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Subud and the Compassionate Life
These are thoughts on Subud and the compassionate life by the founder of Subud,
Muhammad Subuh, selected from his talks.
The spiritual exercise of Subud is a gift or a grace from God.
Those who receive it can receive it easily, although its results
are truly no different from those obtained through following a
spiritual teaching for a very long time.
What we receive in the spiritual exercise is a movement which
comes not from ourselves but from God's power within us.
At first we are surprised that within us there is a movement
beyond our own intention. It is like a life within a life, or
something that touches us without our own understanding. This
is the nature of God's gift. We are able to receive things which
are completely new and unexpected, coming from beyond our normal
experience.
The power of God embraces everything, and the spiritual exercise
of Subud, being given by God and originating from God, embraces
everything. In the spiritual exercise we only surrender to the one
God with patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission.
We come to surrender in the exercise when our heart is empty of
everything, of all our hopes, desires and wishes. The working of
God within the self is like the breaking down of walls. The powerful
life force operates within us to eliminate everything harmful that
has become rooted in us as a result of our past.
The real fact is that we are a succession of faults and errors.
This is the reason why we do not find happiness and peace in
whatever we do. This is the reason why the way of purification
sometimes takes a very long time. So it is important for us to
be very patient.
When God is active within us, we must take a back seat.
God will make our inner feeling as wide as this world, as wide
as the ocean, so that we can know things beyond ourselves. At any
moment of the day we will be shadowed by the power of God.
If we practice being quiet for a few minutes before we do our work,
while we are in this state there may be some indication for us which
will facilitate whatever we are about to undertake.
Through the spiritual exercise of Subud we develop our own way, our own
private, right way, in accordance with our own nature, which does not
imitate anybody else, but is something that grows from within ourselves.
The exercise will broaden our being. It is this broadening that leads us
to the wish and the need to undertake charitable work in our society to
help others. Our effort will always be directed at helping other people,
lifting the burden of other people, making their lives better.
What we receive in the spiritual exercise is that it is God's will for
us to be harmonious and in a state of co-operation with our fellow human
beings. It is God's will that we become people who truly love each other,
who truly help each other, who truly are aware of each other's needs.
It is clear that mankind is walking between two tendencies, one which is
strong and harmful, really not good, the other which is good. They are
always in disharmony one with the other and can't be reconciled.
The world is a place of trial for mankind. The world is a place of suffering,
full of danger, full of accidents and difficulties. But at the centre of this
life there is also a great peace and a great bliss, if you are able to surrender
everything to Almighty God.
The basis of Subud is surrender to Almighty God.
The word Subud is a contraction of the Sanskrit words Susila Budhi Dharma
which may be defined as our outer life and inner life in harmony with the
will of God, through surrender to the power of God.
If you want to express Susila Budhi Dharma with one word,
it is unity, it is being one.
Subud and the Compassionate Life (God references omitted)
The spiritual exercise of Subud is a gift.
Those who receive it, can receive it easily, although its results are truly no
different from those obtained through following a spiritual teaching for a very long time.
What we receive in the spiritual exercise comes from power within
us. At. first we are surprised that there is a movement beyond our own intention.
It is like a life within a life or something that touches us without our own
understanding. This is the nature of the gift. We are able to receive things
which are completely new and unexpected, coming from beyond our normal experience.
The power embraces everything and the spiritual exercise of Subud embraces
everything. In the spiritual exercise we surrender with patience, trustful
acceptance and sincerity. We come to the exercise when our heart is empty of
everything, of all our hopes, desires and wishes. The working within the self,
is like the breaking down of walls. The powerful life force operates within us
to eliminate everything harmful that has become rooted in us as a result of our
past. The real fact is that we are a succession of faults and errors. This is
the reason that we do not find happiness and peace in whatever we do. This is
why the way of purification sometimes takes a very long time. So it
is important for us to be very patient. When the power is active Within us, we
must take a back seat. The power will make our inner feeling as wide as
this world, as wide as the ocean, so that we can know things beyond ourselves.
At any moment of the day we will be shadowed by the power. If we practice being
quiet for a few minutes before we do our work, while we are in this state there may
be some indication for us which will facilitate whatever we are about to undertake.
Through the spiritual exercise of Subud we develop our own way, our own private,
right way, in accordance with our own nature, which does not imitate anybody else,
but is something that grows from within ourselves. The exercise will broaden our being.
It is this broadening that leads us to the wish and the need to undertake charitable
work in our society, to help others. Our efforts will always be directed at helping
other people, lifting the burden of other people, making their lives better.
What we receive in the spiritual exercise, is to be harmonious and in
a state of co-operation with our fellow human beings: that we become people who
truly love each other, who truly help each other, who are truly aware of each
other's needs. It is clear that mankind is walking between two tendencies: one
which is strong and harmful, really not good, the other which is good. They are
always in dis-harmony, one with the other and can't be reconciled. The world is
a place of trial for mankind. The world is a place of suffering, full of danger,
full of accidents and difficulties. But, at the centre of this life, there is also
a great peace and a great bliss, if you are able to surrender to it. The basis of
Subud is surrender.
The word Subud is a contraction of the Sanskrit words Susila Budhi Dharma which
may be defined as our outer life and inner life in harmony, through surrender
to -the power.
If you want to express Susila Budhi Dharma in one word, it is UNITY. It is being one.
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