A brief talk by the founder of Subud,
Bapak Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo (1901-1987)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
SUBUD is an abbreviation
of the words Susila, Budhi and Dharma. Subud is not a new religion nor
a sect of any religion; nor is it a teaching. It is only a symbol for
the possibility for mankind to follow the right way of living.
Susila means to be able to
live according to the Will of God as really true human beings.
Budhi indicates that in
every creation, in every creature of God, including man, there is a
Divine Power which works within him as well as outside him.
Dharma means the
possiblity for every creature, including man, to surrender completely
to the Will of God, of whom man is only a creation and has, therefore,
inevitably to submit to the Will of his Creator.
Susila Budhi Dharma
(Subud) means to follow the Will of God with the help of the Divine
Power that works both within us and without, by the way of
surrendering oneself to the Will of Almighty God.
Susila Budhi Dharma is the
symbol of what we are practicing in the spiritual exercise (latihan)
of Subud; it means that whatever happens in the spiritual exercise of
Subud is entirely the Will of God and comes to us because God wills it
for us.
This is exactly according
to what has been said in the Holy Books -- the Bible, Qu'ran, and
others that may exist; that is, God is close to man or if man has come
close to God then God can give man the things man needs, and that man
can receive the things that God intends him to have.
What is it that we have to
surrender to God? It is not our wealth, the ones we love, nor whatever
else we possess, because God has no need of those things. What we have
to surrender is our mind, our hearts and our desires, because those
are the instruments that form an obstacle to our coming closer to God.
This is what Jesus Christ
meant when he said that God will always be with us if we can surrender
ourselves to Him and if we can love Him more than anything else, more
than ourselves. This means that the love that we have with our hearts
and with our feelings is an obstacle that prevents us from coming to
the true love of God, because this outer love is only love of things
we like to believe we love. But the love that we must have for God
must be greater than this.
To the prophet Muhammad
was given the revelation that God existed before anything else
existed, and that God will be after everything is destroyed. God is
farther away than the farthest things there are. He is deeper within
than anything else, which means that God has created really
everything; and because He created everything He will also take care
of everything.
It is also said that God
has no form, no speech, no country, no color, because if He would, for
instance, have a country there would be more than one God because for
every country there would be one God; and if He had a color, there
would also be more than one God because every color would need a God.
And this is what is meant by saying; "God is One and Master of all."
Also, God created without
tools and materials. If man wants to make something, for instance, a
table, he needs wood, he needs nails, a hammer and other tools; and to
be able to make the atom bomb man needs more tools to break down the
material into atoms. But with God it is wholly different. God works
without materials or tools. It follows that for man to understand and
to know what is in the mind and heart of God, the only thing to do is
to surrender himself entirely; because with his own mind and his own
desires he will never be able to find God. Only by surrendering
himself completely to God, not making use of his mind, his heart or
his desire, is it possible for man to come into contact with the Power
of God.
This is what we do in the
spiritual exercise of Subud -- we surrender ourselves completely; we
do not make use of our mind, heart or desires -- but we only accept
and receive whatever God sends. So you will understand that Subud is
only a symbol of that way of living for man in which he can fulfill
the Will of God and carry out the Will of God for himself in this
world and the world to come.
Therefore, in the
spiritual exercise of Subud we do not have a teaching, there is
nothing we have to learn or to do, because all that is required of us
is complete surrender. A person who claims to know the way to God is
really one who is anticipating God's gifts without having received
them.
The only thing we do is
surrender ourselves completely and only accept and receive whatever
God sends or wants us to have. This is indeed what every prophet has
said: "Surrender yourself entirely, submit completely to God, and then
God will take care of you and give you guidance." In this spiritual
exercise we do not expect anything in particular. We do not make for
ourselves any image, but we only receive whatever God may send us.
So this Divine Power,
which works in us during the exercise, will bring to each person what
is already in himself. For instance, if a person has a loud and strong
voice, he will utter sounds that are very loud and strong. But a
person who does not have such a loud voice will utter a softer sound.
This goes for every part of our body, for every part of our being.
Therefore, the exercise (or latihan) of two people can never be the
same, because everyone is different from everyone else. Therefore, it
is clear that there cannot be a theory or a spiritual teaching in
Subud because each person is different from another. Whatever he needs
and whatever he receives will be different from what somebody else
needs and receives. This is why we cannot give any rule or
prescription of how to behave when you are in the latihan, because
this is something personal for everyone.
Every person will find the
way toward God for himself, and what may be the right way for one may
be completely wrong for another. Therefore, you must not suppose that
you have to follow or become like Muhammad Subuh. You must become your
own self and you must develop your inner self if you want to find the
way to God. You must not follow or imitate anyone else, because you
must find your own way to God. Usually if there is a teacher he
teaches his followers to do exactly the same as he does in order to
reach what he has reached. But this is really wrong, because not only
between a teacher and his followers, but even between two brothers of
the same parents, there is already a big difference -- not only in
outward appearances but also in their character and in their whole
being. So surely you can understand now that what is the right way for
a certain teacher to find God is not necessarily the right way for his
pupils.
Therefore, Bapak says that
it is God Who will lead you toward Himself and what really happens in
the latihan is that you will be introduced to your real inner self --
to the real "I". You must not be afraid and you must not be worried
because whatever comes to you in your latihan is only what is in you,
and it comes from your inner self. It is the real you that arises in
the latihan, so you do not have to be worried or afraid.
In Subud there is no
discrimination between the different religions because what comes to a
person is really what is already there within him. So if a person is a
Christian he will meet the real Christ within himself, and if a person
is a Buddhist, he will meet the real Buddha within himself. The same
if he is a Muslim, he will meet the Muslim within himself. And then,
if you really know your inner self, you will be guided by the Divine
Power in everything you do, because the Divine Power works in you
through yourself, and whether you work in an office or drive a car or
do anything else, you will be guided by the Power of God, which is
always working within you and outside of you.
Then it will be true what
is said in the Qu'ran, that before you undertake anything, you should
say: "Bismillah-ir rohman-ir rohim" (In the Name of God, the
compassionate, the merciful). This means that you follow God's
guidance and you will only do whatever God brings you to do. You will
not then be in haste to do something and only afterward remember God
and regret what you have done. When God is always before something you
are doing, then it must be the right thing to do. And this is also the
real meaning of what is done by Christians when they pray before they
eat or before they go to sleep. And this also means that you should
not do anything without God guiding you, because if you forget God in
something you do there will be no help from God if anything goes
wrong. The power we see is only to convince us that the Almighty Power
of God works not only within us but also in all creation, and even
outside of all creation.
That is why in the
spiritual exercise of Subud we will not harm our religion, because
what we think and what we carry out is only the Will of God, and we
only carry out what is already within us. So a person who has a
religion will experience in the latihan only according to what is in
his religion and according to what is within him.
Some among you may ask
where Bapak got all this from, and Bapak answers that he received this
when he was in the same situation as you are. He was working, he was
still doing his job in the office and whatever else he had to do, and
even liking it. All of a sudden everything stopped. His mind stopped
working and his heart stopped working and his desires stopped working,
and then he received as everybody receives in the latihan. He was not
looking for wisdom, he did not have a guru, a teacher. He just
received it, and that is what is called "Mu'jitsat-ulla", a divine
gift. This comes to a person only while that person is not looking for
it, and when he is ready for such a gift then God will bestow that
gift on that person.
You may have heard about
the healing of Eva Bartok. It was not Bapak who helped her or cured
her. But he showed her how to worship God and it was her good fortune
that God willed her to get well. So she got well and everything was
well with her. But it was not Bapak who cured her. He only showed her
the way to worship. The inner healing of a person is only a matter
between him and God, and no-one else can interfere.
Further, Bapak leaves it
to you to decide whether or not you want to come to this spiritual
exercise, because in the worship of God there is nothing compulsory.
Everyone must be free. But whenever one asks, it will be given.
