Benefits of the Fast

Benefits of the Fast:
Part 1, given at Cilandak on October 27th 1972 on the 21st night of Ramadhan

If we count the fast as having begun on Sunday, tonight is the twenty-first night; the twenty-first night, meaning that twenty - not twenty-one - days of fasting have been completed...

Usually, after fasting for twenty days, you are certainly able to feel the benefit of the fast. Thus tonight, on the eve of the twenty-first day, you should already be able to feel the result of your fast; the result usually called the lailatul qadar. This benefit of the fast, the descent of the lailatul qadar will not cause you to get some money, or have a bigger income or a higher rate of pay, or to obtain an annual bonus - no.

When people receive the qadar

When people receive the qadar that is sent down, their hearts and their feelings become good. For instance, out of the inner feeling will grow a feeling of affection, a feeling of love, a feeling of being close to other people, and also a feeling of loving-kindness towards one's fellow-men, so that eventually this feeling will be expressed in a readiness to give zakat fitrah or alms, which means giving something to other people who are in need.

That characterises the feeling of people who have carried out the fast and who have been able to receive the qadar from God Almighty. That is why people in general, why all of you very much need to fast. It is necessary for you to train yourselves to become people filled with love and loving-kindness for your fellow-men, and liking to help people who need help. In [the Islamic] religion this quality is called the fourth pillar, or foundation - that is, zakat and fitrah.

Why you ask forgiveness for your wrong deeds

Besides that, the character of the qadar that has been received in the inner feeling also causes you to feel that you yourself have frequently wronged your fellow-men, especially your parents and the older members of your family.

And that is why in due course all of you need to go to one another to ask forgiveness for all your wrong deeds, and to have your friends and relatives do likewise to you. You also need to ask for blessing and forgiveness from your parents, asking them to forgive you so far as possible for what you may have done to them. For people will not be able to avoid doing wrong; they are bound to do something wrong, though not all the time. To say minta ma'af means to ask forgiveness; to ask forgiveness from one's parents in such a way that it will touch their hearts or the hearts of the other friends and relations to whom you say it - trenyuh, as it is expressed in Javanese.

With such a feeling, everything you have done, all the wrong you have done to them, is in that moment wiped out. Thus it is really true that the qadar you receive as a result of having fasted for these twenty days is of real benefit for human life, of real benefit for the lives of you all.

From the relief and satisfaction to their hearts, the other people will then feel an affection for you which was lacking before you asked their forgiveness; this is truly being helpful. By the grace and mercy of God this also broadens and widens your path in life, so that, for instance, it is in every way easier to make efforts and to accomplish what you set out to do.

For it is as if there were no thorny barriers in your way. And that being so, it also means that almost everyone as it were blesses your life; blesses your way in life so long as you live in this world.

Others who are not of the Islamic faith

These are its results, so it is very important for you to do the fast; for Muslims definitely, because it is indeed laid down by their religion. But others who are not of the Islamic faith are in no way excluded from receiving the gift of God, for God is All-knowing, All-wise and All-powerful. Whoever does something good will obtain something good. Thus although you may not be Muslims, those of you who have fasted in Ramadhan, who have fasted right through for twenty days, will certainly obtain something that will satisfy your feelings.

Brothers and sisters, Bapak is not telling you all that you must fast, especially not those of you whose religion is not Islam - no. He is not telling you to fast as the Muslims - no. But in spite of this, brothers and sisters, you should remember the benefit of the fast. Thus for those of you who are not Muslims, and especially for Subud members, who are more inclined to practice than to theory and to receiving rather than striving - meaning that it comes just from the feelings - the fast is clearly of great benefit.

Managing the nafsu

Apart from the fact that you will eventually come to feel loving-kindness and will have a feeling of affection towards your fellow-men, you will also know and be able to grasp how the nafsu go round and about in your inner feeling. In this way you will afterwards cease to be one hundred per cent controlled by the nafsu or used as tools of the nafsu or tossed around by the nafsu. But what is more you will be able to manage them.

And hence you will eventually be able to do things of a worldly nature, such as earning your living, running a business, keeping a shop, and so on, yet your heart and feelings will be full of love towards your fellow-men. Thus you will not seek a huge profit when that profit would be harmful to other people.

That is why using money with the intention of getting a large interest on it - what is called money-lending - is forbidden in religion, forbidden by God; because in fact to do this really makes trouble for the person being helped, the person who asks for a loan or who borrows the money.

('Enterprise' section omitted)

..Such are the benefits of the fast you have done, brothers and sisters, and such is the nature of the qadar that God gives and you receive. It is as if a clear light is thrown upon what you need in life. Not just that, brothers and sisters. This is something that people do not generally grasp or understand. These are the benefits of this fast.

Bapak is not setting the fast just at twenty days only. No; it is possible for you to receive after fasting for only ten days - it is possible. But, brothers and sisters, that possibility is of course made more certain by following what has been laid down. Bapak is talking about these twenty days. - Otherwise you might be satisfied merely to fast until now and not fast tomorrow; to fast again the day after tomorrow and not the following day; something like that!

Apart from that, brothers and sisters, don't drink too many iced drinks as Bapak has just said because the weather is indeed hot.

Heat is a test for you

But don't feel the heat to be an obstacle; no, the heat is a test for you. You are just being tried. If you find a temperature of only 38C is a trial, your fast is not a very strong one. The fires of hell are much hotter than that, brothers and sisters. The fires of hell, they say, may be a hundred or a thousand times hotter than 38C. So what is that like? You are far from the upper limit.

Thus this heat is like a test of the firmness of your resolution, your vow to fulfil and to obey the commandment of God.

That is just heat, brothers and sisters; then what if you are sick, for instance? What if it is getting worse and the fast is not going well, for instance? Well, Bapak is not putting any pressure upon you, nor is he saying whether you should go on fasting or not. But do it as far as possible.

Even if sometimes you get really tired, even that is no reason to stop. It has actually been Bapak's own experience, brothers and sisters, that you feel the heat of the sun, the noonday heat we have at present, more when you are not fasting than you do when you are fasting. Why is that? Because if you are already hot inside, the outside heat will not be able to make the inside heat any hotter. It cannot burn it. So you will not feel high temperatures at all.

"Bapak tried it on Sharif .."

Bapak has been trying this out. Bapak tried it on Sharif and on Bapak's grandchildren, going out to see how hot it was. Bapak went out, and they went a long way. Bapak started out at 10.30 a.m. and got back at 8.0 p.m. Yes. Well, the grandchildren were exhausted -'Phew, how hot it is, grandfather'!

You have to practise and see what it is like. Thus this is necessary, and even Bapak went. - Oh yes, it was indeed no joke. However hot it was, we kept going. But I praise Sharif. He is strong.

'How are you, Sharif? Weak?'
'No.'
'Thirsty?'
'No.'
'God be thanked!'. - Sharif is a bit stubborn, but he is not a native of this country, not a son of Indonesia. Usually, if you are accustomed in childhood to living in a cold climate, you do not stand up well to heat.

Bapak hears such things as: 'Oh dear; why doesn't it rain? Rain has been prayed for but it doesn't come. What's God doing? He doesn't care about human beings; He doesn't love His creatures. He lets them fast until they are half dead but doesn't send rain.'

Bapak hears all this, but Bapak says nothing. If it is not the season for rain, why do people demand rain? Let it be; this will be a test for us, to see whether we are strong or not.

But now, after the twenty days, here comes the rain. .. But don't expect it to rain again tomorrow. Yes, it might; whether it rains or not is up to the rain.

Our concern is with the fast. Don't let that be obscured by whether or not it rains; don't let it be obscured by whether it is hot or cool. Our concern is with the fast. If we really want to fast, fast we shall. God willing, there will be nothing to it; we shall not feel the fast.

Breaking the fast

Yes; sometimes when the time comes to break it Bapak still waits longer. He does not anticipate - no - he just waits, is just not in a hurry. Usually at six o'clock there are a lot of people swallowing hard. Bapak remains quiet.

- Yes, I even wait until quite late to break the fast, for sometimes it is refreshing just to eat some water-melon. If I eat too much, then I am very sluggish.

Thus it is clear that the nafsu weigh the body down. What is it when you feel yourself heavy and lazy? Obviously it is the nafsu. It is obvious that just after breaking the fast you only want to sleep; is that not so? Yes, like a pregnant woman, maybe, who only wants to be at ease. Until I break the fast, what am I like? After having broken it, I feel I only want to sleep.

If you are engaged in some sort of business..

In fact, brothers and sisters, we can receive a great deal of proof or many clear lessons from the fast we have carried out, and through the qadar God has given us we can be really in tune with what we need, and can feel and receive what is necessary for our lives.

Just to take an example, suppose you are engaged in some sort of business or trade, selling things. As a result of the fast we have done and the qadar God has given us, we shall really be able to carry on our trade in accordance with the will of God, so that we can truly anticipate and truly serve the needs of the customers.

What the customer needs are things that are not expensive but that are of good quality and will prove satisfactory. This is what we need, whether we are buying or selling.

The lessons we receive, the results of this fast, enable us really to serve the needs of the customers. We can sell good articles that are not too expensive, and that are really necessary and really useful to the customers. In this way, even though we are serving the customers, we are in fact looking after them: we become protectors and guardians.

This applies both in the field of commerce and in every other field. For instance, if we are leaders, guiding the public, we cannot be really good leaders unless we look after the people we are leading. We must not just have followers, forcing those we lead to follow suit - no. Don't let us be the kind of teacher who tells his pupils to do the same as he does - no. The teacher has to meet the needs of his pupils.

Thus, brothers and sisters, the fasting we have done and the qadar that God has given to us, will in fact make us into people capable of being leaders in every field and of acting as supervisors, guardians and protectors in every field. If we become industrialists, owning or running industries, we shall produce goods not only in our own interests but in the interests of both sides, for the sake of the customers as well. In this way we shall be able to produce inexpensive articles which will not be hard to afford but which will be useful and of good quality.

This is what we need to do and this is what we must learn to do. If we, brothers and sisters, who are in the habit of fasting, can really receive the benefits of the fast and can really receive the qadar that God gives to us, we shall become the kind of people who are capable of getting to the top in every field, whether it is in commerce, economics or anything else.

I take, just as an example, a seller of rice. Why does a man who has done the fast put up the price of the rice he sells? This is a violation of the laws; not the laws of men but the commandments of God: "Don't act and behave in ways that have a stifling effect on other people. Behave, act in everything, in ways that are helpful to other people."

Brothers and sisters, it is already obvious that the people who are putting up the price of rice are not people who are really able to receive and to feel the benefits of the fast in the month of Ramadhan. If they really had received, they could not do it. Indeed your feelings will be as if they have been purified by God. 'Don't do anything to lessen the security and well-being of other people.' In fact, brothers and sisters, things are not like that, even though Muslims can be said to be numerous in Indonesia. How is that?

Fasting is also for our life after death

.. Clearly then, brothers and sisters, the fasting we do is not only beneficial for our life in this world, but it is also beneficial and important for our life after death.

Why is that? Because the fast is a training for the feelings, so that our feelings come to life. Do the feelings subsequently die again? No; what dies is the self, what dies is the outer covering, what dies is the outer skin, this cloak. The feelings live on. If we have had this training, brothers and sisters, our feelings will be alive. The longer it goes on, the deeper and the wider they will be.

The purity of the feelings is what indicates how far they have gone. Bapak says that in fact this qadar is a sign from God. To what does this sign point? To the quietness, the tranquillity of feeling. All of you can also experience to a greater or lesser extent what Bapak has experienced. When we begin to be able to follow our feelings towards our fellow creatures, towards other people, they will grow deeper and wider as time goes on and will become more than that. We shall be able to go by our feelings, or feel that our life can go by our feelings - yes, everything. This is what God indicates.

It takes an angel to know an angel..

That is why the saying goes that it takes an angel to know an angel. It is the prophets who know a prophet and the saints who know a saint. Thus when you have these purified feelings and when God has brought you to this state, your pure feelings can be compared to those of the angels. In that way you will know what the angels and the saints are like, and what the prophets are like.

- It is not that you become prophets; no, that is not what God intends. There is no duplication, you need not wear double clothing; no, one coat is enough!

So if you wish to be able to feel your inner self like the inner self of a saint or a prophet, you should follow the indications from God with your purified inner self. In this way the line dividing this world from the next, this life from the life to come, is breached. When it has been breached, you feel as if you were at the same time both alive and yet not alive, which means you feel as if you were living in this world and yet not living in it. That is how it is.

Benefiting in your worldly life

These are the benefits that come from this fast, brothers and sisters. If you can just reach the level of benefiting in this way in your worldly life alone, then things go very well; better than well, so that you will be really well-provided for. You will not find yourself short of cash. No, never; never will you be short. No; the money will be there, because it will seek you out. Sometimes you may not be thinking about it, but the money will come and nudge you, saying 'Here I am'. Yes; then if you need something, that will be very nice!

It is different when you have not yet felt and received the benefits of the fast. When you have done it spasmodically, you will find the money coming spasmodically. You look for it, but where is it? It seemed as if it was there, but when you try to take some, oh no! It is very frustrating. Well, if you have been able to feel and receive the benefits of the fast, the money is there; it stays there. So you have only to open your purse and there it is. That is very nice.

Don't be afraid

For these reasons, don't be afraid; don't be afraid of the present temperatures of 39C or possibly even 40C. Just let it be. That is up to the weather: 'my concern is with the fast and with worshipping God so that I can receive His gift that we call the qadar'. If you can do this, the outside heat will ebb away. The difference will vanish and there will be a state of balance, the same inside as outside. Yes; the temperature is 38C and Bapak's temperature is also 38C, or even 38+C, until it is too hot to be able to sleep. Thus Bapak does not sleep in the afternoon because of the heat; wind must flow in, otherwise I should be scorched.

Thus God has taken care of it. Outside the temperature is 38C; inside, 38+C. That is how it is. If the outside temperature is 40C, inside it will be 40+C. It is like that, brothers and sisters, so don't be afraid.

If you are not afraid, God will help you. Don't be afraid. If you are afraid, you will have a second-class fast; a second-class fast is when you do not eat but allow yourself to drink. Third-class is when you can have breakfast. So don't have some special class of fast. To fast means to fast resolutely.

No-one has ever died of the fast; never. People may get sick, but that is because there is doubt in their hearts; if you have no doubts, you will not get sick. Yes, indeed; if you are fasting and have got hot and you go near a water-melon, that is the end of it. You see the melon, and the melon is a temptation. But if you are obeying, it does not bother you.

The Ramadhan fast is not like other fasts

.. Bapak has said that, although the experts declare that the fast in the month of Ramadhan can be called a fast so long as one neither eats nor drinks, yet in fact this Ramadhan fast is not like other fasts. It is different from fasting at some time other than in Ramadhan.

Why is this? Yes, there is a reason of course, but it is not necessary for Bapak to explain it until you have understood it for yourselves and are able to receive it. For understanding unaccompanied by experience is the same thing as when you merely follow and put your trust in something you are unable as yet to receive.

Therefore after doing the fast you feel, so far as possible, that you are able to some extent to be aware of the benefits of the fast. Yes of course. It will not happen quickly, but if you really want to and are able to get evidence of it, you will certainly be able to understand the benefits of fasting in the month of Ramadhan. The Ramadhan fast is for practice and training

Brothers and sisters, as Bapak has just said, the Ramadhan fast is for practice and training so that you can really understand how you need to live your life in this world; it is not the will of God that you should only know later on, after you die. It is not the will of God for you to know about death: no, His will is for you to know and understand your life. If God had intended you to know your death, He would not have needed you to live in this world.

Your existence in this world, therefore, is in order that you and people in general should be able to understand and receive what is necessary in life.

If you are able to know what is necessary in life you will certainly be able to know what conditions are like for you from first to last. For you have existed before you came into this world, and later on, after you leave it, you will return again to that former state of existence.

But it is a state that cannot be understood by the mind, by the nafsu, although your jiwa can understand it. This, brothers and sisters, is why you need the latihan.

The name Subud

As regards the name Subud, you know that, as Bapak has often said, Subud is the name of the Association; the name of the state of the members. Thus it is an Association of people who have received ilham or knowledge from the One Almighty God, and who are therefore said to be Subud, that is, Susila Budhi Dharma.

What is the need to use the name Susila Budhi Dharma? So that the name may become a mark or a sign, a sign that we have received the latihan kejiwaan. To show that with the latihan kejiwaan we have received the blessing of God and have become people of good character or whose inner nature has the qualities of susila, budhi, and dharma.

That is what we hope for; we hope to become people of that kind. You have of course understood what it is to have susila; it is our condition after fasting for twenty days or a month. Then we have in our inner self a feeling of loving-kindness towards our fellow-men, and we want to give, we want to give pardon or forgiveness to people who have injured us, and likewise we want their forgiveness.

People with a heart as wide as the ocean

People who have a feeling of love and who are willing to forgive their fellow-men, even though these fellow-men may be in the wrong. are the people with what is traditionally called the hati maknawi - a heart as wide as the ocean. Their hearts are not easily hurt. Because of that they are likened to the wide ocean; they are like water. Thus they do not carry scars or preserve traces.

You should not have hearts like earth - on which anything that strikes it leaves a mark, and where these marks do not easily disappear but remain for a long time. For the heart that is scarred is a defective heart; it is a defect in your inner self, so that a person like that finds it hard to understand his life. Merely to know this is good for one, because in fact you have many faults.

There are plenty of things wrong. If you are criticised by someone else, don't let the criticism leave a scar. No; you must even be grateful for it, and then this criticism will not upset you. A heart like that, which is not quickly hurt, is a heart that is said to have a nature as wide as the ocean.

This fast trains you

... You are therefore very lucky to have been able to receive the latihan or to have been able to practise the training both inwardly and outwardly, for body and jiwa. Bapak is not saying that our latihan is really for the jiwa while the other is for the body. No; the other can also be for the jiwa. Only we have already claimed that ours is the latihan kejiwaan.

So of course it is the jiwa that is being trained in our groups, in our circles, in addition to our fasting. So we really have been able to do this with both body and jiwa. If our jiwa is able to do it, of course our body follows suit. So having done the latihan kejiwaan, you must not give in just because your body is thirsty from the heat - ah, how necessary it is to fast then, and not to drink even a little. Whether it is little or much comes to the same thing, the fast is cancelled.

Also, brothers and sisters, it is the people who are fasting who know what effect it has on them. Other people do not know. Yes, if someone is watching you, perhaps you will spit, so that he will know you are fasting, but if you do nothing like that he will not know whether you are fasting or not. So it is you yourself who can really tell whether you are fasting.

This fast trains you to be the kind of person who has an honest and reliable heart a welI-disciplined heart - a heart that truly accepts. In this way you become accustomed to keep to the truth. Who else is to know if you go into your room, shut the door and drink a glass of syrup water? Who is to know? No one will know. Or if you go into your room and eat half-a-dozen meat-balls, who will know? No one will know.

Thus in fact words mean nothing; it is no good talking about the fast and not doing it. That is useless. Just keep quiet about it. For the one person who knows whether or not you are fasting sincerely is you yourself.

Thus this fast really is a training; a training in everything necessary for the life of man. You are trained to become an orderly and well-disciplined person, a straightforward person; someone who can really feel what is right and what is wrong, what is becoming and what is unbecoming. And you are also trained to know what life is like for the poor, what it is like for people who have nothing. You are trained in all these ways, so that the people who do the latihan kejiwaan and do the fast in addition are really trained in the way to live in this world.

As Bapak has just said, brothers and sisters, people are not put to live in this world merely in order to die; no. They are put here to be able to feel, to be able to understand this life. This is the will of God. If you have understood and are able to know what life is like, well, then, of course you will become people of true understanding and be perfected. This is indeed the will of God. It is thus knowing both before you come into existence and after you die.

Your origin

Can this be understood by the thinking mind? What proof is there? Do you at present understand how you originated? What have you understood of your origin before you became such as you are now, and what you were like before? You don't understand, do you? Yes, probably you think that that world was similar to this one.

No, brothers and sisters. It is not like it is at present; it is different. What then is it like? Is it the same as the next? It is the same. This covering varies. Thus what exists now, this present form, is just an outer covering. Its form arises from events taking place in this world, which means it has its origins in one's parents, in the union between a man and a woman. Supposing there was something wrong with that, well, the form is wrong. Supposing it was bad and ugly, well, the form is bad and ugly. Supposing it was on a low level, well, the form is on a low level.

Bapak then tells the story of *Hanuman, which ends as follows:

..(But) because he was indeed pure, it was better for Hanuman not to marry than to marry. So he just lived as an ascetic on the mountain.

Well, what is that mountain? The mountain symbolises the hati sanubari, the inner heart. Thus it was fasting in the feelings.

It was not necessary to do anything, not necessary to make use of his being a man. No; he remained an ascetic, so that he might return eventually to his original condition as a knight. You need to practise

In this way, brothers and sisters, those of us who have received the latihan kejiwaan have our jiwa trained, but our outer part also needs to do latihan or to receive training; that is, to fast. So there is nothing wrong with surrendering to God both inwardly and outwardly, and doing something really in accordance with the path that connects the inner with the outer. Thus those of you who have undergone training in the fast will surely receive something of how and in what way the fast is of benefit.

...Brothers and sisters. Bapak hopes that gradually, as time goes on, you will be able to receive it; that it will not just be like this. No; thus you will feel 'When I am fasting, how are my nafsu in relation to me? How are my nafsu in relation to me if I am not fasting? If I am fasting, how is my worship of God? And how is my worship of God if I am not fasting?' You need to practise all that, brothers and sisters. Don't just be passive; don't.

God will not change anyone's fate unless that person wishes to change it.

For it is also said that God will not change anyone's fate unless that person wishes to change it. This is true, brothers and sisters. Why is it that people who live in the jungle, as in Africa or in West Irian, and who make very little use of their minds and really are completely passive - why is it that these people cannot receive; cannot receive any development of their jiwa; cannot receive any heightening or broadening of their inner selves? It is because they neither want nor wish in the least to be able to know anything more or anything other than what they are used to knowing. They have got used to it being enough to eat by day and then sleep by night; that is enough for them.

Don't let us be like that. Don't let us have the nature of material objects, not moving unless something moves them - no. We must move ourselves.

Fasting in the Feelings - the story of Hanuman the White Monkey

This extract was omitted from talk published in January SV, entitled BENEFITS OF THE FAST PART 1.

..Do you at present understand how you originated? What have you understood of your origin before you became such as you are now, and what you were like before? .. This covering varies. Thus what exists now, this present form, is just an outer covering. Its form arises from events taking place in this world, which means it has its origins in one's parents, in the union between a man and a woman. Supposing there was something wrong with that, well, the form is wrong..

..It was like that with Hanuman. How did Hanuman, the white monkey in the wayang story, originate? It is said that, although Hanuman is a monkey, yet inside he is a satrya, a knight (white stands for purity). Why is he a monkey outside when inside he is a knight? This is wrong, wrong. Thus his outside is wrong; thus there has been some wrong action.

In fact Hanuman is the son of Batara Guru. He is the offspring of a Dewa Guru, a godlike teacher. How did the Dewa Guru go wrong? What was his mistake? The story tells that while Batara Guru was flying through the air, flying round the world, he saw Anjani. The Dewi Anjani was practising asceticism, naked.

Well, brothers and sisters, as he was a man he ought not to have looked at this naked woman; no. So their child was a monkey. Monkeys are said to have no manners. If a male monkey sees a woman go by, he will make a great to-do. If a man goes by, then the monkey stays quiet. The monkey understands. You can take that as an illustration that fits the case. The animal chosen is a monkey. The reason is, of course, that, although it is an animal, a monkey understands about male and female. It can tell a man from a woman. This can be seen; if a male monkey sees a woman, he will make a fuss and chatter at her, and so on. But if a man passes by he will just stay quiet or even get out of the way. Yes.

Thus, although there was a knight inside, on the outside he was a monkey, just a monkey. Because of that, there were bound to be obstacles when Hanuman met Trijoto, so that eventually they had to part. Yes; although he was a knight in fact he had to tell her 'I am a monkey; you must leave me'. Because he was indeed pure, it was better for Hanuman not to marry than to marry. So he just lived as an ascetic on the mountain.

Well, what is that mountain? The mountain symbolises the hati sanubari, the inner heart. Thus it was fasting in the feelings. It was not necessary to do anything, not necessary to make use of his being a man. No; he remained an ascetic, so that he might return eventually to his original condition as a knight.

In this way, brothers and sisters, those of us who have received the latihan kejiwaan have our jiwa trained, but our outer part also needs to do latihan or to receive training; that is, to fast. So there is nothing wrong with surrendering to God both inwardly and outwardly, and doing something really in accordance with the path that connects the inner with the outer. Thus those of you who have undergone training in the fast will surely receive something of how and in what way the fast is of benefit.