Coombe Springs, England August 11, 1957
Code Number : 57 CSP 7
If your thinking and desires interfere, your latihan stops by itself, and you are unable to receive more or wider. For this reason, in the latihan you need to surrender yourselves body and soul to the One God, with a full feeling of patience, and entrusting yourselves to God with sincere submission. So even if you surrender, but in your heart there's no feeling of patience, and within the feeling of your heart is the wish to become clever quickly and receive quickly, this will, on the contrary, slow down your receiving.

Also, even if you believe and you are patient, but you cannot yet entrust yourself to God ( tawakal ) . . . the meaning of tawakal is this: suppose you are required to leave behind everything that is pleasurable for you, you have to have the courage to be tawakal, the courage to let go of it all. And, even if you already believe completely, and are completely patient, and completely entrust yourself to God, but you don't yet submit sincerely ( ikhlas ), you will still be slow in your receiving. That is, even if you have those three qualities completely, but you are not yet ikhlas.., and the meaning of ikhlas is: God alone owns everything, without exception.

Coombe Springs, England - December 14, 1957
Code Number : 57 CSP 14
It may appear that material objects aren't alive in the way human beings or animals are, in actual fact they're encompassed by a life force that is present both within and without them. If material objects weren't alive, they wouldn't be able to attract human beings to them to the extent that human beings give thought to what good can be derived from such objects. So the thoughts that human beings can have about material objects, and the feelings that can be aroused by them, as well as the way they can attract the attention of human beings and make human beings really feel drawn to them, all shed light on the fact that within material objects there is a life force that is capable of influencing the human heart and mind.

Just as an example, imagine, my children, that you lack the courage to walk along a certain road, let's say because it's deserted. But if, my children, you have a weapon with you, then you'll feel how your heart, which had been afraid, will grow courageous because of the presence of the weapon you're carrying.

On the other hand, the reason why material objects have different forms is that they comply with the human mind's desire ( to create ) the particular kind of object in question. So it's clear that human beings create things, things they've thought up by themselves, things their minds have thought up, and finally they regard them as benefactors that contribute to their well-being. In the same way, human beings create things, for example, cars. And these human beings have a very strong feeling of being helped by the very things that they themselves have made, even though these objects are the creations of their own minds, of the human heart.

Finally, or in the long run, anything at all that human beings have made can automatically, as a result of human forgetfulness, as a result of human weakness, become an object of veneration, can become the ruler of the inner feeling. This is why it's clear that material objects - though they don't move, though they don't breathe as animals do, as human beings do - are nevertheless encompassed by a life force that can attract the attention of human beings, making them, whether they want to or not, give thought to the possible utility of various kinds of objects.

So, my children, if you wish to know and to be really conscious of what the material force is like, it's first necessary to immobilize the mind, to do away with it, or to return to your state of tranquility before your minds began to develop.

Planegg, Germany - December 21, 1957
Code Number : 57 PLG 1
. . . And he felt sorry and disappointed that he had been so bold as to refuse God's will, especially when he remembered that his descendants later on would meet with more than he. For he was the first human being and still was not influenced much by the forces below the human being, whereas his descendants later could be more easily influenced by those forces. Surely, he thought, they would be taken in more than he. So, he wept sincerely, and found courage to implore God that God would always give this earth messengers who could be a guiding light for others who would be always oppressed and tempted by the circumstances prevailing in this world.

Such is the story Bapak tells you about the Prophet Adam, the first human being.

Coombe Springs, England - March 15, 1958
Code Number : 58 CSP 3
The way of purification you always face cannot be the same for everyone. One person may be very low, for instance, and his human soul ( jiwa ) may be very oppressed and closed up. Another may not be so oppressed, so the person's way of receiving the purification is easier than the one who is very oppressed. There's no need for us to regret or moan about this state of affairs, because we are the ones who made the mistakes. So we should accept it, and we should be able to correct our mistakes along the way. We really have to face something that is our own fault. If we do wrong, and we don't like to be responsible, it's a sin. We have to take responsibility for what we have done. We have to have the courage to be responsible to God. For this reason, it is said in the stories of the prophets, in the holy books, that when a person has died, his soul will be brought before God. He will be asked and will have to answer, but his heart, mind and desires will be locked, and the person will have to reply to God about what he really experienced on earth, because his heart cannot cover things up any more.

So clearly, to come before God, to face God, to be close to God, we must put our heart and mind behind us, because they are very good at tricking us. If you have money, for example: 'Do you have some money I could borrow?' 'No.' The heart is like that. The heart can do conjuring tricks in matters it feels will bring about its own loss and another's gain. So in the holy books it says that when a person comes before God, his heart and mind are closed up and locked, so the person will give a reply to God revealing what he or she really experienced in this world. It is because of this that the prophets, including the Prophet Jesus, said, 'O humans, fear your wrong deeds, and encourage your inner feeling to do what is right in accordance with God's will.'

This we now receive and practice in the training ( latihan ). It begins with the purification of everything within us. So don't be afraid, don't worry, and don't feel troubled if something affects you or happens within you. Within each one of you there are things you have had since you were born until now when you are mature adults. So, whatever you may receive from God, if this ( glass ) is within you, and we tap it, it will go, 'Ting, ting, ting.' But if there are lots of bits and pieces of things inside it, when it is tapped, the sound will not be, 'Ting, ting, ting,' but, 'Tok, tok, tok.' It's not the one who taps who is wrong, but the content.

Malang, Indonesia - July 22, 1958
Code Number : 58 MLG 1
Yes, this is a difficulty for human beings: to be able to know and be aware of, 'What is it within me that is right?' There is no way out of such a dilemma except to turn to God. That is why it is stated in Christianity, in the Bible, and also in Islam, in the Quran, that no way can be held on to and trusted and really make human beings right and benefit them, except the way to 'God; that is, the worship of God. So it is generally accepted that religion is the only place where people's thinking mind and desires are introduced to their real self, so that they can really worship and obey the commands of God. That is what the religions would like ( to claim ).

But when the people who are already wrong do wrong again and the wrong is multiplied, what can they do? Well, clearly, what is told and taught to people in the religions is from the mind. Sometimes a story is told by someone who is wrong and people are asked to believe it. So people believe something that is wrong, and so the wrong increases still further.

So it is really very difficult for us to be able to receive our original state, because we have been on the wrong track for too long. We have to have courage to take responsibility for it, and courage to put up with it. If we are not courageous we cannot possibly be freed from it. For death and illness will be with us in any case. We cannot avoid that. Even if you are a doctor, a first-rate specialist, when attacked by an illness you cannot avoid it, and yet you are a doctor. So if you get ill ( people will say ), 'Hey, what's this? It seems the doctor is no different from me? Yes, in the end you are just the same.

That is what we are after in this latihan of ours. In the latihan we are beginning to be introduced ( to our real self ). With what we have received we can gradually put aside what is wrong and draw close to what is right.

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 USA - May 24, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 7
Indeed, that is the nature of a human being who is able to go through life while receiving the maximum amount of God's grace. It is like the proverb, which says: 'Fast flowing waters are shallow, but still waters run deep.' As it is in the proverb, so it is in human beings. Most people who say they are clever at this and clever at that, actually are not; whereas those who are quiet, who prefer to say nothing, are in fact the learned ones. Indeed, this is what people must have if they are to receive what they need for their life. The feeling of their heart needs to be patient, trusting and accepting, and also willing to let go.

Being patient means that you are not in a hurry to decide ( what you want ), because when you want something in a hurry, what you get will not actually be what you intended. Also, ( patience ) means that you do not get angry quickly; if you hear something that doesn't feel good, you are not easily influenced by the anger of the material world. Bapak takes the analogy of a house on fire. Of course, you have to hose it down with water - you don't hose a burning house with fire, for then the flames become even bigger. Similarly, if you hear something that within you - within your heart - does not feel good, don't take offence and respond in anger. If you do, it won't stop but will flare up and become worse. So, through Subud we become accustomed to being less easily affected by something that provokes anger. And if ( somebody around us ) is affected by anger, their anger will stop, because we are full of cool water inside, which is able to quench the raging fire.

Trusting acceptance means that we are willing and have the courage to let go of something that our heart likes, if God so wills. A symbol of this is Abraham's experience. He received a command from God to kill his son, Ishmael, who was born when Abraham was already old. Of course he loved this child very much. However, because of the command from God, which was to test the extent of Abraham's acceptance, Abraham, with a firm heart, was prepared to kill his son in accordance with God's will.

As an example, 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.

Coombe Springs, England - August 17, 1959
Code number of Recording: 59 CSP 7
Bapak is not a doctor, but it is quite probably known to medicine that man has blood of these five colors. God has truly given this as a sign, within the human body, that the human race is one; and it is not God's will that people should discriminate between one human being and another, between people of one color and another. For all have been created as one by God, and within each one the union of all the five colors can be found.

It is true that on the scale of levels the black comes at the bottom; but do not forget that although our feet are the lowest parts of the body, without them we could get nowhere. Our head is the most wonderful part, but if we had nothing else, how could we think about manifesting or creating anything? That's why, if you are rich and clever, you should not exaggerate the importance of your own wealth. For if other people were not seeking a living and in need of money, your own wealth would be of no value; and if there were no stupid people, your cleverness would not be in demand. What matters is how we use it and what we do with it. So we need to become good at working with what we have within us, with such indications as we receive from the power of God acting within our self.

Returning now to the question of the illnesses with which human beings are afflicted: all of these have no other cause than that which Bapak spoke of earlier, and at some length. They arise from the low forces that have gained power within us, and which cause us to behave in a way that is incompatible with the aims and principles of human beings, and follow only the aims and principles of these low forces.

And further, men who practice sexual intercourse with men, and women who practice it with women, are obviously acting wrongly. Why? Because human beings who act in this way are filled with the material forces, which cannot differentiate between wife, woman, child, father, brother, friend or enemy - yes, just as if they were material objects.

This is indeed very sinful, since such people do not realize that the union between man and woman is brought about by the action of the will of God to create a new human being. If it is otherwise, if they do not obey and so cannot act in accordance with God's will in this, they are certainly committing a sin. Remember that even an animal knows that male does not mate with male and will resist such a thing; even if he wishes to mate, he will butt the other male, or scratch him. But if he is with a female, then, even if she is larger and has sharper claws than himself, he will still find the courage to mate with her. Although he is only an animal, he knows that the only right union for him is with a female of his own species. In the same way, human beings have to understand that sexual intercourse must be between man and woman, and not between man and man.

It is clear that, as well as committing what Bapak calls a sin, these people have not yet become aware of the way to live in human society. And why should a man behave in such a way when there are women available? And why should a woman behave like this when there are men available? It may be true, according to recent statistics, that there are more women in the world than there are men, but the position still remains the same for both of them - there are men and there are women. Therefore, when the right time comes for sexual intercourse and for marriage, there will be a woman available for you to marry - so marry her. And for a woman, since there are men about, marry a man.

And if ( a man is hesitating ) to get married because he is afraid that he will not have enough to live on, that is only a calculation of his thinking and in fact is not true. Bapak can speak from experience. Before he married, his earnings were quite reasonable, but he often went without meals and had only two changes of clothing. He had no bed, but slept on a sleeping platform. Then his parents said to him, 'Get married!'

Bapak replied, 'How can I get married when I don't even have a good bed or enough clothes and there isn't even enough food? If now we add another person to the family there will be even less of everything!'

'No.' the parents said, 'You must get married, and you will see for yourself.'

So Bapak got married. A year later he could even afford to build a house. Moreover, he was able to buy more than three beds and plenty of clothes as well. Bapak was astonished - how could this be? So, it is clear that marriage does not bring misery, it brings happiness, because these human beings are truly carrying out God's will, even if in an imperfect or incomplete way.

When a question arises as to whether a sick person needs an operation or not, Bapak would like those of you who are helpers to answer and give guidance to people who ask such questions, since by testing together you can establish whether or not an operation is necessary.

Exeter, England - September 5, 1959
Code number of Recording: 59 EXT 2
The heart and mind have no means of discerning what or who is the content of the human inner feeling. The inner feeling of person A, for instance, may be filled with an animal life force corresponding, say, to the nature of a goat; while the soul of another person, B, may be filled with the life force of a lion or tiger. A then naturally believes that it is best to behave like a goat and, for example, refrain from attacking other animals, feeding only on grass. For B, however, whose animal soul is that of a tiger, it is different: he or she feels pleasure, even happiness and a sense of greatness in their feelings when they attack, injure and kill another animal and devour its flesh.

Of course, if this is within human beings, it does not mean that they eat grass or attack animals, but that there is a great difference between the characters of A and B. One is gentle; meaning that he or she is sociable, loving, ready to give in, and so on; whereas the other is not at all prepared to give in, but likes to hurt and injure other people, and may even kill them.

You will learn to feel and recognise such states; you really will become able to feel and know when there is someone in the latihan who manifests as a dog, or a buffalo or another animal. There are also people who resemble certain materials, and others who are like plants. It is necessary for all this to happen, so that the power and influence of the low forces that have become the content of human beings may be shifted in the latihan.

This is the reason why, in Subud, there is no fixed form; because, although human beings are alike, their inner content differs. It is therefore not possible to have one ready-made form for one and all. In order to set free what is within, each individual requires actions and movements that truly correspond to the level of their inner self – and this differs from individual to individual.

To give another example: there are some among you who, after having done the latihan for some time, like to jump around in the latihan, to climb trees and jump down from them. Bapak does not say that such a person has the soul of a monkey, yet it is possible that this is what they do have within them, leading to that kind of inclination. But although this may be so, we should not let it go on and on, because we must also be alert; meaning that we need to make sure they do not stay that way. But we should not get angry or blame them, because that is what they really like to do. And in following what they like to do they will, in the end, feel and recognise for themselves what is wrong, so that the wrong soul – the monkey – that has been manifesting in them, can leave.

Such behaviour could indeed be said to be very dangerous. But what can we do? If we do not have the courage to face danger, we shall not be freed from all our faults. And if we do not want to and cannot free ourselves from the faults within us, then we shall also be like that after we die. So, rather than the fault remaining in us after we die, it is better to expose it, deal with it and repair it while we are still living in this world. Then later – in the life after death – we will be human and no longer a monkey.

Therefore it is necessary for you to get used to worshipping God as a habit, so that impurities, which have become established in you from your forebears, will no longer perpetuate themselves but come to an end in you. Then you will have a human soul and will no longer meet with such dangers.

Briarcliff NY USA - July 9, 1963
Code Number : 63 BCL 2
It is clear that what God has given and taught human beings is that they should give help, because whoever wants to be helped must be willing to help; whoever wants to be rich must have the courage to be poor – that is to say, they should be capable of giving. If you do not wish to be criticised, do not criticise others. If you do not wish to be hated, you must not hate others. If you wish to be loved, you must love others, and so on.

So, there is nothing that does not belong to some completed whole. In our world, as well as beyond the world, everything has its complement. The good complements the bad; the high complements the low; the woman complements the man. If in this world there were only good, our world would not exist; also, if in this world there were only men, our world would not exist, because without woman, man could have no descendants.

Therefore do not worry if you give something away, brothers and sisters … of course Bapak is not telling you to give your money away, not at all. It is simply that for your own need in worshipping God you need to combine the two ways: the outer with the inner, the inner with the outer. That is to say, your worship of God with work in the social field.

Vancouver, Canada - September 25, 1963
Code Number : 63 YVR 3
Therefore, if you do not trust this Subud latihan you are doing, it means that you do not trust yourself. Similarly, if you are frightened of this latihan, then you are afraid of yourself. So it is clear that whether you are afraid or have courage, whether you trust or you don’t, depends on you. If you really trust and have courage, trusting in God’s greatness and having the courage to follow what God has given you, you will certainly find your way; you will find whatever you need for your life and whatever is God’s will for you.

Paris, France - July 14, 1964
Code Number : 64 PAR 3
Of course, in order to be able to receive and experience this education and guidance directly, you first need to be cleaned. Therefore you really need to experience purification in the latihan. And the way this cleaning takes place is like this: as you know, when you clean an object that is dirty, you may need to apply heat or, if it is a piece of material, you may need to pummel it or use some other method; the same applies to the cleaning of your inner self. When you are being purified within your being you will sometimes feel sick or unwell. In fact if you already have some illness within you, it may flare up and may in fact feel worse than it did before. But because all of this is part of your purification it poses no danger to you.

Sometimes, when it is your heart and brain that need to be purified, you feel anxious: you feel worried, you feel guilty – all sorts of feelings. And when this happens you need to be really firm and surrender to God. For if you do not surrender to God and do not have full trust in God, you can easily be overwhelmed by doubts, disappointment and fear.

Indeed, brothers and sisters, if your legs are being trained in the latihan and being purified, well, they will walk; you will feel the process of purification through the feeling in your legs. But when your heart is being cleaned, because the heart is something that feels all sorts of things – like fear, courage, sadness, joy – you will experience all those kinds of feelings without any reason. That is why it is very important for you really to have confidence that God is in charge; really to surrender to the greatness of God. For there is nothing that is right for us to follow or trust in but Almighty God, who is One for all humanity and for all creatures that have been created in this world and beyond this world.

So, Bapak is not surprised if there are members who continually think like this or like that, and there is no need to blame them. Sometimes they feel that ‘this should be like this, this should be like that’ – all sorts of things. Indeed, brothers and sisters, at this time one can say – as Bapak said earlier – you are going through a period of purification, which may be affecting your heart and thinking. Therefore it is not surprising nor impossible that you experience this kind of thing, and Bapak neither blames you nor is he surprised. It is normal.

As you know – if you already know; if not, Bapak will give you an example – many of you are going through the purification of your hearts and minds. Bapak has met and talked to such people. For example, there was someone who talked of extraordinary things, and his intelligence was amazing. In fact he claimed to be the most intelligent person among you. In other words, he claimed to be very clever – and indeed he was. He could explain many extraordinary things. For Bapak this wasn’t a problem and it didn’t surprise him, since that is how the purification process works. In this way everything comes out.

This is why it is important for you to be attentive to your own behaviour. And besides being attentive, be willing to accept each other’s behaviour. Do not be shocked and do not get offended. Because it can happen that someone who is going through purification will say to you, ‘Blah, blah, blah … you … this, this, this … it’s wrong!’ Yes. He is simply acting out the purification process. In other words, he is just a tool; and what he is saying is aimed not only at the person he is talking to but at himself as well.

So, if later you receive purification of your heart and thinking and start to criticise other people about this or that, and you tell them that things should be like this or like that, well … yes, that may apply to the person you are talking to, but it is also meant for you, who need to correct the mistakes you have made.

Planegg, Germany - August 7, 1964
Code Number : 64 PLG 3
Clearly, the human heart wants everything to be pleasant, without any disturbances; wants to come out on top and be the best; it does not want us to look around and notice that there are better, nobler and more genuine people than ourselves. That is the truth about the heart.

Whatever problem comes up in your life, it is simply the result of your own mistakes. Therefore you should have the courage to take responsibility for that and put right whatever you have done wrong. You may, for instance, have thoughts about other people whose life situation is bad, and feel that you want to help them. Yes, such a wish is indeed good, but you do not understand or you have forgotten that the person is like that on account of what they themselves have done. Nothing wrong can happen to a person that they have not themselves created. So it is clear that what caused this person you are thinking about to get into a bad situation is their own mistake or their own wrong action. And so, if you are always thinking about this person who has sinned against his or her own individuality, the reality is that you too will be affected by their mistake. It is as if the person you are helping were involved with the police or the authorities, and you then become an accomplice in the matter.

That is why if this happens, the best thing to do is to surrender it to God, because if you submit it to God then God will deal with the whole problem. Then, if that person who is suffering or having a bad time trusts in God and truly obeys God more than anything else, they will receive the education and guidance of God just as you do. By doing that, the person concerned – and you as well – are repairing and correcting faults in your inner feeling and your individuality. For the guidance and education of human beings by God makes them aware of the process by which their inner feeling is improved, and also shows them how to repair mistakes they have made in the past.

Wolfsburg, Germany - August 16, 1964
Code Number : 64 WOB 2
Bapak will tell you a story. There was a member who received something during her latihan, even though it was not yet very high or very advanced. While she was doing latihan her eyes were opened. But it was not these eyes, because her eyes were still shut tight; what was opened was her sight. She could see her surroundings, but she no longer saw the walls or the house she was in. What she saw was a broad open space where there were no houses or trees, as if she was standing in a football field or a broad open square. She was surprised by this and might have opened her eyes, but she didn’t; she went on looking at the scene. Then she thought to herself, ‘Ah! This may be what Pak Subuh described: what happens when a person has been purified to a large extent and is able to receive what God gives them.’

This gave her courage to keep following whatever she saw. Then her arms started to get longer and longer and longer. She watched her arms getting longer and longer, and she followed her hands as they moved. They moved on and on, and eventually reached the seashore. She kept on watching, and followed her hands as they moved over the sea until they reached another shore. She thought to herself, ‘This is a land I have never seen before. It must be some other country.’. . . . . read more

Cilandak, Indonesia - October 2, 1966
Code Number : 66 TJK 3
When the lower life forces residing and reigning in the inner feeling of man are innate in one who loafs about and does not lead a good, orderly existence, they do not want to leave him at all, because they regard the inner of that man as a place that has everything for them, and they feel they are in heaven; and because they are in him, the man's actions are outside the range of true human qualities, as Bapak has explained above.

This is why purification of the inner feeling is very necessary for a man who wishes to receive a change of inner content in order not to have a bad character any longer, or who wishes to receive a change of inner content so that he will be filled with a life force of a good nature, perfect in its worship of Almighty God. In fact, it is not possible for such a wish to be fulfilled if God does not bestow His Grace, because this is something that can be done only by the Power of God.

So it is not rare that a man who practices asceticism wishes in the beginning to be filled with a good life force or jiwa but may later become a cruel person, so much so that he may even use his influence over other people to ruin them or to make them fall ill and die. Clearly, therefore, if you intend to practice asceticism, you should first be able to know the nature of the life force that rules within you, for, if the life force that has become your inner content is a low level one, the asceticism you practice will obviously only strengthen that force. Hence in the practice of asceticism, people should not rely only on having courage and a strong will but, if they can, should first find out which life force has really become their inner content. It is fortunate for you that you have received the Grace of Almighty God and have begun to experience the purification carried out by the Power of Almighty God, so that you will automatically receive a change of inner content, one that is good and worthy because it is given to you by Almighty God.

There is a wajang story about the Pendawa princes. When they practiced asceticism they could be sure it was the Dewa who would come down to them from the heavens and give them whatever help they asked for. This shows that the Pendawa princes had indeed jiwa of a high level and good characters. . . . . . read more

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 22, 1967
Code Number : 67 TJK 7
Although material objects are excellent servants of your life while you are living on earth, you need to remember that you should not become influenced, or strongly influenced by them, because if your heart, mind and thought are strongly influenced by material objects, your inner self whether you wish it or not - will be controlled by the force of these material objects, so that they become more of a god to you than Almighty God. You can probably picture for yourselves the strength of the influence of these material things on the self of man. For instance, if you have no money, you will certainly feel as if you are powerless. But if, on the contrary, you have a lot of money, you will feel as if you are filled with a strong power. Also, if you happen to hold a high and influential position, your behavior and attitude is like that of Gatutkatja flying in the air. But if you no longer hold such a position, then your condition is like that of Gatutkatja who has lost his backbone, that is to say, powerless.

Likewise, also, if you are carrying a powerful weapon you feel as if you are not afraid of anything, but if that weapon is not in your hand, you will lack the courage to face any danger. This is also the case with the influence of material things in the form of clothing and ornaments. If you wear clothes that are very good and expensive, you behave like a man of high position or like a rich man; but if not, and you happen to be at a party, you will even prefer to sit in a corner. So strong is the influence of the material force, brothers and sisters. Nevertheless, you should not abandon it, because the material life force has become an integral part of your life here on earth, as it is with a tiger with his teeth and claws, a bull with his horns, or a salak tree with its thorns or a coconut tree with its tall trunk that has no branches. Only, what you need is to be able to regulate them, because if you are unable to regulate the use of these material things, then, on the contrary, they will regulate and influence you, and as is said in an Indonesian proverb: the weapon hits its own master. Therefore, people say the downfall of a clever person comes from his cleverness, the downfall of a rich person comes from his riches, the downfall of a person of high or low position comes from his position, the downfall of a good-looking or beautiful person comes from his good looks or beauty. It seems that these words are indeed true.

Cilandak, Indonesia - November 12, 1967
Code Number : 67 TJK 8
When as Subud members we do latihan, we have had the courage to receive this spiritual training. And this latihan is the boundary – the boundary between this world and the next. So to some extent you are on the border between this world and the next. So it is clear that you are someone who has the courage to die. But of course you have the courage to die, because it is right. What it means is that each time you do latihan you surrender to God. The way you surrender is this: ‘God, I surrender my body and my soul.’ You do that every time you do latihan. So why, when you feel a little throbbing pain do you panic? That’s the problem. Your body feels a bit weak: ‘What’s happening? I’m dying!’

London, England - September 1, 1970
Code Number : 70 LON 2
So, brothers and sisters, everything - both the inner and the outer, both body and jiwa - must of necessity be based on trust and sincerity. Unless you act with trust and sincerity, you will not be able to find the things that lie beyond your guessing. Trust and sincerity really mean being faithful in the face of whatever happens - gain or loss, good or ill, the depths or the heights, life or death. That is the basis for all things.

So Bapak says that to do the latihan is really to do it with trust and sincerity. For only in that way will you be able to receive and find the fulfillment of your hopes.

Likewise in worldly affairs. Because they really have acted in trust and sincerity, men have been able to make discoveries which the human race can be proud of and admire. The basis is the courage to face death, courage because one has not offended against the truth.

So also in the kejiwaan wherein, as Bapak often says, human beings receive movements, called the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, which are actually a protection in the face of death. Bapak has told you that if anyone is cut off from the nafsu within him, it means death. Thus you have died, yet are alive; you live, thanks to Almighty God.

In the Christian religion this is called resurrection, or in Dutch the opstanding. After the opstanding comes the openbaring ( the laying bare ). Everything within the self is revealed. This has now begun in you; though not yet a hundred percent complete, it has begun.

Jakarta, Indonesia - August 5, 1971
Code Number : 71 TJK 2
God's decree for an animal like the tiger is that it should have sharp claws and pointed teeth, but not that it should be ferocious. Indeed not. It is not cruel, but it has sharp claws and teeth so that it can spring on and seize other animals as its prey, and eat the flesh. God decrees that it should prey on other animals so that it can live in the world, but the tiger is not ferocious. The wild buffalo and water buffalo, on the other hand, do not have pointed teeth or sharp claws. Why ? Because their needs are satisfied by eating grass. They cannot eat meat, and the tiger cannot eat grass.

Well, now about man: unless he applied his moral standards and his thinking mind, he would be weak, without influence among other creatures. He would lack the courage to face a snake and would be overcome by a tiger.

That is how it is, brothers and sisters. So don't fail to use your brain, your feeling heart and your ability to sense. But use them appropriately - for something really in accord with their abilities. Just as the tiger's sharp claws are for seizing and its pointed teeth for biting and chewing, so the human brain is for what can be thought about.

Cilandak, Indonesia - February 20, 1972
Code Number : 72 TJK 3

Wendhausen, Germany - June 18, 1972
Code Number : 72 WEN 1
Today there are already in many countries people who are extremely worried. They say to themselves: "What will happen to our country later?" Because in each country there are groups whose aim is to make their country higher than other countries, and who wish their country to win. So that, in fact, there is always an influence of the nafsu which misuses the technological advance which we have received.

If you do not believe it, if you ask yourselves is it really possible that this nafsu, this wish to win, is the influence of technology, is the influence of the material forces ( which it is ), then Bapak gives you one example: Consider yourself, before you have a gun or weapon in your hand. Your feeling is that of an ordinary person. In other words, you have a feeling of fear of doing anything that exceeds what is normal. But when you have a gun in your hand, your feeling of fear disappears. You no longer feel frightened of exceeding what is normal action for man, because you feel the power that is in your hand. You feel as though you are afraid of nothing any more because of this gun in your hand. This, therefore, is the influence of the material forces on us. And this influence is something that makes us exceed what is normal, and to do things which, in fact, are aimed at making ourselves more powerful and at winning over other people.

It is for this reason that we can say that the influence of technology on man nowadays is something that makes man destroy himself, or leads man to his own self destruction.

Look at another example of this, on a larger scale, the People's Republic of China. Before China was successful in discovering her own atom bomb, China had a feeling of fear, of apprehension towards the other big powers in the world. But once China was able after many trials to find the way to make an atom bomb, they expressed themselves: We have also got courage now, as much courage as you to do whatever we like!

This again is proof that the progress of man's mind, of technology, carries with it man's own inner being, and leads him towards his own self destruction. If there is a war, look at the situation, the country that actually suffers is the one that wins, because the country that wins has to rebuild the country that it has beaten. This is what we have experienced in the past. How much more will it be like that in the future? Because now we have weapons that can destroy a whole city in a short time, completely. Who will then rebuild these cities afterwards? Especially if both sides are equally destroyed?

So this is then the proof for us that the progress of technology, the progress of our ability to do in this world, leads us, if we are not careful and turn away from God, to our own self destruction.

This is why there is need for the latihan kedjiwaan. Because with the latihan kedjiwaan we are not able any more to act in a way which is against what is right, against what is the Will of God. With the latihan we can truly reap the benefit of our technological progress.

Cilandak, Indonesia - April 12, 1974
Code Number : 74 CDK 4
Brothers and sisters, Bapak is not trying to show off in telling you what has been done by the brothers in Indonesia. But it is Bapak's wish that you should take it as an example. Bapak will tell you a bit more about Sinar Utama Bahagia. You probably do not know that we in Indonesia, especially the Subud members, practically all of them, have no money, their pockets are empty. But why do they have the courage to undertake the establishment of a sugar factory whose cost is approximately 30 million dollars? If you convert this to Rupiah, you multiply by 415. 415, how many millions is that? Why do they have the courage. Well, brothers and sisters, we have the conviction which has also been written in books about the kejiwaan, books about the kebatinan, books of people who can understand and know something before it has taken place, and understand and know about man’s situation in his life here on earth.

They say that however fortunate is a man, however fortunate a man can be who does not understand about life, or we can say, does not understand the latihan kejiwaan, more fortunate is the man who understands about this, who understands about the kejiwaan. Why? Because one who understands the kejiwaan, one who really understands about the guidance and training that comes from God, Whose power, Whose being envelops the whole universe and envelops our being, both within and without, is accompanied, is served by the Almighty, by the All-knowing, By the All-powerful, by the All-wealthy and the All-wise. So if you can really obey, really be aware of what you have received in the latihan kejiwaan, you will always be guided by Almighty God, even if this guidance is still only guidance in worldly things. Why? Because God is not the God of the dead, no, God is called in Arabic Allah Subhana Watala. It is not later when you die that you meet with God, you also meet Him now. Only you don’t understand, you don’t know. Why not? Because you are still covered by your nafsu.

It is necessary that you know God's being, God's power before you die and also after you die. That is God, because God has no boundary, neither His power nor His being, it has no boundary.

And nothing can contain Him. If there is a wall between God and man, whose thickness is the size of Jakarta, God can still touch you, God can still know your situation, God can still know your state and can still assist you.

Cilandak, Indonesia - May 19, 1974
At the wedding of Michael and Miftah Code Number : 74 CDK 7
My children, you have to be clever, clever at distinguishing between what is right and what is wrong, and you must be willing to give and take. Don't each of you think that only your own interests matter and that only yourself is right. For the road on which you are setting out is the road once trodden by your parents. So it is not to be trodden by Michael alone but also by Miftah. If, then, later on some things do not come up to your expectations, do not fulfill your wishes, don't blame each other, Miftah putting the blame on Michael and Michael putting it on Miftah. Never do that.

In Javanese, or in popular speech, it is said that you carry the same height, the same weight; that you are equally humble and insignificant. To these sayings Bapak calls his children's attention, in order that you remain in harmony. If, when your life is harmonious, God Almighty grants in due course that you may be blessed with children, they will personify what is best, they will meet your requirements or fulfill your wishes. Of course you wish to have children whose characters really are good, who really do as their parents bid them, who really obey the commands of God Almighty, who really fear to do wrong, and who really have the courage to do what is right.

Cilandak, Indonesia - October 26, 1974
At the wedding of Muchsin and Halimah
Code Number : 74 CDK 20
So at present you feel you are able and willing to do anything. Feeling like that, you are willing to take responsibility and truly fulfill it. By that means you will eventually experience a balanced life.

There is good and there is bad, there is right and there is wrong, there is sufficiency and there is shortage. That is indeed the portion of human life on earth. No one living on earth just lives happily. No one. At times even the happy ones feel unhappy.

So it is certain that people living on earth, married people living on earth, will experience ups and downs in their life. But all this must be taken into account; you must have the courage to be responsible in all this, or to recognize in earnest that it has to be so for mankind. Only for God is it not so.

Just now Bapak described why and how Adam and Eve sighed and complained when they had been sent down into the world. But God replied: 'Don't doubt. When you land in circumstances that are not as you wish, you should and you must make an effort. But truly surrender everything to God Almighty, Adam, with patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission. Guidance and direction from God, help from God, will be there, within you.'

Cilandak, Indonesia - February 15, 1976
Code Number : 76 CDK 3
Thus you are being trained to become really courageous people. Yes, you yourselves will already have experienced it. When Bapak was in Germany, what was lacking in Germany? There are plenty of clever people there. Why did it happen then, that when they had to speak in front of a lot of people, many of them seemed to be frightened? It was because they were shut in by their own nafsu. Why is Bapak not frightened? It is because Bapak is not shut in. Bapak merely receives to speak and goes right ahead. Thus there is no block or hindrance.

It is thus clear, brothers and sisters, that those of you who occupy the top positions as directors, such as Haryono or whoever it may be, should go to the people who have work to give, they should go to the people who have money, and not wait to be asked whether they want any work. They must not do that, but they will be startled. Haryono goes to someone who has money, and then, even before he has said anything, he will be asked before he speaks. No; simply go! God always guides us. Simply look at him, and the man will ask, 'Would you like some work, Mr. Haryono? I have some work to be done. I have a project at the moment.' 'How much?' 'Five hundred million rupiahs.' That is how it should be.

You must not be afraid. Bapak, who is not an engineer, is not afraid, so why should an engineer be afraid? He must not. An engineer, a doctorandus ( holder of a bachelor's degree; pre-doctoral degree ) qualified in some subject, must not be afraid. What is his doctorate for? Well, I will not go on prodding you about this.

Thus, clearly, brothers and sisters, we who are close to God are people with courage, well-organized people, simple people. Bapak here is an example. Look at Bapak. Sometimes many people ask, 'What was Bapak's school?' 'Oh, you must not ask what school. It is God who is my teacher.' 'Yes? Oh, yes.' That is all, because there can be no higher teacher. My teacher is God. If my teacher were a human being, then there might still be another human being who could out do him.

Thus it is clear, brothers and sisters, that what we have received, what is called the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, is really an instrument, a really incomparable instrument. That is really true, because this instrument is from God. You yourselves are sometimes astonished, like R.; sometimes when he speaks he is astonished: 'Goodness, how is it that I am able to speak like this?' Then it does not continue; it just stops. 'No; I do not want it to go on like this.' You must not be afraid of your own selves, so long as it is really like that.

Well, brothers and sisters, you must therefore not be afraid to run enterprises. In the old days people used to say that however fortunate a person might be who was not close to God, someone close to God was more fortunate still. Moreover, those who have degrees, such as an engineer, a lawyer, a doctorandus, are still more fortunate. It will be like that.

San Francisco, California - April 28, 1976
Code Number : 76 SFO 4
What about the field of expertise? Supposing you are an expert in some field, or you are someone with some professional knowledge. If you work in some field in a knowledge industry let's say, or whatever you call it; again, what you do, whatever you develop, will always be something that is beneficial for people and will not have the tendency to hurt them or to make their lives insecure or unquiet. Let's take the extreme case, that you are an expert in developing weapons, new weapons. Things you develop will, because you are guided by the power of God, not be used for the destruction of human life, but rather for the right purpose. In other words, there will be a control of what they are used for. For example, one might take a crude example; let us say you are holding a pistol and you are guided by the power of God, you will of course, when you have a pistol, you feel courageous, more courageous than if you don't. But in this case if you are guided by the power of God, this courage will be limited to the correct direction. In other words, this courage will not overflow into actions which are harmful, but will be limited to that which is right and lawful. For example, you will maybe only use your pistol if there is a criminal who is trying to hurt you, harm you, and will not give way. Maybe you will use your pistol. But because you hand is guided by the power of God, you won't shoot him dead, but you will maybe shoot him in the legs or something, so that, in other words, you will Just hurt him enough to make him give way to you and ask your forgiveness, or say he's sorry. But if you shoot him dead, he hasn't got a chance to say he's sorry.

So brothers and sisters, I think it's clear what Bapak is trying to say, that once you are able to practice this, in other words, to work in the world, to use your heart and mind according to the guidance of God's power, then it will be possible for people outside Subud, for society in general to begin to understand what Subud is. Because they will see the reality, they will see the evidence of what Subud is in your actions, in the way we run our businesses, in the way we look after other people. They will see that we run our businesses different from what is normal; they will see that in our schools, children who were a bit disturbed have become quiet. So it is easy for people to understand what Subud is. This is why Bapak won't need to use propaganda in Subud, this is why Bapak has never used propaganda in Subud, because propaganda is in the nature of forcing people. In other words, before somebody really understands what Subud is, before he really wants to join, you persuade him to join by the cleverness of your words, but once he has joined, he leaves again. So what is important is to show people the evidence so that they themselves can understand easily what Subud stands for. And then there will be no question of needing propaganda. Subud will spread by itself through the reality of what we have done. And this is why Bapak emphasizes and hopes that you will quickly and harmoniously start to set up Subud enterprises.

Los Angeles, California - May 2, 1976
Code Number : 76 LAX 2
( Testing )
So, in this way as time goes on you will be more and more able to receive things which people normally cannot receive. But quietly within you, in other words, to put it into ordinary language, in secret. In other words, nobody else need know what you are receiving. And this is right, because this receiving is in the interest of your relationship with God. It has nothing to do with your relationship with other people. So therefore, what is important is that when this happens, when you begin to receive you will begin to fear God but you also will acquire the courage to be near to God. And you will he able to pray to God, you will be able to worship God within you, without other people around you knowing, or being aware of it.

If we pray to God, if we happen to be Muslims, of course we say, something like "La ilaha ill-Allah.' If we happen to be Christians, then naturally we say whatever it is normal for Christians to say, something different. And now you can receive and feel the reality of it. When Bapak says this, when Bapak says the prayer, it is the same prayer for men and for women. But their place of receiving it is different in each case Were you able to receive that? What was the part that was moved? And now Bapak asks first the ladies. You can say yes or no depending on your receiving. When Bapak said that for the ladies what should move is, when Bapak says 'ia ilaha' the right breast, and 'ill-Allah' the left breast. So Bapak will now do it quicker and you can feel it maybe easier. If you translate this prayer into our language, it means, the first part, "I am your creature", and the second , "You are my God". So, how was it? Where was it? Is it moving or not? So the secret of a woman is located in that place. So the secret of a woman is located there, and that is the reason why when a man looks at .a woman he always looks at that place first. And you should be aware that men are constantly devising ways of being able to see more. But you the ladies don't understand so you follow these plans. The more people see the happier you are, in fact you misunderstand.

Toronto, Canada - May 17, 1976
Code Number : 76 YYZ 4
The reason Bapak does this kind of testing with you is that you can receive for yourself a strengthening of your inner feeling, and this strengthening of your inner feeling will give you a really firm foothold, and a firm conviction and a firm understanding that Almighty God exists, that His power exists within you and around you. And with this conviction your faith and your courage will increase and will become great. So that death will no longer be something that you are afraid of, or something that will be an obstacle, or something in your way. And this is something very important and very essential for you. Because there is no creature in this world that does not fear death. For death comes only once to all creatures. Once it has come, that's it, it is finished, and all creatures must die. So therefore, this is not a small thing if you are able to find the conviction and the strength of mind and the firm faith which can take you through this barrier. And you will then understand that exactly as the messengers of God have always said in the past that man is created to live both in this life and in the next life. That life goes on and life is something continuous. The only difference is that here man lives in the vehicle of his coarse body. Whereas there, man lives in the vehicle of his pure or holy feeling. But the life is still the same. In other words, that death is not something to be afraid of, but a step up for man towards nobility. And all this is something that we receive, the reality of this we receive in the latihan kejiwaan. For the messengers of God have told us that life is continuous, and therefore we do not need to worry about death. Only while in this life we must act rightly. We must not do something which is of the nature of hurting other people, or reducing other people's happiness, or reducing other people's security and welfare, or of making other people sad.

Kendfield, England - May 27, 1976
Code Number : 76 KFD 6
Moreover, it is now obvious that this world is being flooded and swamped by an atmosphere that really causes suffering to the hearts of all mankind. But such a situation is quite usual for all life, for all of us in this world, brothers and sisters. That is why it is very necessary for mankind as a whole, and especially for all of you, really to worship God, so that you can surmount the circumstances which cause inner suffering, suffering in the feeling.

Bapak says that this is because it is indeed the decree of God, as it was in the time of the prophet Abraham. Abraham lived in this world, and he brought with him his book, which is called the Zabur, the Psalms. And what kind of wahyu ( revelation ) was it that the prophet Abraham received? It was a wahyu whose nature is typified as red. And Abraham was accompanied by a kind of partner, the prophet Noah. Again, Abraham is symbolized by red and Noah by white. That means that in the time of Abraham mankind was beginning to be brave, but with the advent of the prophet Abraham and the prophet Noah, they needed to be brave because of the truth; that is, to be mera putih, the red and white which is now the symbol used by the country of Indonesia in its flag, the Merah-Putih. At that time God sent down His grace, and at that time also religion came down into this world; that is, the religion of Abraham. But in fact the religion which was sent down is Islam; Islam, with its messenger, who was called Abraham. The people of Islam need to be brave. They must not be cowardly. For courage will give rise to ideas that are important for human life.

That is why all of you also need to be brave. If you are lacking in courage, then even if you do something, such as an enterprise, for instance, it will sometimes happen that when you start to carry out the enterprise you have already imagined its failure and envisaged its collapse. What you have envisaged is that it will collapse and fall into ruin. If the people who are going into a business imagine that they are going to be ruined, they will not go on with it and their business will not succeed. It is the same for people working in some job. People who work have two situations to imagine.

If things do not go well, there will be no use for them and they will be dismissed. Thus if someone imagines that he is going to be dismissed, he will not make any effort to search for work. He imagines that he has already been dismissed even before he has got the job. It is the same thing as doing enterprises in which, even before you start, you already feel that all is lost. This is not the courage which is the symbol of the prophet Abraham.

Cilandak, Indonesia - August 18, 1976
Code Number: 76 CDK 8
Thus it is clear that the path leading to happiness is not always easy, but on the contrary, one always meets with obstacles and experiences difficulties, in spite of that, we must not be timid just because a good aim always runs into a lot of obstacles. We must be courageous, and we have to be able to put aside and avoid these obstacles and obstructions and protect ourselves from them. And anyone who can protect himself from them and who can ward off and hold back these obstacles will of course be able to and will attain his objective.

Malang, Indonesia - November 20, 1976
Code Number: 76 MLE 1
Thus we already have some examples, brothers and sisters. In short, the Javanese, the people of our race, are as a rule timid. People want to do business, but they are afraid of failing, of going bankrupt. That is as if someone applying for work is already asking to resign, even before he has got the job. That is the same thing as not working.

Brothers and sisters, it has been very fortunate for the people of Islam that they fast every year, and that after the fast, at the Hari Raya, they always say, “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar: La ilaah ilallah Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar wa lillaa hil hamdz” ( God is great and there is no God but God. God is great and to Him all praise is due ).

You say that, and then you say it again. How is that? You should not say anything for which there is no evidence. So now there is evidence of the truth. That is why it is now the time for you to be practical and put it into practice. Much or little, great or small, you have something that you can rely on, that you depend upon. Why not have courage?

Bapak is proof of it. Here is Ramzi Winkler, an engineer. This German man is to Bapak, yes, as all of you are to Bapak, like a son. He regards Bapak as a father. He really does. Even, when Bapak was ill, although Ramzi was himself also ill, he came first to visit Bapak. Ask Ramzi if you do not believe it.

Why is that? The One upon Whom Bapak relies exists. Who is it? It is the One Almighty God. For the One Almighty God is God of all mankind, and those to whom God is close will draw other people to them.

Bapak therefore tells all of you that you must do the latihan diligently. Do the latihan kejiwaan. Yes, it is arranged for times when you are not too much occupied, when you do not have too much work, but it must be really sincere; do not mix it up with what you have to do. You must not do that. You must do the latihan at times when you have plenty of time for it. And you should examine it closely. And you should also carry out your religions duties, so as not to offend against anything in the eyes of the public.

Blonay, Switzerland - August 15, 1977
Code Number : 77 BLN 1
Now this same hakekat was first given to men by God at the time of Abraham; and at that time Abraham received this hakekat, and through this received guidance and teaching and understanding from God Almighty, all of which he passed on to his followers in the form of a book known as the Zabbur. And the content of Abraham's message, or Abraham's religion which he passed on to his followers, was a strong and firm faith in God's power - complete and utter faith in God's power and a great courage in following what is right. This power and this courage, this faith and this courage were symbolized in the case of Abraham by the story of his willingness to sacrifice his son, as he was ordered to do by God Almighty. And even in this there is already something unclear because in Islam, of course, it is said that the son that was sacrificed was Ishmael, whereas Bapak knows that in Christianity it is considered that he sacrificed his son Isaac, as you can see in the cinema nowadays. So even there it's already not clear what happened. But the fact is that Abraham was able to pass on to his followers everything that he received from God, except the hakekat; that is, that was something that only he could receive, and those who were very, very close to him. In other words, only a very few people were able to receive the hakekat at that time.

So what Abraham received from God Almighty through the hakekat, was a tremendous courage to follow what is right. Of course, Bapak mentions, courage is of many kinds. There is courage because I am right. There is also courage when I am confused; in other words, we are in a state of confusion and then we have courage at a moment when we don't know what is right and what is wrong. That is a courage that is influenced by the lower forces. So there are many kinds of courage. There's the courage that was received by Abraham for the first time at that time. There's a courage that is due to what is right.

Now in the case of Moses - he was able to pass on to his followers a teaching based on what he received from God, but the gift of the hakekat he could only pass on to those very, very close to him.

And we have the same story in the case of Jesus Christ - that Jesus received the hakekat from God Almighty and He was able to pass on to some of his followers that same hakekat. But there are very few also who are able to receive this. For example, there is the story of Peter. It is said that at one time he saw a man who was paralyzed, and Peter said to him: 'Why are you not able to walk?' And the man said: 'Because I have been paralyzed for a long time.' And Peter said; 'Do you have faith in God?' So the man said: 'Well, if faith in God can cure me, then certainly I have faith in God - why not?' So Peter said to him: 'Yes, you must really have faith in God.' And the man said: 'Yes, I do.' 'All right, get up and walk.'

At that moment he was able to walk. And this experience is the hall-mark of the hakekat; that is, that something miraculous can happen - a manifestation of the miraculous power of God, and that is known as the Murgisak which was received by all the prophets and all the messengers of God. For example, we know about Jesus - that Jesus could walk on the water, that Jesus brought back to life people who were dead. This is Murgisak; that is, the sign of the hakekat - the gift of God Almighty.

Now we can see from all these stories that we know already for a long time - we can see and draw the conclusion that the hakekat can be received by very few people - not by the masses. So then why is it that now, today, Bapak passes on the hakekat to anybody who asks for it? Brothers and Sisters, Bapak doesn't know. Bapak doesn't know why this is, because Bapak only knows that Bapak does this because this is God's will, and God has given Bapak the permission and the right to do this. Bapak also knows that this is the last, this is the end, or the last possibility - because if, with this, man is not able to receive it, then Bapak doesn't know what God will decide about mankind. But this is the final step because whereas before in the case of the prophets, God, as it were, sat on His throne, and the one who did the work was the messenger, giving us some advice, and so on - now it is as though God has got up from His throne and has come into the world to act Himself. That is why Bapak, for example, doesn't give a lot of rules and advice about how you should move - you should move like this and like that, and you should believe this and that. Bapak doesn't do any of that. Bapak simply passes on the contact with the power of God: and then Bapak has been told by God that Bapak is free of responsibility. If those who have received the latihan do not follow it, do not do it faithfully, do not receive what God gives them, then Bapak has no responsibility because Bapak has already passed on everything that Bapak has received to each of us.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - October 16, 1977
Code Number : 77 RIO 2
This is indeed what we also experience in the latihan. For when we do the latihan, which is when we feel our jiwa - are we unconscious? Is our thinking gone? We know very well it is not, because if we are in the middle of doing the latihan and someone taps us on our shoulder, we can immediately turn round and say: 'Who is it?'

So, Bapak doesn't forbid you to look for other teachers or to look for other teachings or methods - but, in fact, the latihan is enough for everything and it's impossible for you to find something that is beyond the guidance of God Almighty. Bapak doesn't say that it is the last, when man will receive from God, or the last revelation from God, but it is indeed the end of the age of belief.

For example, Prophet Abraham, the first messenger of God who brought religion to this world, received God's guidance and received God's revelation to have courage - to have true courage to do what is right, linked with complete submission to the will of God Almighty. And this was illustrated by the story of Abraham and his son. Abraham had his first son when he was more than 80 years old. And this son - you can imagine how he loved him because he had waited so long to have this child. Yet God ordered Abraham to kill his own son with his own hands. And Abraham, because he knew that God is Almighty, that God is the supreme authority in everything, and one can only have complete trust in God, took his son out into the forest and killed him with his own hands. But because of God's grace and God's infinite power, God was able to change Abraham's son into a goat, so that actually what Abraham cut was the throat of a goat and not that of his son. And this is still celebrated today in Islam by the celebration of the Sacrifice - when people sacrifice goats.

You can imagine what a sacrifice this was - because for a man to kill his own son is impossible, even if his son is no good, or even if his son is terrible; a man cannot, is not able, to kill his own son. In the case of Abraham, his son was actually a very good child. Even so, even with this grace that Abraham had received and his tremendous submission - actually, what he received from God was only for himself. He was not able to hand it on to anyone else at that time.

Mexico City, Mexico - November 19, 1977
Code Number : 77 MEX 1
Brothers and Sisters, Bapak has heard of an example of a Subud brother who has been a helper for, let us say, about ten years, and yet he has never been able to feel what the latihan is, or to feel any movement in the latihan. But in spite of the fact that he couldn't feel anything in the latihan, because of his courage and because of his strong will to serve the Brotherhood and to be an intermediary for opening new members, he became a helper. And he complained to Bapak:

So Bapak said:

'Well, this first of all proves that the One who gives the contact, the One who opens those people is not you, but the power of God. But the reason why you have not received or you have not yet felt the latihan yourself, is your own fault. Because when you open a new member you feel that you are the ogre who is opening him, that you are the helper and that you are able to open him because you are more than he is, or because you .have received more than he has - you are better than he is. But if you are able to open in such a way that at that moment you surrender completely to God Almighty, then it will mean that God will first of all give the contact to the brother who is in front of you - but He will also give you what you need in your latihan, so that you will not only be able to receive, but you will receive better than the one who has just been opened. In addition, you will get a special gift or reward from God Almighty for being an intermediary or a go-between in bringing someone to the worship of God, because then you will be a true go-between or intermediary.'

Another similar example was once a case which happened in Malaysia. There was an Englishman called Van Hien, who was working in Singapore as an accountant, and it happened that a number of people in Malaysia wanted to be opened. Van Hien wrote to Bapak and asked:

'May I go and open them?'

And Bapak answered him:

'Well, you as yourself cannot open ' them, but you as a helper who is authorized by Bapak can do so. Because it is by the authorization of God that Bapak is allowed to give the authority to other people to open new members.' So Van Hien went to Malaysia, where he met and opened all the people who wanted to join Subud - and, of course, they were all Muslims. When they received the contact they began. to move in the latihan, and in their latihan they began to recite Muslim prayers and bits of the Koran and so on and so forth. When the latihan was finished, they asked Van Hien: 'Are you a Muslim, too?' And Van Hien said: 'Oh no, I am a Christian.' So they said: 'Well then, how can you open us?' And Van Hien answered: 'This is because it is not me who opens you - the One who opens you is the power of God Almighty.'

So, Brothers and Sisters, Bapak has told you this to show you that the latihan is not only something full Of meaning, but also something very, very useful for the one who receives it. Therefore, those of you who are helpers, and helpers in general, really need to feel themselves to be responsible for what they have received. Because you are actually responsible to God. Do not imagine that God does not know what is going on. For God knows everything. God knows that we are sitting here now and talking like this. But God knows things that the heart of man does not know. For the results of what is given by God are greater than what is created by man. For God is the creator of the whole universe, and we have already learned from using our minds, that beyond this world that we know, there are other worlds, and that besides this sun and this solar system, there are many, many suns that are greater and stronger and more powerful than our sun which we see every day. And that all these suns make up what we call the galaxy or the Milky Way. And beyond this galaxy there are other galaxies. Even our own galaxy - the distance from us to the Milky Way is something that cannot be comprehended by the mind of man. Yet, this is the only world that has been understood by the mind of man. But beyond this world that man's mind understands, there are many worlds and many things that man does not know about. And all this stands by the power of God Almighty.

Mexico City, Mexico - November 22, 1977
Code Number : 77 MEX 3
Through a woman man can lose his wealth, his position and everything he owns. But also through a woman, if she knows how to accompany her husband correctly, a man can rise up and obtain a high position, great wealth and everything that this world offers.

Through a woman, man can go to heaven or to hell. It depends on whether the woman knows how to accompany her husband according to what is pure and what is right. In short, for man to separate himself from the lower forces, or to put aside the influence of the lower forces, is something completely impossible as long as he lives in this world with a physical body. Because when you try to put aside the lower forces - if you are successful, you end up living without a physical body. And what is it that lives without a physical body? It is a ghost. And a ghost is nothing else than a devil or a satan who lives in the satanic world. It is true that the world is full of beings of this kind - in caves, in great rocks, all over the place there are these ghosts or devils. Indeed, these are beings which you cannot see with the ordinary eyes - but you can see them providing you have the courage not to eat and not sleep for forty days. And people often practice this. They practice this in Indonesia, and in India, in order to be able to see these beings - and maybe here, too, Bapak doesn't know.

These beings are the end result of the way that is followed by Said Anwas. But you are welcome to try, as Bapak has told you. You are welcome to try. Of course, if you manage to reach the level of Said Anwas, of a great being, then you are very lucky, and that's fine. But what happens if you become a low grade satan who just roams around?

Brothers and Sisters, when Adam was created in this world he became used to using his physical body, his senses and all that God had given him. But soon he came to a point where he became troubled, because indeed the State of this world is one of happiness and sadness, of good and bad, or high and low. So he turned to God and said:

'Oh God, please tell me what is going to be my future, because you promised when you created me and brought me into this world that you would always help me and sustain me?

Now that I am living in this world I have got used to tasting with my mouth, to smelling with my nose, to seeing with my eyes, to hearing with my ears, to understanding with my brain, but I know that when I come to the end of my life all these things will be destroyed.

How will I then :see and sense and understand and know?'

God laughed, and said to Adam:

I am Allah, I am All-mighty. I know how you were in the beginning and I know how you will be after you have died. Through the guidance of my power you will be able to return, after you have left this world, to the world of your origin. And you can sense and feel this power every time you submit yourself and surrender - surrender with patience and acceptance and submission.'

This is what Adam received from God Almighty; and this was also the way that was received later on by the Messengers of God - by Abraham, by Moses, by Jesus Christ and Muhammad.

Through the grace of Almighty God - though Bapak does not know why - God has now also given this gift to all of us. But Bapak conjectures that perhaps it is because in this day, in this age, because of the advance of his mind and understanding man no longer can believe in the existence of God's power. And why not? Through the development of his intelligence, man has begun to have faith only in that which he can see with his eyes, hear with his ears and taste with his mouth. And God is something that cannot be seen with one's eyes and cannot be heard with one's ears. Why not? Because our eyes and our ears are closed by the influence of the material forces. Although the voice of God is always speaking and the voice of God is always audible, we cannot hear it because our ears are closed. The smell of God, the taste of God, is always there for us to sense, but we are closed. For ,example, if we are a man our sense of smell is closed by the smell of our wife's cheek.

Santa Monica, CA USA - November 29, 1977
Code Number : 77 LAX 3
For us, it is clear that we have received something where our life need no longer be ruled by our heart, but by something more permanent. Nevertheless, Bapak still constantly gets letters from Subud members who write: 'Bapak I have been married for ten years and I have children, but now I suddenly realize that my wife is not my true partner and I can't stand to live with her any more. I know now what my true partner is like - or I have met someone who is just the right person for me - and I must somehow change my situation and leave my wife - and is this all right?'

( laughter ).

Bapak always answers these people:

'No, because think back - when you first married your wife, did you not love her very, very much? No doubt you even said to her: 'Look, there is nobody in the world but you and me, and I want to live with you for the rest of my life.' As a human being, as a man and as a Subud member - you have to be responsible, you have to have the courage to face the promises and the commitments that you undertook. If you said that you will love your wife till the end, you must now face up to that and take the responsibility for what you have committed yourself. So now you have to go through with it. If you have made a mistake - then all you can do is to pray to God to give you His help, that what was a mistake can be put right, so that it can become something that is right from something that is wrong.'

This, Brothers and Sisters, is the situation, this is the nature of the heart. But we, through the latihan, have received the possibility of relying not on our heart but on our jiwa, because the jiwa with which we have received the contact in this latihan is something that is eternal. It is something that doesn't change and can lead us through life as a constant guide. This is why it is said that someone who has received the contact with the power of God has, at the very least, received a contact with a teacher; for, actually, what man can call teacher is the power of God. It is the power of God that is the teacher of man. This is why Bapak advises you to do enterprises, in order to train yourself, in order to become accustomed to being able to live according to the guidance that is received through contact with the power of God. Through this contact, no matter what you are doing, no matter where you are throughout your life, you will always be close to your teacher - your teacher who will always be able to show you the right action, the right thing to do, the thing that is really right for you in that situation and at that moment.

Alta Grove, B.C. Canada - December 18, 1977
Code Number : 77 YVR 3
For all this we depend not on donations, but on the profit of our enterprises. If we continue to do like people in the religions of olden days, our aims will never be accomplished. We can only do it if we really work in enterprises.

This is why it is very important that we should have the courage to stand on our own feet, because we have already received the Latihan Kejiwaan which contains the evidence or the fruit that we have been graced and guided by God Almighty. All we need to do is to put it into practice. And this, the putting it into practice, is through enterprises. We should have the courage of being able to do things by ourselves, standing on our own feet. We should never put ourselves in a position where we depend on other people. It is important that we do for ourselves what we need. For example, in Indonesia. Actually, in Indonesia people are surprised at what Bapak has been able to accomplish, which has always been done by our own strength, with the strength of Subud members themselves. Maybe in all the world there is only Indonesia where a Subud group has a latihan hall which can accommodate more than 1,000 people. Yet, before Bapak built that latihan hall, people said: 'Is it really possible for us to do this? Is it really possible for Subud to accomplish such a thing now?' And Bapak replied: 'Possible or not, we cannot know. All we can do is start and work at it, and then we will see if God will help us or not.'

Brisbane, Australia - January 24, 1978
Code Number : 78 BNE 3
So, there should never be a feeling among the helpers - for example, among the national helpers - that they are already very high, or have already reached a very advanced level, using, as it were, their minds, because they think: oh yes, we have been in Subud longest, or something like that. From their minds they think: oh yes, I must already be very high, or I must already be very advanced, or something like that. The fact is, if there is any trace of that feeling, it means that the helper who has it is actually closing the door to further progress in the latihan; and,, in fact, makes for himself or herself a blind alley so that there is a block to any progress in the latihan. Therefore, Bapak can only advise you to throw any feeling of this kind as far away from yourself as you possibly can.

It is clear that there is no such thing implicit in ,this kind of helpers' organization. It is purely something that is set up to even the load among the helpers, so that there are no helpers w. ho are too heavily laden with burdens which they cannot cope width. And also to make sure that there are no helpers who are too lightly laden and have nothing to do. Bapak has even received a letter once from somewhere that there was a national helper, who was stating and maintaining that national helpers by virtue of their eminence or their spiritual attainment were always accompanied everywhere they went and in everything they did by four angels; and that regional helpers were accompanied by two angels; whereas local helpers didn't have any angels at all. And it wasn't only one person who said this - it was believed apparently by quite a number of people at that time.

Brothers and Sisters, this is something that is very weird and very strange; because the fact is that an angel is not what you think it is. An angel is actually the messenger of God, Who is outside of everything - which doesn't mean outside of yourself, but outside of everything that is outside - and also inside of everything that is inside. It is said that angels have a body composed of light. Now, the only way a man or a human being can know the face or the nature of an angel is if God gives him the grace, as it were. Because you have been chosen by God to be His messenger, or something like that. If someone is chosen to be God's messenger and God gives him His revelation - it is only those people who, by the grace of God, can know what is meant by the nature of an angel. The fact is, if you saw an angel it would not give you courage; on the contrary, you would become very very frightened. It is described in Moslem literature that the angel . . . ( Sharif says an angel with a certain name which he can't pronounce ) was described as having wings that were two kilometers across, or something like that.

This already shows that the person who wrote this description had a very funny idea of what angels are because, probably by association, he thought if angels can fly they must have wings like this - a bird flies with wings - and of course they must be very big. Of course, angels do not move using wings. Angels can travel in a twinkling of an eye - that is, they travel with the speed of light. So angels do not have wings. If they had wings two kilometers across, or one-and-a-half kilometers across or something, it would be very awkward. If you came near to an angel you would be terrified if you saw a being like that. To put it in a nutshell, Brothers and Sisters, don't talk about things which are fantastic and which you don't actually understand anything about. It is much better when you talk to say things that are just ordinary, to talk about normal things which you understand, which people ordinarily talk about and ordinarily listen to. Do not say things which are fantastic or strange or anything like that.

Cilandak, Indonesia - September 3, 1978
Code Number : 78 CDK 19
So it is clear, brothers and sisters, that we must work in the spirit as well as in the material, and we need to work. How we work is of course different. The one way for the jiwa is to surrender to God. That is work. It is difficult for people to be patient. Yes; does anyone think that surrender is easy? Oh, no. It is easier for people not to surrender than it is to surrender. It really is. This is proved by what happens when we are sick. 'Oh doctor, why is this happening to me?' Is that surrender? It is not.

Thus the person who surrenders to God is not a weak person. Not at all. He has the courage to die. Yes; he is brave about dying. That does not .mean that because he has the courage to die he should, then kill himself. You must not do that, for that just leads to trouble afterwards. It means having the courage to die whenever God so wills. It is like the son of Abraham, whom he was told to kill. Abraham was sincere in his surrender to God,. Bapak has told you that story on various occasions, and it is not necessary to tell it again. It is like that. Thus it is clear, brothers and sisters, that what Bapak has been telling you is like the basic foundation of a house, the beginning and the end, the first and the last thing about what is called the ilmu sernpurna ( the teaching of perfection ).

Well, here is something more, brothers and sisters. Of course man remains man, brothers and sisters. Amongst the people who are fully and truly sincere, there a, re still some who are not yet sincere and who still wish for the fruits of this world. Of course there are. Well, that is what was wished for by that son of Adam who was at that time called Sayid Anwas. Because God has indeed created human beings to be the foremost of His creatures, they are allowed to have and to do what they wish, and this is also given to them. Because Sayid Anwas understood that if he just surrendered it would really be very difficult, he felt that it would be better to seek for what he wanted with his mind and with his effort. He really did this seriously, and he practiced harsh asceticism. He did not eat, he did not sleep, he did not wear clothes. In short, he was different from the way ordinary people are. He did this not just for one, two or three days, not for one or two months, but for many years, so that in the end he fasted on the ground and up in the clouds, up in the white clouds, so they say. Through doing this, Sayid Anwas came to possess power. He could create things that did not exist. For instance, he might wish to have a cup standing before him, and there it would be. It would be there. Whatever he wished was materialized.

After Sayid Anwas had acquired these powers, because of his many years of practicing austerities, he did not have the nature of someone with a physical body, such as we have. Of course he could not have this, for because he did not eat, how could he sustain his flesh? Of course he could not. He did not eat or drink, so he was invisible. That means that his body was transparent. Then he changed his name, and became Sang Hyang Nur Cahyo. Then he gave rise to all the generations of the dewas, as in the wayang stories.

So you must not claim to be descended from Arjuna. You must not do that, for Arjuna is a wayang character, and wayang means shadow. It is not real. It portrays the nature of different kinds of characters, different human characteristics, people's character traits. Thus to describe someone as being like Arjuna, who is very refined, means that he is a person of a very refined nature. He is clever, he has the power to make other people into kings, but he does not want to become a king himself. Thus a person who really has power actually does not put himself and his own interests first. On the contrary, he builds up other people. But how is it with you? Are any of you people like Arjuna, thinking of others and not of yourself? Yes; hardly any of you are like that.

Wisma Subud Jakarta, Indonesia - January 7, 1979
Code Number : 79 CDK 2
So if something is wrong with you, it is the fault of your own actions. It is not God's fault. No, it is not the guidance of God that is wrong, but it is you who are wrong. You have to remember that. If you make mistakes, you have to be able to correct those mistakes, and to correct these faults in you. This is to be a true human being. It is illustrated in the wayang character Dasamuka, who was an angry man, liable to kill people if he got even a little bit annoyed. Anger is angkara murka. But he had the courage to take responsibility. If it is wrong, one has to admit that one has done wrong, and one must have the courage to take and to face the consequences. If it is like that, brothers and sisters, no bad consequences will result, for God, Who is All-knowing, will give the truth to everyone who sincerely acknowledges his or her mistakes and misdeeds. That is why, in the daily prayers, people say 'kabira wal hamdu lillahi kasiran' ( All possible praise and thanks to the One Almighty God ). Yes; eating, drinking, meeting people, talking with people - kasiran wasub-ha nallahi; it is all by the will of God. Inni waj/ahtu lilladzii fatharas-samawati walardla hanifan musliman wama ana minal rnusyrikina - Surely I have turned myself, being upright, wholly to Him Who originated the heavens and earth, as a true Moslem, and I am not one of the unbelievers ( the polytheists ).

Toronto, Canada - August 20, 1979
Code Number : 79 YYZ 10
Brothers and sisters, according to the long established traditions of Islam there are four aspects of life that exist within life - not just within the life of human beings but within all life. These are dzat, sifat, asma and af'al. Dzat means power. That is why Allah, God, envelops dzat, sifat, amsa and af’al. Sifat is existence, being. Asma is work. Af'al is the outcome or the evidence. Thus the whole of existence, both the parts which are visible and known to you and the parts which are not - and, above all, the nature of human beings - all of it enthrones and is occupied by the power of the One Almighty God - dijumengi, by the power of God, to use a Javanese word. And the power of God is at work in the existence which is filled by this Dzat Allah. To work means to move. In Islam this movement is called the khatir ilham, the vibration of life. This is what causes the existence of the clouds in the sky, of day, of night, of this earth and all the rest of the universe. Bapak does not need to take this story any further. In fact, it would only increase your thinking; you would think about things which would be very imaginary. It is better for you to keep to the reality, the evidence; that is, to the latihan kejiwaan of Subud.

It is clear, brothers and sisters, that you will not lose the latihan kejiwaan of Subud which you have received. Nor must you have any feeling of being backward or left behind, or of being inferior or superior to other people. No; all of this is in accordance with your inner-self. If you do not accept that other people may perhaps outdo you, that means that you are accusing God. God is All-powerful and God gives to everyone who has the capacity to receive. If someone does not have the capacity, God does not give. You yourselves have seen and experienced this truth; you have witnessed the condition of people in crisis. Their imagination makes them want to be clever; they want to be able to receive strange things. Then when this is given to them, they cannot receive it. So what happens? They think that the table is made of gold from heaven. They think that their clothes are made of diamonds from heaven. This is their own fault. In reality, brothers and sisters, when God gives to human beings, it will not be something imaginary, not fantasy.

This has been witnessed by the prophets; by Christ himself and by the prophet Muhammad. Christ said that it is there in the world of the One Almighty God that truth exists. There is no reality in this world. This world is empty of truth. In Javanese this world is said to be donya, don kang sonya, the empty place. Where in this world is there anything that is lasting and eternal? There is nothing anywhere. At present you have plenty of money; who knows but that tomorrow you may lose it? Your house may burn down, or you may go to Monaco and play roulette, and then all your money is gone. Those are one or two examples out of the innumerable possibilities. This is why there is a saying, brothers .and sisters, that however fortunate someone may be who is not close to God, someone who is close to God is more fortunate still. God is close to you, so why are you not fortunate? You go about things in the wrong way. You ought to be more fortunate than people who are not close to God and who do not receive the latihan, but why are you not fortunate, not successful? Your lives are always difficult. You do the wrong things; you make mistakes. What is the reason for that? It is because you always imitate other people in your work. If your friend is selling kwaci ( salted melon seeds ), you sell kwaci. If your friend is selling hamburgers, you sell hamburgers. If your friend is wearing clothes with the skirt reaching to here, you wear a skirt reaching to here. If your friend is wearing a bikini, you wear a bikini. Well, what is that? There is nothing about it that is what the Dutch call standvastig, nothing truly stable or lasting. You are doing the latihan kejiwaan; you are being trained to become people who hold fast to their own ideas. In these matters, you have to have the courage to die. Not to kill yourself, no. Courage to die if you are wrong and if that is the punishment for being wrong.

The history of Abraham, brothers and sisters, the histories of Moses, of Jesus Christ, of Muhammad, show that they did not lack this courage. But all these are only stories for you, brothers and sisters, and you have not previously had their truth proved to you. Now it is the time for that. This is why you should all put into practice the guidance which you continually receive from God, and do the latihan whenever the time is appointed for latihan. Do not waste your time in the latihan. Bapak has seen this, and he knows that you do waste it, brothers and sisters. There is, of course, some progress among you, but it is too slow. What causes that? It is because you like to copy other people. You just imitate other people. If your nature is all imitation, then your life is synthetic; it is all artificial things. If you use rubber, it is better to use genuine rubber, not artificial. If you own a diamond, own a genuine diamond, not an artificial one, which has no value.

Toronto, Canada - August 23, 1979
Code Number : 79 YYZ 11
All of you have received guidance from the One Almighty God; guidance which is free from nafsu, guidance which is from beyond the mind, without any intention on your part. That means that this guidance leads you towards what is true and real for all of you. Why have you not yet got there? Apart from it not yet being the time for it, you are not sufficiently resolute, not sufficiently serious about it. There are no happy people who have not in the past had difficulties. This is expressed in the Javanese saying: Jur basuki mawa beyo. There is no happiness, there is no wealth, there is no skill that is acquired except through learning the hard way. That is how it is for you. Every time you undertake an enterprise, you say that you cannot do it, or you fall down on it. In fact, brothers and sisters, you are not yet convinced about what you do. So if you do something and it goes wrong, the mistakes you have made are a lesson for you. Bapak says that they are a lesson because the mistakes you make teach you what not to do, so that you can change things. The usual way to verify it, so that the mistake can really become a good thing, is to try something at least three times. That is why you should try everything three times. One, two, three; three times. You take fright after doing it just once. You are afraid of your own mistakes. You have to look for what is wrong. And this is so not just for you; even the messengers of God had this experience. Bapak has experienced this many times over brothers and sisters, in every mistake Bapak has made. But Bapak has kept on. For it is God Who defines the boundaries between what is right and what is wrong, and also of death. Death takes resolution and true courage, like in what the prophet Abraham did.

This is how it is, brothers and sisters, and so Bapak hopes you will do it. But in fact it is not necessary for Bapak to hope; you have to be aware of this for yourselves. Whether you will keep your Subudness both in this world and the next depends upon you yourselves. You have to be able to become people of real value, and to become people of value you have to have courage, but to have courage because you are right, brothers and sisters, not because you are wrong. That is why you have to look for the causes of your mistakes. In the latihan kejiwaan of Subud you can already do that, even though only to a small extent. But for all of you it is a mistake to put your own interests first. For instance if you ask “Please, God, let me know whether I shall be rich”, that is in your own interest. Yes; it may be that God will grant you this. God always grants the wishes of human beings. That is why we have to be able to find the right way to consider things.

Reigate, England - September 8, 1979
Code Number : 79 REI 1
It was at the time when Abraham received his mission that for the first time a human being was required to worship God with complete sincerity. Abraham could do this because he was sincere. Sincerity means having the courage to die. Abraham's symbolic colour was red, signifying courage, but the courage of truth, not recklessness. One should not be reckless. Then God gave his mission to Moses, whose symbol was white, signifying that in the time of the prophet Moses mankind was able to distinguish between right and wrong. This is symbolized by the ability of the prophet Moses to divide the waters when he was being pursued by Pharaoh and his army. The prophet Moses went down into the Red Sea to escape pursuit. Then next the message came with the birth of Christ; Christ the roh Allah, the beloved of Allah. That is why the prophet Jesus loved children. The people of Islam are different; they like making children, but Christ loved children. After that came the prophet Muhammad, who is described as the rasulullah, the messenger of God. Rasulullah does not mean that God gave him a message to carry; it means that God enveloped the prophet Muhammad, so that if anyone hated the prophet Muhammad, it was the same as hating God.

Lewes, England - September 15, 1979
Code Number : 79 TBW 2
Do not be afraid, brothers and sisters, do not be afraid. God is All-powerful, God is All-possessing. If you are really resolute and really trust in the One Almighty God, you must have faith that Subud will continue to go well, and will develop as quickly as God deems right. Thus if you are worried and undecided about it, what can you achieve? Let alone a latihan hall, you will not even be able to achieve a watchman's hut. Everything you do, brothers and sisters, will in this way form an example for your own selves. If you make mistakes, do not be frightened by your mistakes. Search out the reason for them. Obviously you make many mistakes, brothers and sisters, and you are afraid of doing things wrong. In fact this is a temptation. Someone who is frightened by his own mistakes will always go wrong. If on one occasion he goes fishing, and what he catches is not a fish but a snake, then he says, 'Oh dear, I had better not fish any more. I have caught a snake.' Having gone fishing that once, he will not try again. You must not be like that, brothers and sisters. You must have courage. There may be many snakes in one place, but none in another. He goes fishing twice more and, as before, he catches a snake. Well, then, in that case you do not go again until you have found the right place to go. Very well; gradually it will go right. You will catch a kakap ( fish good for eating ), and maybe a very big one, as big as this. It will keep you in food for half a month. I do not feel that Bapak is putting this too high. No; Bapak is not speaking loosely, meaning that he is just saying this to please you. No.

Brothers and sisters, the Communist Chairman Mao Tse Tung was right when he said that when you work you must not give up, but keep right on working, and then you will find something good. That is what he said. If a Communist can be like that, why should we who worship God be afraid? Should we not be braver than the Communists? What is it that people fear?

What people fear is death. Why should we be afraid, when we have done the latihan kejiwaan and we understand what death is? The living fear death; not illness, no, but death. Those people say when someone dies, that is the end. Well, what we have experienced is that, as Christ said, death is the continuation of life, or what in Dutch is called the voorsetting van het levem In Indonesian that means the continuation of human life. Well, this is how it is. It is thus like it is for Mrs. van Hien, who must not feel frightened or distressed because Mr. van Hien has died. No. He has not departed from life, but it is the other way round, and those who are still alive here are only living a life of illusion. The life of human beings in this world is like life in a play, like playing a role in a play, if you think about it. Of course you will be able to find him later on when you go to live over there. You will say, 'While I was still alive, I thought you were dead, but you are not.'

Tunbridge Wells, England - September 16, 1979
Code Number : 79 TBW 1
That is how it is, brothers and sisters, so that in reality the enterprises which Bapak is always urging you to do will not hinder you in your worship of the One Almighty God. On the contrary, they will show you the way to tap your resources so as to provide for your lives and so that you do not squander your energies. In Islam that is called amal ( good works ). To clarify this further, in Islam this is called amal ma'ruf nahi mungkar, which means the right, the best, kind of good works, which can prevent and avoid wrong actions and wrong behavior. That is the kind of amal which is praised and which is willed by the One Almighty God.

Bapak is not saying very much about these suggestions, for, as he has already indicated, this is not the right time for it. So Bapak hopes that you will not be afraid or disappointed, or feel that you do not have the courage to do these enterprises. For enterprises which grow out of the latihan kejiwaan are enterprises willed by God; efforts to be made by human beings. But they are not confined just to buying and selling only, but they can be in farming or in any branch of knowledge; in medicine, or in teaching and in being a school teacher, for instance. If your skill as a teacher is derived from the One Almighty God, if it is derived from that source, you will really be able to teach and to be what is called a pedagogue; that is, to practice the science of guiding children spiritually. Provided that this comes from the power of God, you will be able to understand the direction in which each particular child should go. That is the way you should seek to live, so that you can teach your pupils to have a true aim towards which they should go. Then they will not stop half-way and will not become dropouts, incapable of doing anything, but they will really become people who are valuable to human society and to their own respective countries.

Toyko, Japan - January 1, 1980
Code Number : 80 TYO 1
All the things that human beings need, God has already prepared for them. When eventually Adam came into this world, he trusted in God and surrendered to God. When he was first born into this world, Adam felt sad. He was like a child who, when its parents bring it into this world, then cries and screams and feels uncomfortable and full of suffering. So clearly human beings are sad when they come into the life of this world, and then when they are taken out of it again and set free from it, which means when they die, then they are also sad. What is it that is sad? It is the heart. This heart is what experiences sorrow and joy, disappointment and happiness. That is why when you have any doubts about what you are doing, you should not go on with it, for that is a signal from your heart which is disturbing you. But if, in fact, you have no feeling of doubt, then it does not matter. That is why there is a Javanese saying to the effect that anyone who is worried or confused or doubtful is sure to fall down. That is why you must have courage when you are doing something, for you cannot take any step that will not cause you to experience some suffering or trouble. Out of trouble, happiness is born, and it is also out of happiness that trouble arises. They do indeed all go the same way.

Cilandak, Indonesia - February 16, 1980
Code Number : 80 CDK 2

Bank Susila Bakti, - Jakarta Indonesia - May 3, 1980
Code# 80 BSB 1

Wisma Subud, Jakarta, Indonesia - January 16, 1981
Code Number : 81 CDK 1

S. Widjojo Center, Jakarta, Indonesia - January 17, 1981
Code Number : 81 JKT 2

Sri Lanka - March 15, 1981
Code Number : 81 CMB 1

London, England - March 22, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 1

London, England - March 23, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 1a

London, England - April 20, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 12

Baden Vienna, Austria - May 11, 1981
Code Number : 81 VIE 4

Auckland, Australia - May 27, 1982
Code Number : 82 AKL 7

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

Sydney, Australia - May 17, 1982
Code Number : 82 SYD 6

Auckland, New Zealand - May 22, 1982
Code Number : 82 AKL 3

Cilandak, Indonesia - March 18, 1983
Code Number : 83 CDK 4

Cilandak, Indonesia - July 6, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 11

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

Wisma Subud Cilandak Indonesia February 9, 1985
Code Number : 85 CDK 1

Cilandak, Indonesia - May 23, 1987
Have the courage to be free
Code Number : 87 CDK 4

Wisma Subud, Jakarta - May 27, 1987
Bapak's last talk
Code Number : 87 CDK 5

 

Amen. Bapak Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo

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