Bapak's First Talk at Coombe Springs 1957

For those of you who are not yet opened it is not time for you to listen to this, for what Bapak is going to explain is more or less the direction and requirements of the spiritual way. Maybe one day you too can listen. According to Bapak's experience, it is not Bapak who would be harmed, but those listeners who have not yet received the training [latihan], since they still lack the inner strength to receive this. It might lead to unpleasant consequences, and if that happens they will certainly blame Bapak.

Brothers and sisters, children, all of you who are present here at this time, before Bapak explains what is needed and other matters related to the spirit, Bapak - as an ordinary human being who is always affected and enveloped by mistakes in his behaviour - does not forget to ask your forgiveness in case there is something in what he says that offends you, that hurts your feelings and makes you unhappy. That is what Bapak asks of you all.

As regards the training [latihan] that you have all received, this is in truth the worship of the One God by human beings, but not in a way that is familiar to you, for Bapak can say that this training is something new that he has been willed by God to practise. But its content is not new: it was present at the beginning of everything, and it was recorded as the content of all those who have tried to worship the greatness of God.

And why does this particular method differ from the others? Maybe because nowadays human beings are truly oppressed by the conditions of rapid progress that are taking place, and are unwilling, or find it hard to resist all the pressures that are continuously acting upon them. For human beings nowadays are no longer like those in earlier times who only experienced quietness and tranquillity; today human beings are confronted by conditions that are full of things that can harm and diminish their human status.

This is perhaps why it is God's will that we should be able to practice our worship without neglecting or putting aside or withdrawing from the state of the world we face at this time. It is clear that, whatever it was that you received in your training [latihan], you remained fully conscious. The purpose or significance of this is that God indeed intends human beings to worship Him without withdrawing from or putting aside their normal needs in this world. So, in order to worship God you do not need to isolate yourself, avoid society or your worldly needs. You should be able to worship God while living a normal life, enjoying the companionship of your wife, children and friends.

Indeed, this state or experience you have received is unexpected and also beyond the realm of the human intellect. It is also beyond human expectation that a teaching or practice or training that leads to the worship of God looks so simple and can be practiced while living the complete life of a normal human being. That is why there are very many people who consider - and say - that what we obtain in the training [latihan] cannot be true because we only practice it for such a very short time. In general, as Bapak himself found out, many of those who practice what Bapak called the worship of God or apply themselves to mystical ways, spend 'durable amounts of time at' it.

Bapak does not find fault with these opinions, for indeed that is generally how it was done in the past. But the fact that Bapak has been able to receive, and in turn to guide you, by such a simple way, is fortunate for human beings in general. And perhaps this has happened because of the will of God who - if we thought of God as a human - has remembered the state of mankind at this time. However, if Bapak examines the state of the world - and God's response to it - more deeply and more broadly, it becomes clear that [what we have received] is indeed well suited to our time or our epoch and works in a way that fits with today.

In fact, in times long past something like this already existed, and was also received by the prophets; the reason why it was not practiced is because at that time such a way was not needed. The present is different from those earlier times and those times were very different from today. This is what Bapak needed to explain regarding the apparent difference between the one and the other.

What you have received is not something that is generally easy to obtain, although in reality it exists within the being of every kind of creature, especially human beings. But because human beings have for generations been exposed to and influenced by forces lower than the human, the factor that exists in man's being and which can awaken his human soul [jiwa] has for a long time been covered up by his own thought processes and desires.

So this is not new but, on the contrary, something very old that was in fact present at the creation of all life. In Islam it is referred to as the nature of God's power: it is within the innermost but also beyond the outermost. It is also higher than the highest, it comes at the end of everything and is lower than the lowest. So the evident nature of God's essence is that it envelops everything and is in the innermost of everything. Therefore it is true that man is in the midst of and surrounded by God's power.

The reason why human beings are unable to sense this is because they are covered by their own desires [nafsu] and thought processes. There are many seekers who try to paralyse their desires using their thinking, in order to be able to feel or receive the touch of the power of life that envelops them. As Bapak said just now, it is extremely difficult for them to do so because, in general, it is very hard for human beings today to put aside their pleasures and everyday human needs.

That is why Bapak says: how great is our good fortune and happiness that we have obtained this in a very easy way. We have to realise that the ease with which we have received this is by the will of God, in order that human beings should be able to worship Him in an easy way. So we, as human beings, must be able to be aware in ourselves how much God loves mankind. Therefore it is a very great sin for us if we do not truly practice what God has given us in this easy way.

It is not yet possible for you to truly think about what you have received; indeed it is not yet time for you to be able to really understand it, because it still arises and awakens in the most inner part of your inner being. But that power in there, the essence of God [sifat zat Tuhan], is itself spontaneously aware of what is happening. Human beings cannot possibly understand in a true way the touch of that all-enveloping life force, because that first requires that the life force which has begun to manifest in there should push outwards, piercing the first barrier, which is called the physical body. This has the effect of bringing about movements in the inner feeling. So the movements that you have received are movements that arise due to the Great Power from God, which is pushing outwards.

Why does it have to happen this way? Because these days human beings believe more in their physical being, that is, they believe what they can see, believe what they can touch and believe what they can think about. That is why God wills that this barrier should be pierced, for these are precisely the instruments that don't yet truly believe in God's greatness. In this way the whole of man's body becomes cleansed through the movements that you receive. Only once that cleansing has taken place can a human being truly receive and understand the content of his inner feeling. And this barrier that only the power of God can pierce is, as Bapak told you, the outermost one, the physical body.

Only once that has happened do you progress or go deeper to the second barrier, which is called the body of the feeling. For the body of the feeling is also always disturbed and filled by your desires and thought processes so that your daydreams are also always enveloped by the material forces, by forces or powers lower than man, and all that needs to be cleaned out.

When that has been cleaned, we progress again or go deeper to the third barrier, which Bapak calls the barrier of human understanding. The understanding of man is also filled with bad forces, which continuously detract from human life as it should be. This too needs to be cleaned of all that disturbs it. Only when that is complete do we proceed or go deeper to the fourth barrier, which is called the consciousness of the life of the inner self

That too is still constantly rendered dirty or influenced by forces lower than human, with the result that there are not a few people of gentle behaviour and character who are nevertheless capable of doing reprehensible things, things that detract from the common good. This too must be cleaned. Only when this is clean in us can we be accompanied by God's power, as Bapak described earlier.

This shows how deep within you is God's power, which you have all received in this training [latihan]. That is why you cannot think about it, analyse it or understand where it comes from and where it leads. But in the end you will come to be able to understand what Bapak has described, each to the extent of your individual capacity.

This was the overview that you needed to hear. It is not Bapak's intention or wish that you should try to understand it, for you should never believe what Bapak tells you if you haven't yet experienced it for yourself, that would be very harmful to you. That is why Bapak always says that in this training [latihan] you should be able to receive and experience for yourself.

Once this latihan is present in you and begins to grow, it will always continue to grow and develop; so you don't need to worry that it will stop when Bapak leaves. That will not happen. It will continue to develop, you will continue to experience it, whenever you practise your latihan.

Regarding your first experience in the latihan, Bapak just described that as the lowest, or first, of the barriers. But it corresponds in fact to a body that contains innumerable obstacles experienced by human beings, originating not only in yourself but also in your ancestors. So if you can truly purify yourself of these, it means you are also purifying your forefathers and your own descendants.

Apart from that, another benefit is that once your being has been purified and all the parts of your body have been awakened and brought to life, you will be able to find your way in life which fits with your human soul [jiwa], meaning that everything within your inner self will help you to find the direction in which you must go to make your life happy. It is clear from this that the worship of God is not only for our perfection after death, but also for the perfection of our life before we die. Thus you will be able to experience happiness in your life both in this world and in the hereafter.

It is certain that on your journey, or in the course of practicing this training [latihan], which 1 have described as the worship of human beings towards God, Bapak cannot guarantee that you will all take the same amount of time, or how short or long it will be. It all depends on your own self. If Bapak compares you to a cloth that has become very dirty, there are those that can be washed in ten days, those that are clean after twenty days and those that can be washed for a year before they are clean. This is a measure of the being and body of each one of you. But you should not worry about anything, for even supposing that it takes a long time, there will be progress and you will always obtain the understanding that you need.

Such is the reality of what you will experience later through the regular practice of your training [latihan], so that each of you will be able to correct yourself, help yourself, find your way in life, and apart from that you will receive something that will enable

you not to worry about anything.

That is all that Bapak needs to explain about the way of the training [latihan] that you have received. This is to give you an outline of the direction, principles and aims - so to speak - of the latihan, so you will not worry that it might be the kind of thing people do for amusement. With this explanation from Bapak you can understand its true aim.

Such is Bapak's hope. Although there are those among you who are not able truly to feel it yet, Bapak hopes you will have a feeling of patience, for it has been manifesting in your inner feeling for some time, and is simply awaiting the time when it will awaken you in the same way that the others have been awakened.

This is the end of Bapak's talk tonight, which will be continued in the future. That is all.

Question: What is required of us in offering ourselves to this method?

Bapak: I have just explained that.

Q: In us there is an attention that has to befitted on something, or it will

go into thoughts, feelings, daydreams.

B: That will come by itself, later, for this is from the power of God, so it ca overcome any obstacle. Indeed, it is an attribute of the human brain that it must think, therefore it is not possible for you to quieted your thoughts until your brain has been separated from your self. God will not take it thinks away but He is able to reach through it. So the part of your brain that will continue to think, but the way in which it thinks will be different. For previously it was filled with desire [nafsu] and eventually it will be filled with the power of God. That's how it works.

Take something that is easier to see, like walking. You may have seen o ' r experienced it yourself in the training [latihan], that you are trained to walk, even though you clearly already know how to walk, since you are already accustomed to walking. But with the latihan your walk is different from your normal walk. When you are walking in the latihan you may feel, 'This is very strange; 1 am walking even though 1 have no desire to walk.'

What this shows is that the power of God is there before every beginning. Thus the steps you take after having received the latihan can eventually be a guidance that will save your own feet, for your feet will no longer be able to get lost.

For example, once these [legs] have been filled [with God's power], and if you are walking like this and over there is a hole, they spontaneously turn away. You experience the same thing in your training [latihan] , when you are walking like this and there is your friend in front of you, you turn around by yourself Clearly the inner part of you knows more than the outer. In Dutch they call it instinctief.

Q: Does one trust one's body completely during the exercise?

B: Yes.

Q: To do whatever it wants?

B: Yes, yes. That's why Bapak always says that you must surrender to God as completely as you can. If you have a little anxiety, that is when you will run into things. When Rof6 did the training [latihan] with Bapak in Jogjakarta in a room that was not more than three and a half meters by three and a half meters and full of mirrors on all sides, I let him just [run around] like this but he never hit anything.

Q: You say one should be relaxed, but personally I find to stand with one's eyes shut doesn't induce relaxation but makes me feel very frightened, especially when there are lots of noises.

B: That means you are not surrendering yet. It is necessary to hear; indeed you should not lose your self-awareness. Even though we are moving like this, even though we are laughing, we are still fresh, still complete. You must not lose consciousness, for that is when you are overcome by the nafsu, as when people practise hypnotism, spiritism, occultism and so on.

Q: Why must one have one's eyes shut, then?

B: That is so that you really surrender, because if you see your friend doing this or that you will want to watch him and you'll wonder why he is doing it. But later on, when you are truly surrendered, your eyes may open spontaneously. For example, Mr Bissing often looks around and so does Mr Bennett, but their latihan keeps going. But if you start by looking like this, your latihan will not work because you will simply watch your friends.

Q: Why do we need to be standing up?

B: It is easier than if you sit. Indeed it is required, as in sports, to start upright, at attention. If you are seated it is much harder, it ill take longer. So this way it is easier than other ways - if you sit, your body is bent, and if you lie down you, will go straight to sleep.

Q: Yesterday when I got home after the exercise, I found that it started to repeat itself, and also all today too, I mean I was buying stuff in a shop and suddenly found it [inaudible]. Should I let it go on when I'm alone?

B: But you didn't feel worried?

Q: Oh no, I wasn't worried.

B: Then it's all right.

Q: I wanted to do it, but thought perhaps better not.

B: Yes, it's better not to do it in a public place or it might give rise to all sorts of anxieties. But if not, then it means it is right for it to happen.

Eventually you will be able to stop this by yourselves. This is why Bapak can't leave soon, he is still waiting for all of you to be able to stop your training [latihan] by yourselves. For if your latihan is always stopped by someone else, that's fine if that person is able, but if not, your latihan will go on all night.

Q: Is any preparation necessary during the day, for the exercise?

B: No.

Q: The first time I did the exercise I didn't have any fear. After a little while when I found myself turning, I realised that God would help me out. The second time I came, I was anxious that it would be as strong an experience as the first time, when I had misgivings and all sorts of things. Consequently when I found I wasn't turning I noticed I was trying to make myself . . .

B: And that's not possible .. ..

Q: If you fall over during the exercise, is it all right to get up afterwards or stay in the same place where you fall ?

B: just leave it, later you will get up spontaneously. Don't get up with your will, wait till you get up spontaneously. Or it can happen that you fall and you go to sleep, but your movements continue in that state of sleep.

Q: You spoke about lower forces, such as spiritualism and so on. How is one to distinguish - if one makes oneself open, is one open in the latihan to all forces?

B: Later [you will be able to distinguish], but not yet; however, you are already guarded by the power that is above all others. That is why Bapak said earlier that, preferably, those who have not yet received the training [latihan] should not listen' [to this] because they don't yet have that which stands guard in their inner feeling, or if they have, it is not yet able to penetrate that first barrier. So if they are attacked by forces below the human level they will be very easily affected.

Q: Why can't everyone have this?

B: Because they haven't come yet!

Q: Is there any connection between this and certain Islamic tarekat, Dervish exercises like the Nakshibendi and the Mevlevi?

B: Yes, all that is included in this, everything, no matter what, that exists in the world - in the world and beyond it. As Bapak explained to our brother who came from Cyprus, Islam truly has everything within it, and so has Christianity. For all these are ' in front of God. And they all have but one aim, which is God, each in their own way. Perhaps people choose according to which they consider faster or slower. And this [training] is the key to all of that, here is the boundary of the efforts of human beings to subdue their inner feelings. For through the peace of the inner feeling we are spontaneously touched by the power of the Great Life Force. But this way is very difficult for people to follow in the normal [traditional] way; if there are [those who succeed], it is not more than one in a million. That is not the case here. We have received a boundless good fortune in that the 'key at the boundary', which Bapak just mentioned, has become a reality for us. For that key is the key to all striving to achieve inner peace, so it is not something that can be thought about just like that.

Therefore to you this surely seems simply like an extraordinary miracle. Why did we receive this? But eventually, 1'ttle by little, you will come to experience and understand this for yourselves. For this will progress within you, deeper and deeper, and take you through the barriers Bapak talked about, as far as you need to go.

That's it for tonight; Bapak closes this meeting.