by Sylvia des Tombe, Secretary, Subud California at Palo Alto
For a local Kejiwaan Day in Palo Alto, I transcribed some of my notes from the World Congress in order to share special aspects
The highlights of the Congress were the presence of Ibu Rahayu and the talk she gave us. Ibu’s talk ended with her saying: “The purpose of the latihan is to worship God together.” Please stay tuned for the official translation: among other things, she talked about helpers and what we should do.
I passed a great deal of time watching interviews collected under the title of “Memories of Bapak.” Twenty-eight interviews were offered for viewing, and I managed to witness at least parts of sixteen. Here are a few quotes:
Emmanuel Aronie said: “At first, I was reluctant to meet Bapak. But in Seattle, I met and shook Bapak’s hand. It was the nicest experience I’d ever had: my hand was in a warm clasp that felt like Bapak completely knew me. I was “blissed out.”
Halimah Brugger said: “I felt Bapak could lift a person from their sins. Bapak told us to ask for forgiveness from our sins. Then he ordered us to cry. ‘Cry! Cry!’ Then he said, ‘Your sins have been forgiven.’ No one else could say that.”
Sofyan Brugger: Sofyan, suffering from hepatitis and diabetes, had just returned to Cilandak from eleven days in Singapore. Bapak asked Sofyan to standup and do latihan in front of the group. He was singing as though he was reading from the Koran. People were crying. A deep voice came out. Bapak said, “That latihan is your medicine. You should do it once a day.”
Husein Rofé: Quoting Bapak: “The purpose of being is to transcend the human level and get to the higher.”. . . “In Heaven, everyone is visiting each other. In Hell, everyone is fighting each other.”
Mashud McGee: “The latihan is the most precious thing we have. We must cherish it and share it. We must live from it and follow it. . . It is the foundation of my life.”
(With endless thanks to Kristiana
Cultural activities abounded. We were treated to classical music performances and an evening of music with the extended Ward/Brugger family. There were opportunities to buy objects from many lands and to purchase books, sometimes from the
On a personal level, one very sweet aspect was that, to my reckoning, there were members of at least twenty-five families who had lived in Cilandak, Jakarta, Indonesia, over the years my family and I had lived there. It was a special joy to see them, some after many years (I left Cilandak in 2002, having moved there in September of 1971).
After living in Wisma Subud, I moved to Moscow, Russia, where the Subud group was exceptionally welcoming. Many members from Russia were in Freiburg, plus many Ukrainians, among whom were occasional visitors to the Moscow group, especially when Zone 4Congresses were held in the environs. The Ukrainians’ musical performance was a delight. Ibu Rahayu commented on all the hugging and kissing among Subud members; it was impossible NOT to warmly greet our brothers and sisters from far away!
My three grandchildren had a wonderful time playing for hours in the copious sand and water provided for them, plus on the small vehicles. My seven-year-old grandson summed up the feelings of many of
I’ll close with a few more memories that left a big impression on me:
Guillaume Sanchez, in his remarkable film, The Warrior Within, said the lesson he learned from dancing with the Dayaks in Kalimantan was. . . “Focus: be present in what you are doing. Put energy into what you are doing now. Don’t be distracted.”
Simone Feldman remembers one test with Bapak: “How would the ‘jiwa’ of a person feel if he/she died and stood in front of God and the saints?’ She got tears in her eyes. And then Bapak said: “Just keep doing your latihan regularly.”