Travel plans

Long in advance we met and held a planning session at which marvelous sounding committees were formed. Time passed, and little happened. Well, I'I1 be honest, Nothing happened. That's an old story. Finding suitable accommodation for Bapak was our big problem because we have no Subud house and Bapak would be coming at the height of the tourist season. Our chairman, Robert, drove hundreds of kilometers in and around Vienna in a fruitless attempt to find the 'The Place'.

In any event, with a bit of quiet dismay, we finally received news that Bapak was in England. I think we were all a little worried about the situation, but no one I know admits to such a flagrant capitulation to the nafsu. We all pretended to be confident that we would find a house, and indeed, just a few days before Bapak's expected arrival, it actually came about through a chance business acquaintance of Robert's.

Raymond, Austria.

Kind hearts and hard cash

We had an itinerary. We had a budget. And we had a schedule.

By March most of the money would be in and we could buy the airline tickets. This gave us three months to get the visas. We would need every day of that three months because it was a long and complex journey, and Bapak was travelling to many small countries for which visas are hard to get.

In March Peru sent their money, $400.00.

By the end of April we had $4,750.00 and deadlines were falling thick and fast. In May a little more came in but had to go back on collection.

Bapak was ready to leave. Still no money. Still no visas. We sent out a panic call, and in the last week $45,000 arrived. By then, Bapak and his party had left for England and Europe, with visas to cover only the first leg of the journey. We spent eight months scrambling to get visas for the next stop before the plane took off.

The crunch came in Toronto. The Mexican visas were held up because we needed an extra picture. George was at the Mexican Consulate refusing to leave so they could close up.

While he became the oldest living person to stage a 'sit in', Ken and I flew to the car to head for 'Bapak's House' to get a picture.

"It's out of gas!" Ken moaned. No time to stop, we would just have to hope. I think Ken prayed us all the way there.

As we crunched to a stop in front of the house, Helena Hart came out on the verandah with the photo. Like a relay runner I skipped up the steps, caught the envelope and raced back to the car.

The Consulate is in Commerce Court, a skyscraper surrounded by a sea of concrete. Ken stayed with the car so it wouldn't be towed away and I went running across the concrete acres. Suddenly, the heel of my shoe snapped and down I went -- bounced -- and found myself back on my feet! No time to puzzle it out, I flew to the door of the building.

Locked!

A security guard stood inside and ignored my vain efforts to get someone's -- anyone's -- attention to get the door open. Then he opened the door! I don't know why, maybe he was thinking of leaving, but I slipped past him quick as a wink and found the Consulate, with George inside, and we got the visas.

One small country which can't get money out went to the last Congress with a plan -- they brou9ht things for a bazaar. Then they left the money they made on deposit with the German National Committee to make their I.S.C. donations for the next four years.

In another small country, Subud members take care of their international visitors in the hope that, on leaving, those visitors will make a donation to SP.I. Dr I.S.C, for them, as they cannot get money out

The stories of good will are many, as are the problems. Subud has grown up now, and we Subud members will have to accept new standards of discipline for ourselves in order to keep up.

Love, Marilyn, Canada.

"Well then, can't you remember whether Bapak arrived just before or just after you had done your laundry?"

In general, Bapak addresses his talks to the entire brotherhood, not just to the audience which happens to be in front of him. This is why Bapak's talks are recorded on tape, and why we have an ISC Tape Unit, Subud Archives with a Tape Preservation Unit and Subud Publications International.

As most Subud members know, the ISC Tape Unit in Chicago collects the original recordings and makes masters for the production of retail copies for sale to the membership. In addition, an archive copy is made for the Tape Preservation Unit and a Transcription Copy for Cilandak, where eventually an English translation is made from a transcription of Bapak's Indonesian.

In addition to storing the tapes, the Tape Preservation Unit in Achel (Belgium) also keeps a record of all of Bapak's talks and travels. This record is published from time to time and is known as "Bapak's Travel Log".

Keeping the Travel Log up to date is no light task since it is notoriously difficult to extract accurate information from Subud members. Most of them are not very interested in all this bureaucratic nit-picking. The difficulties are multiplied by the peculiar effect Bapak's presence seems to have on our memories. Ask a member whether Bapak gave a talk last Wednesday or last Thursday and you stand a fair chance of getting the wrong answer.

An enquiry about the venue of Bapak's recent talks in Toronto resulted in conflicting replies from two sources. When a third informant was asked we got a third version!

Even so, all this is nothing compared to the digging out of events in the 1957-59 period. Many eyewitnesses were interviewed but of course few people remembered any definite dates. Most gave vague indications such as "sometime in July" I soon found it was quite hopeless to try to extract dates from people but that one could get much further by trying to make people remember the day of the week on which certain events occurred. Since the date sought was often known approximately, knowledge of the day of the week would frequently permit pinpointing the exact date with the help of a permanent calendar.

After much correspondence extending well over two years, with Philip Cody and Rosalind Orchard of Vancouver, in which I tried to establish the dates of Bapak's 1959 visit to that city, the denouement came when Rosalind suddenly remembered that the first talk had been on a Monday.

Interviews might approximately run as follows -- (fictitious example)

Q. When did Bapak arrive X?

A. Must have been sometime in July but I just don't remember on what date.

Q. Don't you remember the day of the week?

A. No, haven't got a clue.

Q. On which day of the week did you usually do the laundry?

A. On Mondays, have been doing it on Mondays all my life.

Q. Well then, can't you remember whether Bapak arrived just before or just after you had done the laundry?

A. Now wait a minute -- Oh yes! It must have been the day after, because I now remember having to duck under the bedsheets on the drying line in the garden in order to get some flowers for Ibu!

Q. So it must have been a Tuesday, right?

A. Yes, of course, I am quite positive now that it must have been on a Tuesday!

Fortunately, collecting intelligence is much easier nowadays since the introduction of the Visit Reports, and bedsheets no longer play a part in establishing the dates of Bapak's movements.

Vincent, Tape Preservation Unit, Belgium

The Corn Sugar Saga According to Subud USA ...

This is the story of the efforts of several fully grown, sane, consenting adults to acquire corn sugar -- a white substance with the consistency of laundry powder, but with a much more agreeable flavour.

Bapak uses it. And since it was not practical for the party to carry an eight month supply, each hosting center on the tour was asked to have it on hand.

Way back in the Spring of 1977, even before Bapak began the tour, instructions were sent to each U.S. hosting center by the Subud USA Committee, then located in New York. Each group was to order corn sugar from Germany. A few short months later, the Subud USA Committee, now located in Seattle, received clear instructions from ISC that Subud USA was responsible for procuring and distributing corn sugar to each hosting group in North and South America, including Hawaii. The Committee ordered the necessary number of boxes from Germany months in advance of Bapak's arrival in the U.S.

For weeks, the Committee heard nothing. Becoming nervous they sent another letter to Germany. Soon an answer came stating that the first letter had not been received, but not to worry, the corn sugar would be shipped immediately. The shipment did not arrive. Some rather inept investigative procedures accidentally revealed that the corn sugar had indeed been sent to the Subud USA Committee ... in New York! The Subud USA Committee, located in Seattle, has never found out just how many boxes of corn sugar were sent, nor how they were distributed.

We have relied on various phone conversations, letters, and a great deal of rumor to find that corn sugar was available at most of the stops on Bapak's tour. They ran out of it at a couple of places in South America, and it is not known what measures were taken then. According to rumor, some of the original shipment found its way to Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, and perhaps Orlando. One fortunate aspect of the lack of intelligible communication was that a few of the hosting groups followed the old instructions of the old Subud USA Committee, and made some admirable corn sugar acquisitions on their own. Subud USA's total corn sugar resources were one crumpled and leaking box which had limped in from 'somewhere'. It could scarcely be carried across the room, let alone be mailed anywhere.

In Vancouver, rumor has it that corn sugar was found in a grocery store, of all places.

As Bapak left these shores, it seemed reasonably certain that there would be corn sugar for the rest of the tour. We don't know exactly how that was accomplished, but are thankful that it was.

Epilogue: It was recently discovered that one intrepid box of corn sugar had arrived in Los Angeles just before Christmas, more than 3 weeks after Bapak's departure. Whoever sent it, special mention should be made of this perseverance against all odds. This was an act of service above and beyond (if not totally removed from) the call of duty.

Perhaps this box should be bronzed for display in the Subud archives as a tribute to the perseverance, if not the efficiency, of Subud Committees everywhere, and as a reminder that e, the best laid plans can end up in the Nafsu Mixmaster, things can still turn out all right in the end:

Subud USA Newsletter

Sometime during the tour

Letter to Herbert, Chairman, International Subud Committee

Concerning corn sugar, Chicago sent one whole box to Seattle and this was sent on to Vancouver in addition to any partial boxes left from California and here. Rayner spoke to Rozak two nights ago and he said Hawaii received the two boxes I mailed from this office. As Vancouver has a supply of corn sugar for Bapak's visit in B.C., it would seem that there will remain about three boxes of sugar for Tokyo and onward.

Helaine, Office Secretary for the National Committee, Subud U.S.A.

Memo to: Susanna From: Gall FOR BAPAK'S BOOK

Corn sugar? What's corn sugar? Before my days at I.S.C. I hadn't even heard the words. But here I sat at the glass table measuring box after box of the stuff into a big bowl. We had to keep the weight under one pound so it could go by fast mail.

Latin America had no corn sugar so we sent three boxes to three different places -- to make sure at least one would get there. breathed a sigh of relief as Herbert took the parcels off to be posted, but sighed too soon. Australia was short on corn sugar. Away we went again.

Now, we have a large container of corn sugar stored right here at I.S.C. for Bapak's visit in 1979. I'm not taking any chances!

Ed. Note: Herbert's comment, "Well, I know if we're going to have corn sugar mix-ups next time that supply isn't going to do any good, but it makes Call feel better."

According to ISC ...

We had jet airplanes, international mail service and long distance telephones, the latest technological tools in the hands of talented adults, people capable of driving cars and running companies, but the corn sugar just was not going where it belonged.

That we found out easily enough ... our modern telephone rang day and night and those efficient voices appraised us of the news immediately after it was too late to do anything about it. Within days of Bapak's departure from Cilandak we were running around like mad people buying, packaging and mailing corn sugar to far points on the globe.

At purchase the packages weighed just over a pound. That created a problem for the post office so Call obligingly opened each package, weighed out the exact amount, rewrapped it, and Herbert took it off to be mailed. All with some prickling at the back of the neck. Corn sugar has a powdery white texture. Sort of like heroin. We thought the International Police would soon decide they had uncovered a Drug Ring so audacious they dared ship the stuff through the mails.

The story ends as many do, with Bapak waving away any problems with that characteristic brush of his hand as he graciously accepted the fact that in one city at least, the sugar hadn't arrived.