Personal copy; not for onward transmission
for News in Brief,
AFTERMATH OF
THE TSUNAMI
From all around the world stories have
been coming in of the generosity and ac-
tivity of the Subud community in helping
the victims of the tsunami disaster. Here
is a selection of some of the news…
FROM INDONESIA
As earlier reported Susila Dharma
International and Subud Youth have
organized a unit to go to Aceh to help the
people there. Now Ariana Susanti, SDIA
Director in Jakarta, writes…
Mardiana and Agus of Subud Youth in
Jakarta have collected Rp. 1.842.000
(USD$198) and goods (basic needs such
as food, water, medicine, clothes etc, a
total of four truckloads). The goods have
been delivered, at first phase on 3rd Jan
and will be delivered on the second phase
on 7th Jan by Hercules plane direct to
Aceh, facilitated by one of her relatives.
They also plan to send strong volunteers.
They have selected ten volunteers who
will be replaced by the next volunteers
every two weeks. These volunteers will
also cooperate with one of the local TV
stations which organized emergency relief
for Aceh's disaster (If possible, they also
will cooperate with the Subud branch in
North Sumatra, located in Medan), and
IRDN, and other institutions. They will be
coordinated by SD Indonesia.
FROM INDIA
Bella, Susila Dharma Chair in India,
writes…
Ever since the disaster in Asia happened, I
was longing to visit them and stretch out a
helping hand. My friends with similar
subscriptions to Subud Voice
and links to many other Subud sites:
www.subudvoice.net
World Congress is coming…
MARCH
2005
See page 2 for latest updates
vision made their trips immediately and
joined hands in relief works. Though this
was strong at my gut level, my reasons and
experience in Oxfam warned me not rush
in too fast. Hence I waited, and visited the
Tsunami victims after three weeks.
I met the families of the affected at Chen-
nai. These families, women, children and
men have suffered the loss of all...their
very HOPE. The seashore where I met
these families show the sand pits, with
pieces of broken homes entangled amongst
the clothes and distorted vessels, where
their houses once were. The clothes of the
children and saris were flying like flags
here and there. I met with around thirty-
five families. Had discussion with twenty-
five women. Met the local youth forum
members who offered their help to the
really needy ones.
The actual area I selected was Srinivasapu-
ram Kodisai and Bhavanikuppam, which
are located just near Marina beach in
Chennai. Out of 535 families, 120 families
have totally vanished. Since none from
those families are alive, there were no
mourners and help seekers. Another 45
families had moved out on 26th December
2005, for some reason or other. There
were 370 families where one member or
the other had been washed away scream-
ing for help and survival which was being
witnessed by their very close relatives
helplessly.
Some of them do not sleep peacefully even
now, feeling guilty for not having joined
them in death. Their settlements were de-
stroyed and their livelihoods stolen by the
very sea that sustained them. Families got
fragmented. Many of these families had
lost their fishing nets, baskets for fish mar-
keting, boats, household articles, clothes.
They report that all happened within three
minutes just like lightning.
Just three waves destroyed their whole
village / Kuppam / Koodisaigal. There are
different types of feelings among them.
The families have recovered from the ini-
tial shocks and a sense of emptiness has set
in. Initially they “felt stunned” for days.
Now they have started becoming slightly
active. The fisher people, unlike the farm-
ers, are those who live by daily earning.
They do not seed, cultivate and store.
Their job is to harvest and distribute im-
mediately. Now they are left with nothing
in store.
What they suffer from is a lack of courage
and inadequate strength to face the future.
Suddenly they feel too old to start another
life. The onlookers come and go. The gov-
ernment makes a lot of promises on the
media and through their officials. The for-
malities are laborious. The immediate
doles reach them on and off. There are
other poor around their area who also
make use of this opportunity to take their
share from the lots.
The children who are still left alive, are to
pursue their education at any cost. They
need to go back to schools. They need
their books, uniforms and some
decent clothing. We asked one girl Uma
Meheshwari why she did not go to
school. She explained that she did not have
uniform to wear. Such genuine needs and
expectations ought to be met.
The second need is to help them search for
an alternative livelihood. It is time for the
Continued on page 14.
SUBUD VOICE - March 2005 1
 WORLD CONGRESS UPDATE
Reduced Rates for Less Developed
Countries (LDCs):
The reduced rate being offered for mem-
bers in LDCs is intended only for those
who really need it. However, the comput-
erised system will automatically calculate
the lower fee. We are aware that there are
members in the developed countries who
may also need support in going to con-
gress, so for those members who can af-
ford the normal rate a donation to make up
the difference can be made by adding it to
the section for donations.
Passports and Visas:
You need to REGISTER, click 'pay later',
and the 'require visa' box, in order to get an
invitation from us for the visa applica-
tion. Remember, it can take a few
weeks (in some countries, months) to get
a passport and to apply for visas. If neces-
sary you can give your old passport num-
ber at the registration to meet the early
deadline, and inform us of the new one as
soon as you receive it.
Payment:
Payment by credit card is completely safe
via the online registration system. How-
ever, for reservation of accommodation,
you are not encouraged to
send your credit card numbers unpro-
tected by e-mail to the Innsbruck Reser-
vation. It is better to either call or fax this
information if it is required.
Tel:+43-512-56 2000 210
Fax: +43-512-56 2000 220
and give them the number per fax or
phone.
Get Involved:
Anyone interested in leading a project /
workshop, volunteering or joining the or-
ganising team as a staff member, should
fill out this form. Staff members are eligi-
ble to receive some discounts so for
those looking for ways to finance their
expenses, this is an option!
Assistance for Youth Initiatives:
The Guerrand Hermes Foundation for
Peace is considering applications for assis-
tance for Young Members wishing to initi-
ate activities for youth at congress. Check
the direct link on the We're all Going web-
site: http://youth.worldcongress2005.com/
create/index.shtml?x=229
GUIDELINES FOR WORLD
CONGRESS
Guidelines for the business of delegates at
World Congress have been circulated to all
National Committees. Discussion on these
topics is welcome and encouraged before
2 SUBUD VOICE - March 2005
Subud countries meet and make their deci-
sions about how things are going to go
forward for the next term.
As an association we have an obligation to
ensure that all countries can attend and, as
we are unfortunately not sitting on a big
pile of reserve money, we are obliged to
split these costs among those attending
who come from richer countries. (Even
so, the amount allocated in the World
Congress budget may well fall short of
what is needed, so we are still dependent
on efforts made by countries or individuals
who contribute extra to the help fund.)
To read the full letter go to www.
subudvoice.net and look at News in Brief
for February 15 2005. Or contact Osanna
at osanna@subudworldnews.com
RADIO STATION
Osanna Vaughn, ISC Treasurer,
explains about Congress costs. A group of young people have had the idea
that a radio station to run during World
Congress could be great fun. It would be
congress. Some discussions have begun in
an opportunity to play music by Subud
the monthly Subud World News newslet-
members, organize interviews, make daily
ter (online at http://www.subudworldnews.
congress announcements and whatever
com/english/index1.php on the WSA/ISC
else they might come up with. There are
page), on the internet and more may take
various possibilities how this radio station
place at the many events planned in the
could be transmitted, and one includes via
Zone before July. There is also a forum
internet world-wide.
on the congress website for discussion at
https://worldcongress2005.com/index.
However, they need a project leader with
php?name=PNphpBB2&file=index
experience in this kind of work who would
be willing to coordinate the whole thing.
It is suggested that any new topics find a
place inside the five proposed working
If you are that person, please contact
parties. This is in the hope that any result-
Amalia at amalia.dickie@chello.
ing resolutions and recommendations are
do-able and will include funding solutions
SHARIF AND TUTI TO TALK
if necessary, for one thing. World
Congress is the foremost authority in
TRANSLATING FOR BAPAK: Sharif
Subud. A delegate handbook covering
Horthy & Isniastuti Wirjohudojo will
procedures and more will be circulated
give a talk about their years of experience
closer to the Congress.
as translators of Bapak’s Talks. Of special
interest to translators and all Subud mem-
WHY DOES THE WORLD
bers!
CONGRESS COST WHAT IT DOES?
For more information about the very ex-
ISC Treasurer Osanna Vaughn has written
tensive writers program being organised
a very good letter explaining the costs of
for Congress write to:
World Congress. As well as explaining
many issues such as costs of venues, im-
Rasunah, SWI Chair
pact of volatile exchange rates and so on
Website: http://www.subud.net/subsites/
she goes on to talk about an issue which I
writers/index.shtml
am sure goes to the “heart of the matter”.
Mailing list: http://list.web.net/lists/
listinfo/sbd-swi
“Probably the next major budget item for
a World Congress is the fund to help en-
sure that delegates from less well-off
ROCK AND POP CONCERT
countries can be there to participate. The
World Congress is, after all (and despite
David Dickie wants to get a rock and pop
those who would prefer just to have a
concert together for the World Congress.
friendly gathering), the time when the
Contact him at david.dickie@chello.at
World Subud Association members of the
 “I AM NEVER ALONE”
Recently we received this letter from a
Subud member in Moscow who gets a gift
subscription of Subud Voice.
“The gift of Subud Voice is very useful to
us because not all the members of Moscow
group have computers so Subud Voice is
our link to the Subud World. If some arti-
cles are of interest to us, they are trans-
lated into Russian for members. Besides
there are several members here who speak
English and they read it as well.
“But the most important thing is that this
gift is a material and tangible expression
of human care, love and attention to other
human beings. It proves that love can be
seen and that we can act with love and
attention towards each other.
“I for one, look for the familiar names and
faces and then, in the ‘invisible’ world of
the emotions, I am never alone.”
It is such letters of course which make us
feel that what we are doing at Subud Voice
is worthwhile, but at the same time we are
facing a few difficulties. We felt we would
like to share them with our family of read-
ers and let you know how you might be
able to help us.
Currently we have about 750 subscrip-
tions, including both print (610) and online
(140), and unfortunately this is not enough
to sustain the publication financially. At
the moment Subud Voice runs at a loss of
AUD$1,000 (US$750/UK£400/€590) a
month and is only able to continue because
some members subsidize it.
This is a situation that cannot continue
forever and if we are not able to increase
our income then a time may come when
we will seriously have to think about
whether we can sustain Subud Voice.
Subud Voice is also only able to continue
because certain very large jobs consuming
many hours each month – such as the ad-
ministration which includes subscription
management, distribution, finances, and
many other aspects – are carried out on an
entirely voluntary basis.
We have all the problems of any small-
circulation publication. That is, we have
high production costs spread over too
small a subscription base. Moving the op-
eration to Australia has also meant higher
mailing costs.
And these days we have to compete with a
number of online news services. At one
time Subud Voice was the only way to get
news about Subud, now we compete with
several free online services. We don’t
mind the competition. It is good, but it
gives us new challenges financially.
What’s to be Done?
What’s to be done? We have cut our costs
as much as we feel we can. We have con-
sidered other options for doing printing
and mailing but we have not been able to
come up with anything cheaper or more
efficient than what we do now.
Could we increase the costs of the publica-
tion to the subscriber? In order to make
Subud Voice viable we would need to
charge AUD$80-90 per annum for the sub-
scription which currently costs AUD$60.
We do not feel that our market (which in-
cludes many pensioners) would be able to
cope with the increase.
We believe the only way forward is to in-
crease, in fact, double our subscription
base. This we hope to do over the next two
years, and we will now start marketing
ourselves more energetically.
We know that our actual readership – the
number of people who read Subud Voice –
is about three times the number of sub-
scribers. So we believe there is potential
out there for us to substantially increase
our subscription base. If readership can be
translated into subscriptions, all will be
well.
How Can I Help?
Some ways you can help us are:
Continuing to renew your subscription of
course! And please help us by renewing
your subscription when it first comes due
so that we do not have to send you out
several reminder notices which cost us
admin time and postage.
Online subscribers please do not give your
Subud Voice password to other people and
please do not circulate our Subud Voice
files! There is a GIFT subscription facility
available if you feel someone (or a group)
should have access to Subud Voice.
We also hope that print subscribers will
show restraint in sharing the publication.
Show it to those in your household of
course, but please do not distribute twenty
photocopies!
Group subscribers who have now chosen
to get the OnLine version, please only
make one copy for your notice board and
not many copies for all your group mem-
bers. All we are asking is a reasonable
approach, and it could make a lot of differ-
ence to our viability. We all want Subud
Voice to continue, don’t we?
If you enjoy Subud Voice, talk about it to
friends and help us get more subscribers.
If you can afford it, you might also like to
think about taking out a gift subscription
for a group or person in a developing coun-
try. It could be that your group would be
happy to provide a gift subscription to an-
other group. You can see from the letter
above what a big difference this can make
in people’s lives.
Become a “Subud Voice Ambassador”. Be
the first on your block to wear this proud
and rewarding title. We are looking for
people in all parts of the world to act as
news and subscription gatherers for us. If
you are interested please let us know at the
email address below.
Finally, if there are any enterprises or indi-
viduals out there who would like to pro-
vide a ‘straight out’ donation to the Subud
Voice operation then that would be most
welcome. Recently we received such a
donation from SIHA for which we (all) are
most grateful.
Nobody Wants to see Subud Voice
Disappear
We are sure nobody wants to see Subud
Voice go under. Subud Voice is the only
independent and international publication
coming to you in print and online.
We have also added many other products
and service such as our web site with its
comprehensive explanation of Subud and
its twice a month News in Brief updates.
We also support translations of News in
Brief in Russian, Indonesian and Spanish.
We have also produced videos and books,
especially our Bapak: the Man and His
Mission video series which tells the story
of Bapak’s life and the history of Subud.
We will soon be announcing the re-issue of
these videos in multi-lingual DVD format.
Remember, this is your magazine, so if you
think all this is valuable and worth sustain-
ing please help spread the word about
Subud Voice.
Bradford Temple
for the Subud Voice team
Tel: ++ 61 2 42615566
Fax: ++ 61 2 42621725
Email: admin@subudvoice.net
PO Box 311, Dapto,
NSW, 2530, Australia.
SUBUD VOICE - March 2005 3
 RESTRUCTURING SUBUD
Hanafi Hayes frm Australia recently put
forward some radical proposals for re-
structuring our Subud organisation
worldwide, as below. With World Con-
gress 2005 getting nearer, Subud Voice
would also like to publish other view-
points as a basis for discussion…
Hanafi’s Proposals
1. Amalgamate WSC and ISC.
2. Have a permanent office for the new
body. Paid staff of Chair; Secretary and
Treasurer on four year contracts - re-
negotiable. Let's call it the ISC Secretariat.
The World Council has already proposed a
permanent staffed office for ISC to be de-
cided in Innsbruck, along with the perma-
nent ISC accounting office decided by the
Bali Congress. The only point is how to
fund such a needed office, as it may take a
good portion of the WSA budget at its cur-
rent level of around $300,000.
Even though Hanafi's proposal has some
good aspects, I think we need the WSC
and its annual meeting, as this provides a
much needed cohesion for the Subud
world that otherwise might evolve into
isolated cultural islands - not having
Bapak for all of us to focus on.

3. Locate world congresses in each zone
by rotation. Therefore the next
zone to host it would be zone 5 and so on.
This will cut out the lobbying and ques-
tionable testing etc and allows zones to
plan in advance - like the Olympic games.
4. All appointments for period between
congresses, i.e., International office hold-
ers; zonal representatives, “zonal” help-
ers - this term, to replace “international”
helpers; Chairs of Wings etc to be tested
by all the delegates present at congress and
voted on by them.
5. Zone representatives and zone helpers to
liaise with SD and ISC in identifying the
real needs in their zones that genuinely
warrant financial assistance for group lati-
han facilities or for staging zonal kejiwaan
days, etc. and ISC to make application on
their behalf to MSF or by appeal to get the
necessary funds.
6. Zones should have annual kejiwaan
gatherings - not international jamborees,
but with total concentration on the latihan
and the helpers responsibilities.
7. Zonal reps should meet as an interna-
tional body (council) just once after three
years, to compare notes and make recom-
mendations (based on submissions from all
national committees in their zone) for the
next congress.
8. Subud Youth as a separate association
or entity should be disbanded and ab-
sorbed into the whole body of Subud.
There's a start. Probably needs fleshing out
a bit more, but perhaps the various points
can be discussed.
Hanafi Hayes, from the Zone 7
Listserver: e/m hanafi@hotkey.net.au
Laurencio Young, present ISC Chair,
replied to Hanafi’s proposals as follows:
The IHs and Zone Reps travel around and
spread the words and ideas developed at
those meetings, whose cost of around
$50,000 doesn't seem to be too much in
order to keep Subud as just one worldwide
group of individual members and not a
collection of countries.
Another proposal of WSC in Rungan Sari
last June was that both SES and Youth
should be services provided by ISC, who
would appoint their Chairs, as term after
term our present arrangement has not
worked properly.
We come to World Congress without a
clear picture and by a kind of inertia new
Chairs are appointed by Congress to both
Wings, but having no real support from the
members nor a constituency that can pro-
vide the ground for their task - their roles
seem to be rather hopeless, just existing to
fill in our current organizational structure.
It was considered that for Youth we would
prefer to offer programmes and activities
devised by professionals - not by non pro-
fessional youngsters - or any kind of or-
ganization whose purpose is not clear.
From Hermina Ruetz Hermina was one
of the team which organised the Bali
World Congress. She was the manager of
the congress organizing team and also
served as ISC secretary from 1971 to
1975...
I agree to all points in your message and I
truly hope that your proposal will be thor-
oughly pondered with an open attitude by
Congress as it contains decisive steps
which can turn around rather painful and
unnecessary ailments in our community.
Streamlining and simplifying the organisa-
tional set up in this way would not only
allow for more continuity but would create
a more effective organisation truly serving
the purpose of its existence.
Hanafi Hayes.
I believe that a less elaborate and bureau-
cratic structure, for what still is a very
small organisation, would set the stage for
a much needed warmer, more caring and
more humane atmosphere in Subud.
It is time that we look less at our own na-
vels and create a simpler and smoother
working platform which will encourage
again more participation and support from
the side of the membership towards that
organisation.
Let's be more courageous, let's concentrate
on two important pillars as regards our
“worldly” activities: enterprises and cul-
tural activities, which will enable us to
achieve goals and to enhance our lives and
make for lively and interesting communi-
ties.
Let us change the attitude of poverty and
lack of ability into one of wealth and
unlimited abilities and possibilities. For
this we need the youth to be in the centre
of our family. Why was there a more thriv-
ing, more enthusiastic and more exciting
life in our community in the pioneering
period? One of the main reasons was cer-
tainly that most of us were young then.
Thanks for the breath of fresh air, Hanafi !
Haris Wolfgang, USA, had the following
comments to each of Hanafi’s proposals,
and they are numbered in the same order
as Hanafi’s proposals.
1. Seems like an idea worth serious dia-
logue.
2. Seems like a long overdue idea and
worth dialogue.
Continued on page 14.

4 SUBUD VOICE - March 2005

 THE BABIES OF ROMANIA
Helina van Zeggelen, from Ottawa,
Canada, writes about an amazing 7
months in her life helping the children
of Romania...
Since one of my sons was taking a course
at the University of Ottawa, I decided to
go into the wide world and do some char-
ity work. I did “testing” with my Ottawa
sisters and Wisma Mulia in the UK came
out as a very positive place to go.
I did have some other possibilities, but this
seemed the most positive and “needed”
one, for both the parties, them and me. So
I set off and met my wonderful older
Subud brothers and sisters at Wisma Mu-
lia.
But the work permit that I needed to work
in the UK was going to take a long time
and was expensive, so I decided to go to
Holland for a while where I am originally
from, and try to get some work there. But
the same thing happened, lots of work but
no work permit. I became a Canadian
citizen in the 80’s.
So my last and actually my favorite idea
was in the planning stage…. It was to go
to Romania, to work with babies in or-
phanages or hospitals. I had the email
address of a woman, who was working
there, from an article in Homemakers
Magazine.
After a few tries, I got a reply: “Yes!! you
are needed here, come and you can stay
with me in the beginning. But you must
share the living-room with one my 3 fos-
ter-children.”
Via Budapest, by a long bus and train
ride, I arrived in Oradea, late in the eve-
ning. I had planned to stay 3 months and
it worked out that you can live there for 90
days without a special visa.
What I experienced in Romania, has
touched my heart forever. I did not DO
latihan there much, but I LIVED the lati-
han.
Through my contact in Oradea, I was in-
troduced to a Christian Foundation, in or-
der to be ALLOWED in the hospital. It is
not easy to be admitted into anything in
Romania - people are very suspicious and
distrusting. The State Orphanages are off-
limit for most foreigners.
So my “work” in the hospital started soon
and from then on I volunteered 7 days a
week. A very sick baby was assigned to
me, she was skin and bones, 3 kg. and
about 9 months old, no birthdate was
available.
Helina van Zeggelen
Malvina was always vomiting and only
losing weight, and was extremely hungry.
In the hospital they nick-named her “the
monkey”. I changed that to a more positive
one of “little birdie” - she was literally a
very hungry birdie.
In 3 months she had doubled her weight
and was the happiest baby on the floor.
Just by having been given, love, thickened
feeding, being held and last but not least…
burped.
The Conditions in Romania
On the floor were about 20 babies, most of
them abandoned. The situation is hard to
describe, but I will try.
Everything in Romania that I saw, is bro-
ken, rusty, in a state of disrepair, and this
is also true of the hospital. The staff had
little compassion for the babies, I was not
treated well in the beginning. Only at the
end, when they saw my dedication and the
results, they were a little nicer - I can come
back!
Often I was left alone with the babies, so I
could hold, burp and cuddle them, while
the staff was smoking and yakking in their
office. The staff in general handled the
babies extremely roughly and this was
very frustrating.
Often I wanted to scream and shake them,
to make them understand that these were
little ones were human beings, with feel-
ings and needs. Often I was told, “They
are ONLY! Gypsies” - one of the big prob-
lems in Romania!
The babies kept me going, often I had to
say to myself, “ I came for the children
and ONLY for the children!”
It was very rewarding to see my little
“starving” Malvina turn into the happiest
baby on the floor. After my departure, I
organized a young woman, who is going
into the hospital from 10am to 1pm, to
feed Malvina twice and help other babies,
so that Malvina remains stable, until she
goes to a foster family, that the Christian
Foundation is looking for. The Founda-
tion was so happy with the progress of
Malvina that they kept calling her “the
miracle baby”.
The whole experience, opened my eyes
and heart to a huge problem that exists in
the East-European countries. I would love
to be able to DO more. For example try-
ing to influence the government about
birthcontrol, better salaries, schooling etc.
The drop in the ocean is the only thing I
can do at present, but I would love to be
able to continue, working with those poor
abandoned babies. I do have some ideas
how!
1. Going with a group of 4 people, volun-
teer in the hospital, in two’s or sometimes
all four, so that the other two can take
some time off and support one another.
Hopefully we could do it under the name
SUBUD, the SUSILA DHARMA branch.
What remains important is the children.
Bapak many times stressed the importance
of the children.
2. Have a “Van” and offer soup, coffee,
bread etc. to the beggars and at the same
time educate the mothers about birth con-
trol and give the children some interesting
things like books, puzzles etc. I under-
stand this would be a huge commitment,
but I like to dream…I did read a booklet
about a lady in Australia who did the
“van” thing and had very good results!!!
I hope I have been able to pass on some of
the urgency that exists in that country. If
you feel able to help, physically or finan-
cially I have now a totally honest contact.
She helps two families that cannot survive
on their meager salaries with their 5 chil-
dren.
She also helps a gypsy Mom, who is start-
ing to become financially independent by
starting her small enterprise of selling sec-
ond hand clothes. Also a little old lady,
who is so poor that she had to choose be-
tween wood for heat or hot meals - she
chose heat in the winter. I could help her
out with money for meals thank God.
May God keep blessing all of us and hope-
fully bless the ones with a lot less then us.
Helina van Zeggelen,
helinavan@hotmail.com
PS: My little Malvina is now in a foster
family and thriving, so thank God she is
out of that horrible hospital!
SUBUD VOICE - March 2005 5
 “TRANSFORMING CHARACTER”
Bapak’s Talk in London, August 17 1959, Recording 59 LON 2
From Bapak’s Talks Volume 5, Chapter 3, Subud Publications International
Ladies and gentlemen, Bapak welcomes
you to this meeting this evening.
As Bapak said the other day, in reality
what relates to the soul is not the work of
human beings but of God; a human being
simply receives God’s work within his or
her being. But, because of the greed of the
human heart and of human desire, human
beings claim God’s work for themselves
when they create teachings to help others
find the right way to God. The result is
that, in the end, human beings are more
familiar with the working of their own
mind than with the true way that leads to
God.
With the appearance in the world of
Subud - that is, of the latihan you have
received and have been practising - you
return to an experience that, though it may
appear to be new, is in reality very old. It
has been present in human beings since
they were first created on this earth.
Bapak said that the soul is God’s responsi-
bility, because it is the content of every
living creature. So, in a human being the
soul is the content, which means that -
whether it is the right kind or not - it has
authority and holds the initiative in their
inner feeling. However, being unaware of
this, we regard whatever we do as coming
from our own intention. People are unable,
of themselves, to know and understand
[the true situation], because their powers
of understanding and knowledge are
merely instruments, and their thoughts and
feelings arise only as a result of the initia-
tive and influence of the forces working
within them.
So it’s clear that it is the presence, within a
person, of a soul that does not correspond
to his or her human form that leads them
to a state of misery, both with regard to
their health and to their actions and behav-
iour. This is because they will pursue only
the pleasures of their heart and the im-
pulses of their passions, forgetting the lim-
its of their strength. This causes all sorts of
illnesses and all sorts of suffering of the
inner feeling and of the body, which be-
come increasingly severe as time goes on.
People try to cure their illnesses and the
faults within their being using their intelli-
gence and their thinking, but that just
patches up something that is inherently
defective or damaged. So, even though it
is repaired, it still remains damaged. They
are unable to discover the prime cause that
lies at the root of all that has gone wrong,
6 SUBUD VOICE - March 2005
since their effort does not go beyond the
use of the thinking mind.
The Most Dangerous Disease
The fact is that the most dangerous disease
is not the kind that produces physical
symptoms, but the kind that lies in the
character or inner nature of a person. This
is a more dangerous kind of disease than
cancer and the like. Bapak will illustrate.
Out of a thousand people perhaps only ten
are afflicted by physical illness; but if one
person has a flawed character that causes
him to seek only his own advantage and to
strive for the total gratification of his de-
sires and passions, he may drag down
thousands of others to misery and death -
as happens in war and other calamities.
“It is truly a paradox
that on the one hand
people look after them-
selves and look after
their health very well, yet
on the other hand they
incite others to fight one
another through war.
So they are spared from
illnesses but succumb
instead to the sickness of
war…”
It is truly a paradox that on the one hand
people look after themselves and look after
their health very well, yet on the other
hand they incite others to fight one another
through war. So they are spared from ill-
nesses but succumb instead to the sickness
of war, which demands thousands and
millions of casualties.
As a result of this, in time of war people
hardly know the meaning of good will
towards other human beings. Such is the
effect of forces that are out of place within
the self of human beings - they provoke
people to destroy each other.
Therefore the best way - the way we need
to find - is one that enables us to transform
people’s character so they truly come to
appreciate human life; to feel the feelings
of people everywhere; to know what har-
mony in human life is like, and to know
one God and one human race. That is why
religions don’t discriminate in their rules
and content between people of different
races. Whoever is willing to embrace the
religion is accepted and brought to the
worship of God.
So, in religion there is no discrimination
between races and other groupings; and it
is the same with us in Subud. In the latihan
there is no discrimination between race or
religion, because any discrimination be-
tween human beings becomes a block in
our progress towards God. A person who
keeps an animal makes sure that it is well
cared for and comes to no harm; but there
are quite a number of people who, at
times, look upon their fellow men as lower
than the animals. It is taught by the proph-
ets - the messengers - that if you wish to
be loved you must also love others and it
is the same for them.
The greatest obstacle for a person is not
hatred of God, but hatred of their fellow
men. If a person hates, or dislikes God,
that doesn’t matter, as that can easily be
changed and cleared. But if they do not
like other people and other living things,
that is more difficult, for it darkens the
atmosphere of their feelings in a more
serious way.
Therefore, in Subud, in your worship, Ba-
pak would like you to look upon all living
beings - upon all your brothers and sis-
ters - as you do yourself, truly one in feel-
ing, truly united. For the heart and the
thinking mind, which continually make a
distinction between ‘I’ and ‘you’, are only
motivated by the low forces, forces that
always seek to bring about disorder in hu-
man life, so that human beings argue with
one another.
That is what the low forces want; they
want human beings to fall from their
proper level so that low forces can take
their place. This is the way and behaviour
of the low forces; they fill people’s being
in order that they may carry out their will
without people being aware of it. Since the
entire being of a person - their feelings,
heart and brain - are permeated by these
forces, it is impossible for that person to
perceive reality or understand his or her
true condition.
No Other Option for Humankind
The truth is that there is no other option
for humankind as a whole, or for each one
of you individually, but to return to
Continued on page 11.
 March 2005
Editor Ilaina Lennard
Email: ilaine@subudvoice.freeserve.co.uk
ON BUDDHISTS AND HINDUS
IN SUBUD
Many people ask about Bapak’s attitude
to the Buddhist and Hindu religions.
Below is a letter on this subject that he
sent to one Subud member
..And so, with regard to a Subud brother
of the Buddhist or Hindu religion, if his
inner feeling is no longer influenced by
the nafsu and if his thinking mind is no
longer tempted to think of all kinds of
things, then, inasmuch as the Buddhist or
Hindu religion has become what he
believes in and has also become included
in the capacity and state of his inner self,
he will certainly get clarifications in his
receiving about the real meaning of what
is obtained in his religion.
In your letter you mention that in the
latihan you always say the name of the
Subud and the Cults
- from A LIFE WITHIN A LIFE, Dominic Rieu’s selection of Bapak’s advice.
Dominic gives the following introduction
to his selection:
Markedly different from Bapak's attitude
to the established religions is his attitude
to the cults. He considers them to be
unavailing, or confusing, or dangerous.
He discourages Subud members from
'mixing', that is combining the latihan
with other ways and practices.
However, - though he speaks absolutely
and with no qualification about the cults,
when he meets the followers of any cult
he treats them with a marvellous
courtesy and gentleness, as we shall see.
Dewas and several times you pronounced
mantras which you had learned. Indeed,
such things are not wrong, because all of
that has become your faith, your capacity
and the condition of your inner as a
person of the Buddhist or Hindu religion.
In fact, the actual result of what you have
learned and believe.
Gradually, the condition you mention
will become clearer and clearer and more
apparent until you will be opened in your
inner self and be aware and able to see
that your life has truly to face the power
of God which envelops the whole
universe.
Therefore religion, in its outer aspect, is
in fact a guidance so that man may be
able, with that guidance, to act nobly or
MEDITATION (SAMADI)
'If you still use such ways it will remain
easy for the angels to tempt you.’
Meditation is nowadays becoming as
interesting and important to many
Westerners as it has always been in the
East. I give passages, without comment,
from some of the talks in which Bapak
speaks about it.
Bapak and the teacher of meditation
Bapak would like to tell you of an
experience he had a long time ago when
be imbued with a noble character; and
afterwards, if possible, the awareness and
consciousness of his inner self will face
the power of God, which envelops the
whole universe. In religion, what is set
forth above all is called the hakekat (the
truth or reality).
That is Bapak’s clarification. As yet,
Bapak cannot give further explanations
because the time has not yet arrived for
you. Therefore Bapak hopes that you will
just be patient, because patience is the
important condition which protects you
from confusion and which will make
possible the smooth process of
purification of the inner self and the
development of your jiwa.
Extract from a letter, published in
LIVING RELIGION IN SUBUD by
Matthew Sullivan. Available from SPI.
he lived in Solo. At that time Bapak met
a man who was well practised in esoteric
teachings. In fact, the man of whom
Bapak speaks had written many books
containing teaching about perfection - in
other words, a teaching of a kind of
guidance to enable a person to find the
right way when he dies.
After conversing for a while, Bapak
asked him, 'Have you yourself
experienced what you have written about
in your book containing education or
guidance in the teaching on perfection?'
He answered, 'Yes... I have experienced
it all.'
Bapak asked again, 'If I may be permitted
to ask, what is the way or what do you do
to receive something like that?'
Continued on page 8.
INNER VOICE - March 2005 7

More About Subud and the Cults
Continued from page 7.
For a moment the man looked a little
doubtful and then he answered: ‘All right I
do not mind at all doing it in front of you,'
and he then sat down to practise samadi. It
immediately appeared that his breathing
was controlled so that soon he did not
seem to breathe at all.
Bapak also sat down at the same time but
Bapak then quietened himself and
surrendered everything to the power of
Almighty God. Suddenly the old man
moved and fell down, weeping and asking
Almighty God for forgiveness for all his
sins. For a while Bapak remained quiet
and just let the man weep, and then Bapak
stood up and called his name.
When the old man got up and was seated
again in his previous place, Bapak asked
him, 'What did you feel just now?'
He answered rather hesitantly, 'Yes.. .,
indeed that was the way I usually practise
samadi, but then I felt the presence of
something strange which I have never
experienced before - that is. I suddenly felt
as though I were pulled upwards and then I
understood no more and felt nothing until
finally you called me. So I must ask you:
what really happened to me and how did it
happen?'
Bapak replied, 'Such is the limitation of
man's understanding derived from
information or advice he has studied.
Actually, you can reach the realm of death
with your practices, which means that you
will be dead. But you have not yet reached
the point of being able to experience the
course of your life, that is, the way your
life continues.
So when you wept just now and asked
Almighty God's forgiveness for your sins,
everything happened beyond your
understanding. This shows that the
strength and breadth of human
understanding, with its power of
concentration, extends only so far. Beyond
that is the power of Almighty God
enveloping the self of man outwardly and
inwardly, and there too is the jiwa which
becomes the content of your inner self, just
beginning to be awakened by the power of
Almighty God.
Thus, you really wept and asked for God's
forgiveness just now, but your heart and
mind had no power at all, except to
observe what was happening. That is why
the heart and mind cannot be used to find
the life which is called the continuation of
life after life on earth. This can only be
done and experienced by the jiwa, and the
8 INNER VOICE - March 2005
jiwa can only be awakened through the
grace of Almighty God. All you have to do
is surrender to the power of Almighty God
with patience, trustful acceptance and
sincere submission.
Fortunately, you are old and to some
extent already practised in patience and
tranquillity, so when you receive God's
grace you should just remain surrendered
to the power of Almighty God outwardly
and inwardly with trustful acceptance and
sincere submission. You should not bring
methods of any kind into it, like the ones
you have studied, because such methods
just close the opening of the way to your
eternal life.'
After saying this, Bapak left him.
This is a short story from Bapak's journey
long ago to illustrate that it is out of place
to call the latihan kejiwaan of Subud,
which comes and is present through the
grace of Almighty God, an ilmu kebatinan
(esoteric teaching). It is only fitting to say
that it is latihan kejiwaan received through
the guidance and direction of God's power,
based on complete surrender to the will of
Almighty God.
Pewarta Special Supplement 3 pp.19-23
Cilandak, 15 October 1969
SUBUD AND HEALERS
The following passage comes from
Volume 10 of Bapak’s Talks
..In fact, in Indonesia, lots of people make
movements like those we have in Subud,
even children do them, as a kind of game.
They make these involuntary movements
using mantras, and it looks just like what
we do in Subud.
This is in case you want to know whether
outside of Subud there are also the kind of
movements we have in Subud. Of course
there are. But do not forget that although
they look the same, in reality they are very
different. You need to know and be aware
that outside of Subud there are many
practices that involve movements that
appear similar to those in Subud.
To confirm the truth of what Bapak has
been saying about the difference between
the movements inside and outside of
Subud: there are many Subud members
who, before they joined Subud, had
received those kinds of movements and
used them for all sorts of things; for
example, to heal the sick, to guide others
and to pass the movements on to others.
But once they joined Subud and received
movements in Subud, the movements they
used to receive disappeared.
Many of these people asked Bapak, ‘How
can this be? I used to be able to do this and
this, and it has been the source of my
livelihood. But now that I’ve joined Subud
and received the Subud movements, the
old movements have completely
disappeared. Can they come back or are
they gone forever?
Bapak replied, ‘Yes, they are gone forever.
But don't worry; similar movements will
arise within your being, and these will not
be initiated by your desires and thoughts,
as were those you used to receive; they
will be moved from within, by the power
of God that envelops your being outwardly
and inwardly.’
Indeed, quite a few of these energies in
methods other than Subud are used for
healing. It is quite appropriate if they are
used for that purpose, because what is
being healed is just this physical body. So
it is appropriate if these energies received
outside of Subud, which can only affect
the physical - since they are activated by
the desires that reside in the heart and
thinking - are used for the physical body,
since they cannot possibly penetrate
deeper, to the soul.
So, it is in fact quite appropriate if the
energies in methods other than Subud are
used for healing. That is why Bapak says
that in Subud you should not only
emphasise healing, or only expect healing.
Because if you only look for healing, what
will be healed and repaired will be just
your physical body; what is most
important for you all is that not just the
physical but the fine part too - meaning the
soul - is repaired.
ORDERS FOR
BAPAK'S TALKS
Each volume of BAPAK'S TALKS
costs £13.00 UK, £14.00 Europe,
£16.00 Other
You can order BAPAK'S TALKS
from
Subud Publications International
(SPI)
Loudwater Farm, Loudwater Lane,
Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 4HG
Tel: 01727 762210
Fax; 01727 858080
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Methods of Payment
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A LIFE WITHIN A LIFE is now
out of print.

Subud Comes to Sri Lanka
Meteorological changes often
accompany the advent of Subud to a
country. This is the considered view
Some stories
of an English Subud sister who has from Suren de
lived in Cilandak and travelled with Silva
Bapak, his family and others sent on
Subud missions.
Sri Lanka was no exception. One of the
stormiest evenings in the island's history
saw the arrival at the Ratmalana airport of
Icksan Ahmed and Rachman Pane, two
emissaries sent by Bapak from lndia. That
was on 27th December, 1957. The
following day Muftiah Arnold,
affectionately named 'Bulbul', joined the
other two.
All three of them were guests of Ronald
and Rohanna Jayatilake in their spacious
home at 26, Brownrig Road (now
Keppitipola Mawatta) Jawatte. People
who, like me, are interested in
synchronicity - the term Carl Jung coined
to describe unlikely coincidences - would
find it interesting that jawatte" in Sinhala
means Javanese Garden, and that Bapak,
during a visit to Colombo some years
later, said that one of his ancestors by the
name of 'Jayatilego' had been an army
commander on the island many, many
years ago!
Rachman Pane could take little part in
openings. He was unwell (the result of too
many openings it was said) and returned to
India. All the openings therefore were left
to Icksan and 'Bulbul' (later Muftiah
Arnold. Ed.)
It is on record that between them, when
they left about three weeks later, 345
persons had been opened.
My own entry into Subud happened on 8th
January 1958, which I should regard as my
own Year of Grace.
That evening as it became dark and the
house lights had been switched on, Icksan
came to those of us assembled and said:
"Would about ten men who are here for
the first time, please come in."
A Kuoni rep. from abroad, a post-office
worker, a local Muslim businessman and I
were joined by three prominent
personalities as we entered the spacious
drawing room which had been emptied of
all furniture. These dignitaries were:
- the former Prime Minister, then Leader
of the Opposition, the Honourable Dudley
Senanayake
- Sir Fatil Caffoor, gem merchant and
philanthropist
- Osmond de Silva, the Inspector General
of the Police...
newspaper group (not the one on which
Varindra worked) saying:
"A person called Pak Subuh who has
started revolutions in several countries is
visiting Sri Lanka. He will not succeed.”
After Bapak’s arrival rumours reached
Varindra's ears that that there might be an
attempt to deport him. When a worried
Varindra rushed to tell Bapak about these
reports, Bapak smiled, saying:
"Don’t worry, nothing will happen. If
however, it is God's will that I am forced
to leave, l will go."
Well-lit verandas were on three sides of
the drawing room. Icksan said he would
As Bapak had predicted, nothing did
switch off the lights in the drawing room,
happen, in fact Bapak and his party stayed
presumably to help us feel less self-
for over a fortnight. Icksan was there, but
conscious.
not Ismana and a request by some Sri
Lankan members that Ismana join her
He said we could keep our eyes open or
husband Icksan in Colombo was turned
closed but that we should quieten our
down by Bapak.
thoughts.
Icksan looked very tired as he left with
He then spoke the words:
Bapak for Singapore. Within a week he
"Prepare to submit yourselves to the grace
succumbed to a heart attack while opening
of God.... Begin."
new members there.
I found myself involuntarily genuflecting,
Varindra and Sir Falil Caffoor flew to
as one of my knees buckled. As I raised
attend the funeral. Varindra sent a
myself to my original standing position,
telegram from Singapore. It read: "Icksan
ripples of ecstasy traversed my body from
died peacefully. Last words, Allah, Allah"
head to toe. And then, hearing a muffled
thud, I momentarily opened my eyes to see
He later told us that, at the funeral, Bapak
one of the prominent personalities prone
was seated on a grave-stone in the
on the floor. Hardly had I closed my eyes
cemetery, singing. He explained to those
again when there was another muffled
assembled that they might now understand
thud and the second of the famous trio was
his refusal to send for Ismana in Colombo:
on the floor... and it did not take long for
it was to prepare both Icksan and Ismana
the third to follow.
for what was to follow - Icksan's death.
Latihans twice a week for ordinary
A few months later, in September 1959,
members and a third for those termed
the Prime Minister was shot at close range.
elders at the time continued for a few
For 20 hours his life hung in the balance.
months at the Jayatilake residence. The
group then found a new home - a rented
At the time, Varindra was Editor of the
two-storied house in Torrington Avenue,
Ceylon Observer and I was his Front Page
also located in Jawatte.
Sub editor. Emerging events, never
publicly revealed in Sri Lanka, struck both
It was here, late in 1958, that the Colombo
Varindra and myself by their strange
group was able to welcome Bapak, his
paralleling of those earlier statements by
wife lbu, Rochanawati, and his party for
this Prime Minister. We had received the
the first time on Sri Lankan soil as they
terrible news of the shooting and were
stopped over on the Island on their way to
awaiting the outcome.
Europe. Bapak’s entourage included our
beloved Icksan and his wife Ismana.
At my desk I had prepared a possible
headline:
Not long afterwards, the then left-of-centre
"A surgical miracle saves the Prime
Prime Minister seemed to take an inimical
Minister."
stance against Subud. He virtually sacked
the Inspector General of Police, making a
At about seven in the morning of the day
statement in Parliament on the cessation of
following the assassination attempt, I was
the I.G.P contract....
hastily summoned to Varindra's office. As
I entered he was on the phone. He
Extraordinarily, he concluded the sentence
beckoned to me to hurry to him. Then I
reported in Hansard, with the words:
heard him ask the hospital reporter at the
"Even a Subud miracle could not save
other end of the phone:
Osmond de Silva".
"And what were his last words?"
Significantly, when Bapak and his party
As he listened on the phone his eyes grew
called again in Colombo earlier that year,
larger and larger with amazement and I
on the return journey from Europe, the
Premier gave an interview to a rival
Continued on page 10.
INNER VOICE - March 2005 9

Changing One's
Name
One of the areas where some Subud
members lack courage and understanding
is in the effect that a name has on our own
self and the importance of changing our
name. Even though this is available, some
do not take advantage of this real
opportunity.
Some others get a name that is correct for
their inner self and for their development,
but then only use the name with Subud
members, which means that the use of the
name, and therefore the benefits that
someone gets, is close to being onexistent.
Still others who changed their name some
years ago when Bapak was alive are now
going back to their former name, which
has a detrimental effect on them. They
went forward for several years and now
they are going backward. They will go
back to the nature and problems they had
before changing their names.
It is true that one needs courage to change
one's name. I changed my name, and it
took some courage to tell people, "My
name is now Simon." I changed my name
o completely that my old name Roland is
completely forgotten. Even my relatives or
my old friends or acquaintances now know
me only as Simon. To people calling
"Roland", after I had changed my name, I
would say, "Roland is dead."
Subud Comes to Sri Lanka
Continued from page 9.
could hardly bear the suspense. As he
replaced the receiver Varindra faced me
and said:
He died saying what sounded like Pak,
Pak, Pak ...!"
After the Premier's condemnation of our
beloved Pak Subuh, Bapak, we wondered
how we could present this to the public at
large who would all be eagerly expecting
to hear those last words.
I had a sudden flash of inspiration and
said to Varindra:
"Varindra, he was a classics scholar.
Could he have been trying to say 'Pax,
pax, pax - peace, peace, peace'..?"
Varindra's round, expressive face, broke
into a smile of relief; "'Brilliant!" he said
"We will run with that"'
10 INNER VOICE - March 2005
Some reflections from
Simon Monbaron
It is only when I changed my name legally,
that I realised how often we use our names.
Every time we call on the phone, every
time we sign cheques orletters or any
documents. We use our own name many,
many times every single day. So if our
own name has a bad effect on us, that ef-
fect is multiplied by all the times we use it.
It is like inflicting a severe punishment
upon our own selves because we repeat it
day and night for the whole length of our
lives.
What a punishment. If anyone else would
punish us in this manner, we would bitterly
complain. We would say that whoever is
doing that to us is a ruthless person. But
we do this to our own selves constantly.
This is what lack of courage and lack of
understanding can do to us.
We have God's help and guidance avail-
able to us, but it is as though we don't want
to use it. We don't want the guidance. Then
we complain of not getting results or help
by being in Subud and practicing the lati-
han.
The helpers need to give more explana-
tions and ought to test with the members
and helpers on this matter (Of course one
of the problems is that helpers are not
really helpers, and they also lack under-
standing of what Subud is and what effect
our name has on us).
I returned to my desk and amended my
headline. It now read:
PREMIER DEAD
Even a surgical miracle could not save
our late leader.
As he read it before we put the paper to
bed, Varindra looked at me knowingly
and said:
Putha (son), does this headline remind
you of what it reminds me?"
We both nodded as we silently
remembered the Prime Minister's
words about Osmond de Silva:
"Not even a Subud miracle could save
Osmond de Silva." And his published
remark that"Pak Subuh... will never
succeed in Sri Lanka".
- Suren de Silva
Selected from SUBUD AND THE
COMING NEW AGE OF REALITY
The book can be purchased from Amazon.
com and from:
Simar Enterprises,
P.O. Box 1400, Sutherlin,
OR 97479 USA,
price $32.95 U.S.
Name changes were a top priority with
Bapak. Among the many letters he
would receive, letters concerning name
changes would be answered first. This
shows that he regarded the effect of the
name of a person as an important factor in
their lives.
Some people wrote to Bapak several times
to request a second name. After some time,
some people felt that they had "outgrown"
their new name so they would write for
another name. Bapak usually obliged and
would give another name to the person.
Now that Bapak is no longer with us, Ibu
Rahayu has explained that it is better to ask
for only one name and then stick to it, and
not go on changing. When one changes his
or her name, it is a new beginning. To
change one's name several times, means
that the person starts from the beginning
again and again. When someone asked her
why Bapak gave several names, she replied
that he did not want to disappoint people.
USE AND LEGALISE THAT NEW
NAME
a letter from Sudarto Martohudojo, Subud
International Secretariat. Published in
Pewarta Vol. 5, No. 4, Nov. 1967.
In answer to your question as to whether it
is important for a person to be called by his
new name, Bapak says that if a person's
name has been changed, it is best, and
certainly that person should be called by
his or her new name (that is, the name
which has replaced his old name), and
write it, and call
himself by it.
With regard to your question as to whether
it is necessary for the women in Subud
whose husbands are not in Subud to inform
their husbands of their new name, Bapak
says that it is necessary that a woman
inform her husband even though he is not
yet in Subud.
As for your question as to whether it is
necessary to have one's name changed
legally, Bapak says that, if it is possible, it
is best if the name change be made official
and be legalised.

BAPAK’S TALK
Continued from page 6.
Almighty God. And the condition for
being close to God is to surrender, with
patience, acceptance and willingness to let
go, as the prophets did - among them Je-
sus. Jesus once said, ‘The only one whom
I love and to whom I am ready to sacrifice
my body and soul is God my Father,
whom I worship both in this world and in
the life after death.’ That is why Bapak
always recommends that in your latihan
you should have real faith, and surrender
with patience and acceptance to the great-
ness of God, whose power you have re-
ceived - although still only to a small de-
gree - in this latihan we practise.
When one says that a person knows God,
or that God is close to them, this does not
mean that all the power of God enters into
them. There are people who, because of
their own wrong understanding, claim
themselves to be God, to be Allah - to be
the creator of the human race and the
whole universe.
But the truth is that the power of God re-
ceived by any person, and which they are
able to approach, is in proportion to their
own strength and to the limit of their hu-
man capacity. For if the whole power and
reality of God were to enter into a person,
the earth itself would disappear, because
God’s power is greater than everything
God has created.
The Difference between Human Beings
and God
Therefore, although human beings may
attain knowledge reaching to the skies,
they still remain human and can never be
like God. For however pure and clean a
person may be, he or she nevertheless pos-
sesses desires, a heart and a thinking mind;
and the nature of these faculties is that
they like to arrange this and that, to change
this and that, and to choose this and that.
So if a person were to possess power as
mighty as that of God, maybe they would
change today into a thousand days, so they
could just keep on working and make a
large profit. They would want everyone to
bow before them and would regard them
as nothing more than tools or instruments -
which is what happened in the time of the
pharaohs. Pharaoh, the all-powerful king,
claimed to be God, and treated the rest of
the people as tools or instruments.
This is why it is not possible, and could
never happen, that all the power of God
should reside in the self of any human be-
ing. For by their very nature human beings
possess desires, a heart and a thinking
mind; whereas all the prophets have said
that God and God’s power are not affected
by the light of the day or by the darkness of
the night or by anything whatsoever. On
the contrary, the power of God is able to
penetrate everything that God has created.
Therefore the closeness of God to human
beings, to all of you, is closer than any-
thing you see, closer than anything you
hear or anything you can perceive with
your senses. The truth is that people are
unable to know God and to see God be-
cause they are obstructed by their own see-
ing; they are unable to hear the power of
God because they are obstructed by their
own hearing, as well as by their other fac-
ulties. So this means that whenever you try
to think about God, you yourselves are
closing the way whereby God could purify
your thoughts and make them able to un-
derstand God’s power.
Condition of the Newly Born
Bapak compares this state to that of a child
newly delivered from its mother’s womb.
When a child is newly born it is unable to
see the forms or to recognise the sounds of
this world. The child is still closely in
touch with its own pure inner feelings,
which are still connected with its soul. This
is the reason why the child sometimes
looks happy and sometimes looks sad.
As soon as the child begins to be able to
see the forms of this world, to hear, to
smell, and to perceive its atmosphere, little
by little the connection between the child,
its pure feelings and its soul begins to
close. This closes further as the child be-
gins to think and to use its heart and de-
sires, until in the end the child is more
aware of this world than of its life before
coming into this world, or of its own inner
self.
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. There-
fore 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 practise 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, par-
ticularly someone living here in London,
to practise such a thing; all the time he
would hear cars passing by, the sound of
people walking, the shouting of his chil-
dren 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 accor-
dance 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 hu-
man beings. Bapak illustrates it in this
way: if you received the gift of God and
were able to get close to God through the
practise 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 aeroplanes,
no large buildings such as this one we are
in at the moment. It would not be neces-
sary for this present world to exist, be-
cause people would wish to live only in
the forests or on the mountains.
Then Difference between Surrender
and Self Denial
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 restrain-
ing all his desires. At that time he was still
practising these austerities, and his abili-
ties and his awareness were indeed amaz-
ing.
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 ac-
quired through this kind of austerity will
disappear when one no longer practises 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
Continued on page 12.
SUBUD VOICE - March 2005 11

BAPAK’S TALK
Continued from Page 11.
in a state where we are still familiar with
butter, bread, cheese and so on. So if, nev-
ertheless, 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 great-
ness and the contact with God’s power at
all times - whenever they are doing their
work, and in every moment of their lives.
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 bar-
bers. 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 impres-
sive 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 colour black represents sin-
cerity that is not affected by anything.
12 SUBUD VOICE - March 2005
Black contains no beauty, but contains
seriousness.
That is why black garments are usually
worn when attending a funeral or a mar-
riage. It signifies that, since the dead per-
son is no longer influenced by anything,
the minds of those who attend and accom-
pany them should not be preoccupied with
a lot of thoughts but should be worship-
ping 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 as-
sailing them on every side.
For the effect of such influences would be
to break the bonds that unite the two peo-
ple. 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. Eventu-
ally, you will not merely conform to cus-
tom 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.
The Faults We Suffer From
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 in-
ner self. Therefore putting them right can-
not 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 calcu-
late, ‘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 conscious-
ness; all of which have been formed and
come into being entirely through the influ-
ences of this world. So Bapak hopes that
you will not be in a hurry to understand the
meaning of what you receive. Simply ac-
cept it, because when you have reached the
required stage you will understand it spon-
taneously.
So, all this means that God comes before
everything that is beginning. The qualities
of the prophets of old may serve as an ex-
ample. The feeling of their hearts was
opened, their understanding and the aware-
ness of their soul was opened, but not be-
cause 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 eve-
ning; he will continue it next Saturday. He
hopes that his short explanation will have
given you some satisfaction. Thank you.
BAPAK‘S TALKS
VOLUME 5
14 August 1959 - 29 August 1959
CHAPTER 3
Available from:
Subud Publications International
Loudwater Farm,
Loudwater Lane,
Rickmansworth, Herts.
WD3 4HG
UK
spi@subudbooks.co.uk
Ibu Wisnu, “Sri Tentrem”-Setyaningsih, 1930-2002
REMEMBERING IBU WISNU
Sylvia des Tombe remembers a much
loved Indonesian Subud member, Ibu
Wisnu, “Sri Tentrem”-Setyaningsih,
1930-2002, in this article based on an
interview with Ibu Wisnu’s daughter, Sri
Utami Geiger December 2004…
My mother’s complete name was Sri Ten-
trem Setyaningsih Wisnu Brodjohudojo.
She was born in Solo, Central Java, on
April 28, 1930. Mami was one of a family
of nine: three girls and six boys (she was
the youngest of the girls). She married my
father in 1952. Actually, my parents are
first cousins, and I think I remember my
father saying that when he proposed, he
was wondering if it was all right for first
cousins to marry. He checked if it was
correct from all points of view, and was
told it was OK if the relation was on the
mother’s side (my grandmothers were sis-
ters).
My father worked in the Foreign Service.
His first mission, in the late 50’s, was to
Bangkok. That is where my father learned
about Subud. He had been searching al-
ready, but he had found nothing suitable.
Papi’s colleague in the Foreign Service
was a Subud member and told him about
it. When he heard the word “Subud,” Papi
asked about the requirements. When the
answer was: “You just need to believe in
God,” he said: “OK; I’ll join!” My mother
joined Subud because she didn’t want to
be left behind by my father. This was in
1957 or 1958, and my parents used to do
latihan together with the couple who
opened them (all four of them). Later, they
discovered that it was not really right to be
doing so.
My mum became a faithful Subud member
who did the latihan diligently. As a young
woman, she had had a lot of painful head-
aches. When she joined Subud, the head-
aches disappeared. *Throughout her life,
she lived with full surrender and in a state
of receiving: very often, when she was in
difficulty, the solution to that problem
would come to her as and when it was
needed.
My parents moved back to Jakarta from
Bangkok in the early 60’s. Next, we
moved to Turkey and Mother became a
helper. There was a Subud woman in An-
kara. My father also became a helper as
there were people in that area who needed
to be opened, many from Israel. When
they were living in Turkey, my parents
traveled to Germany when Bapak was
there. In order to get there, they drove in a
little Volkswagen all across the Eastern
block countries with another couple from
Turkey; it was an adventure! My father
later said that, when he was doing latihan
with Bapak in Germany, Bapak said, “Ya,
ya, ya!” My father understood from this
that he was finally going to have a son
(something he had really wished for; there
were already four of us girls!). My brother
was born in Ankara, after the trip.
In 1968, when the time in Turkey was
over, we all returned to Indonesia.
(Mardiningsih, the eldest daughter, adds:)
Times were not easy. Indonesia had just
had a real bloodbath, and my father’s sal-
ary had to stretch a long way. Neverthe-
less, Mother did her best to ensure that we
got the best education available. Even
though we didn’t have the “key money”
for me to attend the Tarakanita High
School for Girls, Mother fought to have
me accepted and succeeded. One day,
sitting on the verandah of our home near a
rambutan orchard, Mother was close to
desperation. There was no money left, and
she didn’t know how to feed her family.
She decided to let go and stop thinking
about it; if she continued, she would just
give herself a headache! As she sat, a ven-
dor suddenly appeared and asked how
much she would take for the ripe “jengkol”
fruit growing in a corner of our garden.
Mother hadn’t even realized that this tree,
whose fruit was used in a favorite Jakarta
dish, was there! She mentioned a sum,
and the family was fed.
My mother also gave lessons in Bahasa
Indonesia to a lot of Subud members who
were living in the Compound, ladies such
as Ibu Sabaria Mutoh from Japan, Salamah
Pope, and others. My father continued his
work with the Foreign Service.
We went to Germany, and then, on our
return, he retired. My mother took a job
with Ekonid, the German Chamber of
Commerce here in Jakarta, which was run
by Valentin Willecke. When Valentin of-
fered her the job, Mami said: “I only
graduated from High School, I don’t even
have that certificate; how can you possibly
hire me?” Nevertheless, Valentin insisted,
and so she agreed. At that time, she was
already 45. She took the position as the
office manager and then as the accountant.
She was a very hard-working woman, and
because she really enjoyed working, she
instilled the concept among her children to
always be productive, to be of use. She
managed the office very well; she even
learned how to do accounting, and not just
plain accounting, but accounting in several
currencies. The auditors were actually im-
pressed by her work.
After work, Mami would help the transla-
tion unit at Wisma Subud translating some
of Bapak’s talks; she would check the
translations with Sofyan Brugger and Ro-
seanna Sawrey-Cookson. She proof-read
the Indonesian texts. She was also an ac-
tive helper. She read widely in the lan-
guages she had mastered; reading was one
of her favorite activities. She had great
determination and will power. She al-
ways seemed to be happy; I never remem-
ber my mother being down or sad. Of
course she was busy—being the mother of
four girls and one son couldn’t have been
easy, but she managed.
In 1983, my parents went to the Subud
World Congress in London, at Anugraha. I
think that was the first time when Bapak
began to appoint international helpers.
Bapak called Mami out of the audience
and suggested that she be one of them. My
mum was very good with languages. First
of all, she spoke Javanese and Indonesian,
and then she learned English, German and
French. When we lived in Turkey, she
used to speak Turkish, too. Later, when
she was working at Ekonid, she did trans-
lation jobs at home after work, translating
German to Indonesian and vice-versa, and
English to Indonesian. When she stopped
working at Ekonid, she continued with her
translation work. She worked at Ekonid for
fifteen years, until she was about 60.
Mother had a problem with her thyroid
gland and was operated on. The doctors
took out some growths, but probably dam-
aged the vocal chords in doing so. After
the operation, Mother’s voice never re-
gained its normal strength. Later, she
started to develop Parkinson’s Disease, but
it wasn’t diagnosed for a long time. But
what we all remember is that, however
many times she fell or whatever pain she
was suffering from, Mami was always
positive in her outlook and very brave. She
never lost faith in her chance to recover.
When Mami died in September of 2002, it
was as a consequence of complications of
pneumonia. She developed pneumonia
from a cough, and, because of the Parkin-
son’s, which reduces one’s motor skills,
she could not cough out the phlegm. She
was taken to the hospital to be treated. It
was in the hospital that she told me, seven
days before she died, that it was her time.
She said she had completed her work in
this world and that the angels had come to
pick her up. She gave me advice about the
funeral. She said: “When people come to
the funeral, do not be sad. Charter a bus to
go to the graveyard, and take it as though
you are all going to a picnic. Bring some
‘nasi bungkus’ (rice in little packets).”
The family gathered together in the hospi-
tal, and Mami also called my sister in
Frankfurt. She told her not to rush to Ja-
karta as she had just been there.
Continued on page 14.
SUBUD VOICE - March 2005 13
 REMEMBERING IBU WISNU
Continued from page 13.
It was like a goodbye call. After that, she
talked to each of us, one by one, about
how we should proceed with our lives. In
most of her advice, she said never to stop
doing the latihan. She gave appropriate,
different advice for each of us. Even
though she had Parkinson’s, Mami’s voice
was strong and confident. When she spoke
to my children, she switched to English
(my husband is Australian). She spoke
very clearly to them. Mami also asked
about her friends; she wanted to contact
those whom she hadn’t seen for a long
time. She wanted to leave everything in a
good way. She called a friend whom she
had forgotten to invite for her birthday; she
felt really bad and wanted to apologize.
My father was with her, and Mami said,
“I’m going first (“Saya pergi duluan”), but
we will meet again. Do not be in a rush to
see me!” Now I think that what my mother
meant was that it was her wish that Papi
should enjoy the remainder of his life, do-
ing what he loves to do.
Mami’s condition got worse over the next
few days. The doctor urged that she be put
in the ICU. She had said “No” to that op-
tion, but somehow, we felt a kind of hope
that, if she went into the ICU, she would
get better. When my father and I visited
her there, my mother whispered to him,
“How come the scenario has changed?”
When I walked out of the ICU, I felt, “This
is not what my mother wanted.” We de-
cided, my sisters and I, to take her back to
her room. It was such a difficult thing to
do, but it had also been a great problem
not to be able to visit her freely as she
wanted.
Mami was moved to her previous room the
next morning, and later on Ibu Rahayu
came to visit. Ibu Rahayu just sat quietly,
and my sisters, Muti, and I were there. We
were in a quiet latihan. After half an hour,
Ibu said, “Ya, baik. Ibu baik-baik
saja” (these may not have been her precise
words, but she was saying that Mami was
fine, maybe meaning her way was open).
Then, at around lunch time, Mami passed
away peacefully. It was such a beautiful
experience for me, because I was suddenly
transported into a state of latihan. It was
very blissful and light and happy. I think
that was just a wonderful passing. She had
said to me a few days previously, that
when you die, it is just like entering the
next room. I said, “Mami, when you die, I
am really going to miss you.” She an-
swered, “When I die, I will be even closer
to you!” This is true, because I feel very
close to my mum.
* Contributed by Setiawati (Sati), one of
the other children of Ibu Wisnu.
SUBUD VOICE - May 2004
14 SUBUD VOICE - March 2005
TSUNAMI
Continued from page 1.
men and women to go for any job avail-
able to meet their day to day living costs.
Quite a number of them have agreed to go
for domestic works. The local Domestic
Workers Forum is informed to streamline
them for jobs.
The men are running to the government to
rebuild their homes and other papers to get
back the fishing nets, small boats etc.
Once they are able to secure some assis-
tance from the government, then SD-India
along with this local group, Nalanda
Charitable Trust will come forward to re-
build their home.
Recommendation: At the moment they
want assistance to rebuild their livelihood.
This is the most pressing need. Right now
I request all SD-nationals to give whatever
they can to support this small initiative. I
would like to thank SD-Australia's contri-
bution of 500 Australian Dollars. SD-India
has raised Rs 15,000 /- and Subud-India
has pledged Rs 10,000.
FROM ACEH
The American Subud charity American
Overseas Medical Aid Association
(AOMAA) is working with another or-
ganization to help survivors in Aceh.
Here is a report from Peter Perry who is
the AOMAA courier/Field Representa-
tive. He is working with Dr Jack and Dr
Julia who have set up a health center in a
school and are taking care of the rural
people.
Lucia Cargill of AOMMA writes, “They
are our Medical Field Reps and the ongo-
ing recipients of AOMAA donations. This
clinic is our project. As they need much
more to sustain the clinic, I am seeking
partnerships with other organizations,
too. I have presented the situation to
Adopt-a-Doctor in Rhode Island, and am
waiting for their decision.”
Peter Perry writes…
As we pass over the mountainous heart of
Sumatra the views are breathtaking. The
pilot jokingly reminded the passengers not
to smoke as we held our breath against the
fumes rising from the cargo of generators
and fuel. Coming in to land on the shat-
tered Meulaboh runway beauty turned to
chaos. Mile upon mile of foundations
swept clean. Coconut trees laid down in
rows just like the pictures of destruction
surrounding Mount St Helens.
Continued on page 15.
RESTRUCTURE
Continued from page 4.
3. Why not?
4. I would add extending the terms of all
officers/helpers three months to assure a
continued functioning committee and
smooth transition - often it takes a chair or
committee a whole year to get the hang of
the job. I strongly believe we are missing
the boat completely with the purpose and
function of the Wings. They are there to
serve the organization and the membership
through collaboration and working on pro-
jects together.
5. SD is not equipped nor is it its mission
to do this kind of work. The current or-
ganization is adequately set up to acquire
the information needed to be aware of the
needs and health of the organization on all
levels. But it will only function properly
when all the dewans are healthy and func-
tioning. I believe this is the primary work
we must focus on in the next four years.
Then Subud will grow and prosper. And
we must also engage the skills of the
Wings in projects together.
6. The men at Menucha recently tested:
What is the role of members of grandpar-
ents’ age, of members who are of parent-
ing age and of young people in Subud?
The most outstanding for me was feeling
the incredible vitality and energy of the
young people.
I did some testing with the national youth
chairs during our preparations for the
CARING congress last year. The latihan
and testing energy was absolutely electric.
I still think of myself inside as youthful
but though I could feel how I had become
more balanced and wider I was also fixed
and rigid.
So young people are an essential part of
our body. We must make generous room
for them to be themselves, make mistakes
and learn in their own ways. SYA and the
brave folks that serve in the youth leader-
ship positions must be made a real part of
the national dewans and know they are not
out there on their own.
Haris Wolfgang later added the
following:
ISC and WSC are not at the top of the or-
ganizational structure, but truly in the cen-
tre the horizontal dynamic which repre-
sents the subud family, facilitating com-
munication passing through the centre and
back linking us together.
 DEPICTING
BAPAK’S
ASCENSION
Previously we have written about Istigo-
mah Jenkins’ fabric art enterprise which
she began in Kalimantan where she took
children’s drawings and turned them into
fabric objects such as dolls, cushions and
wall hangings.
We also wrote about how Isti took a draw-
ing by Freeman Wyllie of Central Austra-
lia and turned it into a wall hanging. At the
recent Subud Australia Congress this was
auctioned and made a total of AUD$2,000
which was donated to support the travel of
Asian delegates to the World Congress.
There was a fine poetic twist to the story
because the wall hanging went to Interna-
tional Helper Arifah Burra who lives in
Central Australia. Arifah and her husband
Laksar have recently bought a property
near Alice Springs where they plan to start
a tourism-orientated enterprise featuring
their star talks.
These star talks, which present a wonder-
ful guide to the stars, have proved ex-
tremely popular with visitors to Australia’s
centre.
The talks combine a mixture of science
and mythology, including Aboriginal
dreamtime lore.
Thus, the wall hanging which originated in
Central Australia has returned to its right-
ful home and will hang in the Milky Way
Café on the Burra’s property.
Buoyed up by this success, Isti wants to go
forward with a new idea.
She would like to do a large wall hanging
depicting Bapak’s ascension to be auc-
tioned at the World Congress. The money
raised will go to continue the development
of her “Fabric Art” project in Kalimantan.
So Isti is inviting anyone to submit an il-
lustration depicting Bapak’s ascension.
It will be remembered that Isti’s project
has a strong “susila dharma” component in
providing training and employment for
Dayak women in Kalimantan.
The story of the enterprise is now available
on DVD. For more detail write to:
Isti atisti@subud.org.au or to 73 Clareville
Road, UKI, NSW 2484, Australia.
PIERRE ELIOT
Hillel Natanson remembers
Pierre Eliot…
I have just learned in the hour that Pierre
Eliot passed away the morning of January
2. He was aged around 91 or 92.
You may have already learned this from
other sources, but if not, now you know. I
don't know whether or not you knew him,
because I wasn't around in Subud in the
early days, and don't know so much about
it. But just in case you don't know, he was
John G. Bennett's nephew, and Bapak
asked Pierre to be International Secretary
of Subud for two years, I believe, back in
the early days. It was something like from
1961 to 1963. Pierre was very involved
with Subud then, but left Subud the same
time that John Bennett did. I do know that
he continued to do latihan in later years,
and had great respect for Subud and for
Bapak.
I knew Pierre from my eleven years in the
Gurdjieff Work. He was the Director of
Studies at Claymont, a residential school
in West Virginia which offered nine-
month intensive courses to give students a
chance to really experience the ideas and
methods of Gurdjieff. Claymont was
founded the same year Bennett died, and
overlapped for one year with Sherborne,
the similar school Bennett ran in England.
Pierre was a physicist, an inventor and was
very dedicated to the Gurdjieff Work. He
was a great judge of character. I remem-
ber some of us at Claymont called him
"Ole Eagle Eye". He could be quite tough
with people, but one always felt great
compassion and wisdom beneath this exte-
rior. He was very circumspect about his
own affairs, which resulted in many ru-
mours. Two which I believe to be true
were: That he served in the underground
resistance in France during the Second
World War (he was fully bilingual in
French and English), and that he invented
a very specialised machine that was used
in making some of the extraordinary
graphics in Stanley Kubrick's film
"2001: A Space Odyssey."
Pierre had a love for mountains, Native
American artifacts, and a very special in-
terest in and understanding of Tibetan cul-
ture and religious practices. He was one of
the first Westerners to make the pilgrim-
age of Mt. Kailash in Western Tibet in the
1980's after the Chinese opened it to some
foreigners then. When I made this same
pilgrimage this past year in August, I
could feel his presence on the trail.
He suffered from Alzeimer's Diseases in
his last years. But many people who vis-
ited Pierre in London during these declin-
ing years commented that he still experi-
enced moments of tremendous lucidity
that served as reminders of how pro-
foundly insightful a mind this man pos-
sessed. I have no doubt he is missed by
the many people whose lives he touched
and guided.
He leaves behind his widow Vivian, and a
large number of children. One of his
daughters is a practising Subud member in
England, or at least she was as of a few
years ago.
Hillel Natanson, <hillelnat@gmail.com>
TSUNAMI
Continued from page 14.
I am reminded of the bombed villages of
“Saving Private Ryan”. Helicopter over-
head, craters and a blasted landscape.
Beside the runway a cluster of tents look
like an REI display gone wrong. Pitched
under a roof that is all that remains of the
only structure left standing, I greet a team
of very tired looking American pilots.
Each day they fly sorties delivering food
aid using the broken remnants of roads as
landing strips.
Our twisted truck, both headlamps broken,
weaves among a ghostly landscape of stray
animals, stunned people and wreckage.
Everywhere small red and white Indone-
sian flags mark the last remains of those
lost to the 20 foot high surge.
On arrival I am given one of the best beds
in the camp. My place of honor is the sur-
gery floor.
Today's first case is a 4 year old girl bitten
by a monkey. Despite the pain she left
clutching a small doll, one of only a few
small things for kids collected on
Bainbridge, that I managed to cram into
a backpack full of medicines. There was
no room on the plane for luxuries.
The backpack was a last minute gift of
supplies from Peter Lindsay, filled with
energy food The fruit, leather and raisins
are long gone to refugee camps outside
Medan and the pack has now become a
mobile medical kit for an aid team leaving
for Calang.
The next patient winces as Dr Julia goes to
work with sutures. The injured man has
Continued on page 16.
SUBUD VOICE - March 2005 15

EVENTS
MARCH
5: WORLD LATIHAN
21:00 (CET) - 20:00 (GMT)
10 – 13: Spirit of Enterprise Meeting at
Seven Circles Retreat, Badger, California,
USA. www.globalenterprisemeeting.com
or www.sevencirclesretreat.org
24-26: Zone 3 Meeting at Pelham House
in Lewes, UK. Deadline for registration
February 23rd, 2005. Check NEWS for
Registration Information. Check MORE
for Registration Form
APRIL
3: WORLD LATIHAN
4:00 (CET) - 3:00 (GMT)
28-May 2: Active Spirit Meeting at
Loudwater Farm, UK.
MAY
1: WORLD LATIHAN
12:00 (CET) - 10:00 (GMT)
5-8: Two days Kejiwaan Gathering
followed by two days Subud Norway
Annual Meeting.
27-30: USA National Gathering in Estes
Park, Rocky Mountains, Colorado.
JUNE
4: WORLD LATIHAN
22:00 (CET) - 20:00 (GMT)
JULY
3: WORLD LATIHAN
5:00 (CET) - 3:00 (GMT)
21 - Aug 4: 12TH SUBUD WORLD
CONGRESS - in Innsbruck, Austria.
For full information and registration:
www.worldcongress2005.com
AUGUST
7: WORLD LATIHAN
12:00 (CET) - 10:00 (GMT)
SEPTEMBER
3: WORLD LATIHAN
22:00 (CET) - 20:00 (GMT)
OCTOBER
2: WORLD LATIHAN
5.00 (CET) - 3:00 (GMT)
See also the Events section on the Subud
World News website
www.subudworldnews.com
16 SUBUD VOICE - March 2005
TSUNAMI
Continued from page 15.
been drilling wells outside the surgery,
trying to improve on the brown water
used for everything from cooking to
bathing. His co-workers are melting
sections of PVC pipe over a fire of card-
board boxes trying to make well cas-
ings.
Surgery takes place on a board swabbed
with alcohol lying across a bucket half
full of soiled dressings. There is enough
disinfectant thanks to supplies left by the
Singapore air force. Malaria pills are in
short supply and reports are coming in of
more cases further up the valley.
Six doctors and paramedics sleep here
among old pallets stacked with medi-
cines. Luckily the abandoned trade
school was available for Dr. Jack's 50
volunteers. His team includes child psy-
chologists, doctors, paramedics and help-
ers. The team now maintains a clinic and
two mobile field hospitals serving camps
in 4 villages.
The money we delivered was distributed
quickly to buy vegetables that have been
in short supply. Our 3 bottles of Be-
tadyne now make a total of 10 lined up
along the clinic walls. Cash donations
from Bainbridge also enabled two more
mobile hospitals and financed the whole
operation for another 2 weeks.
The third case of the day is a man who
hobbles in on crutches made of bamboo
and electric tape. He must come every
day to have his dressings changed.
The Singaporean field hospital wanted to
amputate, so he came here. With hours of
care the volunteers have managed to save
his leg but not his spirits. He fondles a
photo of his missing son and waits until
he is well enough to resume his search.
B A P A K ’ S T A L K S
13
VOLUME
AVAILABLE MARCH
UK PRICE £13(Incl p&p)
ORDER NOW
CREDIT CARD
HOTLINE
01727
762210
email: spi@subudbooks.co.uk
MUSIC BY SUBUD ARTISTS
Yamba Yamba Orchestra - ‘Rainstorm’ £11.00
Robert Millard ‘Piano Recital 2 (Chopin)’ £11.00
Adrienne Thomas ‘Speaking In Tongues’ £11.00
Harlan Cockburn ‘Ship Without Rudder’ £11.00
Leonard Paice ‘The Ashgrove’ £11.00
Prices include postage anywhere.
(Credit Card option on website)
DJC Records
104 Constitution Hill,
Norwich, NR34 BB UK.
clague@paston.co.uk
www.djcrecords.co.uk
WORLD LATIHANS
MARCH 5: WORLD LATIHAN
21:00 (CET) - 20:00 (GMT)
APRIL 3: WORLD LATIHAN
4:00 (CET) - 3:00 (GMT)
MAY 1: WORLD LATIHAN
12:00 (CET) - 10:00 (GMT)
To find the corresponding time
in your part of the world go to:
www.timeanddate.com/worldclock
SUBUD VOICE
is published monthly.
DEADLINE FOR
NEXT ISSUE:
15 March 2005
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