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Vision for Kalimantan

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Rohana Fraval went to the Kalimantan Visioning Meetingwhich was held in March in Rungan Sari...

We arrived on March 14 after attending Ibu Rahayu'sbirthday celebrations. A whole plane load of us camefrom Jakarta.

We were met at the airport and taken to Rungan Sariwhere we were served a magnificent buffet lunch. Thiswas typical of the hospitality and good organisation ofthe meeting. That night we had latihan in theMuhammad Subuh Centre.

The conference began next day, also in the MuhammadSubuh Centre. About 100 people attended, includingRungan Sari residents, visitors from other parts of Indonesiaand overseas.

The meeting was instigated by WSA/ISC and facilitatedby Sophia Blake and Marcus Mackay from Australia. Theyused the ‘open space technology’ very effectively togive everyone a chance to express their ideas forKalimantan.

We all said why we were there. How did we want to seeKalimantan develop? What was our particular interest?Did we have a project we wanted to do?

Powerful PresentationsStrong presentations came from a number of projectsalready on the ground as well some new developments.Karim and Rashidah MacDonald and Utami Geiger spokeabout the BCU school. It has 38 students now. A choirfrom the school sang most beautifully in several differentlanguages including Latin. A little girl who sang solo hadthe voice of a nightingale.

The school hopes to start taking in boarders to be accom-modated in one of the Rungan Sari houses acquired bythe school. They will soon be looking for house parents totake care of the boarders, well as more volunteer teach-ers to join those already working at the school.

A most exciting new project is the eco-tourism developed byGaye Thavisin and Lorna Mitchell. They have renovated atraditional river barge into a stately boat to take people onriver cruises. The project was inaugurated by the Governor ofCentral Kalimantan just before our vision meeting.

During the meeting, the Deputy Governor opened aSubud Community Centre across the road from RunganSari, on land donated by Subud members.

River CruisesOne of the newest ventures in Kalimantan isKalimantan Tourism Destinations, the eco-tourismcompany set up by Gaye Thavisin and LornaDowson-Collins… They have taken a traditional barge and turned it intoa striking, elegant and finely appointed river cruiserwhich is already attracting customers from aroundIndonesia and even elsewhere in the world.

You can take day or overnight cruises movingsedately along the Kahayan or Rungan Rivers. Thereis much to be seen including traditional Dayak vil-lages and tropical rainforest. The orang-utans wholive in these forests, as well as much bird life, can beviewed form the boat.

Accommodation includes five double cabins. Thetop deck has an open air dining room with deliciousmeals created from local ingredients.

Raquel Alcobia who recently took the trip writes…And when the night comes, while having our candlelight dinner, to the sound of a jazz CD or a guitar thatsomeone brought along, we feel such an inner peaceand a certainty that all is well under the starry sky.

And not only are the guests touched by the surround-ing beauty, the relaxed atmosphere on board and thetasty food with a touch of exotic, but each time thisboat moors along the way in a small village, the con-nection with the locals happens naturally and willingly.

There is an interchange of cultures, trade, communi-cations and even education as we develop moreawareness of the beautiful surroundings of one of thelast jungles in the world.

Contact: kalimantantours@gmail.com

Gaye Thavisin and Lorna Dowson-Collins have launched a new eco-tourism venture in Kalimantan, converting a traditional barge

into a boat for river cruises.

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MAY 08

VISION FOR KALIMANTAN continuedIt includes a library which will provide a valuable resourcefor local Dayak children who attend the BCU School.Olvia Reksodipoetro spoke about a number of projectsthat YUM has running in Kalimantan includingmalaria eradication and a micro-credit schemefor women.

Mansur Geiger, one of the true Kalimantan pio-neers, reported on the mining. Unfortunately,after spending a lot of money on explorationOxiana decided not to pursue its joint venturewith Kalimantan Gold. KGC is now looking intomining coal of which Kalimantan has vastdeposits.

Breeding CattleA number of members are joining together tobuy land to develop agriculture and breed cat-tle with the aim of developing a breed particularly suitedto conditions in Kalimantan.

Bardolph Paul talked about Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta, thecommunity development initiative which developed inassociation with Subud's mining activities. It helps localcommunities cope with the impact of mining and otherforms of development.

There was a meeting of Indonesians, both Dayaks andthose from other parts of Kalimantan to look into the needsof the Dayak members and how the local community canbe enabled to feel more integrated with Rungan Sari.

Rungan Sari itself continues to impress as an ‘oasis in thejungle’. There are new houses and the landscape of thewhole site is beautifully cared for. The hotel, restaurantand other facilities are unique in this part of the world,attracting international film crews.

During our stay, there was a team shooting a documen-tary on the Orangutans. Rungan Sari has been booked bya BBC film crew who are due to arrive shortly.

I had a most interesting conversation for an hour withMuchtar Martins, now on the Board of the MuhammadSubuh Foundation. He talked about his earliest experi-ences with Bapak, in the planning of Rungan Sari when itwas still jungle and he had to climb a tree to get a viewof the site as it was covered with forest. Initially theKalimantan government had allocated hundreds ofacres of land to Bapak.

He told me how the experience of creating Amanacerfed into the development of Rungan Sari through thework that he and the Bustillo family did. Now Bapak'sgrandchildren are very much involved in continuing thework in Kalimantan.

Closing the CircleThe first two days of this 3 day meeting were devoted to‘Open Space’ and then on the 3rd day we had ‘Closingthe Circle’ in which we were asked to define whatactions we were going to take to implement our visions.

One of the specific initiatives that I am supporting is forthe BCU school to get a bus which will cost aboutUS$30,000.1 have heard that one member has alreadydonated $10,000 towards this and I hope to play a smallpart with the others in raising the rest.

This bus will be used not only to transport those studentswho come to the school from vast distances away, butalso to provide a service for students from the six villages

near Rungan Sari. The bus will be used totake them to the Community Centre Librarymentioned above.

The spirit of it all was summed up by MansurGeiger who said that people had come toKalimantan before and met and talked butnothing very supportive had come out of it.This time he felt that there was a dynamismand sincerity in the meeting which wouldlead to results.

This ‘Kalimantan Vision Meeting’ was some-thing very special. I saw many of the oldfaces of those who have struggled, and

failed, and then succeeded in doing their own businessesand projects. Many have suffered great hardships andcome out the other side stronger and wiser.

Kalimantan is still throbbing like a bud in springtime wait-ing to blossom. May the efforts of those who are preparedto give their time and energy into Kalimantan be reward-ed with success.

This is the vision of Bapak. He has given us the raw mate-rials – the latihan and the information. Now it is time for usto utilise this and find a direction.

May Almighty God bless these people and their efforts.

Rohana shared her impressions with Harris Smart. The full‘Book of Proceedings’ of the meeting is available atwww.subudworldnews.com

Kalimantanis like a bud

in springwaiting toblossom

•THE THIRD AMERICAS GATHERING: IS PROGRESSING FULLSTEAM AHEAD. We are very much looking forward to see-ing as many members as possible in Amanecer,Colombia, Arrival and departure dates are July 25 toAugust 5.

Members from throughout the Americas are especiallyencouraged to come, as this is a rare opportunity for theAmericas to mingle. In a d d i t ion to participating in atwo-continent Kejiwaan Gathering, there will be work-shops and outings and several official meetings.

Some of the activities involve SDIA, MSF, SICA, SIHA, the

Americas Gathering

The Americas Gathering will be held at Amanecer in Colombia in July.

Ruslan Morris writes about recent developments at KIC…As you may know, KIC is the 100% Subud owned compa-ny which owns 19% of Kalimantan Gold Company (KGC).KGC is exploring the Kalimantan mining property whichwas initiated by Bapak.

KGC had negotiated a joint venture with a largeAustralian mining company, Oxiana, but Oxiana recentlypulled out. More information about KGC is available ontheir web site www.kalimantan.com

In addition to its shares in KGC, KIC also owns 25% ofBapak’s Kalimantan mining property, the other 75% isowned by KGC. In December 2007 the shareholders ofboth companies met to vote on the sale of KIC’s holdingin that property to KGC in exchange for KGC shares.

The results of those shareholder votes have not beenannounced. According to Doris Meyer, Chief FinancialOfficer and Director of KGC, (there is) ‘No regulatoryrequirement to announce’

Ms. Meyer also informed me that ‘Both passed with very few Novotes – the next step is signing the definitive agreements andwe need input from lawyers on several fronts to finish it off.’

KIC’s Only AssetWhen that happens, KIC’s only asset will be KGC shares.The KIC Directors Murray Clapham and Rahman Connellyhave stated that they would then propose that KIC distrib-ute its KGC shares to its shareholders and liquidate itself.

That would create much desired ‘liquidity’ for KIC share-holders as they would be giving up illiquid KIC shares andgetting publicly traded KGC shares. However, I believethat this ‘liquidity’ would be illusionary.

KGC shares are now trading at Canadian $0.155 (fifteenand a half cents), near their all time low. Recent volumewas 13,000 shares per day.

KIC will own 31.8 million shares of KGC. If these shares aredistributed to KIC’s shareholders and only 5-10% of themtry to sell their shares, the market would be overwhelmedand the KGC share price would probably drop to almostnothing. This would be of no benefit to former KIC share-holders and would be disastrous for KGC as it would notbe able to raise exploration money by selling shares foryears to come.

In addition, we need to consider if we really want to liquidatethe last of Bapak’s broadly owned Subud Enterprises.

As an alternative, KIC could keep its KGC shares and set upan internet based trading market for Subud members in KICshares. That would create some liquidity for KIC shareholders,not disturb the share price of KGC, and keep the SubudEnterprise intact.

Note: Ruslan Morris is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) anda former Director of KIC and KGC.

KIC was asked to confirm the facts in the article and responded:There are are two additional KIC directors, Faldi Ismail &Konrad Baerveldt. The vote for the resolutions

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Councils from Zones 7 and 8, and the World SubudCouncil. Certain WSC meetings will be open for discussion on the 2010 World Congress. If you have ideasbut are unable to attend, contact your ZoneRepresentative.

Registration information is posted on Subud World Newson the ‘ISC/WSA’ page under Zone 8. We want to wel-come Lynnelle Stewart and Luther Schutz (USA) andYasmin Khan (Canada) as our first registrees! Pleasedirect registration questions to Maya Bernardes, ISC Vice-chair, bernardes.maya@gmail.comOr contact isc@subud.org

Kalimantan Gold Corporation reports…Following a review of work conducted in 2007 at our KSKContract of Work in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia,Kalimantan Gold Corporation Limited (TSX V and AIM: KLG)has received notification from Oxiana Ltd that they will notbe exercising their option under the Option Deed, original-ly signed between the companies in December 2006.

Oxiana considers that its 2007 exploration program duringwhich it spent US$2.5 million drilling 16 holes over 6,000metres, adequately tested the four highest ranked cop-per prospects currently known within the KSK COW andfailed to indicate the presence of a shallow style eco-nomic porphyry deposit.

Commenting on Oxiana's decision, Kalimantan Gold'sCEO Rahman Connelly said, ‘Whilst its disappointing tosee the calibre of an Oxiana walk, our own geologistsretain confidence in the copper potential of the KSKCOW and for this reason the Board has commissioned anindependent report from Dr. Peter Pollard, a leadingexpert, who has consulted to most of the world's majorcopper projects. His report, to be completed by the endof January, will form the basis of a data package to beprovided to two major mining companies that havealready confirmed their interest to review data shouldOxiana not proceed’.

‘Meanwhile, following encouraging results from a scoutdrilling program, we are stepping-up the drilling programat our Jelai epithermal gold prospect in East Kalimantan,where we plan to have 3 drill rigs working 24/7 by early2008. On the coal front, following the heads of agree-ment announced in November 2007, we expect to beable to announce our first coal project acquisition in thefirst quarter of 2008.’

Equity Financing ClosedKalimantan Gold Corporation Limited has raised £394,000from a non-brokered private placement financing in theUnited Kingdom from the issue of 3,283,333 commonshares at a price of 12 pence per share. At currentexchange rates this is the equivalent of C$772,043 at aprice of C$0.24 per share.

The Company will use the proceeds from the privateplacement to fund its ongoing Jelai gold exploration andcoal acquisition programmes in Indonesia, as well as forgeneral working capital purposes.

Edited from press releases on the Kalimantan Gold website www.kalimantan.com For further detailed informationgo to the web site.

Oxiana Withdraws

Kalimantan InvestmentCompany (KIC)

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The Sale of S. Widjojo

was 96.29% in favour, 3.71% against (2 shareholders out ofa possible 350) and 63.49% of eligible votes werereceived. Any proposal to wind-up KIC and distribute it'sKGC shares to shareholders will be the subject of a furthershareholders resolution.

Last year we thought that the sale of S Widjojo had beencompleted, but apparently not yet so. Leonard vanWillensward writes about the situation following theExtraordinary General Meeting in February. He says, ‘Ithink that the outstanding point is that twice within a yearpeople have voted with an overwhelming majority infavour of the sale.’On 29 February 2008 Usaha Mulia BV (also acting as S.Widjojo International) held an extraordinary meeting ofcertificate holders of PT S Widjojo shares. This was only thesecond time such a meeting was held outside Jakarta.

The first time was in 1991 in Loudwater, UK, where certificateholders also had to vote on a possible sale of the company,based on a tentative offer of US$ 40 million; the proposal didnot receive sufficient support and the offer was rejected.Afterwards it appeared that the prospective buyer probablywould not have been able to sustain his offer.

Luckily history does not always repeat itself. In February2007 certificate holders, together holding 74.5% of theshares in PT S Widjojo, had with a vast majority voted infavour of a sale of the company in exchange for shares inS Widjojo Enterprises with the option to cash out.

That construction proved to be too complicated, and theensuing negotiations resulted in a new proposal, whichamended the original one in that now certificate holderswould receive an amount in cash for their holdingsinstead of shares SWE.

The 2007 proposal, disposing of a major asset of the com-pany, required a majority in favour of 55% of all certificatesissued. As the new proposal basically was an amendmentto the earlier decision, the same requirement applied.

Conditional Shares Purchase AgreementThe extensive documentation made available to certifi-cate holders led to a considerable number of questionsand inquiries, which in most cases could be answered sat-isfactorily, although until the end some thorny issues keptdiscussions alive.

Proxy forms came in regularly, were processed and thenthoroughly screened by the public notary who was tomake the formal minutes of the meeting. Voting followedthe same pattern as in 2007, finally resulting in 76% of cer-tificates issued casting their vote, with 72% voting infavour and 4% voting against.

As a result of this meeting the buyer and Usaha Mulia B.V. willnow sign a Conditional Shares Purchase Agreement (CSPA),whereby the buyer offers to buy Usaha Mulia’s shares on var-ious conditions, the main one being that the buyer will beenabled to acquire more than 90% of the PTSW shares.

That means that the 40 plus local shareholders (together hold-ing 25.5% of PTSW shares) will receive an offer to tag along,that is to sell their shares on the same conditions as UsahaMulia gets (the buyer has made a proviso that he may opt toget the transaction through even if he gets less than 90%).

What now remains are the complicated proceduresrequired under Indonesian Corporate Law and theArticles of Association of PT S Widjojo.

In this next round, the offer by the Purchaser is to be dis-tributed to all local Indonesian Shareholders who may‘tag-along’ with the decision taken by Usaha Mulia BV.and more or less at the same time the procedures of theright of first refusal will be initiated.

In the end this will now hopefully lead to the final conclu-sion of the sale of PT S Widjojo; one of the most complicat-ed sales agreements ever entered into by the legal teamsrepresenting the Purchaser and the Sellers.

In more than one way this is an important step, and weshall keep investors informed of progress in the nextstages. If all goes fairly smoothly the final signatures shouldbe put on the agreements by the middle of this year, fol-lowed as soon as possible by the distribution of funds. Theestimated initial payment per share is $2.70

Valentin Willecke, Zone 4 Representative, writes…This was my first ever visit to Russia, however probably my8th to Ukraine (since 1994).

It was a good experience, warm personal contacts, greathospitality, useful discussions and sharing, plenty of latihanand testing, many indications of less personal frictions, morecoming together, good energy. I was taken care of andaccommodated in a loving and caring way. Bolshoi spassiba!

Kiev and Moscow are both rapidly changing big citieswith a modern, dynamic, expensive face (and far toomany cars on the roads), and on the other side a widen-ing gap between the winners and losers (e.g. pensioners).

Amongst us Subud members we face a big challenge ofovercoming the separation which still seems to existbetween ‘the West’ and East Europe. In view of languagebarriers, visa problems etc. this is quite a task. However,when we meet person to person, sharing the latihan, suchbarriers just melt away. I am deeply grateful for this expe-rience, for this ‘Subud magic’.

One more reason to be grateful: I became more awarehow fortunate I have been to meet Bapak, even to live inJakarta and Wisma Subud while Bapak still was with us inperson. The first members in Russia and Ukraine joined Subudin the early 90s; no one ever had the chance to meetBapak. So, there is some experience which we ‘oldies’ inSubud can share. However, what really matters is that Subudis alive NOW, and this I have witnessed in Ukraine and Russia!

The Zone 4 meeting in Ukraine will be a great opportunityfor many members from East Europe (no visa problems !!)and the West to come together, to experience the ‘melt-ing away’ of old barriers, to share the latihan, experi-ences, and our cultures. I hope that many, many mem-bers from East and West will make use of this opportunityand come to Cherkassy!

UKRAINEOrganising the Zone 4 meeting in Ukraine in 2008, andworking together with the national team was the mainfocus of the visit. After looking at various

Visiting The Ukraine & Russia

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potential sites in Kiev andCherkassy we have con-cluded that the Zone 4 meeting 2008can best be organised inCherkassy in the HotelUkraina (good standard)and a nearby (walkingdistance) guest house ofa Sanatorium.

Details will be publishedsoon, but please takenotice of the dates:September 13 (arrival) to20 (departure) 2008.

These dates are in themiddle of Ramadan butthere are practical rea-sons for having it at this

time, and it may well be a blessing and help us to pay moreattention to the quality of our meetings.

Subud PremisesCherkassy has a wonderful Subud house, centrally located,however in a quiet corner with garden, with two big andpleasant latihan rooms and various other rooms (e.g. office,meeting rooms). This is the home of the local group, and manynational and international Subud meetings have taken place.

However, it is difficult to cover costs and maintenance. TheMuhammad Subuh Foundation (MSF) supported the acquisi-tion years back with a grant and a loan. Due to those finan-cial problems the Cherkassy group was not able to servicethe MSF loan until recently when a private Subud memberstepped in with a very generous arrangement, repaying MSF.

In Dnipropetrovsk quite a big apartment is Subud owned(groundfloor with garden). The legal ownership is just in theprocess of being transferred to Subud Ukraine (from privateSubud members). MSF has supported Dnipro as well withsome grants.

In Kiev there are no Subud premises, and the dream of a Subudhouse seems almost an impossible challenge. Real estate pricesin central locations have skyrocketed. And Gloria (Alla) Bondar,the lonely group chairlady, finds it impossible to form a groupcommittee, to get a team together.

We did latihan in three different places, all quite convenientand better than those which I have experienced in Kiev inearlier days.

Thank you, dear sisters and brothers in Ukraine, until we meetagain, at the latest in September 2008, God willing.

RUSSIAThere is such a difference between communicating by emailand meeting face to face. It was good to experience evenfor a short visit this fascinating mega city of Moscow, and tomeet this very colourful group of Subud members. The varietyof people and cultures is surprising. Only a minority is born inMoscow; people come from many places includingKalmykia and Estonia, Georgia and Ukraine.

Subud Moscow recently got new and very convenient lati-han premises which are a great improvement. Now men andwomen can do simultaneous latihan in two big rooms andmeet before and after.

The Russian Congress took place (Friday to Sunday) in a pleas-ant and comfortable holiday resort about two hours bus ride

from Moscow. There were about 30 participantsfrom Moscow and just two fromTambov reflecting the situation ofSubud Russia: In total there are atpresent about 50 members, mostlyin Moscow, 4 members in Tambov,and a few scattered members else-where (e.g. St. Petersburg, Kasan).

There is hardly any contact with thesmall group in Kaliningrad, butSubud Lithuania tries to keep con-tact with them. Sergey Petilin fromVilnius (Lithuania), and a group of six from Ukraine came fromabroad, with me as the only one not speaking Russian.

There was latihan and testing, sharing, and discussion ofpractical issues: here again among other issues: how to gen-erate income by subleasing the latihan premises. There wasan opening (Anna, the daughter of Harita – some willremember her from Ascot in August. A new national commit-tee was found. In short: a very lively and intense congress.

Some participants told me that this congress was quiteremarkable in terms of: more unity and mutual respect, theproactive role of the helpers, and better cooperationbetween women and men helpers.

Feodora Magnusova is the new chairlady with a warm smilefrom Subud Russia, the decision was made to have the samechair and committee for Russia and Moscow, taking care ofthe Moscow group as well as of the few scattered membersoutside of Moscow.

This article has been shortened for reasons of space.Valentinmay be contacted at valentinwillecke@t-online.de

Overcoming theseparationwhich still

exists between‘the West’ andEast Europe

Feodora Magnusova, chairlady of bothSubud Russia and Subud Moscow

Harris Smart writes that SICA has been renewed atGunnebah…

Gunnebah is a new project in Australia. Six people havebought a rainforest retreat near the border of New SouthWales and Queensland.

It is an idyllic place on six acres of tropical rainforest borderedby a meandering creek. There is accommodation for about 25people in chalets nestled amongst the trees. All the buildingsare beautifully designed in natural materials.

It is a ‘going concern’ regularly booked by a variety ofgroups, but the new Subud owners are showing themselvesto be very welcoming to Subud gatherings. Peter Jenkins,one of the owners, summed up the philosophy of the placeas ‘doing well by doing good’.

I attended a regional gathering there a few weeks agowhich was a great success and then over Easter there was aSICA Gathering.

SICA is enjoying a new lease of life in Australia since SebastianFlynn became the chair. Sebastian is both an artist in his ownright (a musician) and also an arts organiser. He organises a bigannual multi- cultural festival in Brisbane.

Gunnebah which means ‘Place of Birth and Joy’ seems toradiate healing and creativity. On the banks of the creekAboriginal women once came to give birth and so thereis a sacred association with the place which goes backfor millennia.

Celebrating SICA at Easter

PAGE 6 SUBUDVOICE MAY 08

This spirit seems to have permeated the gatherings we havehad there as there certainly has been a feeling of new lifespringing into being.

Fun and FestiveThe SICA weekend combined a number of creative work-shops – sculpture, movement, drawing, music – withimpromptu performances, artists’ presentations, latihan, test-ing and discussions about future directions for SICA.

It was festive, fun and even financially rewarding as somemoney was raised at a ‘SICA market’ to begin to fill SICA’sempty coffers.

A permanent reminder of the event will remain at Gunnebahin the form of some sculptures created in workshop run byBrisbane artist Asariah Tellegen.

Using natural material like stones from the creek, leaves, seedpods and branches, not just one sculpture, but a whole‘sculpture garden’ was created.

Amongst them was one called ‘Mother and Child’ createdby Sebastian Flynn and Renée Goetz. Renée, also fromBrisbane, is our Susila Dharma chair and the work symbolisesthe close co-operation that is developing between SICA andSusila Dharma, particularly in the plans that Renée has initiat-ed to bring the International Child Development Program(ICDP) to Australia.

Around the World in Half a Dozen MealsOnce again the Gunnebah people did a magnificent job ofcaring for the visitors and providing superb food. The fooditself was a SICA experience. It might have been called‘Cooking from Around the Globe’ as we had everything fromSri Lankan curry, to Mexican tacos, to Lebanese kabobs, witha few other national cuisines thrown in.

The open attitude of the owners is making Gunnebah anasset for all of Subud Australia. The next Subud meeting thereis likely to be the Subud Australia Council. At both the meet-ings I have attended, there has been a real feeling of some-thing new beginning to emerge.

The intention is that this SICA gathering will not just vanishlike vapour. Amongst otherproposals, there are plans tocreate a permanent collec-tion of Subud artists’ work,and to develop workshopsand other events that can beoffered to the general public.

Sebastian Flynn, new SICA Chair of Subud Australia,organised the program for the Easter Gathering at

Gunnebah.

A feeling of

new life springing

into being •

PRAYER FOR PEACELola Stone writes from Hawaii… I sent for the DVD ‘Side BySide’ which Lewis wrote about in Subud Voice. It is a remark-able story that unfolds. Imagine Jews and Palestinians livingside by side, children attending the same schools fromkindergarten up, learning each others' languages and cul-tures, celebrating each others' holidays. This has been goingon for years and it may be the world's best kept secret!

I visited Israel in 1986 and Arabs and Jews mixed everywhere.Today they are killing each other. If only they, and all people, wouldrealise that war solves nothing. The only solution is the one Yeshuaben Josif long ago reminded us of – to love your neighbour.

The experiment going on today in Haifa is the fulfillment of mylifelong prayer for peace.

PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL #1Salamah Pope writes… Thank you for your generous reviewof my book – but I decline your nomination as Subud's publicintellectual. If we needed one, there would be plenty morequalified people than I (but I don't think we do).

One thing more – a postscript to the Adelaide Congress. IanJansse, Adelaide resident and lay assistant at the Cathedral,was told by a Cathedral Warden that, ‘Your congress must begoing well, because the singing is so much more harmoniousnow than it was at the beginning.’!

Harris replies… It is my opinion that all our activities should beassessed in musical terms as demonstrated by the churchwarden. Plus some additional criteria such as…

In tune, out of tune? Off-key, on-key? Mozart-like,Stockhausen-like? On the beat, off the beat? Right tempo,wrong tempo? Good timing, bad timing? Etc.

Music provides us with a complete set of criteria for evalu-ating all our activities. No more saying were things success-ful or not, but was the music sweet or cacophonous? Andof course there is a place sometimes for cacophony.

SUBUD STARTS IN THE USA A few corrections from Harlinah Longcroft… The articleSubud starts in the USA in Subud Voice, April 2008, quotesmaterial from me, but, like the game of ChineseWhispers, some things have been slightly changed andare not quite as they should be. So, before some of myold friends write me to say, ‘You’ve got things mixed up,Harlinah!’, let’s try to straighten it out.

I did not say that Bob Prestie went to New York on hisway to California in 1958 – because he didn’t. He flewfrom London to San Francisco.

The visit of Bapak and his party to California in 1958 wasnot funded exclusively by John Cooke and his sister,Alice Cooke Kent. There were others who also joined inthis funding.

Vic Torrey first heard about Subud from Michael Rogge inHong Kong, not ‘from the Hong Kong members’. J.G.Bennettalso first heard about Subud from Michael Rogge.

And lastly, Vic Torrey was opened before, not after,Bapak’s arrival in California. He was one of those at theairport when Bapak arrived.

Thank you! •

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Bapak

TalkBapak’s talk in London Oct 8, 1983 Code: 83 LON 23Provisional Translation by R. Sawrey-CooksonCopyright 2007, World Subud Association. All rights reserved.

This talk was given for people practising the spiritual exer-cise known as the Subud Latihan. For those not practisingthis exercise, reading the following talk is not recom-mended as it could be misunderstood.

Brothers and sisters – and in particular the chairman andhis staff, also those who have come here from outsideLondon, outside England – Bapak is moved and touchedby what you have said to Bapak.

Indeed, brothers and sisters, Bapak very much wanted tocome here, because he wished to know and to receivethat most of you really have been able to feel the bene-fits and usefulness of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud. Thatis what Bapak very much hoped for, and that is why,although Bapak is already an old man, and even thoughhis doctor forbade Bapak to travel any more because ofhis age – which is now over eighty – Bapak still wished togo to the various places he wanted to visit.

To do this is an obligation upon Bapak; an unavoidableresponsibility. Why is this so? It is because Bapak has givenyou all the way to go, and thus it must not be allowed tohappen that this gift of Bapak's, which you have allreceived, is not truly beneficial and useful for all of you.That is why, besides your own hopes that Bapak will still beable to go on visiting you wherever you are, Bapak him-self prays to God that Bapak may still live on so that he willcontinue to be able to come and visit you and give youguidance and explanations which you can really under-stand.

That is how it is, brothers and sisters, so the wish is the sameon both sides; it is reciprocal. You hope for Bapak tocome here and to all the other places which he visits, andfor his part Bapak also hopes to do that. Bapak hopesvery much to do that, and not just once or twice or threetimes more, but he hopes that he will still be meeting youface to face for many years to come. Let us all givethanks to the One Almighty God, and pray that God willgrant His blessing and His guidance, so that all we hopefor can be accomplished.

Bapak Sets an ExampleBrothers and sisters, Bapak sets you this example becauseBapak is the pioneer, the founder. Thus if there were noBapak there would be no Subud, and therefore no lati-han kejiwaan of Subud. Bapak says he sets an example;that is, Bapak hopes that the helpers whom Bapak hasappointed to be his assistants in giving explanations tothe members and will also be able to look after them andguide them.

For without this activity on the part of the helpers, and

without a feeling of love on their part towards the mem-bers, the situation of the members will automatically dete-riorate as time goes on, and they will become weakerand weaker, so that the development of Subud will giveus nothing of which we can be proud.

Nor shall we be able to make it into amal ( right action )with regard to the power of the One Almighty God, forthe latihan kejiwaan of Subud is a latihan or training givenby God directly to human beings.

Of course, brothers and sisters, in what one reads in storiesof the spiritual life, as well as in the history of mankind, it isapparent that it has never before, happened that peo-ple of different religions have been able to come togeth-er in any group or in any gathering. In Subud, Christiansand Muslims can meet together and receive together,and they feel as if they were with members of their ownfamily, with other children of the same parents as them-selves; in fact they feel even closer than they do to theirown families.

An example of this is the way you feel in Bapak’s pres-ence, and the way he feels towards all of you. And youhave been able to verify this in the latihan; if you happento come close to someone who is sad or in trouble, youwill suddenly feel troubled yourself.

It is thus clear brothers and sisters, that the latihan of thespiritual brotherhood of Subud is not only a latihan of wor-shipping God, but it unites all the races of mankind in thisworld, so that a common peace and quietness is createdin the world and it will not be so easy for things to happento disturb and distress people's hearts. This is how it is, broth-ers and sisters, so it is very suitable for the helpers to takeBapak as their example in the way that they approach themembers and the way they love the members; so that itcan be said that the need to meet with the membersweighs more heavily with Bapak than does his own life.

Of course, brothers and sisters, you can imagine how it isfor an old man to travel long distances, flying in aero-planes, changing climates, and how Bapak feels it too.That is obviously how it is bound to be for an old man.Three or four years ago Bapak did not find that when hewoke after sleeping he felt tired and stiff, as if his bodywere sore all over. Why is it like that? Because he is old,because of changes in the weather.

Old Age and IllnessWhen Bapak was a young man he used to say to hismother: ‘Why do you always complain of feeling ill, moth-er?’ ‘Oh, I don't know, but perhaps when you get to myage you will be able to feel for yourself what it is like.’

This is an example for those of you who are already old,brothers and sisters; you should not complain too muchwhen you feel ill. Surrender to the One Almighty God, foronly God can help you as you hope to be helped.

Brothers and sisters, Bapak can tell you plainly that whenhe was in England earlier on and was about to leave forGermany, Bapak suddenly had a heart attack. Bapak felthis pulse and he asked Sharif to feel it too, so as to seehow fast it was. A hundred and how many was it? A hun-dred and forty a minute; Bapak’s pulse was beating likethis ... tik, tik, tik ... very fast.

Bapak was examined by a doctor, and the

THE LATIHAN IN SICKNESS & AGE

doctor said he should go to hospital. Bapak said yes, hewould go if it was really necessary but there was no needto worry, for in a little while things would proba-bly change. Bapak stayed quiet and prayed toGod, asking God whether the illness could bechecked, because Bapak needed it to stop.But if it really could not be stopped, I surren-dered that to God.

About two hours later, Bapak's own doctor,who happened to be in England, found thatthe pulse had dropped from a hundred andforty to seventy-eight, and that Bapak’s bloodpressure was down to a hundred and twentyover sixty, where before it had been eighty-five.Thus his blood pressure was no longer high butrather low. So Bapak did not go to hospital butto Germany. But he was obliged to postpone itfor a day.

When Bapak got to Germany, brothers and sisters, noth-ing happened during the four or five days he stayedthere. It was cold; colder than here. Then Bapak cameback via Paris, and while he was in France, in Paris, Bapakhad another attack, only this time his pulse was not a hun-dred and forty but a hundred and sixty; yes, a hundredand sixty a minute. The doctor was puzzled and had tocall in a heart specialist. This specialist came, and found arate of eighty-five to eighty. Then the pulse went to a hun-dred and fifty-eight or a hundred and sixty.

This was dangerous – Bapak must go at once to hospital.I thought that if I went to hospital I might not get back toEngland for another two weeks. ‘God help me and showme whether I should stay in Paris; should I stay in France asthe French people want me to?’ The doctor left – Bapaksaw that he looked rather like Sharif – and the pulse wasseventy-six, then a hundred and twenty, how many now?

Then the owner of the house, who was also a doctor, ageneral practitioner, said that Bapak need not call in adoctor. ‘Bapak does not need to play about with doc-tors.’ What had caused the trouble? The doctor himselfhad said the pulse was a hundred and sixty; then hecounted again ... tik, tik, tik ... and it was a hundred andtwenty, so now how many? This is by way of an example,brothers and sisters.

Do Not WorryThus although it is like that, brothers and sisters, how cananything happen to those who stand firm and trust in theOne Almighty God? If their time has not yet come, howcan they die?

It is also like that in Indonesia, so that it happened thatBapak's doctor said he could not live any longer. In fact,even one of the members, Dr. Leonora herself, also said itwould be better if Bapak stayed in Europe so that hecould live longer. I said I could not do that. Long life or no,it was God who would make it long or not so long. Yes; ofcourse one must also go along with the doctors, but notbelieve in them one hundred per cent. Oh, no.

Bapak addresses all that in particular to those of you wholive at that home for old people – what is it called? WismaMulia – so you must not worry even though it seems thatyou cannot be cured of some illness. You cannot dieunless God allows you to.

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MAY 08

One example of this in the past was H.; a member fromMexico. The doctors said that she had only three more

months to live, so she rushed off to Cilandak.‘Bapak, I have only three months left; what shallI do?’ ‘Who told you this?’ ‘The doctors told me.’‘Yes? Well, the doctors are only human, ormaybe not truly human, yet, and since the doc-tors are human, they cannot be sure. You mustput your trust in God.

Stand up; I tell you to stand up and wait in trust;have faith ... finish.’ After that, one or two nightslater, blood poured from her mouth, from hernose, because she had cancer of the lung. Wasit not a brain tumour? After that she was cured,and she is still living to this day. How many yearsago was it? Yes, about sixteen years ago. Yes,that is one of Bapak’s stories. That is all he has to

say on that subject.

Money and EnterpriseLater on, brothers and sisters, Bapak will continue, butnow Bapak needs to announce something which I feel isvery important for Subud and for all of you.

Brothers and sisters, Bapak hears and Bapak feels it forhimself – that money matters, or that part of them whichconsist of contributions from the Subud members, do notseem to be going well. In fact, brothers and sisters, youvery much need to rent a place for latihan, and for look-ing after the members who are ill, if need be.

So far that has only been done in a frugal and economi-cal way, leaving much to be desired. Bapak once spokeabout this to one of member who happened to be adoctor and who asked Bapak some questions. Bapaksaid that he has often advised the members who aredoing enterprises that when they make a profit theyshould, after the books have been made up, give twen-ty-five percent of the net profits to the Subud funds inorder to provide for the needs of Subud in every field,especially that of social work.

For the idea Subud has – both for the members and forthe general public, is that Subud should be able to estab-lish many homes for old people who have no family andwho need help, and to set up schools for neglected chil-dren and backward children, also to be able to providework for Subud members who are at present not working.

And also to establish ordinary schools for our own chil-dren, in order that they can direct these children into theright channels, so that a child who ought to become anarchitect for example, will be channelled so that he cancontinue in that direction. So too we should also establishactivities in what is called the field of social work, so as togive help to people who are destitute.

None of this can we do unless we have enough money toprovide for work like that. This is the reason why Bapakurges you to do enterprises. And to the doctor who askedthose questions, when he said that all this was all right forpeople doing enterprises, but what about somebody likehimself, who was a doctor and had a fixed income – andBapak said, that is right and there are many people likeyou, who live on a fixed salary. Maybe you get 1000Dollars every month and that’s it. And you will never makea profit because you will never be in an enterprise.

Subudunites all the

races ofmankind inthis world

PAGE 9SUBUDVOICE MAY 08

cont on p10>

Inner Voice welcomes stories and letters. Please send toIlaine Lennard, but NOTE: her e-mail: Ilaine.l@ntlworld.com

is not reliable. Please use ilaine.l@hotmail.co.uk

I N N E RV O I C E

But that 1000 Dollars that you get every month, you generally do not always spend all of it – youoften have some surplus. Maybe you get 1000Dollars in a month that you only spend 800,maybe 900 Dollars. So, as a guideline, set aside3 to 5 percent of what you earn every monthand give that to Subud for these needs, forcharitable needs, for running the organisationand so on. And then you can be confident thatyour responsibility has been correctly dis-charged and you need not regret that you arenot in an enterprise.

Then the doctor promised to do that. So it is thusclear that other members who have a steadyincome, whether or not they are doctors, will sometimeshave a surplus over their requirements, and can givesome of it to Subud. For Subud is you; you yourselves;Subud can make progress if you really make progress,and if you do not make progress, neither can Subud. Thusit is clear, brother and sisters, that the strength of Subudlies in the strength of your own shoulders and of your ownselves.

But at present, brothers and sisters, the people of thegroups in various places cannot as yet do enterprises. Itcan be said that there are a few doing enterprises, andalso a few of those are doing well and making profits sothat they can give something, but they can only giveonce a year, whereas our requirements, brothers and sis-ters, can be said to be on a monthly or a daily basis. Thuswe, ourselves have to make our Subud strong and not letit become weak, which shows that we are not really tak-ing care.

Bapak said just now that Subud is a gift from the OneAlmighty God, an unexpected gift. No other way is soeasy as the way which you receive and practice; that is,the latihan kejiwaan of Subud.

As a rule, brothers and sisters, people will only receivesomething of this ilmu ( spiritual knowledge ) if they fulfillcertain conditions such as cutting down food and sleep,denying themselves pleasure, going to live in lonelyplaces. There are very many people who wish to purifythemselves by ways that are not easy for others to endure.

That is why Bapak hopes that all of you, brothers and sis-ters, can be like that doctor who questioned Bapak, andcan do as Bapak said just now. In that way Subud, or tobe more precise, I.S.C. will not go short and the fundsneeded for running our spiritual brotherhood of Subud willnot slow down or diminish.

Choosing a TreasurerBrothers and sisters, Bapak will add a little more; that is,about the way to appoint a treasurer. Bapak had intend-ed to do this during the recent congress, but of course,something always gets forgotten. Something always getsoverlooked and that was the way to appoint treasurers inthe various national centres. These treasurers should beselected, chosen. That is why Bapak always says that allselections, except that of the chairman himself should bemade by the chairman.

Thus, the way to choose a treasurer is to choose someonewho is able to produce ideas about how to raise moneyother than what will come from the agreed contributions.For we cannot meet our needs just from contributions

alone, brothers and sisters, we cannot do it.

It is like what Bapak has described in Indonesiaitself, where formerly a contribution of fifty centsor one rupiah was plenty, but nowadays such asum is without any meaning. Whereas, then abeggar would be very grateful to be given onecent, nowadays if one gives them ten rupiahsthey say it would be better to give them nothingat all. Nowadays ten rupiahs means nothing.

It is thus clear, brothers and sisters, that if wealways rely only on contributions to support ourSubud funds we shall always be short of money.

This is clearly demonstrated in what happened right here.Thus now when Bapak travels, he is forced – yes, Bapak issaying something that he should not have to say – if itwere not for the P.T.S. Widjojo Centre, if it were not forBank Susila Bakti and for the other enterprises – Bapakwould not be able to come here, for there is only tenthousand dollars in the I.S.C. funds, whereas what Bapakneeds for his journey is forty thousand dollars just for thetickets, let alone anything else.

Thus it is clear, brothers and sisters, that we very muchneed to pay some attention and give some thought toour financial strength, although financial matters takesecond or third place as compared to spiritual matters.This is why Bapak hopes that this talk of Bapak’s can bedistributed all over the world, so that the members of allthe various centres who do not happen to be here canunderstand what Bapak means by what he is sayingtonight; that is, that we should consider financial mattersin order to allow the wheels of our spiritual brotherhood toturn more strongly.

Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, Bapak has fin-ished saying what he wants to say about the shortage ofmoney in our spiritual brotherhood of Subud, which auto-matically prevents its wheels from turning smoothly, andnow Bapak will go on explaining about the kejiwaan, thespiritual side.

We plan to publish the second part of this talk in the nextissue of Subud Voice

Choose a

treasurer

who is able

to produce

ideas about

how to raise

money

•

SAY ‘YES’ TO GOD! This is Miriam Snow’s story about her experiences as a Christian inSubud. Miriam herself is old and fragile now. She lives at WismaMulia and gave these and other stories to me some time ago. SoI would like to take this opportunity to thank her for sharing herexperiences with us. – Ilaina Lennard

At last the day of my opening came – March 10th 1964 – and Istood within a circle of about twelve women, listening with shuteyes to the words spoken by one of the helpers. ‘We are helpersin the spiritual brotherhood of Subud and we

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MAY 08

bear witness to your sincere desire to worship Almighty God….’

When she finished speaking and said ‘Begin’, I waited trustfullyand expectantly for something awesome to begin – theContact with the Life Force from God.

But at first nothing happened quite as I supposed. From all quar-ters I heard odd noises, and none of it seemed in the least ‘holy’:yet before long I found myself kneeling on the carpet. Near mea helper whose voice I recognised was groaning and wailing indistress, and I felt dismayed, knowing it was because of me.

Close behind me I was aware of a shocked little voice like theWhite Rabbit’s saying ‘Oh dear! Oh dear!’ and ‘No, no! Oh no!’and at this something roused in me and there came the thought:‘But this is not the way – to shrink back. Be open and responsive.Say Yes to God.’

Suddenly I found myself calling out loudly, again and again, ‘Yes,say Yes to God!’, while a great wave of warm benevolent powerlike tingling electricity poured strongly into me, and my armsopened wide to receive it.

The lovely singing of the same helper voiced my joy and happi-ness., and I had no idea how long it was before the call to ‘Finish’came, for I was cradled in inward bliss. Afterwards someone saidto me, ‘You were opened almost right away.’ And I vaguelywondered how she knew, and when it was.

To my surprise nothing much happened to me at the next lati-han, except that I was well content to rest in this new atmos-phere and the half hour went by with astonishing swiftness. It wasthe same for the next three months.

It was different after SwanwickMy first participation in a Subud Gathering at Swanwick, inSummer 1964 marked something entirely new in my experience.

At the first women's latihan in the beautifully built woodenchapel, I found myself on my knees, with all the strange newsounds swelling around me, and suddenly to my surprise tearsstarted streaming down my cheeks. And with it came a feelingof great release and blessing.

It seemed that I knelt before Someone who knew all about me,and the thought came, ‘Was it like this with Mary of Magdalawhen she found herself in front of the Man from Nazareth, over-whelmed by a Love she had never come upon before?’

On the third afternoon I decided to listen, for the first time, to atape in the library. Up till then I had wondered what good itwould do to sit and hear a lot of unintelligible Indonesian, withonly brief translations in English. Why not just the translation? But Ihad a surprise coming.

The tape of one of Bapak's talks had already started as I slippedinto the quiet room, where a dozen or so people sat relaxed yetintent with closed eyes and heard the rich dark voice of Bapakspeak with power to each individual soul.

To me it was like recognising a voice well-known and loved,speaking right inside myself, in my own chest. That my mindunderstood nothing of what was said seemed not to matter: mysoul was enraptured; and when Usman interpreted what hadbeen said, I was impatient to hear that other Voice again.

At one point while Bapak was speaking, I found myself observingmy right hand and thinking, ‘with this hand I must not hit; I mustnot use it to strike and hurt’. Then when the translation was beinggiven I was astonished to hear almost those very words.

Hearing that tape marked something new. Until then I had tend-ed to feel that rather too much respect was paid to Bapak and

to his explanations on spiritual matters, although I supposed thatI acknowledged his special place as unimpeded channel of thepower of God. Now I understood inwardly, secretly, andrejoiced.

Out on the fringeIn spite of these personal experiences, some of the time Ifound myself feeling almost lonely and hungry for something,doubtful and out on the fringe of things. Nothing very muchseemed to happen to me at the latihans after the first, andafter one in particular I came out wondering how all this com-motion could be called ‘worship’.

I came away from the chapel unhappy and full of doubt. I hidaway in the little grotto and pressed my head against the coldrock, gazed on the quiet green fields, and gradually felt better.But when I reached my room I prayed from my heart: ‘if Subudis right and good and holy, please show me for sure, give me asign. And if it is not, I will leave it just like that, I promise.’ Then Iforgot about it and was cheerful again.

After the evening latihan that day, when we were again all sit-ting quietly on the chairs lining the chapel walls, Maria Kibblesuddenly said, ‘would you like to try some testing before we go?’and there was a general murmur of agreement. I wonderedwhether I was supposed to take part in this mystery, being sonew, but anyway I stood up with the rest of them.

Having taken us through various paces, Maria asked for anyquestions or problems to be tested. There were a couple put for-ward, and then suddenly I found that I myself had something ofutmost urgency to ask. And rather stumblingly I did: ‘this Power inSubud – is it the Christ Power? Is it the Light Power?’

Very kindly, Maria said, ‘Come into the middle and ask for yourself.’

So there I stood, and asked the Power my big question, almostashamed at my daring, but passive and open to whatevermight be; instantaneously I was seized by the same great benev-olent Energy that manifested at my opening, only this time itmade my arms flail up and down at a terrific speed while mylungs pumped air in and out in uncontrollable gasps so fast thatI felt like some little fish pulled out of the water and dangling help-lessly, drowning in a new atmosphere.

I remember beginning to think wildly, ‘Why doesn't Maria dosomething to stop it?’ And then, just as suddenly I was releasedand set down, rather dazed and tottery but with all doubtsresolved and joy and relief seeping in to fill me full. I had myanswer and it sufficed.

My Own Latihan LanguageFor two days after my return home I felt strangely disorientatedand out of touch with my surroundings. And then things wereback to normal again and for the next three months the reg-ular twice-weekly latihans continued their uneventful butvery satisfying course. One night early in August 1964 thewords of a hymn of thankfulness for Subud were given to mebit by bit and I wrote them down as they came.

Soon after, the helpers in our group left for Wolfsburg where theywould meet Bapak on his world tour; and as several memberswere also away on holiday this left me and the most elderlymembers on our own for three or four weeks in September. NowI had the opportunity to see what ‘really quiet’ latihans were like,and I had the sensation of something missing – an emptiness.

October 7th 1964 is a date which will always stand out in mySubud memories. One of the women helpers was back fromWolfs¬burg at latihan that evening, and right away I felt adifference amongst us, a new flow of life and energy atwork. It helped to make me relaxed and responsive; and ina half-kneeling attitude I found myself swaying

PAGE 11SUBUDVOICE MAY 08

Subud Youth Activities

rhythmically from side to side, moreand more strongly.

And suddenly the most amazing thinghappened. With no warning and to myutter astonishment, a flood of strangeutterances in some foreign tonguecame from my throat, and someonewith a loud unknown voice was shout-ing them, and someone filled with arro-gance and mighty power leapt to his feet and swaggeredabout the room in the gathering dusk declaring his supremacyand stupendous strength and his joy in living – a Goliath mock-ingly challenging the helper who quietly stood like the boy Davidwith his little sling and five smooth stones.

The sensation of exuberant life and unlimited power was intoxi-cating and glorious. I was no longer myself – English, small-statured, a woman of 47 years – but a timeless man, dark-skinned, nearly naked, about seven feet tall and of tremendousstrength and vitality. It was like the coming back to the life of‘myself’ of hundreds of years ago. And I enjoyed it terrifically,quite oblivious to the 20th century or anything else. I recall hold-ing out my arms and calling someone ‘Bwana . . . m'Bwana . . .’with joy and delight and reverence.

And then it was over, at the quiet command ‘Finish’. I was five-feet-and-a-half-inch tall again, and shivering from reaction, say-ing half-laughingly half-accusingly to Nora Howard (as she wasthen called) ‘What did you bring back with you from Wolfsburg?’

It never happened quite like that again, but from that time I hadmy own latihan language and something different occurredeach time thereafter when the Power took over. At last I hadpierced the barrier, and I marvelled at the incredible differencebetween movement and speech from one's own will and brain,and movement and speech which by-passed it and arose fromthe soul alone. So this was the latihan kejiwaan of Subud! Whowould have guessed it would be like this?

How have I been ‘taught as a Christian’?Looking back over two years, I see that sometimes Christian sym-bols have presented themselves to my consciousness in thecourse of God’s teaching.

There was a day, when a short latihan came upon me while Iwas alone in our living-room. In it, my eyes opened and seemedto be directed with intent to the thin church spire standing outagainst the sky in the distance. I felt a longing to receive an indi-cation of the importance of the communion service and whetherit was incumbent upon me to take part in the rite although it hadlittle apparent effect on me personally.

So I ‘asked’. And as the latihan continued, it was shown to meso clearly and unmistakably in gesture and ‘language’ andflood of feeling, that the latihan itself was my communion serv-ice, myself my own priest, and the heavenly food and wine wasfurnished to my needy soul by the Life-sustaining generosity ofthe Holy Spirit within. And it was something to be shared, thesomething that bound us closely together in one fellowship inthe group latihan.

After that, during group latihans (except when goingthrough periods of purification) at some stage I would findmy hands and voice indicating the communion of the wineand the broken bread. My cupped hands came to my lipsand I drank, and sang for joy; and with words of solemn dec-laration known only to my soul, I took from my open palmand ate the bread of life and was filled to the brim with joyand delight. ‘My joy I give unto you.’ In accepting the winemy words seemed to be addressed to the Fatherhood of theSpirit; in the broken bread, to the Motherhood of God –Abba and Anya.

Startling and AwesomeI remember that at the close of one latihan (when we hadall seemed very much in accord, singing or falling tosilence as at the direction of a conductor in our midst), justbefore the ‘Finish’ my voice broke the deep hush with thewords: ‘Children, have you any bread?’ I was surprised athearing these words and in English instead of in my ownlatihan language.

When I got home, I took up my father's bible, thinking to seewhether I could find the words, which I vaguely connectedwith the feeding of the five thousand. On the very first page Iopened, I immediately saw the words. ‘Children, have you anymeat?’. And I saw that they were the words of the Risen Christstanding on the seashore in the early dawn light. It was in St.John's Gospel – the only one of the four in which it appears.

A much more startling and very awesome experience came onenight somewhere about the same time. I woke from deep sleep,but without moving or opening my eyes, to be aware of a moststrange and frightening thing happening. It was as though agreat wind of vibrating energy blew all through and around me,and I was nothing but a tiny spark of consciousness caught up inthis tremendous dark whirling vortex.

It felt as though I would be blown away altogether, but I foundmyself repeating instinctively, urgently and silently, ‘Jesus Christ,Jesus Christ . . Jesus Christ . . .’, over and over, as though by des-perately hanging on to those words I would come through safely.As suddenly as it came, it was gone; and I believe I fell asleepalmost at once, without really rousing.

Some weeks later it came again in the night, and yet a third time.And on the third occasion that it woke me with its mighty fearful-ness, I was able to submit and almost to welcome it. But that wasthe last time. I don't attempt to reason these things out with themind, but they have come with that shock of surprise, which is itsown authenticity.

That shock ofsurprise

which is itsown

authenticity

•

YOUTH FUNDRAISING PARTY: Funds were raised at LoudwaterFarm in England to assist Steven Cooney, an American youthwho was injured during the Innsbruck World Congress. LouiseHarrington, former Britain SYA coordinator, wrote: ‘The Barnparty raised a total of £435.26. We gave [Steven] £350 whichallowed to him to get back home to America. The fundrais-ing was done to support Steve, and all the rest would go tothe Almoners.’

A EUROPEAN YOUTH GATHERING will take place at La Sourcein the French Pyrenees from July 5th to 13th 2008. Apart fromhaving fun this meeting will look into the Youth’s concernswith: (1) The World Congress in 2010, (2) The yearlongInitiative: Looking at our Subud organisation and Culture, and(3) actions for replenishing the International Youth TravelFund. Recommendations will be presented to the WorldSubud Council at their meeting during the Gathering of theAmericas in Amanecer end of July.

We encourage the youth in other parts of the world to alsomeet together and look at these various questions.

SUBUD YOUTH TRAVEL FUND BENEFIT: Concerning Subud byJohn Bennett has been re-published by Undiscovered WorldsPress and Halim Korzybski. Publishers and the Bennett estatehave waived royalties and profit and all expenses have beenmet, so funds from sales of the book have generously beendesignated for the International Youth Travel Fund. For order-ing information contact spi@subudbooks.co.uk or halimko-rzybsi@gmail.com

•

SUBUDVOICE PAGE 12 MAY 08

KALIMANTANThirteen new borrowers join the YUM micro-credit program… Yayasan Usuha Mulia (YUM) has been operating a micro-credit program to help women entrepreneurs in Kalimantan.The management of the program was recently reorganised.

New borrower Sriwahyuni, a farmer from Melati, writes… After I heard of the micro-credit program, I attended themonthly meetings and became very interested to becomeone of the members in order to improve my small business. Ialso find it very enjoyable and useful to meet with otherwomen and share the experiences and difficulties we haveencountered. A full report of the program achievements in2007 is available on the Susila Dharma web site www.susiladharma.org

SD SERBIA RESPONDS TO YOUTH VIOLENCEJosephine Bacikin, chair of recently formed SD Serbiawrites…Thank you very much for your kind email and support to us inSerbia. My country is going through a difficult period againand I do appreciate that you remember us here. The UNICEF project, School without Violence, is our nationalproject to address our very demanding problem of youth vio-lence. Sadly, this could be recently seen on the TV news, howvandalism happened as the reaction to Kosovo's proclama-tion of their independence. This violence was done mostly bythe young people.

Therefore, as our national project, Susila Dharma Serbia haschosen to support and take part in the School withoutViolence project which is monitored and managed byUNICEF.

The problem of violence among children is not a new one inSerbia; but for far too long it has been neglected andallowed to exist on the periphery of the national conscious-ness. SD Serbia's goals are to be part of this UNICEF project,to prevent and reduce violence within schools, and to cre-ate schools that are secure, nurturing learning environmentsfor children and adolescents.

To learn more about the situation in Serbia, read a back-ground report by Josephine. Go to www.susiladharma.org

SD INDIA STRENGTHENS NETWORKING BETWEEN PROJECTS A meeting of SD India was held on February 16 in Bangalore,led by the new chairman, S. A. Samy. The decisions of themeeting were to strengthen networking between Indian proj-ects around the themes of organic farming, support towomen, children, health, and nutrition and training forProjects; to start a newsletter to improve communication; toinform members of Subud India about SD activities; and tolook for ways to finance SD India and Project work.

Mithra Foundation is also organising discussions on the UNMillennium Development Goals (UN-MDGs) by a group oflike-minded NGOs from four states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,

Andra Pradesh and Karnataka.

BINA CITA UTAMA CHOIR WOWS DIGNITARIESThe BCU Student Choir was invited to perform for the birthdaycelebrations of Hamid da Silva, who has been a FoundingPartner of BCU School since its beginning in 2005. He is alsothe Indonesian Honorary Consul in Portugal. Among the 100guests were the Vice-Governor of Central Kalimantan, andseveral members of the National Parliament in Jakarta.

The following day the government ministers visited theschool and expressed their admiration for its pioneeringvision and they acknowledged that, although it was thegovernment's responsibility to provide quality education,they were still far from being able to achieve this andtherefore were very grateful that people, both locally andinternationally, were willing to dedicate their time, skill, andmoney to help with this educational project. You can reador download the full BCU Newsletter from the SusilaDharma web site.

INTERNATIONAL CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (ICDP) NowayLed by a small dedicated team, this program has beensteadily growing for 20 years and is now active in over 20countries. Here is an explanation of the program and somenew developments.

Professor Karsten Rukman Hundeide, ICDP chairmanexplains: Our work is primarily competence-building and training.When the training is over and the quality of the work hasbeen evaluated, we withdraw, having prepared local train-ers to take over the organisation and further implementationof our programme. ‘

Whenever possible, we try to insert the ICDP Programme intoexisting institutional structures, government networks, leadingNGOs working in the field of care for children, educationalinstitutions, high schools and universities. In this way ICDPtraining may become an established part of the local institu-tions responsible for the care of children and for the educa-tion of resource-persons in this field.

ICDP receives special award ICDP received an award from the Mayor of Oslo for the besteducational and awareness raising effort in the city. Theaward was given to Farahnaz Rastegar and Ellen Tronsmo fortheir work with ICDP and especially for ICDP's efforts in reach-ing out to the minority population. ICDP is implementedthroughout the city through different local networks such askindergartens, social service groups, and health stations.

ICDP in AustraliaRenee Goetz, Australia’s SusIla Dharma Chair, is aiming tointroduce ICDP in Australia. She recently attended training inOslo and a team is forming to take this project forward.Renee sees ICDP as a way to offer practical support toAboriginal communities.

ANNOUNCING SUSILA DHARMA CONFERENCE 2008Members of SDIA will gather in Armenia, Colombia for theirannual Conference and business meeting. Program detailswill follow and all are welcome! July 23, 24 and 25 there will be a 3 day Project ManagementWorkshop July 30 SDIA Annual General Business Meeting July 31 SDIA Board Meeting. Most of these items have been excerpted from the The SDIANetwork eNews which is published once a month. To sub-scribe go to www.susiladharma.org

Susila Dharma News

SUBUD INTERNATIONAL HEALTHASSOCIATIONMaxwell Fraval, SIHA coordinator, is planning a two-daymeeting before the Americas Gathering in Colombia.The focus will be on communicating and supporting thechallenges that following the latihan has in the healthcare field as well as identifying possible projects or otherinitiatives that SIHA can work on. Contact Maxwell formore information at mmfraval@ozemail.com.au •

PAGE 13SUBUDVOICE MAY 08•

If not us, then who? If not now,then when?ISolen Gratiet reports on the United Nations Human RightsCouncil in Geneva, March, 2008...Between the 10th and 14th of March, Raphael Bate and Iattended our first session of the United Nations Human RightsCouncil in Geneva, thanks to funding from Susila DharmaInternational. We attended for one week of the seventh ses-sion, which lasted much longer.

Before the event, I was afraid it would be little more than atalking shop – and to some extent it was, as despite all the dis-cussions and resolutions made, torture, genocide, rape,forced marriages, disappearances, and many other violationsof people’s basic rights will continue all over the world

However, the importance of this event should not be underesti-mated. First, the UN Human Rights Council has enormous symbol-ic value, representing a mobilisation of energy for change for thebetter in many domains. This in itself can give hope to the manypeople around the world battling to improve human rights.

Secondly, it gives these same people a forum in which to voice theirconcerns and make their voices heard by those with power.

Thirdly, concrete positive results can and do come aboutbecause of the Human Rights Council, both in terms ofchanges in policy by individual governments and in terms ofawareness-raising about particular issues, which can then leadto individual behavioural change or the aforementioned poli-cy changes. It is an invaluable tool of peer pressure, where thebehaviour of any and every nation is scrutinised and debated.

A Little BewilderingFor a first-timer, things can be a little bewildering, from the pro-cedure to get your badge to the last-minute timetablechanges and the multitude of extra meetings (called ‘sideevents’) going on all over the place which you are not awareof until the day they are happening and which can involve areal trek (‘cross the pontoon, right, left, up to the fifth floor,then follow the signs…’).

It is sometimes also necessary to fight your way across a morassof acronyms and jargon, not to mention reams of paper, to getto the crux of the matter. And if you find people in dark suitsscary, then this is not the place for you! For me it certainly madea change from life in rural Brittany – not a cow in sight all week!

But you soon get the hang of it, understanding that the sideevents can be organised by NGOs or state missions, and learn-ing to choose the ones likely to be most interesting, and thatthe plenary sessions can run on too long because peoplehave a lot to say.

Generally this is how it happens: the Special Rapporteur (SR)who has researched a particular topic, say migrants, over anumber of years and in several countries, presents his/her report,followed by two other reports by SRs on other subjects.

This is followed by comments from ‘concerned countries’ andother country representatives who want to have their say on oneof the three topics, and who have five minutes to speak. Finally,the NGOs can have their say—three minutes each, sometimesreduced to two minutes! This is often the most interesting part.

Occasional Windows of BrillianceAs I sat listening to statements in the plenary sessions, Iheard some country representatives (in general the ambas-sador him/herself) rebutting the claims made in a particularreport, stating it was not representative of the state ofaffairs in their country:

I heard China supporting Myanmar’s (Burma’s) human rights

record; I heard representatives totally ignor-ing lamentable situations in their own coun-tries in order to attack another country’srecord on a particular subject.

This is all to be expected, this is politics, thisis human nature. But I also heard countriesexpressing their unreserved support for thereports and committing themselves tochange policies or, even more positive,enumerating the laws and codes of prac-tice that had been rewritten or brought into effect to be in linewith Council Resolutions.

Occasional windows of brilliance illuminated the proceedingssuch Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler’sreport, a passionate intervention on food security in which hedrew attention to the number of children who die from hungereach hour and called the fact that a child had died fromhunger during his speech, murder.

This speech, which reiterated the fact the world has the meansto produce enough food for everyone, and strongly criticisedfood dumping and using agricultural land to grow bio-fuelcrops, brought rare applause.

There are issues for which there are as yet no guiding princi-ples or conventions, and which are therefore all the moreimportant to discuss. A case in point is the impact parentalimprisonment has on children. This is a little-known area, andvery relevant to Susila Dharma which supports the Tierravivaproject in Argentina, whose main programme involves art,education and childcare workshops for women living withtheir children in prison.

Best PracticeOn my first day in Geneva, I attended an ‘informal’ meet-ing on this subject which provided me with many insightsinto an area which has been of great interest to me sinceSDF began supporting Tierraviva in 2005. It is surprising that,although this issue touches developed countries as much asdeveloping ones, it has not been addressed by the HumanRights Council or anyone else; so, there are no guidelines forbest practice.

Rachel Brett, of the Quaker United Nations Office, who waschairing this meeting, called for collaboration from individ-uals and organisations with expertise in this field who wouldbe willing to work with her team to collect data about cur-rent and best practice.

I was able to obtain her details and pass them on to RasjidCesar of Tierraviva so he would be able to participate in thisinitiative. This could be the start of a collaboration that mayhelp to lead to an HRC resolution that would provide ahumans rights framework for practitioners and governments towork within—a long-term process, surely, but a worthwhile one.

In part, it is these small personal connections that could lead tobigger things which make a Subud participation in the HumanRights Council interesting and useful. We also have a role toinform people in Subud generally, and in particular SusilaDharma project leaders, of developments in the field of inter-national human rights which might affect or help their work.What better way of making Subud known in the wider worldthan participating in this or other United Nations events?

The UN Human Rights Council is not glamourous, spectacu-lar or ‘sexy’: but this is where the nitty-gritty gets done. Thisis where we can take things forward. And remember :‘There are three kinds of people: Those who make thingshappen, those who watch things happen, and those whoask, ‘What happened?’’ (Casey Stengel). I believe weshould try to belong to the first group! Participation in theHuman Rights Council is one way of going about it …

These small

personal

connections

could lead to

bigger things

PAGE 14 SUBUDVOICE MAY 08

cont on P15 >

Sharif Horthy writes…Husein Rofé, who played a key role inthe spread of Subud outsideIndonesia, passed away suddenly inSingapore at the end of January2008. He was 86.

Husein was born in England. Hisfather’s family were descended fromSephardic Jews who had been evict-ed from Spain in the fifteenth centuryand had settled in the Syrian regionof the Ottoman Empire. In the nine-teenth century they owned a num-ber of businesses in Syria and Egypt, from where Husein’s grand-father emigrated to England.

Husein’s father, Albert Rofé, was born in Manchester and mar-ried a Belgian refugee from the First World War. He did not joinhis family’s business in Egypt but became a successful proper-ty developer there in his own right, living mostly in Paris.

Husein’s parents split up when he was five and he describedhis childhood as desperately unhappy. He felt the lack of amother’s love and was rejected by his father, whose greatestambition was to be accepted as an English gentleman.

Husein’s older brother, Alan, was tall and blond like their moth-er and was good at sports while Husein was smaller, dark andSemitic looking, with a strong studious streak and a deep inter-est in spirituality. His father never missed an opportunity fortelling Husein how disappointed he was in him. He eventuallydisinherited him and left his considerable wealth to Alan.

Prodigious Linguistic AbilityHusein was endowed with prodigious linguistic abilities.Asked how many languages he knew, he would retortby asking ‘What is ‘a language’, and what is ‘toknow’?’ But once past such quibbles, he would reluc-tantly admit to being able to read and converse rea-sonably comfortably in about 70 languages.

His passion for the precise truth, which made him a mostinteresting but often uncomfortable companion, alsomeant that he would tend tounderstate his abilities.

Husein’s passion for languages and foreign culturescombined with his appetite for travel and his desire toget away from his family. They took him initially toMorocco and later to newly independent Indonesia,where he arrived in 1950, aged 28. He settled in Yogyakartashortly after, and started earning his living by teaching English,often to the elite of the new nation who mostly only spoke Dutch.

Having embraced Islam four years earlier in London, he becamecurious about the secretive Sufi sects that abounded in Java. Hisenquiries eventually got him introduced to Bapak, who was atthat time living in the same city. In response to his questions,Bapak explained to him about Subud and told him that he mustmake his own decision about whether he wanted to receive thelatihan. He thought it over and asked to be opened.

Husein described that as he was riding his bicycle home after hisopening, it was as if an inner voice was telling him that what hehad received was not just a a Javanese mystical practice but anew possibility for humankind, and that it would be his job to helptransmit it beyond Indonesia. When he told Bapak later what hehad received, Bapak simply confirmed that it was true. But a fewdays later he was visited by a small group of older Subud mem-bers who told him that they had been very interested in hisarrival, because Bapak had told them in 1936 that one day aman of Syrian descent who spoke many languages would cometo Indonesia and initiate the spread of Subud around the world.

Aside from making him wonder how much say we actuallyhave in our own destiny, the thing that most amazed Huseinwas that, knowing what he did, Bapak had made no effort toinfluence him to join Subud.

Spreading Subud Beyond IndonesiaHusein practiced the latihan with Bapak and the Yogya groupand even became a lodger in Bapak’s house for a time. Butafter a couple of years his need to move on reasserted itselfand, with Bapak’s encouragement, he moved to Sumatrawhere he started the first two Subud groups outside Java.

He then received an invitation to attend an inter-faith confer-ence organised by an obscure religious group in Tokyo andopened there the first few members of Subud Japan. On his wayback to Indonesia by boat, the captain informed him of a radiomessage that Husein’s Indonesian visa had been revoked.

He offered to drop him off in Hong Kong, then still a Britishcolony. Here he found among the Chinese a voraciousappetite for learning and great demand for his services as ateacher of languages. Once again people gravitatedtowards him and a small Subud group was formed.

From the time Husein lived in Morocco, he had been writingarticles for all sorts of journals and magazines, and one hewrote about Subud caught the eye of Meredith Starr, an impe-cunious Englishman living in Cyprus who had a lively interest inesoteric subjects.

He wrote to Husein, saying that he could just afford to give themoney for a one way boat trip if he would come to Cyprusand pass on the Subud contact. With Bapak’s agreement,Husein decided to go.

Soon after opening Starr, Husein decided to place an ad in alocal paper offering language lessons. Just one pupil showed

up: Sir Eric Hallinan, the Chief Justice of Cyprus, oneof the most powerful people on the island, whowanted to learn Italian. Hallinan soon became inter-ested in Subud and was opened.

He was so impressed that he introduced Husein to anumber of his friends who, it turned out, had beeninterested in the teachings of the Caucasian Greekteacher George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, who hadpassed away in 1949.

At about this time Husein visited his father in Egyptand there followed a brief reconciliation. His fatheragreed to fund Husein to go to London and studyfor a degree in Oriental languages.

Political tensions in Cyprus had also been getting worse, soHusein moved to London, where he arrived in June 1956. Hewas followed by some of the group from Cyprus who hadbecome interested in Subud.

Bapak Arrives In LondonSoon a small number of the senior Gurdjieff followers were doinglatihan regularly in Husein’s rented apartment. They were suffi-ciently impressed by the effects of the latihan that, towards theend of that year, a decision was made to invite Bapak toLondon. By then the group had also been joined by JohnBennett, a teacher of the Gurdjieff system whose group owneda large house, Coombe Springs, in Kingston, near London.

Bapak and his party arrived in England in May 1957 and wereaccommodated in Husein’s apartment in Willesden. Within afew days it became clear that much more space would beneeded, as quite a number of people now wished to beopened. Bennett invited Bapak to Coombe Springs and offeredto place the facilities there at his disposal.

This was strongly resisted by the original group of

Husein Rofé

Not just aJavanesemystical practice

but a newpossibility forhumankind

Husein Rofé in 1961 (Photo by Michael Rogge)

PAGE 15SUBUDVOICE MAY 08•

Gurdjieff devotees, who it seems regarded Bennett as anopportunist. It was clear, however, that nobody else was will-ing or able to offer an alternative, so Bapak accepted. But asthe anti-Bennett group would not set foot in Coombe, Bapakfelt obliged to go and do latihan with them regularly in London.

In the months that followed, hundreds of enquirers came toCoombe to be opened. When the press reported that theactress Eva Bartok had had a baby after she had been healedthere of a tumour in her womb, many people who had neverheard of Gurdjieff joined the queue. Initially Bapak madeHusein and Bennett jointly and equally responsible for thedevelopment of Subud in and beyond Britain. Husein with hislonger experience of the latihan was to be more responsiblefor the spiritual side.

Besides Britain, Bapak had from the beginning hoped that Subudwould find fertile ground in Morocco and he was aware ofHusein’s connections there. So Husein went off to see if he couldget together a group there who would invite Bapak to visit.

This mission was not successful, and it also signalled the end ofHusein’s role in the development of Subud. For by the time hegot back to Coombe, he found that Bennett – no mean linguisthimself – had perfected his Indonesian to such a degree that hecould supplant Husein as Bapak’s official interpreter and wasnow in charge of everything. When Husein complained toBapak, Bapak advised him to return to the Far East, which he did.

This is how Husein told the story, and he certainly believed thatBennett had conspired to get him out of the way. It is not easyto judge to what extent these events were the result of intrigueby John Bennett and how much had been Husein’s owndoing, for he could be fairly arrogant and abrasive when hewas in the mood. Probably there was a bit of both. No doubtBapak was also aware that it was Bennett, more than Husein,who could hasten the spread of Subud at that stage.

An Uncommon LifeBe that as it may, six years later Bennett himself had left Subud andtaken back Coombe Springs, while Husein went on doing the lati-han to the end of his life. But he felt that he had been relieved ofresponsibility for the further development of Subud in the world.

After convoluted travels in the Middle East, dogged by warsand revolutions, he returned to Hong Kong and entered fullyinto the life of the colony, which became the centre of gravi-ty of his life for many years.

In 1966 he met Richard Wong, who was to become his devot-ed personal and business partner till the end of his life. He laterchanged his name to Riza. Together they founded PolyglotTranslations, which became a very successful provider of trans-lation and interpreting services, still going strong today.

In the meantime the family story had a sort of happy ending.A few years ago Husein’s brother Alan came to him and toldhim that he wanted to move and asked if Husein would like hishouse in Brighton. This meant that Husein started to spend thesummers in Brighton and it gave me the pleasant opportunityof getting to know him better.

Not long after, Alan asked Husein to show him how to comeclose to God. Husein opened him and asked me to join themfor latihan. I assumed that this would become a regular thing,but Alan died of a heart attack a few weeks later.

In his own words, Husein ‘lived an uncommon life’. He alwaysacknowledged the hand of God in the seemingly random eventsthat shaped it. Who knows what God’s fallback plan would havebeen if Husein had decided to settle down in Yogyakarta and notto bother to spread Subud. Something, no doubt. But I shallalways be grateful for Husein’s perspicacity and courage.

Husein Rofé’s autobiography A Veil of Light will be publishedshortly by Purple Pagoda Press

Abdullah Pope writes from Perth…Hilltop Farm is a 20 hectare (50 acre) rural property an hour’s drivefrom central Perth in Western Australia. There is a 70 m2 carpetedgeodesic dome latihan/meeting hall, and three cottages sleep-ing up to 30 guests.

It is used from time to time by Subud Perth, and is rented out tomany non-Subud groups for retreats, seminars, workshops, etc. In December last year we hosted a National Helper visit. Four ofthe eight national helpers stayed there, and more than 30 mem-bers and children came up during the weekend.Two years agowe hosted a memorable ‘Spirit of Enterprise’ meeting, with morethan 40 members attending from all over the world.

The centre is owned by three Subud couples, the Ismails, theLanges and the Popes. As Salim Ismail is a very busy doctor, withfive boys under 16, and Herman Lange has got married andmoved to New Zealand, the Popes have been left to see to therunning of the centre. Abdullah is now 80, though, and Salamah75, so they are finding it difficult to manage the place on theirown. We are therefore looking for someone to buy Herman’s one-third share of the property and run the business.

Currently most of the groups using the centre are spiritual, NewAge, and Church groups, some of whom come on a regularbasis. There have also been one or two business groups – who areprepared to pay a lot more – but the Popes have not tapped intothis lucrative market as they do not have the energy to do theadvertising and everything else!

The land itself also has a lot of potential for sub-division into ninehalf-acre strata blocks in a cluster round the top of the hill, adjoin-ing the conference centre, still leaving the majority of the land foragriculture.

Western Australia is experiencing a resources boom, with only 2.5per cent unemployment, and therefore investing in Hilltop wouldbe a real opportunity for an Aussie, or foran overseas memberwho would like to come to Australia as a business migrant, enjoyour boom times, and help keep a Subud enterprise going.

We could also be interested in anyone who may not be able topurchase a third share, but who would live there and just run theplace.If you are interested, have a look at our website, www.hilltopfarm.com.au first, and then e-mail Abdullah andSalamah Pope at hilltopfarm@ozemail.com.auor telephone us, +61-(0)8-9298-9774

News from the Top of the Hill

•

Lucas, (formerly Latif) Horton writes…Between 1980 and 1983 I was privileged to work as ViceChairman of ISC under Hameed Frances, who was the ISCChairman in the run-up to the Anugraha Congress.

During 1981 Hameed asked Bapak ‘what was the role of theorganisation in Subud’ (at Villa Rahayu, Wentworth, Sjarif Horthytranslating). The reply from Bapak was brief and to the point.‘The purpose of the organisation is to promote enterprise.’

Hameed took this to heart and launched the ‘be enterprising’initiative. This was the time when Subud was seriously planningfive International Centres around the world: Anugraha,England, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney, Jakarta. Hameed wasfearless and committed to Subud and the latihan; he wasentertaining and unconventional, regaling the unwary with sto-ries of Maruf, and many other Irish tales from around the world.

I feel blessed to have known and worked with him, he was adear friend, I miss you Hameed, this world is a poorer placewithout you.

Hameed Francis

•

PAGE 16

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SUBUDVOICE

The opinions expressed in the various articles are thesole responsibility of their authors and can not be seen asrepresenting the opinion of the World Subud Association.

The name Subud ® and the Seven Circles Symbol areregistered marks of the World Subud Association.

ILAINA LOOKING FOR WORKIlaina Lennard, former editor of SUBUDVOICE, is looking for paid work, proofreading / editing. Reasonable rates,excellent references. E-mail Ilaine.l@hotmail.co.ukor tel. +44 (0)1344 451851.

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WORLD LATIHANMAY 04 10.00 GMT

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These people may be owed money!Help Wanted in Finding Lost BSB Trust Beneficiaries

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attention of your local committee and ask that they act on it.

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COMPANION WANTEDLong time in Subud Brother of 67- still a bachelor – feels it is maybe time tochange that status. 1.7m, well educated, own home etc but NOT rich – greatsense of humour and indomitable spirit, would like to hear from potential sistercompanions. Age, race, creed immaterial. Leonard Wells, 8 Rudd Street,HASLINGDEN, Lancashire, BB4 5DG, UK.leonard.wells@ntlworld.com

Obituaries forVIRGINA KRIEG and SARONI BASSI

will appear in our next edition

NEW FROM VIA BOOKSOdds and Sods Marcus Bolt (158 pages/paperback)

50 years of articles (mostly Subud related), reviews,short stories, poetry etc.

Price £9.00 (plus postage) Order from:http://www.lulu.com/content/2245107or e-mail marcusbolt@easynet.co.uk

NEWemail

HARTATI HORTHYHartati Horthy passed away peacefullyon Thursday 10 April, surrounded byfamily in Uckfield, near Lewes, UK.

WORLD CONGRESS CORRECTIONIn a recent issue we said that the NewZealand World Congress would be heldin January 2009. This was a mistake forwhich we apologise. The 13th WorldCongress will be held in JANUARY 2010.

More information from isc@subud.orgThe World Congress website will be available in 2008.