six months and struggling.
Date: October 04, 2007 06:50AM
I have read with some horror the sad story of "Jupiter", who was vastly
distressed by a life-long and family-wide encounter with Subud.
I have, at 62, had a life time of Subud, and feel most upset that those
experiences can not be adequately addressed by Subud people through your site.
When I first heard of Subud, in 1961, I believed it was a contact, or an
awakening, of the Holy Spirit within. I approached it, as Christian
believer, in that way.
One day, in my late teens, I lost my temper at my father, stepmother,
and sister.
I was left alone then, by them.
I stood alone, and prayed out loud "God, may I have the contact with
Subud, so I may lose my bad temper"
I fell down to the floor, crying, and immediately stood up, empty of my
anger, or any other emotion.
The founder of Subud told me that this experience was indeed "Subud"
Now, outside of the Subud organisation for over nine years, I find my
prayers, and social interaction with various friends, help me cope.
I can not blame Subud for all my problems.
I do not believe that "Jupiter" should.
I do not believe that Subud is being treated fairly in the discourse
occurring on your site.
People hurt people. And people help people. May you get lots of that help!
I wish I could make some kindly, helpful, comment to Jupiter, which
would enable a calm and positive outlook to develop, so only a
constructive future would arise for him/her.
What on earth were/are all those people doing, including Jupiter?
The latihan, or exercise, of Subud, is, for me, an exercise of the
individual's own "Praying to God", and all other things that the mind
chooses to do are extraneous. Despite being practiced in a group, it is a solitary thing, for group and solitary times.
On my own, at home, I stand and begin by a prayer "lord, may you help me to do what you want me to do, and be what you want me to be".
That, in essence for me, is the function of Subud, which is then meant to
enable any person to get to know and understand themselves more, and
connect with God within, just as the Quakers and may others believe they do.
So why do people on your site see such a need to be so condemning of Subud?
Subud is for each individual to benefit from, not for "control" by
others, as Jupiter seems to have found. Even I found people who want to
Control others. But it's just them, not Subud.
"Controllers" are everywhere, in all religions, in school, in work, in
hobby groups, in life wherever you turn, so it is no surprise that they
are "in Subud".
I puzzle about the things that happened to you. They don't seem like Subud to me, just human nastiness, like I found year after year, and still do. That is why I am "outside" of the Subud organisation, whether I stay that way for what is left of my life or not.