An Encounter with the Subud Brotherhood....

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Right back in 1983 I was doing research for a possible article on the Subud Brotherhood. In Windsor I met Dominic Rieu, my key contact. He was a charming fellow of the old boy network. At the time if I recall correctly the conference centre of Anugraha was nearing completion. The word which is Sanskrit means Unexpected Place.

Anyway, I nearly had the chance of meeting Bapak the founder of Subud who was visiting Anugraha. Unfortunately, it was not to be due to other commitments. When I met Dominic I mentioned that the receiving of the "Holy Spirit", or "Higher Energy" during the practice of Latihan as it was called was like the Kriyas in Indian yoga. These Kriyas, or actions are an outward result of the purifying Power of the Spirit (similiar to the Pentacostal experience). They may involve strange movements such as jerks, and other kinds of actions. However, the human will can stop the process at any stage of the Latihan experience.

Anyhow, Dominic Rieu seemed impressed by the above "revelation", and the Indian mystical connection ..along with my knowledge on the Subud Brotherhood. He showed me a book which he had recently written, and published. I was allowed to borrow it along with other material.

Rieu died sometime ago in his nineties..Here is a link to him which also has link to a Times Obit on him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._C._H._Rieu

Bapak the founder of the Subud Brotherhood wrote something of his inner experiences in certain "controversial" writings. These have yet to be traced by me. They maybe similiar to those of Indian Mystics.

Interestingly, I posted a link on Multi-Dimensional Science on a Subud discussion group. One lady made the claim that if people were able to record in writing something of their inner experiences on receiving the "Holy Spirit" it could cause premature awakenings in others which would not necessarily be desirable. This reminded me of Swami Muktanandas highly descriptive accounts of his visions, and the the like which could in some cases cause people reading them to awaken the Kundalini energies, and hence, bring about "higher" changes in conciousness. Whether this leads to "desirable" consequences is another matter.

Sant Kirpal Singh a respected Shabd Yoga Master gave a brief "critical" comment on Subud.


http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/col/col-7.htm


"....The mystic base in the case of Subud is much more important than in that of Christian Science, yet is often directed toward the same end. It seeks, through following a certain course of exercises called Latihan, to put its followers in touch with hidden psychic powers. It does not seem to enhance consciousness directly but enriches it indirectly through increasing one's powers of intuition. Whether one looks atthe experiences of Mohammad Raufe or those of John Bennett, one realizes that in the case of Subud, a person may serve as a medium for higher spiritual forces,curing people of diseases, without becoming a conscious co-worker. The result is that instead of progressing to higher and still higher planes of consciousness, until one merges with the Infinite, one tends to cultivate a passive receptivityto psychic powers which may not necessarily be of the higher kind. Many disciples during Latihan reproduce strange animal or bird experiences--a far cry from the Nirvikalp Samadhi or the Sehaj Samadhi spoken of by the greatest mystics."