Hammond and Renata Peek sent this report 65 hours afterthe devastating earthquake in Christchurch…

Well, the seriousness of the situation for many people herein Christchurch and in the neighbouring towns is begin-ning to sink in, and the long termimpact for many.

• 100,000 homes damaged, manyuninhabitable and a numberneeding to be demolished• $2 billion cleanup bill – and rising• State of emergency still in placefor the inner city/CBD (centralbusiness district)• Schools closed at least until afterWednesday, university closed allweek• Buses still not running• People still required to boil waterbefore drinking or cooking with it• Roughly 100 aftershocks felt sofar – the largest 4.8 (predicted tocarry on possibly for weeks)• Many buildings being demol-ished in the CBD – the city’s heart– buildings that contained busi-nesses that no longer exist, whichemployed people that no longerhave jobs to go back to• 50 streets still without mainswater• Many still having no sewage (can’t use toilets)– council has placed portable toilets alongsome suburban streets• Army helping to control the streets with thepolice• Christchurch Convention Centre (across theroad from the Town Hall – where we did latihanduring the World Congress) was taken over as atemporary base for the civil defence coordina-tion efforts

When I see on the news how some Christchurchresidents fared I realise that Renata and I got offincredibly lightly.

Maynard (Subud Christchurch Chairman) writes...All the Christchurch Subud members are OK. Some super-ficial damage to the new Christchurch latihan hall ... lightsurface cracking near interior joins, sticky doors & brokenlatches, heat pumps in the new hall were knocked outbut are now fixed. We are still getting aftershocks whichvary in intensity from mild tremors to fairly destructivepunches that keep the damage on-going.

Our chimneys (2 very tall ones) are thinking about comingdown. The bigger aftershocks (some over 5 Richter) are

weakening them daily – sort of like chopping down atree. The end of the house has subsided and that walllooks like it is going soon. It gives me the willies to evenstand near it.

The brickwork on that end wall isdisintegrating and bulging out-wards as well as the foundationsinking. Otherwise, as the hits con-tinue, the brickwork all aroundthe house is showing seriouscracks and growing small areasof displacement. We are reallynot sure what the insurers will do;bulldoze it, or renovate it. We arewaiting for an assessor to arriveand of course as the aftershockscontinue the decision will evolve.

But the power is back on so wehave heat and light and water(mostly), and we are no longerflushing the toilet with buckets ofwater (when water is available)So, gosh, we look around andthink, wow, we are all ok. Lilianaand I have another place to staythat will be fine in the meantime,and if we consider the whole city– so far, 1 guy died from a heartattack (brought on by stress), andone is badly hurt by a chimney

falling, and another by flying glass. Incrediblereally.

I was sleeping in a recliner in my workshop.When it first hit, it was so bad I expected thebuilding to crush me. There was no time to getout and people who did try to run or walk oftencould not because the shaking was so violentthey couldn’t stand, and also, the feelings andthinking suspend so there is a tendency to gaperather than run. I dove down out of the chair tothe floor beside my big work bench for cover.Later we saw that some heavy machines in my

workshop had moved around, and where my head hadbeen on the recliner was bracketed with 2 big fallenplanks.

PAGE 1

NOVEMBER 2010

E a r t h q u a k e i n C h r i s t c h u rc h

SUBUDVOICE®

SUBUDVOICE

cont on p2 >

All theChristchurch

members are OK

“

“

Hammond Peek dangles his feet in a fissure on part of a newfaultline opened up by the earthquake in Christchurch

IBU RAHAYU’S RAMADAN TALKIbu Rahayu's talk from the 25th Night of Power inWisma Subud on the 3rd of September 2010 (10CDK03)is now available for viewing on www.subudlibrary.netGo to Ibu Rahayu Talks (video). Also the DVD is available to order fromSahlan78@gmail.com and in a week or so SPI will havecopies.

inventory of everything we owned; I saidonly last week that we had too much stuff!This is a great lesson in "involuntary simplic-ity" – so little of what we own is absolutelyessential. The core values of spiritual prac-tice, family, friends and community standout starkly when uncluttered from extrane-ous stuff and unnecessary hassles. This isthe beginning of another strenuous andchallenging life adventure.

We hope to get into the mountains to see what remainsof our home next week. Then we start the real work.

Please keep sendingemails but know that wecannot always respond.Feel free to forward this topeople not on our lists.

PS: We got up to the houseand it was totallydestroyed – just ash andtwisted metal roof. Thestrange thing was that thepropane tank is still full, thegreenhouses are basicallyintact and we harvestedabout 10 pounds of toma-toes. Only a few trees areburnt and the view is asbeautiful as ever.

Driving back down toBoulder we might easily have missed that there had beena fire at all -- only ourselves and two neighbours wereburnt.

The land was very welcoming and glad to see us home. Irealize that the house and contents were of minor valuecompared to where it was located. I still love our home.

Roland Evans 303-998-1090 roland@bountea.com

From Subud USA…

Nancy (Nathanya) Coonridge received the New MexicoOrganic Farmer of the Year Award! Though she wasunable to be at the award ceremony, Joan Quinn ofNMOCC [New Mexico Organic Commodity Commission]spoke the following words to the attendees:

'Last, but certainly not least, our Organic Farmer of theYear. As we all know, there are many visions of what free-range livestock means. However, I think there is no onewho would dispute that Nancy Coonridge has been anexample and inspiration to anyone who is interested inintegrating livestock production with nature.

Nancy's goats go out to browse in the wilderness outsideof Pie Town every morning in the company of guardiandogs who keep them safe on the range they share with adiverse mix of wildlife. Nancy has been raising goats for 40years and has been certified organic for over a decade.

Being off the grid, she has adopted an ancient method ofpreserving cheese by packing it in olive oil.

Anyway, the main thing is that the family is well, and somany people are well who might not be. All in all, thefeeling around here is not unlike celebration and grati-tude, combined with exhaustion and sore backs fromcleaning up, and also wondering how much it is all goingto cost.

Lili and I are remembering that sect whose members takethe stuff out of their houses every year and spread it onthe lawn in order to cleanse and simplify their lives beforereturning some – but not all – of their possessions backinside.

And also, we think of the monastery’s treasured Zenteapot that was tragically broken but then made evenmore lovely by the craftsman who repaired it and mixedgold dust into the glue so the cracks became an elegantpart of the design. We need a little gold dust in thecracks, and oddly enough, we seem to be getting it.

Maynard

The earthquake is estimated to contain the force of 67nuclear bombs. The photo is of me sitting on the road withmy feet dangling in a fissure on Highfield Road , part of anew faultline... where as well as the road being shunted 3metres sideways, it has also been lifted up 1 metre fromwhere it was before.

I’m in awe of the forces I see unleashed around me (I justnow felt another aftershock).

I feel for the many people that have lost their homes,whose lives have been turned upside down, who willprobably take years to get over the emotional scars – but,thank God – still have their lives, and the lives of theirloved ones.

On the bright side: A record 21 babies were born atChristchurch Women's Hospital in the 24 hours followingthe earthquake, making it the hospital's most prolificSaturday.

This report has been edited for reasons of space.

Roland Evans writes from Boulder, Colorado...

Dear Friends,Our house did burn down in the 4 Mile Canyon Fire inBoulder, Colorado. Thank you all for your tremendous out-pouring of love and support. That so many people arethinking of us is heartwarming and uplifting. The loss ofordinary material things, even our beautiful home andgarden, is small in comparison to knowing so many good-hearted people fill our world. As very independent peo-ple, we are learning the blessing of simply receiving fromothers.

We need for nothing on a day to day basis. The responsefrom the Boulder community has been beyond anythingwe could expect – free food in restaurants, free clothing(stylish too!), discounts on almost everything. Friends arethere when we need them and our insurance agent is agem (plug for Safeco). We hope to move into a fully fur-nished, insurance paid, comfortable house next Tuesday.It has a small garden and I have had offers of plants andspace in other gardens to keep me from missing mine.

There is a lot to do. We are working on the insurance

SUBUDVOICE PAGE 2 NOV 10

•Involuntary Simplicity

Thank you for your

tremendousoutpouring of

love and support

“

“

•Organic Farmer of the Year Award

Serenity in the ashes. In the total destruction of the Evans’

house, Kwan Yin (Chinese goddess ofmercy) survived

cont on p3 >

You probably had a chance totaste the delicious result yesterdayafternoon.

Nancy is an enthusiastic advocateof organic livestock practices andhas spoken around the countryabout her dairy – she always hastime for livestock producers withquestions, generously shares her

wisdom with new and established producers, and herinternship program is training up a whole generation oforganic livestock and cheese producers.

Unfortunately Nancy can't be with us today as her goatsare beginning to kid and she is a little short on help. Butplease join me in celebrating the work of NancyCoonridge.'

Anyone interested in a possible internship can contactNathanya at organicgoatcheese@yahoo.com

Maya Korzybska (Bernardes) writes from Rungan Sari...

Living here in Kalimantan, it is very refreshing to see theway Subud is known and generally appreciated as aresult of the main activities that take place in Rungan Sari.It makes me happy because I remember the many timesBapak said that people would become aware of Subudthrough our social, cultural and entrepreneurial activities.

This is truly the case here. Subud has gained a good rep-utation thanks to the Bina Cita Utama (BCU) school, theRungan Sari Resort, the Muhammad Subuh Centre andecovillage, other projects outside the compound, such asthose of the Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM), YayasanTambuhak Sinta (YTS) and WOW Borneo (Ecotourism), aswell as activities like the Bakti Social held recently in hon-our of Bapak's birthday.

In addition, it's fair to say that the name Subud hasbecome a household word in Palangkaraya and the sur-roundings: we are known and appreciated by many,including the Governor of Central Kalimantan, Pak Teras,the Regent of Kasonang and – as we now know – thePrince Consort of Denmark!

If you are a foreigner in town you have a 90% chance ofbeing asked if you are Subud, and the few foreigners whoare not may well be Australian or Canadian volunteers onone of the YUM projects.

The ripples flowing out of Rungan Sarihave a broad reach, touching manypeople: the teacher training, forexample, has benefited 350 teachersfrom the surrounding area.

At the same time, it is a soberingthought to acknowledge our respon-sibility: Subud is not a thing in and ofitself, it is the sum of the individualexpressions of Susila, Budhi andDharma of each member; so, weeach need to be aware of this and act according to ourbest capacity.

Following the Kalimantan Visioning meeting here inRungan Sari in 2008, it was decided that the KalimantanMeeting Center would change its name to the RunganSari Resort and Meeting Center. Please check www.run-gansariresort.com. This was part of an effort to strengthenthe presence of the Rungan Sari name, as well as simpli-fying identification.

Making a quick estimate, the Rungan Sari compounditself employs between 150 to 200 people. Some of theseare Subud members and others are not. In addition to thecompound maintenance personnel, gardeners, security,drivers and domestic help, about 35 people areemployed by the resort, and another 40 by the BCUschool.

We have changed the lives (one hopes for the better) ofall these people, many of whom live in the neighbouringvillages and who previously may well have had little or nowork. More and more Subud members are coming toRungan Sari for short or longer stays: additional enterpris-es are being set up, new possibilities are emerging and, atlast, we have decent internet!

A website for the compound and Subud group will short-ly be online featuring lots of useful information for thoseplanning to come here to visit or for longer. A summary ofSubud's history in Kalimantan will also be online so thatpeople can see the developments since Bapak's first visitto where we are today.

We’re happy to say that Rungan Sari is not the wild and'uncivilized' place many may still imagine it to be – thoughwe are, of course, keen to keep the surrounding junglealive!

Halim and Maya Korzybski write…

We are extremely happy to introduce Peter and MyriamMurray who are moving into La Source mid October whilstwe continue our Kalimantan experience. Myriam is origi-nally French and has also lived in the UK and Spain and somany know her. Peter was opened in Orgiva, Spain, ndthey have a five year old boy named Raimi.

Another of those chance exchanges brought them intocontact with us just as they were deciding that theywished to move back to France to develop a bed andbreakfast which they already have experience with,whilst we were wondering how to find new ‘tenants’ forour return to Kalimantan. They of course became enthu-siastic when we suggested the possibility of their takingover La Source, and now whilst visiting this

PAGE 3SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

•

cont on p4 >

•

People becomeaware of Subud

through our social,cultural and

entrepreneurial activities

“

“

L a S o u rc e H a n d o v e r

The Impact of Rungan Sari

Nancy Coonridgehas been and

example and aninspiration

““The friendly staff at the Rungan Sari Resort and Meeting Centre

summer, theirenthusiasm hasmultiplied with all sorts of creativeideas to come.

So, they are openas from the end ofOctober andalready planninga New Year’sevent. They will belooking to ener-getically re-vitalise

the activities here, be it for B&B holidays, Subud gather-ings and meetings, as well as welcoming other groupsinterested in creating workshops here.

We are very confident that Peter and Myriam as well asRaimi will welcome and make people at home and thatwe are leaving La Source in caring hands.

So La Source is back on the map and open to business!if you wish to visit, attend a gathering or create your ownworkshop please write to:myriam@lasourcepyrenees.com

Lola Stone writes from Bankok…”At 93, thanks to Subudand a healthy life style. I am still around. Guess I havemore lessons to learn before I get my passport to the nextlevel! A hug from Lola…

It seems as if I always had a connection with where I hadcome from. In my teens I began to have a series of psy-chic experiences which lasted until I was opened inSubud. Most occurred when I needed help or guidance.

I began to read spiritual books on Theosophy and othersuch paths and attend lectures in Manhattan wheneveryogis, swamis and notable teachers lectured on spiritualways. Always I found myself the only young person, theaudience being mainly elderly men and women.

By my early twenties, my connection with my spiritualsource was fading and I began my long search to find away to reconnect with this inner guidance. I followedevery clue which was always there when I needed help,particularly when I stumbled through an over three year“dark night of the soul” experience.

It was late in 1958 that a neighbor, Elmira Ingersoll, invitedmy husband and I to come hear a couple she knew whohad found something new to share with us. We supposedanother in a long line of psychics, healers and others whoshared experiences in what we were most interested.

This particular time it was a couple who had just returnedfrom Europe with something new and exciting to share,something Elmira was sure we would to know about.

As it turned out, the couple were Istimah and Erling (laterMark) Week. Listening to them, I knew this was the re-con-nection I had been seeking all these years.

Elmira was opened shortly afterwards and I soon after in1959, able to attend Bapak’s first talk in New York City,

At my opening, there were 100women, many of the Indonesiannotables as well as the Bennettsfrom England,Elmira, having been made ahelper, was able to form the LongIsland group in Huntington. It grewquickly since other newly openedones joined our core group.

My search had ended and with itthese many spiritual clues. Therewas only one more such experience after my opening asfrom then on I no longer needed them.

I was given what I did need which was becoming morepractical, able to balance the left and right brains, tocontend with material minded people and be free of aviolent temper that I had been using my will to try to over-come and many, many more gifts that enabled me tolive successfully in our chaotic world.

I had found my reconnection.

Harris Smart writes…

Ibu Endah is the Administrator at BCU School in RunganSari.. She is always a calm, smiling, helpful, efficient andfriendly presence throughout the school.

She is originally from Central Java, but came toKalimantan when her husband, a civil servant, was post-ed here. They now live at Suka Mulia, a housing develop-

ment near RunganSari, and havethree boys aged 6years, 3 years and 5months. The oldestboy is in Grade 1 atBCU.

She is very wellqualified with adegree in econom-ics specialising inmanagement. Aftergraduation she

worked in an innovative program for students throughoutthe ASEAN region. Subsequently, she was employed byCitibank, the American Industrial Group (AIG), and aKorean company.

She joined BCU in July 2005. She had heard about Subudbefore coming to BCU, and working at the school con-firmed her good impression of Subud, so she was openedin 2005.

She is a multi-tasker, looking after the school’s administra-tive systems and book-keeping as well as liaising with par-ents and the local government.

She says that the school has had a profound effect on herown personal development. “I have realised that work isnot just carrying out a task. It involves the obligation thata human being has to help other people.

“Of course, there are always challenges and difficulties,but what is good about this school is the

PAGE 4 SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

cont on p5 >

I was given what

I did need, which

was becoming

more practical

“

“

20 Year Search for Subud

Peter and Myriam Murray with Halim and Maya Korzybski at La Source

•

•Ibu Endah and the Real Latihan

Ibu Endah. administrator at BCU School

to the school. He had found it on the inter-net. Since joining Subud he feels he hasbecome less rushed, more confident andrelaxed.

“There are definite advantages in beingpart of the international community ofSubud,” he told me. “We feel supportedby Subud members from all around theworld, and many even come here enrich-ing the children by exposure to a widerange of cultural backgrounds.

“And above all, it is the harmony that pre-vails in this school that makes me happy. Harmonyamongst students, harmony amongst teachers, harmonyamongst us all.”

Abdullah Pope writes…

Have you ever thought that the Subud symbol wouldmake a good city plan?

In the early days of Subud, Bapak some-times talked about a town in Borneowhich was, in plan, a bit like a Subudsymbol, with seven roads leading offa central circle. He was talking aboutthe then small town, the capital ofthe Indonesian province of CentralKalimantan with a population (in 1980)of just 60,000 people.

In the thirty years since, Palangkaraya hasnow grown into a small city of about 300,000. It is true,there are seven roads radiating from the central round-about ? if you count the two roads leading into, and outof, the Governor’s Residence as two.

President Sukarno, the first President of the Republic, wasa trained civil engineer, and took a great interest in thelayout of Palangkaraya, insisting on wide avenues withmedian strips of grass. He visualised it as the future capitalcity of the young republic. In the 1960’s he even got thecabinet to vote to move the capital there from Jakarta.

Some years later, when Vice-President Adam Malik visitedthe city, the then Mayor asked him what had become ofthis proposal. Malik replied that it was still a strong possibil-ity for the future. Palangkaraya is at the geographic cen-tre of the Indonesian archipelago; if global warming goesunchecked, by the end of this century large areas ofJakarta will be under water, and the pressure will be on tofind a new capital.

Bapak himself also said that in two or three hundredyears, Central Kalimantan would be one of the largestIndustrial centres in the world. "In fact the move maycome sooner than we think, as the current President ofIndonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhiyono, has recentlyraised the possibility of moving the capital from Jakarta,which he says is 'paralyzed by traffic jams'. Another pointwhich might hasten the move is that deepwell water inJakarta is already saline and polluted by seawater."

Architects in SubudHave any Subud planners used the Subud symbol in theirwork? There have been many town and city planners inSubud, but the very first was Rohan Warnesuriya, who wasalso the first Subud member to do latihan in Australia. Hespent three years studying architecture at MelbourneUniversity before studying town-planning in London.

PAGE 5SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

Subud Symbol – A City Plan

cont on p6 >

co-operative way of working togetherto find solutions.

“The new classrooms and the schoolbus have been a big help, making itpossible for us to accept more students and opening the way for abetter education for local people.

Like many people here, she feels thatKalimantan offers a special opportuni-ty for inner growth.

“In Kalimantan we are remote from bigcities and our resources are often limited, but this hasshown me that the latihan is not just something we do inthe latihan hall. It is also in our relationships and the workwe do which train us to become more understandingand more patient. That is the real latihan.”

Harris Smart writes…

Pak Gunarjo is the Principal at BCU and he speaks enthu-siastically about the “new paradigm in education” that isbeing put into practice at the school.

He is originally from Solo in Central Java where he gradu-ated from university with a Bachelor of ScienceEducation. He moved to Central Kalimantan to trainteachers in Science Education at the University ofPalanka Raya. He is married with two grown-up sons whoare currently studying at university.

He moved to BCU in 2005. Originally, he only applied tobe a teacher, but was instead appointed to the positionof Principal.

He works closely together with Karim MacDonald, theCounterpart Principal. Karim looks after things like theInternational Curriculum, while Pak Gunarjo attends tothe Indonesian Curriculum and liaises with LocalGovernment and the Education Department. Togetherthey steer the development of the school’s educationalphilosophy.

I asked him, “What are the features of this “new paradigm?”

“It involves child-centred learning, discovery learning andproject-based learning. This has never been applied inschools here before.

“This school is also one of a select number of National Plusschools which means that all the teaching is done inEnglish. The value of our effort is being recognised. Lastyear (2009), we won an award for being the outstandingschool in this region, and one of our students won a Mathscompetition. We are also training teachers in ourapproach.

“I would also say that one of our goals is to encourage anatmosphere of harmony in the school, of respect for eachother. Our decision-making is shared and participatoryrather than an autocratic ‘talking down’. Encouragingrespect for the natural environment is also one of ourgoals.

“At the moment our school is small enough that it includeschildren from Grade 1 right up the higher levels of HighSchool. There are positive effects in this. The older childrenbecome more mature by looking after the younger ones,and the development of the younger ones is accelerat-ed by their contact with the older.”

Pak Gunarjo already knew about Subud before coming

BCU – A New Parad igm

•

The obligation that a humanbeing has to help other

people

“

“

•

Above all,it is the

harmony that

prevails

“

“

PAGE 6 SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

cont on p7 >

SUSILA, BUDHI AND DHARMAIbu Rahayu’s Talk to Members 20 April 2001 Recording 01 KIEV 1Final translation by Raymond LeeCopyright © 2010 the World Subud Association. All rights reserved.This talk was given for people practising the spiritual exercise knownas the Subud Latihan. For those not practising this exercise, readingthe following talks is not recommended as it could be misunderstood.

Ibu Rahayu

Talks

On returning home to Sri Lanka he was made deputy Planning Officer for thewhole country. However, he asked Bapakfor advice about his career, and Bapaktold him to go back to Australia.

On arrival in Perth, by an amazing series ofcoincidences, he was immediatelyappointed the Chief Planning Officer forthe whole of Western Australia, and wasresponsible for several major towns,including the residential areas of Port

Hedland in the North, and Hamilton Hill near Fremantle.Rohan is still active in the Perth Subud Group at the age of82, and recently retired as group Secretary, but he neverhad the opportunity to use the Subud symbol in his work.

In 1980 Bapak bought several hundred hectares of landnear Palangkaraya and visited the site. Soon after thisHassan Vogel, the Swiss architect, produced a detailedlayout for the land which is now known as Rungan Sari,based on the ideas of French architect Le Corbusier.Another Subud town-planner was Tom Bigwood, professorof Town Planning at Edinburgh University. He visitedPalangkaraya with me soon after this, and gave us someadvice about developing the land there.

However it was the Portuguese architect Muchtar Martinswho developed the final plan, with two linked circularroads for the first stage of the compound at Rungan Sari.This has now been completed, with some 35 housesalready built, and the Subud “National Plus” school. Thecentres of the two circles contain the hotel and the lati-han hall; linking the two is a football field and volleyballcourt where villagers and foreign residents alike playtogether.

Coincidence?During the cold war (1951-1989) the American militaryestablished a unit of what they called “remote viewers”.These were recruited from the most sensitive psychics inthe country, who were all enlisted and given the rank ofMajor in the American army.

Their job was to project their consciousness into top secretRussian military installations, of which they were given theco-ordinates. They had some considerable success in thiswork, but after the end of the cold war the unit was dis-banded (at least officially). Some of the viewers, though,set up their own company and did similar work for the pri-vate sector. This included looking at future possibilities.

Recently I read an article in New Dawn, a new age mag-azine, in which some remote viewers projected them-selves a thousand years into the future, to see what lifewas like. They found that many cities were laid out withseven circles, and seven avenues radiating from a centralplaza. There is no way they could have heard aboutSubud, but if this is even a remote possibility, perhaps insome parallel universe, it throws a great responsibility onus, the first second and third generations of people inSubud.

Having witnessed the amazing start of Subud in Britain,when Bapak’s picture appeared in some of the Londontabloids, with headlines like, “Messiah in forty room man-sion”, I feel sure that, when the time is right, God and theangels will see to the rapid spread of Subud once again.In the meantime, we have to dedicate ourselves topreparing for this by doing the latihan regularly, caring forour brothers and sisters, strengthening our helpers groupsand our organisation, so we will be ready for the chal-lenge when it comes.

[Missing] ... Subud whom I respect and love, before Ibegin my explanations about the spiritual training ofSubud, which is the basis for our receiving and is our dutyto do in Subud, I thank you for your invitation that mademy visit to the Ukraine possible; this visit is my first here. AndI praise Almighty God or thank the power of God for giv-ing us an uneventful trip; all went smoothly and now I amhere with you in person.

Since this is Easter time, I wish you well in celebratingEaster. And to those of you who are here in the Ukraine tohold the zone congress, I pray that God will bless yourwork and it will produce results that will support the devel-opment of Subud in the Ukraine and the development ofSubud throughout the world.

Brothers and sisters, when explaining anything to do withthe latihan, we cannot ignore its source; the source ofeverything we experience in Subud is the power of God,which is also known as the spirit of God or essence ofGod. And everything that God creates contains orembodies the essence of God that I just mentioned,essence: the power of God. But never say God is insideyou; that is not so. What you have inside you is theessence of God or power of God, which forms a unitywith the power that envelops the whole universe.Therefore, the power you have inside you is connected tothe power that exists outside of you and to the power thatexists in all things in this universe.

And humankind is one of the natures that Almighty Godcreated. While in this world, God created many natures,all kinds of natures: visible and invisible; animals, as well asplants; they are all God’s creations and naturally they allembody the same essence that human beings have andthat essence is the part of them that is alive. The essenceof God found in all these natures is alive; alive means itmoves and develops.

The part of a human being that is alive is their soul.Because the soul is the part of a human being that is aliveand it is the part of a human being that receives God’scontact, the movement or receiving we have is called inIndonesian latihan kejiwaan, which means training of thejiwa [or soul]. Indeed, it is hard to translate the word jiwa[or soul]. Jiwa is the part of a person that is alive, that isfilled by the power of God.

Therefore, this latihan is a receiving that touches a per-son’s soul. Of course, brothers and sisters, human beingscould not have received this contact just like that. Thatwas why, by the grace of Almighty God, one personreceived this contact. And it is sure that a human beingdid not will this contact; Almighty God wills it.

Cities laid out with seven circles

and seven avenues radiating

out from a central plaza

“

“

•

And what is the aim of this spiritual training ofSubud? It is to turn people into human beingswith the qualities of susila, budhi, and dharma.So, Subud is not an association of people whichhas no aim or direction, that is not so. Althoughyou receive via your soul – which means thateveryone develops in their own way accordingto their own nature – Subud has only one processand one aim, which I just explained. So, torepeat the definition once again – you probablyknow this – susila means deeds, behaviour andactions that are willed by God.

Well, which of our actions does God will? Withthe latihan, you will be educated, your own self will coun-sel you, and with that you are expected or you should doeverything guided by your soul. Those are the actionsGod wills, the ones that come from the essence of Godmentioned earlier.

That is necessary because, as we know, human beings donot only have a soul inside them, but there are otherforces there too that God has willed should help you tolive in this world. And where do these assistants comefrom? They come from the low forces that gave you yourphysical form.

Since you were a baby until now when you are fully-grown, naturally forces have formed you. These forcescome from matter, plants, animals, and human beingsthemselves. This means that, as a result of your opening, itis not only your soul that is alive now, but these forces thatare inside you, that help you live your life, are alive too.They have their own realms, but for now, for as long asyou live, you use them; you take advantage of them tomeet your needs in life.

All the same, with your latihan, God wants you to ensurea human being is master of the house and maintains andtakes possession of your house. We must not, as thehuman being, as the one who has this body, as the onewho owns this body, fall under the influence of our com-panion forces in this world.

This is what we call susila; we should live life as humanbeings guided by our soul, so that later – when, say, thetime comes when we have to return to God – we will beable to return the companions we have used all this timeto help us live in this world, to their respective realms.Plants have their realm; animals have their realm, andthey will thank you because you will take them to heav-en: you will return them to their own realms.

The second quality is budhi. Budhi is a power or forcefound inside a human being. If someone believes theyhave this power inside them, they should never let them-selves lose their way. You have a power inside you thatyou can ask to help you. And because you have faith inthis power inside you, it will be your teacher teaching younot to act or behave in ways that are not God’s will. Thatis because there is a law that applies to everything that isinside you, or one can say it is like some... it is like amachine that knows about everything that goes on insidea human being.

It is the reason why a human being cannot hide beforeGod. Everything you have done, everything you havethought, everything you have felt, has been recorded;you have recorded it. God does not record it, you do.There is an instrument inside you that automatically worksby itself based on what you do and what you feel.

Using the will, using the mind, there would not bea contact that touches the essence inside a human being. Even though you feel you ownthat essence, the fact is you did not know thisessence existed inside you. As such, by God’sgrace, the late Bapak Muhammad Subuh wasthe one to receive this grace.

Bapak was not expecting to get this grace. Butwhy was he selected or given the chance to bethe human being who would experience thiscontact from God directly? Without studying it,without thinking about it, he was able to receiveeverything in a fully conscious state.

Of course, when he received it, as he was the first personto receive this contact, there was no one who could givehim advice; there was no one he could ask. However, asthis was a grace from God, God not only appointedBapak to receive the latihan, but it came with everythinghe needed to know about the process and meaning ofthis training of the soul.

That was how, according to his own account... you canread this in Bapak’s autobiography or listen to Bapak’stalks about the many experiences he had when hereceived this. According to Bapak’s account, over a peri-od of a thousand days he received experiences thatwere all about the spiritual aspect of human beings’ lives,both their lives in this world and in the next world.

And during his period of receiving, he was given the taskto pass on what he had received to any human beingwho wants to worship God by following the spiritual train-ing of Subud. Of course, to begin with, it only spreadamong Bapak’s friends. But eventually, by God’s will,Subud spread to many countries and it is now receivedby people of many nations and many different lan-guages. This was possible because Subud at its core is nota religion; Subud is a receiving; well, we can say it is a realexperience that those who receive it can receive rightaway at an opening in Subud.

Of course, you have all experienced what the openingwas like. When you were opened, just by surrenderingwith acceptance and a willingness to let go, somethingtouched you. Naturally, that touch was the contact fromthe great power that could touch you as you have thespirit of God inside you. With that contact, your soul hascome to life and is growing, because it is filled by some-thing; it is that something which will guide you in life; indaily life, in your work, in all the activities people do in theworld to live.

And it turns out that to open someone, Bapak does nothave to open them himself, but by God’s will they can beopened by members who have done latihan for a longtime and who have been assigned this duty, as they arecapable or ready. Those members can pass on, or spread[the latihan], or open other people. [Ibu adds during thetranslation.] Well, only members who are helpers, so, noteveryone who does latihan; only those members whohave been appointed as helpers.

That is why, although Bapak appointed helpers and theyare permitted to open others, they are responsible forensuring Subud stays on track. Therefore, helpers mustnot, once they open someone, make them follow somemethod of the helper’s devising; that is not permitted.Everything we do must be directed to the aim and needsof the spiritual training of Subud in the way God wills.

PAGE 7SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

What is the aim of

this spiritual training

of Subud?

“

“

cont on p8 >

han was not hard to come by – well, that wasbecause Bapak received it first and passed it on toyou. So, foster your latihan, even though it can beboring. You feel bored because you have not under-stood or cannot see the sense and the content ofthis spiritual training yet.

And doing latihan, of course, apart from awakeningevery part of and developing your soul, also purifiesyou. This process is needed so we can prepare our-selves and we call this: preparation. Therefore, doinglatihan is your preparation to be able to bring your-self closer to God’s will. If you are neither clean nor

ready, how can God give you anything? Even if Godwere to give you something, you do not understand howto receive God’s gift yet. So, we need to do latihan, toclean ourselves, to prepare ourselves so that we will beable to directly experience, directly receive what Godgives to us.

Brothers and sisters, of course, I cannot explain everythingtoday or on this occasion, because matters of the soulare limitless; the latihan covers every aspect of life. So, Iask for your forgiveness if I end my explanation today atthis point, as you probably need time for other matters. Ihope that soon, in the days to come, we can continuethe explanations about the latihan.

And thank you for giving me this time, and I hope you canaccept what I have said. Thank you.

And the last quality is dharma. Because we feelgrateful that God has come close to us with theresult that we have found the path that God wills forus, we should show our gratitude to God. But Goddoes not ask for that; the important thing is that wehelp or bring happiness to God’s creatures that aresuffering, that face hardship and are in difficulty.

If we help them, it is a way for us to repay God’s gen-erosity. That is why charitable bodies get set up – inSubud we have Susila Dharma – because in all reli-gions where we worship God, we also give our timeor give out of what we have for our own needs, tohelp God’s creatures in need. This is the quality dharma.

Therefore, being susila, budhi, and dharma is the aim ofthis spiritual training. So, doing latihan in the latihan hall isnot enough. The latihan in the latihan hall lasts only half-an-hour, but your life in the world lasts twenty-four hours aday. What is the connection? Of course, as we arehuman beings there is a connection; our need is not justto do latihan, we also have to involve it as we meet ourneeds in this world. So inevitably our latihan is tied toeverything that happens in the world. Therefore, the rea-son for the latihan is that, as we make our living in theworld, we will not fall into doing things that are not God’swill, but we should be continually guided by God’s graceas you have now been touched by the power of Godinside you. So, do not waste this latihan. You probably feel the lati-

PAGE 8 SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

cont on p9 >

So, do not waste this

latihan!

“

“

THE GOLDEN DISCThe following story has been taken from Experiencing theMiraculous – a collection of Subud stories put together byHelena Hitchcock, Lester Sutherland and MichaelThomas. The author, Hartley Ramsay, is now dead. Thisunassuming man will long be remembered with deepestgratitude for his professional and beautiful work as editorof earlier Subud publications such as SUBUD WORLD andTHE CHRONICLE.

Details of how to buy Experiencing the Miraculous areavailable from Booksurge (Now known as CREATE SPACE).It is full of fascinating stories.

There is a story in Varindra Vittachi’s book A Memoir ofSubud where Bapak explains that God’s help is nearerthan we think, perhaps only six inches away – but we haveto reach for it.

Touched, as I read, by the reality behind the words, I seemedto relive at Coombe Springs an experience which I hadalmost forgotten, during those mad, hectic, exciting dayswhen all the world seemed to be beating a path to Bapak’sdoor. After a rousing opening latihan, I stood like a statue forseveral weeks, while everyone danced like dervishes, sanglike saints, or fell about like clowns. I began to feel forsaken,an outsider, or like the fifth man in a quartet.

Inner Voice welcomes stories and letters. Please send to IlainaLennard, NEW E-MAIL ilaine.l@blueyonder.co.ukIlaina (Ilaine for the e-mail) can be contacted at her NEWADDRESS: 8 Sissinghurst Grove, Up Hatherley, Cheltenham,Glos. GL51 3FA UK NEW TEL NO: (+44) (0)1242 707 701

I N N E RV O I C E

Then during a latihan in one of the ‘huts’ (ex-army pre-fabricated structure purchased to cope with an escalat-ing membership) I saw myself on the edge of an escarp-ment, looking across wide plains to a limitless horizon,luminous and serene.

At one point I glanced upwards and saw a huge goldendisc high in the sky. Involuntarily I raised my arms. As I didso the disc came towards me. I stretched myself and itapproached nearer, becoming smaller as it did so, seem-ing to accommodate its scale to mine.

When the disc was no more than several feet in size, ithovered at a point just beyond my fingers. By now I wason the very tips of my toes and straining every nerve andmuscle; as I reached up yet again, the disc came evencloser. And at the very moment my fingers finallygrabbed the edge of it, I uttered my first latihan cry.

In shock and surprise my eyelids flickered open. Andthere, directly in front of me, stood Bapak, his face onlyinches away. This produced another shock, another cry,and Bapak moved across the room.

Yes – when Bapak said God’s help is six inches away, hemeans six inches. I have been singing in the latihan eversince.

HAVING FUN WITH GOD Kuswanda, the well known Indonesian Subud member,whose working life was spent in forestry, has written abook Moments of Insight – a collection of 60 strange per-sonal experiences of ‘having fun with God’, from whichwe will publish some excerpts. He says in his introduction...

Having fun with God? How could that be? But this hasindeed happened to me at many times in my life.Personal relations with God have deep spiritual meaningbut it is almost always as if God wants to have

•

•

fun with us when He suddenly appearsin moments of insight.

These moments come unexpectedlyas revealed by the following personal experiences.I am writing these with no other wishthan just to share because these areuplifting experiences which prove – atleast to me – that a subtle power isregulating my life and I believe the lifeof most of us. So I am very grateful thatthis power reveals itself now and then

through sudden insights.

Although I have no way of being in control of these inci-dents, nor can I replicate the guidance I received fromthem through my will, these are a series of surprising andenjoyable small miracles that I have come across in my life,as if God wants to convey His messages in strange andhumorous ways so that I should not be afraid of recognizingtheir significance.

For me, these moments have improved how I see life, but Ihave no expectation beyond sharing some strange storieswhich I and a few friends have actually experienced. Whatsubtle force could this be, is it perhaps the daily manifesta-tion of an all encompassing power that we used to call thepower of God, to be felt only by those in a humble frame ofmind?

The First story: A PRAYER FOR A BECAK DRIVEROn the way to the office one day, I stopped at a red trafficlight. When it turned green I shifted gear and slowly startedto drive. However I was given a sudden jolt, when a threewheel pedaled becak vehicle came recklessly close to myfront bumper. A slam on my brake stopped the car as Isilently cursed.

As I drove on, luckily without having had an accident butstill angry at the becak driver, I noticed that he was com-peting with other becak drivers to get a passenger or twofrom amongst those who were disembarking from a city buswhich had just stopped nearby, and in return was expect-ing to receive a few rupiah.

Suddenly it dawned on me in that busy morning hour thatthe becak driver has – as I have – a family to feed. He tookdangerous risks out of love and necessity. I sat back in myseat and drove on thinking about this, a prayer slowly aris-ing from my inner feelings, that God may give the becakdriver his daily bread. As I prayed, my anger dissipated, andmy emotion was replaced by a feeling of love and under-standing.

A moment of insight had dawned on me in the morningtraffic, that if I pray with love and empathy for those whohave hurt my feelings or made me uncomfortable, a mys-terious force will then change my anger into love.

God spoke to me in that lighthearted way to make it enjoy-able to pray for others because this can change my atti-tude towards them.

Story 2: A NEW CAR I used to drive over to my parents in Bandung, West Java inthe ten year old Volkswagen Beetle that I had boughtabout a year earlier. On those visits I had the feeling that myparents were also longing for a car in order to go to town todo their regular errands. They lived in an area where publictransport was scarce and at that time, 1969, taxis were nonexistent.

PAGE 9SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

For me, thesemoments ofinsight have

improved how I see life

“

“

•

cont on p10 >

Feeling sympathy for my mother, I asked an older brotherwho lived in Bandung to help her go to town twice a weekand then I gave him my car – the first I ever had – so that hecould help our mother. Not long afterwards, when I arrivedhome after a forest survey on the island of Sumatra, my wifetold me that there was a brand new car – a VW Beetle, inthe garage.

When I asked who owned it, she said that a former studentof mine – a graduate of my alma mater in Bogor – who wasthen already a successful log trader, had given the car tome. When I called him, he said that I would need a carbecause he heard that I had given mine to my mother.“Pay me later when you’ve got the money” he said overthe phone.

So I got a brand new car and a debt to pay. Howeverstrange it may sound, the following happened. A fewweeks afterwards I met a potential foreign investor whowished to assess the feasibility of investing in the then boom-ing forestry business in Indonesia. He asked me to accom-pany him as his liaison man and after I had negotiated myfee, I agreed.

But following two months and many meetings with govern-ment officials and travels to the outer islands of Indonesia,he decided to call off the venture because of cultural, eco-nomic and political reasons. After he left, I counted my fee,and found it was enough to pay my debt in cash to thefriend who had bought me the new car.

This experience convinced me that a mysterious power – Iam sure sourced from God the Omnipotent – often provesits existence in many strange, unexpected and sometimesamusing ways, as if it were just a game of fun. I gave an oldcar to my mother and somebody replaced it with a brandnew one and somebody else provided me with the moneyto pay for it – though I did have to work to get it.

Kuswanda’s book has been accepted by an Indonesian publisherand it is also hoped that the book will be published internationally.

BELIEF IN AN OMNIPRESENT POWER Halstein Stralberg writes…

I had decided in my early teens not to believe in God andthat God could not possibly exist. But some ‘experience’convinced me that there must exist something more thanwhat we can see or hear, and this led to a desire to seek forspiritual reality. When I heard of Subud at the age of eight-een it seemed so important that I decided to travel toCoombe Springs, England from Norway, to be opened.

Before the opening Bapak said that he could see ourthoughts and desires and that he was there to witness ourwish to worship God. This worried me since I did not believein God, and if Bapak really could see what I was thinkingand feeling, he must know that I was not really sincere.

But the next day, when I kept myself busy in the CoombeSprings garden, I suddenly understood that all my reserva-tions about believing in God had to do with the concept ofGod as a person, who sits somewhere and controls every-thing and doles out rewards and punishments. I realisedthat what Bapak had referred to was a universalomnipresent power of which I had been given a small tasteduring the opening.

I felt the need to assure myself that what I had felt was notsimply due to Bapak’s physical presence, so despite havingbeen warned not to try the latihan alone during the firstweeks after my opening, I went to my room

PAGE 10 SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

cont on p11 >

and asked for evidence that the latihan would work alsowhen I was alone. It started immediately – and I asked for itto stop in less that a minute since all I needed was proofthat it would work without the presence or influence ofanother person.

I went on to study mathematics and science, and prac-ticed in the field of mathematics for many years, but I neverhad any problem with the concept of God since then,although I prefer not to use the term too much, especiallywhen talking about Subud to someone new.

WHAT IS SUBUD: 49.5 YEARS LATER...by Reynold Feldman, November 2010…

When I became a Subud member in May, 1961, I could tellyou exactly what Subud was. That was then. Now, after 49years of regularly following the Subud spiritual exercise, I amnot so sure. However, as a professional student, I hate to sayI can’t answer a question, especially one like this, where Ihave had some experience. So, here goes.

Subud, for me, is the practice of the Presence of God.(Those of you familiar with the Catholic contemplative tra-dition will recognize this phrase as the title of a collection ofwritings by and about Brother Lawrence of theResurrection.) The Sufi term for this practice is zikr, or dhikr.

How, you might reasonably ask, can one practice (in thesense of be on a regular basis) in God’s presence.?Logicians will argue that if God is truly omnipresent, then allof us are always in God’s presence. Yet our free will gives usthe capacity to jam the signal, so to speak. So, even thoughGod may be present everywhere, we as individuals havethe freedom and the capacity not to be aware of thatpresence.

For me, the Subud spiritual exercise provided a vital contactthat opened the door of my awareness to the presence ofGod. This initial experience, translated from the Indonesianpembukaan as Opening, took place for me in Chicago onMay 22, 1961. I was 21 years old, a recent Yale graduatewith a B.A. in English. I came from a secular Jewish family. \

What religious formation I had derived from our long-timeAfrican American housekeeper and my four high-schoolyears at an American Baptist boarding school. Religion forme at that point was primarily the feeling I got on occasionfrom the arts—Rilke’s poetry, Bach slow movements,Gregorian chant—or from nature (especially hiking andsailing).

Fortunately, once the door of my awareness was open, itstayed open, and I became more and more aware of twoincreasingly distinct power sources in my life: one higher,purer, and less insistent but very powerful; the other seem-ingly lower, coarser, and much more insistent. (It was pow-erful too.)

The more I did my spiritual exercise, the more distinctivethese power sources appeared to me, and—in general—the greater opportunity I seemed to have for choosing oneor the other in whatever I was about to do.

Put another way, the pressure automatically to follow thefirst power source decreased over time while my ability todiscern “other options” increased. Sometimes, in fact, I feltmyself guided to make one and only one choice. Later Icould tell by the results of my choice whether or not it hadin fact been a wise one. (Wise here does not automaticallymean leading to wealth, fame, or success nor, for that mat-

ter, to their opposites.)

In religious terms, you might say thatSubud has given me an increasinglystrong faith in the existence of aHigher Power, which I call God, that isactively and beneficially involved inmy life and—if invited in—the lives ofothers. Having travelled now to 48 U.S.States and 22 countries, I feel thatGod is no respecter of any conven-tional boundary—age, race, ethnicgroup, nationality, religion, gender,sexual orientation, profession, IQ,physical prowess, etc.

I find brothers and sisters everywhere and feel, with NativePeoples, that the four-legged and the winged creaturesare my relatives too. The Native phrase “all my relations,”spoken as one passes the pipe in a circle, has becomemore and more inclusive for me. And not just as a theoreti-cal construct but as a matter of everyday feeling andaction.

Thanks to Subud I also feel that I have undergone a majorsimplification process. Some of my friends remember whata sharp-tongued sophisticate I was at 21. “Eli Yale forever.Boola! Boola!” I am more like water now, adjusting myself tomy circumstances.

Although this effect can in part be the result of aging, I alsohave less and less memory for what I have done and a cor-responding lack of curiosity about the future. I seem tohave gotten rid of a lot of personal history, in CarlosCastaneda’s phrase, and live pretty much in the present. Ihaven’t exactly been lobotomized. When I need to recallsomething I can. But memory no longer intrudes on me nordoes concern for the future.

So, to repeat and perhaps amplify my original statement,Subud for me is the practice of the Presence of God, aprocess which is transforming me into someone who canlive in and from that Presence, in the present, on a dailybasis. Whether or not that transformation has benefited oth-ers, I can’t say. I hope so, but you’ll have to ask them.

Extracts from the diary of Monica Jones – a Subud memberfrom Bristol, UK, who joined a convoy of over 200 vehiclestaking aid to Gaza in December 2009....

December 6th: Even when the vehicles are gathering it’smoving and inspiring – as it always is to see human beingstogether in solidarity, coming to the rescue of others inneed. Women are in a minority, but there are large groups ofyoung Muslim Asian men, and plenty of greying middle-aged white people, with big tents and well-equippedcamper vans.After what seems like hours, MP George Galloway, founderof the charity Viva Palestina who have organised this con-voy, arrives and says a few words of encouragement.

December 7th: A freezing first night under canvas or curledup on a seat in a vehicle makes the discovery of heatedwashrooms and hot water in the morning especially wel-come.

•

“

“

Subud forme is the

practice ofthe Presence

of God

C o n v o y t o G a z a

•

December 19th: Spoke to an elderly Turkish man with excel-lent English. He told me that yesterday in Konya was thebirthday of the great Sufi poet and mystic Jalalludin Rumi,and that there had been celebrations in the town centre.

Our ‘mobile village’ continues to grow. There are two ortho-dox Jews with side curls and large black hats. There’s alsoan elderly couple, veterans of peace activism in the US.Laundry is hanging in strange places off chairs in backrooms. Rows of sleeping bags lie along the walls likechrysalids.

December 20th: A disconcerting start. I woke in a half-darkroom to find it full of Turkish ladies, helping small children getdressed. Other women lay on the floor still swaddled inblankets. A few were getting up to pray.

Tony gets anxious as we approach traffic lights. It’s so easyfor a vehicle to get left behind if the lights change before itcan get through. To keep up Tony ran the red light, straightpast two policemen, one of whom saluted as we shot past.It’s not often you can flout traffic regs with the openapproval of the Law.

A chat with a Palestinian man named Mohamed, who’srecently joined the convoy. Mohamed, who carries aTurkish passport tells me he hasn’t been back to his family inGaza since 2000, when he was allowed to visit them for oneweek. This certainly puts our own minor discomforts on this

trip into some perspective.

December 22nd: We set out inshared taxis to explore the oldquarter of Damascus. On astreet corner a man with abarrow and a hammer wasbreaking open a coconut fora waiting customer. Two menhung limp flat loaves of breadalong rails, like washing hungout to dry.

In the evening we learnedthat a new consignment ofaid was coming, a gift fromthe Syrian government. Andhere we are – still on theJordanian side of the border,

where we arrived about two hours ago.

A generous Jordanian sponsor has arranged for the wholeconvoy to stay two nights in hotels around the city.. Somepeople really need this. One woman I shared a room withlast night slept all morning, as if she'd never slept before.

Now our thoughts more and more turn to the real challenge– getting from Jordan into Egypt, and persuading theEgyptians to let us into Gaza with our precious cargo of aidintact.

December 24th : This is Christmas Eve, but couldn’t feel lesslike it. Christmas Day will – all being well – be on the ferry.Tony has brought a cake. On Christmas night we had quitea moving candlelit vigil on the steps of the Greek Orthodoxchurch.

December 27th: Here we are – the anniversary of the startof Israel's onslaught on Gaza last year, and the day wewere supposed to reach Gaza. We're still stuck in Aqaba.

This morning the first fifteen of us started our hunger strike –with a three-minute silence for the health workers

Convoy’s ‘C’ group (mine) are at con-stant risk of losing touch with oneanother in the night. Here the radiosreally come into their own.

The rain streams down. Bedding, mats,the clothes some of us will sleep in, all aredrenched. I get further soaked by goingin quest of a toilet, to find that thoseinside are out of bounds till morning.

December 8th: We make an earlierstart today – the air grows sharper –

something we’re acutely aware of, as our van has no functioning heating. Thoughts turn to howmany blankets each of us has for weathering the night.

December 9th: This night – though windless, was one of thecoldest so far with the thermometer well below zero. Therewas ice on our tents in the morning. Mine sits thawingbehind me on the van floor.

Often you come up to the vans or a service station buildingto find the Muslim men all praying together. The fervour, thesimplicity, is moving. They just find whatever space presentsitself – out in the car park if there’s nowhere else.

December 10th: After getting lost several times we foundthe remote out-of-town car park where we bedded downfor the night. Selim and Saidavery kindly invited me for ahot meal. He seems sensitiveand kind – she is full of energy,idealism and creative ideas.Has set up an association ofethical Muslim businesses. Tomeet such people is inspiring.

December 12th: In the after-noon there was a meeting ofthe entire convoy community.A common complaint con-cerns the bleak campingspots. It was explained thatfinding halls to stay in, asopposed to car parks, simplyisn’t practical, owing to thesheer number of vehicles withus. One Muslim complained that some ‘sisters’ were notwearing the hijab. He was politely but firmly put in his placeby ‘sisters’ of all faiths and none. Kevin gave us the excitingnews that 66 more vehicles are to join us in Turkey, andanother 47 are being unloaded at Alexandria, from the US.This will give us 192 in all!

December 16th: Four vehicles, including ours, got lost forover four hours last night. Then someone hired a taxi driver– but after driving round in circles this local admitted he hadno idea where he was supposed to be going. Someonethen found the Beykoz Stadium on Tony’s Sat Nav,. At thispoint it suddenly occurred to everyone to ask the locals .With their aid, and the Sat Nav, we finally made it to thesports complex, a beautiful modern hall, where the manag-er laid on hot tea. Heaven !

December 18th: At Adapazari, we were overwhelmed withhospitality at 4.0 am. Young men seized my bedding, andcarried it into the room set aside for the women. Thewomen plied us with bread, rice with meat, soup. I accept-ed a cup of soup but found myself unable to drink it, androlled up in my sleeping bag where I more or less wentunconscious till woken again at seven.

PAGE 11SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

cont on p12 >

“

“

Human beings

together in

solidarity,

coming to the

rescue

A Palestinian refugee family we met in Jordan

5.50 pm: We’re all at the port gatesnow, waiting to get out on the road toGaza. One huge disappointment isthat the 59 American vehicles will notbe allowed into Gaza. It’s been decid-ed to hand them over to Palestinianrefugee camps in Syria and Lebanon.It’s particularly sad, though, as appar-ently many of these vehicles havebeen specifically requested, bymedics in Gaza.

However, we did finally get to Gaza – but only for so short atime. Our van C6, has been given to the Gaza Baptistchurch. We also gave them all the boxes of stationery,schoolbooks, toys and other aid. Although on the surfaceeverything looked relatively normal, jn fact one third ofGazans are living below the poverty line, and malnutrition isrife. Clean water is hard to find. I saw how excited theBaptist elders were to get the stationery. I was told thatschool children have to use paper for maths several times,rubbing out their previous work. Even so, the Baptists had toget permission to keep the paper, as the demand is sohuge.

It was lovely meeting the Baptists, however briefly, and wehope to stay in touch with them from Bristol. Also we hopethat the people still suffering under siege in Gaza can someday once again live freely and in peace.

Sharifin Gardiner writes…

In May when I was at the Prepcon (PreparationConference) for the Earth Summit 2012, I met an Americanlady who had been at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 whereshe had been acting as companion and guide to twoIndigenous leaders. One of these, chief Oren Lions of the Onandaga nation wasa friend of Varindra Vittachi who introduced me to himmany years ago, and I met him again at the Parliament ofWorld Religions in Melbourne . Since we had friends in com-mon we kept talking.

This lady is a member of the Global Initiative for Peace ofWomen (see their website) who’s founder is Dena Merriem. She put me in touch with Dena who invited me to an inter-faith conference near Monterey, California . It was tooexpensive for me , but I’m very pleased that ShoshanaMargolin, former International Helper, and now vice chair ofSubud USA is going instead.

Dena had asked participants to prepare a paper for theconference in answer to a series of questions. I have beenencouraged to give it wider circulation, so, thanks to Harris, here goes…

Dear Sisters,You have posed some key questions. This paper attempts toprovide a few pointers from the perspective of a long timeSubud member, while respecting the depth and breadth ofexperience of the people gathered here.

What does prosperity mean in the spiritual context?

Since we are one humanity, part of one creation on onesmall planet, the prosperity of one individual, one section ofsociety, one nation or one species is unreal or invalid unless

SUBUDVOICE PAGE 12 NOV 10

cont on p13 >

How we presentSubud right now

will determinewhether it evolves

and grows

“

“

•

killed in the bombing raids last year. Then we set out on amarch to the Egyptian consulate, but were turned back bythe Jordanian police.

There is concern about our medicines, baking in the sun inhot vehicles. Viva Palestina are trying to get the vehiclesparked somewhere a bit shadier. To have that stuff spoilafter people have donated and paid for it, and not take itwhereit's so desperately needed, would be a crying shame.

December 29th : It might have been our hunger strike thatdid it – but more likely it was the quiet behind-the-scenesdiplomacy that has brought us out of the stalemate of thepast four days.

We started our hunger strike – drinking water, but not takingsolid food – to raise awareness about Gaza. And this defi-nitely worked. We took over a corner of the communitycentre and put in chairs, mattresses, placards and bottles ofwater. Here volunteers took it in turns to sit, holding up plac-ards: ‘Hungry for Gaza – please help us take aid to them.’

When someone brought the news that we were leavingAqaba in the morning, we all joined in the abundant mealthe Jordanians were setting out for our final night. Suddenlyeveryone was laughing. ‘At last ! We’re going.’

December 31st: The deal worked out with the Egyptians byViva Palestina – is that we get let into Gaza (insha’allah !),provided we go back to Latakia, and take ship to theEgyptian port of al-Arish from there. The Turkish governmenthas generously agreed to fund the extra costs. Why theywant us to go this route, is anybody’s guess.

New Year’s Eve: Some of the Turks lit a huge bonfire. Therewas singing. By midnight, we were a dozen people roundthe blaze, all hugging and wishing one another a happy2010.

January 2nd – 2010: We have been housed in a school-children’s holiday camp, in chalets with peeling paint andbarred windows.

The uncertainty and delays have taken their toll on people.Aside from our own petty affairs, we learned that therehave been demonstrations in Cairo, calling for the convoyto be allowed into Gaza.

At Damascus: it was a bit startling to walk into the airportbuilding and have a nurse, without saying a word, jab athermometer half-heartedly in the direction of my ear.Testing for swine flu, I suppose.

Then a major incident arose. Two of us were inexplicablyrefused permission to enter Egypt. On the bus where I wassitting, a big argument broke out over what to do.

The discovery that the police had tried to lock us on the bustriggered an enraged stampede on the part of some of theyoung men, who forced the doors open and got out ontothe airport steps.

We managed to talk to the two ‘banned’ persons throughthe airport window, and to establish that they, at least,would appreciate it if we did our best to stick around. ThenKevin arrived, accompanied by Ron who he introduced asa friend of George Galloway. They went into the airportand after a while came out all smiles, amid applause,accompanied by the two allegedly dangerous bannedpersons.

Paper for Global Peace Initiativefor Women

it embraces the welfare of all livingbeings with harmonious sharing andcaring for the resources of the earth.

Prosperity of course includes the enjoy-ment of the basic needs of all humanbeings for peace, shelter, food, clothingand good health, but much more: thepossibility to develop each person’s tal-ents and creativity, and an ability to livein harmony with ourselves, our families,our society and the environment inwhich we live and on which wedepend. This is only possible if we live inalignment with the Divine Will. (By what-

ever name we choose to call this).

The ongoing chaos, conflict and impoverishment of ourworld, reflects the inability of most of us to achieve thisideal. However, I believe that a profound shift in humanconsciousness is underway. This gathering and Subud aremanifestations of this.

How can we infuse this understanding into the structures ofour society?

It is essential that we respect and celebrate the many pathstowards this goal, and abandon the illusion that ours is theonly true path for everyone. We cannot do this by pullingourselves up by our spiritual bootstraps. I believe that thereare two essential conditions. One is that we open ourselvesand surrender to what we may call Grace, the Great LifeForce the Roh Ilofi, the Holy Spirit or the Power of AlmightyGod. The other is that we make conscious efforts throughour spiritual practices and self-governance in our daily lives.

We cannot “infuse this into the structure of our society”unless we start with ourselves and become rulers of our owninner house. Some may still be called to withdraw from theworld, but most of us need to engage with the world, sothat our words, our actions and our relationships reflect ourinner aspirations. When a group of like-minded peoplecome together like this, with a positive intention, an energymay be created that is much more than the sum of our sep-arate energies. This can be a focus or channel for Grace,and radiate far beyond our present location in space andtime.

What are the spiritual conditions for prosperity and how canwe align prosperity with that which will serve greater collec-tive wellbeing?

We have been given plenty of guidance on this. St Paulspoke of agape, usually translated as charity or love(Corinthians 13) , T.S. Eliot (Little Gidding) spoke of “a condi-tion of complete simplicity, (costing no less than every-thing)”. The founder of Subud, Bapak Subuh, adaptingQuranic Arabic, often spoke of the need for Patience(Sabar) Trust (Tawwakal) and Surrender (Ichlas). Only if weact with compassion, and what Albert Schweitzer called“Reverence for Life” or, in modern language, caring for ourenvironment as well as for our fellow human beings, can we“serve greater collective well-being.”

How can we call upon spiritual resources for forgiveness ofpast wounds for healing and overcoming polarization andisolation for generating compassion and love towards eachother and the earth’s many communities of life?

All the great traditions deal with the need of forgiveness atthe centre of their worship, but sometimes this has been dis-torted into wallowing in or encouraging a feeling of guiltwhich denies the process of healing. Techniques such asthose adopted by Brandon Bayes in tapping the subcon-scious though creative visualisation can be useful at the

psychological level, and Carolyn Myss has written in greatdetail about “calling your spirit back”.

At a deeper level is the example of Christian in JohnBunyan’s Pilgrims Progress when the bundle fell off his back.Surah 94 in Al Qur’an, Al Inshirah, “The Expansion” says:“Have We not eased the burden which weighed thyback?” This is the Grace of spiritual healing. Some Subudmembers experience a healing crisis of wounds received inthis and in earlier lives. A few years ago I was given a glim-mer of this and wrote:

The golden chords that link usAre like gossamer hung with dew.The black threads that bind us dissolve As we discover new ways of being in space and time.Our origins chime and our destinies merge and this prison of aloneness dissolves into onenessAs I acknowledge that I am youMy sister, my brother.

Sharifin’s paper goes on to an explanation about Subudwhich has not been included since it would be familiar toSubud members.

Aura Hargreaves writes from the UK…

The Subud Properties Action Group (SPAG) was created ayear ago and is the most recent manifestation of numerousindividuals and networks – such as the SES Britain(Enterprise) Property Network – working together on Subudhalls and those properties used for latihan.

But I have discovered that a favourite pastime amongstSubud members, on hearing about a new initiative, is tosay, “Change the name!”.

SPAG, apparently, has spaghetti connotations (althoughthis may be more relevant than will be admitted?). Andthose who attend SPAG meetings, affectionately known asSPAGsters, are too close to gangsters (figuratively speaking,of course).

So at this year’s Subud Britain’s Congress at a discussionabout SPAG, the cry went up, “Change the name!”. Theword ‘group’ excludes people, ‘network’ is better, moreinviting. Then SPAG will become SPAN (wonderful rele-vance with more than one meaning), and the SPAGsterswill become SPANNERS (even better....).

When the idea for a co-operative to manage the Reigatehalls was first put forward, it was suggested that the namebe ‘Subud Properties...’. Oh dear, will there be a copyrightobjection to the use of ‘Subud’ in the title? And will thisexclude the properties where latihan is practiced but whichare not owned by Subud? Change the name!

Ahah, lets try ‘Latihan Premises...’ Oh no, I heard, we don’twant ‘latihan’ in the name, we don’t want to popularise theword (!? Why not?). And, don’t have ‘latihan’ in the name,can you imagine me having to explain to people outsideSubud all about the latihan etc? Change the name! Howabout...’Subud Properties...’. No, tried that.....

When the word ‘co-op’ reverberated through Subud halls, Iwas amazed at the shocked, even negative, reaction.What is wrong with a co-op? Is it the name? Half the worldoperates in co-operative enterprises. Even Susila DharmaInternational now proudly engages in ‘partnerships’.

A co-operative is merely a structure that recognises thatpeople want to work together to achieve an aim. It impliesa lack of hierarchy, but this is not necessarily the case. Therecan still be directors and executives and members, but all

PAGE 13SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

cont on p14 >

An energy maybe created thatis much morethan the sum

of our collectedenergies

“

“

It’s All in a Name•

Susila Dharma in Portland…

Mardiyah Tarantino reported that at the WSC meetingsheld recently in Britain, the US Subud Portland group andhouse were referred to at least 5 different times, as anexample of what groups should be doing for SD, and for thecommunity. She says…:

“When I went to the SES UK ‘Properties’ meeting, I had achance to bring up Portland as an example, as theybemoaned UK groups and centres not connecting with thecommunity. They were very interested.”

Mardiyah then gave SV the following Report from MarilynSchirk of Subud Portland, as an example of what could bedone:

Subud Portland is a group that lives and breathes SusilaDharma. Due to the presence of so many long-term mem-bers who have been so very committed to SD for manyyears, it is natural for the group to be constantly hatchingSD efforts. Susila Dharma is very obviously a deeply heldand respected core value of the group.

How else could we consistently get members to go outdoor-to-dooring around the Subud house to talk to ourneighbours and leave door hangers about our fundraisingevents?

In addition to work specifically dedicated to SD, Portland isalso focusing this year on a general center-wide effort tonurture a caring atmosphere and attitude toward all of itsmembers.

Times are hard, and we want all of our members to feel thatthey are not alone as they face life’s challenges. Our groupalso supports our local SD project, Project Quest, by prepar-ing one of the Nutrition Night meals at the Center onceevery three months.

A new element on the Portland SD scene this year has beenthe emergence of our Susila Dharma Forum. Because wehave so much SD activity, it has been very helpful to havea group that meets on a quarterly basis to discuss SD issuesand shape SD direction at the Center. We see it as a sort of“incubator” for ideas and a place to handle the nuts andbolts of SD work.

A good example is the policy that we just adopted as arecommendation we are making to Subud Portland inregard to how donations are handled from the group toSusila Dharma USA. The Forum gave us a place to air ourideas and come up with a unified statement, thus savingthe time it might have otherwise taken up at our monthlygeneral meeting. It is also a natural place to conduct test-ing in regard to SD and to focus on the spiritual nature of SDwork. Our last meeting of SD Forum was attended by 12people – Hurray!

Portland has been very active with Susila Dharma eventsand programs this past year. Here is a list of events andother efforts with their dates, and the approximate amountof money that was generated and sent on to SDUSA:

1. Subud Portland, Spring, 2009, voted to complete theshortfall of $2500.00 for Mithra’s SDUSA grant for 2009.

2. South African Dinner Night, March 14, 2009 – $840.00 forLemba Imbu.

PAGE 14 SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

•

co-op models (and there are differentkinds) ensure that all members areinvolved, and that the organisation is committed to members’ involvementto whatever degree they choose tobe involved.

Co-operatives are democratic organ-izations controlled by their members,who actively participate in settingpolicies and making decisions. Theelected representatives are account-able to the membership. In primary

co-operatives, members have equal voting rights (onemember, one vote) and co-operatives at other levels areorganized in a democratic manner. Isn’t this what is done inSubud anyway, in theory at least?

The guiding principle of co-operatives is working together.Don’t be put off by the name.

Knowing full well how Subud members love to quote Bapak,here are just two of probably many, many relevant quotesfrom Bapak: In 1981, “What Bapak does not want is that younow start thinking about who is controlling whom, who issupervising whom, who has more power than whom. WhatBapak would like for you to do is to cooperate.”

And in 1982, “It is very necessary for us that we should betruly harmonious, that we should truly help each other, trulytrust each other, because that is how everything will beaccomplished.”

News from La Mayenne in France…

In January, 2007, Subud France purchased the La ToucheBois property in La Mayenne. It was pretty much a ruin, butthe members of the group and their friends took on thechallenge to restore it. Apart from employing a contractorto complete the excavations, the 3600 hours of labour (thecount at the end of April 2010) were carried out by volun-teers.

In April, 2008, planning permission was obtained to extendthe original building by 50% and the work was begun thanksto a grant received from the Muhammad SubuhFoundation. After the extension was built, it was time toinstall a septic tank system, landscape the property andcreate the garden. The work was completed last May.

The group is now in the process of installing the kitchen, toi-let and shower; once this work is completed, they canbegin to market the property as a bed & breakfast and forshort holidays. If this is successful, there are serious consider-ations for a third phase to the project. The group has latihanthree times a week.

Co-operatives aredemocratic

organisations controlled by their

members

“

“

La Touche Bois

Subud Portland Connects

•

To find the corresponding time

in your part of the world go to

www.timeanddate.com/worldclock

W O R L D L A T I H A N

NOVEMBER 7th (SUNDAY) 03.00(GMT)

DECEMBER 4th (SATURDAY) 20.00 (GMT)

cont on p15 >

Residents speak of their appreciation forthe caring staff, of the beauty of the gar-dens, of the peace they have foundhere. ‘It’s so nice to be together withfriends,’ says one resident, who has beenmany years in Subud. Another, ‘It’s up toyou entirely how sociable you are ...Nobody will come and bother you.’ Forothers Wisma Mulia is, as no doubt Bapakintended, ‘A place where we worshipGod together.’ This is a communitywhere older people share the experi-ence and wisdom of a lifetime withyounger residents, staff and the many visitors.

Some Wisma Mulia residents have found it a struggle tocover their accommodation needs and the Paula HallettTrust was set up some years ago to help these residents asan endowment fund to help these residents. However thedemands on the Trust’s resources have increased dra-matically as the gap has widened between what the lesswell-off residents are able to pay and the level of feesthat have to be charged by Wisma Mulia to cover itscosts. The two main reasons for this are:

• the amount that Social Services are prepared to paytowards the fees of these poorer residents has been cutback (it is likely to be further reduced in the current finan-cial climate);

• the income on the capital of the Paula Hallett Trust hasfallen drastically following the sharp fall in interest rates.

The Wisma Mulia Appeal aims to top up the Paula HallettTrust Fund. Subud Britain, working with Susila Dharma, SYA,SICA, and SES, has appointed Monica Jones as FundRaising Coordinator. Monica will be appealing to non-Subud and Subud donors. Her aim is to raise £90,000 overthe next two years. The entire sum raised will be used sole-ly to help less well-off Wisma Mulia residents pay the bal-ance of the fees they are unable to meet.

The Wisma Mulia Appeal was formally launched at SubudBritain’s Family Holiday & Congress in August. Thanks tothe generosity of Subud members, plus a kind donationfrom Susila Dharma (Britain), over £8,000 has alreadybeen raised. We hope Subud members will want to con-tribute towards the £90,000 target through all the manytalents with which our members are blessed. Some maywant to perform, make and sell things. Donating, ofcourse, will also be greatly appreciated! (See details,below.)

If you have an idea to raise money for the Wisma MuliaAppeal, get in touch with Monica :(nabataat@yahoo.co.uk / Tel. 01452 741421) who will behappy to discuss your idea with you.

Please send donations (cheque made out to SusilaDharma (Britain), marked ‘Wisma Mulia Appeal’ on back)– to:

Stephen Weil,126 Doversgreen Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH28DW, UK.

Or donate online: www.cafonline.org Tel 01274 510813

Thank you for your support

3. Raina Rose Concert, Spring, 2009 – unknown amountraised through sale of refreshments at the Concert.

4. Naked Ladies, August 8, 2009 – $500.00 for Mithra.

5. Theatre Night, Oct., 2009 – $550.05/doubled to $1100.00by Subud New York for the general fund of SDUSA.

6. Holiday Art and Craft Sale, Dec., 2009 – $1239.55 sent tothe General Fund of SDUSA.

7. Homemade Valentine Art Sale, Feb. 12, 2010 – unknownamount raised for the General Fund.

8. Subud Portland has voted to commit to making an annu-al donation oF $3600.00 to SDUSA. This amount will be madeup of the money we raise through our events and fundrais-ers as well as whatever is needed to complete the $3600.00.

9. “Mothers (and Others) For Mithra” raised $600.00 to helpsupport Mithra’s early childhood educational program aspart of the SDUSA’s Mother’s Day fundraiser.

10. Excel classes were taught for the first 3 Saturdays in Juneand 100% of the profits made from community members’enrolments of $25.00 per class will go to SDUSA.

Possible SD fundraising events planned for the upcomingyear are a summer barbeque, another Naked Ladies, twofundraising dinners for the African and Indian projects,Tibetan Nuns film night, the Holiday Art and Craft Sale, etc.What a great bunch of Subud brothers and sisters who con-tinue to work so hard for these events in Portland!

Tatiana Armstrong writes from the UK…

This year, Loudwater Farm is celebrating its 40th year as oneof Britain’s most well loved Subud Centres. To mark this veryspecial occasion we are creating a pictorial history of thefarm using photos from the many generations that haveenjoyed this lovely place.

Loudwater Farm Subud group holds five latihans a weekand boasts four twin b&b rooms, which we will be extend-ing soon. Next time you are in the London area for businessor pleasure, come stay with us! Loudwater Farm is locatedhalf a mile from the M25 (J18), and is conveniently close toboth Heathrow and Luton airports. Rickmansworth tube sta-tion is just 15 minutes walk away, providing fast links toLondon. Loudwater Farm also provides the ideal setting formeetings, courses and family events. Our beautiful B&Brooms offer the perfect stopover.

See you soon!

‘... to show that your family feeling in Subud is strong andstable, that you are aware of each other and care for eachother.’ Bapak

Wisma Mulia is, to Subud and non-Subud residents alike, avery special place. This is a Subud community in a greenoasis of peace in the heart of Gloucestershire, a place oflaughter, companionship, comfort and caring. A placevisited and blessed by Bapak personally, who laid a foun-dation stone, and gave Wisma Mulia its name. It means‘honoured home’ – honoured because Subud memberslive here in their old age.

PAGE 15SUBUDVOICE NOV 10

•

•Loudwater Celebrates 40 Years

•Wisma Mulia Appeal

A place visited and

blessed by Bapakpersonally

“

“

SAVINGGRACEMarcus

Boltnow in its 3rd edition with

new cover &extended to266 pages

Available from www.lulu.com

www.amazon.co.uk

www.subudbooks.com

or marcusbolt@easynet.co.uk

Price £11 plus postage

“In this refreshingly straightforwardnarrative, Marcus reflects on hisyears in Subud with humour, affec-tion, insight, courage and delight-ful candour. There is nothing pre-tentious or preachy. It's allstraight stuff, but straight fromMarcus. And that's what makes itwork...” Latifah Taormina

PAGE 16

ARTICLES & PHOTOS:Send to Harris Smart, Editor Subud Voice,

preferably by email to editor@subudvoice.net or by post to:

22 Holland Ave, Dingley, VIC, 3172, Australia. Tel: + 61 3 95118122

SUBSCRIPTIONS:Bradford Temple, PO Box 311,Dapto, NSW, 2530, Australia

Email: admin@subudvoice.netTel: +61 2 42615566

Fax: + 61 2 42621725RATES WORLDWIDE per 12 issues:

Groups AUD$70* (incl mailing)Individuals AUD$80* (incl mailing)

OnLine AUD$50**10% discount for pensioners over 60

PAYMENTS: (Australian Dollars only) preferably by Credit Card – please provideyour name, address, card number, card

expiry date and your signature as on card and fax to the

subscription fax above. International BankDrafts and Money Orders should be madepayable to SUBUD VOICE and sent to the

subscription address above.ADVERTISEMENTS: 50 cents a word.

Minimum charge AUD$15.00. (Developing countries – no charge).

SUBMISSIONS MAY BE EDITED:Submissions to Subud Voice may be

edited for a variety of reasons includingthe need to shorten them or improveexpression. If you do not want your submission to be edited in any way,

please mark it clearly NOT TO BE EDITED.

MUSIC BY SUBUD ARTISTS

Music By Subud Artistsavailable from:

www.djcrecords.co.uk

Recording, mastering & CD production:

DJC Records104 Constitution Hill

NorwichNR3 4BB

UK

clague@paston.co.uk

www.subudvoice.net

SUBUDVOICEis published monthly.

DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE:

30 NOVEMBER 2010

The opinions expressed in the various articles are thesole responsibility of their authors and can not be seen asrepresenting the opinion of the World Subud Association.

The name Subud ® and the Seven Circles Symbol areregistered marks of the World Subud Association.

NOV 10 SUBUDVOICE

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

LOOKING FOR WORKIlaine Lennard offers proof reading/ edit-ing/typing. Fees to match those in your

own country. Excellent references. ilaine.l@blueyonder.co.uk

TEL: +44(0)1242 7077018 Sissinghurst Grove, Cheltenham, GL51 3FA, UK

B A P A K ’ S T A L K S

V O L U M ENN OO WW AA VV AA II LL AA BB LL EEPLACE YOUR ORDER NNOOWW FOR BEST DELIVERY

PRICES (Incl p&p) UK £14.50 • Europe £15.85 • Rest of World £18.55

21Pay by UK bank cheque or Credit CardSubud Publications InternationalLoudwater Farm, Loudwater LaneRickmansworthHerts WD3 4HGtel: +44 (0) 1727 762210

e-mail: spi@subudbooks.co.uk

SS PP II

SubudPublicationsInternational

w w w . s u b u d b o o k s . n e t

CORRECTIONS1. In Luke Penseney’s article in theOctober issue of Subud Voice it wasstated that the last WSC meeting(before the recent one in the UK) washeld in Poio. It was actually held inChristchurch.

2. On page 4 of October Subud Voicewe said that Varindra Vittachi reportedthat Bapak said there are five thingsyou can do in your life with your ordi-nary heart and mind and willpower thathelp your spiritual path and journey. Ifthese five things are done with thoseordinary tools, then God will take careof all the rest to do with your spiritualpath. Unfortunately we only printed fourof the five things. The five things are:

1. Don't gossip.2. Don't indulge in criticism.3. Never fear anything.4. Never humiliate anyone. 5. Never think you are spiritually

superior to anyone.

3. On page 4 of October SubudVoice it was stated that the author ofthe article ‘Subud and theEnnvironment’ was Sharafin Gardiner.This should of course have beenSharifin Gardiner. Our apologies toSharifin.

WOMAN NEEDED URGENTLYUkranian man no longer youngand tall – many years Subud –needs woman urgently! Youngerthe better! If you can sleep stand-ing up whilst ironing & cookingeven better! Benedikt Semenov,Balakeriva st. 31a, Cherkasycity,Ukraine 18028

A share inGunnebah is for saleLooking to live in Northern Rivers ofNSW where there is an abundanceof water, greenery, scenic moun-tains, fresh air and plenty of spaceto roam around in?

• Close to beautiful beaches• Share in community living, be

part of a successful business.• Live on six acres and share

with other Subud Members

Interested?Contact Howard MelderEmail: hmelder@gmail.comMobile: 0429 996427Price provided on genuine interest.www.gunnebah.com.au

•