The Power of God within

A Promise

So, with this latihan kejiwaan, you will never lose your way in your life. Your life will not only be happy, but also secure and happy. And this is because the power of God will always be in your life. And these were the words of Jesus Christ -- that the power of God is within you.

"Wonderful nights with something 'blowing in the wind."'

The format of the visits continues to be the same. Latihan, testing, talks, meetings with helpers and committees is the tried and true program of events. Fund raising, arrangements, gatherings at the airport, wonderful nights with something "blowing in the wind", renewal of old friendships and greetings accompany this program and fill up the spaces in between. Somehow, around us out there, ordinary life continues its round, unknowing and uncaring of our gathering and our experience. We know we will rejoin it in a few days but for the moment, time is broken. We occupy a special slot where all influences stop and are held in suspension. For a few days we are at the Center of the World. World events reported in the news media are seen as remote, provincial happenings on the periphery, of little importance. There will be time enough later to catch up on what we may have missed.

While Bapak's program and the gifts he brings to us seem (thank Heaven) to remain the same, what changes enormously between visits is our world, our country, and the general conditions in which we live. Yes, we are the ones changing, for better and for worse.

Livingston, U.S.A.

A song from Bapak

"A messenger of God is here, among you, although not all of us are able to realize it."

This was an example of a song that was appropriate for this moment. Bapak said that this poem was in the highest level of the Javanese language. This language was derived from Sanskrit. It was spoken before the time of the Hindu religion and was the language of the original Aryan people. They lived in an area to the south of the Greek islands, called Sparta, but not the Sparta we know about. If we could pump out the Mediterranean Sea we could find the remains of a great civilization there. Bapak then laughed and said "That's enough!"

How it came about

The day Bapak came to lunch he almost caught us napping! We had sent the invitation, never daring to hope that he would visit us again so soon. I explained that we wanted to sing a song for Bapak but the lead singer had not arrived yet. Bapak replied that he was happy to be with us again, for this was his second visit to the Farm in a year. He seemed amused that we had to wait for our conductor. Alton finally arrived, and after a little while we sang two songs -- not too well. Of course, in order to do this we needed song sheets -- the English never sing without song sheets -- or at least, we can't. Simon arrived with a fresh supply and we decided that we would sing "Botany Bay". Before singing it I explained that this song was composed in our colonial days, when criminals were sent to Australia. Bapak replied that we should not sing these songs about the past, because they cloud up and cover up our feelings. They also tended to make us sad, and are an obstacle for us. He explained that we should sing things about the present, things that were appropriate for the moment. The Birdsong is the same now as a hundred years ago, but man s song should develop and progress. Man has the capacity to experience greater joy than the animals, but he can also experience greater suffering. In the past, people such as priests were able to receive songs appropriate to their own time. Bapak then received two poems in High Javanese. The meaning of one of them is given opposite.

Hadrian, with help from Alton and Irma, England.

"Mustuti, who is surely one of the most gracious people on earth."

It was the first time Seattle had received such a visit, and the members soon discovered that there is a world of difference between going to San Francisco to be part of the crowd and being hosts for the party in our own Subud House. The most important advantage is that the opportunity is created for members to enjoy the more personal facets of Bapak and the party. Of course Bapak is the main attraction; he applies his tremendous spiritual astuteness to every situation (it takes courage to try to put into mere words what Bapak does). We have almost come to expect it; he never lets us down.

But also of value is the chance to know the people who travel with Bapak. For example, to talk with Sjarif Horthy is to discover a brother who expresses himself with guileless candor and clarity, utterly dedicated to the aims of Subud. Once, when complimented and thanked for his efforts on behalf of the brotherhood, he responded quietly, "Well, thank you . . . but I consider it an honour to be able to do these things.

Another reward for hostmanship is to experience the kindness of Bapak's wife, Mastuti, who is surely one of the most gracious people on earth.

All are very grateful to Bapak, Sjarif, and party for bringing us the special inspiration which remains so vital to our participation in the realization of the aims of Subud in the world.

Elisha, U.S.A.

"Something that is received from beyond this world."

Bapak can say categorically and with complete conviction that the latihan is nothing else but a gift from God Almighty and what we experience in the latihan is guidance from the power of God. We receive it without expectation and beyond any foreknowledge. We receive it out of nothingness, out of the silence. It is what is called 'the voice of the silence', something that is received from beyond this world.

Bristol, 26 June 1977

"Our minds have trust in our form."

If we do not have faith in what we receive in the latihan kejiwaan,it is the same as saying that we don't have faith in our own self, because what we receive is the real experience of the teaching that comes from our own jiwa. Jesus Christ Himself has said to us that 'The power of God is within you.' This means that if we have faith in our own selves, it is the same as having faith in the power of Almighty God; as long as we understand that it is not having trust in ourselves with our mind. Our minds have trust in our form -- but we must have trust in our jiwa, because it is this jiwa that is the representative of the power of God within us -- Bapak.

Oslo, July 24, 1977

"This latihan with Bapak was indeed most powerful."

After travelling all day, arising at 0500 and crossing from Larne to Cairnryan and driving to Edinburgh, I eventually arrived at Bapak's first talk at Dunfermline College in good time. Richard came on the speaker system in the hall to advise everyone that we would be notified at least ten minutes before Bapak arrived and most people went across the hall to the cafe area for some refreshment. Ten minutes later Richard advised us that no telephone call had been received from the farm and we may have to wait a little longer before Bapak would arrive. Just at this moment Bapak walked in, everyone was recalled and the talk given.

During the talk I was so tired that after the first half hour I fell asleep every time Bapak spoke and woke up just in time for the translation.

My impression of the Sunday evening talk was even vaguer than Friday's talk. However, I turned up just as the ladies went into latihan and strolled about the beautiful college in sunny weather listening to a high powered ladies singing outpouring from the latihan hall. Then the men went in and all did a latihan and at the end I wondered if I could have stood a second longer. This latihan with Bapak was indeed most powerful, I must have bent double several times; only to hear that now we should do another latihan this time being completely free. My goodness, I was perspiring already. However I went ahead and sure enough this latihan was even more gymnastic, to the extent that I thought I was going to faint several times. Nevertheless I survived and Bapak said finish just in time.

Michael, Scotland.

Bapak's Song

We hope that God will give us his blessing,
The grace of Almighty God to all of you children and grandchildren.
May the lives of all of you, including Bapak, be made long and full of grace,
So that you may be able to worship God Almighty in the way that is true,
So may your lives be noble and made happy by the families of each one of you.
God bless us all, and grant us that we may always be able to worship
You according to Your guidance.
We all truly have faith that You exist and Your power which You have given to all of us.
May we truly fulfill Your promise to us and our promise to You
To worship and be Your servant both in this world and the hereafter,
Removed from and protected from all danger and from the influence of the satanic,
And that everything that concerns our life may be made easy.

New Zealand

A song made for Bapak

Sing thank you to the Lord for the happy time we've had,
Sing thank you to the Lord for sense of peace we've shared,
Sing thank you to the Lord Bapak has been here,
Sing thank you to the Lord for we feel His presence near,
Sing thank you to the Lord for His presence pure and true,
Sing thank you to the Lord, may we ever follow you.

Bapak gesticulated upwards, said "Yes", chuckled and left with Siti Mastuti and his party.

Alton, England.

"Many, many blessings to be felt and experienced."

If the editor remembers rightly, Bapak has visited Adelaide only once before. The Adelaide group celebrates the event with a collectively written article -- a writing technique which they invented back in '76, and which they have developed to the point where it is impossible to tell which of the seven authors starts where.

Joy of joys, Bapak is really here and actually installed in Adelaide. His radiant smile greeting us, putting us at ease. His warm, relaxed manner, his youthful look ... many, many blessings to be felt and experienced.

The calmness, enjoyment and inner peace felt by the members, especially the women as they moved around quietly and joyously shopping, preparing food and cleaning. Nothing was too good for Bapak. We will always remember the laughter and the lightness whilst we worked at our tasks, and to work alongside Tuti and Muti was a rare privilege and an insight.

We were so few, and we thank the visitors from Wollongong who saw our need and stepped in quietly and unobtrusively to help when we needed it most. We all worked together in such wonderful harmony, and this provided us with much happiness, also confidence to think that we could do it. Being such a small group, it all seemed so much more personal. In a sense we all had a turn to do something really special. Everything fell into place very quickly, and there was surprisingly little getting in each other's way, in spite of the small kitchens.

Bapak expressed a desire to see something of the city. The party took a leisurely stroll down our showplace, the Rundle Mall, and then were taken to Windy Point and Waterfall Gully -- both beauty spots.

The accommodation we obtained for Bapak was superb. It could not really be faulted, and we had a great deal of co-operation from the proprietor. Above all, we were happy in the knowledge that Bapak was comfortable -- what else mattered? After all, nothing is too good for him.

Regarding the talks, one member noted that this was the first time he had ever known shorthand to be taken of Bapak's talk. He felt that this greatly assisted Sjarif's translation. That first talk was given in such a feeling of warmth and lightness and love. Also, the knowledge that many people around Australia were present in spirit, in praise and in prayer, joining in with us. Such an unleashing of power and inner strength was made possible.

Then Bapak's talk at the airport, off the record as it were, just for us, as time slipped by we hung on every word. Then chairman John had an answer to a question which had bothered him since childhood, plus some advice about work. And then it was all over. The party slipped out to board their plane for Perth. But was it all over? Perhaps it was only beginning.

The sadness welling up inside some of us was because Bapak was leaving us. But Bapak wanted us to be happy and thankful that we had received such great blessings from Almighty God during his visit. There was now a feeling of unity and harmony because we were united in the one purpose of worshipping God Almighty through the latihan. As Bapak had said, our hearts and minds were truly satisfied.

Then as Bapak's plane started to move (one member adds) 1 had the feeling that it was completely surrounded by the power of Almighty God. In fact the air around felt thick with the power of God. A great feeling of peace and stillness came into my heart and I knew that the full impact of Bapak's visit was really only just beginning to be felt, and that what God had given us all, through Bapak, would continue to be revealed to us for a long time ahead.

Subud Adelaide Australia.

"Higher and higher and deeper and deeper."

This latihan that we have received up till now -- do not imagine that it will just stop there at what we have received so far. It will proceed step by step, higher and higher and deeper and deeper, so that gradually we will be able to understand and know with our mind things that are beyond this world. Therefore, we should really treat it as something very important and diligently do our latihan so that we really answer love with love. That is, God's love towards us is answered by our own love towards God. Because, if we do not, if we now neglect this latihan which God has given us out of His great love for us, his creatures, then we will later on be truly disappointed and truly sad when we realize that this power of God has gone away from us.

Blonay, August 13, 1977

"Do it in a normal way."

If we always have the feeling that no matter what we want to do we must get God's permission first, this will actually not bring us a situation which is light and free and open, but on the contrary, it will bring us into a state that is more and more dark and confused. So Bapak really advises you, when it comes to making decisions about practical matters, to do it in a normal way and not to do too much testing.

Blonay, August 13, 1977

"Put enterprises on a sound footing."

There is another important duty for the Committee. The Committee has the job of fostering enterprises, and in order to do this, one of the most important things that Bapak expects the Committee to do is to set up a group of experts; that is, experts in all fields of enterprise, in finance, in law, in business, in maybe agriculture, in industry, in building, in all such fields, and get these experts together to form a kind of advisory body, a consultant group who can initiate and also help, foster, supervise and advise members who want to do enterprises. In other words, they will be able to put enterprises on a sound footing.

Chicago, October 1, 1977

"This suffering will not be felt."

And now Bapak would like to go back to the question about the healing of the heart. What Bapak meant by the healing of the heart is not healing the heart, the heart itself, the thing, but healing the content of the heart. And this is something that Bapak frequently tests with you and Bapak still tests this. Bapak tests: 'How is it when you are in a state of sadness or you are suffering in some way and you surrender this to God Almighty?' -- so that you are able to feel for yourself in the testing that although you experience difficulties, although you may be in a state of suffering and despair, yet if at that moment you can surrender to God Almighty, this suffering will not be felt, so that it will not lead you, as it normally would, to a state of illness or various kinds of sickness which come from a feeling of continuous despair or suffering. It is really so, that if something happens to us in our lives which causes us suffering, if we can continuously be in a state of latihan, we will not feel it at all, we will only have a feeling of happiness and joy throughout -- which proves that through the latihan kejiwaan we become protected from the influence of the lower forces.

New York, 10 September, 1977

"If God wills."

Bapak has received that if it is God's will, Bapak can be strong for many years more and Bapak maybe at the age of 90 will still be able to travel and talk to you and give you explanations and maybe Bapak can still come here 10 times more to visit you. But that is only if God wills.

Chicago, October 1, 1977

"All helpers are equal."

It is not at all true to think that the helpers who work as regional or as national helpers are in some way higher than the ordinary helpers who work in the groups, because it could easily be that a helper who is a local helper could receive more in the latihan than someone who happens to be a national helper. So therefore Bapak always says that all helpers are equal and there is no difference between one helper and another. It is very important that the helpers should always be able to work well together in harmony and get on well together ... because if there is some disagreement or some disharmony between the helpers, it will very quickly have corresponding results and reflection in the state of the membership. Helpers have to act as people who are responsible for the fate of those whom they have opened. Bapak prefers to have a group of 10 people who really receive the latihan than a group of 1000 who are only a number, because none of them can really receive.

Buenos Aires, October 22, 1977

"There are life forms much greater than man."

The prophets in the olden days could only receive in relation to man in this world; they were not yet able to know or to receive in relation to other worlds. And actually we will know later that there are life forms much greater and much more glorious than what man is in this world. But man, because of his ignorance and the limitation of his senses, is so far only aware of himself as some creature which cannot be exceeded and than which there is nothing greater. But in fact there are planets which are much greater than this earth, such as for example the planet Jupiter; and if they contain life, certainly it will be a life form much greater than what we are here. And actually the truth is that all the conditions and needs of life are present on Jupiter as they are here, but the form of life is completely different from what we know here. Even the word 'Jupiter' is something that we have invented here, and is quite different from the name that the beings there use.

Buenos Aires, October 22, 1977

"Why did you want to join Subud?"

This Subud, which is all of you together, cannot be strong, cannot develop, cannot become glorious and great if you yourselves do not work at carrying out the decisions taken together which are expressed in the regulations and in the work of the Committee. This is something which is very important for you to understand. Otherwise, it is as if you come to Subud, you make decisions about what you want to do -- but then if you don't carry them out, if you don't do the work that has to be done, why did you join Subud? Why do you need to come to the latihan? If that is how you feel about it, it is meaningless. Why did you want to join Subud in the first place? Brothers and sisters, if we do not have self-discipline, any work, any organization, any movement whose members do not have self-discipline will never get anywhere, it will never make progress. We are defeated, we are beaten. We don't have to be beaten, but to be absolutely frank, we are beaten by other people. If everyone just looks after their own selves and ignores the needs of the Brotherhood as a whole, then do not imagine that Subud will ever have the respect of anyone.

December 4, 1977

"The realm of the miraculous."

This latihan is actually a latihan through which we become acquainted with death. In a way, you could say it is a latihan of death, but in fact it is not. The reality of it is that it is a latihan of life; because through this latihan we are able to get to know things that are in the realm of the miraculous. It should not normally be possible for man living in this world to get to understand and to feel and to know how is the life after death -- but through this latihan we are able to experience that.

December 6, 1977

"No longer any doubt."

So, brothers and sisters, devote yourselves to God and worship God in your latihan kejiwaan so that you will really receive God's grace, and do not only remember God when you happen to be sick or when you happen to be in trouble and then you pray to God. But pray to God always, so that when you reach that point in your latihan that you have really received God's grace, there will no longer be any doubt, any hesitation, any worry in your life, because your life will be completely clear and it will be taken care of by the power of God Almighty.

U.S.A. December 6, 1977

"Little awareness that anything has 'happened'."

Most important, of course, were Bapak's evenings. To some extent they are incommunicable. Outwardly exhausting, with crowds of people, hours waiting about, even sometimes little awareness that anything has 'happened' to one in the latihan either. Yet later, an awareness that something stole up on one beyond one's perception, to manifest later in a change in one's latihan or one's awareness about the meaning of Subud. There was less emphasis this time on testing. Bapak seemed to be freeing our latihans. He would make us latihan for about half an hour while he watched, then give us a test to feel how it is when we do latihan with every part of us really responding to it. This, as I learned from watching two of Bapak's grand daughters, need not necessarily mean violent movements, rather a complete surrender. It seemed to me that though their outward movements were soft and gentle, every particle of their being was being moved by the latihan, with nothing 'dead'.

Illaine, Ireland.

"The latihan isn't something you do."

One Saturday in June, the 25th, during Bapak's visit to the U.K., he was invited to Winslade House, our Enterprise headquarters. He was escorted round, and then we were all invited, about 50 of us, into the living room of Sachlan's flat there. Sharif said that Bapak would prefer not to give a talk but answer questions. Had any of us a question to put, perhaps Dominic. (This made sense. I was National Chairman at the time).

Now a few weeks earlier at a meeting with the National Helpers I had asked a question: "At those times when one is working so hard that one's thoughts invade the latihan and the first 20 minutes are more or less wasted as one only gets under way in the last 10, how can one calm oneself and prepare for the latihan". Of several answers the one I subsequently found most profitable was the one from the helper who suggested that when one wakes up on latihan days one should turn one's mind to thoughts of the latihan, and at times throughout the day should look forward to it with pleasurable anticipation, so that the whole day was a kind of preparation for it.

Anyway, I found myself asking the same question. Bapak's superb reply began: "The question shows that you don't understand the latihan kejiwaan," and he went on to give us his explanation of the 'continuous latihan': the latihan isn't something you do twice a week but is something that is going on inside you unceasingly. The purpose of the communal latihan twice a week is to be with and grow closer to your brothers and sisters.

At the time (How dim and thick one is, after 14 years in Subud!) I didn't take in Bapak's words, and was just about to say that the reply didn't seem to answer the question, when fortunately someone else came up with a question. But as time went by, and Bapak expanded on 'the continuous latihan' in subsequent talks, the idea began to sink in. During Ramadhan the reality began to sink in.

Dominic, England.