Ibu Rahayu's Opening Talk - Asia Pacific Zone Meeting

Rungansari Latihan Hall Tengkiling, Kalimantan

Talk Ref:00 TKL 1

Approved translation:
(Retranslated by Sharif Horthy, checked by Tuti Horthy)

Subud Brothers and Sisters - those of you from Indonesia as well as the guests from abroad - good day, and may the peace, blessings and grace of God be with you all.

Brothers and Sisters, I give praise to the One Almighty God for his grace that today we are successfully starting this zone meeting in Tangkiling, in Central Kalimantan. One could say that this occasion is a first step for Subud International, which, by setting foot in Tangkiling, is setting out on a pioneering journey that Bapak envisioned while he was still with us.

Therefore don't dirty or spoil this pioneering work with something that is out of place. For our aim - the aim of Subud - is the same, that is, we want to continue towards the ideals that Bapak set for us, where up till now we do not know yet the use or purpose for which we have come this far. For this reason I implore you that this undertaking should become our shared responsibility - of the local group as well as the national committee and of those from abroad - so that we may be truly united in following the right path.

If we consider our spiritual journey, then we are still at the stage of asma. What is asma? Asma is 'work'. So this is one of the challenges Subud members are having to face in following this process of asma or 'work'. And what we call 'work' of course embraces the whole of human life, including your latihan. Work doesn't just mean physical work; the latihan can also be called work, for the latihan also has its own process.

The latihan doesn't only clean our being - we also need to prepare ourselves and to find an awareness, so that we are aware of what we are facing. That is the purpose of the latihan. So the latihan is more than just latihan - it is based on cleansing and preparation. We should know and understand its use and it's aim. If we follow the latihan for years, or even decades, but we don't understand its meaning or its use, it's as if our doing the latihan is pointless.

Therefore today I'm intentionally not going to talk again about the meaning of the spiritual way. Let us rather become aware of ourselves. How far has the working of the latihan progressed within our own individual self, and what has been its use? Because I think you already understand the connection between the latihan and the kejiwaan. What you haven't understood sufficiently is its implementation. I believe that what you have received is already good. What is not yet right is the way you put those good things into practice in your life.

Because of this, there are even some people in Subud who believe that this Subud latihan is incomplete. They consider that what we receive in the latihan is just 'theory' and besides that you have to tell people what to do: 'You have to do this and this and this and this'. So these people say that the latihan by itself is not complete, that it needs to be completed. And they feel that this missing part should be written down in the form of a book that each person can read for himself or herself. This is a warning - for if we were to adopt this idea then Subud would be a teaching and not a receiving. So then what? What is the point of Subud, what is the point of the latihan, if we are not able to apply it in our life? This is a misunderstanding by those who do not yet understand that Subud is all embracing - that it is God Himself who is going to guide you and educate you.

Only, as I said earlier, you don't pay enough attention or you don't sufficiently understand what the latihan is. Many of you simply wait for God to do the work. For example: 'If I am not a good person, let God make me better!' Whereas God has told us that a person will become good if that person himself or herself is willing to make an effort to be good. And if a person wants to make progress towards their true aim, then they must make an effort to direct their individual path towards God.

The Subud latihan is a development, a cleansing and an education that springs from within us. Cleansing doesn't mean that we are scrubbed, no. You are cleaned so that you get to know your own self. And you are introduced to a number of feelings. What does it feel like to be greedy? What does it feel like to be sad? What does it feel like to be ambitious? You are taught all this from within.

Why do you need to be shown this? So that you understand which feelings you should avoid and which you should follow. It is an education from within. Do not think that if you are alive your true individuality is also alive, so that it will also infuse your ego with life. For then you believe that you alone are right, you alone have courage, and so on. While in fact these are only your passions, which you can get to know, but which you shouldn't follow. In this way you yourself will train and refine them.

That is what we call education from within. It is not an education that you can follow from a book, for every person has their own state and spiritual level. Therefore it cannot be put in a book or reduced to a code of ethics - that is something Bapak totally rejected, so I am emphasising it again - because everybody is different. But that doesn't mean that you should understand for yourself and only believe in yourself to the extent that you don't want to know what other people believe in. Don't be like that.

And the education of life is very broad, brothers and sisters. I is not just for escaping from our passions, but also for living our life. Here is an example: supposing you are about to eat. Why is it that you are quiet for a moment before eating? We don't need to write this down in a book, do we, and say: 'Before you eat you have to say Bismillah-irrohman-irrohim or to say the Al Fatihah' - that's not it. Rather, what you need to feel is that what you are eating and what you take into yourself are also creatures of God that will contribute to your own form. So it doesn't mean that this is something 'we must do' - we feel it for ourselves, we realise that these things we eat are also God's creatures. This is just one example; there are many more.

Another is our work together in Subud. Many people - both inside and outside Subud - ask me why it is actually harder to work with Subud people. Why is it easier to work with people who are not in Subud, and when Subud people work with other Subud people, why do we often meet with difficulties? There is obviously something wrong here, but where does it come from? Perhaps from ourselves. We are unaware who is wrong and who is right, for both claim to be right and perhaps both are wrong.

I even once got a letter from a long-time Subud member about the fact that whenever there is a meeting I advise you to look after the harmony of our Subud family, or I say that we must be harmonious in our meeting. So he said, 'Why does Ibu Rahayu force people to be in harmony, since you cannot force harmony on people. It can simply happen that something arises in the course of a problem and causes disharmony.' He was implying that I am forcing you all to be in harmony.

So of course I answered him: 'When I advise people to be in harmony, it is for Subud people, not for people who are not in Subud. And when I ask for harmony I don't expect it to arise then and there in that meeting; not at all. I'm referring to something you have already created and learnt during the decades that you have done the latihan; that you have become able to organise your own self to be in harmony, and that you have become able to create harmony in your own family. So that then when you hold a meeting or form a group, you are able to create harmony there too.'

So I'm not telling you to create instant harmony. No, what I'm hoping for is to see the result of your latihan. It means that if you are not yet able to apply harmony to everything you do, it means you are unable as yet to know or to reap the benefit of your latihan.

And, of course, this has a bad effect for us in Subud. Because there are those who ask why it is that in the church they feel there is always harmony, while in Subud there is always quarrelling. That is what they say. So we need to pay attention to that. Not just me, but you as well. How can we do our latihan and obtain the result we hope for - as do all human beings - that we help and protect others and build our own self as a creature of God, as a human being? Because humans are the highest creatures of God, and God hopes that when we return to God we return with the nature that God originally created, that of a human being. Let us not return human in appearance, but not human, or not yet human, within.

Brothers and sisters, whom I respect, in truth Bapak has already laid down the direction of what we are doing in Subud - how to work, how to be compassionate, how to do enterprise, lots of things. I believe Bapak has also shown us clearly how to protect the young generation through the Youth. But of course such directions cannot embrace everything, because, as I said, life is very wide. From time to time problems will come up. But if we can consciously remember the directions that Bapak has given us, I believe Subud will be safe, or can be saved. But if people have their own ideas and follow their own rightness it will deviate from what is willed for Subud.

Like this zone meeting, which is not far from the problems between the committee and the helpers. Bapak once said that helpers groups and committees must live together. In fact, the helpers came first, for there is the latihan thanks to the helpers. Perhaps if we were just one or two people, we wouldn't need a committee, but because Subud has grown so much it can no longer be looked after by someone whom we regard as our teacher or our guide. Therefore we have formed a vessel, which is the organisation. Clearly, brothers and sisters, that the organisation came about after the there was already Subud activity.

If there is no vessel for this Subud activity, those who do the latihan won't know their direction; that is why we need an organisation. So do not consider that the organisation is more important than the spiritual side, or that the spiritual side is more important than the organisation. We need both and both must grow. So do not make the mistake of not valuing the organisation or not valuing the helpers.

Brothers and sisters, doing our duty in Subud, whether as a committee member or a helper, is hard work. Because we all share the responsibility of developing and looking after Subud in accordance with God's will. What God wills is of course lots of things; but if you wish to find out or pursue God's will through doing this Subud latihan, then make use of your own self with the latihan. If you believe in something that is right, you will obtain the truth, if God wills. As I said earlier, what we are doing now is asma - we are working. We are making efforts and training ourselves through the latihan. And where will that take us in the end? What is the af'al (result) going to be like? That result is what we will be able to offer to God once we have done our asma well. If we have done our work well, God may bring us to a place of truth.

This relates to the things we are pioneering here in Kalimantan, for instance. Why is it that our brothers and sisters from far away are participating, why are they still willing to work and help with the development of Kalimantan? Not because they are rich - the fact is that we don't have any rich people in Subud. It is because there is an awareness within them. So I don't want you to have a feeling like, 'Oh, these are all rich people in Subud!' And then if you are not rich, you will stay away and will be scared to join in the work. That is wrong.

I also don't understand why I'm here in Kalimantan or why I built a house here, since I don't live here. But I feel like participating and carrying on with this undertaking that Bapak started, in order to learn what it is. Well, it is clear now that my house is useful - the young people who have started to work here are living in it, and so can I whenever I'm here. It has a benefit. I didn't decide to build a house here because I had too much money. No, it was because I wanted to encourage all of you, and set an example.

That is very necessary. The example you set is a measure of your self-worth. This means that if you wish to be valued by others, you must also value other people. And if you say that you are excellent or already perfect, then demonstrate that to others. It is others who are the judge of that, not you. You may say that you are already pure, that you are this and that, but what you do, what is shown by your behaviour, is not yet in accordance with what you say or what you think. So it is not you who are the judge in this, but other people.

That's it, brothers and sisters. It is getting hotter all the time, so forgive me if I end this opening address to the Zone Meeting. I pray that this Zone Meeting will be successful, and that you will be able to convey what you find here to those whom you represent, with the hope that the coming Congress here in Kalimantan will be greeted with open hearts by those who wish to come. It is certain that the congress cannot be the same as the one in Spokane. It cannot be; one cannot make a congress here like in some other place. But I pray that the Congress in Kalimantan, even though we are holding it in this hot place, will receive the support of everyone - that we will all support the World Subud Association who have decided to hold the Congress in Kalimantan.

That is all, and thank you. May the peace, blessings and grace of God be with you all.