Coombe Springs, England August 19, 1957
Code Number : 57 CSP 10
You have all heard and read in the Bible the story of how the Prophet Jesus was born and grew up. Was not the Prophet Jesus born in a common place? It is said that the Prophet Jesus was born in a stall and was the child of someone who had no means. Such was the Prophet Jesus's life from childhood, and when he grew up he became a guide for mankind. However, the circumstances of the Prophet Jesus's birth and childhood led many people to say Jesus wasn't really a messenger from God. Usually, someone who is very famous and clever has been taught from childhood to adulthood and has a high education; moreover, he is descended from a high ancestry. So, when the Prophet Jesus was still small, even his own brothers and friends, let alone others, didn't believe him and always looked down on him. Why was that? It was because, when Jesus was still a boy, he didn't go to school. He was uneducated. He only tended the sheep.

Why did God choose a child like that, someone of such a lowly status and uneducated? In reality, God was showing mankind that no one can know God's will. A human being will only be able to receive guidance from God if he can paralyze his own cleverness, master his own passions, master his own anger and greed, and overcome his own human pride. So the Prophet Jesus, a child born on the lowest level of society, who didn't go to school, who had no standing, who had absolutely nothing, was willed by God to be the one who could receive words and revelations from God. And now he is believed by over half the world. Why was the Prophet Jesus - or a boy like Jesus - able to receive revelations from God? Because the main conditions, within the Prophet Jesus's inner feeling, were none other than faith, obedience, patience, surrender, and entrusting himself to God with sincere submission. He felt within himself that there was none who willed, none who worked or gave a way for him, save God. So, in the Prophet Jesus's life, he gave God more importance than his own soul [jiwa].

Such are the fruits and results obtained by someone chosen by God, someone who, in his inner feeling, always has faith and always surrenders and entrusts himself to God with sincere submission.

The Hague, Netherlands - September 18, 1957
Code Number : 57 HAG 3
Many people say - and Bapak isn't implying that you, ladies and gentlemen, agree or feel that way - that no human being can receive something out of the ordinary in these circumstances. So it's easy for them to say this training [latihan] is just an ordinary exercise and has nothing to do with spiritual things or the worship of God. For they compare this receiving from God with rigorous efforts people make in isolated places, far away from society, as Bapak just described.

But they forget what they've heard or read in holy books like the Bible or the Quran and others: namely, that the One God, who is Almighty, and Most Wise, can decree something beyond man's fathoming. That's what happened within the self of the Prophet Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammad. People couldn't guess, and didn't know or understand that God's grace was bestowed on those two prophets beyond their fathoming. So they said that what Jesus and Muhammad received was just plain magic, like child's play, and wasn't real. Moreover, neither of them had ever been to school; they had none of the education a person you would call clever or shrewd usually has.

And so people supposed and concluded that what the Prophet Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad had in them wasn't really from God and wasn't to be followed. But in the end, what happened? Until now, the words and advice of the Prophet Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad have been believed and followed, and they have been studied and are known for their goodness, depth and sublimity. This is how God decrees something by His own will.

Eindhoven, Netherlands - October 11, 1957
Code Number : 57 EIN 2
This is the way to arrange things, to be able to give guidance and direction to those who are hungry and in need, and take from those who really have too much. People should have the same and there should be welfare in the life of human society. This is symbolized in the story told in Christian circles, and Bapak has also seen it in a film. When the Prophet Jesus was on a hilltop, among those who were following him on the hillside were many people who were suffering, and many who were hungry. For it was a time and a society where people did not have full stomachs and many suffered from hunger. By God's grace, at the request of the Prophet Jesus - indeed, the Prophet Jesus’ request was not from his own wanting, but he was willed by God to beseech God's greatness that was within him - an immeasurable quantity of bread was created there, and it came without a cause.

San Francisco, CA USA - March 26, 1958
Code Number : 58 SFO 1
As you may have read in the history of the life of Jesus in times long ago, Jesus was able to receive and become a man upon whom revelations were bestowed, that is to say, he was able to receive God's commandments not through study, meditation or concentration, but because it was so willed by God. Because the nature of the Prophet Jesus was that of a man who was truly surrendered to God, pure and clean. And so it was too with the other prophets.

And what Bapak has passed on to all of you will work by itself, will never stop working, will always be present within you. Therefore do not fear that once Bapak goes away it will cease to be there. Once it is present it is always present, it is always there within the self of man or, to be more precise, within the self of each of you. This will enable you to worship God in your accustomed way, as a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and so on, to worship in a true manner supported with evidence that can be received and felt. So through this way of evidence, man will become able to worship God in any situation, both in his work as well as while attending a church service, while sowing or cultivating crops, or while travelling on business - in all these man will be able to worship God, because God always surrounds, guides and serves man in all his activities. It was said by Jesus and recorded in the Gospels - you may have read it yourselves - that you should believe that God is always with you.

San Francisco, CA USA - April 23, 1958
Code Number : 58 SFO 4
Clearly, without God's help, people, whose nature in general is wrong, cannot possibly find the right way. It is impossible for their human soul to get back to its rightful place, to the state where it can finally clean all the mistakes that are within the self, or within the body.

An example - which existed and happened, even though it is told in stories - is Nabi Isa, Jesus. The Prophet Jesus is called roh Allah ( Spirit of God ). Roh ( spirit ) is son, but not son like a person has a son; son of Allah means he was made because of God's will. Why does Bapak say Jesus was not God's son in the ordinary human sense? Because God has no wife, and God is neither male nor female.

God wills something through creation; by His will, it comes to be. So Jesus - conveyed in the stories and in his life story by the words 'son of Allah' - was willed by God into being, so that he should give advice and guidance to mankind, because people at that time were in chaos and confusion, in a state that was altogether not good. So Jesus’ spirit and nature are said to have been the holy spirit, meaning the perfect human spirit that was within his being, so that the Prophet Jesus, and all the members of his body, was moved and used by his human soul, which was close to the One God.

And then we are told what the Prophet Jesus did and experienced. He spoke, advising people that they should behave well and have a good character, giving more weight to God than to their own souls and the world. The Prophet Jesus himself was an example. His closeness to God and love for God was more than for the world, more than for his own self. Hence, in the stories it is symbolized that the soul of the Prophet Jesus gave up his own self to be crucified, to be tortured by his fellow human beings, because of his surrender to God.

This is an example for mankind: that human beings really may be able to surrender their inner feeling and exalt - by exalt, Bapak means uphold - God's power higher than their own selves, so that in the end they may receive a gift from God. Then they can be awakened through their human soul, which finally can correct and clean all the faults that are within our being.

Los Angeles, CA USA - May 10, 1958
Code Number : 58 LAX 3
In religion, to this day, people are asked only to worship with a pure and sincere heart, and to believe that God exists. Why is this? It is because, indeed, matters concerning God and God's work cannot possibly be known and understood by His creatures, human beings who were created by Him. That is why in religion it is advised that man should worship with a pure, clean heart. But the actual results cannot be shown; therefore many educated people tend to stay away, because they need proof and real evidence of what there actually is in that worship. Many human beings do not believe that God exists, because there is no evidence to prove it to them.

In fact there is evidence, and mankind received it long ago -for example, the Prophet Jesus whom you all know about. It is told in the Bible that the Prophet Jesus was able to heal a sick person just like that, and could help those who needed help just like that. So Jesus’ work in those times long ago is evidence that God's power always envelops those human beings who are really obedient, clean, honest and submissive to God, like the Prophet Jesus. So the power of God can be received and experienced by a human being, if that human being is really able to receive it through the purity of his heart and mind.

What was experienced by the Prophet Jesus to some extent exists now; you have each received it in your latihan. Of course, you will not be the same as the Prophet Jesus, because Jesus was different from all of you, ladies and gentlemen. Besides, the Prophet Jesus was a human being who was really clean and pure, but you are not yet like that. But because it is God's will that there are human beings who can receive in this way, of course you also can receive, ladies and gentlemen, although not like the Prophet Jesus.

You will be able to prove and verify this later, when you reach the level required for your human soul. But, of course, Bapak cannot give you any idea of how long, how many months and years it will take to reach that level, because it all depends on each one of you. Like an object that is covered with dirt, it depends on how much dirt and how heavy the dirt is that covers the object. So for those of you whose sins are not so many, of course it will be easy, while for those of you whose sins and mistakes are many, it will take rather a long time, because first you have to be cleaned of all the mistakes that are within your being. In this latihan -that is, the awakening of the soul - you need first to go through a kind of preparation, a cleansing within your self. Eventually, it will manifest by itself, it will happen by itself, when your purification is complete and your preparation is over.

Los Angeles, CA USA - May 13, 1958
Code Number : 58 LAX 4
Many human beings go through the mystical way hoping or thinking that they can arrive at the truth. But many of them do not succeed, because these tarekat always use the thinking mind. Whereas the truth comes and is received when a human being is empty of thinking, wanting and desires; it is, as we often say, a toeval ( coincidence ), which suddenly occurs beyond the expectations of the human mind and heart. And that state of the truth -which Bapak says is toevalig in Dutch - we now receive in the latihan. We are now training in something that is beyond the ability of the thinking mind and desires to fathom.

An example is that when the Prophet Jesus was alive he was able to receive God's gift, so that he was able to give advice that is now believed and followed by many human beings - not because of the working of his brain and heart, or because of some teaching, but really because of God's gift, which was within his inner nature. This is why the ability and understanding that Jesus had can be said to be beyond the ability of the human thinking mind to fathom.

You have now begun to be trained, and to receive, ladies and gentlemen. How far each of you will go, and how it will happen an each of you all depends on the actual capacity - kwaliteit ( quality ) in Dutch - of each one of you. This cannot be determined by how often and how long you have been doing the latihan. It may be that a new member can receive more than an older member, and perhaps an old member can receive more than a new member. Also, it cannot be determined whether an old person will be able to receive more than a young person, or vice-versa. This is illustrated in the life of the Prophet Jesus and other prophets. The young were able to receive, while others, who were older, were not yet able to receive.

When Bapak mentioned quality just now, he meant the strength within the human self. In the case of a material object, it is immediately apparent. Because of the low nature of material things, we can know what strength there is in the object. The quality in plants can be ascertained by the human feelings. Human beings can also know the quality of animals, by way of using the awareness that is deeper than the feelings. And human beings, or you, ladies and gentlemen, can only know the quality of your fellow human beings if you have really gone deep within the human soul ( jiwa ). So, in order to understand the state of the inner selves of each of us, we must have been able to develop to a deeper level than the feelings or understanding, that is, to what is called the awareness of the soul, the awareness of the inner self.

So when you die, the human brain, which is filled with thoughts of this world, and remembers your wife, your children, your money in the bank, your work, and so on, comes to a stop. But an understanding that is beyond this world manifests in the human inner self. An illustration of this will make it clearer for you because you have often heard how the Prophet Jesus was when he died, and after his death. The Prophet Jesus did not live on with his desires; it was his soul that lived; his desires were dead. This is symbolized by Jesus’ crucifixion when a lot of blood flowed. This means that what died was his desires, and what lived on was his soul.

Now, your state in this training ( latihan ) is like that of the Prophet Jesus, although you are not as high, or as deep, or as clean. So, for example, the Prophet Jesus could write 'A' like this, but you write it like this ( Bapak demonstrates ), ladies and gentlemen. Well, it is not God's fault. Why should God treat you differently from the Prophet Jesus? It is the faults within human beings, within your own selves. The Prophet Jesus had a good heredity, and his forbears were not so affected by the influence of the world, right up to the time when he himself was born. Whereas when you all came into the world - Bapak does not wish to offend your forbears - but when you had just been born, you had already been to the cinema, been to the theatre, seen the ballet, and seen all kinds of things. And all of that is an obstacle, like dirt within all the parts of your being.

Jakarta, Indonesia - September 29, 1958
Code Number : 58 JKT 5
So, when in Christianity it is said, 'God is my Father,' it is a symbol of how great was Jesus’ consideration for God, for there is no bond of the heart greater than that between a child and its parents. For of course you can feel, 'I come from them. I exist because of them.'

It is a mistake to interpret Father here as being ( Jesus’ ) real father. If God were his real father, God would have a wife. I don't know how many wives. I have never heard of that and I have not received that God has a wife. I haven't heard of it and I don't know it, because God is Almighty. So it is a symbol, and it means that Jesus’ love for God was greater than for anything else. If Jesus considered God to be his Father, certainly God also considered Jesus to be His son. As Bapak explained earlier, if you love God and have faith and trust in God, God will be the same towards you. But if you are vague or uncertain, God will be the same to you. God will be uncertain in giving to you, 'Oh, it can wait.' He is about to give you something, 'Oh, later'. It's uncertain. So do not have doubts.

Yogyakarta, Indonesia - December 28, 1958
Code Number : 58 JOG 2
In general, most of the letters Bapak has received so far are from clever, intelligent people. Not a few of the letters came from university professors. Bapak felt small and inept, and felt inadequate to the task of giving explanations to them, because outwardly they were more clever and more educated than Bapak himself. But Bapak repeats, thanks to God's grace - which has been given to Bapak because he really is small, stupid and powerless - he was given all the guidance and direction he needed to be able to answer their questions. Bapak was surprised - but, yes indeed, if God wills it, nothing is difficult.

On reflection, Bapak compared these feelings of his with those of the prophets in ancient times. Jesus became the light and leader of the world - even if it is just the Christian world. He became the leader, enlightener and adviser of millions of people - yet in the beginning, when he was still small, he did not study or go to school.

New York, NY USA - May 13, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 5
At first sight, when seen from the point of view of the heart and thinking, people cannot understand anything about anything if they don't use their heart and mind. Indeed this is right, and humans have a heart and mind for that purpose. But they should not forget that for something that is higher than human, they cannot make use of anything that is in themselves, they can only receive and follow.

When you are able to do this, and receive what Bapak has been talking about; you will receive the reality - Bapak illustrates it this way - that there is an understanding within our understanding; there is an awareness within our awareness; there is a seeing within our seeing. It's not that we are influenced or pressured by the power above us. No. But it understands and knows better than we do what we are for, the needs of our life, and how we should work to fulfil our own happiness and nobility.

If you are wondering whether this can possibly happen to anyone, Bapak can point to the lives of the prophets. For example, Jesus. Jesus was born in conditions much humbler than normal. The place of his birth was humble, as was the situation of his family. As a result, from infancy through boyhood to adulthood, he never experienced or received anything like children of the present time.

So how was it that this child, who was born in such a humble place and had no lessons at all from anyone, eventually became an adviser to a great part of humanity? It was because Jesus was a man who came to symbolize the possibility of truly being able to surrender everything to God's greatness; of being completely purified by God's greatness. Thus he could receive what is appropriate for a perfect human being, he could become an example of how humans should live to be able to worship Almighty God. And, in that state, there arose within Jesus' self, within his ordinary understanding, which people usually use to understand things, an understanding that was extraordinary and beyond the scope of the mind. This is a symbol, and an example for you all of what the result will be if you truly do the latihan, and worship God with a sincere feeling of surrender to the greatness of the One God.

New York, NY USA - May 14, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 6
Thus, you will be the one who experiences everything that happens to you in the latihan, and the evidence it provides will be in your own being. And when finally you come to the end, when God wills that you return to the blissful world and you die, the ones who do the packing for you will be your servants - not the master. No! Your servants will pack everything, you can just relax. Everything else will be taken care of. Just like when you say, 'I have to go back to England soon!'

That's how it will be when you have obtained what is necessary for your soul - for yourself. Your state will then resemble the Subud symbol, which is the symbol of our being when we worship God. So Subud is not a religion, a name that has to be planted in your mind. No. It is simply a symbol of the human self.

It is the same with other symbols, like the symbol of the cross. It is not intended that the cross should be planted in the heart and mind of human beings. It is supposed to be a symbol, signifying that beyond and above this world there is a power - the power of God. As Jesus explained, this world is the first realm; not the number one realm, but the first realm. The second realm, which is really the greatest realm, is the realm of God.

New York, NY USA - May 24, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 7
Many of you have not found what you need, because God knows and understands that it is not yet the time for you to receive it. God has to give you a little at a time, and you should be grateful and glorify God's wisdom for giving to you in a way that does not harm you.

Bapak describes it like this: God will not give to people who ask God just because they are in a hurry, just to solve a problem, or just in order to make others consider them clever or something like that. For God does not like it if there is not a humane feeling among you; if you do not feel one with each other, value each other, love each other and help each other.

We already have many examples in the lives of the prophets of long ago - like Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus was condemned and blamed by others, he accepted it with patience and obedience to God, because God is the one who determines the life and destiny of human beings. This is what an excellent human being is like, and is symbolized by Jesus' inner nature. He did not profess his excellence or his high status, but felt the same as others. Nevertheless, people were aware of Jesus' fine character. It was not that he was able to captivate the hearts of other people - people loved him spontaneously. As recorded in his sayings, Jesus neither felt proud if people admired him, nor sad if people criticized him.

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.

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

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

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

New York, NY USA - June 10, 1959
Code Number : 59 NYC 8
To make it clear, it's like this. Take, for example, Pak Subuh. When this Pak Subuh dies, his way of feeling, seeing, hearing and so on will be no different from the way it is now. The only difference will be the place - after he has died, how he experiences living will not be as it was in this world. But everything ( else ) will be the same.

Jesus' rising from the dead to live in heaven symbolizes this. Everything that was in Jesus' individuality remained the same, it didn't change. So, before Jesus died he lived in Jerusalem, after he died he did not live in Jerusalem any more, but in... ( inaudible ). However, although he was in heaven, although he was in a realm that was different from this world, his individuality - ( Bapak whispers to the interpreter: ) you know what individuality is? It's his whole personality - did not change. So he still remembered being in the world. He remembered: 'When I was in the world, I remember I had a companion called Peter. 'Yes, he still remembered. Like Bapak, when he dies will remember: 'In such and such a year I was in New York; in such and such a year I was in Florida.' Bapak will remember it all. 'But Florida and New York are.., well, not like where I am now. What a blessing!'

Chicago, Illinois USA - June 17, 1959
Code Number : 59 CHI 1
Following the era of Abraham came the third era, that of Moses. It is said that the color of Moses was white, meaning Moses was the first to receive and to bring God's commands regarding a way that leads to purity; he was the first one to possess purity of heart and mind. It is told in history that Moses was a person who was able to divide the waters when he was being pursued by the Pharaoh. This is a symbol of the fact that Moses was able to separate right and wrong and to distinguish between human intelligence and the knowledge that comes from God.

After that, the fourth era followed: the age of Jesus, whose color was said to be green. It was also said that Jesus was Spirit - Spirit meaning 'the child of God'. Jesus' life is symbolized by a cross, meaning that he was a human being who was able to receive and understand how to live in this world, and how to live in the kingdom of Almighty God.

After that in the history of the prophets, we come to the age of Muhammad, who is symbolized as the one who completes ( the cycle ), meaning the small child grows up, marries, has children, then those children grow up and the whole thing repeats. So one who was a small child creates another small child, thereby repeating the process of human life as people experience and live it.

These are the symbols - or stories that have become symbols - for humankind, whose true meaning you should know and become aware of. This history of the prophets, together with all the advice that was received and absorbed by the human race, became symbols for us. In reality the advice we have received up till now - advice that is so far reaching - is already complete. The book of Abraham, the book of Moses, the book of Jesus and the book of Muhammad, which are called the Zabur, the Torah, the Gospels and the Quran, provide a great deal of advice that is real. If we could be aware of it, it would provide guidance and instruction for humankind. But this is very difficult - especially in this age where the world is full of all kinds of things, full of this and that - because human beings cannot easily sort out their hearts and passions, and cannot easily calm their thinking.

Chicago, Illinois U.S.A. - June 23, 1959
Code Number : 59 CHI 2
Through not thinking, not using the intellect, the heart or the feelings -which carry traces of this world - the pressure of the world will, little by little, be reduced. And, more and more as time goes on, they will gradually be filled with the influence of life after death -of heelal ( Du.: the universe ), a place that is higher - until there is a balance. ( Then you can ) experience the condition of the brain, the heart and the feelings being one hundred percent full of this world, and ( also ) one hundred percent full of the ambiance of life after death. Only when that happens can you use your brain to think about and to really understand life after death, or life before coming into this world. Then you can be aware of it in the same way as when you are aware of, or think about, ordinary worldly matters.

This is symbolized in the life of the prophets; for instance, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and the others. Jesus himself said that outside of this world is the realm of God - truly nobler, truly higher and happier than this world. Why did Jesus say that? Because Jesus with his brain could already think about life after death. And why was that? Because his brain, heart and feeling had been cleaned and separated from the influence of the world.

In the course of his life, Jesus sometimes said, 'O friends, do you know and do you hear? I hear clearly what God is saying to me.' How could he hear like that? Because the ears of Jesus had been purified of the influence of the world, which had been acting on him from the time he was small, while he was growing up and when he became an adult. He also said, 'If I feel something to be wrong, ( it means ) God does, because my heart and my feeling have been filled with the will of God, not with the world.'

San Francisco, CA USA - July 7, 1959
Code Number : 59 SFO 2
So there had been three reminders. Starting with Adam ( human beings ) had been reminded that )sexual union with a) woman is like a way or a door that can open for man to find the right way to happiness and the worship of God. Second: Abraham through his sincerity and obedience to God, and by shunning desire and attachment to anything, was able to receive the pure spirit or water of life that can become a good human being in the womb of a woman. And the third was Moses, who really could tell apart his passion from the awakening of his human soul, so that finally he was able to receive a revelation from God on the hill called Sinai.

The Mount Sinai referred to in the story is the tip of the human nose; for we use the human nose to express love and affection. Usually, when you express love and affection for a woman or a friend, you kiss with your nose. Bapak has never seen people kiss with their ear. No, they kiss with their nose. Anyway, as time went on, the way of receiving something from God had become easier and easier, until in the end, just with the nose you could experience a revelation. But human beings didn't follow this. Gradually, because of the tremendous influence of the world upon their heart and thinking and passions, they forgot God again. They just went on indulging themselves.

God is Most Wise and knew all this, so God sent down another messenger to remind human beings, and Jesus was born. It is said that Jesus was ruh Allah, the spirit of God. Ruh is a way of saying son or beloved. Clearly, with the coming of Jesus, God brought a reminder to the hearts of human beings. That is why Jesus said, 'Love God more than you love the things of this world, so that God may reward you with love without end.' For when in your heart you really love God it means that you bring your inner feeling close to God.

But humans are not like that. They love God only when they are sick or when they are short of something. But when they have lots of money, they just go to the theatre or to the cinema and so on - it's as if God did not exist. It's as if they only love what they can see, and what is there, close to them.

In the story of Jesus, there's a symbol in how Jesus' death came about through slander perpetrated by a group of thinkers. The true meaning of this is that the heart's love for God cannot be fulfilled, and will even be dashed to pieces and disappear, if it is constantly thought about with the mind. That's why Jesus' death came about in that way. It's a symbol for us that we should not use our minds to think about the love for God in our hearts, but just surrender to God's greatness - as Jesus did when they decided to crucify him. He accepted willingly and surrendered to God.

And regarding one's relationship with one's wife - with a woman - our love should not be obstructed by the woman. Our love should be for God, accompanied by the woman as the means. That's the symbolic meaning of ( Jesus ) not having married: a man's worship of God not obstructed by a woman. ( Sexual union with ) a woman is simply the means for a man's worship of God. It doesn't mean that the man goes to heaven because of the woman. No, the woman is only the instrument, the means.

So women should not think, 'Well, in that case, I am like heaven.' No. Women are simply people - they are just the means. Bapak compares it with someone who rides in a beautiful, shiny car and feels important; then the car says, 'You would not be important or distinguished if you did not ride in me.' Well, actually the car is only the means. It makes him feel important when he rides in it, but he would be just as important if he did not ride in it.

Los Angeles, CA USA - July 16, 1959
Code Number : 59 LAX 2
If you look back, meaning if you look outside of Subud, you will see people being told by the Muslim teachers, or by whoever they trust in the church: 'If you recite this, you will go to heaven.' Just from that, there are a lot of people who believe, who are convinced in their hearts, that they will go to heaven. But in your case, you are not being told by a person but by God, who is within your own being. It comes from the power of God, which is already present within your own selves, and which gives indications to each of you.

So you ought to trust yourself rather than the words of others. It may well be that the person talking has not yet personally experienced what heaven and hell are really like. So, if they are asked, 'Is that really true?' they'll answer 'that's what the holy book says, and if the holy book says it, it must be true.'

Of course what the holy books say is true. But don't forget that what it says in the Quran, and what it says in the Bible, is between Muhammad and God, and between Jesus and God. It's not God talking to you, or to others. What it says in the Quran is really true, but it's directed to Muhammad, for Muhammad could understand, be deeply conscious of, and receive the words of God. It's the same with the Bible. Jesus was able to receive the words of God. But they were for Jesus, not for others who are not yet like him ... ( inaudible ).

That's why they say that the only ones who know angels, who know and understand them, are the angels. Those who know the bidadari ( female angels ) are also the bidadari. Those who know heaven are those who dwell there. Let Bapak illustrate: certainly, most of the people who mingle with the rich are other rich people. Those who socialize with royalty are, of course, royalty. It's not possible for you to mix with kings, to go strolling about with kings. It's not, that's the reality of it. And that's why in Subud all of you are constantly guided by God to become one with the stage, with the level, to which you belong.

So if you - this is just an example, Bapak isn't saying it's true of you, it is just as an example - let's say you had an animal soul: of course it wouldn't be able to associate with human souls. Yes, it would associate with other animal souls; and its heaven would also be the animal heaven, not the human one.

This is why you must continue with your latihan, so you may rise to the human level, which is what you wish for. And Bapak hopes that you will not use your minds in this, since in the spiritual realm the mind is an obstacle to progress.

Take Jesus for instance - he wasn't a learned man. No. He was a person with a perfect human soul, whose feelings were pure and clean. In pictures, and sometimes in films, Jesus is pictured as walking like this ( gesture ), and looking up. People who aren't of the same level as Jesus may ask, 'What can he see, doing that?' and many people imitate it. But actually when Jesus did that, and was looking up, he could really see what was up there. So clearly, they are only imitating his actions instead of actually experiencing his state. It is like looking at rich people - all you can do is imitate their behavior, because you yourself are not rich yet.

So, clearly, you won't be able to follow Jesus to heaven as long as you are not yet the same as him - the one you believe in. In the same way, you will really feel what it is like to be a doctor only if you study medicine right to the end, right up to the moment when you get your diploma. That's why the prophets said, 'Don't be people who just imitate instead of doing what is right.' And why in Islam it is said, 'Don't just talk - you must do good deeds.'

Oslo, Norway - August 1, 1959
Code Number : 59 OSL 1
As the days, weeks and months go by, a baby - at first unaware of this world - gradually becomes aware of it through their senses of sight, hearing, smell and so on. At the same time, their connection with their soul begins to separate or become blocked. This happens all the more once a child grows older and their brain, heart and desires start to work, so that they become good at thinking, feeling and imagining things. Where previously they were aware of the ambience beyond this world, now the connection between their feeling and their soul is almost completely cut.

That is the main reason why grown-up people cannot instantly make a connection between their inner feeling and their soul; it is because the whole of their inner feeling - which is connected with their seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, thinking, and their heart and desires - is filled with the ambience of this world rather than that of the world before birth and after death. That is also the reason why the feelings of human beings are far from the power of God but close to the conditions of this world. Therefore it is not surprising that many people, when they picture God and God's power, and the way things are in heaven, portray God as a handsome human being sitting in a glorious place, living in a house that exceeds the palace of any king. And heaven is visualized as a place of magnificent panoramas and is considered to be a holy place.

That is the kind of picture made by the human mind, because human beings cannot picture anything that is beyond their own experience, the experience that has formed the content of their entire inner feeling. It is clearly mistaken; it is clearly not like that, because God is not of the same kind as human beings. If God were of the same kind as human beings, God could not have created the human race along with the rest of the universe. Whereas, in fact, it is God who has created them, together with everything in them, both the visible part and the part that is invisible to their physical eyes.

But people whose hearts have been purified, those whom God has willed, are able to see what God's power is like. As it is told in the book, when Jesus was facing death he said, 'My father, God, why have you left me?' So it is clear that, at that time, Jesus could truly see and know God, whom he likened to his father. And why was he able to do that? It was because he had indeed been willed by God to be pure and truly obedient to God's greatness.

That is why, in the latihan, God wills us to have complete faith and be able to receive how the power of God works within our self, free of our thinking mind, heart and will. Maybe you feel worried or have doubts, and imagine that the awakening we experience in our latihan has within it a current coming from a force that is not good for our being. In fact it is just the opposite. We do the latihan, we receive the latihan, unconditionally. This means doing it without our offering anything to God's greatness, other than our emptiness. If we receive something in that empty state, it is not possible for any influence or will to enter into it. Certainly not.

Olso, Norway - August 7, 1959
Code Number : 59 OSL 3
In this way you will become able to perceive and recognize the evidence given to you, and to discriminate the degrees of contentment or bliss pertaining to life in each of these worlds; and this experience will enable you to decide which sphere is good and happiest to live in. And thus, eventually, you will become able to avoid the, quite unnecessary, possibility of sliding, by unawareness, into the compulsion of being reincarnated into a material object, a plant, an animal, or an ordinary human being; instead you will return to the world of bliss which is called the sphere of the perfected human being.

All of these worlds have been ordained by the Power of God, by the mighty force which descended from God into the being of man, free from human thought and free from all human passions which exist in the being of man and were referred to as his 'brothers'.

That is why the prophets - and for you, Jesus - never mention any particular power ( nafsu ) but keep their eyes wholly and solely on the power of the one God; for the nature of the prophets is such that it is a living symbol of the fact that their personalities are beyond all personal powers of man. Tradition associates Jesus with the color green, the meaning of green being freedom from all influence.

It is a custom among school children ( in certain countries ) that before being accepted as students they should first be "greened"; this means that a person's green garment should be opened so that he should become accessible to influences and he should now possess personal power or desire ( nafsu ). The meaning of green is thus that a person is not yet able to make use of his influences or has no nafsu yet and is free from external influences.

As regards Jesus, he had not suffered the influence of anyone else, nor had he influenced anyone else, but he was taken up entirely with the worship of God.

For this reason Bapak always hopes that you may simply accept whatever you receive in the latihan, and not speculate about it, nor attempt to find the best way yourself; but you should simply accept with your emotions calmed and pure, so that you may become aware how the great and lofty power is at work within you.

Coombe Springs, England - August 11, 1959
Code Number : 59 CSP 3
God does not amass what He needs for Himself, nor does God pursue His own interest. God does not wish to be the wealthiest. If God is not interested in having the greatest wealth - for God has given His power and His grace to every creature He has created, such as human beings - then why do human beings want to live selfishly, seek their own benefit, amass wealth and treasures for their own comfort and pleasure? Such behavior is not in accordance with God's example.

There is an example or illustration you have all heard: the story about Jesus when he was on the mountain. He was given just one piece of bread, but because he knew and understood how great God's love and mercy is towards those who trust in Him, he prayed to God that it should feed the people - the thousands of his followers at the foot of the mountain. Although it was just one piece of bread, through God's grace it could be distributed, and it fed all those at the foot of the mountain until they were satisfied.

The significance of this is that if someone gives to others with sincerity of heart, with a wide feeling, and with the guidance of God already working within them, then if they give a thousand, a thousand will come back; if they give ten thousand, a million will come back. But don't do it carelessly, just from your heart, merely from remembering that we should love others. Don't do that. You must be able to receive whether it is really needed and whether it is necessary to give to that person. This is also the meaning of this symbol of Jesus. Jesus gave, but not out of a feeling of pity. No. He gave because it was truly needed; those people needed help at that moment. If the help had not been given, those people at the foot of the mountain would have died.

So, giving that really springs out of sincerity - from a need to give that comes from the will of God - is not confined to one's own relatives, those whom one is closest to, or to one's own friends. One will give to a perfect stranger if it is needed and one is prompted to give. But if we give without understanding what the true situation is, then, although it may look as though we are helping someone, they may not receive it with gratitude, and sometimes may even take advantage of the giver.

Therefore, in our efforts to spread Subud through social work for human welfare - for society - we should never undertake anything in a careless way, merely from a desire to help humanity. We should be aware, and able to receive indications from within before we undertake anything that we may wish to do, or that Subud may wish to do. It is easy to see that helping our fellow beings - meaning other people - is really important and praiseworthy, but it should never be done without pondering the consequences. For when help given to other people is misplaced, it may become, on the contrary, poison to those being helped.

Coombe Springs, England - August 17, 1959
Code number of Recording: 59 CSP 7
If it is the animal forces that influence or animate a person's inner feeling - with their mind again being unaware of it - then their character will be one that likes to pursue the pleasure of their feeling and their heart, especially through sexual union. They do not seek for the real meaning and aim of this intercourse, as being something commanded by God, but merely seek to satisfy their desire for intercourse with the opposite sex. It is, therefore, not surprising that the result of what they do, the result of such a union, is not what one would expect from beings of truly human stature. The result is that they give birth to a human being with a low soul, which will in the future bring misfortune upon the child.

This is different from that symbolized in the life of Jesus, where it is said that Jesus was not born of man, not of his mother's husband. In reality, the marriage was consummated, but Jesus was not born from passions and low forces but from the will of God manifesting in human beings. So, the union between them was not the result of desire or passion, but because it was the will of God that a human being should be conceived who would eventually bring light into the world and become a religious leader.

It's not that Bapak expects the same thing to happen with you. No. But if you were able to act in this way he would give praise and thanks to God. For it is indeed God's will that all of you, especially those who are Christians, should truly be able to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ. Do not let your beliefs be only on your lips; do not let your beliefs be only in your hearts and minds. You should truly act in accordance with - that means, in the same way as - the one you follow.

It is said in the scriptures that Jesus healed the sick and could also raise the dead; he could reawaken them when they died before their time. This is a sign that an inner feeling that is clean, an inner feeling filled with God's power, can transmit a contact to other people that enables them to wake and be awakened, as is the case with us in Subud, which you yourselves have experienced.

So in this Subud latihan of ours - even though not all of you have experienced this - you are already following and treading in the steps of the prophets who came to give an example to this world. Therefore, what Bapak has received, and what all of you have also received - Subud - will not be incompatible with any religion but, on the contrary, will strengthen its content. If we are Christians, we will really become true Christians; if we are Muslims, we will come to truly understand Islam. Because we shall no longer just believe in symbols, but shall experience their reality, as has been willed by God. Truly, Subud has not come to create animosity among religions. No. Subud has come, by God's will, to bring harmony to all religions, so they become one humanity, with one aim, one God.

Coombe Springs, England - August 24, 1959
Code number: 59 CSP 12
Bapak: Regarding 'crisis': in fact 'crisis' is not the right word. This expression comes from politics. There was a 'crisis cabinet', a 'crisis' this and that, so the word has spread into everything, including Subud; so now we have people in crisis. The proper and accurate word to describe this state can be found in religious and spiritual terminology. It is called murad ( Arab. ), which means 'revealed'; in other words 'uncovered'. A person in this state is experiencing a release from within of whatever they have imagined, thought about and desired to attain, so they may become purified of it all.

So, why is it that not all members of Subud experience this state? It is because the nature of each one is different; everyone differs in the strength of their inner feeling. In general, more women than men experience this state of murad - though actually it is not yet fully murad, more of an explosion, or release - because their feelings are weaker than those of men.

There are two states that differ from one another. The first is murad, or release; the other is called mi'raj ( Arab. ). The meaning of mi'raj is being called by God after a person has been truly cleaned - as happened to Jesus, to Muhammad and to others.

The state of release is quite common on the spiritual path and in the worship of God. In fact, many people say that if a person who is on a spiritual path has not yet experienced such a state of release it means that they are not yet on a true path. Such a state of release is therefore regarded as a necessary step on the spiritual way.

But for us it is all the same. As Bapak said, those whose inner feelings are strong are able to receive the inner working without any upheaval in one or more functions of their being, and will be able to continue to receive without any apparent disturbance. But those who are not strong will experience a disturbance as soon as they receive. This disturbance is what people call crisis, and they get worried because a person in this state does resemble someone who is mad. But in reality they are not mad, and they only need time for the process to be completed in them.

In effect, all members of Subud experience this murad or crisis, but it differs from one person to another. So there are some who remain calm and normal in receiving it, while there are some for whom it is stronger and may appear disconcerting; there are also those who don't speak for days at a time.

Exeter, England - September 5, 1959
Code Number: 59 EXT 2
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.

We have an example of this in the life of Jesus. All his life, from the time he was small until he became an adult, Jesus was the same; meaning, that he acted rightly, he received the gift of God in the right way, and he also worshipped God in the right way. That is how it was for Jesus because his soul was indeed the soul of a perfect man. But for other people, who are not yet like Jesus, it is not possible for them to live and to act like him. Their mind, desires and heart appear to act like Jesus, but this is only their thinking, heart and desires, which are the dishonest human companions; they are deceitful and apt to say what is not true, which is why God does not like them to answer His questions.

The Hague, Netherlands - October 9, 1957
Code Number : 57 HAG 7
In due course, when all of you are finally able to receive continuously, it is not inconceivable that, although you cannot manipulate the spiritual power that manifests within your being, it may serve to provide help to someone who is sick, who is considered to be incurably sick. Such a person may be restored to health, not through your personal will-power, but rather through the power that Bapak just described as 'miraculous', the power that comes from the One God.

Do such things really happen? Can they really and truly be accomplished? Well, examples can be cited. Christians in particular can point to stories in their Bible, telling how the Prophet Jesus healed the sick, how the Prophet Jesus healed the suffering. Notice how this work of the Prophet Jesus was performed quite easily; he exerted no force of any kind, yet it could happen, it could be accomplished. This was not because of him, not because of the Prophet Jesus, but because of God's majesty and power, which had become incarnate in the Prophet Jesus.

Paris, France - November 5, 1959
Code number of Recording: 59 PAR 1
It is clear that the way to God, the spiritual path, cannot possibly be thought about or understood by the human brain. The only way is through surrender, love, patience, trust and acceptance. Why is this? It is because the human physical body cannot work beyond the capacity of its component parts. For example, we can only see as far as the power of our eyes [will allow]. We can only hear sounds to the extent of the power of our ears. Similarly, what we can think about is limited by the capacity of our brain; whereas the power of God is greater and wider than anything the human brain can think of.

This is the reality. So if somebody forces their mind, or forces their brain, heart and desires to understand something that is impossible for them to encompass, they may be affected by the illness known as being ‘out of one’s mind’. At the very least they will forget their own situation: that they are still living on earth and must work to earn money, to buy clothes, and look after their wife and children. Because this can happen, many people, especially those who are highly educated in an outer sense, say that studying spiritual or mystical things is an activity that leads to disaster and not to a happy life on this earth. So they keep as far away from such things as possible.

The fact is, however, that these things happen simply because people go about it the wrong way. In truth, there is no real happiness for human beings except for those who sincerely worship God. That is why the prophets – especially Jesus – said and advised that the glory and nobility of human beings lies in God’s hands. Therefore, have faith in God and love God. Truly, God is with you if you can be patient, love God, and have a heart that is really faithful and prepared to let go of everything for God.

The mistake Bapak just referred to is that we should not use our thinking for anything that concerns the life of our soul – our life after death, or our inner life – because all of that belongs to the power of God. Only God is able to do that work, because our soul is our core, our beginning. Our soul existed first, before our brain, heart and desires existed, and before our self existed. Therefore, if the soul is bad it will go on being bad; if the soul is good it will go on being good, because the soul is the determining factor in a human being. It is impossible for humans to change their own soul. Only a higher power, which we cannot possibly understand, can do that; namely, the power of the One Almighty God.

Munich, Germany - December 6, 1959
Recording: 59 MUC 1
When it is God’s will for us to know something beyond our own nature, then God’s power will take our soul, will take our individuality, to the place where we have to be [in order to receive it].

For example, you have probably heard or read stories of the prophets, including Jesus. Jesus was able to ascend to heaven – to the world that is happier and greater than this world – not as he was before his death, not as the human Jesus, but as his inner self that is usually referred to as God. When Jesus was on earth he still had to suffer pain and death; he still felt hunger; he still felt tired when he did not sleep; he also had to endure cold and heat. During that time, although he was already a prophet, Jesus was still a man. The power of God that was within Jesus was therefore enough for him as a man, and so he could experience crucifixion. Jesus could not have been crucified after his resurrection as God; that is, after his death.

This serves as an example to show why it is inappropriate for us, when we have received contact with the greatness of God, to claim ‘I am God’ or ‘God’s power is within me’; rather, we should say, ‘The gift of God within me is in accordance with my strength as a human being, with my own strength’. So this is an illustration, to make us aware that we should not be arrogant, we should not boast that we have received the latihan or received of the greatness of God; that we are pure, great or powerful. No. Human beings remain human. God will guide human beings in whatever direction is needed, but God knows how to do that so that they are not damaged. God will guide them on their way, with whatever preparation is needed and appropriate, so that they can remain human and will come to no harm whatsoever.

Athens, Greece - January 15, 1960
Code Number : 60 ATH 2
We can feel God’s grace with our hands and feet and all our coarse physical being; we can see and hear and feel it completely if our inner feeling is not always covered up, obstructed and influenced by our thinking, heart and desires, which continually day-dream about situations experienced in the world. That is why it is said in religion, and advised by the prophets – among them Jesus – that the more you seek God the further away God is. It is impossible for human beings to seek and find God. However, if human beings don’t seek, but have faith in God and love God, God will be there. Indeed, God is within you. Therefore, feel your own being; love yourself; do not neglect yourself or trust others more than yourself.

But most people misunderstand Jesus’ advice to humankind. Love of God is really very different from the love of one human being for another. When a human being loves God, it is not the heart that needs to love God but the inner feeling, free from the desires, heart and thinking. However, what people usually understand by love is the love for someone or something that comes from the heart. That is why their love for God is not reciprocated; that is to say, their love for God does not meet with anything from God in return, because it is from their heart, thinking and desires.

Perth, Australia - February 25, 1963
Code Number : 63 PER 1
Indeed, the best and only condition for worshipping God, in order to find reality and understand your life, is simply to surrender to God patiently, putting yourselves in God’s hands and letting go of everything. So, it is clear to you that with the latihan God is watching over you from both behind and in front, and God’s power guides your life in its entirety. Therefore there is no need for you to have a heart and feelings that are doubtful, anxious or worried about what you have received.

As most of you here belong to the Christian religion, you have of course heard stories about Christ’s life in this world. He, that is, Jesus Christ, did not prepare himself by studying spiritual knowledge or the way to God; he just surrendered with patience, entrusting himself entirely to God with pure submission. In doing that, his faith in God was greater than his faith in himself. That was the reason he was able to receive things beyond the thinking of human beings in general. Yet he had never been to school at all, and he was not good at reading and writing. This confirms that God is All-powerful. God can bring anything to life; God can make good those who are not good, make clever those who are not clever and make wise those who are not wise. So Jesus did not study or go to school, and yet in his understanding and wisdom, which were only due to his surrender to God, he was able to solve all the difficulties that human beings suffered. This was also the case with other messengers [of God].

Getting to know your soul is not only for your needs in the world, but also for your needs after this [body] no longer has any power – when it dies. Imagine for yourself how it would feel if you were living in this world and although you had eyes, you could not use them to see. That is how it will be if you are not yet acquainted with your soul when it is time for you to die; your situation will be like someone who has eyes but cannot see any more. It will be the same with your other [faculties], like hearing, smelling, feeling and thinking. So if at your death you do not know your soul, it is as if the story of your life were ended. If you already know your soul, it is different: when you die your soul becomes responsible, your soul takes over all your duties. Your understanding and other [functions] remain intact, and one could say that it is no different from when you were alive in this world.

Jesus Christ is a symbol of this. When he was living on earth he could feel, hear, see and think, and it was no different after he left this world. The only difference was that when he was still on this earth he lived with his coarse body, but after he left this world he lived with his soul. That is why they say that Jesus Christ said that death is a continuation of human life.

You might ask, ‘How can the spiritual training of Subud have the same purpose, the same reality as the state of Jesus Christ?’ It is because the Subud latihan is a training that is not initiated by the heart and mind, but is awakened by God’s power at the times when we surrender everything to God. Because we surrender only to the greatness of God, if we receive something from God it is received beyond the thinking mind; beyond the knowledge of the seeing of the eyes; beyond the smelling of the nose and the hearing of the ears. All that [we receive] is due to what our soul obtained before our physical body became what it is. So you no longer feel anxious or worried: ‘How will it be when I die? How will it be if I experience torture after I die?’

Melbourne, Australia - March 8, 1963
Code Number : 63 MEB 2
For matters of this world you can use your mind and heart, because that is what they are meant for. However – to come back to it again – do not think about spiritual matters, because they are beyond the capability of the heart and mind. If you think about spiritual matters, give them your attention and use your mind for that, at best you will just be good at talking; but you will not be able to receive the realities of what goes on in the spiritual life.

That is the reason why Bapak always tells you, ‘Just receive the latihan in the same way as the messengers in former ages.’ You have heard and read the stories, of course. Where did Jesus Christ study? First, he was born in a very humble place. Indeed, he was the child of people who were poor, and throughout his life he never studied. He never went to school. He did not even know how to write. How then did he eventually become someone whose advice was respected, held in awe and esteemed highly by millions of people? Moreover, at that time the priests, who were very well versed in knowledge of the scriptures and had studied things very deeply, said that Jesus wasn’t a clever person but someone who just talked in his sleep – just a dreamer, that’s all. However, in the end, after Jesus left this world they realised that everything he had said was true. Indeed, Jesus Christ had the nature of a human being who was rewarded, given a revelation and granted grace by the power of God, who was said to be his Father.

Los Angeles, CA USA - March 31, 1963
Code Number : 63 LAX 1
Can human beings not achieve something with their mind, heart and desires that can be called wonderful, beautiful, or extra-ordinary? Of course they can. With their heart, mind, desires and brain, people can reach a profound understanding in this world. But the understanding that they acquire in the world will be useless for their life after death.

Well, people may say, ‘What’s the use of seeking understanding, stature, nobility, and knowledge in life after death? It’s of no use. After all, people in general cannot even see it.’

Indeed, that is true; spiritual [accomplishments] cannot be seen by others. In religion it is the same. In religion it is said that if people behave well, following the guidelines given by the prophets and messengers – by Jesus himself, for example – they will become aware of their life. It is also said that such people will have all their sins erased and be acknowledged by God, so that they can be near God. And people really believe this. Millions believe it. So it is clear that something that is truly beyond human imagination, beyond the human mind and will and understanding, can be attained just through belief.

In Subud, however, in your latihan, besides believing in God and God’s greatness according to the teachings of your respective religions, you also find clear proof; you witness and experience that what Jesus said is very true: that God is within you and that God always envelops and protects human beings. You have been able to verify and to witness this. So, in reality, as well as believing in the existence of the One God, you have witnessed for yourself that truly, within your individuality, within your self, there is an unseen power that arises and awakens beyond your thinking, beyond your mind and heart.

Santiago de Chile - May 13, 1963
Code Number : 63 SCL 3
About the latihan, the spiritual training that you do: Bapak has explained that it is a receiving; meaning that it all depends on God’s will and on your own ability to receive what God gives you. As far as possible, therefore, you should not compare it with things you read in books, because what you receive in the latihan cannot be the same as that which people usually do when they worship by way of learning. If you still study other things, which you think might make it easier for you to do the latihan or to receive, actually it will obstruct and block the development of your soul and the purification that has begun to take place within you.

Bapak says this because, in reality, the realm of the soul is not something for the mind and heart; meaning, not something that human beings can work on or study. All you can do is receive: whatever is God’s will and God’s work within your own self.

As proof of this, doubtless you have heard – in fact you have heard more and understand better than Bapak – the stories of the lives of God’s messengers, among them Jesus Christ. Where did Jesus study? He never studied. He was born in the humblest of places; and as he grew up, he never studied. But because of his patience, because of the purity of his heart, God awakened him and cleaned everything in him, and so he became a leader and a guide for millions of people.

On the other hand, the priests who denounced him at the time studied hard from books. They obtained learning; not the learning and understanding that comes from God, but the understanding of the mind. So, at that time, the priests knew about astrology and so on, but in matters of God, in receiving from God, they were in darkness. That is why they thought Jesus Christ was wrong.

Such is the blindness of human beings who want to gain understanding only through study, but who cannot receive and understand the reality of worshipping God. That is why, in the end, it was Jesus that many people really loved and followed.

That is the reason why Bapak hopes you will not keep studying and comparing these books people have written, but that you will surrender everything patiently to God; and of course that you will not forget to do your latihan diligently, while observing and following the arrangements made by the helpers and committee. Also, do not have a strong wish in your heart to become quick and clever at the latihan, because that is generated by your desires. And the desires are actually the tools used by low forces that want to control you.

São Paulo, Brazil - May 21, 1963
Code Number : 63 SAO 1
Brothers and sisters, you need to start in this way because of the dirt that has occupied your human form and penetrated deep within your inner feeling, even to the deepest parts. You need to begin like a little child so that you can feel feelings that are pure and untouched by the atmosphere of the world. As in the case of Jesus Christ … you may have heard this yourself. Why was Jesus Christ, when he was still small, just a small child, able to receive? And why, during his lifetime, was he able to receive all the things that the learned people did not understand? It was because of his purity.

Truly, Jesus was purified by God’s power from the time he was born until he grew up. That is why, as you have heard, Jesus and the other prophets – Abraham, Moses, Muhammad and so on – were gifted. They understood the destiny of human life, and the destiny of their own life, both in this world and in the hereafter; not through studying, but only because they received from the One God.

That is the reason why your latihan starts from the beginning, with the way you walk, the way you touch things and wave your hands about. So you really can receive whether it is true that, before human beings take an action, they are instructed by God’s power, preceded by God’s power. In this way you will be able to know that, before you walk you are guided; before you speak you are guided; before your hand goes like this or like this you are guided; and before you think of something you are guided too.

Niteroi, Brazil - June 9, 1963
Code Number : 63 NIT 1
That is why in religion – in Christianity, Islam or any other religion – human beings are required only to trust God; to really trust God. This means we are required to have more faith in God than in material things – than in the things we need for our life. In fact we must believe in God more than in ourselves. This is because human beings cannot know the way to God and God’s power unless God wills it. Take Jesus Christ – who else was like him? Nobody; because nobody else was willed by God to be like that. So, everything connected with becoming aware of and under-standing the Great life – the life beyond this world, the life in the kingdom of God – depends on God.

When Jesus was alive there were many priests who wanted to find out what it was that Jesus had really received, and who Jesus really was. But they did it in the way they were used to doing things, through thinking hard and refining their feelings. All of that came from their human power, from the power of the priests themselves, not from the power of God that is given to human beings. Therefore, although they tried for years and made great efforts, they still could not discover the true nature of Jesus. So, because they did not know and could not understand the truth about what Jesus had received, they did things that were not in accordance with God’s will.

Rio De Janeiro - June 13, 1963
Code Number : 63 RIO 4
Bapak will give you an illustration. Take, for example, the being of Jesus, and of the prophets. It is said that Jesus’ heart was a pure heart, a heart where a human being – in this case, Jesus – could converse with God; that was Jesus. Now, those who follow tariqa say to everyone, ‘You can speak to God in your heart.’

So, as Bapak just said, those who study tariqa equate those who can receive with those who have never received anything at all. Whereas, in reality, the heart of an ordinary person – ordinary like you or Bapak himself – their heart is still full of stains; their heart is still full of sins; their heart is still full of the influences of the world that block communication between human beings and God. So one cannot say that the heart of every person is a place where they can speak with God. They are not like Jesus; truly, Jesus was different.

The same is true of prophets like Abraham. Abraham, within his chest, was able to speak with God. That was Abraham; but ordinary people are not able to do that. It was because Abraham was someone who had received a revelation from God; meaning that everything within him had been cleaned.

New York, NY USA - June 27, 1963
Code Number : 63 NYC 2

Maplewood, NJ USA - June 30, 1963
Code Number : 63 MPW 1
The contact with God that Bapak describes as the vibration of the inner feeling eventually becomes movements, like those you receive. Although you feel and receive this as something without meaning, eventually, once you have received further, you will really become aware that what initially had no meaning will bring you the greatest benefit for your life. Because this vibration you receive, which to start with has no meaning for you, will penetrate all the walls within your being, including the wall of the feelings, the feelings in you that have been oppressed and blocked by the influence of the world, which you have been experiencing from the time you were small, as you grew up, and as an adult.

And why do you experience that or why do you need to experience that? It is because you are not like Jesus Christ; you are different. Jesus, from the time he was born, was already clean and pure, for that was the will of God. Therefore Jesus had God’s power within him, and from the time he was small, while he grew up and when he was an adult, he could get in touch with and be close to the power of God. As a result he was able to know things that people normally cannot possibly know.

Of course that is different from what you experience. It is also different from what the Buddha experienced, for he was able to be close to God only after he became an adult. That is also how it is with you. Maybe, with the Subud latihan, you will come close to God in the way Jesus Christ was close to God. That is what Bapak hopes. But of course for you, what Bapak just described will take time. You will not be able to receive it and reach that level right away. You will progress slowly, slowly, provided that you are patient, accepting and willing to let go, and if you also love God and have faith that God will help you.

Briarcliff, NY USA - July 9, 1963
Second Subud World Congress
Code Number : 63 BCL 2
If we leave heart and thoughts behind us, we become a very poor person in this world. [In the latihan] we renounce them so that we can receive from God. How can God put something into you if, within, you are still full of material possessions? If you are still full of desires and thought, the gift of God cannot enter. It is different if your house is empty. If your house is already empty, God can give to you. And this receiving from God will later prepare that which is within your house; in other words, within yourself. Then you will understand the difference between when the content is thinking and desires, and when the content is the gift of God.

So we are not surprised at these words of Jesus Christ: ‘All that is on earth and all that is beyond the earth are within me.’ This means that whatever riches there were, they existed within him. How could that be? It was because the bodily nature of Jesus Christ was empty, and therefore filled with the power of God, so he could know everything which cannot ordinarily be known.

Therefore, in your own interest, for the progress of your own soul and inner feeling, you need to improve yourselves. And the method of correction is none other than by worshipping God and by working for the needs of our human society.

Washington DC USA - July 30, 1963
Code Number : 63 WAS 2
Let us take, for example, Jesus Christ in ancient times. At that time, during the life of Jesus Christ, there were many priests and learned people who tried to study the deeper meaning of life, who tried to study the deeper meaning of religion, and who tried to study and analyse what Jesus Christ had received. But with all their intellect and their cleverness they were not able to understand, and they were not able to find the way to Almighty God. It has been proved therefore that, at that time, however intelligent they might have been, those priests and intellectuals were not able to find the contact with the power of God with their minds. It is true that it is only with God’s help, not with human effort, that human beings may be able to find a contact with the power of God.]

[Jesus had not made a special effort to know about the secrets of life, to find the way to Almighty God, because he was not educated at all, he was not clever. But, because of his sincerity and his great faith and love for Almighty God, and because he was able to surrender himself completely to Almighty God, he was able to receive indications and revelations from Almighty God so that he came to know about the secrets of life: life in this world and also life after death.]

Los Angeles, CA USA - August 16, 1963
Code Number : 63 LAX 2
And the movements in the latihan are not limited to the movements of your arms and legs and your voice. As you continue, it becomes wider and deeper, and reaches your heart and brain. In short, everything needs to move, your whole feeling and your whole body. Once you are able to receive that, your inner feeling will become clean, wide, noble and spacious; an example of which is the inner nature of Jesus Christ, within whom dwelt the power of God.

That is why he was called a son of God. You can understand for yourself the relationship between a child and a parent. The child is the result of the parent, so his nature is not far from that of the parent. The significance of this is that when someone has been purified, God’s power holds sway and dwells within them. So whatever Jesus did – whatever is done by someone whose whole inner feeling is pure – his behaviour, his speech, his seeing, hearing, walking, pointing, waking, sleeping, none of that came from his desires, heart and thinking but from the will of Almighty God. It is not that Bapak compares you to Jesus Christ, or to others whose inner feeling is completely clean, but it would be really excellent and wonderful if you could, to some extent, follow in the footsteps of people who have been granted God’s grace because of their patience, acceptance and surrender towards God’s power.

Los Angeles, CA USA - August 22 1963
Code Number : 63 LAX 4
The messengers – those human beings who were graced by God to become God’s messengers, such as the prophets, and also Jesus – were not intended to be just looked at, listened to and believed by us. No, brothers and sisters; we are supposed to follow in their footsteps.

They were born into this world to become an example for human society, so that people should be able to imitate their actions and the way they lived. So the purpose of the stories told about Jesus is not only for you to believe in him and follow him because you believe, but so that you also emulate him. Benefit comes to people who do what the messengers and prophets used to do in times long ago. And what they did in their life was simply to surrender to God, with patience, acceptance and willingness to let go, which made them able to receive indications and experiences of reality within their being and their individuality.

Paris, France - July 11, 1964
Code Number : 64 PAR 2
If you ask, ‘Is it true that through surrender, submission, patience, acceptance and willingness to let go, and by not thinking, I can receive? And will God give me His gift?’ Bapak doesn’t need to answer this. But you will certainly recall for yourself how Jesus Christ was able to receive God’s revelation and how Prophet Muhammad was able to receive God’s revelation. It was not with their intellect. They did not use their thinking mind to study until late, or all through the night. They received through submission and surrender to God, and with patience.

Jesus Christ said, ‘If someone strikes your left cheek offer them your right one too. If someone strikes you on your right cheek, offer them your left cheek too.’ That means he was full of patience and submission. It was for that reason he had the right to receive revelations and insights that have provided guidance for human beings throughout the world to this day.

Blonay, Switzerland - July 26, 1964
Code Number : 64 BLN 3
Human beings remain human beings; unless they are no longer human beings – that is another matter. You have already heard this because it is confirmed in all the holy books. Although God’s full power inspired Christ and dwelt within him – so one could say that Christ was God, God Jesus – because Jesus had a human body he could easily be crucified. And having been crucified, he died. And he also bled.

Planegg, Germany - August 2, 1964
Code Number : 64 PLG 1
Bapak has often said – is that babies, who cannot yet connect with the atmosphere of this world, still have a close connection with their own soul. So a baby’s expression shows that they are still connected to their soul, which is feeling sad, happy or afraid.

This is symbolised by the stories that you have all seen and heard and read of in books about Jesus Christ when he was still a baby. Although still very small, he is pictured as being able to see angels coming and going, and to see light descending from heaven towards him. This is a symbol or an example that indicates that a baby who is still clean is still in contact with their soul, with the atmosphere of their soul; that is, with the atmosphere of God’s realm.

Planegg, Germany - August 6, 1964
Code Number : 64 PLG 2
So there is still a lot you have to do in enduring the trials of your life. And if you are not able to practise complete devotion to God throughout your life … well, what God gives to you will be in proportion to the merit of what you have done. So, for example, if you were able to devote only forty per cent of your life to God, God will give you forty per cent of life. Not like Jesus Christ, whose devotion to Almighty God was more than one hundred per cent, with the result that he was a complete human being who really returned to God, to his Father.

The Hague, Holland - September 5, 1964
Code Number : 64 HAG 3
It is this feeling that is brought to life, brothers and sisters, so that what reaches heaven is not just your shadow or your imagination. For that would be like wanting to be rich but not yet having become rich; or wanting to be skilled but not yet having become skilful. But with us it is not like that. With the latihan we are really taught, we are really educated, really led and guided to have a heavenly soul and a heavenly body. Because, as they say, ‘If you are looking for heaven, you will not find it until you have heaven within you. Similarly, if you wish to meet an angel, you cannot possibly do so until you have an angelic soul and an angelic body.’

This is also symbolised by the death of Jesus Christ. What is the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection? That Jesus did not live in a dream, nor did he live just in his heart, in his imagination. Jesus lived in reality, but not in the way people normally live; because – as Bapak said – our feeling needs to be cleansed and needs to be able to receive and to really sense that life in death is not something imaginary but real. Only someone who has been able to receive that can confirm it; a person who thinks scientifically and relies on earthly instruments will certainly not be able to receive or experience that.

Cilandak, Indonesia - February 18, 1967
Code Number : 67 TJK 2
When Bapak was abroad there was someone who said, ‘Bapak, the way I see it, aren’t you like Jesus? Are you Jesus who has come down to us?’ No, I’m not. I came down in Java. I am the son of my father. My father was Javanese, so Bapak is Javanese too. So Bapak is just Bapak. If he were Jesus, he would be in trouble. Nobody would recognise him. I haven’t changed.

So if someone claims to have received something and they have changed, so this has become that, clearly it is wrong. When Adam received, he remained Adam; when Abraham received, he remained Abraham; when Moses received, he remained Moses; Jesus remained Jesus, Muhammad remained Muhammad. So why does someone who can receive want to change into someone else? Could it be that they have worked out that they are higher than a prophet? The offspring of a chicken is a chicken. How can the offspring of a chicken become a dog? [Laughter.]

London, England - April 6, 1967
Recording: 67 LON 9
And for all of you who have been trained and guided to unite the inner and outer parts of all your senses and your feeling, suppose that you go to heaven – this is just supposing, but, well, Bapak hopes you do – in heaven you will be able to see, hear, smell and feel, just the way you did when you were alive in this world. However, it will not be with your physical body. But for other people who close their eyes and meditate, if they too were to go to heaven, it would only be their heart or their imagination that would go there. So if in heaven there was a delicious steak, all they could do would be to say, ‘That beefsteak looks delicious.’ That would be all, because it is just their imagination. Would you be happy with that? It would be like becoming rich but being rich only in your imagination, not rich in reality; or like becoming intelligent but only your heart feeling intelligent, not being intelligent in reality. No, you would certainly prefer to have the reality, the real thing.

This was demonstrated when Jesus rose from the dead. And what did he say? ‘Oh, am I dead? I am alive!’ Alive, really alive! So there is no such thing as death where one is dead. What exists is life. And what Jesus experienced was the same as others. Clearly it is the will of God for human beings to return to God alive and complete, with nothing left behind. Our heart should not go to heaven by itself, without our head, our ears and our mouth. That would be useless. Bapak would not want to go to heaven with just his heart. That would be like being rich but only in his imagination.

Paris, France - April 18, 1967
Code Number : 67 PAR 2
In following the latihan, which comes from God, Subud members with their various religions – such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and others – will receive the reality of what they have been brought up with and what they have believed in. Eventually those of you who are Christians will become genuine Christians, true Christians inwardly and outwardly. Like Jesus, who knew that the next day or the day after that he would be killed – Jesus knew that – but [he was able to follow] God’s instruction: ‘Follow and submit, Jesus. For that belongs to this world and will not diminish the greatness and glory of your life in heaven after you die.’

Cilandak, Indonesia - December 10, 1968
Code Number : 68 TJK 5
Actually, the descent of Allah's revelation, containing important messages for man, occurred at various times, namely at the time of the Prophet Abraham, through whom the Book of Djabur came, the time of the Prophet Moses, through whom the Torah came, and the time of Jesus Christ, through whom the New Testament came. But, brothers and sisters, as man generally is still easily influenced by the nafsu dwelling in the heart and mind, the special messages of the Prophets were soon forgotten, and people reverted to their former bad behavior which led them astray from their faith in the Power of Almighty God. Furthermore, people who really did not want to be associated with the Prophets, and even fought against them, thought they might lose their power and felt that these special messages, which could have brought them to be of really good character, were untrue.

These stories, actually, are there as an example to mankind, and they should also be an example to us Subud members because they are an illustration, both Jesus Christ and Muhammad, of how faithful they have carried out all the Commandments that God made to them. This example is important to us Subud members because we have now received the Latihan Kejiwaan which is a gift of God Almighty, which is the same gift that God has given to the prophets in the past - and it is the same gift that God gave to Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad.

So now we have the tool, we have the way, it's already part of us. The question is now, all we need to do is to walk along the way or to do it, to utilize it, to make use of it, to put it into practice - that is all we need to do. We no longer need to look because we already have it. It's already there. So now all that needs to be done is to execute it. It is as though we are given a pen which will write, and we have been given paper - so it is very sad if we then do not use the pen to write on the paper. All we have to do now is to write. The tool is already in our hands, but it's very sad if we put the pen aside and, instead, take some other instrument which is not suitable for writing, so instead of writing we even ruin the paper that we have been given.

Pewarta, March 1970
Code Number : 70 TJK 3

Melbourne, Australia - April 2, 1972
To a member in England
Code Number : 72 MEB 1
In reality, Lent and Ramadan have equal value. Christians feel that fasting in Lent is very important for them because it is derived and adapted from what was done and experienced by Jesus Christ.

In reality, Lent and Ramadan have equal value. Christians feel that fasting in Lent is very important for them because it is derived and adapted from what was done and experienced by Jesus Christ.

You say that Jesus Christ carried out the religious observance of fasting in the wilderness for forty days at the time of Lent. This may be taken to mean that Jesus Christ fasted during this time so that his inner feeling might be swept clean of the influence of the nafsu causing darkness ( wilderness ) within.

San Francisco, California - April 26, 1976
Code Number : 76 SFO 3
And then came the time of Jesus Christ. At that time men's ability to rule the earth had become very high. Man had already developed, as it were, a complete science of government and the ability to administer his own life. So it can be said that by that time, men had become noble creatures on the surface of the earth. And at that time there arose the ability of man to master his feeling. And this is symbolized by Jesus Christ having the ability to walk on water, to save those who are drowning or those who are in trouble, the ability to heal the sick instantly, and the ability to awaken those who are dead. These are symbols of man's ability at that time to master his feeling and be able to help fellow men. And the book, the revelations received by Jesus became known as a book called the Gospels.

Los Angeles, California - May 2, 1976
Code Number : 76 LAX 2
That there are many people, not many but there are some people who like to pretend that they have received this rohani force, whereas in fact they haven't. This is quite commonplace in Islam for example where you have people who like to go around, I have forgotten the name that Bapak mentioned, but there are people who go around in a disheveled state pretending to be crazy, or as though their thinking was unhinged. In fact, it's not. They are trying to show as if they have already left behind all the lower forces, and they are really inspired by the rohani force. They just go around always praying, and acting as though they are in a disordered mental state. Whereas in fact, they are not yet capable of containing the rohani force.

But it is like that, that it seems that man's heart and mind still always like to be thought of as a super man or a super being. And this is a general weakness for man. They like to be thought of as something more than normal. Something super-duper. Very different from the attitude that was exhibited by, for example Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ himself. Jesus Christ always told his followers, don't think of me as someone special. I'm completely ordinary like the rest of you. I'm just Jesus Christ. He never pretended to being special, or something different from normal.

Similarly with Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad never claimed to be more than what he was. He always said, I'm just an ordinary person. You can call me a prophet, but I'm just another prophet. A prophet means a descendant from a line. It was his followers who then thought up and said that about him, that he was something very special, the number one prophet among all prophets. This is not something that Prophet Muhammad claimed. It was claimed by his followers in order to attract more people. Similarly with Jesus. It was not Jesus who claimed to be something very, very special. It was his followers, his disciples who tried to get as many followers as possible. So they told stories about Jesus that he was something very, very fantastic. And this is quite normal.

Toronto, Canada - May 14, 1976
Code Number : 76 YYZ 3
Brothers and sisters, it is taught in religion, and of course in religion it relates to the founder or the one who holds the key to the religion, that is, in Christianity, of course, it's Jesus Christ himself, in Islam it is the Prophet Muhammad; it is taught in the religions that, let's say in the case of Jesus, that every movement and every action of Jesus did not come from himself as a man, but was guided by God Almighty. So that, every movement, every action that Jesus ever made was always guided and instructed by God Almighty. So that everything that Jesus did was always enveloped and the being of Jesus was always enveloped by God's power. This is the teaching of Christians about the person of Jesus.

And similarly, is the teaching of Muslims about the Prophet Muhammad. So it is said that if somebody opposed Jesus, or went against or hated Jesus, then it was the same as opposing God or hating God. And because God is Almighty, this hatred or this opposition simply reflected to the being of the man himself. So that a person who hated Jesus or opposed Jesus was then tortured, his being was tortured by himself. In other words, his hatred or his opposition returned simply to his own being. And the same, exactly the same, is told about the Prophet Muhammad. So, it is clear, brothers and sisters, that someone who was in this position, someone who hates God, for God is Almighty, is in a state where he tortures himself. So, if you act in your enterprises, it may look as if you are working quite in an ordinary way. But your movements and your actions, at the time you are doing your enterprise, are constantly enveloped by the power of God and guided by the power of God and, as it were, surrounded by the unceasing prayer that goes on within you. So that everything you do will always be protected by God Almighty and it will guarantee to make your life satisfying and complete.

Singapore - June 28, 1976
Code Number: 76 SIN 1
And later on Bapak received a call from the Almighty, so that he was able to receive a kind of kekancingan, what in Indonesian is called kekukuhan; credentials, a letter of credit. He was confirmed in his task by this kekukuhan, confirming that Bapak was indeed willed by God to spread what Bapak had received. There is no need for Bapak to say that Bapak is a messenger of God. It is not necessary, because it is only God who knows whether this is so. Yes; Bapak says only that he was willed to spread this latihan kejiwaan of Subud. That was when Bapak was 32 years old, precisely at the time of Al Masih, the Ascension of Jesus Christ.

So Bapak was born at the same time as the prophet Muhammad and received what Bapak received at the time of the Ascension of Jesus, that is, the awakening of Jesus. That is just the way it happened to be, and you must not then say that Bapak is a relation of the Prophet Muhammad, or that he is in some way related to Jesus Christ. He is not that either. For Bapak is a Javanese, born in Semarang. Thus these things happened by chance, but Bapak pays no attention to them, for what is important is fact. It is a fact that after Bapak's experience there really was a second world war. Bapak felt that this would really happen.

Norwich, England - June 23, 1977
Code Number : 77 NWl 1
Now this vibration, this power that we experience after the opening, is, we who have been longer in Subud, and Bapak, can confirm it, the vibration that exists within all things, within the whole universe; it is the basis or the beginning of the whole universe. Because Bapak happens to be a Muslim, Bapak uses the word, hadir ilham, which expresses the vibration that issues from the will of God. In the Christian religion, this power or this vibration that we receive in the latihan kejiwaan is called the Holy Ghost.

We only experience this vibration as a kind of movement within ourselves, a kind of feeling of life that exists within us, which we come to recognize as a feeling of life within our life, a feeling of life that was not there before. But if you can see it clearly it is like a radiance that comes down from above. It is this that was experienced by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is always depicted in the pictures and so on, as being surrounded by light, as if his body is bathed in light that comes down from above. This is based on the reality of what he himself experienced and expressed to his followers: he was able to see this radiance coming from above, and it is this radiance that is the basis or the beginning of all creation that created this universe.

London, England - June 24, 1977
Code Number : 77 LON 2
Now we have to catch up with the progress of the jiwa which has got left behind. So we have to start again at the beginning and learn all the things which we have learned before. And this does not stop where we are now; that is, we just make movements and we move around and make all sorts of noises and so on, whose purpose we do not understand. But it will penetrate later into our understanding and into our feeling so that we must start now. Actually, we must start now in this Latihan Kejiwaan to begin to practice this charitable feeling or this social feeling -that is, by being in contact, by feeling the nature of other beings and other creatures, and going as far as being able to feel and be in contact with, and know the nature of, beings who are outside this world.

If you doubt this, then you should know that knowledge and understanding come not only from study, not only from outside, but are a gift of God Almighty. No matter how great the understanding of someone whose cleverness is only from his heart and mind and from his study -always greater than that is the intelligence of a man who has the grace of God. If you don't believe that, look at Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ never sat on a school bench, he never crossed the threshold of a school, he never studied anything - and yet his wisdom was able to penetrate to the depths of human understanding.

So the origin of this is what we have received in the Latihan Kejiwaan, this vibration of life which, as Bapak told you the other day, is a life which we can all be aware of - Bapak says we are all already familiar with what Bapak is talking about. This vibration is something that pervades everything. It pervades us above and below, and on either side, and within us and all around us - and this is something that again is signified by the story of Jesus Christ. Because when you see pictures of Jesus Christ he is always shown illuminated by a kind of light or radiance and, of course, this is not a picture of reality as it was - it's an allegory or a metaphor which illustrates the fact that Jesus was able to receive a power, a power that was like a radiance which could pierce through the light of day. For us this is an example. But for us actually, nowadays, it's no longer the time for stories or examples and symbols and metaphors. The time now for us is a time for reality. And this is why we have been given the Latihan Kejiwaan. It is now a time for us to experience for ourselves the reality of what has been talked about and discussed for so long.

Swanwick, England - July 9, 1977
Code Number : 77 SWK 4
The fact that this comes from the power of God is proved by the reality that when we worship God Almighty, we are one, as one humanity. And we have received this as a guide to be able to pierce all the barriers and all the walls which exist within our being in this life, because the only thing that can pierce these barriers is the jiwa. The physical body cannot pierce anything and this was illustrated by the saying of Jesus Christ when he said, 'Here I am just an ordinary man, but there I am king.'

Jesus Christ was able to say this because Jesus was aware of what it is like up there and what it is like down here, for the glory and the delight and bliss of this world is only known or imagined by the mind and the heart. In reality the bliss and the glory of this world is a trifle compared with the world of the human jiwa. So Bapak can tell us that this Latihan Kejiwaan is the way. It is the way whereby we can follow that path, for it is the way that is guided by the power of God Almighty.

Rotterdam, Holland - July 15, 1977
Code Number : 77 RTM 4
In addition to this there are other stories which are true and which are really there for our education, or for an example for us, that Bapak would also like to tell you, and this we know already. For example, Jesus Christ was born in conditions that can be called very, very rough and, let us say, in a level of society that is the lowest level of society. That is what we know about the birth and the infancy of Jesus, so that he really grew up among people who were very rough and of the lowest level. Who would have imagined what kind of future lay in store for him? Similarly with the Prophet Muhammad. We know again that he was born in a very poor situation and had no education whatsoever, and even as he grew up he earned the enmity of all his relatives; and even his uncles and so on hated him. So out of these two people what could one have expected? But what really happened was that, because of the excellence of their jiwa and their noble nature, they in the end became an example to others.

Oslo, Norway - July 24, 1977
Code Number : 77 OSL 3
Then Bapak went on again for about the same length of time, and then Bapak asked to look again. And all Bapak saw in the distance was something that sparkled, like a diamond earring or something like that -oh yes, like a diamond brooch. In other words, lots of diamonds together. Bapak asked: 'What is that?' 'That is the whole galaxy, the whole Universe where you have come from, including your sun and the planets and so on.' From there, Bapak still went far, far away, and it was only then that Bapak reached the first heaven, and this first heaven was something that was bright, far beyond the brightness of this world, the daylight in this world. Then Bapak understood that this was the first heaven that was described by the Prophet Muhammad in his Ascension, and also which Jesus Christ experienced in his Ascension. So it was from this experience that Bapak knew that what had been described by Muhammad about his Ascension and what had been told about Jesus Christ's Ascension were really true. That this was a real experience, not just a story.

Bapak says that this is an experience which, if you tell it to somebody who hasn't experienced it, of course it is like a fairy tale. That's why Bapak doesn't want you to believe it just like that. But at the same time, it confirmed for Bapak the truth of what was told by the Prophet Muhammad and by Jesus Christ about their Ascensions - that their Ascension was something real, it was a real experience that they had undergone and not just something that they experienced in a kind of trance, or in a kind of haze, or something like that. Because throughout the experience, no matter where Bapak went his understanding was complete: that the road that Bapak followed was the road of the Messengers of God, and not at all the road of the dewas - that is, the dewas who experience miraculous things but in a kind of trance, in a kind of dreamlike state. It was not at all that.

Wolfsburg, Germany - July 27, 1977
Code Number : 77 WOB 1

The nature of the rohani force is that it has no interest whatsoever in anything in this world. Some of us maybe, those of us who are already more advanced, have already experienced sometimes the influence of this force when it is as though we have absolutely no interest any more in possessing anything from this world. To face this kind of experience one needs a very firm heart, because at that moment one feels as though one is almost just about to die. But although one has this experience, afterwards one again returns to normal, as a normal human being.

And then, also not within man but surrounding man and enveloping him is the life force of the rachmani level, which is the force which, if it can influence man, gives him the ability to have faith in the power of God Almighty.

And then there is the life force of the rabani, which is also not contained in man and envelops man. The rabani life force is the life force that has complete authority and is known as the life force of the Messengers of God, such as Jesus Christ, prophet Muhammad, prophet Moses, Abraham and so on.

We should be able to understand from this that having received this contact in the Latihan Kejiwaan, that it is something of a good fortune or an extraordinary situation which we cannot really talk about. It is beyond price or beyond thinking and we cannot talk about it, but we can only experience it. So the important thing for us is to understand that this what we have received is no different from, for example, the radiance that used to illuminate Jesus Christ when he was on this earth. You have all seen pictures of Jesus where he is portrayed as though there is a radiance emanating from him. It is this radiance which is the roh ilofi, or as it is called in Christianity, the holy spirit.

When we say these words, then certainly many of you feel, 'Oh this is much too high for us - we are talking about things that are beyond us, that are too high for us.' But although this is a very great secret, Bapak does not wish to keep it from us and does not want to keep it secret, because Bapak knows that we need to have clear information and a clear statement so that our actions will also be correct and not done at random, but that we should be able to act correctly in our lives.

Therefore the important thing for us is to really realize what is the reality of what we have received. To put it very high in our estimation and really to raise it up and to follow it really steadfastly and really steadily, because it is indeed too high just to talk about. It is something that we have to put into practice and to follow.

Hamburg, Germany - August 6, 1977
Code Number : 77 HAM 3
Brothers and sisters, Bapak has to explain to you, or has to remind you, that the work of the helpers is actually founded on the blessing or the grace or the revelation of God Almighty, because everything that is received in the latihan kejiwaan is from the grace of Almighty God and from the revelation of God Almighty to man. So, actually, the spiritual progress or the spiritual level of a person is entirely dependent on the gift of God Almighty. To take an example - once :he prophet Abraham had received his revelation, one could call him as the first or the elder among people who had been given the revelation of God in that group; that is, the group which is included in the group of the prophet Abraham, or the ones who believe in the book Zabbur. Similarly with Jesus Christ. After Jesus Christ had received his revelation, there did not arise a second Jesus Christ or a third Jesus Christ or a fourth Jesus Christ - there was only one, and although there came people after Him, or He had successors, they were not a second Jesus, but rather like assistants to Jesus. And the same is true in Subud, that everything depends on the revelation or the wahyu that is given from God Almighty.

To illustrate this, or to explain it more clearly, there is a saying in the Javanese language which normally people do not understand unless they are experts or have a real understanding of spiritual matters - and what this saying says is that the one who has received the revelation of God Almighty, he is the one who is truly wise, and he is the one who can truly understand things that are in the realm of the miraculous. So what we receive in the latihan kejiwaan is entirely in the hands of God Almighty. It is quite possible for a helper who is maybe not yet a long time a helper, to receive a revelation or the grace of God Almighty. This may be a helper who is just at the local level, but thanks to God's revelation, he is suddenly able to acquire a real wisdom and understanding; while it is possible that helpers who are already doing the latihan for a very long time, and are already sitting at the regional or national level, have not yet received such a revelation from God Almighty.

Lausanne, Switzerland - August 13, 1977
Code Number : 77 QLS 1
When Bapak says that this Latihan Kejiwaan that we have received is not something new but existed simultaneously with the existence of man's life in this world, Bapak is supported by the evidence of the lives of the prophets, because in the olden days the Prophet Abraham was able to receive the proof of the existence of a life within his life - and he received this in the form of a radiance, or a bright light, which is described in the stories that are told about him, that the Prophet Abraham perceived a brilliant radiance which could be seen, and could also be felt and heard because it was accompanied by a vibration and a strong sound like thunder, so that the one who perceived it became frightened. A similar experience was received by mankind at the time of Prophet Moses, who also received a reality of a life that is within the life of man, which he again received as a radiance and which, by its power, enabled him, for example, to separate the waters of the Red Sea at the time when he was pursued by the Pharaoh and his army. This permitted Moses and the Israelites to escape across the inlet of the Red Sea, and also later destroyed Pharaoh and his army.

Later, Jesus received the same reality and the same experience. And again with Jesus, since it is nearer we have a clearer picture of it, we know that He is always portrayed as if bathed in a radiance or illuminated from above - and it is this radiance and this illumination which is the life of the Power of God within the human being.

At the time of the Prophet Muhammad again, the same experience was received by the Prophet Muhammad himself. For example, it is told that at the time of his Ascension, Prophet Muhammad was able to leave this world and come face to face with God Almighty by way of a golden ladder - and this golden ladder is actually a symbol of a radiance and a light which is like lightning and which permitted him to travel out of this world and to come face to face with God Almighty.

Now, with the coming of Subud, we receive the same power - but this time not in the form of the radiance. Why is it that we do not see this in the same way as the prophets of old? The reason why is because man now is very different from man in earlier times. The eyes of man today are completely closed by the power of the material, so that therefore he can no longer perceive this radiance and this light which was perceived by men of olden times when they felt the vibration of the power of God within them. Nevertheless, what we have received - although we receive it first, in a form that is much coarser, that is in the form of physical movements - yet for us it is convincing. The reason for this, as Bapak says, is because now men are completely closed off from this power of God by their nafsu, so that their eyes cannot see it any more. But in the form that we have received it -that is, in its coarsest form, starting from the bottom with only just physical movement - it is something that is real and convincing for us. Because of our state at this moment, human beings would not believe if they could not feel it for themselves, because men today will not believe in the power of God unless they can experience it for themselves - this is the reason why.

We have been given a reality, a reality in the Latihan Kejiwaan that we can really believe in, that we can feel for ourselves. This means that we actually have been given something of very, very great value, we have been given an experience of this life that is within our life, so that it fulfills the saying of Jesus Christ when He said to His followers: 'The power of God is within you, and whenever you are sad, whenever you suffer, run to the power of God.' Jesus Christ also explained that in facing the power of God man can only experience it with an attitude of patience, acceptance and submission. And this is something which we have now received and we can experience for ourselves as a reality.

Blonay, Switzerland - August 15, 1977
Code Number : 77 BLN 1
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.

Woodstock, VT USA - September 13, 1977
Code Number : 77 WOS 2
Brothers and Sisters, in Christianity we have the same symbol for ourselves - that is, that Jesus was crucified. When Jesus was crucified, it was the same as when Muhammad was purified in that, at that moment, Jesus' blood was spilled. This was, actually, in the stories told by man, but that is only a symbol. The reality of the Crucifixion is the same as what was experienced by the Prophet Muhammad, because it was God's Will that the feeling of Jesus should be purified. Why did it need to be purified? Because Jesus, although he was the chosen one of God, although he was beloved by God, yet he was born as a man. And someone who lives as a man in this world has to eat, he has to drink, he has to wear clothes and he has to do all the things that men have to do to live in this world. So he cannot be free of sin, he cannot be free of mistakes. For this reason it was necessary for Jesus also to go through this experience of crucifixion. But after the crucifixion . . . this is again shown in the stories, that after Jesus died and was buried, after three days, he rose again, and at that point was able to ascend to heaven. Because he had been purified he was then able to see and to witness the greatness of the whole Universe. Brothers and Sisters, we, in the Latihan Kejiwaan, have also received this same way whereby we can, gradually, distinguish between the power that is our own physical body, the nafsu, and the power of God Almighty that is free from the nafsu. So that gradually our consciousness will be possessed, as with Jesus, by our jiwa. Eventually, as we carry on, gradually our consciousness will be the possession of our jiwa and not of our nafsu. But, at this moment, our consciousness is still largely in the realm of the heart and mind.

Toronto, Canada - September 26, 1977
Code Number : 77 YYZ 3
The proof of that is something that we can experience for ourselves. Is it not true that the smallest thing affects us, we already feel hurt. In other words, a tiny little thing - and we already feel upset. Now you might say: 'Of course, it is normal.' And, indeed, it is normal - it is normal for the heart of man, if he is criticized, if he is blamed, to immediately feel upset. This is the nature of the heart of man. This is not the original, pure heart of man. This is already the coarse heart, the heart which belongs to this world. And this can be symbolized by comparing the heart to earth. This state of the heart can be compared to earth which, if you strike it, it leaves a trace. There is a crack or a hole or something in the earth. This is the symbol for a heart which, whatever hits it, whatever it encounters, it leaves a trace, it leaves a wound. This is because our heart is already no longer clean, no longer pure. It means we are vulnerable. We are in a state of vulnerability; that is, anything that comes at us, it can touch us and can leave a wound, can leave a hurt.

But there is another kind of heart which is symbolized by a man who has a heart like water. This heart like water - you hit it and there is a wave, there is a ripple. But when you remove the thing that hit it, it settles down again to being flat and clear. This is the heart of a man who is truly patient. That is, whatever hits it, whatever affects his heart, there is no resistance - it quickly returns again to normal, so that it doesn't leave any traces.

Then there is again the heart that can be compared to air. A man who has a heart like air - no matter what you do to it, nothing happens. On the contrary, if you attack a man like that, he is totally unaffected - but the attack returns to you, so you are the one who is struck by your blow. This is the nature of the heart of the Messengers of God, because they are totally patient and totally accepting of anything that happens to them. This is symbolized by Jesus Christ who taught his followers: 'If someone hits you on the right cheek, offer him also the left cheek.' So you don't resist what happens to you - on the contrary, you offer yourself. If you are hit on the left cheek, offer also the right. This is the symbol of the heart of the Messengers of God.

Then there is still another - the heart of man which can be compared to light, or radiance. This is such that when a man has a heart like that and someone wants to attack it - before he can hit, he already feels: 'What's the point of attacking?' He immediately feels love. Instead of hate, the hate turns to love before he can strike, before he can do something.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - October 16, 1977
Code Number : 77 RIO 2
There is a story or a theory that man actually has come from the apes, or has descended from apes or monkeys. This, in fact, is impossible because if man had descended from the apes there would now still exist in the world ape men - that is, people who are halfway between apes and men. In fact, God created man different from the animals and has given man all sorts of qualities which the animals do not have. For example, if you found an ape who was very clever, as clever as a man, still he would not be able to laugh, because laughter is an expression of a feeling, a special feeling that is given to man - a feeling of happiness and joy which brings him close to heaven. This is something that the animals do not have, no matter how clever they become or what one does with them. Man has been created by God and man is guided by God, so man has no ability to influence God or to influence the latihan. This is why Bapak again reminds us that it is very important for us in the latihan, and especially for the helpers to understand, that we cannot and we may not use the heart and the mind - because the more we use the heart and mind, the more we try to improve the latihan with the heart and the mind, the more we go backwards, the more we go downwards and regress, and go into a state of darkness.

An example of this is the prophets - the Prophet Abraham, Prophet Moses, Prophet Zacharias, Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad - all of them have been able to receive a purity, a greatness of their nature. And they achieved this entirely only by surrendering completely to the Power of God Almighty.

In fact, Brothers and Sisters, the mind is something that always likes to speculate. To speculate means to think about something - to see beyond it, to try to see something bigger than that, to try to see something further and greater than what one is thinking about. And Bapak knows that there are still Subud members, and maybe some among you, who still cannot resist using your mind to speculate about the latihan. Indeed for things of this world, this is the nature of the mind that we need, that the mind always examines things, always tries to find something better or something greater - but how can one find something better, or something greater, than the guidance of the power of God? The power of God Almighty belongs to a world that is the great world. The power of God Almighty is something that is in touch with the very lowest, from the material forces from the satanic world, up to the very highest, what is known as the great world - the world of heaven. So how is it possible for man to try to find something beyond God's guidance, beyond God's power-that is within us? But Bapak is not surprised or cannot blame people for this because, as Bapak told you the other night in his talk there is a story about this which is symbolized by the two sons of Adam.

Adam had two sons - Said Anwar and Said Anwas; and Said Anwar always followed in the footsteps of his father, which means that he always did everything according to the will of God Almighty - and from him descended the line of the prophets. But Said Anwas was not willing to follow what was the guidance of God, but always wished to follow his own will and his own effort. And, as Bapak has told, Said Anwas became very powerful and he was able to create a heaven and a hell. But this heaven and this hell that he created was not the real heaven and hell, it was only a shadow heaven and a shadow hell. And everything that he created was not from the power of God, not from the will of God, but from his own will, his own power. And up till now there is still this story, or this history, that Said Anwas exists in the world.

For example, Buddha. In Buddhism you never hear about anyone going to heaven; you don't hear about Buddha going to heaven. Because what is experienced in Buddhism is that you keep coming back again to this world. And this is what is also called reincarnation.

So, it is clear that what was achieved by Said Anwas, and by those who liked to use their heart and mind and their own power, is always limited to this world.

But it is quite different with the descendants of Said Anwar, because they were really able to go to heaven by the will of God Almighty. And that heaven was not imaginary, but was a real heaven that they could experience.

For example, Jesus Christ. After he was crucified, three days afterwards, he experienced a great radiance and a great light, and this was accompanied by events that everybody could see - the earth shook and there was a tremendous storm, and at that moment Jesus was able to leave this world and ascend into heaven and meet face to face with God Almighty. And from there he was able to come back again and visit all his friends in this world. He was able to prove to them that he was Jesus Christ who had been crucified because he was able to show them, and he said: 'Here, here are the traces of the nails that went through my hands when I was crucified. You can feel them, if you like.' So that Jesus Christ, after he went to heaven, was completely real and complete in everything that he had had in this world. He was able then to explain to his disciples that they should work and spread the religion that he had brought, and that one day it would become a great religion, and that it would one day really help people and show people the way how to worship God.

Similarly, when the Prophet Abraham was raised up to heaven by God Almighty, it was accompanied by all sorts of signs in the world that people could see.

Similarly with Prophet Moses. When he came to the Red Sea, it is said that he was able to divide the waters to make a way for himself and his followers through it.

Similarly also for the Prophet Muhammad. When Prophet Muhammad was called by God Almighty, he was able to leave this world and to come face to face with God Almighty, and to come back again.

When these messengers of God were able to leave this world, when they were there, they were able to understand and to know everything that had happened to them here. But people still discuss about the Prophet Muhammad. For example, when he had his ascension to heaven - whether what ascended was his body or his jiwa. And if it had been the body of Prophet Muhammad - that is, this physical body that had gone up to heaven and come back again - then the Prophet Muhammad could never have died, and nor would it be possible for people to bury his body, like people do with human beings.

So, it is quite clear that what went up to heaven and came back again, was not his physical body, but his jiwa. That's why people ask themselves: 'If it was his jiwa, how come that he could still remember - how come he could still think and understand?'

This is exactly what we are looking for. This is exactly what man is looking for - to be able to leave this world with our jiwa and still remember everything, what happened to us here.

But with the messengers of God it's even more than this. They can even remember before they lived. For example, if they are asked: 'Who were your ancestors?' they can tell you exactly: 'I was descended from this person and this person and this person.' And it is all correct.

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.

In the case of Moses - what he received from God Almighty was that he was able to separate fight from wrong, he was able to know within himself what ideas were right and what ideas were wrong. This is symbolized by his dividing the waters of the Red Sea. Even so, Moses was only able to pass on what he received from God, this contact with the power of God, to a very few of his friends at that time.

And in the case of Jesus Christ also. Jesus received the grace of God Almighty, as Bapak has described, but he was only able to pass this on -the reality of this - to a small number of people at that time. On the contrary, even among his closest disciples, there was one, the twelfth disciple, who actually betrayed Jesus. He was the one who went to the authorities and told them where to find Jesus and how to arrest him.

It is clear that it is only now with the Latihan Kejiwaan of Subud that it is God's will that the reality or the truth - the true contact with the power of God which man can feet within himself, the reality or the proof of God's power - can be passed on in the way that Bapak has passed on the latihan to all of you.

But the state of the world is something that we still have to take into reckoning, and you can see from the story of Jesus Christ that although Jesus was so perfect and so wonderful that he even said to his followers that when someone hits you on the right cheek, you give them also your left cheek - Jesus was so perfect and yet he still had enemies who wanted to kill him. That is why, even with Subud - although we know that Subud is something good - there will always be people outside who will say that it is something bad or something harmful.

That's why Bapak is not surprised, or doesn't feel surprised, if there are those who are enemies of Subud, or do not like Subud.

That's why, in short, Bapak hopes that you will refrain from speculating about Subud, from using your minds to try and understand Subud, because Subud is something that comes from the power of God and is therefore universal. Nobody can monopolize Subud, or make Subud a monopoly, because God can give His grace to anyone He likes, to wherever He likes. Even so, the proof is that up till now - for example, take Islam. In Islam there are maybe hundreds of millions of members, people who truly follow Islam in a sincere way. But, still, those who are able to receive the Hakekat or the reality - something they can really experience for themselves in the nature of the contact with the power of God - are maybe only 5 per cent, or maybe only 2 per cent, of those who follow this religion.

Brothers and Sisters, if Bapak talks to you about these things, actually there is never any end to it because one can go on talking for ever. What is important what is better, is to speak little but we work a lot. In other words, we put it into practice. What is good in this world is something that people can see, so that they can say: 'Oh yes, this is practical - this is something we can follow and can produce practical results.' So it is better not to have too much talk, but plenty of evidence. This is why it is necessary for Bapak that you should experience something of what Bapak has said for yourselves. That's why Bapak will now do some testing with you, and Bapak hopes that you will be willing to be tested, but Bapak will choose in a moment who he wants to test.

Buenos Aires, Argentina - October 22, 1977
Code Number : 77 BUE 2
It is clear that it is something that is completely beyond the grasp of the human mind - and that is the sign, or that is the proof, because when there is something that is beyond the grasp of the human mind, then that is the thing that comes from God. This is why, at that moment, we can only receive, we can only surrender and completely surrender ourselves to the power of God Almighty. This is why Bapak hopes that you will avoid the temptation that Bapak talked about the other night - the temptation to make an effort yourselves, or to find something with your mind in the realm of the kejiwaan, which will always only lead you to the material world. This was the way that it was always received by the prophets -that the prophets were only able to receive the gift of grace of God Almighty through complete surrender to the power of God. For example, the Prophet Abraham was the first man who received an understanding from Almighty God -a really great understanding of this world and the next. And he received this by complete surrender, by complete faith and submission and surrender to God Almighty; and this submission that Bapak talks about is something that is always reflected by an attitude of patience, acceptance and sincerity in our everyday life towards the power of God Almighty. This state, or this great faith in God Almighty, is something that was illustrated in the life of Abraham by a test that he was put through by God Almighty, so that mankind should understand what was required of them. Almighty God ordered Abraham to kill his own son - a son for whom he had waited 80 years. You can imagine how it is for a father to kill his own son whom he loves very much; and yet the Prophet Abraham, because of his complete and utter faith and trust in the power of God Almighty, did what God ordered him. But because of God's power and God's mercy what Abraham killed was not his own son, but only a goat. And that is what is illustrated, or remembered, every year in a special festival in Islam called the 'Festival of the Sacrifice'.

Similarly in the life of Jesus Christ. Before he was crucified Jesus Christ knew that he would be crucified, and he knew that this was a test put to him by God Almighty to see how great was his love of this world, and how great was his love of Almighty God. So Jesus went through this experience, but indeed it was for him a very, very heavy and difficult experience. Yet, after he went through his crucifixion, God was able to bring him back to life and take him to heaven. And from heaven was able to return again and show himself to his disciples and his friends. And to prove to his friends that he was really alive and that ,it was really him, he was able to show them the traces of the crucifixion on his hands and his .feet. During the crucifixion it is always described how blood came out of the side of Jesus, and this blood is the symbol of the feeling of life, or the life of this world. So what is symbolized by the crucifixion is that God truly took away from Jesus any need for the relying on this world for his life. And, Brothers and Sisters, what was received by Jesus Christ and the Prophet Abraham and all the other Messengers of God, has now been given to us by God Almighty. Therefore, Bapak hopes that through this latihan you will truly be able to follow it and to receive it and to achieve what is your wish through the Latihan Kejiwaan.

This is Bapak's explanation to the helpers, and this is what Bapak wanted to say to you in order that you will have a better and a deeper understanding of what the Latihan Kejiwaan is.

Lima, Peru - November 1, 1977
Code Number : 77 LIM 2

Santa Monica, CA USA - November 29, 1977
Code Number : 77 LAX 3
Bapak is telling you all this because Bapak has experienced it. Everything that Bapak tells you, Bapak tells you because Bapak himself has experienced it. Bapak himself knows it from experience. Actually, this is something that you yourselves should know or should understand through the Latihan Kejiwaan. And Bapak knows and Bapak has received that God will always protect man, God will always look after man while man remembers God. So it is as though there is give-and-take, a mutual concern. For as long as man remembers God, God will also remember man and look after man. And the proof of this is something that Bapak himself has got to know in what he has received in the latihan. We should also have got to know this and experienced it - but it may be that there are some who have not yet got to know and to experience this.

If not, why not? We may like to ask ourselves:

'Why is it that Bapak can always receive easily, and why don't we receive as easily as Bapak?

Or we might ask:

'Why is it that Prophet Abraham, Prophet Moses, Jesus Christ and Muhammad could all receive easily the revelation and the guidance of God Almighty, while we don't - even though we always devote ourselves to God, we always surrender to God, we always think of God' and so on.

But, Brothers and Sisters, what is it that always remembers God, always surrenders to God and so on? It is still our heart. It is maybe not yet our jiwa. And, actually, when the heart worships God it is not worship. This is something you will understand yourselves later on, and maybe Bapak will test this with you also - that if it's the heart which praises God, actually it is more like cursing God than praise, because the heart is not the instrument which can worship God, which can praise God, because the heart and the mind are things that do not know anything about God. They do not know the condition or the direction of God, so they cannot praise or worship God. What can praise and worship God is only the jiwa, but it may be that our jiwa is not yet in a position to do so. Why is that? Why is there a difference between us? Bapak will tell you frankly - and Bapak is not trying to belittle you or to pour scorn on you or something like that - Bapak is only telling you the truth. The fact is that what we are, what our nature is, consists of what has been handed down to us.

Christchurch, New Zealand - January 18, 1978
Code Number : 78 CHC 4
So if you wonder whether it really happened like that brothers and sisters, both yes and no, for that is just symbolic, as it was with the prophet Jesus Christ. He knew and understood when he was to be crucified. But because that was really necessary for the prophet Jesus, as an example for the world, he submitted. If God had decided that this was to be so, he had to do it and he had to go through it. It is said that the prophet Jesus, or Christ, himself said, “If someone strikes you on the left cheek, offer the right cheek also; if you are struck on the right side, offer the left. That was because of his full submission.

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

Toronto, Canada - August 14, 1979
Code Number : 79 YYZ 3
Then because God is always All-compassionate to mankind, the prophet Jesus, who is called the Christ, was sent down. He is called the Roh Allah, the spirit of God, which signifies the son of God. That is just symbolic; it does not mean son in the sense that you have a son. No; the meaning of 'son' is the rob or spirit which is very close to God, very much beloved of God. For there was no prophet save Jesus Christ who was truly one hundred per cent surrendered to the power of God. Even when he had to face death upon the cross, he knew, he understood, that this was indeed his way, and he faced it.

It is like it was for Bapak; although he was seriously ill and almost died, yet having already spread Subud to almost all the world, Bapak stands by his obligations, so why should he not be willing to come to Toronto? He has come here. Although he did not know what his state would be when he got here, Bapak came. This has been by the grace of God, by the will of God. That is the way that Jesus Christ surrendered to God. So human worship of the One Almighty God will not be perfect, brothers and sisters, if the human beings themselves do not truly surrender in the same way.

You must not worship God so as to get money - no; and nor must you worship God so as to win promotion. No. You must not worship God so as to get something nice for yourselves, for your own interests. No. Everything that human beings do, brothers and sisters, all their work, should be the worship of God. That does not mean that you will thereby reduce your livelihood. No. Bapak has had this experience not just for one or two years but over a period of more than thirty years. If Bapak spends some money, ten thousand rupiahs, a hundred thousand will come back to him. If he pays out a million, then the next day or the day after, or perhaps the next week or the next month, ten million come back to him, or fifteen or twenty or fifty million. This Bapak has experienced. Why is it? Yes, indeed that is what was promised to him. 'You will not become a big man, you will not become a rich man, but you will be honored by human beings all over the world.' Let alone human beings honored Bapak, even the wind and rain honor Bapak. If Bapak feels too hot and would like it to be cooler, if Bapak wants it to rain, rain it does. Who knows how it happens? Bapak has no power over it; Bapak surrenders it to God.

Tunbridge Wells, England - September 16, 1979
Code Number : 79 TBW 1
The messengers of God experienced things like this, so that Christ is said to have said, during his life, 'I shall be crucified, but I am prepared for this. I understand that I shall be crucified. I understand Whose will it is for me to be crucified. I also understand that. But I shall not break my promise. This is indeed my way, so as to show that although I am beloved of God and although I am the son of God, yet I am not the One Almighty God. I am a man who receives the power of God to a degree appropriate to the human measure.' That is why Jesus could be crucified. If Jesus had been like God, it would not have been possible to crucify him. Not only the people who crucified Jesus but also the whole of this world would have ceased to exist. It is thus clear, brothers and sisters, that supposing God were on this earth, the earth would disappear. It would cease to exist. Why is that? It is because God is All-great and All-powerful.

Wisma Subud, Indonesia - November 8, 1980
Talk On Tak Lebaran
The proof of all that is that, in the olden days, in the days of the prophets there were no such things as titles or degrees or doctorates or letters that you put after your name. There were no MD's or engineers or architects. All such titles, and specialization’s have arisen through the accumulation of experience. All these subjects which men have set up and formulated as textbooks and university courses with degrees, represent accumulated human experience which has been neatly parceled up or subdivided. But where has all this come from? It has come from within human beings themselves, from within people who have found their true talent and have pursued it.

This way is as open to us now as it was then: to find our own true talent: then to pursue and develop it.

Bapak says if you want proof of it being like Bapak says, just look at the prophets. Look at Jesus Christ. There were no schools open to people of poor origins like Jesus himself. Jesus didn't go to school. He had no degrees, no baccalaureates or whatever. He had no schooling at all. But because he had utter faith in God Almighty, and truly worshipped God and, at the same time had deep love for his fellow man, it was possible and inevitable that he acquire from God the development of his personality, of his inner nature, his wisdom. So that, as a result of what he spoke, millions and millions were willing to have faith and follow the content of what he said. And these millions who have followed and had faith in Christ for almost two thousand years, are not themselves stupid people, nor simply ignorant people in villages; on the contrary, among the followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ are the most intelligent and clever people all over the world.

Sri Lanka - March 13, 1981
The prerequisite for progress
File NO: 81sri-lanka
Can you really imagine how far that is and how far we have to go from where we are now? To get from the human level to the level where man can meet God?

When people talk, as many people do, and they say, "Oh, I have met God," actually they are not telling the truth. What they have met is only the shadow of God. It is still only in their imagination that they have met God.

Jesus Christ is called the Son of God. The meaning of the "Son of God" is that the connection between Jesus Christ and God is like that between a father and son. Jesus can communicate with God, like a son speaks with his father.

But for us, on the human level, on the jasmani level, our father is still our physical father. So, when we want to communicate with our father, it is just our physical father. He has descended from his father and his father's father and so on, and finally it comes back to God. But there are so many layers! So many layers that we have to go through to get to God. This is not like Jesus Christ. It is true that there are Messengers of God who have met God: but they have had to travel a very long way to get to the point at which they could meet Almighty God.

For most people, this is still just a possibility. Bapak doesn't say it is impossible. Indeed, Bapak hopes that we will reach that point one day. But Bapak cannot tell if it will happen or not. Bapak only prays that there may be some among us who might some day reach that. It is indeed a long way for you to go from where you are now, through the rohani, the rahmani, the rahbani and then to the final level, the place where you can meet Almighty God. Bapak doesn't know if you can reach there.

Wolfsburg, Germany - April 26, 1981
Code Number : 81 WOB 2
Here lies the value and use of the Subud latihan kejiwaan, which represents guidance, directives and control from God himself. All divine messengers since the time of the faith of Abraham have urged people to acquire a good moral character, not to interfere with the liberty of others, to feel for their fellow-men and to practice charity towards the poor so that the sins of the giver may be forgiven. Such are the precepts of the faith of Abraham. The religions of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad contain similar ones, there is no lack of such exhortations. If you study the precepts of Buddhism which tell how man may purify himself, there is no limit, so very much has been written. There is no way to follow all the instructions given. That is why we, why all of you, are extremely lucky, to have received directly from the power of God, despite the considerable confusion within us, despite our utter lack of purity. And if Bapak goes on to discuss how the various forces interact within man’s being, you will become all the more convinced of the impossibility of reaching the state of the so-called perfect man, such as the Prophets and Messengers of old. You may see how there are communities in which people only take one bath a year, always wearing clothing of the same color, whether black or yellow, never varying, living far removed from society. Why do they need to do this; Because of their strong desire to purify themselves, to purge themselves of their sinfulness and of the domination of the passions which always influence human lives. The purpose of all this, brothers and sisters, is merely that they should reach a state of both inner and outer purity, purity of the mind, the feelings and the soul.

Hoboken, NJ USA - June 18, 1981
Code Number : 81 NYC 1
People who have spent years and years and great effort in attempting to put aside the influence of the nafsu, to put aside the influence of the heart and mind in order to receive something that comes from beyond their own being, know and recognize this vibration of life as being the one thing that all mankind is looking for. What Bapak has said is a description of the latihan in a nutshell. Bapak will now go on and explain the details as far as it is possible to understand it.

Brothers and sisters, this is to some extent exemplified by the life of Jesus Christ. It is said that when Jesus Christ was born, was a young child and became an adult, that always he was accompanied everywhere by a kind of radiance, or light. Also, at his birth, that there was a light above him, like the morning star. This is like a sign that although Jesus was still a young child - and normally a young child cannot do anything -he was already different from others in that he had received the Grace of Almighty God. This difference that set him apart from others is actually the proof or evidence that we can study to be clever, have skills, or have knowledge or understanding, but it is impossible to study the wayhu, or the revelation of Almighty God. It can only be received by the Will of Almighty God. It cannot be received by study or effort. Bapak cannot go into this in detail because Bapak is not an expert in the history of Christianity, but can only say this much about the life of Jesus Christ.

Vancouver, Canada - July 17, 1981
Code Number : 81 YVR 3
What you have experienced so far is still only on the level of movement. What you have been tested in is only your hands, feet, mouth and so on. But this will go deeper as you practice the latihan. This ability to feel how someone else feels, how someone else is, will get deeper and deeper until it gets into your inner feeling. And finally it gets into your understanding.

When it gets into your understanding, you will be able to think beyond your brain. Normally what you are able to think and understand is what can be thought by your brain. But if you practice what Bapak has just said, you will be able to think not with the brain, but with the jiwa. Then what you think and understand will be from beyond the capacity of the brain to think and understand.

You are enabled to do this because of the Power of Almighty God. The examples of this are the prophets: the prophet Abraham, Jesus Christ, Mohammed. None of them studied anything. None of them went to school. And yet they were able to receive an understanding that was beyond normal understanding.

For example, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, as you know, was born in a level of society that was, let's say, at the lowest level of society. And yet, because it was God's will that He would become a guide for mankind, that He would become a Giver of Directions for mankind, God's will could not be opposed. God's decree cannot be put aside. So no matter where Jesus came from, no matter his lack of education; yet he was able to receive and to receive an understanding that was truly great and wide about man's life in this world.

The reason Jesus was able to receive in this way is because He was created by God from a seed that was truly clean, truly pure. Because it was God's will that He would one day receive this and be able to give a new direction, a new guidance, for mankind in general.

Los Angeles, CA USA August 1, 1981
Code Number : 81 LAX 5
It is clear that with the latihan we don't need to try to find the meaning of stories that have been told in the olden days or to find the meaning of all sorts of ideas, teachings and things we have read about.

What we need in Subud is only experience, only reality, and practice.

Truly, in the latihan we have received something from beyond our wish, beyond our intention. This reality of a human being as a creature of God being able to receive something from beyond his will, is not something new but has occurred ever since the beginning of history. It is told in the stories of the prophets and messengers of God.

It is illustrated by the sign that is given to each messenger of God.

For example in the case of Jesus, Jesus is always portrayed as having been illuminated by a star. When Jesus was born there was a star - like the morning star - over the place where Jesus was born. Throughout his life it was as if he were illuminated by a kind of radiance which is the sign of the grace or gift he received from Almighty God.

The same applies to all the messengers of God, and all the saints who received some grace or revelation from Almighty God. They were all illuminated; they all received some sign of what they had received.

Such is the sign of someone who has received the Grace of God and who is loved by Him.

Now, our experience of the latihan is that what we are given in the latihan corresponds to our need in our life in this world.

In other words, through the latihan kejiwaan we receive what we need for ourselves. What we receive in the latihan corresponds to our own nature and our own need. Each of us is also is given a sign of what we have received for our own self.

So it is clear that when we receive the latihan kejiwaan we do not become like Jesus Christ or the Prophet Muhammad.

We become like ourselves. We receive our own sign : a sign that corresponds to our own nature as we happen to be, and as we really are.

Sydney, Australia - May 9, 1982
Code Number : 82 SYD 1
You can measure the height and the degree of something from its nature and from its form. For example, an animal, no matter how high the content of that animal, will always be an animal. It cannot be more than that.

Similarly with a human being. A human being, the highest human being, is still a human being. Even if a human being contains, for example, the nature of God, he still remains a human being. It is the nature of God expressed in a human being.

This can be illustrated very easily in the examples and stories of the prophets or the messengers of God. For example, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was described as Son of God. It means that his connection with God was very close. And yet, it was possible for Jesus to die on the cross. It is true that after he died he ascended to heaven. But still it was possible for him as a human being to die on the cross.

Auckland, New Zealand - May 22, 1982
Code Number : 82 AKL 3
The important thing is not to misbehave or go astray, for our very wrongdoing, our very misbehavior, not God, will strike back at us in turn. Parents need not beat their children if they are naughty. The child can be allowed to become aware by himself, and if he fails in this, he will later be struck by his own wrong acts. It is in this respect that a child should fear its parents; the child should be afraid for the consequences to itself of its own acts. This symbolizes the attitude man should have towards God. He should not fear God... God will not get angry with him. But man will suffer the consequences of his own wrongdoing, and likewise, he will find the way to happiness himself, through his own good and pure actions.

If Bapak is telling you about the history of life, even though you have heard all this from books and other sources, he does so in order that you may consider why the latihan kejiwaan of Subud cannot be studied or thought about. It is because it represents the beginning of life. All this is clear from the Qur'an, which represents Allah in His entirety - Subhanahu watalala ( may His name be praised and glorified ). This is how it is for Muslims, but in the case of others, the basic facts are the same, as in the case of Jesus and the Christians.

Is it true that Jesus was raised from the dead? You shouldn't just believe or disbelieve unless you have experienced this for yourselves. Why shouldn't we be able to experience it for ourselves? For all these examples have been given to us by God, only ways and conditions vary. All. human beings are similar, but their capacity varies from one to another, as a result of their own actions and those of their parents and ancestors. Certainly we all come from a common origin, our original state was one, as with Adam, who had the total scheme of life with all its levels inscribed like a constellation of stars within his breast. But once he had children and grandchildren and so on, they all began to act in their own ways, they lived in places far away from each other, and each generation of his descendants had different experiences, so they became different from one another. That is why no-one can be the same as Jesus or the same as Muhammad.

Anugraha, England August 8, 1983
Code Number : 83 LON 4

London, England - August 11, 1983
Code Number : 83 LON 14
It is necessary for Bapak to give further explanations about the receiving called the latihan kejiwaan, so that it may develop within you. The latihan kejiwaan of Susila Budhi Dharma that you are practicing is truly a receiving from Almighty God. Now, a receiving from God for mankind is generally called a religion. But, Bapak says that in reality he only receives for mankind; Bapak does not say this is a religion. Brothers and sisters, it seems that the religions brought by the prophets Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, are already enough. It was even said about Jesus, that after Jesus there might be no other messenger of God. Yet, there was another, for later, the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, appeared. And his followers, the Muslims, said that after Muhammad, after Islam, there would be no other religion. Actually, whether or not there is another religion depends on Almighty God, and is entirely in His hands. But, as Bapak stated just now, Bapak does not say that his receiving for mankind is a religion; he only says it is for mankind. The truth is, brothers and sisters, what Bapak has received is not for a certain group of people, nor is it for one nation, nor is it for a particular way. It is truly for the whole of mankind, and mankind comprises people who belong to the various different religions. And the fact is, after Bapak had received and followed the latihan kejiwaan, people of different races and religions were also able to receive it.

S. Widjojo Center, Jakarta, Indonesia June 29, 1984
Code Number : 84 JKT 4
When Bapak was small he was clairvoyant. Any other person, having the experiences that Bapak had when he was young, would have gone crazy, or become unbalanced. Because what Bapak received was parallel to what was received by the prophets.

It was said that when Jesus lived, he was always accompanied by a light, by a star. That star is actually an angel. If you don't have that, then don't claim to have received a revelation from God. Christ was always followed by this star, and it was also said that he had no father, that he was born without a father.

So if someone receives a revelation from God, there is always a sign, there are always signs, there are always traces, always proofs. If there is no sign, then it cannot be real. There is no revelation without a sign. So if you cannot see a sign then there is no revelation.

Wisma Subud, - Cilandak, Indonesia - July 8, 1984
Code Number : 84 CDK 14
Once people discover that what Bapak has received is analogous to the prophets they will say, "How come then, that Bapak still lives like an ordinary man?" Well, for as long as Bapak has to eat and wear clothes, of course he is still an ordinary man. This is the same as Jesus.

When he was in this world he said, "Here, I am vulnerable to whatever you wish to do to me but that is not the situation in the next world." Here in this world we still need food and we are still offended if people don't like us. We are still offended if we make something and people criticize it because we are still connected with what is in this world. And if we continue to be connected, then we end up like the Javanese of the olden days that Bapak described. They still live in this world, they are still here, still working, because of that connection with what is in this world. That is what is called incarnation which leads to reincarnation.

In Islam they don't like reincarnation; but although they don't like it, they also don't understand how to avoid it. The problem is that most religion is still like a fantasy, or rather, people's faith in religion is still in the realm of fantasy. Like Muslims will say, "When you break your fast with a date, every date will be planted in the next world so that when you reach heaven you will have one date-palm for every date you ate when you broke your fast. So eat as many dates as you possibly can.

Well, people don't understand that of course that story is simply to promote Arabian exports ( laughter ) and it was simply, the interest of those who were spreading Islam and had nothing to do with religion itself.

When Bapak talks like this, some Subud members say, "Well, why didn't Bapak tell us that before?" The reason why what Bapak tells you today is different from what Bapak told you before, is because today is different from before. Also, what Bapak tells you is Bapak's own development and Bapak also develops in the same way as Raphael develops. For example, as you told Bapak before you were opened, you couldn't solve your mathematical problems, but after some time of doing latihan, you were able to solve them one by one. Well in the same way Bapak's understanding also grows as time goes on.

Bapak has been told by somebody that they had received that Jesus Christ is within Bapak. Bapak doesn't know anything about that. That's not my problem. That's up to God, but what is important is that once you become the channel of God's revelation, then life really becomes very interesting.

Michelle, once she is the channel of God's revelation her voice will really become an instrument whereby she can attract other people. Fernando will be able to design houses which are quite unbelievable in their beauty and the way in which they affect his clients. But there's no use talking about it. You shouldn't believe this until you experience it. What Bapak wants is that you experience it for yourself because in Subud there are no words which say, "You have to believe what I say. In Subud each of us follows the flowering of the latihan within ourselves and then we worship according to our own nature. Whether we start saying, "Allahhu akbar", or whether we pray in the way of the Christians or in the way of others, that doesn't matter. At least it is in accordance with our own nature.

So in Subud, it is not we who open another Subud member, but it is the power of God that opens them. Similarly, if it was not God who willed Bapak to travel around the world opening Subud members, it wouldn't have happened. Then Bapak would simply have ended up as a local dunkin, as a teacher in his village, or something like that.

Bapak has been able to receive how a human being can become intelligent, can make money, and can be rich. It is very, very easy, once you have received God's power. Once your being is complete. Once you have gone through the process in the latihan you won't need to look for money. The money will come to you. For example, there is a man who is not in Subud who recently met Bapak and said to him, "Bapak, I'm a Sayyid. I am a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, but until now I have never met a Muslim who was respected outside of Islam," ( in other words, in Europe and America ). "Bapak is the first Muslim I have met who is respected by Europeans and Americans, especially Americans who normally respect no one. So therefore don't call me Prince, call me Fahar, and I will look after your material needs." Not the material needs of Subud because he knew very well that Subud people still quarrel with each other. Therefore at one time when he heard that Bapak's house in England was going to be confiscated by the bank, he happened to be with Sjarif and he said, "Sjarif, what is the situation with Bapak's house?" Sjarif said, "Well, this is the situation." So he said, "Here's a bank check; write out a check for whatever you need and I'll sign it. What is important about this is not the money but the reality.

Cilandak, Indonesia - June 14, 1986
Code Number : 86 CDK 7
You ask things from God and that is fine. It's not forbidden to pray for things, to ask God to give you this or that. But this tendency to ask things from God has its own danger. The danger is that the heart and mind lose their faith in the existence of God's power. Why? Because maybe you ask for this or that, but then you don't get it. And then you think, 'Oh, God doesn't really exist.' That is the heart and mind talking; it's the interpretation of the heart and mind.

The fact is, whatever you really ask from God you will receive, providing you are capable of receiving it. If you ask God for something and you don't get it, it is not because God cannot give it to you but because you are not yet capable of receiving it.

This is something often experienced by human beings, by Subud members, for example, who experience something like a crisis. They do the latihan, latihan, and more latihan, and finally they get into crisis.

This means that what they have received they are not yet able to make use of. So, it is not complete within themselves. And it manifests as something that is not part of them; it comes out as something impolite, chaotic and irritating. And it is not something that they can use.

So it is clear that there is a measure to what you can receive. The measure is your own measure; the measure of what you are and what you are capable of receiving. What you ask from God may be beyond what you are capable of receiving. In that case God will not give it to you because God knows everything, so God knows how you are.

In short, you can ask God for whatever you like, but the measure of what you actually receive is not in what you claim.

It is easy to claim, 'Oh I've got this from God, I've received that from God.' But the real measure of what you have received from God is your everyday behavior. One measure of the reality of what you have received from God is how you relate to other people and how other people look to you. Results count.

If we speak of results, we may speak of Jesus Christ. People often say Jesus Christ was able to heal the sick, and even to bring people back to life. And not only that. Even someone who called Jesus' name, could be cured, just by calling his name.

People say, 'Well, if that's the case, and since there is no record of prophet Muhammad ever curing someone who was sick or having brought people back to life, it must mean that what Jesus received was better than what prophet Muhammad received.

The truth is not like that. Prophet Muhammad was completely different to Jesus, and what he received was in accordance with his nature. That is why prophet Muhammad was called Rasullullah, or God's 'messenger'. Jesus Christ was known as roh Allah meaning 'the child of God'. That's why it is not wrong if Christians refer to Jesus Christ as the son of God. But, once again, the heart and mind misunderstand. They say, 'Oh yes, if he is the son, then he is the same as God.'

So then, suddenly, you have two gods. But God is far greater, far wider than what any prophet has ever been able to receive. The measure of what Jesus Christ could receive was himself. The measure of what prophet Muhammad received was the measure of himself. What God Himself/s, goes enormously beyond anything that any human being can receive, whether or not he is a messenger of God or a prophet.

Similarly, it's easy for human beings to say, 'The last receiving from God was prophet Muhammad's. After prophet Muhammad nobody will receive any new revelations anymore, because his was the completion, the final revelation of God.'

It's very easy for human beings to say that. But God is far, far greater than what was received by prophet Muhammad. And God's revelation will be bestowed anywhere and any time that God pleases.

What man is capable of receiving today is also far greater than what prophet Muhammad could receive in his time. Because what prophet Muhammad received was limited by what he was and the time in which he lived.

But then don't get the wrong idea and say 'Oh, yes, I am better than prophet Muhammad.' That's not the point or truth of what Bapak just said.

Amen. Bapak Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo

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