These are just notes (nothing more), that were taken during Ibu Rahayu 2nd Talk on Sunday 10th of January 1999 at the closure of the Asian Zone I and II Kedjiwaan gathering in Cilandak, from the provisional translation of Raymond Lee

Supplied via the Subud Grapevine.

Brothers and sisters who I respect: May the please and blessings of Almighty God be upon you. It seems that there is time to start now.

Brothers and sisters, without hardly feeling it, we are already in the final stage of the fast of Ramadhan with the beginning of this coming week. May Almighty God give His Grace to those that have been following the fast.

Of course each one of us or all of us that have been carrying out the fast will be blessed by Almighty God and for those of us that are Muslims, the fast is an obligation as instructed by Almighty God; but those of us that are not Muslims, is nothing wrong to participate with the fast because it is a process of cleansing and a means to become closer to the Power of God. As long as you carry out the fast without an intention to achieve some personal goal and with a feeling of faith in Almighty God.

The gift of Grace from Almighty God does not simply fall out of the sky. It is given as God gives his grace to human kind, to us, according to our individual capacity and in line with our prayers to Almighty God.

Although the fast is an instruction from Almighty God to human kind, the purpose of the fast is a benefit the human because through the fast, Almighty God shows his love and through it we can feel the closeness to the Power of God, due of the separation or reduction of the influence of the power of the nafsu.

So while it is the will of Almighty God that the humans are placed in this world and we are accompanied with the necessary tools to live in it, if the humans are not careful, instead of making use of these tools, the tools make use of the human.

So, with the Latihan Kedjiwaan of Subud, which originates or is sourced from the Power of Almighty God, we as human beings who have within us the essence of Almighty God which has been placed there by God, feel alive because we feel the essence of God that has been placed within us.

So, by following the Latihan, the objective is that we can reach a point where we can arrange those elements or tools that also live within us so that we can live in harmony with the Power of God.

For us that follow the Latihan, our life and the life of the next world is a continuation, an unbroken chain that follows one after another.

So the work of managing ourselves or organising ourselves is the work that we have to do individually because if you don't do it yourself, who will? It is for you to organise your internal state. It is up to you to be conscious and aware of every thing that you do and what is happening in the world because if you are not able to control the different parts of your being, they will control you and if you are not aware of your actions, little by little you will not know what comes from the right place and what is nafsu.

The importance of working on yourself is to reach a point of harmony within your own being so that you know within your self what it is that you have to do because if you do not create harmony within yourself you can not create harmony outside. Without your own harmony you can't create harmony in your family, in your group and in any other place.

The cause of disharmony is simply the influence of the lower forces and if you are unwilling to acknowledge this the result is the degradation of your character as a human being and of your humanity. If those lower forces have become deeply imbedded in your being, they form your character for you and they affect your nature so that you can not any longer feel what is right and what is wrong.

If you place the lower forces in your nature, the result is that they rule and cloud your being and you become someone that is very stubborn, who always want to get their own way and you loose the possibility to feel love for your fellow men and to make sacrifices and attend the needy, because the influence of the lower forces that organise your being to the point that you do not know any longer what is nafsu and what is not.

That state will cause you great trouble in your family and in your workings with society. So, the purpose of the latihan is not simply to move the parts of your body around and to relieve you of a feeling of confusion, but to find harmony within your self and to give you a taste of happiness and pleasure that you can truly enjoy because if you can achieve the state of harmony within yourself, life is very pleasurable.

You just do not only find happiness in eating and sleeping but you attain a state of happiness and your life becomes organised and that is the benefit of finding the right place in your being. This is easy to say but hard to practice.

The state of harmony is particularly important or essential for the members to have, so that they can work together.

So avoid having the feelings that you are right, that you have your own interest or that you can't co-operate with other helpers, but solve your problems by talking them through and saying your own experience so that through finding the co-operation you will not feel timid in your life or having problems with others.

Indeed each of us have our own nature that comes to play in our interaction with other people but if you allow this nature to get out of control, you will not reach the common understanding and harmony because you have to realise that by reaching a common understanding you do not loose anything but on the contrary, you win, by controlling your nafsu.

In Subud this must become a reality because how can we say that Subud makes us good people and that Subud bring us closer to the Power of God if is not a reality yet?

How can we say to the outside if we are still fighting within ourselves and we still blame each other? Do not let this be the case. We are just saying that Subud achieves this, but where is the proof?

If somebody outside of Subud has not harmony it is OK, but for us it is essential that we find this harmony. If we have not harmony it is a serious deficiency in Subud because it means that we are not Subud people yet.

Clearly, we have to become Subud people as illustrated by Bapak and as demonstrated in the Subud Symbol. It is up to you to become the reality of the Subud Symbol of Susila Budhi Dharma. It is up to you to express this in your life because the Symbol of Subud which represents Susila Budhi Dharma is extremely good since it encompasses the whole of life in this world and in the hereafter.

If you commit mistakes you strain yourself from the Susila Budhi Dharma, you get out of the circle. You can test yourselves about the importance of this and the need of this with respect of the smooth growth of Subud. If we let a situation that is not good or that is wrong for too long, then the result is that we damage ourselves and we damage Subud.

If there are two groups that do not recognise each other and this is seen by the outside, we can see clearly see that we can damage Subud. This problem is not something new. It occurs in various faiths and various religions, but if we remember to be aware and conscious that we originate from One source, that everything comes from one source, then what are we fighting about? why do we want to be better and more clever than somebody else?

What you achieve with your heart and mind is for this world only, but the experiences that you can learn from surrendering and acceptance is what you take with you when you leave this world.

So, brothers and sisters, what I have to tell you has come to a close tonight so I hope it will be material for the helpers and members that one day might become helpers. To be diligent in the latihan because it is only through the Latihan where you might be able to find what comes from the Power of Almighty God.

Rochanah Weissinger

www.rochanah.com/zone7

www.global-bridge.com

-- Sachlan North