THE MEANING OF SUBUD - II GOD AND THE SOUL... (Continued)

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