From the Subud Library archive
Bapak's Advice And Guidance For Helpers
Coombe Springs, England - March 16, 1958
Code Number : 58 CSP 4
New York, NY USA - May 24, 1959
Talk to helpers and committee
Provisional Translation - Code: 59 NYC 7
Coombe Springs, England - August 21, 1959
Helpers and the latihan
Tenth talk at the first Subud international congress
Code number of Recording: 59 CSP 11
Coombe Springs, England - August 25, 1959
Twelfth talk at the first Subud international congress
The appointment of helpers
Code number of Recording : 59 CSP 13
Coombe Springs, England - August 26, 1959
Social welfare projects
Thirteenth talk at the first Subud international congress
Code number of Recording: 59 CSP 14
Garstang, England - September 20, 1959
Code Number : 59 GRS 1
Birmingham, England - September 27, 1959
Ladies and gentlemen – helpers – first Bapak would like to explain how to open new members.
Code Number : 59 BHX 2
Edinburgh, Scotland - October 14, 1959
Code Number : 59 EDI 2
Perth, Australia - March 1, 1963
How the helpers should carry out their duties, to avoid anything unpleasant.
Code Number : 63 PER 3
Perth, Australia - March 2, 1963
Code Number : 63 PER 4
Bogota, Columbia - April 18, 1963
Bapak needs to tell you that what you received this evening is your inner feeling being opened so that you can receive the vibration from your soul, which has been awakened by the power of God – that is, if you are really able to feel it and receive it.
Code Number : 63 BOG 2
Baurú, Brazil - June 1, 1963
I hope the helpers will be able to answer all kinds of questions themselves.
Code Number : 63 BAU 2
Rio De Janeiro - June 10, 1963
Helpers and Committee members
Code Number : 63 RIO 3
Rio De Janeiro - June 14, 1963
The way to organise that is for the helpers to take turns
Code Number : 63 RIO 5
Miami, FL USA -June 19, 1963
Code Number : 63 MIA 2
New York, NY USA - July 3, 1963
Meeting with helpers and committee
Code Number : 63 NYC 4
Briarcliff, NY USA - July 19, 1963
Second Subud world congress
Bapak will now answer some of the questions you have asked him
about various things in the spiritual field
Code Number : 63 BCL 8
Briarcliff, NY USA - July 25, 1963
Second Subud world congress
Code Number : 63 BCL 10
Los Angeles, CA USA - August 28, 1963
Code Number : 63 LAX 6
Vancouver, Canada - September 21, 1963
The name Susila Budhi Dharma is a description of your own state
Code Number : 63 YVR 2
Vancouver, Canada - September 25, 1963
There may be helpers who cannot really receive yet
Code Number : 63 YVR 3
Toronto, Canada - October 4, 1963
Responsibility of the helpers
Code Number : 63 YYZ 4
Paris, France - July 14, 1964
Code Number : 64 PAR 3
Vienna, Austria - July 30, 1964
Helpers in fact deal only with spiritual matters;
Code Number : 64 VIE 2
Planegg, Germany - August 10, 1964
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 64 PLG 4
Wolfsburg, Germany - August 19, 1964
You may help a member with their latihan only if they ask you..
Code Number : 64 WOB 3
Colombo, Sri Lanka - February 24, 1967
Talk to helpers
Code Number : 67 CMB 2
Colombo, Sri Lanka - March 2, 1967
An important message for the helpers and the committee members.
Code Number : 67 CMB 4
Colombo, Sri Lanka - March 3, 1967
Bapak wants every helper to have a helper’s card
Code Number : 67 CMB 5
Calcutta, India - March 8, 1967
You should know what the helpers’ duties are by now
Code Number : 67 CCU 2
Johannesburg, South Africa - March 19, 1967
A helper needs to know and, more importantly,
understand what this spiritual training we call Subud is about.
Code Number : 67 JNB 4
Manchester, England - April 10, 1967
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 67 MAN 3
New York, USA - May 16, 1967
The helpers need to be aware of whether the members
attending the latihan really understand Subud, or not.
Code Number : 67 NYC 2
Manchester, England - April 14, 1967
...the helpers can say openly:
‘You can find out for yourself by joining Subud’.
Code Number : 67 MAN 5
The Hague - May 11, 1967
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 67 HAG 3
New York, USA - May 19, 1967
Bapak explains how helpers should accompany members in latihan.
Code Number : 67 NYC 4
Cilandak, Indonesia - August 20, 1967
A message directed in particular to helpers who time the members’ latihan.
Code Number : 67 TJK 6
Cilandak, Indonesia - September 1968
Concerning testing and suffering
From Pewarta Vol. VI No. 2 September 1968
Announcement From Bapak To All Subud Members
When a helper or a member carries out testing in the spiritual way ( kedjiwaan ) of Subud it is similar to doing the latihan kejiwaan. The difference is that, when testing, the person who tests has a question to ask before doing the latihan, to which he or she then receives an answer in whatever form he is able to receive it. Whereas when one does the latihan it is necessary first to empty oneself of ideas and imaginings, to surrender in trust and sincerity to the will of Almighty God, and then one will receive and follow the guidance and direction that comes from the Power of God manifested in the latihan kejiwaan.
This then is the difference between testing and just receiving and following the latihan kedjiwaan. If, therefore, a member or a helper tests frequently, because there are many different questions, he will be obliged to reduce the time spent in receiving and practicing his latihan, which is, essentially, following the guidance and direction that come from the Power of Almighty God.
Indeed it is necessary for people to test as well, but if this is done it is for reasons such as the need to know on what spiritual ( kejiwaan ) level a person now stands, or to enable one to know for oneself why it is that after being in Subud for a number of years one is still unable to receive experiences that can be felt. Testing can also be carried out when someone wishes to know how to behave in order to lessen the influence of the passions ( nafsu ) that still continually oppress his inner feeling, and in other cases where there is a connection with spiritual matters ( kedjiwaan ). So, too, testing can be done to select someone to serve on a committee or as a helper, since these duties are always connected with spiritual matters.
The cases just mentioned certainly fall within the spiritual category and are in harmony with the way of the latihan kejiwaan, which is essentially guidance and direction from the Power of Almighty God.
As you know, the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud has its being and comes through the Grace of Almighty God. Evidence of this is that its presence stills the thoughts and imagination and causes the working of heart and mind to cease. This is clear proof, and you yourselves have witnessed it.
If the latihan kedjiwaan has come into being by the Grace of Almighty God, it is only fitting that we should hold it in high respect, and not practice it simply as our hearts wish. For if we only follow the desires of our hearts when we do the latihan, it means that we degrade the guidance and direction of Almighty God, the All-Glorious and All-Wise.
On the other hand, if we do the latihan kedjiwaan and use it following the spiritual way, this means that we truly hold in high esteem the guidance and direction of Almighty God, manifested in the latihan kedjiwaan which we have received and are practicing. It is for this reason that, so far as is possible, we do not employ testing for purposes that fall outside the field of spiritual matters.
If necessary, you may also test in order to be able to know your fate, and what to do so as to be able to change it for the better. But you should not then ask about all your various needs, as if you were questioning a "dukun" ( witch-doctor or fortune-teller ). This sort of thing is indeed work for a witch-doctor or fortune-teller. But for us, whose primary aim is the worship of Almighty God in accordance with His direction and guidance, such a habit is rather far removed from our original objective.
The fact is that many questions can be weighed and examined with your hearts and minds, such as wanting to move house, to change your work, to discover how to pay your debts, to know how to manage your property, to find a marriage partner or to improve an unfortunate lot in life. But occasionally, if it is obvious that heart and mind are inadequate to reach a satisfactory conclusion, only then should you ask the helpers to test about such a problem. For if you fall into the habit of asking about all kinds of things, you will eventually get into the way of being just an expert questioner, and you will not understand that the Subud latihan kedjiwaan, which exists by the grace of Almighty God, will enable you to know for yourself all that is necessary. It is better, therefore, not to make a habit of testing such problems.
It may be that you feel such questions as these to be very important for you. Well, yes, if you feel that they are important, maybe every kind of problem that becomes a necessity in your life is important. But the essential purpose and content of these questions does not tally or correspond with your intentions at the time when you were about to enter the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud.
If you will remember the situation at the time when you were about to enter Subud, you were reminded that the Subud latihan exists by and comes through the Grace of Almighty God, and is in its essence man's worship of God according to His guidance and direction manifested in the latihan kedjiwaan.
This is the purport of what you were told. As for questions of healing, setting right the inner force ( djiwa ) and the purification of the inner feeling, which relate to one's fate in life, all this will proceed of itself, because the improvement of the inner force and purification of the inner feeling are carded out in the course of the latihan kedjiwaan, which is in truth direction and guidance from Almighty God.
So it is clear that if you really do surrender, patiently, sincerely and trustfully to the Will of Almighty God, your inner force will be raised up towards a superior level, and your inner feeling will be cleansed of the impurities and faults which are the cause of your misfortune, so that subsequently you will be filled by an inner force of superior quality, and the purity of your inner feeling will cause your fate in life to become a good one.
You will not, of course, be able to experience all these results immediately, because your inner force has sunk too low, and the impurities and faults of your inner feeling form a closely interwoven network. Except through the Grace of God, these results could never be achieved at all.
In fact the reason why a person experiences misfortune is only because his inner force has not yet risen to a higher level, and his inner feeling is still full of impurities and faults. This is why their elders advise people to accept the misfortunes that they experience as a test or trial in their lives. For if the experience of misfortune is accepted as a test or trial in one's life, then, far from falling into despair, the heart and feelings will be surrendered. It is from just such a state that there arises a feeling of prihatin ( concern or caring ), of making an effort to correct one's fate by way of cutting down food and sleep, marital relations and all kinds of pleasures.
Indeed, a reduction in eating and sleeping, marital relations and all kinds of pleasures is very necessary, for that is in fact a way to make it possible to obtain an improvement in one's fortune in life.
Brothers and sisters, Bapak is aware that everyone wishes for a life of ease and abundance, but if people will not follow the path of prihatin in the way that Bapak has just indicated, such a wish will remain no more than a hope.
Bapak will take an illustration from ordinary life, where there are prosperous people, clever and well-known people, highly placed people, wise ( waskita ) people. But these have become prosperous because they have previously been thrifty in all things, resolutely denying themselves all extravagant pleasures, which only follow the nafsu ( passions ); they have become clever and famous because they have diligently and persistently pursued knowledge that can benefit human existence; they have become wise because they have been patient, calm, peaceful, trusting and sincere. These last qualities are to be found in the Prophets and Messengers of Almighty God. So, in fact, even though they were Prophets and Messengers of God, yet they were not exempt from experiencing constant suffering and the practice of keprihatinan at an earlier stage of their lives.
This is a short explanation by Bapak concerning the need for people to test, and concerning the question of suffering, which is best accepted as a test or trial in life. Bapak further hopes that this short explanation, touching upon the questions of testing and suffering, may give satisfaction to all of you.
From Bapak
From Pewarta Vol. VII No.2 July 1969
Bapak's message for the 1969 German congress
Cilandak, Indonesia 1969
Cilandak, Indonesia - October 18, 1969
God's guidance
5th talk at 5th Indonesian national congress
Code Number : 69 TJK 11
Skymont, VA USA - August 19, 1970
Backsliding of the members, and their failure to come to latihan is generally caused by a lack of understanding, a lack of awareness concerning the Subud latihan and the meaning of Subud.
Code Number : 70 SKY 4
From Pewarta Vol. VIII No.3 July 1971
Cilandak, Indonesia - October 30, 1970
STATEMENT BY BAPAK
The duties and obligations of a helper are:
1. To give explanations about the basis and aim of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud to those who are interested in joining Subud. It is necessary to explain that the latihan kejiwaan of Subud cannot be obtained through a teaching or the practice of a theory, but that it is received through the Grace of the One Almighty God and is based on surrender to His Greatness with complete patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission. So the basis of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud is our constant devotion to Almighty God in accordance with His guidance and direction which manifest in the latihan, and the aim is that we may become human beings with characters of fine quality. Such are the explanations that should be given to those who wish to join Subud. Before joining, it is necessary to understand that Subud, or the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, is not a magical practice that will enable a person to make large profits in a commercial enterprise or to obtain promotion in his work, or that will hasten recovery from an illness from which he suffers.
Of course, brothers and sisters, everyone wants to have a healthy body and sufficient means in life, but such things are not the objective in Subud. However, so long as we follow the way of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, we can always receive purification of the inner feeling and development of the djiwa, which can really change a fate in life that is bad to one that is good, and can lighten the physical sufferings of the body, which can eventually become healthy. But in entering Subud, the basis and aim is devotion, that is, constant devotion to the One Almighty God with patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission. Whether a bad fate in life eventually becomes a good one and the suffering from a physical illness is cured depends upon the Will of Almighty God. He is the One Who can decide what is beyond our comprehension. This is what the helpers have to explain to people who are interested in joining Subud. This is necessary so that they will not have any misunderstanding about Subud later on.
2. It is the helper's obligation to open people who have completed the period of probation, and to attend their subsequent latihans until they are really able to receive and feel the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud.
3. A helper must attend the latihan kedjiwaan whenever there is a latihan and an opening of brothers or sisters who have completed the period of probation, even if other helpers are there. This is indeed an obligation of a helper, so that there will always be a good atmosphere in the group and a deep feeling of brotherhood between the members and the helpers, and so that the members regard the helpers as older brothers who are worthy of respect and whose advice is trusted.
4. As far as possible, a helper must be on guard to see that there is no falling off in the membership, so that it remains complete. Thus, if a member does not come to the latihan for some time, the helpers must attend to this and ask why it happens. It is very important for a helper to do this, in order that he can come to know the true situation. If the member does not attend the latihan because he is not yet able to receive and feel what is called the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, then the helpers must immediately try to help him so that he can really receive and feel it. The way to do this is by having him stand up and close his eyes, and not think of anything but just have a feeling of surrender to the One Almighty God with trustful acceptance and sincere submission; and then the helpers do their latihan in front of him. It must be remembered, however, that the helpers should never touch the member nor should they give him any advice when they do the latihan kedjiwaan in front of him, but only surrender everything to the Greatness of Almighty God. If this practice is really followed, both the helpers and the member who is being opened feel content and light, because the person being opened is able to receive and feel the presence of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud and the helpers also feel progress in the realm of the kedjiwaan. However, brothers and sisters, if the situation is otherwise, for instance, if helpers have made several visits to the member who has not come to the latihan for a long time and it is clear that the member really does not want to be in Subud any longer, then the helpers can discuss the matter with the committee, who should send a letter to the member in order to obtain confirmation of his wishes. If it is the person's sincere wish to leave the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud, his name is to be removed from the members' register immediately. In this way, the helpers and committee members no longer have to give that member any further thought and our Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud is free from responsibility for any of his actions.
5. The helpers have no obligation to arrange financial matters. Thus the helpers' particular obligation is to take care of matters pertaining to the kedjiwaan. Consequently the committee must make the preparations and provide for the needs of the helpers when they visit homes of members who are ill or members who have not attended the latihan for some time.
6. There is no chairman, secretary or treasurer in the helpers' group. Therefore the helpers can hand over to the committee any necessary correspondence and the committee will attend to it. If the helpers have to make a decision about something, the way to do so is by testing together. This is essential so that decisions of this kind can be reached from within, free from the influence of nafsu.
7. If some group needs an additional helper, the helpers have the right to propose to Bapak a member to be appointed as a helper. But it must be remembered that, apart from having experience in the kedjiwaan, the proposed helper must be a person of good behavior and able to care for the members.
8. As the helpers' duties are international in character, a helper's position cannot be the same as that of a committee member. Outside his group he remains a helper, so that if he visits a place that is still without a Subud committee or organization, and if there happen to be some people there who wish to join Subud, he has the right to open them. But in this case he must inform his fellow helpers in his home group.
9. Women who wish to join Subud must be opened by women helpers, who then continue to attend their latihan. The same applies in the case of men who wish to join Subud. They must be opened by men helpers. So, too, with regard to visiting the sick: if the member is a woman, it is the women helpers who visit her, and if the sick member is a man, the visit is made by men helpers. Also, when testing for answers to questions presented by the members, questions from women members must be dealt with by women helpers and those from men members by men helpers.
10. Helpers are not permitted to mix other theories and practices with the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud.
11. A helper who is chosen by the general membership to serve on the committee of the organization must become non-active and be relieved of his helper's duties. He becomes active again and takes up his duties when he is no longer a member of the organizational committee.
12. The duties of a helper are not limited in time. A helper can continue to carry out his duties year after year. He may give up his duties only when he feels that he is no longer capable of fulfilling them, and in that case he himself must send a written statement, endorsed by his fellow helpers, in order to obtain Bapak's approval.
Furthermore, a helper can be compelled to resign from his duties as a helper if he deliberately mixes the practices and theories of some teaching with the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud. Decisions about this are to be made by Bapak on the basis of a report from the local helpers' group.
30 October 1970
Cilandak, Indonesia - December 5, 1970
Formation of the Dewan Kedjiwaan of Helpers for the Centers, the Regions and the National Center.
From Pewarta Vol. IX No.3 - February 1972
Bapak's answers to members' questions
Read the complete text - First Edition compiled 1971
Jakarta, Indonesia - August 5, 1971
Opening address 4th Subud world congress
Code Number : 71 TJK 1
Jakarta, Indonesia - August 8, 1971
formation of the World Subud Association
Code Number : 71 TJK 5
Wolfsburg, Germany - June 17, 1975
Dewan of helpers for ISC
Code Number : 75 WOB 8
Wolfsburg, Germany - June 20, 1975
Helpers and committee testing
Code Number : 75 WOB 14
Melbourne, Australia - April 14, 1976
Code Number : 76 MEB 2
Tokyo, Japan - April 22, 1976
Code Number : 76 TYO 6
New York, NY USA - May 8, 1976
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 76 NYC 3
Toronto, Canada - May 12, 1976
..about the position and responsibility of the helpers
Code Number : 76 YYZ 1
Toronto, Canada - May 12, 1976
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 76 YYZ 2
Wendhausen, Germany - June 23, 1976
This is a rough transcript of questions put to Bapak about testing.
Code Number : 76 WEN 2
Wolfsburg, Germany - July 30, 1977
Code Number : 77 WOB 3
Hamburg, Germany - August 6, 1977
Among helpers there is no higher or lower
Code Number : 77 HAM 3
Blonay, Switzerland - August 15, 1977
Man by his very nature can never be 100 per cent pure or 100 per cent holy.
Code Number : 77 BLN 1
Barcelona, Spain - August 27, 1977
Bapak wanted to have a meeting especially with the helpers and the committee in order to explain the duties of the helpers and the committee to you all.
Code Number : 77 BCN 2
Huntington, New York USA - September 10, 1977
In the teachings of the Holy books it is only forbidden
to do anything that will be harmful to health.
Code Number : 77 NYC 2
Toronto, Canada - September 24, 1977
Talk to I.S.C. and it's subsidiaries
Code Number : 77 YYZ 2
Chicago, Ill USA - October 1, 1977
The work of the helpers and committee
Code Number : 77 CHI 2
Buenos Aires, Argentina - October 22, 1977
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 77 BUE 2
Lima, Peru - November 1, 1977
You helpers should work together in harmony and without having any feelings of raising yourself up and looking down on other people. Or, alternatively, of raising someone else up and putting yourself down.
Code Number : 77 LIM 2
Quito, Equador - November, 6 1977
Code Number: 77 QUI 2
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - October 16, 1977
A helper is a pioneer.
Code Number : 77 RIO 2
Honolulu, Hawaii - December 24, 1977
God remembers. God knows that you have accepted this responsibility.
Code Number : 77 HNL 2
Christchurch, New Zealand - January 16, 1978
Talk to helpers and committee
Code Number : 78 CHC 3
Brisbane, Australia - January 24, 1978
Bapak is going to start explaining the structure of the helpers' organization or the helpers' work which has been set up, so that you can understand it correctly and that your functioning will be improved.
Code Number : 78 BNE 3
Sydney, Australia - January 30, 1978
wherever Bapak has been, there are members who, even though they have been a long time in Subud, sometimes more than five years. they still cannot feel the latihan, they still cannot feel even the smallest whisper of what their opening means.
Code Number : 78 SYD 2
This is something that is very strange, because it means that the helpers who have opened this person have really not paid attention to him or her, and as a result this person has been unable to feel till now the movements in the latihan, or the nature of the latihan. Actually, this is something about which Bapak is really sensitive, and Bapak finds it very, very disappointing when he comes across cases like this. What this proves or what this shows, is that the person who opened that member, the person who was responsible for opening him or her, could not care less about whether the new member received or not, or what his situation was, or what he was feeling or anything, but simply left him alone to his own devices or to whatever would happen to him. This is completely wrong, because a helper who opens new people should really watch over and take care of them, and make sure that they can feel and receive the latihan kejiwaan. Just like Bapak. If Bapak opens somebody Bapak is constantly paying attention to them until Bapak is sure that they have been able to feel the movement in the latihan, and they can really begin to do their latihan. Bapak never abandons and never stops paying attention to them until Bapak has seen that they can receive. This is really the way that the helpers should behave; this is the responsibility of the helpers, so that the helpers really look after the members and make sure that the members feel and understand the latihan kejiwaan.
Schloss Wendhausen, Germany - May 2, 1981
Code Number : Code Number : 81 WOB 5
when Bapak has to sign a helper's card, sometimes Bapak's hand stops in the middle and Bapak cannot write. Bapak cannot proceed and in that moment, Bapak already knows that this helper whose card Bapak is signing has not, in fact, got anywhere yet, but perhaps has to be appointed just because he is needed to open new members in a certain place, or something like that. But if Bapak is asked to sign the card of a helper who truly fulfills the conditions of a helper, then Bapak's signature goes like this? ( Bapak signs his signature with a flourish. ) Beautiful! Thus, there is an Af'al in everything that we do.
So supposing you were to claim "I am already high in my latihan kejiwaan of Subud," Bapak replies: "Good. Indeed there is already a picture of it but it has not happened yet." Why does Bapak say that? Because Subud does not own anything here ( in Wendhausen. ) Even your Subud house is rented, so if one day they pull the house down, where will you do your latihan then?
There is no sign yet of Af'al, proving to you the reality of God's love and closeness to all of you. Therefore, Brothers and Sisters, prove it by way of doing enterprise.
It is not that Bapak, or any of you, does not believe in God; on the contrary, it is that you should look for proof.
People praise God: "God Almighty, God Almighty, Allah-u. akbar, Allah-u-akbar ..."
"What is the proof of it? If you praise God is it really true that God is great?"
"Yes."
"And what is the proof"
"Well, they say so!"
"Ah! So it is only they who say so. Then it is only on your lips."
What is needed is the proof, the Af'al. This has truly been demonstrated in the latihan kejiwaan.
You can ask around anywhere: there has never been another latihan where people go shouting, "wow wow wow wow" and make movements; it doesn't exist. They sit stiff like this all day long, or they equate their human being with an idol, with a stone, which can't do anything. Don't do that.
For example, what you performed and demonstrated to Bapak yesterday.
( Entertainment. ) That is nice and Bapak is used to listening to it, but that is imitation isn't it? Isn't everything you are singing just imitation? So little by little put your receiving into it so that gradually it changes, so that you don't just go on imitating all of your life. If you were a bird you would be a Myna bird!
"Good morning!"
"Do you understand what is meant by 'Good Morning!?'
"Good morning!"
The bird doesn't understand. He can say "Good morning" simply because he is used to it ( not because he knows what it means. )
In the latihan kejiwaan we are trained to be people who do not imitate, people who can dig up their own original individuality.
Slough, England - August 11, 1981
At least 50% more helpers - now
Code Number : 81 LON 17
Jakarta, Indonesia - August 22, 1981
Talk at Idul Fitri
Code Number : 81 JKT 4
Wisma Subud, Cilandak, Indonesia - July 5, 1984
Talk to helpers, particularly international helpers
Code Number : 84 CDK 10
Amen. Bapak Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo