THE MEANING OF SUBUD... Talk IV SUBMISSION... Beginning today Thursday 10/28/10...
Friends' House, Euston Road
29 August 1959
Bapak wishes to give clarifications in answer to your question about how we can come to surrender to the Greatness of God.
In truth the surrender you make when you Have Been Opened or at the time of your Opening is not the surrender to God that people ordinarily make, with their emotions only, with their thoughts, or with their desires.
That which is required is not the submission of your heart or mind; But It Is The Power Of God Working And Manifesting Within Your Being.
This makes it possible for you to surrender to His Greatness, for your heart is already filled, more or less, With The Working Of The Power of God, Which Manifests Within Your Being At The Moment Of Your Opening, Or At Any Moment When You Are Doing Your Latihan.
In its essence, you can come to surrender at these times of Opening and doing the Latihan, only when your heart is emptied and void of everything, such as your hopes, desires and wishes, even your wish to surrender to God, for that part of you which wishes to do so in this way is nothing but your own heart.
The truth is that, in the Latihan, it is the Will of God that you should do nothing, not think, But Just Feel Yourselves And Be Aware Of Your Whole Being And Not Think About Anything.
Movements and Vibrations Will Then Arise Spontanrously From Within Your Being.
And The Arising Of These Movements Within You Means That You Are Surrendering To God.
In Other Words, You Allow And Permit Within You The Action Of The Will Of God And The Working Of The Great Life Force Within You.
This can be illustrated by the following:
If you are with a person and you permit whatever he wishes: whether he raises you up, or whether he holds you by the hand and guides you, you do not resist him; and you submit to whatever he wishes.
This Is The Nature Of The True Surrender To God.
Although That Is The Meaning Of Surrendering To The Greatness Of God, you should not forget that the most important thing in the Latihan and in Receiving the Contact Is Not Only That Surrender Itself, but the fact that, By God's Will, The Current Of God's Power Flows Through The Being Of The Opener, And Is Thus Communicated To The Newly Opened Person.
It Is This That Brings About The Cessation Of The Activities Of His Thoughts, Heart And Desires; So That, Within Himself, He Is Feeling Spontaneously Awakened And Opened.
Bapak says this because there are so many people besides us who are also practicing the surrender to God. Their surrender may be of a finer quality and more real than ours.
But inasmuch As it Is Not Yet The Will Of God To Channel And Send The Current Of His Life Force Within Their Beings, However Regularly And However Many Thousands Of Times They May Surrender To God - Every Day And Every Night - You Could Say They Surrender To God A Thousand Times - There is No Result, And They Do Not Receive The Contact.
So it is clear that the most important thing, Which Results In The Reality Of Receiving The Latihan - Meaning Real Surrender That Is Accompanied By A Contact With God - Is Not The Surrender Itself, But The Receiving Of The Contact From God in the Opening; That is to say, It Is The Current Of The Life Force That Flows Through The Being Of The Opener And Through Him To The Being Of The Person Being Opened.
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - Talk IV SUBMISSION... To be Continued Monday 11/1/10... on Muftiah's Facebook Notes Page... as well as on her Blogs... "JIWA TO JIWA"... and "MUFTIAH"... Insha Allah... God Willing... where via the free Google Translate Service... set up on your Browser... it
can be read in many other languages... and in much easier... and larger to read print...)
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - Talk III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... Concluded today Monday 10/25/10...
We should not claim that what we have Received Comes From God, but we should base everything on the available Evidence. That is how it should be: we should not speak about anything for which there is no evidence.
It is not necessary in SUBUD to speak of lofty and grandiose things; what is needed is the Evidence.
From this Evidence, we reach the conclusion that What We Have Received Is A Current that, although we are unable to know where it comes from, is beyond the power and influence of our thinking mind, our heart and our desires.
This means that it comes from beyond the influence of the low forces and of all that is usually referred to as magic.
Another reason why it is pointless to say That We Receive This From God, is because no one can know that Except God Alone.
For the way God Gives to a person is not with the hand, not through movement, not through using the thinking or the heart - as one person gives to another - but with God's Power, which is beyond our knowledge.
So we do not need to say That This Comes From God. No.
It is enough if we say to other people That This Comes From Beyond Our Knowledge, Our Thinking Mind And Our Hearts, and therefore it follows That It Must Come From A Level That Is Really Free From Anything Pertaining To Our Desires, Our Hearts And Our Thinking.
But, for ourselves, We Have Already Received Evidence That We Experience A Gradual Process Of Change In Our Inner Nature.
So without knowing how, and in a way that is beyond our understanding, We Can See And We Can Feel That Something Has Changed Within Us.
Indeed, The Action Of God's Power Can Bring About Something Beyond The Comprehension Of The Human Heart And Mind.
Therefore we don't need to give high-sounding explanations to those who want to hear.
If they want to know what we receive in SUBUD let them come and experience it for themselves.
For in SUBUD there are no great theories or great teachings, nor does it make appeal to the mind, But There Are Proofs To Be Found In It That People Can Experience For Themselves.
As For All Of You: What You Need Is Simply To Receive As Much Evidence As Possible For Yourselves, So That You Can Become An Example For Other People And For Society.
Once You Have This Quality - The True SUBUD Quality - Present In Each One Of You, you won't need to make propaganda, You Will Spontaneously Attract The Attention Of Other People And Other Groups.
It is not that you will influence them, But They Will See And Recognize The Reality That Is Within Each One Of You.
The reason for this is that, at the present time, people generally no longer believe in words but look for facts.
Bapak Feels That It Is Indeed God's Will That The Appearance Of SUBUD Will Bring People The Facts They Want In Preference To Words.
That is why, in truth, Bapak does not wish to give a lot of talks. For if after listening to him you go home and start to think about what he has said, then the more Bapak speaks to you and the more you listen, the more his words will be the source of fresh impurities, Rather Than A Means Of Purifying The Content Of Your Head, Your Heart And Your Feelings.
Therefore Bapak hopes that you will simply listen to what you hear but not think about it: listen but don't ponder about it deeply.
It Will Work Within You Spontaneously And Will Give Each Of You The Proof Of Changes Taking Place Within You.
This Is The Way That Things Should Happen In SUBUD, as in the saying: 'Deeds, not words'.
So we don't need to discuss a lot of problems; We Need To Practice - To Do The Latihan.
The Latihan Is The Most Important.
The Latihan Comes First And Is Fundamental For All Of Us, So That We May Receive The Working Of God's Power Within Us.
This then, is the same as Bapak said earlier: these clarifications that he has been giving, which he feels you need, are really intended to calm the working of your thoughts, your heart and your desires.
Don't think of them as being meant to make you more enthusiastic, or to strengthen your will.
On the contrary, Bapak Hopes That All Of You Will Listen To These Explanations Only With A Feeling Of Gratitude To God, so that your Inner Feelings, Your Thinking And Your Hearts May Become Clean, Making It Easier For You To Receive In The Latihan.
If it were necessary for you to have explanations about Spiritual Matters in the usual way, that might need a lot of time, because it is a very wide subject.
But Bapak considers and feels that it would be quite pointless, since on the whole you are still in the early stages, at the very beginning, and don't need to hear about things that are so far from your present level.
Bapak can illustrate your present state by comparing it with a car that is being made. All you have so far is one or two of the wheels. So you are not yet able, nor is it yet necessary, to describe how fast the car will go, how many liters of fuel it takes and its other qualities, since all you have so far is some wheels.
It will be easier to explain all this when the car that is being made - in this case your Inner Nature - is finished.
Then you will know that it will go at this speed, that you will need so many liters of fuel, and that it will work for so many years.
So Bapak Hopes You Will Have Patience, Sincerity And Trust In Your Submission To The Greatness Of God.
And In Order Gradually To Find Out And Feel How Far The Working Of The Power Within You Has Progressed, Bapak Suggests To You - Especially To The Helpers - That You Should Regularly Use The Latihan To Test This.
In This Way, When The Helpers Do Latihan Together You Can Get To Know How Far Each Of You Has Progressed in Your Receiving.
So Eventually You Will Be Able To Become Aware Of What Has Happened And What Has Been Achieved Within You: have you got another wheel yet or not? Has the axle been added yet, or the mudguard? Have you got one that is complete, or is not even the first one complete yet?
That is Bapak's explanation - not his teaching - that he wanted to give you tonight.
Please forgive him if he has said anything that doesn't please you. And he would like to thank you all for your sincerity in coming to this meeting tonight. Bapak wishes you good night.
(To be Continued Thursday 10/28/10... with the Beginning of... "THE MEANING OF SUBUD" - Talk IV SUBMISSION... on Muftiah's Facebook Notes Page... as well as on her Blogs... "JIWA TO JIWA"... and "MUFTIAH"... Insha Allah... God Willing... where via the free Google Translate Service... set up on your Browser... it can be read in many other languages... and in much easier... and larger to read print...)
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... Continued today Thursday 10/21/10...
This is the reason why it is said in religion: 'People cannot be near to God unless God Loves them'.
To be loved means to be united in heart and feelings. To be united in this way, you certainly need to have feelings that are really wide, like the waters of the ocean, so that the Power of the Higher Life Force, which has no form and is free of the wishes of your brain, heart, passions and feelings, Can Enter Into You.
So it can be seen that human beings need Help from God.
Only With God's Help Can A Person Receive The Action Of God's Power Within Themselves, So That Eventually The Mistake Whereby The Wrong Soul Was Placed Within Them Can Be Corrected And Their Soul Changed.
Then They Will Be Filled With A Human Soul That Has True Human Qualities And A Noble Inner Force.
The Help That Human Beings Need From God Is The Powerful Life Force Whose Origin And Working Lie Entirely Beyond The Ability And Power Of Their Own Brain, Heart, Desires And Feelings.
Why Should Its Origin And Working Be Beyond Human Ability?
Because the ability of human beings lies in the brilliance and skill of their brain; in the imaginative powers and the subtlety of their heart; in the clarity and satisfaction of their feelings; and all these are nothing more than forms in the human inner feeling. They just create new focal points for the low forces that already have dominion within them.
This Is The Difference Between The Influence On The Human Self Of The Power That Is Greater Than The Human Force And Of Those That Are Lower.
Therefore, if people still prefer to worship God using their mind, heart and desires, it means that they still prefer to be under the power of forces that are lower than human.
Those Who No Longer Wish To Continue In That Way Need To Worship God By Abandoning All The Wishes Of Their Hearts And The Goals Of Their Thinking Minds, And By Turning To God, The Creator Of The Whole Universe, Who Has No Direction, No Country, No Abode, And Includes All Worlds Within Himself.
So the appropriate attitude for a person in their Worship Of God is not to do, concentrate on, or direct anything, But Simply To Accept Whatever They Receive.
This Possibility Has Come About Through The Grace Of God.
Through God's Grace We Have Been Able To Receive The Powerful Life Force; And We Are Not Able To Think About What We Receive, Or Understand How It Works Or How It Will Work.
For It Is Really True That This Powerful Life Force, Which Is In Our Being - In The Being Of Each One Of You - Is Sent By Almighty God To Help Us Avoid Becoming Irretrievably Manipulated By The Low Forces, Whose Action Impoverishes Human Life And Causes It To Degenerate.
(THE MEANING OF SUBUD - III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... To be Concluded Monday 10/25/10... on Muftiah's Facebook Notes Page... as well as on her Blogs... "JIWA TO JIWA"... and "MUFTIAH"... Insha Allah... God Willing... where via the free Google Translate Service... set up on your Browser... it can be read in many other languages... and in much easier... and larger to read print...)
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... Continued today Monday 10/18/10...
That is why it is very rare in this world for people to be able to Receive the influence of the Fifth Power within their being - as was the case with the Prophets that you have heard of.
Bapak says it is rare, because the only kind of people who were able to Receive what he just described were the Prophets whose lives are recorded in the books of the various religions.
But Bapak cannot say Whether God's Choice Is Limited To Those People Who Lived In Bygone Days Or Whether It May Be God's Will That Many People Living At The Present Time Will Also Be Able To Receive In The Same Way.
As Bapak has already said, if a person is entirely filled by the material forces, then all their functions - the coarse as well as the fine, their brain, heart, desires and feelings - will be no more than tools at the disposal of the forces that have become their Inner Content.
It follows from this, that all the experiences a person has passed through, their education, and all training of their intellect, heart and feelings, will be no more than useful instruments to serve better the purposes of the low forces that occupy their Inner World.
For this reason, when a person is filled with the material, vegetable or animal forces, it is not possible to change and improve their habits and their character by giving them advice, or by imposing rules designed to make them behave rightly and follow the true path indicated by those who have Received Guidance in the various religions.
Bapak will illustrate this.
Take a tiger: however long you train it to behave like a gentle animal, the tiger - with its sharp teeth, its sharp claws and its fondness for raw meat - always remains a tiger.
It is certain that one day, if there is an opportunity, perhaps through the negligence of the person guarding it, the tiger will attack whoever happens to be nearby.
It is the same with a cat. You look after it and give it good food - bread, butter, soup and so on - but it will never give up its particular prey, the mouse. Although according to human standards a cat may be surrounded by good food, it will always pounce upon any mouse that crosses its path.
This illustrates what Bapak said before. A person may have been well educated: 'You shouldn't do that because it is wrong, and as a human being you should be like this...' but, because the mainspring of a person's life, the chief motivating power of their entire being, consists of forces belonging to the material, vegetable and animal levels, they will be unable to be free from these in any of their actions.
This is, in truth, a kind of sickness, which cannot be seen but which is extremely dangerous for the well-being of humankind.
Diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis are considered difficult to deal with, yet a cure can still be pursued through human effort and human thought.
But with this disease it is impossible, because here the disease has taken over the person's Inner Self and rules their life.
Even their consciousness comes from this inappropriate force that has become their Inner Content.
You may verify this from your own experience. If you are respected and esteemed by others, you will certainly feel proud and happy; but on the other hand, you will feel depressed or even angry if they criticize or despise you.
These reactions prove the existence of such a sickness in your soul.
God, our Creator, Is Not Like That. And If We Wish To Be Near God, At The Very Least We Need To Be Able To Follow And Imitate God, Even Though We Cannot Do So Completely.
It Is God's Nature To Be Able To Unite With Anything And Everything That God Has Created.
This Means That God Is Truly One In Feeling With Whoever May Stand Before God, So If God's Creature Suffers, God Also Suffers.
God Is Able To Be One With All God's Creatures, Including Human Beings.
God Can Unite With The Whole Human Race, So Whatever A Person May Feel Within Themselves, God Feels It Too.
Similarly, Whatever is Felt By Every Animal, God Feels That.
The Same Is True For All Plant Life And Also For Creatures That Are Invisible To Us.
Such Is The Nature Of God, And Such Is The Example We Need To Follow To The Best Of Our Ability.
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... To be Continued Thursday 10/21/10... on Muftiah's Facebook Notes Page... as well as on her Blogs... "JIWA TO JIWA"... and "MUFTIAH"... Insha Allah... God Willing... where via the free Google Translate Service... set up on your Browser... it can be read in many other languages... and in much easier... and larger to read print...)
THE MEANING OF SUBUD... Talk III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... Beginning today Thursday 10/14/10...
22 August 1959
Friends' House, Euston Road
Ladies and gentlemen, in continuation of Bapak's explanations about the Spiritual Way, he offers this explanation to all of you who have felt the need to come to this meeting house tonight.
Please do not misunderstand these explanations that Bapak is giving and take them as a teaching. They really are explanations, given because all of you certainly need explanations about this Spiritual Way, in order that your thinking mind and desires may become pliable.
As Bapak has said before, in the life of any being it is the soul that is the main factor or the leader. So if the soul is wrong, that is to say, if the soul that occupies a being does not correspond to its visible form, then the behavior of the being will always be wrong.
Before the visible form begins to take shape, the soul is present as the future content of the being that will form around it.
So, it is with the soul already present within it that the outward form begins to develop and finally comes to its completion - as the visible form in which the soul is present.
Bapak will illustrate how this happens.
The way a soul enters a being, and the kind of soul that enters, depend on what happened before the being was created and on how it was created.
This - Bapak says frankly - has to do with the union between a man and a woman. In most cases, the union between a man and a woman is motivated by an energy that is an accumulation of the atmosphere they have experienced in this world.
This becomes a lens within (what will become) the visible being, which awakens (and attracts) whatever soul has the opportunity to enter it.
For example: human beings are usually unable to put aside their desire to be happier than others, and to be able to provide for their daily lives.
This means that, overall, their inner nature, their heart and all of their feelings are directed to the atmosphere of this world; that is, towards matter.
When this is the case, a way or opening is created that makes it possible for the material force to enter into the new being.
Furthermore, when a man and woman are not free from emotions that are continually influenced by greed, and have no love and compassion towards others, it is because these are human characteristics awakened by the vegetable forces.
If a new human seed arises from the union of a man and wife in whom these qualities are present, then that seed will be a focus for the entry of the vegetable force.
Human beings - men and women alike - are also affected by and contain in their natures the characteristics that render them pitiless towards those who may be at their mercy; that is to say, they will refuse to pardon a defeated enemy, even one who is begging for mercy.
They pursue only their own importance, high standing, and victory over others; they avoid contact with anyone who they fear may deprive them of any of their pleasures and satisfactions.
If a new human seed comes into being through the union of a husband and a wife with these characteristics present in them, that seed will become a focal point for the entry of forces of the animal level.
Moreover, the new seed can become a target for the entry of the force of the ordinary human level when the husband and the wife have characters that are self-important, believing that their powers are the result of their own superiority.
Such people do not feel and recognize that they exist in this world because God Has Created them. In reality such people only worship themselves and not God's Greatness.
These four life forces that Bapak has just spoken about constantly interact with the human inner feeling, because they work in parallel with the main human functions: the thinking, the heart, the desires and the feelings.
It is these four functions in human beings that provide the target or form through which the four life forces can enter.
Apart from these four forces, which continually interact with and exert pressure on the human self, there is also a Higher Force, Exercising A Superior Influence upon a person's entire being; but its nature is above and beyond the reach and working of the human thinking mind, heart, desires and feelings.
This Fifth Power requires no particular form (by which to enter and work in a person), because forms are the manifestations of the will, the heart and the brain.
For this Power, a person needs to be in a state where they are facing God, in a state comparable to the vastness of the ocean - where they are free of form.
Only Then Will The Fifth Power Enter Into A Person And Open Their Awareness To The Immensity Of Life, Embracing Both This World And The Life Beyond It.
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... To be Continued Monday 10/18/10... on Muftiah's Facebook Notes Page... as well as on her Blogs... "JIWA TO JIWA"... and "MUFTIAH"... Insha Allah... God Willing... where via the free Google Translate Service... set up on your Browser... it can be read in many other languages... and in much easier... and larger to read print...)
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - II GOD AND THE SOUL... Concluded today Monday 10/11/10...
Long ago, in the times of the Prophets, they wore the long shapeless robes that were customary in those days because there were no tailors; they allowed their beards to grow because there were no barbers.
But nowadays there are barbers and there are excellent tailors who make well-cut suits and dresses, which, for instance, you can see at Harrods.
Why, then, should people choose and wear tasteless clothes? That Is Not The Will of God.
They are not the means by which a person can be near to God. No.
Those Means Are Purity Of Heart And Mind.
A man may be well dressed, but if his heart is not good he cannot be near to God, whereas a person who may not be outwardly impressive but who is pure in heart - That Is The Person Who Can Be Near To God.
The black clothes and the white clothes that are traditionally worn when people want to show that they are good, are really symbols.
The color black represents sincerity that is not affected by anything. Black contains no beauty, but contains seriousness.
That is why black garments are usually worn when attending a funeral or a marriage. It signifies that, since the dead person is no longer influenced by anything, the minds of those who attend and accompany them should not be preoccupied with a lot of thoughts but should be worshipping God, so that the soul of the one who has died may return directly to God.
Similarly, when people go to a wedding dressed in black, their garments signify a sincerity untouched except by the hope that the couple will lead a harmonious life and be protected from the influences assailing them on every side.
For the effect of such influences would be to break the bonds that unite the two people.
Apart from that, it also implies the wish that in coming together, the husband and wife may not be disturbed by outer or worldly influences, so that they may give birth to a child who is not affected by these influences, and whose Inner Content is a pure and noble soul.
All these things are symbols for human life, which you will be able to understand through doing the SUBUD Latihan.
Eventually, you will not merely conform to custom without seeing and being certain of what is true and what is false, Because You Will Be Taught About Everything By God Himself, Through God's Power Working Within Each One Of You; The Power That Will Bring About All Necessary Changes Within You, Putting Right All That Is Wrong, And Making Whole And Perfect Whatever Is Still Defective.
For the faults we have and suffer from pervade not only our flesh and blood but also our understanding and awareness; one could say they penetrate even into our Inner Self.
Therefore putting them right cannot be accomplished quickly; it is certain to take a lot of time.
You, of course, would like to know and understand how to solve the problems you have within you as soon as possible.
But God Knows Better Than You, So God Will Work Within You And Grant This No Slower Or Faster Than Your Individual Strength Will Allow.
And if you follow the efforts of your heart and mind to try to speed up What You Receive, this may instead bring you an undesirable Experience, known as a Crisis.
It is like when you want to be rich but don't do any work; that is to say, your wish remains only in your head, and as you sit and dream, you begin to imagine what it will be like when you are rich and how you will invest your money when you have plenty of it.
Or it is like when you buy a lottery ticket - which is, of course, not certain to win - and you begin to calculate, 'If I win it, I shall buy ten houses near the road and let them, and with the income from this I won't need to work; I'll be able to travel around, go to the opera from time to time, and so on.'
That is the way the thinking mind works; if we give it free rein it will occupy itself with all sorts of nonsense. So don't do that.
Just do your Latihan - as long as you do it diligently and without getting bored.
Simply Accept What You Receive and don't have any feeling of being in a hurry or wanting to speed up the Process so as to Receive a lot.
For God's Work In The Human Self Is Like Opening A Way Through A Series Of Walls: The Wall Of The Feelings, The Wall Of The Understanding And The Wall Of Consciousness; all of which have been formed and come into being entirely through the influences of this world.
So Bapak hopes that you will not be in a hurry to understand the Meaning of What You Receive. Simply Accept It, Because When You Have Reached The Required Stage You Will Understand It Spontaneously.
So, All This Means That God Comes Before Everything That Is Beginning.
The qualities of the Prophets of old may serve as an example.
The Feeling Of Their Hearts Was Opened, Their Understanding And The Awareness Of Their Soul Was Opened, but not because they wished for it or studied it. It Came As A Result Of God's Grace, Based On The Purity And Cleanness Of Their Hearts And The Sincerity Of Their Worship And Faith In God's Greatness.
In This Way You Too Will Eventually Reach The Required State.
And Hopefully, You Will Be Able To Bring It Into This World, Resulting In A World Filled With General Well-Being And Harmony Between Human Beings Who Truly Worship Their God.
This is the end of Bapak's Talk this evening; he will continue it next Saturday. He hopes that his short explanation will have given you some satisfaction. Thank you.
To be Continued Thursday 10/14/10... with the Beginning of... "THE MEANING OF SUBUD" - III THE DEFECTS OF THE SOUL... on Muftiah's Facebook Notes Page... as well as on her Blogs... "JIWA TO JIWA"... and "MUFTIAH"... Insha Allah... God Willing... where via the free Google Translate Service... set up on your Browser... it can be read in many other languages... and in much easier... and larger to
read print...)
THE MEANING OF SUBUD - II GOD AND THE SOUL... Continued today Thursday 10/7/10...
This is why Bapak said earlier that human beings are unable to see the Power of God because they are obstructed by their own seeing; that is, by everything they have seen from the time they were children until they grew up.
Likewise it is very difficult for people to think about God with their brain and intellect, because the contents of their brain, heart and feelings consist only of experiences encountered throughout their life, from childhood to old age.
So, it is clear that throughout our life the influences of the world have penetrated very deeply into our feeling of self.
Therefore there is no other way for our Inner Feeling to be liberated from all this except by the way of death.
This way has long been followed and perhaps is still being followed by those who practice semadi or meditation.
Meditation means bringing the desires, the heart and the thinking mind to a standstill; and to come to this state really means to die - hence the expression: 'to die while still in this life'. In Javanese this is called mati sajroning urip.
This is so difficult and so deep that it would be very hard for anyone today, particularly someone living here in London, to practice such a thing; all the time he would hear cars passing by, the sound of people walking, the shouting of his children and the voice of his wife, or he would remember that he hasn't seen some film, and so on.
So it is extremely difficult for people today (to deal with this situation) without the Help of God that is in accordance with the conditions of human life in this present age.
Apart from that, (the way of meditation) is not in accordance with God's Will for human beings.
Bapak illustrates it in this way:
If you Received the Gift of God and were able to get close to God through the practice of meditation - through emptying your desires, your heart and mind, and living in some lonely spot isolated from the world - then you would continue to live like that for ever; and if everyone were to follow the same way, the world as we know it would be deserted.
There would be no more cinemas or airplanes, no large buildings such as this one we are in at the moment.
It would not be necessary for this present world to exist, because people would wish to live only in the forests or on the mountains.
To give an example of this:
Bapak once knew a man who was indeed highly gifted; that is to say, he had the power to know the future, and to know things that cannot be understood through the intellect. He attained these powers through the practice of self-denial; through fasting and restraining all his desires.
At that time he was still practicing these austerities, and his abilities and his awareness were indeed amazing.
But later he began to spend a lot of time with people from the city, and began to eat bread, butter and cheese; he began to drink milk and to eat biscuits that came in a tin, and then his extraordinary powers became blocked.
It is clear that the faculties acquired through this kind of austerity will disappear when one no longer practices it, for the powers thus attained demand the constant practice of fasting and depriving oneself of sleep and all comforts - and no eating butter for the rest of one's life.
So if you wish to go by that way you will have to refrain from eating bread, butter, cheese and so on. (Laughter)
However, In SUBUD, Brothers And Sisters, We Receive This By The Will Of God.
We Receive The Contact With God's Greatness in a state where we are still familiar with butter, bread, cheese and so on.
So if, nevertheless, we are able to Receive this from God, it means that we shall continue to be able to Receive it whilst living and working as normal people in this world.
Someone in Indonesia once said to Bapak, 'Bapak, you are very strange; you still wear a necktie although you are a Spiritual man and are supposed to have a noble soul. You still smoke cigarettes and drink tea. Sometimes you go to the opera and the cinema; at other times you go to the shops and so on.
Yet all these things are regarded as useless and as closing the way to God. Why don't you allow your beard to grow and lean on a stick as those other teachers do, who are said to be near to God?'
Bapak answered, 'Oh, no; Bapak is not like that. Bapak is Willed by God to be simply as Bapak is - to drink coffee, to eat butter, bread and cheese, also to smoke - because this is what people ordinarily do. It will not close my way to God, because God Wills me to be so.'
God is All-knowing and All-wise, and God Gives to human beings in such a way that they do not need to withdraw from normal life.
They Can Truly Receive God's Greatness And The Contact With God's Power At All Times - Whenever They Are Doing Their Work, And In Every Moment Of Their Lives.
(THE MEANING OF SUBUD - II GOD AND THE SOUL... To be Concluded Monday 10/11/10... on Muftiah's Facebook Notes Page... as well as on her Blogs... "JIWA TO JIWA"... and "MUFTIAH"... Insha Allah... God Willing... where via the free Google Translate Service... set up on your Browser... it can be read in many other languages... and in much easier... and larger to read print...)
The Links to the Blogs are...:
http://jiwatojiwa.blogspot.com and
http://msubud.blogspot.com
