Ibu Rahayu's Talk at the WSC Meeting on 28 June 1998 Nusa Dua, Bali

Re-translated by Raymond Lee, checked by Sharif Horthy

Copied from ISC web site - http://www.isc.or.id/ - Passward restrictions apply

Beloved brothers and sisters, good morning!

This morning is the last we will be together at the WSC meeting, and God willing, this morning I will be able to give some more explanations and clarifications about the latihan. Although I have often given these explanations and you have heard them before, I hope my explanation this morning will give you a deeper understanding of what I am saying.

As you know, the aspect of God's power that manifests within the human self is located in our soul. And, as the nature of God is something that lives, so too our soul will live without limits - meaning that it will live in this world and later in the hereafter.

A soul that is growing, a soul that is alive, will produce some form of human culture. This culture is extremely broad. It covers the culture of life, as well as the culture of religion, and the culture of each person's individual nature.

And this culture will develop to a point where the person concerned can feel and enjoy it. This is the culture arising from the growth of our souls. This culture is contained within each individual's talents, for example they develop as a dancer, as a writer and so on. And this growth, when it manifests through their mind, results in someone who is truly alive in practising their work in this world.

So, don't have the idea that what we learn through study, what we obtain from experience, is not a talent. It is a talent too, but one which is channelled through the human mind; and what generates this activity becomes the content of your work in this world.

Don't let this give rise to misunderstanding, as it did when I talked about this in Spokane at the recent World Congress. Some people felt that healers are better, because a healer receives directly through their talent, whereas doctors obtain their knowledge through their minds. It is not wrong to do that, but what we need to understand is the process. It is not the outer characteristics that are important, but the content. It all comes back to the content of the soul - the content of each person. It's not the case that a healer is higher than a doctor, or that doctors are inferior to healers and so on.

Try to feel what I am saying. Don't just take in what I'm telling you with your mind, but understand it with your feeling. Of course they are different. Healers, whether they have learnt healing through study or not, feel guided from within; whereas doctors practice what they know based on their studies. This does not mean that there is any difference in their content. A doctor who is guided from within and has a talent for medicine, will be guided continually, and their work will not block the growth of their soul. The same goes for a healer. It's not the case that only a healer can be guided from the soul. It all depends on the content of the individual.

Returning to the question of talents, brothers and sisters, it is not easy for helpers to discover someone's talent. I get many letters asking about the talents of young people, who are growing up and would like to know. And indeed, when Bapak was still alive, he advised that discovering someone's talent should be the helper's responsibility. But in practice, most helpers are not yet able to handle this problem properly. So this work comes back to me. But this is not an effective solution, as I will not be here forever to help you! However, if I don't reply, I will cause these young people to lose hope. So, what's the answer? We need a basis for handling this problem.

Although it appears to be a simple problem, Subud keeps growing. For example, Subud families have children, and these families want to know the talents of all their children, from the eldest to the youngest. In fact, this is unnecessary. As these children grow, let them experience life, then at the right time, with this experience, they will be able to assess for themselves the kind of feeling that is growing within their soul.

What's important for you as parents, is that you do not just to leave this God; it's your duty to pay attention to your children. Their development resulting from their environment outside the home will be brought back into the family. So it's best if parents with children take responsibility and participate in their children's development.

To understand and become aware of your children's way of living is not easy. But if possible, parents should understand what each of their children's talents is. It can be observed from their daily activities, subjects which they are good at in school, and their hobbies. Later, at the right time, you can assist, if necessary, by testing which direction the child should take.

Experiencing your talents is not only necessary for young people, it can also become an issue for those of you who are mature or who have experienced life. You get a feeling that your soul is no longer comfortable working the field you have been in up till now. This often happens. But as human beings, we have been given minds which can be filled with God's guidance, so don't let this feeling become something that you cannot pass through. Don't let this feeling block your inner feeling so that, as happens to many of you, you experience inner conflict and stress. Because such stress means that you are lost - you have lost your way - all there is in front of you is a feeling of despair.

If you experience this, you must, if you are still able to, turn as fast as possible and face Almighty God. Through surrender, God willing, you will be given a way forward. But if you block your own path, how will you know that there is still a way open for you? With a feeling of surrender and through your own efforts, hopefully you will be guided to a new field which you will be able to work at easily, with enthusiasm and a feeling of well-being. As long as you feel this, your soul is able to develop freely.

I want to stress that there is a great difference between Bapak's state and our state. When Bapak was here, you could, or rather Bapak could, test your nature clearly. But for us, and perhaps for most helpers, we don't have the ability yet to know someone else's nature - even to know our own nature is beyond us. So clearly, we cannot rely solely on the helpers to be responsible for this, and then have the members complain that the helpers cannot help them in the matter of their talents.

To get over this, as a helper you can of course help with this, but please make it clear to the member concerned that what you receive is only an attempt to approach the truth, for the One who knows truth is only God. Then, whatever you tell the member will not become an unrealistic expectation for that member.

So far we have only talked about one problem, the question of talents. But the goal of members in joining Subud is not only to worship God, but, if possible, that Subud should help them provide for their lives and find happiness in this world and the next. I am sure that this is the hope of every Subud member.

This is why our work when we carry out our duties in Subud it is not easy, because our life is now two-fold. By two-fold, I mean that we have to prepare ourselves and our families to receive [what we need] by the will of God, but we are also expected to help other people to find their happiness.

So for us as Subud members, the latihan is a training that obligatory, it must be followed by every member. Because from the latihan we hope to achieve a harmony within our being.

What is this harmony? It is a "readiness" within each human being. And how does this readiness come about? It grows from the latihan. So your soul, which is alive, will penetrate each of your five senses, until it reaches your feelings, your thinking and your understanding.

So with harmony within yourself, you create a space for when you need it. Then, when you experience difficulty, that space will be filled with guidance, guidance from your own soul, which has been touched by God's power. Then, through experience, when we feel blocked, if we are calm and surrendered, the way will open up, without our willing it, the way forward will open. So do not feel that life is hard. Indeed life is hard if you don't understand the meaning of this life.

So, if you have been able to find harmony within your being, I hope that you will find it easy to create a harmonious atmosphere around you. For us, as Subud members who must always solve our problems harmoniously, we need to help each other. If you don't understand, be willing to be advised, and if you have understanding, share it with those who don't.

As I said at the beginning, I am only going to add a short explanation today. So I won't talk further, as I know that you still have a lot to do at this meeting. Then we will get closer to the reality of all that we need to do before we meet again.

Let us pray together that we will part and be able to meet again on another occasion.

Thank you.