Subud - Christian Dialogue

SUBUD - CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

There was so much interest in this workshop that it was carried over into a second session. Both sessions were chaired by Rohana Laing, a dynamic United Church minister and spiritual counsellor from Vancouver with a wide range of interests and training in matters relating to the spirit. A Subud member for twenty-eight years, Rohana was somewhat reluctantly guided into the ministry through experiences in latihan. She has been a minister for eight years now. One of her innovations with her congregation is the practice of 'centering prayer', and she concluded our first session with a brief demonstration.

The most striking aspect of the workshop was the diversity of the individual stories (many of which should be written and published!). We ran the Christian gamut from Roman Catholic to Baptist, conservative to born again, and among us could be found conflicting interpretations of the role of Jesus, the meaning of the sacraments, and the nature of religious truth (literal vs. metaphorical). Some of us had been Christians solidly from childhood, some had experienced dramatic conversions, and some had always had a tenuous relationship with stablished religion.

Many Subud members have received to become practising Christians, but there can be difficulties. Some Subud groups rather insensitively schedule latihans on Sunday mornings, so that Subud Christians have to choose between church and latihan. On the other side of the coin, a lot of non-Subud Christians (though by no means all) are opposed in principle to any non-Christian path, which leaves Subud Christians reluctant to mention their Subud connection and unable to share an important part of their spiritual lives with their priests and fellow churchgoers. Also, the time, energy and financial commitment involved in belonging to two communities can be daunting.

A number of participants reported having strong experiences of the power of the sacraments and the significance of the sacred texts. Some feel a real affinity between what they receive through the latihan and what they receive through the sacraments. Many Subud Christians seem to relate more easily to the mystical aspect of Christianity than to church doctrine and dogma. Among the benefits received from practising our religion were mentioned prayer and ritual, Christian culture, discipline, an outer framework for living, a wider experience of God, and religious education for our children.

A few random nuggets:

• It's an important part of your Subud life to find the truth within your religion.
• When Subud people become ministers and priests, they function like helpers, going beyond their ordinary selves.
• The latihan supports my religious life.
• I feel that the latihan, like the sacraments, is physical and spiritual nourishment.
• You don't have to be religious or in Subud to be a spiritually developed person.
• Religion is a process of developing intimacy with God.
• The bottom line is "How am I with God?"
• Prayer and communion work better when I am on my knees.

With all the diversity the remarkable thing is that there were no arguments and no discernible tension. One woman who left Subud after a powerful born-again experience was surprised to be received so warmly after a ten-year absence. We all seem to know and accept that our religious experience, like our development through the latihan, is completely individual, and that what is right for one may be wrong for another. As we follow our personal paths, we seem also to be aware that we ourselves are all works in progress.

Among the issues we discussed, one stood out. How do we answer non-Subud Christians when they ask questions like, 'How do you know your receiving is from God?' and 'How can Subud be genuine when Jesus said that He is the only way to the Father?' In fact, while we were in Spokane a few well-meaning people wrote letters to the outside press alerting their fellow-citizens to the dangers of Subud. This is the final paragraph Rohana's letter in reply:

"I invite readers to recognize that the Christian community is divided on this issue of Jesus being the only way. Many Christians of all denominations today believe that Jesus is not the only way. Vatican II stated that there are many paths to God. Some Christians are fearful and feel the need to be in the right. That is a stage of human development but not one that has the right to insist that we all agree with them. Young people for example go through a stage where they believe they know everything, but the older and wiser we get the more we realize that we don't. I am thankful that God gave so many rich and wise teachings to humanity."

In a more hopeful vein, someone told us that one of the Subud welcome team at the airport was asked by a nun about Subud. After an explanation, she said, "This is wonderful! Of course there are many ways to God!" She left full of enthusiasm to tell people about it.

The last session concluded with some testing, some of it aimed at this problem of how to deal with Christian intolerance of Subud. But the central and probably most useful tests were:

• How is it for my inner when I follow my Christian path?/
• How is it for my inner when I follow my Subud path?/
• How is it for my inner when I follow both of them?

Typically, the results were different for each of us.

Rohana invites Subud members to write about their experiences of Subud and Christianity to:

e-mail: Rev. Rohana Laing