Ibu Rahayu's Talk to Members

Nordweiger House, Holland

Talk Ref: 99 NWH 1

Provisional Translation by Raymond Lee

Brothers and sisters whom I respect, let us thank Almighty God that today we can meet and be together, and hold this Zonal Gathering, and that members from other zones are here too, and that I have this opportunity to see you and explain about this spiritual path and the latihan we all do.

As human beings decreed by God to live in this world, we have two responsibilities: the first concerns the life of our soul and the second concerns our life in this world.

We possess a soul because we have been decreed by God to be one of the natures of God that takes the form of a human being. And this nature of God is alive; and the part of man's being that is alive is the soul.

However, the human soul, both before and after birth, through childhood and adulthood, lives under the conditions and state of this world.

Even though we are not aware of it, what gives us our form is in truth not fully our own, What makes up our being is not only what we obtain in this world but also what we inherit from our parents.

During the time of the prophets, when the prophets were still complete human beings, there was no barrier between them, their soul, and the power of Almighty God.

But, over time, through man's own progress and development in the world, this contact with God's power has grown distant and become weaker and weaker.

So, this gift of God that was received by Bapak is a way for human beings to be reminded that God constantly wants to show all of us the way to return to God as human beings.

So we must always be grateful that God continues to love His creatures by giving them a contact which Bapak received first and which has spread to all of you.

But it is not enough to just to get this contact at the time of your opening, the contact needs constant watering and respect so that this light of God will always shine within you.

Because if you do not care for and protect this light and it is covered up by all kinds of powers that don't come from God, the path we should follow will be closed off again.

Because we know that within our being, God equips us for life on earth with forces below the human level, meaning the low forces which give you your form in this world - the forces of matter, the forces of vegetation, and the forces of animal life.

And these low forces are not there to disturb humans, they are there to help humans live their life in this world. So matter, or these low forces, can't disturb human beings unless humans give them the opportunity to do so.

This is why you really need the latihan to develop and prepare your human soul to become the master of the house, so it will organise and put right what needs to be done without being fooled by these low forces.

All of this is God's work, but as human beings, it is not possible for us to change if we don't make an effort to improve ourselves.

Furthermore, this spiritual training has no limit because it embraces every aspect of human life in this life and later when you are not here. So we cannot determine a point when your latihan is complete because in truth the part of you that is alive is your soul that you take with you from this world into the next.

So although your latihan, or what you do in your latihan each time, seems trivial, maybe you don't realise that each part of your human self grows and is prepared.

Because what is alive is not just what you can see, your physical body, but every part of your human soul comes to life. You bring to life your eyes, your other senses and so on.

Then, once a place within you, or your soul is prepared, you will come close to experiencing what the prophets experienced. Because if the power of God so wills, you will be able to feel or be close to the Great Power, and perhaps, if God wills, you will see something, or hear something, or touch something, beyond human thought.

Then, in this way, if God gives you something, whether for example it is with your hand, or your hearing or your mouth, you can receive it with the parts of you that are alive and close to the Great Power.

This latihan or spiritual training is not just active when you do latihan, but every part of your life is filled by latihan.

This is why those of you who have done latihan a long time may do something, but you feel a doubt within you as if someone is advising you or telling you not to do what you shouldn't do.

But human nature is human nature and you often think you can get away with it without God knowing. But (God knows) whatever you do. And this is even more so after you do latihan. If you do something wrong knowing that it is bad for you, then it is a big mistake.

Sometimes this is a test from God. You don't realise that even though you have done latihan a long time, you still have tests in your life which you must pass through. But if this happens to you, don't despair. It is a reminder to you that you must turn your being to the light that you carry within from the latihan.

This is the reason why people in Subud who do the latihan are not allowed to despair.

So brothers and sisters, indeed we can never neglect this latihan because it is closely connected with everything we do in this world. And whether it is in our family, or in society, anything can happen at any time.

This is why on this spiritual path we really need this teaching from within. So we must have patience, confidence in ourselves and we must always have faith in Almighty God. And you can achieve all of this if you sincerely try and pray to God to be guided by the Power of God.

And during our life in this world, from the time we are born, we are part of everything that happens in the world. For example, we are instructed in our religion from the time we are small. And we are influenced by what happens around us, such as the traditions or the culture of the place where we live.

So the question is, can these developments in society interfere with our spiritual training?

As I said earlier, anything that does not come from the power of God cannot help your soul to find what is truly your own. So when you do latihan, only use what is pure, what comes from within you. And before you do latihan pray to God to be guided and help you grow.

Then your latihan will truly come from yourself. So your latihan does not come from Bapak, but in your latihan you truly use the contact, the essence of God within you. In this way your latihan comes without using any kind of theory or method or power other than the contact between you and God.

But in fact the reverse will be true, because you are alive, then you take this life within you into the work you do to earn a living.

For example, even when you perform the rites of your religion, your latihan is active, as though it participates when you carry out the rites or customs of your religion.

And it is also with you in your everyday activities or work which is in line with your individual talents or nature.

Of course, being human, we cannot picture, or know or understand what's best for each of you individually. You must find your talent yourself. You must feel for yourself and choose what is in line with your own nature.

Of course, if you know what it is, you will choose what's best and what you can achieve quickly. But it may be that you don't have the ability to do this yet and neither do the helpers have the capacity to meet this need for everyone who is here, for example.

Well, if some of you want to try or are willing to help, then God willing you will be able to. But I don't think that we are able yet to provide this help to every Subud member. Because I think that even the helpers can't do this yet.

So how can we find a way to help each other so that we can be guided towards what each of us needs?

This is not as easy as you think! Even for me, as someone whom you can say has been in Subud for a long time and who frequently has to handle problems like this, it is still difficult to help someone.

So don't think that whatever you ask I can always help. It depends on God's will, and what I can give is only an approximation of God's truth. Because in fact in Subud we are advised not to develop an ability to know things before they happen, or to use fortune telling or shamanism, that rely on powers that are not the power of God.

So how do we help someone who needs it?

For parents with young children, it is a parental responsibility to pay attention to your child's development, so that you truly understand what direction is best to guide your children in.

This is why Bapak encouraged us to start Subud schools. So that the teachers, as representatives of the parents, help guide the talent or ability of the child.

Because we cannot help a child's development just like that, by giving them a hope or expectation that is not in line with God's will for them. Even now, many new members and young children in Subud still ask me what their talent is. And sometimes these children are not even opened, yet they send me letters to ask what their talent is and what their work should be.

Well, I don't agree with this, because these children need a normal education, not a spiritual one. These children need to go through a normal process that people normally experience so they are trained for life and have a sound basis which will stand them in good stead later.

If we give them shortcuts then they will think that life is easy when in fact life is full of trials and challenges and these children face a long struggle in life.

So we should, as I just said, get to know the child's nature, and advise or guide them along a path that they enjoy and which is within their capacity to understand. But neither is it right to force them, because this will create a conflict within the child and then they feel there is no clear way for their life ahead.

This is why when I advise them or reply to their letters, I always ask what they are good at in school, and what they enjoy doing. So I don't give an answer but I try to approach the ability of the child and what they want to do in life.

So I recommend that as helpers, you do the same when a member asks for your help. Because if you don't help, you may cause that person to despair when in fact they trust you as a helper to help them look for the right direction for their life.

Once you are close to the child's ability, then you can test what direction will be closest to the child's nature.

And for all you young people, I hope you will try to understand your own talent. Try to examine yourself because this is what you are trained to do in latihan. But sometimes, to know your talent takes time for your soul to progress through the various stages. Sometimes, it is only after you do latihan a long time that you feel your work is not suitable for you.

If you find something is easy to do and you feel free and open when you do it, it means that it does not conflict with your soul. In fact, this is good enough and you can carry on with what you are doing. Because work that you do with ease and which you can understand will bring progress to your life - both to the life of your soul and your daily life, and in addition your worldly progress will not conflict with the growth of your soul.

Then your life is always filled with the power of God. And if you become expert in your work you are always guided by Almighty God. Then, in your work, whether it is as a doctor, or an architect and so on, it's as though you are aided or taught by your own self. And sometimes if you have a problem that you can't solve with your mind, a way opens for you to receive something from beyond human thought.

And now I would like to explain in more detail about the health care professions, or healing activities that use various theories or methods, so that we can resolve this issue here.

These days many of you, even though you are still young, feel that you have a talent for healing by using various therapies and so on, so that many young people want to be healers.

In fact, in Subud, it is easy to become a healer. This is because, as I said earlier, this latihan comes from the power of God. If God wills it, and you give a glass of water to someone who is sick, and you truly believe in God, they will be made well.

Then because this happens, you feel, "Oh, I really have a talent to be a healer!" In fact, healing is a phase that every Subud member will experience. So it is not a talent, but (a manifestation) of God's grace.

But many of you, when you experience this, for example when you massage someone and they get well, or you give them something and they get better, you think that this is all that the latihan is for.

I want to make this clear so that you realise that the latihan goes much further than that. Subud is not a healing method, it is a spiritual training which is something hard to find. So I encourage all you young members not to be satisfied with being a healer but strive for your highest ideals in line with your own talents or ability.

And for those of you who work as healers or in health care, carry out your work sincerely to truly help others. But when you help others, don't influence them to use something that is not from the power of God.

Some of you may experience in your work, or since working in this field, that you still feel the latihan helps you. This means that you are alive and in whatever you do there is life and that this life within you is truly compatible with your profession, which is to help people through healthcare or through sport.

But don't use these methods in your latihan or to awaken the souls of other people. Because only God can help the human soul, and whatever is not from the power of God, cannot be taken with you and is limited to this world only.

Because of this, I want to advise those of you who work in healthcare or healing, that the power you use may be from a source that you don't know. Usually this power originates in this world, but you end up trusting it so much that you think that this power of the material world is greater than the power of God.

If you go that far then there will be a conflict in your being and a time will come when you have to choose between Subud or whatever it is that you use as a basis for your life.

If I may speak honestly, perhaps you use spirits when you help someone. By spirit, I mean someone you cannot see or a nature that is invisible. If you use these, it is a debt and later on you have to repay everything that you borrow. This is the reality and for you who do latihan, we can see or feel this by testing, "How is it for us if we are helped by a power other than the power of God?"

So what I have explained today covers every aspect of human life, from small details to the major issues. In truth there is no end to explanations about the spiritual life because there are always human problems and events in the world and anything can happen.

This is why we always need to do latihan. So don't think that if you are young you still have lots of time left, so what you do is unimportant, or, if you are old, that you are not able to do latihan anymore. Because the latihan will adjust to your situation. If we are old, our latihan is not like a young person's. We may, for example, just sit and feel what is going on inside us.

As a young person, don't feel that you are young and that God willing, you will live a long time, so you can do whatever you want. This is the opportunity, while you still have time, to correct the mistakes of your parents. You can learn from them what's good and what is not. So embrace what's good and discard what's not.

Brothers and sisters, I will finish my explanations about this spiritual training. I hope there will be time later on to add to these explanations that you need. Thank you!