

A member's understanding of Subud

My understanding of Subud is that it is predicated upon the belief in the existence of a Force, an Energy in the universe, which permeates all things. This is often called God.
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This all pervasive energy can not be proven to exist with our minds and therefore its existence must be taken on Faith. Faith is to accept the existence of something beyond what our mind can prove or explain. The part of this Force that is within each of us is often called the Soul, the Spirit, the Inner, etc.
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Throughout recorded history, across cultures, civilizations, time and place, humans have accepted the existence of this Force and developed religions, belief structures and systems for influencing the material world through their inner connection to The Force. This is the origins of Prayer, Ritual and Sacrifice.
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Subud, through a training called “Latihan”, offers a path to widening and strengthening the connection between one’s Inner Force and the Universal Force of which it is a part. As this connection grows, one’s connection to, and awareness of, all things in the universe deepens. One comes to know things that can not be known with the mind or the senses.
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Subud does not ascribe humanlike wishes, desires or intentions to The Force, nor does it require experts to act as intermediates. There is only The Force within each of us and its connection to all things.
Subud is not in conflict with organized religions, but rather supports the life guidelines that religions provide.
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As awareness of one’s Inner grows, it becomes increasingly possible to rely on one’s Inner for guidance, to listen or feel right from wrong, good from bad, better from worse. This is widely experienced as an intuition, or getting a feeling, or sensing.
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The strengthening of one’s Inner connection to the Whole and the increasing reliance on one’s Inner for guidance through life, is a goal of the Subud exercise.
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Isaac Goff, Marin, 2019
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