Pages 45 - 53.
GIVING AND FORGIVING
When Jesus Prayed for Bread
Once, Jesus went walking up into the mountains and thousands of
people followed him. Because these thousands of people were hungry
and had nothing to eat, they asked him:
"Jesus, if you really are the child of God, the beloved of
God, surely you will be able to give us food - for we are hungry."
..And it was true. These people really were suffering, some were
starving. For it was at a time and in a society when few had full
stomachs and many suffered deprivation.
Bapak has heard this story told in Christian circles and has even
seen it depicted in a film. The story symbolises the situation
of human beings on earth, and indicates that people should in
fact live together in harmony; that those who have should really
give to whoever is truly in need - not just to fulfil the desires
of the needy, but to really help the ones who truly do need help
in their lives.
This is an ideal which the story of Jesus on the hilltop encapsulates:
that the right way to arrange things on earth is to be able to
give guidance and direction to those who are in difficulty, and
to provide for those who are hungry and in need. People should
have the same. There should be welfare in the life of human society.
But how could Jesus give food to these thousands of people who
had followed him when he himself had none and had brought none
with him?
..Jesus knew how great God's Love and Mercy are to a human being
who trusts in Him. So Jesus prayed to God for food, for bread,
to be given to humankind: to the thousands of followers waiting
at the foot of the mountain.
..Jesus' prayer, Jesus' request was not from his own wanting.
On the contrary, Jesus was willed by God to beseech God's Greatness
- the Greatness which was in fact already within Jesus.
Without knowing how it happened or where it came from, Jesus was
given a piece of bread, a single loaf or piece of bread, barely
enough for one person. Through the Grace of God, that one piece
of bread could be broken again and again and again, and given,
piece by piece, one by one by one, to those thousands ... The
bread was able to be justly, fairly distributed to provide sufficient
to all the people who were waiting. What they received and ate,
satisfied them all. And it was truly a miracle.
Give with real sincerity
The event is an example for us. Its significance is that Jesus
was willing to give: to give to humankind.
..The event means for us that when someone gives to his neighbour-in-need
with sincerity of heart and generosity of feeling, and with the
guidance of God already working within one, then that which is
given by that person may return to him or her a thousand-, ten
thousand-, even a million-fold.
..Jesus decided to give to one person and what he received was
enough for one. He gave to a thousand and he received for a thousand.
He gave to ten thousand and he received enough for ten thousand.
That is why Bapak tells you: Do not make the mistake and think
that if you are willing to give then you will become poor - no!
If you really give with all your heart and with real sincerity,
you will be able to receive back more, far more, than you have
given. This is what Bapak himself has experienced in his life
and seen in the lives of others. No one who gives gladly will
come to poverty or misery.
..The strong need to help the weak, the rich need to help the
poor, the intelligent need to help those less clever - in a truly
humanitarian way and with a genuine feeling of love for their
fellow human beings. .. After all, the Love of God is utterly
selfless. God's Love is utterly disinterested. God does not give
to increase His own wealth.
So, if the nature of God is like that, why should God's creatures
- such as human beings, upon whom the Grace of Love has been bestowed
- live selfishly, seek their own benefit, amass wealth and treasures
for their own comfort and pleasure? Such behaviour in fact does
not accord with the pattern of God.
Do not give help 'at random'
..But, we should realise that help given should not be given 'at
random'. Such help should not issue from us merely because we
remember we should love our fellow human beings. That is not the
way to do it.
We should, instead, be able to receive the reality of the necessity
for help to be given to our fellow human beings - as the example
of Jesus demonstrates. Jesus gave help not from his own sentiment
of love but because of its necessity: because people required
that very help, and, if it was not given, then, in the case of
the miracle of the bread, those people at the foot of the mountain
would die.
The giving that springs from your own sincerity, through God's
Will, is not confined to your own relatives, your own friends.
It should come from a spontaneous need to perform an action of
helping disinterestedly - even towards a person or people who
are perfect strangers to you.
If we do give without the awareness of the true nature of the
giving, it may seem to take the form of helping others: yet they
may not receive it with a truly grateful heart, and in the end
they may, by return, curse the giver. Therefore, in working to
spread Subud, as well as in social work or welfare for society,
we should never undertake anything in a haphazard or random way
- just giving because we desire to help people. We must be aware
and be able to receive indications from within before we undertake
anything we may wish to do, or, that may be wished for by Subud.
..We should also not help people by halves. Help should begin
from bottom and go upwards, from the outside and go inwards. It
should proceed from visible help that can be felt and seen in
the ordinary way, on, to help received in the inner feeling, in
the soul. In this way a soul which was formerly not really human
- a low level soul - may develop and become a real human soul.
This kind of help is similar to what you yourselves have received.
This help you have received is awakened from below .. and goes
upwards; goes from outside, inwards: and causes the regeneration
of all your physical organs until they become alive: which means
you have real well-being and an awareness of how to work. For,
the gift from God which you have received will eventually lead
you to live rightly, both the life of a man or woman on this earth,
and, the life of a perfect human being in the world after death.
What Bapak describes here corresponds to what the case of Jesus
exemplifies: The achievement of a purified soul and its ultimate
perfection, actually begins with improving the health of the coarse
physical body. That is why Jesus always worked: to heal the sick,
and, to rectify, put right, improve the hearts of human beings.
Because if the body is not cured and the heart is not made right
- if this is not accomplished - then the soul cannot be changed.
This means that Subud - which you receive - accords with the ministry
of Jesus.