' . . . Thus one may truly say that Almighty God has reached down a hand to lead and guide you, because counsel and advice is, it appears, of no use.'

Brothers and sisters, Bapak will now explain about the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, in the hope that this explanation can penetrate deeply into your inner-feeling so that it may be easy for you to receive the purification proceeding in all of you.

With regard to what has happened to your selves, why is it that up to now you have not been able to receive the development of your djiwa that will guide you in your life? That, truly, is what you must be aware of, because through the development of your djiwa you will be able to understand the difference between one and another of the djiwas that have become your inner content.

This situation is indeed very difficult to understand so long as you are still influenced by the nafsu, heart and mind, because your nafsu, heart and mind have been used as tools by those djiwas for too long a time. This shows, therefore, that much help from Almighty God is needed, and by the Grace of God you have received that help, manifesting in the form of movements and gestures which you only have to receive and follow.

Although the nature of those gestures seems like that of the movements and gestures people usually make, their nature is in fact one of purification, because the influence from the nafsu, heart and mind is not present. Thus, clearly, the latihan of movement and gestures which you receive without the participation of your own will - which means it is free from the influence of nafsu, heart and mind - is, in truth, the way to purify all the uncleanness and faults that have come to be interwoven in the inner-feeling.

A person's self can in fact be likened to soil. Some are like fertile soil without much rock or sand in it; some like fertile but clayey soil containing rather a lot of stone and sand; some like hard, dry soil full of stone and sand; and some like sandy soil.

When rain falls upon fertile soil that is without stones or sand, plants grow immediately as soon as the water has been absorbed, and when cultivated they will bear a crop beneficial for human life and will eventually produce a really abundant harvest. This exemplifies the self of a person who receives very good counsel or advice, together with excellent guidance and direction, so that eventually he can readily increase his knowledge or develop the nobility of his character.

As for the nature of soil that is fertile but clayey and contains rather a lot of rock and sand, when rain falls upon this soil it also causes plants to grow, though not so quickly as in soil of the first kind; and if plants with fruits beneficial for human life are grown there, they will eventually produce a fairly good harvest - meaning that it will suffice for the needs of life. This exemplifies the self of someone who receives excellent counsel and advice together with good guidance and direction, and is thus able eventually to improve his knowledge or develop his character to a high level. But something is lacking in the self of this person: that is, if there is anything wrong in his actions, he does not hesitate to put the blame on other people or to involve them.

The characteristic feature of the hard dry soil, which contains a lot of stone and sand, is that the rain falling upon it does not sink in quickly, so that the soil gradually becomes full of small poisonous creatures and gives off a bad smell. Soil of this kind must therefore be broken up and cultivated to make it able to grow plants whose fruits are useful for human life. Yet, even when this is done, the result is still not satisfactory at times. But if this soil is simply left alone - meaning not broken up and cultivated to make it fertile - it will at length produce plants that are usually thorny or of hardly any use for human life. This exemplifies the self of a person who receives and also listens to the best counsel and advice, but into whose inner-feeling it does not penetrate quickly, so the more he receives, the more it just accumulates in his heart and mind. Such a person is clever only in bandying words and he misuses the counsel and advice given him, so that nothing he does turns out good. Such a person, therefore, needs guidance and direction that can enable his self to become free from the influence of nafsu, heart and mind; and if it fails to do this, he will become more and more conceited, feeling he is the only clever one.

Because of this, there are not a few clever people who even cause trouble for the stupid ones; rich men who even make it difficult for the poor, and people who are said to be clever in guiding others but cannot even guide themselves and their own families. Such people have a nature comparable to that of the hard dry soil. Yes, if this sort of soil is broken up or ploughed it can easily be filled in with good earth but, in the case of a person, who is there who can break up the faults and impurities of his inner-feeling when, in order to do so, it is necessary to separate out the influence of the nafsu, heart and mind that has already become interwoven in the inner-feeling?

That is how it is, brothers and sisters, if you wish to feel the wonder and the secrets of human life.

Besides the dry, hard soil, there is also the sandy kind. When rain falls upon soil of this type, the water quickly disappears and the soil grows no plants at all. But when there is no rain and only the heat of the sun strikes it, that soil radiates great heat. This exemplifies the person who, if he receives or hears good counsel and advice, yes, he hears it and appears to listen, but what he hears does not in fact leave any trace, which means that he neither feels it nor takes it to heart. But if he hears about or sees examples of conditions that are not good, his heart is easily attracted and intrigued, so he seriously studies and imitates them. Also it is difficult to find a person like that with a good and noble character, because his self is filled only with nafsu that want to quarrel and fight.

But Almighty God, brothers and sisters, is always All-Merciful and All-Loving. He can make good something that is bad, He can make clean something dirty, and He can bring into being that which does not exist. If His creatures truly have full faith in Him and are truly able to surrender to His Will with trustful acceptance and sincere submission, their inner-feeling can receive contact with His Power, enveloping them both inwardly and outwardly, so that their own previously bad condition will become good, their unclean condition will become clean, even though this is done bit by bit.

The explanations or illustrations given above of the self of man, as exemplified by fertile soil, semi-fertile soil, hard dry soil and sandy soil, are as though each one were completely of that sort - meaning a soil entirely fertile, entirely semi-fertile, dry or sandy - whereas in fact fertile soil does contain some proportion of stones, dry earth and sand, and the dry and sandy soils also have some fertile soil in them, even though only a small amount. This is also true in the case of a person: even though his inner-feeling may be said to be clean and able to receive quickly, there are in fact still faults and impurities in it; and others, who have many faults and impurities in their inner-feeling, have some part which in fact is clean and able to receive, even though this part is not large. Hence you need not worry about this matter, because Almighty God has given you His Grace enabling you to receive and follow the way of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, which is in truth guidance and direction from God. Thus it is clear that your body, as exemplified by these soils, has begun to be worked upon and purified by the Power of God: that which is uneven is being leveled, that which is full of stones, dry soil and sand is being broken up and then filled in with fertile soil, meaning soil that can quickly grow plants useful for human life.

The question of how quickly or slowly this work is completed depends upon the condition of the soil. If we speak of your body, it depends upon whether there are few or many faults and impurities in it. This is what you need to feel; you should not blame Him Who does this work, or you will fall into despair.

For you have in fact been very fortunate in that the Power of Almighty God has already worked within your selves, so that everything that cannot possibly become good will be put right. But what you have to remember is that you must have a feeling of patience, and surrender everything to the Will of God with trustful acceptance and sincere submission, because the work in this case is work adjusted to the process of purifying and improving the capacity of the inner-feeling so that it can receive what is needed.

Now, just as an example, let us take what Stella experiences concerning her husband's illness. Certainly Bapak does not blame her if she feels worried about it. But can her feeling of worry lessen her husband's suffering? Of course not. It is just this worry about her husband that can even add to the suffering he endures and, as for herself, if she is not lucky she will easily be affected by the sickness of worry, or at least her thoughts will become confused and chaotic. So, in relation to her husband, it is better for Stella to surrender everything concerning his condition to Almighty God, in patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission.

There is another instance of something that happened because of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud. What Bapak is going to say is only to strengthen your faith in the way of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, which is in fact guidance and direction from God.

When Bapak was in England in 1957 he met a certain surgeon, who said that he had come to see Bapak wishing to be opened and to follow the latihan kedjiwaan like other people.

Bapak then asked him what his reason was for wanting to be opened and to follow the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud.

He answered that he was in fact ill, with a cancer in his head, and examination by his colleagues had shown that he certainly had such a cancer.

Bapak then asked him further what was the opinion of his colleagues as to the necessity for operating on him.

He answered that this was indeed what his colleagues wanted to do but that he himself refused.

Then Bapak asked him whether, supposing he underwent this operation, he would have no hope of living.

He answered that he believed this was so. So in the end Bapak opened him and he continued to follow the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud faithfully, together with his friends in Subud.

Three months later this doctor again went to his colleagues for a physical examination. When they carried out the examination they were astonished, because the cancer that had been present in his brain was no longer there. Possibly it was because of such a happening that many doctors eventually came into Subud in England.

There was another strange thing, which happened to Hosanna Baron, of which you may already know.

About four years ago she came to Tjilandak, only wishing to be near Bapak for the last time, because the doctors said she had a cancer in her head. Moreover, the doctors who had examined her said she had only one or two months to live. That was the story Hosanna Baron told Bapak.

Strangely, after being at Tjilandak for a week she had a heavy discharge of blood from both ears during the night. Bapak told her that such a thing happening to her, which appeared to be terrible, was a sign that her hope of being restored to health might be realized.

In fact, as the days and weeks went by she felt her body to be more and more healthy, as it is now.

Bapak hopes you will really feel the significance of these examples he has given you, for such things are in fact the result of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, which is truly guidance and direction from Almighty God. So Bapak hopes Stella will be calm when with her husband, who is ill at present, because with a feeling of calmness her submission to the Power of God will increase; this will cause the calming of her husband's inner-feeling, and when his feelings become calm the nature of the illness from which he suffers will of its own accord become less severe; it is possible that he may soon be restored to health.

The latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, which is in truth guidance and direction from God, can be said to resemble what the Prophets, Walis ( Muslim saints ) and others who have been able to obtain the Grace of Almighty God have received. Because of this, the faith of the Prophets and Walis in God was very great, and with so great a faith much of what they asked of Him was granted them.

According to what we experience in receiving the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, at the times when we are doing the latihan we just follow it with feelings emptied of the influence of the nafsu, heart and mind, which indicates that everything that happens in the latihan kedjiwaan is guidance and direction from the Power of God.

Man has already received from the Prophets counsel and advice in sufficient quantity to enable him to be noble in character and to have faith in God. But man remains man, easily tempted every day by hearts and minds desirous of possessing whatever may attract the attention; so, gradually and unawares, the counsel and advice of the Prophets and Walis seems to be forgotten.

Such happenings make it clear now that what happens in the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, whose way we are receiving and following, is really guidance and direction from the Power of God. Thus one may truly say that Almighty God has reached down a hand to lead and guide you, because counsel and advice is, it appears, of no use.

To illustrate, one can say that you really do hear and heed the counsel and advice, but all this reaches only as far as your hearts and minds, which themselves are the obstacles to the process of purifying the inner-feeling and developing your djiwa.

As you know, whenever you receive and follow the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud you feel that your hearts and minds are no longer working. This clearly shows that your inner-feeling awakens not because you will it, but rather because it is free from the influence of the nafsu dwelling in the heart and mind. So the awakening of your inner-feeling that is called the latihan kedjiwaan is truly an awakening brought about by the touch of the power of the Life Force which envelops the whole of your self, both inwardly and outwardly. Because of this, the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, which looks as if people were moving and acting in the ordinary way, really takes the form of movements whose nature is to throw out all kinds of impurities or faults long interwoven in your selves. This is what is called the action of purification taking place in your inner-feeling; and upon the completion of this purification, if it can be quickly achieved, all the parts of your body work in accordance with your inner-self and its needs, free from the influence of the nafsu which are generally used as tools by the lower forces. To take an example, you look at something. You like to look at this thing because it is good and you need to see it. Thus your state is different from before you experienced purification, when - because you merely followed the wishes of the nafsu - you always wanted to look at things quite useless for your life interests. The case is the same with other parts of your body, so that each of them works towards the well-being and happiness of your life. Such is the result of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, whose way you are receiving and following, when God gives you Grace because of your great faith in Him and because you truly submit to His Will with patience, trustful acceptance and sincere submission.

As a small example, if, say you weep or laugh in the latihan, then because in this latihan your inner-feeling is not influenced by the nafsu, heart and mind, your weeping or laughing is not weeping or laughing in the ordinary way, but is due to the necessity for you to understand and be aware of what is influenced by the nafsu and what is not.

Such, brothers and sisters, are the benefits of the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud. So you need no longer doubt, for it really is guidance and direction from the Power of God.

You are truly fortunate that by the Grace of Almighty God you are able to obtain His guidance and direction, manifesting in the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, for this is indeed something not easily brought about or accomplished except by the Grace of God.

Please feel, for a moment, how compassionate is Almighty God's love for His creatures in order that they may not continuously forget Him Who has given them life. Thus Bapak hopes that all of you, as far as you can, will behave well, in accordance with the Will of God made manifest in the latihan kedjiwaan of Subud, so that you may become human beings of excellent, perfected character in serving Almighty God.