Malang, Indonesia - July 22, 1958
Code Number : 58 MLG 1
Indeed, if we can work at, or do or study something that accords with the broad outline of our true nature, it will not become an obstacle for our well-being.
Take for example a mango tree. If you plant a mango seed, naturally a mango will grow. As for the way you look after it, you treat it like a mango - not in ways that suit other trees but would harm a mango - so that the mango can flourish and develop and grow unobstructed. But sometimes a mango tree does not grow well because it is looked after wrongly. It is planted in a place unsuited to mango cultivation. For example, it is planted in hard or rocky soil. Well, the mango tree still grows, but it will not produce really good, wholesome fruit. So don't plant it in a place where there are many obstructions - it may grow, but it cannot really grow as it should.
It is like that with the state of the human self. In order that the soul can flourish and grow well, the work of the mind should follow the blueprint that is in the inner self, which is truly called the annleg ( Du.:talent ), or in Islam, kashf ( Arab.: unveiling, revelation ), that is, its gave ( Du.: gift ). But how is this to be done? It is very difficult to know and understand the kashf or gift or talent of each individual person. Because it - and knowing it - is not from the thinking mind, but is the fruit of the self of someone who is already clean. That is why they say it is impossible to know the talent of a person unless it has been revealed by God. In our Subud circle, brothers and sisters, you are starting on all this, so that you can become parents who can channel your children into the field of their real talent.
The experts are looking for this. But the way they are looking for it is by looking at results. The children are allowed to do what they like, and from the experience of these children they eventually draw conclusions and data based on what the children enjoy; they conclude that that is their talent. But that is not yet clean, it is not necessarily completely true, because they are still liable to be influenced by their friends and also by their parents.
For example, a doctor will normally say to his child, 'Come on, what about medical school?'. But it is not certain that his child is also a doctor. Moreover, it is not certain that the parent, who has become a doctor, has that talent. So we human beings, from being wrong, are wrong again, and our mistakes multiply. ( The parent ) is already in the wrong field, and channels his or her child into the wrong field also. So, yes, it becomes more wrong. The mistakes go on compounding, like interest. The wrong increases until it becomes completely wrong.
Yes, this is a difficulty for human beings: to be able to know and be aware of, 'What is it within me that is right?' There is no way out of such a dilemma except to turn to God. That is why it is stated in Christianity, in the Bible, and also in Islam, in the Quran, that no way can be held on to and trusted and really make human beings right and benefit them, except the way to 'God; that is, the worship of God. So it is generally accepted that religion is the only place where people's thinking mind and desires are introduced to their real self, so that they can really worship and obey the commands of God. That is what the religions would like ( to claim ).
San Francisco, CA USA - September 9, 1963
Code Number : 63 SFO 2
There is another thing that Bapak needs to explain to you. There are many questions from members – from all over, not just members here – asking about their individual talent: ‘What is my individual talent that suits my soul?’
Brothers and sisters, it should be quite easy to answer this, but it will be hard for you, because the talent of your soul is completely different from the experience of your intellect. Why is that? Bapak described earlier that the content of your individuality is not yet good, not yet right. So it is very hard for you to implement the individual talent that corresponds to your human soul. If Bapak were to tell you, it would not be easy for you to do it. This is something that often happens – not even often, but always.
Somebody put that question to Bapak. The person’s outer knowledge, the skill of his heart and mind, is that of a craftsman, the sort of work that craftsmen do. But the talent of his inner self is farming. He has worked as a craftsman for twenty or thirty years. So, even though it does not suit him, he is used to it. Now, with Bapak’s answer – if he were to follow it – he would have to change his way of life from the work of a craftsman to farming.
But although farming is his talent from his soul – it is from the soul that Bapak received about in his test – it is not yet something the person can receive for himself; meaning that his soul has not yet developed. So if he turns to farming, his heart and mind will become confused. Being confused, he will stop being a craftsman but will not yet be able to do farming. He will just sit and brood and eventually – well, I hope it won’t happen – he will be in crisis, because he cannot do this or that, and yet he still wants to eat. So, that is the difficulty, brothers and sisters.
So Bapak asks you not to ask that question for the moment. Just do whatever your heart and mind know how to do from what you have learned. For example, if you have studied medicine, studied engineering, studied whatever it is, just do that. Because with the guidance and education of God within you, your soul will develop, and even though your work is not in accordance with that, your soul – having received the education and guidance of God – will be able to change it in a natural way and without leaving any traces. So it will not create chaos in your life.
About the heart and feelings that do not like to work once you are in Subud, that do not feel satisfied doing the work you used to do: Bapak wants to explain that this feeling of your heart is a feeling of a heart beginning to be purified, beginning to be moved, beginning to develop. So, after you have done the latihan, God begins to work on your heart and inner feeling; and of course their state will be different from how it was before you received the latihan.
Therefore Bapak asks you to make your heart firm, make your inner feeling firm, and surrender to God. God will not bring you to the wrong place, nor change the feeling of your heart and your inner feeling so that they become wrong. No. God will change you so that you can adapt to the circumstances you are continually facing. So for now it is like this, but later there will be a time when you feel compatible again with the work you have been doing.
London, England - March 27, 1967
Code Number : 67 LON 2
At the moment the movements you make when you receive the latihan do not yet have any meaning for you. However, the true nature of these movements is that they are getting rid of and cleaning out the mistakes and the dirt that are present in your inner feeling. This means that your latihan is still a latihan of purification, even if you have been experiencing it for five years or more. It is not yet a latihan that Bapak calls education, direction and guidance from Almighty God, from which you can discover the best direction for your life.
As proof of this, many members are not yet aware of their individual talent, or what could be called their original quality; in other words, the gift from God for their individuality. This shows that many members have not yet reached that stage. That is why you still ask, ‘What is my talent for the work that can support me and make my life happy?’ Because this is so, Bapak hopes you will not be too quick to claim you have reached the summit, or claim that you are on a high spiritual level, for the proof of that is contained in your actions in your everyday life while you are in this world.
Bapak will use a material object as a comparison. On the scale of life, material things are on the very lowest level; but if the power of God is close to it, a material thing can be radiant. Human beings consider such radiant objects to be sacred and valuable, and people would like to own them. This is just an analogy, brothers and sisters.
If you have reached the level that Bapak describes as being a person who has a genuine human soul and who truly is as one with his or her individual talent – the gift received from Almighty God – you will be valued in the eyes of society. Spontaneously, and without any effort on your part, you will touch the heart3 of anyone who meets you, sees you or hears your voice. You will naturally become a favoured person in your community. Once that happens it will be a sign that your soul has to some extent reached the level you hoped for: that of a human being with a human soul.
Manchester, England - April 9, 1967
Code Number : 67 MAN 2
[Testing, not recorded]
What is the importance of Bapak testing in this way with you? If you think that on a spiritual path you do not need to test like this, Bapak is well aware of how you feel and what you are able to receive. However, you do need to do this kind of testing. Why does Bapak test like this with you? It is so that you can get to know for yourself what your inner feels like. Then you can become familiar with your outer and inner and can get them to work together, so that your heart, your mind and your self will cooperate with your soul. That is necessary for you, because if both aspects – the two sides of your being – cannot work together, you will not be able to do the work that God intended you to do, the work that will please your heart and will fit your true talent.
Bapak gets many letters from members asking what line of work fits their true talent. He cannot answer, because even if he told you what your true talent is, as long as your heart, your mind, your emotions and the inner feeling you have within you cannot work with your soul, you will always have difficulties. The reason for this being that your inner and your outer cannot get along; they cannot work together.
Instead, Bapak answers, ‘Look for a job or work in a field you know. Work at something you can do and which to some extent satisfies you.’ He answers that way so that the member can find work, because they will know how to do it.
Furthermore, if you do latihan with complete obedience and faith, when it comes to your area of expertise – even if your skills do not match your true talent, even if they do not match your individuality – God, being Almighty, can change your situation to make it right for you. Then you will find that whatever you do, you will be accompanied by and be one with the guidance and will of God that is present in your inner feeling.
Therefore you do not need to worry and you do not need to keep asking about this, because, even if you were told, if your inner and outer are not in balance it will be impossible for you to do that work. Instead, Bapak advises you to do your latihan diligently, with an attitude of patience and acceptance, so that by doing the latihan you will be guided and led by the power of God towards the kind of work you will be able to do well.
There is an experience you will have, which everyone has. There will be times when you do not enjoy your work and when your work does not turn out as you hoped. When that happens, it is not always because your work is incompatible with your individuality. However, there will be a cause. So if you feel that way, the best thing to do is to ask some helpers or other members to test with you about the cause. Nothing happens without a cause, so it is important for helpers to try to help get to the root of the problem a member keeps having.
This is why Bapak showed you how to test just now, so that to some extent you can test for yourself and not keep writing to Bapak. You can imagine that if Subud members now number forty to fifty thousand, and if every member writes to Bapak once a year, it means he will get forty thousand letters – that’s if they write only once a year. Even if they write only once a year, forty thousand people will write to Bapak. You can work out for yourself what that divided by three hundred and sixty amounts to. The result is that Bapak gets around fifty, sixty, seventy or even eighty letters a day. Every letter concerns the problems Bapak talked about – the right work, about this or that – problems that the helpers could deal with or test about to find the cause.
Cilandak, Indonesia - December 5, 1970
Code Number : 70 TJK 6
Now Bapak will speak again about enterprises, for you need to get on with them soon.
Actually you need not feel any doubt, since you can already receive some indications from within. It only remains now for you to watch for when you can begin. Do not go on waiting for your own individual or inner talent ( bakat kepribadian ). That is still far from your present condition, yet the needs of your lives are very pressing. So, unless you begin soon, you will lag far behind what is possible.
If you want to know about your individual talent, this seems to be still in the far distance. At present you do not even see things as they really are in yourselves. For instance, you see a small house with a roof made of the bark of a tree, resting on a single pillar. But in reality the house you see has not even a pillar, but is only leaning on a tree.
This means that the preparation necessary for your jiwa to be a perfect human one is not yet finished. This is why so far your inner situation has not given indications of progress that you can feel. So, while waiting for the purification of your inner feeling and jiwa to progress, it will be as well if you immediately work on enterprises, as Bapak has suggested.
For you who in the outer sense are experts in building - architects, for instance - although this may not be the talent of your inner self, nevertheless, because you receive guidance and leading from the Power of Almighty God, His Power will always be with you in all your needs. It is even the case that, when you face a difficulty in doing this work, indications and clarifications just come, so that the problems in your work are solved and settled. Also, when in a calm state you are able to see beautiful buildings in the world of the miraculous. So too with those of you who have worldly skills as, say, a doctor, even if this is not your inner talent. Because you have received guidance and leading from the Power of God, His Power will always be present in all your needs. Thus, in facing a difficulty in your work, you will immediately be able to find the right and best solution. Sometimes, however, you may feel disappointed because the patients do not have to pay you so much money for their recovery, since you will be able to cure them after just one or two visits. But in truth you are really there to help and not just to look for money. This applies also to others of you who have worldly skills - for instance, in establishing a business or a trade. You will always be able to receive guidance and leading from the Power of God which envelops you inwardly as well as outwardly, with the result that, when you do your work, because the energy to do it involves your inner feeling, your heart and mind will not be filled with the forces of angkara ( violence ) and murka ( greed ). So Bapak stresses again: Make preparations to work in enterprises. These are necessary so that you can soon put what you have received to beneficial use.
This ends Bapak's talk.
Cilandak, Indonesia - November 27, 1971
Code Number : 71 TJK 23
Why, brothers and sisters, do we who practice the latihan kejiwaan, and who can be said to be spiritual people, why do we still need to work, still need to make efforts, still need this or that? Why? Because we receive a lesson through the latihan kejiwaan. Why, in the latihan kejiwaan, which we call worship of God, do we shout, laugh, weep, sometimes make wrestling movements, sometimes sing, sometimes dance - we who are usually quiet? It is the heart that wants to be quiet, but not the jiwa .
By doing this in the latihan we become used to doing what a man ordinarily does on earth - but it is permeated by the unity of and body. This is why Bapak needs to propose that you work in enterprises. Besides getting used to doing this, we will automatically be able - when God give us His Grace - to find our true talent. This true talent or skill is connected with inner knowing ( ilmu ). You do the latihan and go on doing the latihan all the year round, but why do you not yet receive this inner knowledge? If you come to the latihan and just tap with your feet, this is not inner knowledge. Ilmu is inner knowledge that benefits you, knowledge of the way to live. For, with it, you are more able to receive the union of the inner and the outer - the jiwa and the jasmaniah - your spiritual and physical being.
This true talent, which Bapak says comes from inner knowledge, is more than important, it shows you your path in life. If for instance you make something with your inner talent, from the ilmu, then while you are making whatever it may be, the outer cover, the skin, is connected to its content. This is called tut wuri handajani ( in this context: the Power of God watching over and guiding one's right development, letting one's true talent emerge ). Of course, you cannot receive and feel this immediately; but later, when you have reached that stage, you will be able to feel it. Then everything you do will be permeated, as it were, with praise of God. Sometimes this shows itself in you - 'La illah ha illallah, la illah ha illallah' - like that. But you do not yet understand. The hand does not voice la illah ha illallah, but moves and works as though saying la illah ha illallah because within it is tut wuri handajani.
This is why you very much need to begin working in enterprises. Up till now you have not been able to, because you have asked yourselves 'What is my true talent?' As you do not yet know your true talent, it is best for you at present just to try to do something. That is to say, to make a start by working at some enterprise or business, and then guidance will come to you from within, because you are turned towards God. And God is powerful and able to guide anyone, even if the person himself is not aware of it.
Carmel Valley, CA - USA - April 16, 1972
Code Number : 72 CAV 1
An enterprise is a business or undertaking of your own. Here too there is a difference. Perhaps you may ask Bapak, “How can I do this, Bapak, when I am working in an office, it may be as a salesman or a cashier or an architect, but in an office?” That is also work, but it is not an enterprise which means you work where the work is.
It means you are a paid employee, so that what you do is done on the instructions of another person, and it is not certain that this person will be a Subud member, so that you are doing something other than what develops from the kejiwaan.
It is different when you are working at an enterprise, an undertaking in which you work according to the development of your jiwa. Working in that way you will work with a feeling of satisfaction because this is your own work. Bapak compares working for yourself to a spider spinning a web. If one watches, one can see her working night and day, not needing to be asked to do it, never getting tired. Day and night she goes right on spinning. But because this really is her special talent, because this really is inborn, because this is really is her work, then although one may get tired of watching her, the spider doing the work never gets tired at all. She is not tired, she is merely happy and contented, as is proved by the way she goes on working. It is like that.
It is same for you when you work. That is why when members ask Bapak what is their right work, Bapak answers, “Look for something that corresponds to your knowledge and understanding, something that can satisfy your feelings so that they will. allow you to work without getting tired. That is the right work”. Thus if when someone works he does it as if working for himself, so that he always feels satisfied, that is work that is beneficial for his life.
Bapak will say some more about this, about one of the races at this world, the Chinese race. Why do the Chinese succeed and get ahead and flourish in any business in which they engage? Why from small beginnings do they get to be big men? And why are they so able to save money and really become big business men? Why is it? It is because, although not all the Chinese are like that, it is in fact natural to the Chinese to be good businessmen, so that from being small they become big and so that they are able to pile up a lot of money. This is because the Chinese work as though they were working for themselves. They do not work like hired hands. No. They really work as if they were working for themselves. This can be seen in the way they work night and day, until even when they are asleep, they are still at it in their sleep, sleep walking as it is called in English. Even in their sleep they are still working an abacus, counting on an abacus, tet, tet, tet, tet. Why is this? It is because it arises out of their satisfaction, so that it breaks through the walls of feeling.
The danger for people like that is that they may become mean and close fisted. In Indonesian this is called pelit. They get so mean and miserly that if someone who has had nothing to eat comes to them, even their own brother, if he comes saying, “I am hungry. Have you any food?” They will answer “no” because they are afraid of not having enough goods. It is while they are small traders that they are like that. So obviously to become rich they have to be very close fisted, mean, tough. I do not know the Indonesian word for it, tega, tough.
This is the kind of thing Bapak is talking about, the right work for you is the work that you really do know and understand, work that satisfies your feeling as if you were doing your own work, doing your own thing. If you ask about it, it is like that, whereas a great many members ask this question hoping that Bapak will tell them “This is your work”. He cannot do that brothers and sisters. Even though Bapak may know that a particular talent of a particular member is to be a farmer, yet Bapak cannot and will not tell him to become a farmer, because this person is already working as a carpenter or has become and engineer or a lawyer. He asks, “What is my special talent Bapak?” It may be obvious that he ought to be a farmer but he has already studied law and become a lawyer.
So obviously it is not possible for you to do something completely divorced from everything you know. It is different when, from the start, from childhood, you show your bent, the direction in which your talents lie, the direction which is in line with your special gifts. This is why Bapak needs to set up enterprises among the members, so that eventually schools can be established in which helpers can be employed as teachers, so that these helper teachers can see in what direction a child should go, and test what direction the child should follow. This will make it possible for there to be hardly any children who drop out halfway through their education. It will not be possible for any of them to be afgekeurd ( Dutch: rejected ). What is afgekeurd? Yes, it means useless, unemployable.
Cilandak, Indonesia - October 1974
Code Number : 72 TJK 8
So, clearly then, brothers and sisters, this developing is a quality of the human self, if people will really put it into practice and really put their inner feeling to the test. And the way to put it to the test and to put it into practice is, for the people of Islam, the fast.
Thus this fast, brothers and sisters, truly is to test us, truly is to be put into practice, so that we may be able to receive and feel what we ought to do, and also what is that foundation of our inner feeling that is usually called one's talent. One will not be able to discover one's talent, or be able to know what it is, if one does not carry out or make any practical test of one's own self. The way to test one's self, as Bapak repeats once more, is through the fast.
If you are an industrialist you must be producing something, that is things for eventual sale, and from having done the fast in addition to having received the latihan kejiwaan you will then be able to find guidance and direction in the form of knowledge in the field where your talent lies, so that you will not lose your way in worldly life.
In this way, brothers and sisters, you will become people really valuable in the eyes of the world. That is how it is, brothers and sisters, for God Almighty truly loves and cherishes the creatures He has made. It is indeed fitting for all of you, or for Subud members, we who have truly received grace from God Almighty, to obey His commands that are embodied in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud and in the inner self of all of you when you have done the fast in the month of Ramadhan.
Cilandak, Indonesia - July 25, 1976
Code Number: 76 CDK 6
Brothers and sisters, you may have questions to ask about the matter of enterprises. 'Enterprise' is an English word which, if translated into Indonesian, is usaha. An usaha or enterprise should accord with your talents. Bapak takes an example from the animal realm. What is the enterprise of a goat for it to attain security in its life and live happily, which means always being able to eat? A goat's enterprise, of course, is to go to a field that has plenty of grass or plenty of leaves for it to eat. The goat shouldn't go into a vast jungle, say, full of fierce animals. Doing that won't make its life secure.
Clearly, then, the enterprises should accord with your respective talents. What are your talents? Have you a talent for farming. If your talent is for cattle breeding, then your enterprise should be to do with cattle breeding. If your talent is for house building, say, then your enterprise should be to do with housing and construction. And so on, in that way.
The important thing to enable you to run enterprises properly is harmony. This harmony is very necessary for you, for with harmony among you the work can go well, and without harmony your work will surely experience discord, disruption and regress.
Toronto, Canada - August 20, 1979
Code Number : 79 YYZ 10
Brothers and sisters, this is part of God's guidance to human beings. You are guided and trained by the power of God in every kind of action and activity, in everything to do with human beings. That is a sign of God's love for mankind. When this guidance has reached to the whole of you, your thinking will also be trained by God, so that you can think of things and in ways that are quite extraordinary. Why was Christ able to think about heaven? It was because he had already been purified by God. He was already filled by the jiwa of the perfect human being, and by the power of the One Almighty God. Bapak is not comparing Khadariyah with Jesus, but she is already fortunate to have even a part of this. Thus the reality of how it will be there, whether good or bad, is already evident in this world. It can already be experienced in this world. This is what God has willed with the appearance of this latihan kejiwaan of Subud; that human beings should really be able to have evidence of the things that cannot usually be clearly known. Now will Khadariyah's husband, Syarifin, please come forward.
But there is a little more to add. At the moment it is a long time since I have seen Syarifin. In fact, there is a singer in Syarifin's inner-self, a singer of very beautiful songs. Indeed, that is his talent. But he has never sung, never expressed his talent, because his heart is not inclined that way. If he had expressed his talent for singing he could have outdone that man who has just died ( Elvis Presley ). He could have been better than that. Yes. Relax, Syarifin.
( Testing )
Brothers and sisters, in the latihan kejiwaan you can always provide your own entertainment. It is not necessary to complain or to feel unhappy; when you are unhappy you can cheer yourselves up. This is the reason why people always sing in church. The Muslims always sing or chant when they read the Koran; when they do what is now called Tilawatil Al Qur'an. Bapak's voice is cracked now, but when it was not cracked, Bapak could sing all sorts of songs. Nowadays Bapak's voice is cracked, because he is already eighty years old, but you can still hear it, brothers and sisters.
Bapak sings:
Come my children, and all of you give praise and thanks to the One Almighty God. You have all been able to receive the grace and mercy of the One Almighty God; that is, the movement of your jiwa in accordance with the guidance of the One Almighty God.
You must not feel disappointed or misunderstand, when all this is the will of God, and you have been fortunate, so that you have been able to come forward and to bring out what is the will of God for all of you, so that you can receive protection from the nafsu which always tempts the hearts and mind.
You are able to know what life really is.'
That came out of its own accord, like it did just now for Syarifin and Louis. Only there are different levels in this.
Wisma Subud, Indonesia - November 8, 1980
Talk On Tak Lebaran
Code Number: 80lebaran
When we have experienced the movements of our latihan kejiwaan, they lead us down a road on which, sooner or later, we should be able to understand the talent or the ability which is within us. We should be brought by the latihan, to grasp what our physical body can do which will bring us a livelihood useful to our life. This ( talent ) arises from our own individual nature. What we had before this, before coming to Subud, is a talent or ability acquired not from within but from imitating others. We were taught to do it. We went to school, studied and learned it. That is the nature of the nafsu.
The nafsu is our will to achieve something or to be good at something as quickly as possible. We want to study something, we work and work at it. We want to be clever at it quickly - and trying to be clever at something quickly is the nature of the nafsu. We want to understand fast, be expert at something fast. This nafsu cannot measure our own capacity or ability. It only knows what it wants; it doesn't what we are able to do. So we work and work only to achieve something which we find is not useful for us. When we come to the end of it, we can't do it - we don't succeed in what we've studied and done.
It is in this situation that we receive the latihan. This is why we are again to use everything in us, - heart, brains, voices, legs - no longer pushed by the nafsu but pushed by our own jiwa. Sooner or later we come back again to the beginning, to our original nature, and to what there is in that nature which is like a seed of ability on which we can build our life, earn money, gain benefit.
Brothers and sisters, if Bapak may say so, Bapak has been giving you just now is in fact the critique of education. Education as it is now is based on the nafsu. Bapak hopes that before long, we will see a new kind of education based on the jiwa, the true individuality of each person - not on the nafsu. Bapak knows that, in a small way, this has been started. Perhaps it is in California or England that there are already Subud schools which are beginning to pioneer in this direction. Maybe it's not the real thing, but it's starting to go in that direction.
In one of those schools, perhaps, they may set out before a child various fields of study or areas of learning and let the child choose what he likes; well, Bapak says that his is not really the ideal, because this choosing is still not yet based on the jiwa. This method is, at least, a step forward; but it is still not yet guided by the jiwa. But Bapak hopes that, sooner or later, it will be possible to have a school where the subjects that the children do will be based on their jiwas, their individualities. Then, when they grow up - they will no longer be in a state where they feel useless in society, where they come to a kind of dead end where they become becalmed in their life, where they've studied something and become skilled at it and find that it's not something they can really excel at, and, for this reason, never succeed at anything.
Because we have not yet got this education, Bapak emphasizes that we should do enterprises. Bapak doesn't mean that by enterprises that you all become traders or merchants or that all of you will find your living through sitting in an office at a desk and doing sums or something like that. That's not what Bapak's saying.
Enterprise is what there is within you that you are good at; what there is within you that is your real talent. You find that out and you do it. That's enterprise.
Now, this could be anything. It could be business, but it could just as easily be clowning. Suppose your talent is to be a clown. You may think that's an undignified sort of thing. But this clowning can be very useful to you if it's your true talent. Through that you can become a millionaire and that has been proven many times.
So if you ask Bapak whether putting this talent into practice, developing what's within you, can lead to happiness, the answer is emphatically yes. It's from this that you can really find a life which is full of success, a life of benefit for yourself and your family.
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.
Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad. He did not go to school. It is said he was totally without education; he was unlettered; illiterate; he could not read or write. And yet because he had that true faith in God and a deep love for his fellow man, Something developed within him which made him the wisest of men. A man whom, again, millions and millions have followed over the centuries, and have had faith in his advice and teachings and sayings.
This is proof, brothers and sisters. It is a measure for you, a kind of education for you of what the requirements are for receiving from Almighty God the development of our talents, of our being. Thus Bapak continuously advises you: Truly have faith in God; follow and receive with a feeling of patience and surrender, - qualities Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad had, qualities of the guidance of the latihan kejiwaan.
If you ask if Bapak expects us to be like Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ, Bapak says no, of course not. Bapak doesn't expect us to be like that. But there is no doubt that if we follow with a feeling of submission to God's Power and a feeling of love towards our fellow human beings, we will receive something not different in essential nature from what was received by Jesus Christ or Prophet Muhammad: something useful for our life both in this world and in the next.
The qualities of faith in God and love for our fellow human beings are the essentials, the ingredients needed to find the key to the development of our inner being, our nature and our true talent in this world. This is why Bapak reminds you that we have to do something related to looking after our fellow human beings; something charitable; something demonstrating a social responsibility. That's God's Will. It's the way to a world at peace; a prosperous world; a just world. Add to the word social, the word democracy then we reach an image or picture of a society where there is a true and just sharing of all the benefits we receive from Almighty God. A society where prosperity is enjoyed by everyone. Social democracy, in short. This is the way God wills it should be.
Cilandak, Indonesia - March 6, 1981
Code Number : farwell-talk
Have you ever experienced in your life, a situation where you have everything, a situation where you are very well off, a situation where you can do anything you like? If not, that is because you are doing the wrong work. You can only experience that, when you are doing your right work.
People say to Bapak, "Gosh, you are very well off, and you have everything that you want, and you are having a wonderful time." Bapak replies, "Well, that's the way it looks to you, but the reason Bapak is like that is because Bapak has always followed his own talent. He has always worked within his right work, within his right talent. And that is why Bapak has reached the result of his talent." So Bapak says, "Never mind, because Bapak is preparing a place in Kalimantan, where all of you who have chosen the wrong work can do something in line with your right work." So Bapak suggests that B. buy some plots in Kalimantan so that he can go and live there and work.
Bapak said to Brother M. that he and many other people have the custom, first of all, to surrender to God. But the problem is that we are not allowed to surrender to God in that way. It is true that we have to surrender to God, but when we face God, we are not allowed to just surrender, we have to surrender with attentiveness. In other words, it is not enough to just to say, "Oh God, let befall me whatever you want." We have to surrender to God attentively, so that we are prepared to do what God wants us to do.
So it is not enough just to surrender. We have to surrender with attention. This is very important.
Bapak asks brother M., "Well, what do you do now?" So brother M. explains what he has been doing. And then Bapak says, "Actually your right work is to be a contractor, either small or large. The important thing is that in your case that is your talent, but it is like you don't feel like doing it, or you are not willing to do that kind of work."
"You have to be willing to do it, and you have to not connect it always with what you receive in the latihan kejiwaan. In other words, you have to be able to separate your work as a contractor, where you have to be able to use your nafsu, from your latihan kejiwaan and what you receive in the latihan. You have to be able to separate these two things, because if you do the contracting, in the same state as you are in the latihan, then when you feel something unpleasant coming towards you, you just surrender; you just give in. And that is your weakness."
Sri Lanka - March 20, 1981
Code Number : 81 CMB 4
As we are using the nafsu, as we are working in our everyday life, we are guided by the Power of Almighty God. It is only needed for us to just follow whatever we receive and then we will find our way. We will learn how it is right for us to work in such a way that our work becomes fruitful. So brothers and sisters, when Bapak talks about enterprises, this is not something brand new; it is not a brand new idea that Bapak has invented. Enterprise is something that is basic to our life. Whatever talent we have will come out spontaneously, as a result of our worship of Al mighty God. This guidance that we get from within will really enable us to build a career in this world, a career that is really successful and brings us to a situation of happiness and satisfaction. To give you a concrete example, supposing that our right work is to be a singer, then through our latihan, we will receive a way of singing that is so beautiful that it will touch, really touch, the heart of everyone who listens to it.
Brothers and sisters, it is clear that God provides man with everything he needs for his life. If we follow God's guidance, we can find our way in our life in this world. What makes us blind is the influence of the nafsu. Once you have received this guidance of God, as you have received it in the latihan, you only need to just follow it. Just follow it and see where it leads you. Everything will go well, as long as you observe one thing. That is, whatever, you do must always be done according to the line of what is right. You must never do your work, or your enterprise, m such a way as to hurt other people, to restrict the freedom of other people, or to take away from other people something they have. You should never do it in a way that causes conflict or arguments or fighting. Always try to keep to what is right and what is the best behavior. Providing you do your work, your enterprise, and you carry out your talent in a way that is honest and just towards other people, you will certainly be successful.
London, England - March 22, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 1
Subud has now been active in Europe for about twenty-five years, during which there has been peace. Bapak feels that the world very much needs the Latihan kejiwaan of Subud, for the spiritual world is the source of every kind of culture and civilization. Yes, that is true; people who do not understand come to understand and those who formerly never understood are caused to understand ( about their lives ). If someone has a talent for the violin, for instance, the Latihan kejiwaan will develop it. If music really is someone's talent, he will become outstanding, like the prophet David, the sound of whose flute alone could cure the sick and comfort the sad. That is how it is if someone's talent is for music. If the talent is for architecture, it is the same way for an architect. He has studied his architecture at some school, like everyone else, but what he creates will be interesting and attractive.
Bapak really hopes that you will all understand why Bapak has to do this journey; that really this Latihan kejiwaan which you have received is something which is supposed to spread beyond just the few of us, because if it doesn't, then it is like something that is of no use; it is something we have received, but really it doesn't serve any purpose.
Spiritual knowledge or receiving can be compared to rain that falls on the earth. God gives rain for a purpose. The reason God gives rain is that it can be used for something beneficial. In other words, rain brings fertility. We can use it to grow crops, crops we can use for human life. So that is the use of rain. Similarly, when man receives something from God, it must produce something useful; it should not be infertile.
The nature of man can also be compared to soil. There is a soil which, when it receives the rain, soon produces all sorts of plants and trees and vegetation which are useful for human life. This is what is called good soil.
There is another kind of soil which is marshy soil. When rain falls on it, it forms puddles and ponds, and the water sits around. The water in this case doesn't produce something useful; on the contrary, it produces something dangerous for human life. It breeds all sorts of nasty insects and so on, which spread disease, and so, unless something is done to drain this marshy soil, it becomes a source of pestilence.
There is also sandy soil. If rain falls on it, it sinks right in; it doesn't produce anything - like in Arabia. It is lucky that they have oil there instead.
There is still another kind of soil called clay soil, which is slippery. And that can go both ways. If you cultivate it carefully, it can produce useful crops, but it can also become muddy and again give rise to all sorts of harmful insects which spread disease and so on.
Human beings are also like that. There are people who, when they receive spiritual knowledge, are fertile and can pass it on to others, so that others can also receive it from them, and they ( these others ) also receive the benefit of what that person originally received, so it is put to work. Also, where they receive understanding, it doesn't stop there, but they are able to act on it. In other words, they gain in value to society because their own talents grow. They are able to do things which they weren't able to do before.
This is the fertile soil.
But there are other people who receive spiritual knowledge, but they just keep it to themselves. That's dangerous. They claim, "I can do this, I can do that," but actually they can't do anything, because it is only a stored knowledge and such knowledge cannot grow at all. This situation is like that of a doctor who studies to be a doctor, but for the rest of his life he only understands what he learnt at school; in other words, he is apathetic.
Then there is another kind of soil - people who like very much to receive any kind of wisdom, any kind of knowledge, but it Just goes straight through. There is never any benefit. They are very eager to receive anything that comes their way, but there is no trace of it in their lives. But, if on the contrary, these people receive some knowledge that is bad, then they are very productive; they give rise to things like black magic and so on. They immediately know how to use it. But the beneficial things, the beneficial knowledge or the beneficial receiving, they do not know how to use.
Then there are the human beings who correspond to the clay soil. For then spiritual knowledge is like something they use for conjuring with. It Just becomes a trick that they use, so that when people come near then, they slip and fall, like the muddy soil which becomes slippery. But, you can also make earthenware out of it; you can make cups and saucers and plates and so on. So if you use the analogy, sometimes they can also make something useful.
Now all of this is an allegory, but it is true, and it is actually all written down in Bapak's book, "Susila Budhi Dharma". But people rarely understand it, rarely put it into practice. This is really what Bapak came here to talk to you about, because, alright, Subud has been moving in Europe now for twenty-three years, but the only one you can see moving is Bapak, ( laughter ) while the world desperately needs the Latihan kejiwaan.
The Latihan kejiwaan is the source of every kind of living culture. Supposing your talent is to be a violinist. Then, through the Latihan kejiwaan, that talent should grow, so that when you play the violin that sound that you make really is some benefit to others You know the story of the prophet David, who Just by playing his flute was able to cure people who were sick, or people who were depressed, so it ( his talent ) was of some use.
Or, if you are an architect, you will bring out something new, so that, compared to other architects who studied in the same school, you will be able to create something attractive In other words, like that soil Bapak talked about; when the rain falls, it; produces food so people around you can eat; people around you get some benefit from what you have received. Or a doctor, if he always only Just practices what he learned in medical school, then that is like the marshy soil; everything that he has received he just keeps to himself, and nothing grows; it is of no benefit.
And yet people frequently explain especially in Islam, they always say, "Allah Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," God is all loving, God is all gracious - where is the proof that God loves man if man is unable to show evidence of God's love? Why then is his life still like that?
Bapak has put this to the test, but the one who tries it out shouldn't be only Bapak; it should be all of you!
Slough, England - August 11, 1981
Code Number : 81 LON 17
There is nothing difficult for a human being in this world, providing he is willing to examine the use of the components of his being, the parts of his being, in the way Bapak always examines you when he tests with you. You know what Bapak means. Bapak says, "Do you have legs? Where are your legs? What is the use of your legs?" And then your legs start to walk and they walk here and there and then run on the spot, etc.
And then Bapak says, "Where are your hands? What is their use?" And your hands start to write and to touch this and touch that, and take this and take that.
This shows that within these parts of your body there already exists their use and purpose. You can use what is in them not only to find your own way in life but also to help other people.
Suppose you are already a helper and a member comes to you and asks, "What is my right work, what is my true talent, what should I do now?" Well, then, you are able to do this testing. You receive what his true talent is and your legs and hands are able to show what type of work he should be doing. And that is only the hands and feet.
Later, when this ability to receive goes deeper to your understanding, then when someone asks you what their right work is, you no longer need to move your hands and your feet to recognize the answer, because the answer will be there within the question. When he asks, you will understand. It will come directly into your understanding.
This truly is the use, the purpose of the latihan kejiwaan we are doing.
It grows deeper and deeper as it goes along. At this moment, suppose a member comes to you as a helper and asks, "Please, can you tell me what my right work is?" Because you still have to receive it by moving around, first stand up and then test, and your body will move like this and you will say, "Oh yes, you're a dancer."
But that won't always be like that. If it's always like that there is no progress.
Later, the time will come when the person will come to you and will say, "What's my right work?" and you will go like this ( pause for a moment ) and then realize directly, "Dancer!"
It's clear that the progress goes deeper and deeper and there is a use and a benefit to the latihan kejiwaan and you won't always have to do things in the way that you do now.
You'll be able to do this not only for members, of course, but also for you yourself.
Brothers and sisters, this is why really you should not all your life depend on fortune tellers, should not all your life have to go to the lady with the tarot cards, or look in the tea leaves or in the coffee grounds in your cup to say, "Oh, yes, what you're going to do is this, this and this".
In other words, as far as possible in your life try not to depend on other people.
But dig out your own nature, dig within yourself to find your own nature and its use.
You should get to know, understand, respect and appreciate the quality of your own self as a human being.
As you find the benefit and the use of the latihan kejiwaan, as time goes on you will depend less and less on others.
Sydney, Australia - May 17, 1982
Code Number : 82 SYD 6
Now Bapak is going to start giving you an example of the way in which a person can more or less Get To Know Your Talent In Life.
In the latihan kejiwaan which you have been following most of you have only reached the level of activity, that is, the activity of this coarse body; therefore if you wish to know the talent of a person it is enough, for now, to learn it from the movement of your body. Therefore Bapak will now try with you to do some testing to find out what is your own or another person's talent, so that, for example, you can do an enterprise in accordance with your talent. If you are able, that is. Therefore Bapak wants to try it with you.
Because those who have been a long time in Subud should by now mostly be helpers, Bapak would like ten men helpers ( or at least five ) to come forward to provide a demonstration.
In Subud our faith is directed to nothing other than Almighty God and God's power envelops the whole universe starting from the Roh Raewani ( as Bapak explained just now ) to the Roh Rabani, Ilofi and Kudus. So there is no gap in God's power: Where anything exists, God is there, also within man. Within man's being and outside man's being God's power rules; we cannot touch it but it can touch us from every direction. Therefore, brothers, leave everything to Him: 'Him' meaning to Almighty God. As when you do the latihan kejiwaan for the first time ( and every time you do it ) only surrender to God; you are creatures who have been willed or created by Him.
So now that Bapak has explained this, follow the movement: for your life talent will be shown through your actions. It may be enough just with movements or there may be more in the form of sound or whatever. You only have to receive and follow.
You have heard what Bapak has said, so relax as usual, meaning everything is empty and only receive what comes from Almighty God.
( Testing )
So now it is only a question of whether you are brave enough or not.
For example, take Bapak. If Bapak didn't have courage he would not travel around the world, he would not be here. He would not even dare to live in Jakarta, he would have to go back to Semarang and become a bookkeeper. To give you an example Bapak will show you how it was when Bapak asked himself - but Bapak will do it sitting down...Allah...Allah...( Bapak sings and translates into Indonesian ).
"Bapak must travel around the world to spread this, to spread Subud so that Bapak truly follows and submits to the command of God."
So Bapak was commanded by God to become his helper and no longer to do bookkeeping.
But Bapak will give an example:
Now Bapak is going to indicate the place and when Bapak mentions one that is really right for you, you will show it as something right and big while the places which are not really specially good for you, you will just walk normally. For example, in Melbourne...not right. In Perth...In Brisbane...In Canada...( Strong reaction - Laughter ). So now it is only a question of whether you are brave enough or not.
For example, take Bapak. If Bapak didn't have courage he would not travel around the world, he would not be here. He would not even dare to live in Jakarta, he would have to go back to Semarang and become a bookkeeper. To give you an example Bapak will show you how it was when Bapak asked himself - but Bapak will do it sitting down...Allah...Allah...( Bapak sings and translates into Indonesian ).
"Bapak must travel around the world to spread this, to spread Subud so that Bapak truly follows and submits to the command of God."So Bapak was commanded by God to become his helper and no longer to do bookkeeping.
This is just an example. So this latihan kejiwaan of Subud is truly guidance from God to show man what his own talent is.
Now, Latif. If Sydney is right for you then stand where you are, but if not, then walk.
( Testing )
It seems everybody is walking! ( Laughter ). If you wish to be happier than you are now, you have to leave Sydney. If you are in England show how it will be...
( Testing )
So it is up to you whether you have the courage or not. You were in England before? That means you descended from the seventh grade to the third grade ( in your work ) when you came here. But it is up to you.
And you ( to Leonard )...But it is already too late, you are already seventy five!
( Laughter ) If you are already happy here just leave it at that.
Leonard: I still want to perform ( music ), Bapak.
Bapak: How is the state of your life, living in Wollongong? Follow
( Testing )If it is good then show it like someone riding a horse...( Laughter )...Move forward!
Yes that's all right.
Now, Gregory, if Wollongong is a good place for you then stay where you are. If it is not a place that is good or happy for you then move to demonstrate it
( Testing )
It looks like you have to leave Wollongong. Of course, you will want to know where to go. How would you be if you were living in New Zealand. ( Testing ) It's not so good. In Canada how would it be?...No. How about England?...If Bapak were to ask about Kalimantan, you would not be able to get paid yet! Supposing Kalimantan, how would it be?...( Testing )...Yes, that's better! You can't be paid yet. But, anyway, your name will be noted. ( Laughter )
And you, if you should stay in Brisbane then just stay where you are, if it is better for you to move away then show it...( Testing )...It seems it's good to stay in Brisbane.
Brothers and sisters with this Bapak is only giving an example as to how to get an idea of someone's talent. So obviously for the rest of you this is the way to test and to get to know your own self. Therefore, it is clear that the latihan kejiwaan can show you reality.
( To Luqman Keele ) You have asked whether, in connection with the project which was discussed earlier, you should stay in England or whether you should move here. Show it with your movements. If you should be in England move as an Englishman; if in Australia, move as an Australian.
( Testing ) ( Laughter )
Yes, it is clear. But not clear enough. And now show it through dancing. Dance in the English way if you should stay in England, in the Australian way if you should be in Australia. ( Testing )
Now, to compare, Bapak would like to see an English dance...
Yes, it is more refined: similar, but more refined. So, if you are really determined you may move.
Now Bapak would like five women helpers so that they should not feel jealous. Because nowadays there is no difference between men and women.
You have already heard what Bapak said earlier so Bapak doesn't need to repeat it. You need only carry out what is necessary. So in order for each of you to find out her own talent follow the movement; movement of your hands, legs, your whole body, so that the reality can be seen. ( Testing )
Enough. I'll start over there. Munawarah, what did you feel?
Sharif: She received social work which is close to what she is doing now.
Bapak: Yes that's right. And are you happy where you are?
Sharif: She would like to stay there since they are just starting a social project.
Bapak: Good. And the second, Miriam. You seem to be a manager.
Sharif: She has worked a long time as manager in the social field in Israel but she only arrived here two months ago and has not started working yet.
Bapak: It may still be some time, perhaps two or three months and then you will be able to start. I hope so, but it is not definite! Alice, did you feel what your talent is? What are you doing in fact at the moment?
Sharif: All sorts of things; growing things, cutting hair, physical education.
Yes, that's right, like teaching
Bapak: dancing?
Sharif: dancer.
Bapak: Sharif: Bapak:
She has been trained as a ballet
Where are you now?
In Wollongong.
That's better. Yes, that's right. And are you already working?
Sharif: Only with Subud people.
Bapak: Yes, there will be a way later. And you? ( To Lailani )
Sharif: Her hands were moving as if in a dance and she was singing but the meaning was not clear.
Bapak: If your right work is to be a singing teacher then sing, if a dancing teacher then dance, if an ordinary teacher then show that...( Testing )...It's not specifically a singing teacher more like a kindergarten teacher. Apart from that, I want to tell you, the reason why the information you received was not so clear was because you don't move enough in your latihan. That is why Bapak always advises you that the movements in your latihan should feel free and unrestricted and should never be restrained.
And you? ( To Mardijah )
Sharif: She felt as if she was nursing someone or looking after someone. In fact she is involved in social work.
Bapak: Yes. Or as a housewife. ( Bapak calls up all the people who have been proposed as Directors of Susila Dharma Ltd. to be tested. Susila Dharma is the new name of the company developing Australia's new International Center. )
Now Bapak and all of you need to feel for yourselves, receive and understand each one for himself and Bapak hopes that you will receive indications from the power of Almighty God. Do not follow your nafsu but surrender to Almighty God. So if the answer is no and you are not required or it is not right for you then of course you should not put yourself forward.
And now Bapak wants to know the nature of each one of you, whether there is a real and genuine preparedness in you to' become a Director with authority in the Susila Dharma project.
( Testing )
Yes, go on, give a sign of your ability...( Sharif also joins in the testing ).
Yes that's enough...Sharif is able, but he is not allowed to. So there are three.
( Ramdhan Simpson, Joshua Baker, Luqman Keele. ) Now, here is Livingston who is also able. Show it clearly now by way of dancing...
So, what Bapak has seen is that there are four of you.
( Sharif to Bapak: They need seven. ) Muchtar, could you stand in front here. What is the reason that you did not move in the testing? Show now...( Testing )...Too much work.
Hassan Vogel, please come to the front. Show now what was the reason you did not show your willingness...( Testing )
You should not be a Director because you already have a lot of work of your own. You should be a Consultant, meaning one who supervises moving from the outside not from within.
Abdullah. Why was Abdullah not moving? Bapak wants to know...It seems you should just work as an advisor.
If you need seven...( Sharif to Bapak: Actually they need a minimum of five but earlier Bapak said they could have up to seven )...till now it is only four.
Lamaan, can you come to the front? What was the reason why Lamaan did not show his willingness?..( Testing ) Or, if you can say why, just say it in words.
Sharif: ( repeating what Lamaan answered ): So that he can work in the field of the kejiwaan.
Bapak: I understand. Lamaan is happier in the field of the kejiwaan...
And now I will explain. It seems that Lamaan also doesn't quite understand - well, he understands but not sufficiently - the difference between the kejiwaan and enterprise.
Brothers, Bapak would like you to stay standing for the moment.
The enterprises that Bapak talks about are very different from enterprises that are done by those who do not have the kejiwaan meaning those who do not receive the latihan kejiwaan.
Amen. Bapak Muhammad-Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo