Ibu Rahayu's Talk to Helpers and Members of over Five Years

WORLD CONGRESS SPOKANE, ON AUGUST 16th, 1997

TENTH SUBUD WORLD CONGRESS IN SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14th, 1997

Brothers and sisters whom I respect, good morning.

This may be my last talk to you during this Tenth World Congress, so I hope that you will really be able to absorb what I am going to talk about today.

And for those of you who have been able to attend this world congress and avail yourselves of this opportunity, please take home and share whatever it is you have been able to receive and experience here, as a gift for the people in your group who weren't able to come and be present at the congress.

The status of helpers and committee is exactly the same

In this meeting I am probably mainly going to talk about things that have to do with being a helper. But before I start, perhaps I should tell you that the status of those of you who are working as helpers and those working in the Subud organisation is exactly the same, meaning that you must work together in whatever you are doing and in finding what is right for the Subud membership. That way there will not be feelings about who is more important or whose work is more valuable.

And as for how to do the work, Bapak has already clearly laid down how each of you should do your various jobs. Regarding the work of helpers and helpers' groups, I believe that the lines Bapak laid down are quite clear, from the local helpers to the international helpers. You are already able to carry this out, but there are still many shortcomings, or maybe the helpers' groups have not been putting [Bapak's guidance] into practice.

Self interest can stop your group from growing

Sometimes you still have a feeling of self-interest within you, and this feeling can actually stop your group from growing. Therefore as far as possible we should do just what is in front of us and really surrender, so that in carrying out our duty as helpers we set an example for those who will do it after us.

For example, there are those who go on being 'National Helpers' after their term. They just keep going. Yes, it is good that those people feel they are serving Subud and for that reason they don't want to give up their duties, but the effect is that they are not giving an opportunity to others.

In Subud we helpers all need to learn - and from not knowing anything, we end up knowing how to do it. The right way to carry out our duty in the spiritual area is that we should completely put aside the wishes that are stuck to our being, and open the way as wide as possible within our self for the power of God to come through.

The fact is that I have received letters from several groups asking me to sort out this problem. But according to the structure of Subud, and also for me personally, it is not appropriate that I should sort out such problems that come up in groups. Therefore I leave it to the international helpers to sort out situations where a group is not yet able to resolve it's own problems.

Because if we let such problems drag on, they will stifle the growth of the whole group. So my role in this is just that of an advisor; I don't have the authority to get involved in the affairs of particular groups, whether it has to do with the organisation or the spiritual side.

Regarding our role as helpers, we are aware that our work for the growth of Subud involves two duties or responsibilities. One is to help our fellow Subud members and the other is to develop our own latihan. This means that if you have declared yourself to be ready, able and willing to become a helper, then of course you have to do the work. We don't become helpers just to earn respect.

Perhaps some of you feel that when you have become a helper you can do as you please - while in fact it is just the opposite. If you call yourself a helper, you have to do the work of a helper. So in your work as a helper, don't let yourself be obstructed by your wishes and self-interest, or use the opportunity to hurt other people.

The spiritual realm - all that concerns the life of the soul - embraces the whole of human life. It has no limit, and it includes all of the form and content of life. Therefore, as a helper, don't be too quick to consider yourself already fully competent in [spiritual matters]. For what exists in the spiritual realm is so immense that you may not be able to encounter all of it while you are here in this world.

Therefore a helper cannot work alone in dealing with all the problems that come up. That is why Bapak set up helpers' groups, so that everything can be discussed and sorted out together. To be able to do this, Bapak instituted the practice of helpers regularly doing latihan together and meeting together. But be careful not to then treat these meetings as opportunities to bring up things that create disharmony among you.

As I said in my earlier talk, our spiritual development proceeds in stages. This starts with the physical, where you are perhaps only aware of things you feel in your physical body.

Then there are those who have gone deeper and can already feel and benefit from something that arises from their feeling, and some from their wisdom.

And then there are those who have gone deeper still and can be present in their self-awareness. In reality, of course, every helper should already have gone through all these stages.

For example, when you have reached and possess a state of self-awareness, you will always be able to place yourself in the state that is needed and fulfil whatever is needed.

In practical terms, when you are doing your duty helping the members, it can happen that you come up against a situation where you feel completely incapable of providing what a member needs. And then, through your surrender and your awareness, you are able to create a space where you can receive the touch of God's power which is there to help you. But if you are not yet able to provide that space, how can God get through to you with what you need?

Helpers differ in their ability

It is evident that all helpers are not the same. They differ in their ability and in their feeling, and that is why it is very necessary that a helpers' group should always be united in solving problems and in whatever they do. For if you are not united, then the lack of ability of individual helpers will be felt by the members, who can sometimes feel more than the helpers. This is a fact. We cannot deny that a member may have a better understanding than a helper.

And this can lead to criticism from the members, which in fact you have to accept; because criticism is not necessarily a bad thing. You need to realise that it reflects your shortcomings as helpers. So it is your responsibility to discuss together in the helpers' group any issues that are raised by the members, so that all the helpers come to understand what it is the members are asking.

Since we do the latihan in a state of self-awareness, we are able to be in a state where we no longer forget ourselves in what we are doing.

About openings

Take an example. Suppose a candidate wishes to be opened. For the one wanting to be opened this is something new, something unusual, so that sometimes such a person feels as if they are facing something frightening.

Therefore in the opening we of course all want to create a peaceful atmosphere and a state of surrender, so that the one being opened can really feel the touch which they receive through those of you who are responsible for opening them. But sometimes, this quiet atmosphere is shattered by the voice, for example, of one of the helpers doing the opening. The helper starts shouting and disturbs the state of quiet that the candidate needs, with the result that he or she doesn't feel any reaction from the opening. Being scared, they perhaps open their eyes to find out why the person opening them is shouting.

So it is very important for me to explain to you that in carrying out our responsibilities as helpers we always have to follow whatever is required by the circumstances. Certainly, you can be as loud as you like in your latihan, but in an opening you have to create an atmosphere of closeness between the one who is being opened and the one doing the opening. So at that time you should not feel that you need to express your own latihan, because that will confuse the one being opened and create an atmosphere they find disturbing.

This was just one example, and there are so many things that happen in the latihan.

Another is when a member asks about an experience they have had. As far as possible you should not use your thinking when you reply - but give an appropriate answer, meaning one that comes from your deep feeling, that is, your inner feeling. Why is that important? Because it is a fact that, when the answer truly comes from your self, meaning from the latihan rather than from your thinking - even if the words are just the same - it will be well received by the person who is asking.

Another demand that is placed on those of you who have become helpers, is that you will be an example - or will be taken as an example - by the members whom you are looking after. By 'looking after' I don't mean that you look after their souls, but just their practice of the latihan.

Because in reality, brothers and sisters, if we remember where we are in our own development as human beings, we will of course realise that we won't be able to fulfil all the demands of the members. This is the human condition; we are not perfect and will always have shortcomings. Therefore it is necessary to make the members understand that in the latihan and on the spiritual path it is not the helpers who will carry their soul forward. Each person is responsible for the formation and development of their own soul.

So if a helper cannot answer a question, that's normal. Don't force yourself and try to satisfy everybody - it will create a problem for you, because you will feel burdened by your own wish to satisfy others.

When a helper becomes depressed

That is why there are helpers who at times easily become depressed in carrying out their duties. When that happens it is one of the signs that in doing your job as a helper you are not yet able to use the space you have within you in dealing with others. But once you are able to able to use it, you will find that the work of a helper is not a burden, because, besides helping others, you will be opening the way for yourself. What you tell them and what you do may also help you; so helping others will bring you new experiences.

Just as an example, I would like to tell you about how I do my duty, giving names and solving problems. And these problems are not all the same - there are of course all sorts of things that come up from among all of you.

Choosing names

As far as names are concerned, it is not as easy as you think. Each person expects me to be able to answer right away; but in order to get close to the truth - and I say 'close to the truth' because I could be wrong - every time I give a name I have to feel within my self for a name that is right for that person and good for them. Even if this looks easy, it is also testing. So if I have to give names for ten people I have test ten times.

That is why I am asking you to be patient if my answer doesn't come to you quickly. Sometimes when I am asking for a name, the answer comes very quickly, but at other times it is difficult. I have to search just to get one name and it takes a long time. That's why I have to pace myself according to my own capacity. If there is something I cannot do at a given time I leave it, and later when I am relaxed sometimes the answer comes. What this means is that when we are forcing ourselves we do not get any help. The same is true of problems, some of which are very difficult to answer. Because most of the problems I get are not spiritual problems. Maybe it's quite easy for me to answer spiritual problems, but when the problems are to do with life, especially with marriage, and they come in many shapes and sizes, then it is really not easy for me.

Problems with marriages

So I have drawn a line - because marriage problems are the result of two people's actions. So many of you already know that 'Ibu Rahayu does not give advice about marital problems'. I do this on purpose, because the fact is that in Subud we have received the latihan and each of us is guided to find a way of life that is harmonious. So why can't [the two people] solve the problem that they themselves have created? Why does it have to be dealt with by somebody else?

Perhaps dealing with these marital problems is hard not only for me but also for other helpers. Our answer may be right for one marriage partner, but wrong for the other. So for those of you who have done latihan for a long time and are experiencing a problem in your marriage, I would like you to try to find out for yourself why it is that, after doing latihan for so long in order to become a human being who has susila, you can still fall down in trying to find the right way of life.

These are some of our experiences as helpers. It means that as a helper, my situation is no different from yours. If perhaps I am more able to satisfy the needs of those who need help, it's because I really do the work and place myself as a helper, if God gives me His grace.

Don't pretend to ourselves about our true state

And I trust that, if God gives us his blessing, it will be easy for us to do our work as helpers. It will be easy to do, providing we don't pretend to ourselves about our true state. Because as human beings we really know nothing. So in doing your job as a helper don't show off that you are a wonderful helper who can be trusted, because that will give rise to self interest, which you yourself may be unaware of. This will stick to you and have the result that you cease to understand your responsibility, which is simply to put those who wish to worship God through the latihan on the right track. But perhaps because there is an ulterior motive within them, there are helpers who think they can help the members to be more adept by giving them something extra, which, they say, enables them to progress faster in the latihan or to reach their goal more quickly. That's what they think. It is already clear that their wish deviates from the true latihan, which is pure.

Because the latihan is a training of your soul. As we all know, it is not a teaching that can be studied, or taught by the helpers or anybody else. So everything within you will progress according to your own capacity. So don't mix the latihan with any other practice or movement, to ensure that your soul does not experience any confrontation or conflict in the course of your development. Because the growth of your soul is of a different nature from those things that do not come from the power of God. Perhaps you do not understand that besides the power of God there are other powers of whose origins you are unaware.

That's it, brothers and sisters. I believe what I have just explained is information you can use in carrying out your duties as helpers, in assisting your brothers and sisters. And for those of you who have been doing the latihan for a long time and who may one day become helpers, what you have just heard will add to your knowledge about Subud.

I also want to thank you and say goodbye to those who will be leaving for home. I wish you a good journey and look forward to meeting you again in four years' time, perhaps in a different atmosphere [laughter]. But in the meantime, I hope you will always create a feeling of unity between everybody in Subud. Thank you.

Please note that this is the official translation, replacing the provisional one that has been circulated.