DID YOU KNOW?
If you are 70 ½ or older and have a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA), you are eligible to make a gift from your IRA to Subud California. In many cases, these gifts are 100% tax-free and can help fulfill your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), if you must take one, allowing you to support Subud California without increasing your taxable income.
TO QUALIFY You must be age 70 ½ or older at the time you make your gift Transfers must be made directly from a traditional or Roth IRA account Gifts must be outright with no material benefits received BENEFITS of QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS (QCD): Can total up to $100,000 per year Can be used to satisfy your required minimum withdrawal (RMD) May be excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes PLEASE NOTE:
A QCD directly reduces your taxable income. It cannot be claimed as an itemized charitable deduction on your taxes.
So that we may accurately record your gift to Subud California and acknowledge you properly, please take the extra step of contacting us via email to let us know when your gift is on its way. This will augment the information provided by your financial institution and ensure smooth handling of your gift.
CONTACT US
For more information, please contact us at SubudCalFinance@gmail.com.
The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended as legal or tax advice. Please consult an attorney or tax advisor before making a charitable gift.
THANK YOU for considering this option!
The Subud California Regional Committee 
Copyright © 2023 Subud California, All rights reserved.
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Message from the Chair
Looking Back and Looking Forward
by Hanafi Fraval, Subud CA Regional Chair
Looking Back: The Year in Review
This past year has been dominated by two big issues in our region: sustainability of our properties and centers, and the new regional bylaws.
Sustainability
It became clear very quickly that 30-year loans from the region to cover the maintenance cost of individual centers is simply not sustainable. Instead, centers need to increase their revenue, mainly through additional rentals, so that they can cover their own maintenance costs. This has a side benefit of generating more group involvement and interest in a center’s Subud house.
Centers vary enormously on how well they are doing, but most are trying and are responding to the need for building their savings to take care of maintenance needs. Funds that are currently available in the region can be repurposed to finance new projects that will generate additional revenue to bring greater stability to those groups that take these initiatives.
Bylaws
The bylaws were last revised in 2006, so they are well and truly due for renewal. Miftah Leath, supported by several of our most experienced members, undertook a real labor of love over the past year to produce a set of thoroughly modernized and well-written new bylaws.
During September’s board meeting in Palo Alto, I set up a special committee to examine how to handle some of the key issues still in need of solution. That committee will report on January 20, at our next board meeting, when it is hoped that the modifications to the current bylaws draft will pass and be ready for a vote of adoption by the whole membership, at our regional congress in 2024.
Looking Forward
Luqman Katz, who is convening the 2024 Gathering and AGM, wrote to the Board on November 7: “The latest news from Subud Indonesia indicates their hope that the dates of the coming world congress will be July 16-28th, 2024. With that time frame in mind, our men and women California regional helpers were requested to test the rightness of holding our regional congress on August 2-6, as has been planned. Their receiving was unanimous, that it is best for us to go ahead as planned and hold our congress from August 2-6, 2024.”
At the AGM in August, a new executive team will be voted in and, of course, the all-important bylaws will be up for your approval.
On another point, it has become evident that fire insurance is likely to play an increasing role in our choices of where we locate our Subud houses – not just in the future, but even today where we have affected houses. Two groups in particular are currently reviewing their situations.
Looking ahead to the future, might we find ourselves in a position at some point to acquire or build a retreat center with good communications and many other attributes? Who knows…!?
Regional Committee News
by Hanafi & Levana Fraval, Chair and Vice Chair
Regional & Center Accounts
Amelia Williams, our Regional Finance Office Manager, delivered Statements of Activity for January and February 2023. for the Region, and for each Regional Center and Group. This is a momentous occasion for us, not just for your executive team but for every member in the region. Our financial reporting is now current, and will be current ongoing.
This is because Subud California decided to follow the example of Subud USA and adopt QuickBooks Online (QBO). It is also due to the diligence, competence and expertise of Amelia and our Regional Treasurer, Hamilton Chaffee. We are all indebted to both of them, and to those who have helped to get them to this point. It will help us to make informed decisions, and it will help our members to understand our true financial position at both the Regional and Center/Group levels.
Making Our Region Sustainable
Levana and I have visited all of the centers except Arcata. We got a firsthand look at our strengths and weaknesses – and our buildings! Maintenance has emerged as the main issue we must address. The bottom line is that it comes down to generating more money from our centers. Of course, COVID set us back mightily. Many groups have begun to recover from that blow, but others are struggling. The executive board is working with your councilors, property managers and rental agents to find ways to attract more clients to our centers so that we can cover both operations and maintenance. The industry standard for is to anticipate spending 4% of overall building replacement cost for maintenance each year. We have adopted a figure of 3%, and will increase this as feasible.
Regional Helpers Tour of the Region
We have asked the regional helpers, as part of their planned tour of the region in the summer, to consider doing some testing to help our members understand the inner side of our sustainability initiative. Yes, it does have an inner side. There was some truly illuminating testing done in the UK around ten years ago on this topic. Of course, the regional helpers’ trip will be focused on the kejiwaan generally, but we hope that this component will help everyone understand what is at stake.
Insurance
If you are part of a Subud Group meeting in rented public premises, you may want to know how to go about insurance. Basically, this is up to Church Mutual, our insurers. You can contact Manuel Oliver (manueloliver@gmail.com) and tell him about your latihan space, frequency of use, etc. and ask for a premium amount for the group to pay the region. Monterey and San Joaquin Valley have already done this.
If members meet at a private home, liability would need to be covered by the home insurance of the hosting property owner [per Philip Lindstrom, our National Chair].
Sustainability in Subud California
by Hanafi Fraval, Chair, Subud Calfornia
NOTE: The following working document was discussed at the Subud California Council Meeting on November 12, 2022 and further shared through conversations during visits being made by Hanafi and Levana to all our Centers. It is available here to give all members an opportunity to be aware of these concerns and of the conversations being held across the Region.
Subud California is facing a number of challenges at present that will likely increase in the next few years. Our membership is aging and contracting. Younger members are few and far between and are very fully engaged in their lives and families, with little time to spare.
Three of our eight centers have accumulated significant debts. It will be very difficult to repay these debts and to continue to maintain these properties at the required level. Five of our groups could be said to be sustainable: Arcata, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Palo Alto and San Diego.
Typically, the profile of a sustainable group is one that has a healthy level of donations from members plus income from events, and/or long-term rental income. When talking to applicants and new members, helpers may not note that the latihan is free, but our premises are not. One of our region’s groups calculated that its current donation levels should be around $100 per month, per member; or $150 per month, per couple. The pattern around the region is that active and regular donors are merely 1/3 of the membership
Our actual member size is small. When our property insurance required Covid waivers in 2020/21, Amelia Williams created a pool of 524 members identified as active or semi-active by the most recent SUSA census count. This pool was reduced by 50 members with no email address or no longer in California. The final number of members who did reply and sign the Docusign form was 337. So, as of 1/27/21, we could confirm 337 people who considered themselves CA Subud members in some form.
It has proven difficult to find people to market and manage events in our centers. The centers that handle ongoing “one time” events pay their event managers 10 to 15% of the event revenue. In groups where there are no members with sufficient time to take up this role, hiring rental and event managers from outside of Subud is a solution.
In those groups where long-term rentals have been established, significant improvements typically have been required to make the space attractive to a commercial renter.
Responsibility of the groups
Subud California’s bylaws make a number of references to what the region must provide to the groups. But there is nothing about the responsibility of the groups to the region. In a family, the first instinct is that we help each other. We are also honest and without agenda when a family member is not quite in line, or is behaving incorrectly.
In California’s case, some of our groups are struggling, perhaps because of aging or diminishing membership, old properties, or other issues. This is where the region can attempt to help; for example, by providing the assistance of the Property Management Committee (PMC). But, whereas the PMC can help with their professional eyes, the groups can help by mobilizing all of their resources to correct situations such as poor maintenance, lagging rentals, and other issues.
We need wording in the bylaws that points out to a group, its committee, and its members that they are responsible for their Subud house. Only under extreme circumstances does the Regional Committee step in to take over management of a group (for example, where membership falls to below ten members, or where there is no committee).
The Regional Building Fund
The building fund is not for maintenance. Its primary use is to fund new capital elements of a center, or new centers, that will directly increase revenue, such as the provision of additional space that can be rented on a long-term basis. Capital improvements, alterations or additions to a property can significantly improve its income capacity, typically from long-term rentals. The return on the improvement should show a convincing case for any investment. The Muhammad Subuh Foundation (MSF) has the same policy.
When we use the building fund for other things, such as maintenance of a Subud house, we must first realize that money withdrawn for these other things is also withdrawn from the region. So, it is the rest of the region that pays. A further principle is that it is of paramount importance that each of us stands on his or her own feet, and does not expect others to carry the load.
Subject to Board (Regional Council) examination, analysis, and approval of any resulting actions and resolutions.
A prayer for the New Year
Message from the Chair
by Luqman Katz, August 2021
Fresh off our all-encompassing Congress, we hope you are all doing well. We traveled to our local centers, to the nation, and on to Indonesia, all from the comfort of our home. Now, post Congress, things are beginning to unfurl…
Raina Snyder has become our regional SIHA (Subud International Health Association) representative. She hopes to contact all of us to share the work that SIHA does, and how we can get involved with the Subud health and medical community. As a starting point, she recommends viewing the SIHA website and you can reach her at rainasnotaryservices@yahoo.com.
We thank Ralph Davila, Sanderson Morgan, and Paul Nelson for bringing SICA to California. SICA will have a larger presence in our region, as the SICA board hopes to bring latihan, testing, and conversation on the topic of culture and you, as well as cultural entertainment evenings. Stay tuned for an event coming near you.
Below, we present to you some members of your sweet, sincere and hard-at-it executive committee:
What adorable people they are! I know that I would definitely trust them with my donations to Subud CA, and I am sure you all feel the same way. Please visit our website and click on the donate button. You will make these little guys very happy and will make their jobs a lot easier. Thank you all!
Love, Your Committee
Message from the Chair
By Luqman Katz, Chair, Subud California
A LETTER TO YOU THE 456 (CA Membership)
Good Morning, Subud CA. Occasional and active members, you are all appreciated and loved.
Can you hear that? It’s the sound of our Centers reopening for in-person latihans, slowly and carefully! The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. This is great and welcome news.
Talking about welcome news, I would like to introduce you to two members who are joining our CA Dewan. Christian Stepien is taking over the position of Vice Chair. He is replacing Raphaela who has stepped down….Thank you, Raphaela, for your work as our Vice Chair.
Daniel Jackson will be replacing the departing Owen as one of our three men Regional Helpers. Owen will be hard to replace, but Daniel is up to the task….Thank you, Owen, for always being there for us.
In addition, Subud CA at Santa Cruz has elected Ralph Davila as their Regional Councilor. Ralph is also a member of the SICA-USA board and brings many years of experience to the Council. As we move closer toward a pandemic free life, we have a full Regional Council.
Thank you, Christian, Daniel, and Ralph! We are blessed to have these willing and very capable members step forward in service to Subud CA.
Thank you everyone and see you all at the 2021 Regional Congress 2021 on Aug. 6-8th. All the best to each of you,
Luqman and the Gang
Regional Committee Changes
a message from Luqman Katz, Chair of Subud California
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
We hope you are all doing well and excited about beginning to be with each other as Centers start to reopen.
Some history we want you to have: over the last couple of months, the Committee has been thinking of Ibu Rahayu’s advice to WSA, “be patient, continue to work and follow health guidelines and it is appropriate to make adjustments for health and safety needs.” We were also thinking about the precedent set by WSA and SUSA, which both postponed their elections. Additionally, we had concern about how testing for Chair and Vice Chair would actually work via Zoom at our virtual Congress this coming August.
Therefore, in March, the Executive Committee asked to do testing with our regional helpers on these questions:
a) Do I have the capability and ability to continue to serve for one more year?
b) How would it be for the Region if I were to continue to serve for one more year?
For Hasan and myself, our receiving was similar, as it was for the helpers…we felt a lightness, laughter, work and gratefulness. This was also true in the receiving of how it would be for the Region.
Jane received that it would be perfectly fine to continue as secretary, but if someone were moved and qualified to fill this role, they should step forward and contact the Executive Committee.
Following this testing, we asked the Regional Councilors to gather input from their members about the extending the Committee’s term until summer 2022 when, presumably, we can be together in person for testing and elections. At our Council Meeting, 4/7/21, the Councilors unanimously voted to extend the term of the Committee by one year to 2022.
After much soul searching, our wonderful Vice Chair, Raphaela Riparetti, has decided it is best for her to step down from her role. Needless to say, she will be missed. Anyone interested in filling her position is invited to contact us. The Council will vote to confirm Raphaela’s replacement to complete the remainder of her term.
So, there it is, the work continues! We have openings for interested members to work on various committees, including and especially, as Congress Chair for 2022. Your Councilor has a job description. (I hear it is a lot of fun😁).
With love,
Luqman and the Committee
The Fruits of our Receiving
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
As the Ramadhan fast has come to a close, your Regional Committee would like to take this opportunity to ask each of you to forgive us for our faults and any missteps this past year. It is solely our intent to do the best we can on behalf of the entire Region.
Whether having fasted or not, this is still the perfect time to donate to Susila Dharma USA (click HERE) or to a charity of your choosing. Subud remains firstly the latihan and then the fruits of our receiving in helping others.
We wish all of you the best and would like to close with this short quote from one of Bapak’s 1600 talks: Therefore Bapak hopes you will feel that Subud is you and that you are Subud. Do not have the attitude…”let Subud take care of itself, I won’t get involved.”
Stay Well and Connected and Involved,
Raphaela, Jane, Hasan and Luqman
Message from the Chair
By Luqman Katz
What a year we have all had! We baked you a cake to “celebrate.” As most of California enters the orange tier, more centers are reopening for worship for some rentals. All we ask is for each of you to conform to local and county guidelines, now, and as they are modified. We, the Executive Committee, thank you all for so diligently adhering to the health protocols that are recommended by health professionals.
Can you hear the turning of gears? That’s the sound of our Congress and Community Teams preparing for our next annual Congress, via Zoom. The Council has approved August 6-8 as the dates, so mark your calendar now. Rifka Several, God bless her, has agreed to act as this year’s Congress Chair, and has been unanimously approved by the Council.
The venue for next year has been reserved at UC Santa Barbara. So, God willing and the virus don’t spike, we are headed for an in-person congress in 2022!!
We are required by our bylaws to have a Congress Chair and, at this year’s 2021 event we need to vote for a candidate. This is where we ask all of you to consider being that person. It is a fun job (just ask Rifka) as well as a legal requirement. The rewards are boundless AND you get to attend the Congress for free. If there were a penthouse suite, you’d get that as well.
That’s it for now. Please take care, everyone, and we’ll see you very soon.
Regards, Luqman and the Gang
Evolving COVID Safety Requirements
a message from Luqman Katz, Chair of Subud California
Sisters and Brothers,
We send you our greetings and our hope all of you are doing well.
As California moves toward less restrictive COVID tiers, we ask each center to act appropriately to the changing local, county and state health recommendations. To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? This is an individual decision and not to be left for Hamlet to decide. It is neither the intention nor desire of your CA Committee to prevent any member from attending a group latihan.
As of today, mask wearing, social distancing, hand sanitizing and 25% occupancy of a room, along with the prohibition on singing/chanting, are all still part of the statewide recommendations. These apply whether vaccinated or not. These health protocols are not only intended for the individual, but for the health and safety of all others we may come in contact with.
Your Committee continues to offer our financial and emotional support for any center in need. Our regional helpers continue to supply their spiritual support to all of us. We hope you derive comfort in this.
As we slowly move towards a recovery, if any member is still in need of financial support, Subud USA offers a functioning and well-supported Care Support program. Anyone can apply at Subud USA Care Fund or to info@subudusa.org.
In closing, Roxanne reminded me of the Rabbi who went camping with one of his star pupils. Some hours later, the Rabbi woke up and nudged his student, “Look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” “Rabbi, I see millions of stars”. “And, from this what do you deduce?” asked the Rabbi. “Well,” the student replied, “astronomically this view conveys the vastness of the heavens. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are a small and insignificant part of His universe. And Rabbi, what does this tell you?” “It tells me,” responded the Rabbi, “someone has stolen our tent.”
God bless and stay well,
Luqman and the gang
Good Morning, Subud CA!
By Luqman Katz, Chair Subud California
…And now for the good news: no locusts, no fires (now anyway), no frogs, and some of us are getting vaccinated. Our Regional Helpers held a Kejiwaan Day for all CA helpers on January 23rd. It was attended by 48 members with great enthusiasm. We are glad to say this was just the beginning. There are plans in the works for many more Kejiwaan Days throughout the Region, as well as more Zoom latihans to be scheduled. The future seems Zoom bright and exciting. Keep reading the Subud CA announcements to stay informed of these upcoming events.
We all owe our Regional and Local Helpers a debt of gratitude for their sincere commitment to the latihan and to all of us. There are many sisters and brothers working really diligently behind the scenes to keep the wheels of the Region greased and running smoothly. It’s not too late for volunteers to come on board and join our team for the exciting and challenging times ahead. Contact your Regional Committee at any time.
Wishing you all the best, on behalf of your Committee.
Protecting the health of our members and our organization
A message from Luqman Katz, Regional Chair Dear Brothers and Sisters, We hope this letter finds you all doing well and staying safe. Have you been enjoying the twice-monthly Sunday CalChats and monthly Friday Bapak talks available for all members via Zoom? These events are a good start to keeping us all connected, and there are more events and activities coming soon. The Region’s calendar on our website has details on how to connect. We’d like to address the COVID waiver/release form with a little history. Please know that our first priority is always the health and safety of all CA members. Subud CA and Subud USA also wish to protect our organization and members from lawsuits related to COVID arising from the use of our halls. Our insurer has advised that we should require all users of our halls to sign written waivers relating to COVID prior to using our facilities. On August 13th, the Subud CA Board of Directors (Council) passed a resolution (see text HERE) to this effect as our standing corporate policy. Do understand that this is neither an arbitrary whim nor an ego-driven power play. Your entire council has the fiduciary responsibility to look after and to act on behalf of the financial health and well being of the Subud CA Corporation. This is our task! Most recently, we all received a copy of the letter that Siti Rahayu sent to WSA in late August. In this letter, Rahayu advises that, given the impact of the coronavirus and the restrictions put in place to control it, it is best to postpone the World Congress to January 2024. She expressed concern that should people pursue their own initiatives, the result will be no co-operation in Subud and everyone will feel they are right. Rahayu further adds, “As good citizens, Subud members must comply and follow their respective government’s rules.” These words can guide us to work together harmoniously, setting aside personal desires for the good of the whole. The Committee asks each of you to sincerely consider this advice from Rahayu. God bless and be well, Your Committee |
Open Letter to All California Members
| Greetings to everyone from your Regional Executive Committee. We wish you well and hope you stay safe. Events in our state are quickly changing, and not for the better. By now you have seen the mandate issued by our Governor and by the California Public Health Department…….All indoor places of worship in most counties are to be closed. We sent a note to this effect to the chairs and property managers of the centers who operate Subud Houses. We ask all members to please take this situation seriously. Until a vaccine is proven effective, this will be an ongoing serious health issue. This virus isn’t going away anytime soon. Therefore, until otherwise directed, our policy, is that the latihan halls should be closed to indoor worship. Scientists are telling us that if we can all cooperate by wearing masks in public and social distancing, etc., it is hoped we can reverse the curve so we will be able to safely reopen. Sisters and Brothers, we all carry on as best we can with the hope that we will be able to once again meet in person. In the meantime, join us for our 1st (and hopefully last) virtual Gathering on Aug.7-9th. Please register soon! There will be no meal plan or travel costs to worry about this time, but you will need the zoom link to be able to join us. See registration form HERE. God Bless you all and stay healthy! With Love, Your Regional Committee |
Chair’s Message: Note from the Underground
Luqman Katz, Regional Chair
Underground? At least, sometimes it feels like it. We continue to hope and pray that all our Brothers and Sisters stay healthy and above ground (Dostoevsky would be jealous).
Meanwhile, your Regional Committee is alive and kickin’! Working with the local center committees and property managers, we are finalizing a COVID 19 safe reopening plan for all our centers. No one is rushing to fling open the doors, but when it’s safe to do so, it is important that we have a plan in place.
Additionally, we are looking forward to “seeing” all of you at our newly redesigned Regional Gathering on August 8th and 9th. What’s new? Try conference call latihans and testing sessions. Then mix in some Zoom meetings, complete with news from the centers, committee reports, “live” entertainment, and even space for schmoozing.
The Committee will provide all of the virtual snacks!
Be well and stay safe.
Luqman
Parting thoughts for the Subud California Council and members
by Robert Mertens, Chair, Subud California, August 2015-August 2019
It has been a pleasure to serve with you during my second term over the last 2 years.
My tenure has given me opportunities to exercise all of the 5 styles of “Co-active Leadership” at different times and in different situations. Sometimes I have adopted a particular leadership style intentionally and sometimes unconsciously.
I highlight these leadership roles with examples below to show my belief that accomplishment today rests more with small groups of people working together than with heroic “White Knights” commanding a charge onto a field of battle…. or, for that matter with our large institutions.
Pointing to new directions where possibilities live and common ground exists.
An example is our initiation (with Matthew Cooke coordinating) of the Subud APP project that is now in the hands of Sebastian Medina (our WSA Information Technologies manager). It can eventually become a platform for better worldwide Subud communication, useful and suitable to our current moment, especially younger people.
Matthew has told me that the project is temporarily stalled due to lack of money at WSA. I see it being completed as we completed the most difficult part of this new venture: overcoming resting inertia and moving into action. It will give a big boost to the pleasure and usefulness we all can have in connecting with each other around the world. Many paradigm changes in communication begin in California.
Co-equal cooperation with team members to produce a result. Working with our council, executive director, and committees we help lubricate the wheels of council decision, we are bringing forth our shared wisdom so that most decisions made by the council are either unanimous or nearly so. And, we are maintaining an atmosphere of collegiality and respect through differences of opinion.
Leader from behind
Occurs when a member of Subud, whether on behalf of the regional body, a center, or an idea, seeks support and it is given. Big oaks from little acorns grow.
In my 52 years in Subud chairman roles, I observe that ideas that become real start with 1 or 2 people. We gradually gather others around us as our ideas and projects gather steam.
In the role of Leader From behind, I am encouraging our Marin group and our region to co-develop our property there:
- To find community partners in projects such as ecological education (on the part of our property that is a “riparian” environment).
- To proceed on a path that can create affordable housing.
- To bring together workshop leaders in health and wellness practices such as yoga, energy work, and other natural healing modalities.
- To become a center of therapies for veterans to help them heal from the wounds of war.
I am also encouraging Rachmat Martin to work with our new PMC to institute solar power in centers such as San Diego, Santa Cruz and LA where it may be practical, and set an example that Subud is a leader among spiritual institutions in renewable energy.
Leader From the Field
The atmosphere of our time calls for intuition as we proceed. I believe that we are in the final stages of the “win or lose” and battle mentality that can dominate our hearts and minds.
To survive as a human race we now need to “change ourselves, to change the world”. We need to build bridges and take down walls. I am advocating that our regional helpers find ways to strengthen our unity and harmony by scheduling more between congress events and center visits.
I also propose that we reinstitute fundraising in California to better support helper and committee work here and at the national level. We will need a new vision for our members, identifying what can we now do differently to better “Put it Into Practice”. To do this, we can focus on bringing forth the entrepreneurial spirit:
- We can cooperate in bringing forth the entrepreneurial spirit.
- We can seed and encourage “Centerprise” initiatives that will generate continuing and expanding revenue streams, not only for California but also beyond.
Leader From Within
The place of intuition and inner guidance may often require quiet and a relaxed body and alert mind to function. The Latihan is giving each of us new opportunities to be with each other in a continually new and surprising way. It opens a way unexpectedly when there seems to be no way. When a new way opens up, a 3rd and 4th option appear, when before there seemed to be only 2.
Varindra Vittachi was our first Subud world chair (and continued for 25 years). He didn’t like the job and kept trying to get out of it every 4 years when we had our world congresses.
In fact he hid out away from the congress site at the beginning of our 2nd world congress in Briarcliff. He knew that Bapak would appoint him to continue for another term if he showed up. His strategy didn’t work however, because Bapak sent someone to retrieve him and bring him to the congress site. Bapak then chose him to continue as world chair every succeeding 4 years until Bapak died in 1987. May God bless them both.
I’m telling this story of Bapak and Varindra because of 2 famous sayings of Varindra and a story told of a member’s experience with Bapak that shed light on the Leader From Within.
Bapak: A member came to Bapak with a problem asking for advice. Bapak gave him advice. The member went home and dreamed. Bapak came to him in his dream and gave him the opposite advice. The member went back to Bapak and said “Bapak; you gave me this advice and then you came to me in a dream and gave me the opposite advice. What should I do?” Bapak: “Follow the advice of the inner Bapak.”
At the end of my second term as California chair, my committee and advisors were split as to what we should do in Marin. Quite a number of opinions and emotions were being expressed, with no consensus as to how the region should act and what we should do together.
A couple of months earlier I had asked Matthew, “What is our common ground? He said, “We love Subud”. When Bapak was asked, “What is Subud?.” He replied that the Subud members are Subud. “You are Subud.”
By the end of our July 19th Council meeting a consensus involving everyone’s input was realized. We are Subud.
May God bless each of you in your lives, our new committee, and all of us as we bring Subud into the future together.
Love and Blessings, Robert
Inventing the Future
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Each of us is a source for the ideas and actions that will invent the future. A local “sourcelet,” if you will, of the divine intention for a better world.
Can we look at some of our Subud facts to discover some of the unique opportunities that we have today?
Fact 1– Subud membership is shrinking and aging.
Opportunity 1– There is a greater concentration of Subud members with long experience in the Latihan and life than ever before. The unfolding story here is that these “elders” have the depth and chops to make a significant improvement in the life of their center members and local community. These elder members can help mentor our younger members in achieving their life purposes.
Fact 2 – The world is in turbulent times that are likely to become more turbulent in the near future.
Opportunity 2 – As in the sixties, we are entering another sea change moment. Some like to call it “The Great Turning.” Thus, dynamic pressure for change will begin a new search among younger people for a more expansive and rewarding understanding of life. The Subud Latihan will offer them a door to the greater life emerging from within us.
Fact 3 – There is much darkness in the world…. many people at war with each other, and a rift between people of differing values and beliefs in our societies and in our governments.
Opportunity 3 – My experience in Subud and, I expect, yours too, is that when we fight, we soon build bridges back to each other and renew bonds of friendship and trust. This behavior will act as a magnet and refuge for people seeking relief from acrimony and divisiveness.
I will stop at 3, and invite you to respond with some of your own. Can you speak to each other in your centers about what you can do with each other and ask for the support of the regional body and the other centers…. and tell me about it? Reach me at:
- Email: Robtm2323@gmail.com
- Phone: 559-337-2104 (Badger) | 559-859-6418 (New York, Dec 18-30)
Use your arts; music, painting, writing, drama, dance, healing, teaching, business, plumbing…. to bring it forth. Start small, like the butterfly wing flapping in the rainforest that builds to a great wind that gathers momentum as it circles and embraces the world.
Love and Blessings now, and as we enter the New Year,
Robert Mertens, Chair, Subud California
Message from the Chair: Possibility
It has been said that the reason we don’t recognize God is because God comes to us disguised as our self. At the Los Angeles “Putting it into Practice” (PIP) weekend, I had an experience that I think is worth telling.
We were testing about correcting our behavior. The question that I recall is, “How do I know when I’ve made a mistake?” Mostly I forget the receiving I have in “the room”, both the questions and answers, soon afterwards. This happened again.
A few days later, I was talking to my wife Helena on the phone and she said something that started to upset me. I think she was disagreeing with something I said. I felt a rapid series of emotions; fear in my heart, a sinking feeling in my gut, and a general feeling of being frustrated, agitated and unsettled throughout my body.
This all happened in a fraction of a second, but this time I was watching it.
So, I didn’t react to these unpleasant feelings, our conversation didn’t go south and there was no argument. I got something better than, “How do I know when I’ve made a mistake?” I got, “How do I know when I am about to make a mistake?”
This same awareness is beginning to seep into other areas of my life when my knee is inclined to jerk. When I read an email that is saying something that I don’t like, I am beginning to be aware of the feelings of dislike and a little warning voice says “Wait until this changes before acting”.
So here’s a personal thank you to Matthew Cooke and all the others who created the weekend and made it valuable by being there. To follow up, we are planning to set up PIP weekends in other CA centers. Would you like your center to host one?
This poem by Emily Dickinson that expresses a spirit of Springtime that I feel flowing here in California:
I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
More numerous of Windows –
Superior – for Doors –
.
Of Chambers as the Cedars –
Impregnable of eye –
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky –
.
Of Visitors – the fairest –
For Occupation – This –
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise –
from THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON: READING EDITION, edited by Ralph W. Franklin, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1998, 1999