Subud Vision - Feedback
Rikard Seeberg Andresen - The Good Reputation Of Subud
Misleading impression of a fixed belief system. From Stefan, January 3, 2008. Time 23:4
Hello Rikard,
It's good to reread both of your articles, so full of insights. It hadn't occured to me so clearly, before reading your second article, that Bapak's words addressed three different sets of spiritual needs. I suppose he wanted to pave the way for all-comers.
I was drawn to Subud by the (slim) hope of an authentic spiritual contact - what you describe as the mystical aspect. I was also in mental and emotional turmoil and had an inkling that the latihan could help (it did, very gradually). Applicant meetings raised more questions than they answered but I did feel something unfamiliar during and after the meetings which in retrospect was a slight taste of the latihan. This more than anything drew me back (after 9 doubtful months of weighing it up!) to be opened.
I agree that it's the non-dogmatic and universal aspects of the latihan that are potentially attractive while the prescriptive aspects are offputting. Isn't it interesting how many writers from a number of countries have independently arrived at that conclusion?
Our online presence creates (in my view) the misleading impression of a fixed belief system, by using familiar "religious" terms of phrase. High time to turn this around ...
Stefan
From bronte, January 5, 2008. Time 0:46
How interestng to read about that subtle influence Subud has.
I used to get it by sitting outside the latihan hall, when I was not yet sixteen, and it must have influenced my life then so that I went from a failure at school to passing in all subjects at the end of the year.
There was not much talk with anyone about Subud. I managed to see one or two members for a little while before or after latihan, but I was just a nuisance. An anomaly if you like, who hung around because he wanted Subud, but couldn't have it.
But it helped me subtly in ways I cannot understand now, even 47 years later.
And I had just an old friend who was in it, not like the people with families in it today, or rather, in the years between then and now.
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