How Should we Grow? - by Soraya Newell

When Subud first came to the West, Bapak and other Subud members gave public talks, and people who became interested in Subud from hearing about it were opened with little or no waiting time. Bapak and Ibu visited the groups fairly regularly, and many Subud groups developed a rich social, cultural, spiritual and charitable life together.

Now it is very rare for there to be public notice of any Subud events or informational talks. Few libraries or book stores offer Subud books to the general public, and most talks or books by Bapak are for members only, and would probably not be easily understood by those with no experience of the latihan.

If course, since they have not heard of Subud’s existence, there is little demand for Subud books, but the public’s remarkable hunger for new books with a spiritual content continues to keep many such books on the best-seller lists.

After we survive the discussion of whether we should make more information on Subud available to the public, I feel we should focus our attention on how to do this.

Does the public have a potential interest in Subud? Yes. "Spiritual" books are constantly on the best-seller list. Therefore, (unless it is illegal or dangerous for Subud to be publicized in a particular country), to spread information that Subud does exist, what it is, and where it can be found, is not proseltyzing among those who are not interested. It is a public information service. We do not intend to knock on the doors of uninterested persons and annoy them with unwanted information about Subud. We just want to put notices in the places where the seekers are already looking for a spiritual way. When they hear about Subud, they are free to learn more about it if they are interested. This is how and why Subud originally spread.

Where should these notices go? Subud should be listed in the phone directory for the areas near every local group. If their local newspapers have a weekly "religion" page, where local religious services are announced, and local events of a religious or spiritual nature are publicized, Subud should also place a public notice of latihan times and a few words explaining Subud, such as:

SUBUD - A Spiritual Experience - meets at _____(address)_______ on Mondays and Thursdays at 8 pm.

or: SUBUD - A direct contact with the power of God -

Those interested should call ___(phone number)__

or come to an informational meeting at 2 pm on

Sunday, July 24th at _____(address)______.

or: A Holiday Party to benefit X Charity will be held by Subud, a world-wide interfaith fellowship, at 2 pm on

Sunday, December 24th at _____(address)______.

We could start youth groups for our own children and their non-Subud friends. Young people of college age are seeking direction for their lives, and are attending social and spiritual events they learn about from public notice on posters, bulletin boards, radio, TV, or their college newspapers. We could be placing similar information in these places to let these young seekers know about Subud also.

Local Subud groups, especially those with Subud Houses, should plan events that could involve the public on a regular basis, whether that means once a month or twice a year. Friends and relatives can be personally invited, and the public can be invited through public notice. These events could be cultural and social events, such as an evening of entertainment or a holiday party. They could be benefits to raise money for local charitable causes or Susila Dharma sponsored projects. They could be talks or question and answer sessions about what Subud is. They could be fund-raisers for the local group, such as dinners or yard sales.

Whatever the event is, there should always be a simple written explanation about Subud available on a table. There should be a short, one paragraph statement about Subud made when introducing the evening’s entertainment - just enough to let people know that we are Subud and that Subud is a direct spiritual experience freely available if someone is interested. Just information. Not proseltyzing.

But if we are to make Subud available to all humankind as Bapak wanted us to do, we also have to look at how we are organized and whether we are willing and able to do this. And if not, whether we are willing to become able to do it. Here are some questions and suggestions that may help us look at this situation.

Are the members and helpers ready for an influx of new members?
Are they willing?
Do we need more helpers? More young helpers?
Do we need to develop the helpers’ skills in talking with applicants, in keeping in touch with newly opened members, so we don’t lose them?
Do we need to develop guidelines and procedures and a sort of "lesson plan" for our applicant meetings, including information on the joys of committee work and the importance of supporting Subud financially after they are opened?
I think we do. One thing I suggest is that the helpers get quiet with the applicants at the beginning of each applicant meeting. This sets the tone and gives the applicants a feeling for the reality of what we are talking about.
Do we still need to make applicants wait 3 months? What are the consequences if we continue this or if we change it?
Bapak said there should be no chairman in the helpers’ group. Perhaps this was to keep certain individuals from trying to assume control or become little gurus in their own groups. But the unintended consequence of this is that helpers’ groups tend to avoid any sort of organization. Not only don’t they have chairmen, they often don’t accomplish much because no one is seeing that good suggestions become decisions, and that decisions are carried out.
Either a helpers’ group needs a moderator and a note-taker, which can change with each meeting, rotating the responsibility among the helpers, or we need to develop some other method of structuring helpers’ meetings, so they accomplish things, keep records, handle necessary correspondence, update censuses, etc.
Outreach packets, which were distributed to every center in 1995, should be updated to include sample press releases, ads, and public notices about various types of events, and should be made available in languages besides English, where needed.
We need to agree on one or a few simple interesting books on Subud, subsidize or publish them cheaply, and place them in bookstores and libraries near Subud groups, and in large cities, so those who look for such books can find Subud through them.
Where there are "New Age" publications for those interested in spiritual matters, Subud should surely submit notices, articles or ads.
Subud information of interest to outsiders should be widely distributed on the Internet, making sure it is done in an appetizing way - no miracles promised, no purification ‘horror stories’ hinted at. Each center or region could have its own web page, to disseminate current information to members or interested seekers.
It would be wise to look deeply at our lack of internal social structure, and how little we support each other and our new members. Often we ignore the good things that are done in Subud, but criticize what we don’t like or understand. There are no award ceremonies for good work done! We need to develop social support networks appropriate to Subud, whether they are new member get-togethers, or regular testing sessions, or honest discussion groups like cultural or enterprise support groups, that allow us to pay attention to each others’ needs, celebrate successes, heal hurts and griefs. We do need more than the latihan to hold us together, especially in the early years. If we decide to reach out to new members, we should help them to get the most out of this gift of the latihan, not ignore them and let them wander off, unless that’s what they really want to do.

We have the greatest gift imaginable, the latihan, the worship that grows inside us and transforms our lives. We need to start giving each other our total support so that we can work together to spread this gift that is for all humankind. That is the mission that Bapak left for us to complete. Let’s begin.

with love from Soraya Newell

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