.

That has always been the case. The people who are respected, who are looked up to, are the people who can remain firm and maintain an inner peace in this situation.

Bapak said that today the world is in a state of chaos: it is a time of chaos. But the way to avoid the chaos is to remain quiet. If you remain quiet then you will be the ones who will be able to escape from the egg when it breaks.

Bapak said the way to escape from the egg when it breaks is to wait for the right time - when the time is right, not to break it too soon. You have to wait until the time is right.

You know at the moment neither Russia nor America can really clearly analyze or conceive what to do or where to go, because both of them know that if a nuclear war really breaks out neither of them can win.

For example, supposing Russia wins and America is defeated, what does Russia gain from that? Actually Russia gains nothing, because America will be destroyed and Russia will be mostly destroyed. At most they will have to rebuild America as well as Russia. So how would they go on living after that war?

Similarly if America wins and Russia is destroyed. Again, what benefit will it bring America? Nothing at all.

Normally, when people fight, they fight for some benefit, they have some objective which they want to obtain. So both sides know that war is not in their interest. But both sides want to frighten each other. Russia wants to create as much panic and as much consternation and confusion in America as possible. So Russia always thinks of how to do that in the best possible way in order to make America excited and in order to get them to put a foot wrong.

In reality, Russia will not do anything, because they are too scared. But they pretend. They want to look like a monster in order to frighten America. Of course, they know perfectly well that there is nothing they can do, that there is no use in attacking America or in fighting a nuclear war.

This is looking at it from the outer point of view. But if you can see from the inner point of view, it is even more so - that in reality a war today would simply ruin the people fighting it.

Lorenz, you can test all of this. Receive now: Supposing there was a third world war and Russia won, how would the state of Russia be afterwards?

( Lorenz ) Very, very chaotic.

BAPAK: Receive again: Supposing there was a war and America won, how would America be afterwards?

This is testing from within, from the inner. So actually you can tell. There is no benefit, no result worth pursuing in such a war. In fact, both sides know that.

So what is going on at the moment is just like two cocks: this one crows and then that one crows, and the people who get worried are the little countries in between, because they take it seriously. They think war is really going to happen.

Bapak said, instead of a war, what will happen is that everyone gets a nervous breakdown. That is the result of the situation now. Everyone gets into a state of depression. The danger is not the war but the depression, the mental breakdown. That's why it is better not to think about it ( laughter ).

( A member ) So Bapak the optimist.. · ( laughter ).

BAPAK: Bapak has no worries at all... Bapak is already old and it's better not to travel too far because normally it is dangerous for someone of Bapak's age to travel. People say that even the change of air and the change of this and that can bring illness. But Bapak says: not at all. It is not dangerous. If you want to die, it's just as dangerous to sit at home. There are a hundred things that can happen to you when it's already time for you to die. So Bapak does not see any danger in traveling or in doing whatever he wants to do. Someone who is afraid of dying will die just the same as someone who isn’t. So what's the point? ( laughter )

Okay? ( laughter )

Bapak hopes that you will be at peace, that you will be happy, that you will make a lot of profit and everything will go well: that you will be at peace with each other and not lack for anything.

Bandung, Indonesia - April 24, 1984
Code Number : 84 BDO 1
Buts brothers and sisters, those who are wealthy and feel powerful, who feel that they themselves and their country are strong, feel that they themselves have power in this world. But, brothers and sisters, God is All-knowing. At present both America and Russia are confused by the nuclear bombs they possess. If they throw them away, there is trouble, if they keep them, there's trouble whatever they do with them, there will be trouble. If they use them in war, it still worse. So clearly~ brothers and sisters, it can be said that in the present time the weapon destroys its maker. Why is that, brothers and sisters? It is because man's mind has developed to such extent that he has gone far away from the Power of God, and has little faith in the existence of Almighty God.

Wisma Subud, - Cilandak, Indonesia - June 24, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 5
Brothers and sisters it is true that human beings imagine that what they discover and do is their own achievement. For example, nowadays it is considered by human beings that the ability to have invented nuclear power is the result of man's own intelligence. But the reality is not so. The reality is that that ability of invention was given to man by the power of Almighty God. It is the love of Almighty God for man that guides man to the things that he needs in this world. But the use that man makes of it that is up to him. It depends on what he is able to understand and to do.

Now, if man chooses to live according to the nafsu - if man chooses to quarrel with his neighbor; if one country chooses to quarrel with another; if people even of the same race and the same religion decide to have a war and threaten to use nuclear weapons, that is man's decision; it is man's responsibility. But the ability to find what man needs in this world is the gift of Almighty God. When people make war, when people quarrel, when even people of the same religion battle each other, it is clear that the causes are not religion or race but material things. It is the material problems and needs of man which create conflict. And it is also very clear that man cannot live without the material and man cannot escape from its influence in his life.

For example: suppose a man makes something that man considers very valuable - like a diamond. Where does that diamond gain its value? The value is given to it by the mind of man. How did that diamond become shiny and glittery and brilliant? Through the working of man's mind. The connection between man's mind, intelligence and the material things of life is very close - indeed, inseparable.

Brothers and sisters, the amount of money that is spent nowadays by human beings on warfare, defense and weapons of war is numbered in the billions of dollars annually. One would think if people were truly aware of the situation that they would feel sorry, would feel disappointment spending so much money, and so many resources, for something so unproductive. And yet people do not feel that way about it. Why is that? Again, it is the influence of the nafsu, it is the influence of the heart and mind. And it is really true that in the old days, when men were not so influenced by the mind, when life was simpler, and men did not have to use their minds so much, on the whole there was more harmony and there was less conflict in the world than there is today.

Another example: today man is exploring outer space, and has started sending rockets and space ships to the moon and to other planets. Certainly, if you ask, "What is the purpose of it?' people will say it is to expand our knowledge and human science. But the problem is, the moment the knowledge is gained, man will certainly use it for the purpose of war or defense.

So, while it is clear, on the one hand, that God loves man and that God's gifts to man are enormous, yet, on the other hand, man is not yet able to reciprocate God's love. Man's use of God's gifts is still not in accordance with God's Will.

Wisma Subud, - Cilandak, Indonesia - June 26, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 6
We are really very lucky, therefore that, notwithstanding this difficulty which Bapak has just referred to, and in spite of the conditions under which we live today, we have received something that is indeed free from the influence of the nafsu. The extraordinary value of this in today's world is illustrated by the fact that today even Muslims - who, after all, as Bapak says, have been trained not to be under the influence of the nafsu - fall totally under its influence. You yourselves can witness this clearly: for, during the month of fasting, when in Islam we should totally put aside the nafsu, not only is the nafsu not put aside by many Muslims, but the Muslims even use that month for making war.

It is clear that it is very, very difficult now. Although Islam contains this secret, this technique, for training oneself to be free of the nafsu, yet it is obvious that, in today's world, it is difficult to practice that technique, if Muslims allow themselves to wage war in the month of Ramadhan, it is very clear that the possibility of their receiving the lailatul qodar becomes very remote.

Hence the value and the good fortune of someone who is able to receive something from the power of God which, in the midst of our everyday life in this turbulent world, can enable him to experience this separating of the nafsu. We have received that very thing in this latihan kejiwaan.

So if people ask you what we do in the latihan - What is Subud? the answer actually is so simple that the question almost need not be asked. The answer is simply: We have received something that is free from our own will, free from our own wish, and free from our own heart and mind, where we simply follow a grace that we have received from the power of Almighty God, where we don't need to do anything about it, all we need to do is receive it and carry it out. That is the answer to, "What is Subud?" or, "What do you have in Subud?" or, "What do you do in Subud?"

The answer is: We simply receive something that is free from the influence of our heart and mind.

Cilandak, Indonesia - July 2, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 9
. . . Russia would like that there is only one language throughout their area, but that is impossible. It is beginning already now that the communists are beginning to become bored with their own propaganda, because they are always having to say that black is white and this is that. They are beginning to get tired of it.

Bapak also sees a strong connection between Japan and England. Bapak doesn't know why but it is related to the fact, it seems, that English has become the language of modern technology. It seems that it is easy to use English for new inventions, new discoveries. English is a good language for innovation and that is why it will become popular in Japan.

Actually the world can only come right if it is organized by the material and kejiwaan together. Later this will come from the East: the technology from Japan and the spiritual from Indonesia. Bapak hopes that these changes will come about not through war, but in a peaceful way and Bapak hopes that Russia will withdraw, will shrink spontaneously because of what is going on inside, not through war, rather through an internal process. Bapak says that Russia's power started only about 75 years ago or less. It will not last more than 100 years. So the process will take about 25 years. Whether it happens through war or not Bapak doesn't know. Bapak says of course Bapak is only a human being. Bapak cannot predict. What will really happen depends on God. If we can avoid war it will be very good. Bapak hopes so.

Russia would like for the process to happen through war. The feeling of Russia is that you cannot improve the world unless you destroy it first; in other words, through war.

But, for us, our way is different. We would like it to happen through the progress of the mind, through diplomacy, through negotiations with the Russians, and the West.

The problem here, in Indonesia, is different. The problem here is the people are too religious, not nationalistic as in Japan. The weak point of religion - because at the moment this is Indonesia's problem - the weak point of religion is reality. You cannot argue with reality and the reality is technology. So, in Indonesia; the solution to this problem is through technology. When technology comes into Indonesia, the strength of the religious fervor will become less. Bapak says Bapak doesn't want this to be generally known because then everyone will hate Subud but the fact is, this is the reality of it. For example in Indonesia when Indonesia's own needs are so great, they spend billions of rupiahs to send it abroad when people go on the Hadj and so on. It’s all an example, of this: this has to be reduced. Sharif mentioned to Bapak that what Bapak is saying is very much in line with Pancasila, Indonesia’s state philosophy, and Bapak says this is right. We worship God but we are not allowed to just be religious. People must also work. People also have to think about the welfare of themselves and society. So the only question is whether this process will happen through war or not through war. That is the only question. The process will happen anyway so if we pray, its good to pray that it should happen not by war. There are two ways to achieve it.

Bapak says Bapak doesn't know why Bapak is now expected to understand what is going on in the world, but Bapak wakes up every night from 12 until 3 o'clock, already now for some years, and during that time he is required to think about the state of the world. So Bapak says Bapak has got an expert job now, every night, 3 hours a day – to think about what's happening in the world. Bapak says he doesn't know why he has to do that but Bapak says it's very heavy, a very heavy responsibility.

Cilandak, Indonesia - July 6, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 11
Don't worry that Subud diverges from religion or runs counter to what is in religion, what is in Buddhism or what is in Christianity, because it is the same. What is in Subud is the same as what initiated the religion, what started the religions. This is why Bapak did the testing the other day with the international helpers and told them that they should feel how the other nationalities are, how other nationalities feel. This is essential for them to be able to do their work. This is what is meant by being a helper: to be able to feel what is going on in other places. And what is going on with other people. If Ian Arnold feels sick, Bapak feels sick. If Ian Arnold feels happy because he has a lot of money, then Bapak will feel happy.

So, Bapak is a reflection of the state of the world.

Take the matter of war, whether there will be nuclear war or not. All this goes through Bapak. So whether it happens or not, Bapak is aware, Bapak feels it.

When Bapak was born, there was a sign that indicated Bapak's mission or Bapak's nature. Bapak is told that before he was born many volcanoes erupted roundabout where Bapak was born.

This is a sign of the birth of a messenger of God. Something that always happens and is the beginning of the parallel between Bapak's experience and the experiences of the prophets. When Bapak met Jesus Christ, Bapak was able to check Jesus' experience when he received his ascension and compared it with his own. What Bapak experienced was the same. Bapak experienced the separation of Bapak's jiwa and his body in exactly the same way.

You have to understand that you can live in that world, the world where the prophets live, exactly as you live in this world. So it is very, very important, brothers and sisters, that you really follow the latihan kejiwaan. Really you must understand that matters of money, questions relating to money, are absolutely trivial in comparison to the latihan kejiwaan. And if you really can feel this, and if you are really able to follow the latihan kejiwaan faithfully, your life will always be peaceful. So if you want your life to be peaceful, have faith in the latihan kejiwaan, for truly it is the grace of God.

Cilandak, Indonesia - July 6, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 12
Subud is from God. So everything we receive from God actually guides us Subud members so that we should not value our work for Subud; by value here I mean to put a price-tag on it. We shouldn't calculate what we should charge Subud for the work we do, whatever we do for it, because the work we do for Subud will always be watched over and guided by Almighty God.

It is very important that in working for Subud, Subud members who work for Subud should not treat that work as if they were working for some company, as if it was business and then you charge Subud so much for what you do. Don't be like that but be guided more by what Bapak said earlier, amal, ma’rifat: the attitude of making war on what is wrong and strengthening what is right.

Wisma Subud, - Cilandak, Indonesia - July 8, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 14

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 9, 1984
Bapak's Talk On Subud Youth Organization
My Grandchildren, Children Of My Subud Children
Code Number : 84 CDK 17
In Indonesia, in Europe, in America, many people are now suffering, and admitting their own mistakes. So the news which these days deals with such things as what will happen if there is a nuclear war and suchlike, is actually unnecessary. It is harmful for the feeling of people who can receive. For those who cannot, and who like fighting, of course, it doesn't matter. But for those who don't like fighting, who don't like to see their own people and people of other nations maimed and suffering, half dead, half alive...

Such information about the atom bomb in Japan ( Hiroshima ) is now being used to gather masses together to demonstrate in the hope of preventing nuclear war, and in the hope that America and Russia will achieve peaceful relations. Will this hope be realized? It is up to the One Almighty God. Why is it up to the One Almighty God? Because, in fact, it depends on ourselves whether we make war or not. We already understand, so will we do it in spite of that understanding?

An example of this is the fighting - though it's not a big war - going on now in the Middle East. In the al-Qur'an and the Holy Books it is absolutely forbidden to wage war, to kill one another, during the fasting month. And yet, they are doing it - even, they say, 'till the very last drop of blood is shed'. So what is left for man to follow and obey? People who were once so strong in their faith in the One Almighty God, for whom the al-Qur'an contained absolute directives for their lives! Look what they are doing now!

The world today seems to be half good and half bad, or, who knows, much more bad than good. But then again, who knows, what is bad may become good. That's why in Subud, if someone asks: 'Can my illness be cured, Bapak?', Bapak replies: 'You are a Subud person and you receive the latihan from beyond your nafsu. Clearly, you receive and follow the latihan kejiwaan through the will of the One Almighty God. So, if you are sick, surrender to God, so that your illness can eventually be cured. And if it cannot, well, you have surrendered to the One Almighty God. Life and death are in God's hands. God is not only in Heaven. He is in this world, too!'

The other day, Bapak met Pak Hardjono. Well, Hardjono related that he once met a lady from Austria who claimed to be, and indeed was, clairvoyant. One day she wanted to see Wisma Subud, so he invited her to come along. But when they got to the gate, she refused to come in and said: 'Just this far is enough - I see a lot of angels in there!'

Ask Hardjono yourself, if you think Bapak is talking nonsense. So this person, gifted with clear vision, could see this place full of angels! It happened only recently. Bapak will not speak of Bapak's own experiences during the twenty or twenty-one trips Bapak has made around the world. On these trips, Bapak had many, many experiences of supernatural phenomena.

So there are two types of experience man can have in this world - the supernatural, and the theoretical or materialistic, obtained through the mind. Why is this? It is God's justice. He knows who is wrong, who loses, and who is right, who is strong, and who is weak.

Cilandak, Indonesia - May 9, 1985
Code Number : 85 CDK 3
In times long past, brothers and sisters, they used to kill people as they pleased, just like animals. Now there are laws and regulations which forbid people to kill each other, and murder is punished by a death penalty. In today's world, the view of the thinking mind is much wider in scope, especially when you reflect that today there are nuclear bombs and suchlike. Brothers and sisters, people in Europe and America can hardly sleep soundly at night because they think that a world war might break out. It is said that if there is a world war, only one third of mankind will be left, and the one third will be maimed, because they will have to eat, and the food they eat, rice for instance, or fish from the sea, will be contaminated by radiation from the nuclear bomb. If people eat fruit or fish effected by radiation, they will become maimed, not just die outright. They will be maimed and then die, afterward. Only a third of mankind would survive; perhaps there could be total destruction.

Brothers and sisters, it is clearly man himself who would destroy the world. God did not make us human beings to be thrown away. He did not make us in vain. He made us to fill this earth, this world, with peace and happiness. Every religion teaches this. Yet man remains man, brothers and sisters. Why? Because of the nafsu which are embodied within his being, as mentioned earlier.

Jakarta, Indonesia - June 24, 1985
Talk To International Helpers & Trustees
In Bapak's Office in the S. Widjojo Building
Code Number : 85 JKT 4
And really, the content, or the meaning, of Jesus’ message, Jesus’ receiving, was to enable man to find peace within himself and at the same time to enable man to continue fulfilling the needs of his livelihood in this world. So it is clear that already then, man had two needs: one was to find his livelihood in this world and the other was to have peace within himself.

But the arrival of Jesus, or the time of Jesus, also corresponded with the beginning of. the development of greed in the world. Commensurate with the coming into the world of Jesus Christ, it also was the start of the development of greed in society, which has grown greater and greater. So that while the teaching that Jesus gave to mankind was aimed at enabling people to retain a feeling of inner peace, in the end it led to war, to religious wars and crusades and so on. So it was also the beginning of religious war, which was a combination of the development of greed with the development of society.

S. Widjojo, Jakarta, Indonesia - June 25, 1985
Code Number : 85 JKT 5
So value this receiving, value this movement, and really practice it and persevere, because the fact is that what you have received cannot be bought by man for anything. Brothers and sisters, this is what Bapak wants to tell you in order to move you, in order to give you a push, or give you the energy and the determination to do what is necessary to make our brotherhood really strong in the way that our brother L.B. expressed in a few words. Because really mankind depends on us.

There is no shortage of good advice that is missing from the Koran, from the Gospels, and so on, in the form of advice for man? And yet we still have war, we have war between Muslim and Muslim nowadays, we have war between Christian and Christian. So there is actually no hope for mankind, unless mankind is able to receive something that is truly from Almighty God, where Almighty God directly guides man. Otherwise man's nafsu, which he cannot be put aside, will always turn things in the wrong direction.

Cilandak, Indonesia - June 12, 1986
Code Number : 86 CDK 6

At Anugraha - London, England - October 25, 1986
Code Number : 86 LON 3

Amen. Bapak Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo

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