Ibu Rahayu’s First Talk
12th World Congress, Innsbruck
23rd July, 2005
RECORDING 05 INN 1
Final Translation by Raymond Lee
 
Brothers and sisters whom I love and respect, good evening.
 
Tonight I will start my talk from the beginning, namely from the Power of God. 
Now, those of you who have been in Subud for a long time may have heard this 
talk many times before. But this time, I ask that while I give this talk, or 
explanation, try to feel the content of the talk in your self so that you can 
check for yourself – having done latihan for so many years, can you find the 
things I speak of within you? 
 
And for those who have never heard one of my talks before, or have never read a 
talk, or have just been opened, I hope this talk will be an explanation for you 
of the path you will take in the latihan. So, if you are a new member, as you 
listen don’t think about what I tell you, just listen to it and if you cannot 
understand it, just treat it as a story.
 
For those of you who have been in Subud for a while, this will be a kind of 
testing for you, so listen with your feelings – don’t just listen with your 
ears.
 
Just now I said that I would start my talk by talking about the Power of God, 
that’s because the Power of God existed before anything else did. The Power of 
God, or the essence of God, manifests in every being or entity that God creates. 
Whether it is visible or an unseen entity, the Power of God manifests within it. 
 
How does the essence of God come to manifest in God's entities? It happens when 
the four factors [that make up that entity] – these four factors are derived 
from earth, fire, air and water – are put aside with the result that this 
essence of God can be nourished [and grow] inside that entity that has been 
decreed by God to live in its own realm.
 
Almighty God has decreed that we should have the nature of human beings, and the 
nature of a human being is given life by Almighty God acting within each 
individual.
 
And because God decreed that we should become human beings to live in this 
world, in addition to the essence of God, God has also given us the equipment 
for life that every human being needs to live in this world. 
 
And the nature of your soul is eternal - eternal means that your soul is alive. 
And thanks to the grace of Almighty God, because your soul is alive you can be 
touched by the power of God, by the essence of God that envelops us all. The 
essence of God envelops everything. It envelops you; it envelops the whole of 
creation. So, with the arrival of the latihan, it's as if God has reminded us 
human beings that we possess a connection between the essence of God within us 
and the essence of God that rules everything.
 
In fact, this connection that we call latihan has existed since long ago, since 
the time of the prophets. But, because human beings have long enjoyed and used 
the forces in this world, this connection has been forgotten. Human beings came 
to forget about it, and so the connection grew weaker and weaker until it was 
completely forgotten by human beings. 
 
That's why in Subud, before we can do latihan, we must first experience what we 
call the opening. This opening does not imply that your chest is opened up, or 
that your heart is opened up, rather you hand yourself back to the Power of the 
Almighty God. We can say that your soul is touched again by the Power of God and 
that’s why in the opening you experience a vibration, or you sense that there is 
something alive in your normal life. This is the start of the process whereby 
your soul awakes and comes to life. To awake means that your soul moves and 
starts to grow. 
 
I said just now that in a human being, apart from the soul, God has also given 
us the tools or the equipment we need to use during our life. That’s because God 
did not put you in this world without a purpose. There is a purpose. It is so 
that during your life here you have this opportunity to repair your human 
nature, because God wants – as you have been created to become a human being – 
that when you return to God, you should return as a human being.
 
Why do I imply that there are human beings that return to God no longer as human 
beings? This can happen because during the time you live in this world you are 
accompanied by the equipment or the forces of life that you need for this world. 
These forces make up your outer form and enable you to live in this world. These 
are the material forces, the vegetable forces, the animal forces, and the human 
forces. 
 
A human being needs each of these forces. For example, take the force of matter; 
everything we see in this world is made of matter, so naturally you have to use 
matter, such as your house, your car, and your clothes and so on.
 
The second force is the force of vegetables. These forces make up your skin, 
your flesh, your blood, and so on. Then there are the animal forces. These 
forces give you your will and strength. Then there are the human forces, it is 
thanks to these forces that you can have children. For a man, their influence 
comes through a woman, and for a woman, their influence comes through a man. But 
human forces are still low forces or passions too.
 
Now I want you to try, as I said earlier, when I speak of these forces – the 
vegetable forces, the animal forces – as I mention them, can you feel them, can 
you feel what the animal forces are like? Just feel it, you don't need to do a 
latihan.
 
So it turns out that inside a human being, apart from the soul there are also 
low forces present that are our equipment for life here. This is why God is 
all-giving, because God does not want to see God’s creatures do things that are 
out of place, or act in ways which go against God's Will, God has time and time 
and again sent messengers to human beings. These messengers weren't sent just to 
keep you company, they were sent to encourage you to remember the Power of God, 
so that you will have a source, or a basis for your life, that is willed by God.
 
We have had this kind of teaching from long ago in the form of religion. That's 
why no religion advises its followers to do bad things. Every religion is good, 
and if its followers do a bad thing, that is not God's Will, it is people 
themselves who do that.
 
But why are there people that go against what's right. It's because there is 
nothing present in such a person that can control or organise the powers that 
exist in that person.  Don't think that the power of matter is a weak force, 
it's very powerful. The forces of plants are also powerful, so too are the 
animal forces and human forces. So, if as a human being, you cannot organise 
these forces that live inside you, you will be defeated by them, your human 
nature will vanish, your human nature will be overwhelmed by these lower forces. 
 
So, it may be God's will that we have Subud now due to the circumstances here, 
as human beings no longer remember what to turn to. 
 
That's why you are introduced to your real self in Subud – to your soul – where 
the power of God is to be found. The essence of God in you does not mean that 
God is in you, it is only God’s essence. That’s because God envelops everything 
and you have been given but a tiny part of God's Power. 
 
Then, as your soul comes to life, your soul will develop, it will come to live 
in every part of you. The nature of the soul is to grow. To grow means that it 
will spread. That's why in latihan your soul will spread to the whole of your 
body, and not just to your body, it will enter your feelings, and your thinking. 
They will all be filled by your soul where God's Power manifests.
 
So, by doing latihan we develop the life of the soul within us. To develop your 
soul means that it will fill every part of your body. Then when you use your 
hands you will be able to feel, you will be able to touch, you will be able to 
write, you will be able to do all manner of things with your hands. In the same 
way, once your soul fills your feet, it means you will be able to walk; you will 
be able to do all sorts of things with your feet. And so on until your brain, if 
your soul has filled your brain, then something can arise there that is beyond 
normal human understanding.
 
When I say your soul will fill the whole of your body, it also means that if you 
do something wrong with your hands, or with your feet, or with your brain, God 
will know about it too. God knows whether, when you write something, you are 
using your soul or the animal forces, or a force that is not the human force. 
God knows. 
 
So, as a Subud member, don't say that it is wonderful to be in Subud because 
everything we do is guided by God. That’s not certain. Is what you are doing the 
will of God, or is it the will of the lower forces inside you? This is why your 
latihan has no end, because it won’t just take five years, or 10 years, before 
these lower forces can be brought under control by your soul. 
 
That’s why, before you start your latihan, you should pray to God to guide you 
in your latihan. So, don't start your latihan and move straight away. You have 
to make an intention first and direct yourself towards Almighty God, so that 
every part of you that is trained, or moved in your latihan will help to 
strengthen or build your soul, so that eventually your soul will become the 
master of your being.
 
And this latihan won't just take a short time, or even a few years. You will 
have to do latihan all your life, both here in this world and in the next world 
after you die. This is because the nature of the soul is life, so this training 
of the soul is not a training to prepare for death, no. It is so that you can 
continue your life here into the next life.
 
This is why your latihan goes through different processes whereby you make 
movements that act to purify you, and movements that act to generate growth. 
This is why, whether you want to or not, you will go through a process of 
purification. The type of purification will vary. Some people experience 
sickness, some people have the acceptance of their heart tested, or it may be to 
do with the work they can do – there are all kinds of purification.
 
Purification does not mean you are washed, but you are cleaned of all kinds of 
things – the effect of your actions, your thoughts, and your behaviour.
 
But God doesn’t just clean everything that you have, because the one who made 
these mistakes was you, so you are the one who has to put them right. So, you 
have to have a wish, you have to make an intention. So if you want to become a 
good person, you must first make an intention, "I want to be good." If you make 
this intention God will guide you to become a good person. 
 
But sometimes, people take too much pleasure in bad behaviour. If you enjoy your 
bad behaviour it will never leave you, it will become part of your character; it 
will change your nature. For example, if you are someone who often gets angry. 
Well, the truth is you are not allowed to get angry, because you are actually 
angry with yourself, you in fact damage your own self. So pray to God that you 
won't get angry all the time. 
 
So, you have to stop or reduce your bad behaviour, and then God will help you 
keep your intention. But once your bad behaviour has become part of your nature 
it will burden you, and not just you, it will burden your children too. So, now 
that you are in Subud, use this chance to control the aspects of your behaviour 
that are not good. 
 
What do I mean by good behaviour? It is behaviour that is willed by God, 
something God wants you to do so that you will become a human being with a 
nature that is susila, or someone who behaves well. I don’t mean goodness in the 
outer sense; this is a goodness that comes from your soul.
 
And aside from becoming a good person, you have to develop a nature that is 
budhi. What is budhi? As Subud members, we must never forget that the power of 
God is inside us, and this power is there for you to call on. That is what is 
meant by budhi. And as for dharma, as human beings who praise the greatness of 
God, it is incumbent on us to help and give to other human beings. That’s how 
you will be someone who has a nature of susila, budhi, and dharma.
 
So, Susila, Budhi, Dharma, or Subud, is not the name of an organisation, it 
represents your nature. So, as Subud members, we should have this nature of 
susila, budhi and dharma. But this shouldn’t be something we just say we have, 
we shouldn’t just think that way, or just act that way. We must have a soul that 
has the qualities of susila, budhi and dharma.
 
After you go through this process of purification, the nature of your latihan 
will change to a process of preparation. What kind of preparation? It is a 
preparation of every part of your body to become alive, which means that part of 
you can receive. This is when you can use the word receiving, because in your 
latihan, in the experiences you will have then, you will have various kinds of 
receiving. A receiving is a connection from God directly to you. 
 
So, if the parts of your body are alive and God wants to say something to you, 
or wants you to do something using your hands that are alive, then you will 
receive that with your hands. If God wants to give something to you through your 
feet, you will be able to receive that too, because your feet are alive. The 
same goes for all the other parts of your body. If God wants to give something 
to you through your mind, then, because your mind is alive, you will be able to 
receive what God wants to give to you.
 
These are the processes of the latihan. So the latihan is not just making 
movements, because the purpose of those movements is to bring you to life, to 
awaken you, and their significance is very deep. When I say deep, if God wants 
to give something to you, but you don't know how to receive it, then whatever 
God wants to give to you will be of no use, it will not benefit you. 
 
So this, brothers and sisters, is why we need to do the latihan. So don't say 
just because you have been opened you don't need to do latihan any more, because 
your life will develop out of your latihan.
 
Brothers and sisters, it seems that this is enough explanations for tonight. If 
I give you too much it will only serve to make your mind start thinking, so I 
will finish my talk now. Thank you for your attention.