ABSTRACT
Author: Drs. Kafrawi Title: THE PATH OF SUBUD: A Study of 20th Century Javanese Mysticism founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjoja.
Department: Institute of Islamic Studies. Degree: M.A.
This thesis examines the origins, nature, and characteristics of the Subud mystical order which is an expression of Javanese Red
(abangan) Muslim mysticism. It presents material on the life of the founder, on the religious background of the order) and presents the doctrines, practices, and forms of organizatiori peculiar to the order. (Kafrawi) THE PATH OF SUBUD THE PATH OF SUBUD
A Study of 20th Century Javanese Mysticism founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjoja
by
Kafrawi
A Thesis Submitted to the Institute of Is1amic Studies, Facu1ty of Graduate Studies and Research, McGi11 University, Montreal, Canada, In Partial Fu1fi1ment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts.
McGi11 University Montreal 1969
~ Kafrawi 1970 CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... iv
I. INTRODUCTION. . • ...... vi
II. HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENTS IN INDONESIA • • . • • ...... 1 a. Dynamism and Animism. . 3 b. Hinduism and Buddhism . . . . 8 c. Islam . . . . 14 d. Christianity ...... 37
III. BAPAK MUHAMMAD SUBUH SUMOHADIWIDJOJO. 54
IV. THE TEACHING OF SUBUD . . • . . . . ., 73 a. Pak Subuh's universa1 re1igious out1ook and his view of Shari'ah...... 73 b. His concept of daja (sou1s) . . . 92
V. SUBUD LATIHAN KEDJIWAAN (SPIRITUAL EXERCISES) ...... •.... · 131 a. The meaning of 1atihan kedjiwaan. · 131 b. Description of 1atihan. . . . . · 137 c. The mystica1 goal of 1atihan. · 147 d. Presumed sources of 1atihan . . · 159
ii iii
CONCLUSION. • • ...... 171
NOTES - CHAPTER l • • • • ...... 176 CHAPTER II •• . . . . . l 178 CHAPTER III . . . 187 CHAPTER IV...... 192
CHAPTER V • ...... • • • 202
APPENDIX 1...... 209
APPENDIX II • ...... 211
BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 218 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
l wish to record my indebtedness to Dr. C. J. Adams, Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, McGill University, who by giving me admission te this Institute, by securing additional financial support, and by constant encouragement and advice made it possible for me to undertake and complete this thesis. l also wish to record my indebtedness to the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, Connecticut, who awarded me and my family a fellowship during the years 1967-1969 which made st\ldy at this Institute possible. l also wish to thank the Asia Foundation, San Francisco, who awarded me a travel grant from Djakarta to Montreal and return. During my studies at the Institute of Islamic
Studies, l enjoyed the sympathetic guidance and constant encouragement of its staff. In the compilation of this thesis, Dr. H. Landolt very kindly made suggestions and gave advice on the organization and collection of materials; Professor N. Berkes with his rich knowledge of Indonesian
iv v affairs gave valuable comments; Professor C. J. Adams went to the trouble of reading the whole thesis and made valuable suggestions in spite of the very heavy pressure of work on him; Mr. Muzaffar Ali, the Librarian of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and his staff, helped in various ways to make this work much easier; Mr. Z. A. Sjis rendered immense help in reading and translating Dutch texts; Mr. Azim Nanji and Mrs. Karen Abu Zayd sacrificed a lot of their time in editi..ng the English. Furthermore, l would like to thank my many Subud friends both in Indonesia and abroad who have given me valuable information and materials on Subud, the theme of this thesis. To the Institute of Islamic Studies, which ceaselessly attempts to promote better understanding between the adherents of aIl schools of thought and belief, this humble work is dedicated.
Kafrawi
Inffiitute of Islamic Studies McGill University, Montreal, December, 1969. l
INTRODUCTION
Muhammad Subuh is by no means the first Indonesian mystic known outside Indonesia. There have been many Indonesian mystics before him such as Hamzah Fansuri, 'Abdul Rauf al-Raniri and Sunan Bonang on whom studies by several scholars have been written. 1 Muhammad
Subuh's ~arrgat, however, is the first and the only Indonesian spiritual brotherhood that has gained extensive influence and a great number of followers in Indonesia as weIl as in the outside world. Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say that at present there is hardI y a single big city on this globe without a Subud branch. 2 Java, which has witnessed over a period of more than fifteen hundred years the arrivaI of Indians with their Hinduism and Buddhism, Arabs with their Islam, Chinese with their Confucianism, Portuguese and Dutch with their Christianity and Japanese with their Shintoism and which has today probably one of the
vi vii world's densest populations with approximately seventy million people,3 cannot easily be characterized under a single label or easily pictured in terms of a dominant theme. It did become a religious melting pot in which aIl possible influences have been digested in one way or another.
It is particularly true that in describing the religion of such a complex civilization as the Javanese, any simple unitary view is certain to be inadequate.
There is much variation in ritual, contrast in belief and conflict in values lying hidden behind the simple
statement that Indonesia, and Java in particular, is more t h an n~nety· percent Mus 1"~m. 4
If l have chosen to elaborate the religious diversity in contemporary Java, or more specifically in
one certain mystical order, my intention has not been to
deny the underlying religious unit y of its people or the Indonesian people in general, but simply to examine the
reality of the complexity, depth, and richness of their spiritual life.
The Indonesian Muslims, especially the Javanese, are divided into two groups, namely the White
Muslim (Islam Putihan or Santri) and the Red Muslim (Islam Abangan).5 White Muslims are those who accept viii
Islam as a faith and practise the injunctions comprised in the Islamic Law. The Red Muslims are those who accept Islam as a faith only, without practising the injunction of the Shari'ah. Therefore, instead of following the Shari'ah as understood and practised by
White Muslims, the Red Muslim group has built its own Shari'ah an a mystical basis which is in many cases far different from that of Orthodox Sunni Shari'ah and Sufism.
Therefore, among these people the mixture and struggle
between Shari'ah and 'Adat (custom) are very strong
indeed.
As far as we know the previous works on any
aspect of Islam in Indonesia are almost entirely concerned with the White Muslims (santri) only. Very
little attention has been given to the Red Muslim group.
In other words the abangan's (Red Muslim) existence and
their development has been left almost untouched,
although we must admit that the total number of this
group is relatively not less than the White Muslims. 6
In the field of mysticism in particular, there are at present more than 150 mystical brotherhoods of the Red
Muslim type which flourish throughout Indonesia, and no less than 100 of them have originated in Java. 7
The Subud spiritual order on which l intend to ix concentrate to a certain degree can be classified as one among the many orders of the Indonesian Red
Muslims. The purpose of this thesis is therefore an attempt to study and examine the nature and characteristics of Javanese Red Muslim Cabangan) mysticism. In this endeavour, however, l shall not discuss aIl the mystical trends among Javanese Red Muslims, but l shall confine my work to a certain order, that is, the order founded by Muhammad Subuh, a study of which l hope will reflect the major concerns and trends in Indonesian abangan mysticism as a whole.
In writing this thesis l have followed the transliteration system devised by the Institute of
Islamic Studies, McGi11 University. But with regard to the Indonesian names and terms of Arabic origin, however, l have preserved the system of transliteration adopted by Indonesian writers. 8 II
HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENTS IN INDONESIA
(THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND)
The origin and development of Muhammad Subuh's teaching and spiritUal order cannot be appreciated properly without a knowledge of the social and religious life of the Indonesian people in general and the Javanese in particular. Therefore, it is necessary to trace briefly the penetration and development of outside religions into Indonesia.
Indonesia is probably the biggest archipelago in the world. It consists of five main islands namely
Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Irian; and about 30 smaller archipelagoes, totalling 13,677 islands.
The name "Indonesia" is composed of two Greek words,
"Indos", meaning Indian or East-Indian, and "Nesos" , meaning island. Indonesia, therefore, literally means the East Indian islands. It extends from 6 north latitude to Il south latitude and from 95 ta 114 east longitude, covering a land area of 735,000 square miles
1 2 and a sea area of 1,263,000 square miles. The greatest distance from east to west is about 3,200 miles, from north to south, 1,200 miles. The country is pre dominant1y mountainous, there being about 400 vo1canoes, of which 100 are active. l
In the course of history, this archipelago lying as it did between the Indian Ocean and the China seas as weIl as the Pacific Ocean, was destined to play an important role as a transit area. Not only were they islands rich with spices and ports of calI for the
products of the East and West, but they were a1so a meeting ground for merchants from different races, civilizations and religions coming from both directions. 2
Even the opposing wind systems met here, the monsoon of
the Indian Ocean on the one hand and the trade winds of the China Sea on the other. The ships were therefore
obliged to rest for a period until a favourable wind enabled them to proceed on their voyages. 3 Moreover,
these regions produced many goods for which there was a ready market, and of these, gold, tin, spices and certain
valuable kinds of woodwork were in great demande 4 Finally, there were plenty of good harbours where incorning
and outgoing ships could find safe anchorage. Ports
grew up in these places and with their deve10pment the 3 local inhabitants who formerly had been engaged chiefly in agriculture and fishing expanded their activities to S take part in coastal and deep-sea navigation as well. Because of its geographical position,
Indonesia, since time immemorial has been receptive to influences from foreign civilizations as weIl as being a recipient of successive waves of immigrants from
Mainland Asia, ~. from China, India, Persia, Arabia and eventually also from Europe. AlI possible influences, cultures, religions and languages have been digested in one way or another.
For the purpose of our present discussion, we shall confine our approach only to Indonesia's religious development. What follows represents the successive waves of beliefs that penetrated and are still operative in Indonesia.
a. Dynamism and Animism
Dynamism and Animism have been generally regarded as the indigenous beliefs of the Indonesian people. These kinds of belief are called "Kepertjajaan dari nenek mojang" in Indonesian, meaning "the belief of our ancestors.,,6 The former is a belief that there is a
"mana" (force or strength) within every object, while the 4 latter is a belief that there is a soul within every object. 7 There are several names for the soule The people of Sumatra calI it sumangat with several variations such as sumangan, sumange and sumanga; and the races which have been strongly under the influence of the Hindus, such as the Javanese and the Balinese, use
Sanskrit words like "Yitma" from "Atman", "Sukma", "Daja", "Njawa", and "Djiwa,,;8 while those who are under
Islamic influence use the term roch from Arabie ~. "Our ancestors" , says Soeroto, "believed that the soul of the dead is alive and takes its dwelling place within big trees, stones, mountains and so on." It is able to help those who could please it by means of acceptable sacrifices and earnest prayer. The soul of a noble man has greater power. It generally rests in places beside the gate of the village or by the cross road. This type of soul is called "Hyang" , "Danyang" or
"Perihyangan.,,9 It is able to help people and harm them as weIl.
There are also different names for different souls according to their respective places and functions.
For example, "Tujul" is used for familiar spirits,
"Lelembut" for possessing spirits, "Memedi" for 5
frightening spirits, and "Gendruwo" for evil spirits. ID
Usually aIl these spirits or souls are generalized under
the term "Bongso Alus", meaning subtle bodies.
The soul of man it is believed can be both
increased and decreased. There are many ways in which man increases his soule He accomplishes this among other things by eating and drinking. ll The indigenous
lndonesian imagines that the soul substance of food is
absorbed by him (though he does not always realize this),
as may be seen from the food which he forbids during
different illnessess. This prohibition is not founded on
empiricism, but on shape, taste, name and properties of
various foods. On account of their form, name, etc., they
are considered injurious to the patient, and their soul
corresponds to their name and forme
The Dayaks do not eat the flesh of deer, lest
they should become cowardly like a deer. The eating of
"Kebo bule" , white buffaloes, causes leprosy according
to the Javanese. They believe that to strengthen their
own souls they must absorb the soul of the food
originated both from plants and animaIs. Rice is regarded as the necessary strengthener of the soule Pieces of the
heart, liver and lungs, generally raw, are eaten to
attain bravery. A pregnant woman is advised to eat the 6 flesh of a beautiful bird in order to have a beautiful
baby. Moreover, men sometimes begin to have animal
characteristics by eating parts of an animal. Among the
Sundanese, women are prohibited from eating banana and
papow. Objects too have souls. 12 Very often people
carry with them iron objects, bones, stones, hard fruits
or make their children carry them about, hoping that
their souls may be as hard as that of the objects
mentioned. Objects are also fed: agricultural tools
are fed on the new rice plantation; the Javanese offer
sacrifices to aIl kinds of objects, their "Keris" (sword),
their barn, their "paddy" fields, their "Wajang" puppet.
This sacrifice is called "Sadjen", meaning offering.
At the present time there are still several
tribes throughout the Archipelago who profess purely
animistic beliefs. Among these are the Sipelebegu in Tapanuli, Karo Simelangun, the Kubu tribe in south
Tapanuli, the Pak pak Dairi in Atjeh, the Pini in Nias,
the Mentawai tribe, the Sakai tribe, the Akid tribe in
Rengat, the Drang laut tribe in Riau, the Kubu tribe in
Musi Ilir and the Enggano tribe in Bengkulu. AlI are in
Sumatra. In Java there is the Badui tribe in Lebak, the
Samin in Blora and the Wong Tengger in Pasuruhan. In 7
Kalimantan there is the Dajak tribe; in Sulawesi there is
Toradia tribe in Paloppo; in Maluku there is the Alifuru tribe and Morotai; in Nusatenggara there is the Sasak tribe and the Tanimbar tribe; while in Irian Barat there are several tribes who profess these beliefs. The total number of Animistic believers throughout the Archipelago
~s. no 1 ess t h an f-~ve m1-Il- ~on. 13 At this time these tribes have become the object of conversion attempts by both Muslims and Christians.
Before closing this section it must be noted that these indigenous beliefs, regardless of what the scholars narne them, govern the daily life of Javanese in particular and become hidden sources of interpreting every event that happens in a person's life as weIl as in the world around him. Therefore, the spreading of new religions, whether Hinduism, Buddism, Islam,
Christianity and even Communism, does not mean the dys- functioning of these original beliefs. This indigenous element is still operating strongly; only in many cases . . . h . f f h . 1·· 14 ~t ~s ~n t e gu~se 0 one 0 t e major re ~g~ons.
Their essence however is still indigenous. Even the most educated people are still much influenced by the belief 15 in sesadien, pemali and o~en.
The truth of this statement will become much 8 more clear in our following discussion when we attempt to examine the successive religious penetrations into
Indonesia which demonstrate the constant ability of
Indonesians to absorb cultural influences from outside while still preserving their own identity.
b. Hinduism and Buddhism There have been several speculations as ta when Hinduism and Buddhism came to Indonesia. Chinese sources mention that the presence of Hindu on the island of Java was in the year 132 A.D. At a later period the Chinese Buddhist Monk, Fa Hien said that in 413 A.D. he 16 had found many Hindus but few Buddhists on this island.
Whatever the speculations, one fact is certain, that between the fifth and fifteenth centuries there were several Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in Java. The remnants of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms as weIl as their temples are still standing in Java. Borobudur in Middle
Java is the greatest Buddhist temple in the world, while
Rorodjonggrang, also in Middle Java, is the grestest Indonesian Hindu temple.
In an attempt to discover the nature of the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism in Indonesia, these questions are generally raised: How did Hinduization and 9
Buddhaization of Indonesian people occur? Were mission boards established to convert the Indonesian heathens?
In the political field did the Indian rulers of the time
send out colonizers to start a new Indian satellite in
Indonesia? Hindu and Buddhist expansion during the first centuries of the Christian Era was probably commercial
in nature. In the course of expanding their trade, of
course, Hindus and Buddhists carried their respective religions, political structures and their ways of life
with them.17
Many Indians, both Hindus and Buddhists,
settled in Indonesia and taught the Indonesian people
new religion and culture. It was the Hindus who for the
first time taught Indonesians, Javanese in ,particular, how
to read and write. The birth of the Javanese alphabet is regarded by Javanese as the end of the Javanese dark age
and the beginning of a new Era with Adiisoko as the
introducer of their alphabet.18 A work by Byan Raj
Chatterjee on India and Java gives an idea of the
extensive nature of Hindu literary influence. During
the Hindu-Buddhist period the Ramayana, the Mahabharata
and the Puranas were the principal if not the only " """ 19 sources 0 f J avanese 1 1terary 1nsp1rat10n. Stutterheim 10 went so far as to state that these books were more effective than the Hindus themselves in Hinduizing
Javanese.
With regard to the spread of Buddhism it was probably first preached in Java by Gun awarm an , a prince of Kashmir, in 423 A.D. 20
Due to the respective teachings it is natural that Hinduism spread among elites while Buddhism was able to attract elites and the mass of people as weIl. Moreover, the rapid spread of Buddhism was due to the increasing number of Buddhist educational institutions that produced a great number of monks. 2l Even in Southern Sumatra, Palembang in the seventh Century was a great center of Buddhist educational institutions for the diffusion of Buddhism where foreign scholars went to study.
The Hindu civilization in Java reached a high level under the Sailendra Empire and during the succeeding Javanese dynasties of Kediri, Singosari and
Modjopahit, which continued, with the Hindu influence dominant, until the fifteenth Century when a Muslim
Empire in Demak emerged. 22 The caste system was loosely introduced, but, as in Bali, where the three upper castes amounted to seven per cent of the population, the Il common people continued their usual way of 1ife. There was no purdah system, and the position of women was superior to that of women in India. A ruler of Modjopahit in one occasion was a woman, Kentjonowungu by name. Women could choose their own husbands. The usual indigenous practices however were continued in social affairs. The Code of Manu was highly regarded and an old Javanese text known as Kamandoko was the basis for the exultation of the King. Basically
Kamandoko was derived from Ramajana and Mahabharata. Besides the Javanese literature mentioned above, there were several other works such as Kakawin, Ardiunawiwoho, written by Empu Kanwa (d.1020), Bharata Yudha by Empu
Sedah (d. 1157), and Nagara Kretagama written in the fourteenth Century by Prapancha. 23
And an expression of the growing Hindu influence there was the erecting in the ninthCentury of the
Lorodjonggrang group of temples in Prambanan between
Jogjakarta and Surakarta.
Buddhism and Hip-duism 1ived together and co- existed peacefully. The old Javanese literatures were written chief1y by Hindus or Buddhists. The close association of Buddhism and Hinduism was then a characteristic of Javanese religion, and even sorne of the 12 literature, such as Kuntjorokarno and Sutosomo identified Hinduism and Buddhism as one. Hindus and Buddhists built their respective temples close to each other. 24 One of the most important productions which reached a full flowering under Hindu influence was the
Wajang stories. Wajang literally means shadow. It is derived from one of two possible roots, either ajang- ajang, meaning shadow or Yang, meaning God or spirit.
It seems very closely connected with the concept of
Atman and Brahman. Wajang is thus just a "shadow" of the "real."
The Javanese represented the stories through the Wajang Purwo, in which ox leather puppets projected their shadows on a white screen. The performance takes place during either the night or day. There has been a controversy as to who first introduced the Wajang play.
Sorne claimed it was introduced by Hindus themselves, since the story originated from the Ramajana and
Mahabaratha. 25 Others are inclined to say that it was innovated by Sunan Kajidjogo, one of nine Saints of Java
(Wali Songo) to attract people who were still under Hindu influence. 26 It was impossible for Hindus to use puppets made from ox leather since they regard oxen and cows as sacred creatures. Moreover the tradition of attracting 13 people by means of Wajang, at present only through music
(gamilon), has been maintained up to the present time which is known as Sekaten, meaning shahadatayn. 27
Even if we disregard such controversy, there is no doubt that Hindu and Buddhist influences in almost every field of Javanese life were very deep indeed.
The Waiang stories have been more familiar to Javanese
Muslims from their childhood than the story of the
Prophet Muhammad. The heroes of the story become their heroes and are mostly used as names. Indonesian
symbols, maxims, mottoes and names are derived from
Hinduism or Buddhism, or a combinat ion of either Islam or Chr~st~an~ty" "" an d H"~n d"u~sm. 28 Th ere are st~"Il many
Gurus in Java who give the spiritual instruction of
Hinduism and Buddhism. 29 Moreover, because of their deep
influence and contribution, as weIl as the great number
of their adherents throughout the Archipelago, Buddhism and Hinduism were recognized by the Indonesian Government
as official religions in addition to Islam and
Christianity.
The total number of followers of Hinduism
in Indonesia at present is approximately one and a half million. Buddhism has a total following of 30 approximately 1,700,000. 14
c. Islam
It is impossible to fix a precise date for the introduction of Islam into the Indonesian
Archipelago or for the first carriers of Islam. There have been several speculations or theories as to when, how and who first introduced Islam to these islands.
Marco Polo, who spent five months on the north coast of Sumatra in 1292, speaks of aIl the inhabitants as being idolaters, except those in the petty kingdom of Perlak on the north-east corner of the island, where only the townspeople were Muhammadans, for "this kingdom, you must know, is so mubh frequented by the
Saracen merchants that they have converted the native to the Law of Muhammad", but the hill people were aIl 3l idolaters and cannibals.
Based on Marco Polo's evidence, the date of
Islamic penetration into Indonesia must have been sorne time before l292~ This evidence is supported by the '~ tombstone of the King of Perlak, Malik al-Salih, which
bears the inscription of 697 H. or 1297 A.D. as his date 32 of death. Therefore the thirteenth Century is almost unanimously regarded as the earliest date of Islamic
penetration into Indonesia.
This long standing assumption has been 15 challenged recently by the new discovery of the gravestone of a Muslim lady, Fatimah, at Leran, near Surabaja in
Eastern Java which bears the date 475 H. or 1082 A.D. 33
Now we come to the crucial question as to who, or rather what race, first introduced Islam to the
Archipelago. Before 1883, the stock answer to this question was alwayo Arabians, those from the very cradle of Islam.
According to Professor Niemann, Islam may have been carried to Indonesia by Arab traders in the early centuries of Hijrah, long before we have any historical notices of such influences at work. This supposition is rendered more probable by the knowledge we have of the extensive commerce with the East carried on by the Arabs from very early times. In the second century B.C. trade with Ceylon was wholly in their hands. At the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, the trade with China, through Ceylon, received a great impulse, so that in the middle of the eighth century Arab traders were to be found in great numbers in Canton; while from the tenth to the fifteenth century, until the arrivaI of the Portuguese, they were undisputed masters of trade 34 with the East. It is obvious that this statement, besides emphasizing the Arab',s role in the beginning of 16
Is1amic penetration into southeast ASia, at the same time
affirms the significance of the Leran discovery mentioned before.
This assurnption a1so coincides with Crawford's theory in which he states,
The Indian islanders first received the religion of Mohamet from the orthodox land of Arabia, and the flame has been kept a1ive by the intercourse which has since subsisted with that country. Of the four great Divisions of Mahomedanism, deemed equa11y orthodox, the Indian is1anders, with minute exceptions not worth mentioning, are fo11owers of the doctrines of Shafihi, the prevalent doctrines of Arabia, and particu1ar1y of the maritime portions of that country, from whence proceeded the first apost1es of Islam to the Indian is1ands. 35
There are still many scho1ars who support what is ca1led
the Arab-origin theory, especia11y Muslim scholars 1ike
H.A.M.K.A. and A. Sha1aby. Moreover, their arguments are
a1most a1ways similar, namely that the madhab which
prevailed in Indonesia in that period was not simi1ar to
that in India.
C. Snouck Hurgronje, who wrote in 1883, rejected
the above assumption saying,
Tradition represents Islam as having been introduced into Sumatra from Arabia. But there is no sound historical basis for such a belief, and aIl the evidence seems to point to India as the source from which the people of Sumatra derived their know1edge of the new faith. Active commercial relations had existed for centuries between India and the Malay Archipelago, the first missionaries to Sumatra were probab1y traders. 36 17
This theory of Indian-origin a1so gained strong support from many scho1ars, Dutch in particu1ar, such as R. A.
Kern, C. A. O. Von Neeuwenhuijze, B. Schrike and G. H.
Bousquet. 37
From Ibn Batutah, moreover, we 1earn that the
Mus1im Sultan of Samudra, meaning Sumatra, had entered into friend1y relations with the court of Delhi, and among the 1earned doctors of the 1aw whom this devout prince especia11y favoured, there were two of Bersian origin, one c'oming from Shiraz and the other from Ispahan. 38
This theory is a1so supported by certain pecu1iarities of Mu~lim theo10gy and Sufi characteristics adapted by Indonesian Mus1ims in that period which were exactly simi1ar to those observed 'by Indians and
Persians. Most of the Mus1ims of the Archipe1ago be10nged to the Shafi'i sect which was predominant on the
Coromandel and Malabar coasts, the ports of which were frequented by merchants from Java and Sumatra. From
India and Persia too, must have corne the Shi'ite idea and
Sufi doctrines, of which traces are still found in
Indonesia. Unti1 the beginning of the twentieth century
Indonesian Mus1ims were still spe11ing Quranic verses not by means of Arabie Qarakat but a1ways by means of 18
Persian ~arakat.39 The tenth of MUQarram, the date of ?usayn"s death, is still commemorated in Indonesia. More over, Indonesian Muslims almost always laid more stress on sufism than on figh.
wnatever the disputes might be, there is how ever one point aIl are agreed upon, that Islam was introduced and spread in Indonesian Archipelago either by traders or by Sufis, or on many occasions by Muslims who were traders as weIl as Sufis.
In our opinion accordingly, both theories have valuable foundations, since Indonesian Muslims from the very beginning have been both Sunni and Sufis. It is very likely then, that orthodoxy was brought by traders from Arabia, while sufism was introduced by Indian or
Iranian Sufi-traders. Moreover, unlike in other countries, Islam spread in Indonesia almost always by peaceful means. So, the simultaneous spread of
Orthodoxy and Sufism is very possible in Indonesia.
Those nine Javanese Walis are Sunnis and Sufis as weIl.
They did not come, Arnold remarks, as conquerers, like the Spanish in the sixteenth century, or use the sword as an instrument of conversion; nor did they arrogate to themselves the privileges bf a superior and dominant race so as to degrade and oppress the original 19 inhabitants, but they carne simply in the guise of traders. They employed aIl their superior intelligence, piety and civilization in the service of their religion, rather than as a means towards their personal aggrandise- 40 ment and collecting of wealth.
Being Sufis, they were in many cases tolerant of traditional beliefs, thoughts, usages and habits which sometimes contradicted the strict practice of Islamic law and theology.4l Moreover, it has to be noted that Islam reaches it peakJ:in Indonesia in the period when the Muslim political power in Baghdad was at its lowest degradation on the one hand, and on the other hand mystical practices of different schools were prevalent everywhere. So, as a matter of fact, the incipient germs of what now have been called, especially among Javanese, Islam Abangan (Red Muslim), those who believed in the validity of Islam but were reluctant to observe its shari'ah strictly, and Islam Putihan (White Muslims), those who professed the Islamic faith as weIl as
practising its teaching and rituals, have already
emerged. The latter is better known as Santri.
Therefore, to Indonesian Muslims it was not
the Mutakallim or Fuqaha or Philosophers who were most highly respected but rather the leaders of the mystic 20 orders namely the Guru, Shaykh and Kiiahi. 42 As to the philosophical position of the oldest mystical literature, here the influence of Ibn al-'Arabi and al-Jïly is un mistakable. 43
Traditionally it was believed that the spread of Islam in Java was carried out by Wali Songo (Nine
Saints), who were venerated by aIl the Javanese and named after their places of burial or activity, viz:
1. Sunan Gresik, Maulana Malik Ibrahim (d. 1419);
2. Sunan Ampel, Raden Rachmat (d. 1470); 3. Sunan Bonang (d. 1525); 4. Sunan Giri, Raden Paku (d. 1530);
5. Sunan Gunung Djati, Sjarif Hidajatullah (d. 1570); 6. Sunan Kudus (d. 1560); 7. Sunan Muria (d. 1561);
8. Sunan Deradjat (d. 1572); and 9. Sunan Kalidjogo, Raden Sjahid (d. 1585). AlI the graves of these Walis have been preserved and have become the objects of religious visits to obtain blessings.
It must also be noted here that there is a well- known and significant tradition that these nine walis unanimously condemned and fired one of their members, namely Shaykh Lemah Abang or more popularly Shaykh Siti Djenar. He was executed on the allegation that he taught the hidden knowledge and neglected the performance of the Friday public prayer, and also because he asserted 21 that he and God were identical ("Djumbuhing Kawulo Gusti") a case similar to that of al-~alUij. 44 Besides these Walis, there have been several preachers in Java and in Javanese literatures who have the name of Susuhunan, Seh, Ki, and Kijahi.
To turn to the other part of Indonesia, to
Madura and the other small islands inhabited by the
Madurese, few accounts are available. This island was always in close relation with Java. It has always been regarded as a part of Java. So we can say that the spread of Islam in Madura went almost hand in hand with the spread of Islam in East Java.
The conversion of Pasundan, West Java, carne a little later. The penetration pacifique, to use Kern's terrn, began in the first part of the sixteenth century.45
Pasundan is the storehouse of p~pper, which attracted traders, Muslims and others. The conversion of West
Java proceeded more slowly than the other part of the island. Yet, owing largely ta the fact that Hinduism and
Buddhism had not taken such deep root among the people here as in Middle and East Java, the victory of Islam over the heathen worship which it supplanted was more complete than in the districts which carne more irnrnediately under the rule of Hindu and Buddhist rajas. 22
The Islamic law is here a living force and Islamic civilization has interwoven itself with the government and the life of the people. Muslims here are weIl known for their fanaticism. 46
Soon afterwards Sunda Kelapa (now Djakarta) and Pedjadjaran (north of Bogor) were conquered by Sunan
Gunung Djati of Tjirebon. He subdued the western part of
Java (Banten), which was still heathen, and his son
Hasannuddin established the first Muslim Sultanate in
Banten. He soon spread his power over the neighbouring land. From the time of Hasanuddin onwards, Banten
became the centre of trade for Java, and from here,
Islam crossed the Krakatao mountains to Lampung,
Bengkulen and Palembang in south Sumatra. 47
Islam has made considerable progress among the
Lampungeses, and most of the villages have mosques, but
the old superstitions still survive, especially amongst
the inhabitants of the interior. According to tradition
it was Raden Rachmat who in about 1440 introduced Islam among the people of the area. 48
Meanwhile by 1624, the Atjeh Sultanate had
assirnilated aIl the other states of northern Sumatra. It enjoyed great pros perit y and lustre during the reigri
of Sultan 'Ala al-Din al-Qahhar (1540-1567), and its 23 power reached its zenith in the time of Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607-1636) and his successor, Sultan Iskandar
Thani (1636-1641). At this period the territory
extended from Aru, opposite Malakka around the north to
Bengkulen on the west; the island of Nias with the
continental states of Djohor, Pahang, Kedah and Perlak were subject states. Thus around 1600, the dependencies of Atjeh became Muslim. The Sultans' patronage of religious knowledge caused the court to be surrounded by
learned scholars. In the latter part of the sixteenth century,
there arrived at Atjeh two scholars from Macca, and about
the same time, there carne from Gujarat a Shaykh Muhammad
Djailani. Soon after 1600, there came an Egyptian
teacher of metaphysics and a Syrian teacher of
jurisprudence. There were also several famous teachers
in sufism and orthodoxy from Indonesia itself. The best
known among them are Hamzah Fansuri, Shamsuddin Pasai, 49 Nur al-Din al-Raniri and Abd al-Rauf of Singkel. The western part of Sumatra, that is
Minangkabau whose kingdom of Minangkabau had territory at one time extending from one shore to another and a
great part of the island, had been frequented by Atjeh
traders for its pepper. Beside pursuing trade, they 24 preached Islam. Tradition says that the first native preacher of Islam in Minangkabau was Shaykh Ibrahim who came from Java and was converted there. When he went back to Minangkabau he preached the new faith among his people. In Pintjuran Tudjuh, the stone called "Batu paislaman" is still to be found on which the Shaykh used to sit to give ritual bathing to the new converted
Muslims.
In 1863 three Minangkabaus returned from Macca. 50 These persons are called Padries. Probably when they were in the Roly Land they were profoundly influenced by the Wahhabi movement. Accordingly, they began to preach strict monotheism, forbade the worship of saints, drinking, gambling and so on. They began to accumu1ate followers, either from their co-religionists or from the heathen population. Later on the Padries declared Jihad against the Dutch government and the Batak tribe in order to force Islam upon them. These violent methods, however, did not win many converts. On the contrary when the
Padries were suppressed by the Dutch government, Islam began to spread among the pagan Batak tribes.
It must also be noted here that although
Minangkabau finally became the Muslim stronghold, as far as the teaching of Islam is concerned, the 'Adat 25
(custom) is much more dominant than the Shari'ah. More- over in Minangkabau women enjoyed authority superior to that of men in almost aIl fields.
We have mentioned just now the Padries' attempt to convert Batak tribes by force. With regard to Batak tribes we learnt that they were in a primitive state, living shut away from the outer world, practising cannibalism and warfare. In 1834 two Christian missionaries were killed and eaten by the inhabitants. In 1866 missionaries of the Rhenish society succeeded in establishing a
Christian mission there and gradually converted many people. 51 This success appeared to arouse the Muslim religious zeal to attempts to convert these same people.
Two Batak villages, the entire population of which had been baptized, are said to have gone over to Islam shortlyafterwards. 52 Between 1850-1880, Mandailing and
Angkala, the southern part of the Batak ·land had been
Islamized; its eastern part came in contact with Islam only in the twentieth century, through the labourers f rom J ava and Sun d a wh 0 wor k e d 1n· tephl· antat10n area. 53 Batak lands finally became a very stronghold both for
Islam and Christianity.
As regard to the lesser islands around 26
Sumatra, Riau-Lingga archipelago and Nias are worth mentioning. The former was under the influence of
Malaka and its conversion took place at the same time as that of the coastal town of Malaka. The same was the case with Bangka and Biliton. The latter, i.e. Nias, was under the Atjeh sultanate, but Islam had no firm root in it.
The island of Kalimantan is inhabited in the interior by the Dajaks. The west coast is inhabited by
Chinese, Buginese, and Malayas. In the south was the kingdom of Bandjarmasin, which had been a tributary of
Modjopahit until its overthrow in 1478. Islam came to
Kalimantan as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century. The conversion was carried out by the Demak in
Java. The story goes that once the Bandjarmasin King had to suppress a revoIt, and he asked for Demak's assistance, since it was the strongest kingdom of Java. The assistance was given on the condition that the people adopt the new religion. So Muslims from Java came over, suppressed the rebels and carried on the work 54 of conversion. The Muslims then penetrated into the interior. The Bugenese were found in great numbers on the east coast, where they settled after embracing Islam. 27
Along the coast of this island were found numerous foreigners, most of whom were Muslims. The Dajaks from the interior who came in touch with foreign traders also adopted Islam. But those Dajaks who lived in the 55 interior remained pagan until the twentieth century when they finally chose either Islam or Christianity.
The Sulawesi island in the eastern parts of the
Archipelago, reflects a slow growth of the penetration of
Islam. In the sixteenth century, the Gowa kingdom, near
Makkasar, came into existence. Tradition says that the king had been converted by a man from Minangkabau, called
Datuk ri Bandung. 56 At that time, the natives were still unconverted, and it was not until the beginning of the seventeenth century that Islam began to be generally adopted by them. The tomb of a famous Muslim missionary, Khatib Tunggal,57 still can be seen in Gowa.
The Makkasares carried their newly adopted faith to their neighbours, the Bugenese. It has been related thnt the Sultan of Gowa made an offer to the pagan king of Bone to consider him in aIl respects as an equal if he would worship the One True God. The king refused, chose war, but was defeated. Accordingly, he became Muslim, and through his efforts, the new religion was adopted by his subjects and the smaller neighbouring principalities. 58 28
The northern part of Sulawesi, except Minahasa, had been converted to Islam by the prose1ytising efforts of the Bugenese and Ternates. Through the influence of V.G.C. (Dutch East India Company), the king of Bo1ang
Mangondaw, Jacobus Manoppo (1689-1709) became Christian. His successors were aIl Christian unti1 1844, when
Jacobus Manuel Manoppo embraced Islam. 59 From
Mangondaw~ Islam spread into the northern kingdom Bo1ang. The Ma1ucus, i.e. Ternate, Tidore, the Banda
is1ands and the neighbouring is1ands were soon Is1amized. An Arab, Shaykh Mansur, converted the king of Tidore.
His name, Tjuti Lijatu, was changed to Djama1uddin. 60 Fina11y, we come to the Lesser Sunda is1ands.
There are two kinds of people in Lombok; about four- fifth are the Sasaks who are Mus1ims, and the rest, the Ba1inese, are Hindus. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, Lombok was under the ru1e of Bali. The ru1er of Bali made efforts to bring its Mus1im subjects over to
H~n" d u~sm," b ut w~t"h 1-~tt 1 e success. 61 Th e Dutc h expedition of 1894 put this is1and under direct Dutch
ru1e. The new government brought with it a large number of native Mus1im officiaIs, who threw their influence on
the side of their own faith. 62
From Su1awesenes Mus1ims the new faith came to 29
Sumbawa. AlI the more civilized inhabitants are Muslims and are said to be stricter in the performance of their religious duties than any of the neighbouring Muslims.
This is largely due to a revivalist movement instigated by a certain Hadji 'Ali after the disastrous eruption of
Mount Tambara in 1815, the fearful suffering that ensued thereon being made use of to stir up the people to a more strict observance of the precepts of their religion 63 and the leading of a more devout life.
Most of the Muslims in Timor are newcomers,
wh LetOl h e natLves0 are Ch rLstLans.0 0 64
There are still places which are untouched by
Islam, such as the remote interior of Kalimantan and sorne parts of Irian.
The above sketch of the spread of Islam in Indonesian Archipelago comprises but a small part of the
history of the spread of Islam in these islands. Many of the facts of this enterprise are unrecorded, while
what we canglean from remains, native chronicles and the
works of European explorers, officiaIs and missionaries is fragmentary and incomplete. But there is evidence
enough to show the existence of peaceful missionary
efforts to spread the faith of Islam since its
penetration into these islands. Sometimes indeed the 30 sword has been drawn in support of the cause of religion, such as in the case of the Padries, but preaching and persuasion rather than force and violence have been the main characteristics of the Muslim missionary movement in Indonesia.
It must also be no.ted that the appearance of European forces at the beginning of the sixteenth century in Indonesian waters and cities has particular significance in relation to the spread of Islam. It is perhaps not an exaggeration to say that the Western penetration of the Archipelago prcduced certain conse quences in the sphere of religion almost simultaneously with those in the political and economical spheres.
The latter consequences are beyond our concern here, so we shall not discuss them.
The regular shipping traffic between Europe and the Orient established direct contact between
Indonesia and Arabia; the opening of the Suez Canal facilitated intercourse between the people of the Arab countries and Indonesia and greatly accelerated the process of cultural reorientation among Indonesians.
Many Indonesians went for the Hajj. While sorne of them came merely to perform pilgrimage, there were those who made a longer stay in order to deepen their knowledge of 31 various branches of Islamic learning. There was a large colony of Indonesians, generally known as Javanese (the
Jawah), in Mecca. Whenever they came home they brought new ideas about Islam. A large quantity of religious literature published in Cairo, Syria, Mecca, etc. was imported to Indonesia, and many Arabs from Arabia migrated to Indonesia. 65 Perhaps it is no exaggeration when C. S. Hurgronje writes, "Mekkah has been weIl said to have more influence on the religious life of the Indonesian people than on Turkey, India or BUkhara.,,66
Thus at that stage we understand that Arab countries
began almost entirely to take the place they once occupied jointly with India, and consequently, orthodoxy
and later on modernism began trying to eliminate with great difficulty the heterodox Sufis' religious practices.
This endeavour became more enthusiastic when in the second half of the nineteenth century, Muhammad 'Abduh launched
a modern Islamic reform movement. Modernist ideas such
as anti-Dutch colonialism, anti-Christian missions, anti-
superstitions, anti-sufism, Pan-Islamism, and the slogan
"back to al-Kitab and al-Sunnah" spread throughout the country. 67
To de-escalate the rising feelings of Muslim ideas which sometimes took on an explosive violent 32 manifestation, the Christian missionaries in 1905 were advised to concentrate aIl their efforts on working among the Animists in order to prevent their falling under the domination of Islam. 68 This advice was ignored; and failure to enforce the advice led the
Dutch government to adapt the following policy that was forrnulated by its ingenious adviser, Professor C. S. Hurgronje:
1. in matters relating to pure religious worship, the government with aIl sincerity must give the fullest
freedom;
2. in social questions, the governrnent must respect the
existing national institutions while leaving open to them the opportunity of a desirable evolution in our
direction, and must make efforts to promote this
evolution;
3. in matters relating to politics, the government must
suppress aIl kinds of Pan-Islamic ideas, which aim
at inviting foreign powers to influence the relation
O b etween t h e D u t c h government and Ltso Eastern sub Jects. 69 During this period several Muslim movements
such as the S.D.I., the Muhammadiyya, the P.S.I.I., the
Nahdah al Ulama and Al-Wasliya were born. 70 And within this turmoil and uncertainty, Subud was also brought into 33 the world.
From our previous data, we are inclined to draw the conclusion that Islam probably came to Indonesia both
from Arabia and from India at about the same time; that
Islam followed the trade route to the Archipelago;
Indonesian Muslims right from the beginning were divided
1nto. two categor1es:. 71 1. Santri (Ulama, Kijahi, Hadji, Sufis, and lay-Muslims).
These people committed themselves to observe
Shari'ah as strictly as possible. They are also
called Islam Putihan, meaning white Muslim.
2. Islam Abangan (red Muslim): Ki, Guru, Prijaji and
lay-Muslims who did not observe the Shari'ah as
understood by Orthodox Sunni. This group of Muslims
are attached deeply to Hindu-Buddhist creeds as weIl
as to indigenous beliefs. Although sorne indigenous
beliefs and customs were gradually eliminated with
the passing of time both by ortho do x Islam and
Christianity, sorne of them, however, have remained 72 as they were.
It is now perhaps worthwhile to explore reasons
for the rapid spread of Islam in this Archipelago. There
have been several suggestions concerning the reasons
for the success of Islam in this Archipelago presented 34 by different scholars. According to Professor Wertheim and J. L. van Leur73 Islam did not bring either higher civilization or economic development to the Indonesian people. So what then could have been the attractions of Islam for those who almost unanimously accepted this new religion? The answer can probably be discovered in the basic ideas of the previous religions. According to the Hindu view, laymen were merely lower castes. Under Islam they could feel themselves equal to other people. Therefore Islam gave the common men a sense of individuality as a member of Islamic community. Anton M. Brouwer maintains, how- ever, that the success of Islam was due to the weak influence of Hinduism in the Indonesian society. That is to say, Hinduism did not penetrate deeply enough into the life of Indonesian society to be able to uproot the remnanLS of the indigenous faiths, and never won influence in the hearts of lay people. The reason which
Brouwer gives is that when Hinduism and Buddhism entered the Indonesian Archipelago, the people believed in
Animism. They used to pray to the spirits and perform ri tuaI ceremonies. This worship of spirits, he said, is in contradiction to the beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Though Hinduism and Buddhism, externally, produced· 35 wonderful architectural monuments and numerous temples throughout Indonesia, ~. Borobudur, Prambanan,
Panataran, they failed to penetrate the hearts of 74 Indonesians. They appealed only to the upper classes.
"But," Brouwer states,
Islam in its beliefs had close relation with the Animism of the people. It teaches that above mankind, there is an Almighty Power, and that through the study of the Universe, we come to know Him; and the Almighty power who can do good or bad to us, is Allah. This simple belief was externally like the indigenous belief in a higher spiritual force, and penetrated easily into the hearts of the people and outweighed the influences of Hinduism among them. 75 It seems that the opinion of Professor
Wertheim and that of the Reverend Brouwer appear to be
different, but in their essence there was no serious
contradiction. Professor Wertheim"s view was more concerned with the sociological phenomena of Indonesian
people at that time, while Brouwer's view was more concerned with spiritual phenomena and the philosophical
outlook of the lndonesian then. Therefore it was very
probable that both sociological conditions as weIl as
the philosophical out look of Indonesians facilitated the
success of Islam in Indonesia. Moreover, according to
Professor Kraemer, there was one other important fact
which Brouwer overlooked. That was that Islam spread 36 in the Archipelago largely owing to the mystics, and mysticism had a great attraction for Indonesians. 76
As a supplement:, in our opinion, besides the several philosophical and sociological reasons mentioned above, the appearance of a colonial ruler as weIl as the Christian mission enterprises in the
Indonesian archipelago, no doubt has played a significant part in speeding Islamization of Indonesians.
This assurnption goes along exactly with Wertheim's when he states, "One can indeed, sustain the paradox that the expansion of Islam in the Indonesian Archipelago was due to the Westerners.,,77
In any case, in our opinion, it can be definitely stated that it was the arrivaI of colonial rule and Christian missionaries which induced a large number of Indonesian kings to embrace Islam and aroused the zeal of the Ulama. Historically this assurnption is very true -- on the basis that Islam had been in
Indonesia since the early centuries of hijra, but its tremendous spread so far has occurred only since the arrivaI of colonial rule and Western Christian influence. 37
d. Christianity
In the beginning of the sixteenth century the Portuguese appeared in the Indonesian waters and cities and were afterward succeeded by the Dutch who controlled
Indonesia until 1942. It is obvious that they like their predecessors vis. Hindus and Muslims were never interested in trade alone. "First pepper, then souls," was more likely their motto. Once the colonial power had been founded, missionary activities were undertaken. Christianity, therefore, with aIl its denominations penetrated Indonesia as a direct result of the establish- ment of colonial power.
"Whether we like it or not," states Professor
Neil,
it is an historic fact that the great expansion of Christianity has coincided in time with the world wide and explosive expansion of Europe; that the colonizing powers have been the Christian powers; that a whole variety of compromising relationships have existed between missionaries and governmentsj and that in the main Christianity has been carried forward on the wave of Western prestige and power. 78
Under the influence of the pressure exercised by sorne persons in the churches, the Dutch East India
Company (V.O.C., founded 1602) set up a new seminary in Leyden, which between 1622 and 1633 trained twelve ministers for service in what were by that time the 38
Dutch possessions in Indonesia. The ministers were civil servants whose primary responsibility was the spiritual care of Dutch men in the East. At the same time they were to work for the conversion of the natives. The ministers received a cash bonus for each person baptized. Special privileges were given to Christians, and the political motives played as large a part as the religious motives. 79
It has been said that Southeast Asia is a region in which the dominant religions are Buddhism and Islam. Each of these has proved highly resistant to the
Christian message; and where either of them prevails, Christian progress has been slow, difficult and costly.80
But such a statement is not applicable to Indonesian Muslims in general and the Javanese in particular. On the contrary, the Christianization of Indonesian Muslims has been very speedy. Although it must be admitted that in the beginning Christian missionaries in Indonesia encountered difficulties, nonetheless this difficult period did not last long.
Java is reported to have been the most fruitful field for Christian missions to Muslims. Nowhere else did the missionaries achieve such success as in Java. The Dutch government subsidized mission schools and 39 hospitals and placed their operation and maintenance entirely in their hands. These two enterprises proved the best means of first approaching Muslims. 8l It is not surprising that the nurnber of converts was relatively large; already by the end of the seventeenth century the Dutch claimed 100,000 Christians in Java and 40,000 in Ambon; the New Testament was translated in Malay (1688), a notable achievement, and the first Bible translation into any language of Southeast Asia, although in 1776 there were only 22 ministers in the whole Indonesian Archipelago, only five of whom could speak the native language. 82 The Christian missions from the outset endeavoured to convert both Muslims and Pagans. Moreover, they paid particular attention to the Javanese Muslims particularly those of Central Java,83 because Central Java is a very important, if not the most important, part of the whole Archipelago. From days of old it has been the cultural and political centre of Javanese life in particular and Indonesian life in general. As early as the eighth century there existed Buddhist and Sivaite dynasties of Hindu origin, which erected the many temples which still adorn the plains around Jogjakarta and Solo, two existing cultural central 40 city "Kraton" (palaces). Besides that this territory is one of the most densely populated parts of the world.
Therefore, from the religious point of view, Central Java
displays a very tenacious memory of the old Hindu and
Buddhist influences. This part is also inhabited by the
less fanatic Muslims.84 Even many of the Javanese show
an open or secret hostility to orthodox Islam, and have
a semi-philosophical inclination towards religious
toleration. They belong by nature to the syncretistic spiritual orders which prevailed everywhere.
Notwithstanding this situation, Jogjakarta and
Surakarta (Solo) are also centres of Muslim activity.
In Jogjakarta, as we have pointed out earlier, there
originated and is thriving a Muslim reform movement, the Muhammadiya, inspired by the example and principles
of Muhammad 'Abduh. 85 Solo is the native city of Muslim
leaders like H. Samanhudi, the founder of S.D.I. and
H. O. S. Tjokroaminoto, the founder of the Sjarikat Islam
political movement. 86
Central Java as a mission field was occupied
by the Reformed Churches. Missionary work in Central
Java began in 1867 but it ended with a disastrous collapse.
The unexpected end of this work was mainly due to a conflict between the missionaries and the leading 41
Javanese persona1ity in the work, ca11ed Sadrah. 87 It was main1y due to his activity and methods that
Christianity spread there so rapid1y. He unceasing1y emphasized that the Christians were "Kristen Djawa." He regarded Gospel as "Nge1mu Sedjati", rea1 gnosis in the
Javanese sense. From the Javanese viewpoint this was attractive, but from the European missionaries' points of view this was in contradiction to the princip1e of
Christian orthodoxy. As a resu1t, in 1891, an inspector,
Dr. F. Lion Cachet, was sent out from Ho11and in order to sett1e the dispute. U1timate1y, Sadrah was dec1ared a heretic, but he tried to save his independence by associating himse1f with the Aposto1ic church of Batavia
(now Djakarta) and was invested with the tit1e of
Apost1e of Java in 1899. His Christian fo11owers were estimated at that time to number 20,000. They were ca11ed "Kristen Karasu1an.,,88
Against this background the Reformed Church had to build up its new work. This period from about the beginning of the twentieth century differed in many respects from the former. The work was radica1Iy re- organized. Moreover the missionaries were weIl prepared. SpeciaI1y trained for mission work, they were university men, ordained and fu11y qua1ified theo1ogians. 42
From the beginning this mission did not establish itself in the villages (desa) as before, but in the cities such as Surakarta, Jogjakarta, Magelang, Kebumen, Purbolinggo, Purwokerto, Semarang. At this stage they systematically carried on evangelization, colportage, medical work and school work. In the beginning most of the Javanese Christians by far were from the lower classes, among whom the influence of Islam was very superficial. The higher classes and more educated and wealthy Muslims were then inaccessible to the message of Christianity. Among the Europeans who engaged independently in missionary work we must mention F. L. Anthing who died in 1883. From his youth he was a dedicated Christian, and beginning at Semarang in 1863, he did considerable work for the spread of the Gospel among the nat1ves.. 89 There was also a Javanese Hermit, Tunggul Wulung, (d. 1885) who was baptized as a Christian by Jellesma in East Java. Later he preached the Gospel but not under missionary supervision in Djapara. The syncretism of his teaching, however, alienated the sympathy of the missionaries. 90 In fact Sadrah came to be under his influence. 43
In 1851 the Dutch Baptist Missionary Society
(Doopsgezinde) began work in Djapara. And about the
same time a Christian lady, residing in Java, began work
at Solotigo, assisted by sorne helpers granted by the missionaries.9l Since that moment Solotigo has become
a very important Christian centre in Central Java with
Christians in the majority.
The missionary activities in East Java where
the more fanatic Javanese Muslims lived followed another pattern. 92
The Dutch Missionary Society (Nederlandsch
Zendelinggenootschap), founded in 1797, sent out three
missionaries to Java in 1814, one of whom, Bruckner, translated the New Testament. (The Government forbade
its circulation, however). The other missionaries were
sent to the Maluku island, and, while they were waiting,
J. Kam founded a Christian Society at Surabaja, the capital
of east Java province, known afterwards as "The Circle of
the Pious." Among those who belonged to it was a German
clock maker, Embde. He was the first man who
evangelised there. The results of his work were limited
to the servant class among Europeans, half caste women and their children. Among these converts was a man named
C. Coolen, the son of a Russian father and a Javanese 44
93 mother. He was more of a Javanese than a European. In 1828 C. Coolen began to evangelize wibh
those who worked with him in his plantation. He s~on
becarne popular among the Javanese because of his
flexibility in explaining the Bible in the light of
Javanese customs, especially "Wajang Show", and he was known as one who proclaimed a new "ngelmu." When his
wife refused to move with him from the coast into the inland Ngoro, fifty miles north from Surabaja, he lived
w~t. h more t h an one J avanese nat~ve. woman. 94 Like the case of Sadrah in Central Java, it is
clear that Coolen, not only in his morals but also in
his entire conception of evangelisation, departed greatly
from the opinions held by "The Circle of the Pious" , to
whom he owed his conversion. They did not wish
Christianity to be liberated from its EurÇ>pean dress and
manner. But Coolen made the Gospel entirely Javanese,
excluding even sorne of its fundamental orthodox elements
like Baptism. Of course the conflict between him and
those more European-oriented missionaries could not be
avoided, especially between him and Embd and Pak Dasimah,
a newly converted Muslim Kijahi who lived at Wijung, a 95 little village near Surabaja. Despite these internaI conflicts, the nurnber 45 of converts increased rapidly every day. At the beginning of the twentieth century a missionary had predicted that if the Dutch Government had taken a more friendly attitude instead of being afraid of Muslim fanaticism, in his opinion the whole of the three Residences in East
Java -- Surabaja, Kediri, and Pasuruhan -- with a populatinn of seven million souls at that time would have been Christianized. 96
Having realized that Christianity had been accepted by native people and even propagated by them, finally the Government permitted the European missionaries to reside in East Java. E. Jellesma was the first foreign missionary stationed in East Java and he came in
1848 to Surabaja. 97 In 1851 he obtained permission from the Government to go to the interior, to Modjowarno, and there he established a Christian village. Since that moment Modjowarno has been a very important Christian centre in East Java which is almost exclusively inhabited by Christians.
The Northwest coast of Java was the field of the Netherland Zendingsvereeniging, founded in 1858, and they have been successful enough in this difficult field to ~stablish a number of small churches among the
Sundanese, the most fanatic Muslims of Java island. 46
In 1905 the Board of Foreign Mission of the
Methodist Episcopal Church began work in West Java.
Before that in 1873 "BaIa Keselamatan" (Salvation Army) worked in West Java and established the Seminary at
Depok, near Djakarta, for the training of native preachers. In 1924 Dr. Kraemer proposed the setting up of a Javanese Missionary Council which would serve as a centre of study and advice. 98 The missionaries were also successful outside
Java, especially among pagans. In Kalimantan, in
Sulawesi, in Ambon, in Halmahera, in Irian, in Timor and other smaller islands, large numbers of Muslims as weIl as pagans were brought into churches. These are the main strongholds of Christianity in the Eastern part of the
Archipelago. Many schools, hospitals and churches were built. But the most notable of aIl the achievements was among the Bataks, tribes of pagans in Sumatra. It was accomplished not by a Dutch missionary but by the
Rhenish Mission, a German missionary Society. The
Bataks were in a primitive state, living shut away from the outer world, practising cannibalism and warfare among the tribes.
In 1834 two missionaries of the Arnerican Board, 47
Samuel Munson and Henry Lyman, tried to enter Batak1and, but were ki11ed and eaten by the inhabitants.
In 1859 missionaries of the Rhenish society bêing driven out of Kalimantan turned to Sumatra, and sett1ed there in 1861. In the following years Ludwig
Iugwer Nommensen joined them. At 1ast in 1866 he was able to paya visit to 1ake Toba within the Batak area. 99
In the beginning the work was very hard and it was difficu1t to approach these tribal peop1es. But the situation changed starting1y with the conversion of a number of chiefs. Strong tribal ties supported the progress of converts. In 1866 there were on1y 52
Christians; in 1876 there were 2,056; in 1881, 7,500; in
1911, 103,525.100 Since the beginning of the twentieth century
Batak lands have been divided into two parts. Areas which are tota11y inhabited by fanatic Mus1ims, and areas which are exc1usive1y Christian. The independence of
Christian Bataks from foreign priests and teachers gives us an indication of their strong position in Indonesia. 101
In this Archipe1ago, where from the outset the
Protestants had made such immense strides, Roman
Catho1ics found it difficu1t to obtain a f?oting. 102
In the ha1f century between 1809 and 1859, on1y thirty- 48 three Roman Catholic priests reached Indonesia, and at
~ the end of that period only seven were still active. ~ Among their leading priests at that time were Pater
Johanes of Monte Carvino, Odaricus of Pardenone and Fransiscus-Hanerius. Their field of work was mai nI y l03 among the European residents. In 1847 the first vicar apostolic was deported by the government, which claimed the right to license priests and preachers, to determine the field of their work and to exercise very strict supervision over them. l04
It was only in 1859, when Flores and sorne neighbouring islands were ceded to the Dutch by the
Portuguese, that the Roman Catholics found a real field for activity. In 1885 a station was opened in West
Kalimantan, in 1886 in the Kei islands, and in Beng~Jlen in Sumatra. In this period in general their progress was relatively very slow compared with the immense progress of the Protestants. 105 But from the beginning of the twentieth century they gradually made great gains throughout the Archipelago.
The total number of the Christians in
Indonesia according to the 1957 census of Ministry of
Religious Affairs is approximately four and a half million, divided into three and a half million 49
Protestants, and one million Catholics. l06 In recent years especially after the 1965 Communist coup d'etat, m~·11· ~ons 0 f Mu s 1·~ms were converted to Ch·rLst~anLty. . . 107
To close our discussion on this section, we shall attempt to make conclusions and set forth sorne considerations on the tremendous success of Christian missions in Indonesia which is generally recognised as a
Muslim country. As to when and who first introduced Christianity to these islands, we do not really face serious difficulty, since every event has been weIl recorded. But as to how and why these efforts were so successful, this writer is facing many difficulties for two reasons: 1. the missions' efforts have been carried out and arranged through organizations which formulated policy often unavailable to the public. 2. Also as a Muslim, we find ourselved involved often with a negative and defensive attitude which prohibits an objective study of
the problem. Historically speaking, Christian missions came to these islands by getting a lift from the Western
colonial powers, Portuguese or Dutch. Although in the course of time there have been conflicts between the
Colonial government and missionaries in the matter of 50 converting Muslims, the disputes, however, were not on a matter of principle but rather over tactics and strategy. The running of hospitals, schools and social institutions were entirely entrusted to missions and served as effective means to spread Christianity among people whose physical, educational and welfare conditions were still in an underdeveloped state. Besides the government's moral and financial support, Christianity in aIl its denominations has weIl organized Central
Boards which always supplied educated missionaries as weIl as material necessities.
Everywhere in Indonesia seminaries were established to study aIl aspects of the Indonesian people as weIl as to educate the native missionaries. So the spread of Christianity is being handled better than before, especially since these native missionaries began to appear among the people and take over the mission task from Western missionaries. They are easily able to adapt Indonesian customs and traditions in interpreting
Christian creeds. Accordingly, among the needy peoples and Abangan (red Muslims) and pagans, Christian missions won very great success. But, as has been admitted by many missionaries, the "santries" and "prijajis" were very difficult to convert,I08 even after they became educated 51 in the Western fashion. Moreover these types of people always have been the exponents of Muslim apologetics . Ch... 109 aga~nst r~st~an~ty. We now turn to.an analysis of why Muslims in Indonesia were receptive to Christianity. In conversing on religious subjects with people in Java, according to Professor H. Kraemer, one almost inevitably has sorne such experience as the following. In more than ninety out of a hundred cases one hears the stereotyped remark: AlI religions are ultimately one (Sedojo agami sami kemawon). It cornes from the lips of the intellectuals as weIl as from those of the illiterate villager. 110 This statement, however, is not entirely correct. Since it is only applicable to the Abangan (red Muslims). For them, because of the lack of understanding of the essence ~ of Islam, aIl religions are regarded as similar because of this universal religious view. Such people very easily change or move from one religion to another with- out any serious social consequence. As has been pointed out earlier, those who were easily converted to Christianity were the have nots and the lower classes. Conversion to Christianity meant promoting one's own social prestige as weIl as elevating one's economic condition, because by professing 52
Christianity one joined a new group, namely the group of the ruling class, the colonial circle which almost always was Christian. Moreover by joining this group he very easily obtained a good job which gave him a d 1st1nct1ve- - - econom1C- status. III
The other important aspect of Christianity which was attractive, was the doctrine of "love." In this case it seemed.that the Christian doctrine of "love" was more attractive to the Abangan Muslims than the rigidity of Shari'ah which was thoroughly indoctrinated by Orthodox and later on by Modernist elements in the
Muslim community. For lay people, the effective and generous Christian sooial institutions such as hospitals and schools outweighed its colonial affiliation.
In this connection, perhaps Watt is right when he states that religion cannot be judged by intellectual criteria, but by the criteria of fruits. 112 In particular Indonesian people, who historically have unde~gone successive penetrations of almost aIl great world religions and have seen both their constructive and destructive elements and contribution, have ultimately
looked to see which religion could help them most.
And as a matter of fact they are now at a stage when they 53 are in a position to make a decisive judgment. A basic factor, however, is always the converts' admiration for the fruits. Therefore, nowadays aIl religious groups have been competing and trying hard through aIl ways and means to prove and demonstrate to the Indonesian people that their religion is the most fruitful. Moreover, lately the religious controversies were not so much about theological and philosophical doctrines, but focused on the issue of each group!s religious social dedication and contribution. III
BAPAK MUHAMMAD SUBUH SUMOHADIWIDJOJO (THE FOUNDER OF SUBUD)
Bapa~Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo was born in the village of Kedungdjati, Semarang, Central Java on June 22nd, 1901. According to the Muslim calender, his birth was on the twelfth of Rabi 'ul-awwal, the month in which the Prophet Muhammad is said to have been born. 2 His birth coincided with the eruption of Mount Kelud which occurred in East Java. His name as a child was Sukarno. This does not imply any direct blood relationship to Sukarno, the former Indonesian President. Interestingly, however, the former Indonesian President too was born on June 5th, 1901, seventeen days before Pak Subuh. 3 The Javanese believe that a man's name is all- important, being directly related to his destiny and fortune. If he consistently has bad luck, he may change his name in the hope of advancing his prospects. 4 Sukarqp was a delicate and sickly child in the first few weeks after his birth, and when his parents were holding
54 55
"selamatan selapanan", the birthday celebration on the thirty-fifth dayS after his birth, "pengemis", a passing beggar suggested that the child should be called Muhammad
Subuh, since he had been born at dawn when the Muslims offer their morning prayer. 6
His father was called Chasidi. During his life- time he worked as an officer of a railway company and after he retired, he worked on his own farm as a farmer.
He was a descendant, the grandson, of Kijahi Muhammad
Abubakar, or originally Pangeran Sajjid Muhammad Abu bakar who came from Jogjakarta. 7
His mother's name is Siti8 Kursinah. She is a descendant of Sunan Kalidjogo of Kadilangu,9 Demak,
Central Java, from whom also the former Indonesian
President, Sukarno is descended.
Pak Subuh claims to have been a clairvoyant
since his early childhood. IO He remembers having a vision of an enormous "naga", a snake or dragon, as big as a river. As a child he was reserved, little inclined
to associating with the opposite sex. Moreover he
avoided the cinema which gave him headaches. He left
primary school at the age of fourteen. He was
fascinated by esoteric lore and read a lot and fairly ll widely in the Javanese language. 56
When he was fifteen years old several "Dukun"
(medicine~man or woman) predicted that he would die at the age of 25 or 32. Since he believed them, he felt there was little purpose in striving for the good things of a world which he would soon have to leave.12
As a melancholy young man, because of the effect of the prediction, he sought out various spiritual teachers, Hindu Gurus or Buddhist spiritual teachers as weIl as Kijahi, muslim mystics. Eventually he became the "santri" or a famous Kijahi in Djatiroto, Semarang, 'Kijahi Abdurrac~an.13 His teaching originated from Sunan Ampel,14 an eminent Wali who carne from Arabia.
Kijahi Abdurrachman is said to be a Naqshabandy Sufi.15
Pak Subuh reveals that the Gurus and Kijahis whom he visited were reluctant to teach him. Even Kijahi
Abdurrachman himself often said to him that Pak Subuh ought not to come to him to be taught because he would ultimately be taught directly by Rasulullah. On hearing aIl this, Pak Subuh was disappointed. So he secluded himself. It is aiso narrated that a District head who was also the pupil of Kijahi Abdurrachman one dayasked about his fellow friend, Muhammad Subuh, who was seldom to be seen. The Kijahi answered that Subuh was no longer his "murid," and 1tlilat he would attain a spiritual level 57 higher than that of a saint or a prophet. Seeing that the other "santris" heard this statement with great astonishment, the Kijahi added, "It is God's will indeed. l know because it has been also revealed to me that he is going to receive it by himself and it is not proper that he becomes my santri, and l cannot teach him. It should be the other way around. He should teach me instead." This explanation of the Kijahi was heard by his disciples who were present at that circle. Conse- quently they began to pay more attention to Pak Subuh and almost every night many of them went to see him and put aIl kinds of questions to him. At this time Pak Subuh was st~.·11 a young man 0 f twenty-f our or t wenty-f·~ve. 16 One night, about the year 1925, Pak Subuh was out walking alone when he suddenly had a vision of a bright baIl of light above him, resel. )ling the sun. While he was contemplating this vision the baIl touched his head and he began to quiver and shake as if he had been attacked by ague. In the meantime he recalled the predictions of his early death, and it seemed to him that he had now reached the fatal day. He returned home, lay down on his bed and prepared to die peacefully. But as soon as he laid him- self down in a state of complete relaxation, a strange 58 force raised him up to a standing position beside the bed and impelled him to go through the ri tuaI of the
Muslim prayer, quite independently of his own will or intention. 20 At the same time his whole body was filled with light, from the top of his head to the tips of his toes and fingers. He could also see the contents of his head and chest, aIl shining brightly. Then the light disappeared. After the light was gone he got up from his position and started to perforrn his prayer according to the practice in Islam. Having fini shed the prayer he began to chant the dhikr. 17
On the following day it happened that Kijahi
Abdurracharnan carne to Semarang where Pak Subuh lived.
On that occasion Pak Subuh questioned him regarding the experiences of the previous night. Kijahi replied that that was outside his realm, and it was not he who could explain it, because Subuh was different from him and his other pupils. 18
That was the beginning of a series of spiritual experiences which lasted for approximately three years. Pak Subuh says that during that period, he never slept at night but dozed off occasionally in the day time. Among his other experiences in this period he is said to have met the Prophets and conversed with 59 them, his guide on this occasion being the Prophet 19 Muhammad himself. His soul visited various planets and reached the final culmination during which his body remained in a cataleptic trance. In this state he was required to perform a task decreed by Allah for the benefit of humanity.
From that moment Pak Subuh's inner nature completely changed, as the human content had been put in subjection to the Divine. He was given to understand that the wealth of power and illumination which had been given to him unsought was destined for the benefit of humanity at large, and must be handed on freely to aIl who asked for help, no matter what their race and creed was. His mission was to teach men and women to become conscious of their own souls by way of practising latihan, spiritual exercises, as a means of worshipping
Almighty God. 20
On that oecasion, namely during the night of his mi'râj, the whole house appeared to his mother as if
it were illuminated. Since then she was always puzzled
and awed by her son, and accordingly one day she said to
him, "1 don't know who you are, but you are not the son l bore." 21
AlI these events happened when he was living 60 in Semarang with his wife and six children. One day an inner voice bade him to retire from aIl worldly activities, so he gave up his job as a government officer in Semarang Municipality,22 to the consternation of his relatives who considered such behaviour inhuman on the part of a father whose dut y was to provide for his family. Failing to impress him, his brothers began urging his .wife to leave him. When finally his wife discussed the matter with him, he explained, "It was God's command that l should no longer accept paid employment from men; our welfare will be taken care of by God; have faith, and you will see that we shall be weIl provided for; but if you force me to choose between God and you, then we shall have to part. ,,23 Upon hearing such a firm answer, his wife stayed. And he continued after that to stand on his own feet by working at a small industry of his own.
Placing this period within the Indonesian historical context we will notice several significant events. It was a period of struggle to rediscover the
Indonesian identity, which is usually called the period of transition and crisis. Politically it was known as the time of rising tide of Indonesian nationalisme
There were bitter conflicts between Dutch colonial rulers and the leaders of the nationalist movement. Many
Indonesian leaders were arrested, imprisoned or exiled 61 te the remote jungle in West Irian. In the meantime there were also controversies amongst political leaders as to how to deal with the issues, on what ideology the parties were to be based and what kind of strategy would be taken. 24
This was the period when S.D.I. (Muslim Merchant Association), Budi Utomo (Excellent Character
Movement), P.S.I.I. (Indonesian Muslim Political Party),
Muhammadijah Movement, N.U. (Orthodox Muslim Scholars
Association), P.K.I. (Indonesian Communist Party) and
P.N.I. (Indonesian Nationalist Party) emerged; at this time, Indonesia underwent very serious economic difficulties due to government maladministration and the domination of Chinese merchants over almost aIl fields of Indonesian economy. An estimated 75% of Indonesian
trade was under their control. Therefore, uprisings and
conflicts between Indonesians and Chinese happened
frequently. The first Indonesian labour strike led by
the Communist Party also occurred. This time it took
place in several sugar plantations and the railway company in which directly or indirectly Pak Subuh as weIl
as his father were involved, since, when he was about eighteen years old, Pak Subuh started te work for a 25 railway company in Surabaja, East Java. 62
Finally, and probably the most important
factor, there were very strong pressures upon Muslims because of the rapid spread of Christianity. In response
to this challenge, Muslims tried to check this progress
by founding organizations and educational institutions,
~. Muhammadijah, al Washlijah, al-Islam, Pondok Modern
"Darussalam" , Nahdatul Ulama. 26 It must, however, be
noted here that the establishment of such organizations
was partly because of the impact of Muhammad 'Abduh's
ideas of modernism in Egypt which more or less succeeded
in inflaming the religious zeal of Indonesian Muslims. On the other hand, naturally, it also caused internaI
conflict among so-called Modernist Muslims, Conservatives,
Sufis, White Muslims, Red Muslims,~. As an outcome of these confused phenomenal those who were not satisfied
with the existing religious institutions withdrew to
build or to join a new one which was usually a newly
blended or compromised spiritual order. Thus, in that state of turmoil, many spiritual brotherhoods emerged
and flourished aIl over the country.
It was after 1932 that Pak Subuh began to
pass on to others the spiritual current which he had
received. He discovered that it was enough for him to
stand or sit silently in the presence of another pers on 63 who was totally relaxed, and at once that person began to have peculiar sensations. By Pak Subuh's deliberate direction of this power for several minutes, a similar force could be awakened in the other person. After several such sessions the latter's inner being would be changed and the lower forces would be eliminated.
Eventually the new pupil would be able to use the same force himself and the new force could be handed on. 27
In 1942, Indonesia was occupied by the
Japanese. The occupiers were military men. As military men they were probably the followers of Zen Buddism.
Life under Japanese military Governrnent became very difficult. Many people died from hunger and disease.
People were compelled to work hard to produce Japanese war supplies. Men and women were indoctrinated to serve the war by means of training them to do physical exercises, "Taiso"j meditation, "mengheningkan tjipta", and cooperative work, "kengrohosi" , almost every day. Mean while religious brotherhoods were closely watched. 28
By that time Pak Subuh as weIl as his family and his senior disciples had to move "hijrah" to
Jogjakarta, 120 kilometers from Semarang on foot. There
he continued his work des pite the ban. When the Japanese
police asked what was going on in the house, he replied 64
"Sembahjang", meaning Muslim prayer.
In 1947, after two years of Indonesian independence, he decided to found a formaI order with government registration. At that time in the town of
Jogjakarta only, there were already thirty-three spiritual brotherhoods registered. Throughout
Indonesia, according to statistics made by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, there were more than 150 spiritual 29 orders.
The order founded by Pak Subuh went under the name of "SUBUD". It is an abbreviation of three
Javanese words of Sanskrit origin: Susila, Buddhi, and
Dharma. The use of Hindu terms probably occurs because the spiritual vocabulary of the Javanese is still influenced by their former Hindu culture, although they now, according to the statistics, profess Islam. Yet, according to Pak Subuh, "SUBUD" was not intended to favour one religion more than another, but to regard aIl religions as different aspects of the same truth. That is why he did not associate his spiritual order with any existing religion but rather welcomed any person regardless of his religious belief, although he himself was a devout Muslim who observed and practised the Shari'ah. 65
In 1951, when he was in Jogjakarta he predicted that his spiritual order by 1960 would spread aIl over the world. 30 In this same year, he began to find a way of going outside Java, namely to Palembang and Medan in
Sumatra. Meanwhile, in 1952 he wrote his book "Susila
Budhi Dharma" in Javanese poetry. The book is regarded by Subud members as a sacred and holy book. It must be pointed out here that in the course of Subud development, the teachings of Subud are by no means confined to this book. Rather even most of his teachings are derived from his speeches, messages and letters which continue to accumulate:.
It is now worthwhile to say something about the spread of Subud abroad. 3l One day in 1951, a stranger came to Pak Subuh. He was a British Muslim and a correspondent of Islamic Review and other magazines. His name was Husein Rofe. According to what he himself said, Husein Rofe came to Indonesia feeling the need to search there for a spiritual guide who could show him
the truth. For that purpose he had journeyed a lot in
Africa and the Middle East as well. 32 Vpon his request, Pak Subuh answered that he could not yet give or show him what he was looking for, but probably he would find it later if he were initiated into his spiritual order. 66
So it came about that Pak Subuh initiated him that evening on January 15th, 1951, and accordingly Husein
Rofe was able to receive the contact. Subsequent1y, whenever Pak Subuh he1d the 1atiahn with his disciples, he a1ways joined in receiving contact and doing the
1atihan. According to Husein Rofe that was the basis of what he was rea11y seeking.
As a correspondent, Husein Rofe natura11y was very fond of writing in newspapers and magazines about things he had experienced. His article about Subud was püb1ished for the first time in Islamic Literature,
June, 1951. That was the first time Subud became known abroad. Meanwhi1e, in 1955, Pak Subuh 1eft Jogjakarta and sett1ed for the first time in the Capital of
Indonesia, Djakarta, on Dja1an Djawa. On the other hand after wandering throughout the country, Husein Rofe fe1t the need to 1eave Indonesia and he went to Japan and then Hong Kong to initiate many people there into Subud brotherhoods.
A foreign magazine containing an article on
Husein Rofe's experiences with Subud, probably was the reason why an Eng1ish man ca11ed Meredith Starr who was living in Cyprus came to know Pak Subuh's name and he 67
as k e d h ~m" to v~s~t" "C yprus. 33 Instead of going himself, Pak Subuh requested Husein Rofe, who was then in Hong
Kong, to go to Cyprus on his behalf and to initiate
Meredith Starr and his friends. From Cyprus Husein Rofe went to England and initiated many people there. With these neophytes he made arrangements to invite Pak
Subuh to England.
Finally in the middle of May 1957 Pak Subuh arrived in England and stayed in the house of Husein
Rofe. During his stay in the house of Husein Rofe, Pak
Subuh met Meredith Starr and his friends who had been initiated by Rofe in Cyprus; then, in the following evenings, Pak Subuh held the latihan and initiated new 34 members, among them being one John Bennet. After two weeks had passed, at the request of John Bennet, Pak Subuh moved to his house at Commbe Springs. This was an un- expected event, because at t~lat time many men and women were gathered together at Commbe Springs on the invitation of John Bennet to take part in a seminar that was being held at that time. They carne from many different countries; sorne carne from the United States of
America, Europe, South Africa, Ceylon, Australia, New
Zealand and other parts of the world. On this occasion,
after hearing Pak Subuh's explanation, many people asked 68 to be initiated. During his four month stay in England 35 more than 1,000 people were won over. This was his first trip abroad. His prediction was eventually fUlfilled, because since that time Pak Subuh has traveled aIl over the world to open new branches of
Subud and to speak to the Subud world as weIl as to local congresses. It would appear that he speaks only
Javanese and Indonesian and probably knows how to recite the verses of the Qur'an.
After returning from abroad Pak Subuh very much felt the need to meet the requirements of the development of Subud. So he immediately prepared to look for a rather large piece of land outside the crowded city of Djakarta. It was very fortunate that, at that time, there was land outside Djakarta at Tjilandak, ten miles from downtown, that was to be sold at a cheap price. So he bought it and decided to build a complex of buildings with the purpose of centralizing aIl Subud activities. An Australian engineer, Lionel van Sommers, also a Subud member, offered his services to draw and build the whole complex which consisted of Pak Subuh's residence, a latihan hall, an office for the secretariat and a guest house. Finally, however, the construction of Pak Subuh's own residence was postponed. 69
For that reason he occupied four rooms of the guest house. Formerly, at the time before moving to
Tjilandak, when he was still at Djalan Djawa, Djakarta and when the scope of Subud was still national, the letters that came and had to be attended to were from
Indonesian members only, and it was sufficient for him to handle them with only one assistant. But later, when
Subud began to spread abroad the letters increased a great deal and every day he received no less than thirty
letters aIl of them requiring an answer. He therefore needed to increase the number of his assistants and he
enlisted Brodjolukito, Sudarto, Dr. Prio Hartono and
Dr. Rachmad. Then when it became evident that Subud was
spreading rapidly to countries aIl over the world, the
number of letters as weIl as the visitors that came to
Tjilandak increased again. Pak Subuh had to add
another three people, Irnran, Sofyan, an Englishman who
had converted to Islam, and Rasunah, an American lady,
another convert to Islam.
Since the visitors, or rather the pilgrims,
from abroad as weIl as from Indonesia increased aIl the
time, Pak Subuh soon began to build another house that
was entirely for him and his family and he extended the 70 complex area.
At present in practice the dwelling place of
Pak Subuh, Tjilandak, has become a Subud shrine or a
Subud sanctuary, a place every member dreams of visiting.
Every day many Indonesian and foreign disciples visit him to see him and to hear his direct teachings in order to acquire his blessing. Lately there have been frequent chartered flights from Europe, U.S.A. and other continents for the Tjilandak pilgrimage. Many disciples spend several days in the sanctuary and it happens 36 frequently that many of them are converted to Islam.
At present several foreign families have started to live as permanent residents in Tjilandak. Another peculiar phenomena is that almost every member changed their names or added a Subud name which is in its essence either a Javanese name of Sanskrit origin or an Arabie 37 name. The new names are blessed and granted by Pak
Subuh upon the request of name-interested members, and they are given to new born babies.
Now Pak Subuh is sixty-eight years old. By
Indonesian standards, he is an old man. His spiritual brotherhood has flourished everywhere. The solidarity of the members has been dependent exclusively on him; his words are obeyed without question; his charisma has 71 always been the source of his authority.
Generally the immediate crisis which marks the birth of a new epoch in the development of the infant spiritual order and causes its structural transformation is the death of the founder; and sooner or later Pak
Subuh must leave this world. With his passing, new problems will appear. Of course, now it is too premature to predict what Subud brotherhood will be after his passing. Indeed, he has a son and a daughter, but they are not very much involved in his spiritual activities, so they are not likely to succeed him. But throughout the development of Subud his close disciples namely Muhammad Usman, Varindra, Dr. Prio
Hartono, Dr. Rahmad and Brodjolukito have been deeply and directly involved. Probably if there is no more master or founder, the meaning of discipleship will push forward. And the importance of one among the disciples will be emphasized. Moreover, perhaps it is not too bold a statement to predict that the unit y, disunity and future development of Subud in its membership and message will entirely depend upon these disciples.
Wïth regard to his position as the founder of
Subud, Pak Subuh has never directly claimed that he is a
Prophet; but there is evidence that the majority of his 72 followers regard him as suCh,38 sorne of them even believing that he is an Incarnation of God. The only claim he has made 50 far is, In aIl this, Bapak's function is like that of a school servant, who sets out the books, opens the door, clears the rooms and arranges the tables and chairs. When you are aIl in the classroom, the teacher will come and give the lesson; and the teacher is not Bapak, but God Himself. Bapak is not a teacher, but only the servant of God. This is in truth Bapak's position in this spiritual work of "Subud"; under the Power of God and His Hands. 39 IV
THE TEACHING OF SUBUD
a. Pak Subuh!s universal religious outlook and his view of shari'ah
Pak Subuh's view about religions is typically
Javanese incorporating the sanskrit maxim, "Sarwagama pramannja" which is translated into Javanese as
"Sedojo agami sami kemawon" (AlI religions are similar).
In this connection, we feel obliged to quote once more Professor Kraemer's apt remark that in conversing on religious subjects with people in Java, one almost inevitably has sorne such experience as the following: "In more than ninety out of a hundred cases one hears the stereotyped remark: 'AlI religions are ultimatelyone'. It cornes from the lips of the intellectuals as weIl as from those of the illiterate
villager."
Among Javanese mystics, it is taken as a matter
of course that such a universal and tolerant religious out look is the proper one. This was probably due to the
73 74 nature of Javanese mysticism as a belief without clear cut features which was open to influences and embraced many so-called magic practices. Such a belief is more or less religious but not in the first place God-fearing and not pious in any orthodox religious sense, since generally the religious injunction is neglected. More over, what in different religions seem to be allied, is soon put together without any selection. With this type of universal outlook we may therefore discern elements from different religious systems, such as
Animism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.
This phenomenon is very common among Javanese, the Red Muslims in particular. Although sometimes these people are indifferent about religion in its orthodox aspect, they are very receptive to religion in general.
But again, as soon as a conversation about a particular religion finishes, we shall hear from their lips, "Yes, after aIl, aIl religions are the same." When groups like Muslims and Christians quarrel on the matter of conversion and theology, this Javanese conviction of universality becomes deeper and deeper.
The Javanese for hundreds of years have under gone and witnessed the contributions of these religions in their negative and positive aspects. Because of this 75 they have tried to select the elements from these religions which could be adjusted to Indonesian conditions.
Such a compromising attitude is not confined to the spiritual field but also occurs in other fields, including the political field which is reflected by
"Kepribadian Indonesia" (Indonesian identity).
Indonesian political mottoes such as Bhinneka Tunggal
Ika, the Pantja Sila (five principles), Nasakom
(Nationalism, Religion, Communism) are indeed a
reflection of this selective attitude. 2 Coming back to
the spiritual field, we also find among Javanese a
Chinese formula which reads, "Han san wei ji", i.e.
in China there are three religions dn~~ yet these three
are one.
In Java mystical brotherhoods with universal
rel igious outloo~
do not have the least objection to accepting the
different prophets of various religions into their own
spiritual systems. Adam, Moses, Buddha, Krisna, Jesus, Muhammad are aIl respected and occupy a place in their
mystical system. For them there are many different ways to salvation. A common proof of such belief is that,
according to them, there is one peak for every mountain,
while there are many possible ways and roads to reach the 76 peak. In the same tone one day a Javanese mystic said te a priest, "Ah, Romo (father), we are both right." And to prove this, he showed him a matchbox. The priest saw the yellow side of the trademark and the mystic the blue back.' "You would persist in saying that the box was yellow, because you could not see more than that. l, on the contrary, would insist that the box was blue. Who would be right? Both of us! And the box? It would be the same box", he added. 3 These Muslims are of course less fanatic than white Muslims. They are not hostile to any religions, although officially they are Muslims. Moreover the Sufis' dictum " ,,4
(There are as many paths to God as there are souls of men) is very familiar to the Javanese. In the religious life of the Javanese, the so called "ngelmu" plays an important part. The word is derived from the Arabic word 'ilm, meaning knowledge, and it has a connotation synonymous with mysticism. The
Javanese trust implicitly in the effect of ngel~u, and many of them pursue the knowledge of it aIl of their lives. It is imparted by the Guru or Ki to his murids. It is now worthwhile, before discussing Pak Subuh's religious view, to look briefly at the basic concepts of 77
Javanese mysticism.
We have seen in our previous discussion that there were more than 150 mystical brotherhoods through out the Indonesian Archipelago, more than one hundred of them being in Java.
In' Java, mysticism is practised both individually and in sects. A weekly or monthly meeting usually takes place in the house of a founder or rotates among the members' houses for discussion and meditation.
In theory,'one can meditate and study onè's inner life by oneself as weIl as with others. But to do so in a group is considered preferable because within a circle the more advanced people can help and train the less
advanced. The membership of these orders originates from
the abangan (red Muslim) or priiaii, and also sometimes
from amongst a few santris. Although the orders are
independent of one another and teach sornewhat different
doctrines as weIl as different techniques of spiritual
exercises, they show a basically similar philosophical
and theological outlook.
Basically Javanese mysticism lays stress on
the rosa (emotions) that originates from the heart in the attempt to experience the reality of God. If the
emotions can be stilled through various means and 78 techniques, then one may come face to face with Ultimate
Reality, the reflection of God in the self. Therefore
the primary aim of their mysticism is to attain
"tentreming manah" ,5 peace, quiet and tranquility of the he art , the seat of the emotions. They usually compared
this mystical philosophy to the opening of kelapa (a
coconut) in an attempt to produce coconut oil. The shell
of the coconut may be likened to outward forms of
religious disciplines (shari'ah); and the white meat
of the coconut may be likened to the inward forms of
religious disciplines (tariqah) while the oil of the
coconut is the truth (haqiqah).6
Ati, Manah, Hati, Kalbu (dervied from al-galb),
are different names of the heart, which is regarded as
the central part of one's inner life, "Rasa diri", the
place wherein God resides in the individual. Literally,
and rather surprisingly, the Javanese identified Ati with
the liver and not with the heart (djantung). They
considered Ati as a spiritual location, the place in
the depths of the individual where and by which God can
be perceived. 7 Moreover, the three elements of a
coconut were identified in'lI.their mysticism with three
factors: "Kawulo", sometimes abbreviated to "Kulo" ,
meaning 1; "Roso" (feeling or heart); and "Gusti" , 79 meaning Lord. Because of this outlook, although they confessed Islam as their religion, they disregarded the observance of shari'ah which is regarded by them as merely an external aspect of religion. Sorne of them argued, "Sakdurunge salat wis salat",8 meaning they prayed earlier (by' heart) before anybody else. Or if they did sometimes perform the shari'ah injunction, they did it in a different way. Sorne observed their prayers only in Jum'at and 'Idul-Fi~ri. They fasted only during the beginning of Ramagan and at the end, which they called "Poso Kendang" (Drum-fasting). Sorne of them not only neglected the injunctions of shari'ah but were also against it, and tried to innovate shari'ah of their own. They accused orthodox Islam of being an Arab religion, therefore a foreign religion which must be wiped out from Indonesia. For Javanese people, God has revealed their own religion.
Out of such claims in Java emerged many - mystical orders which bear Islamic titles in Javanese expressions such as Agama Islam Sedjati Republik Indonesia (True Islamic Religion of the Republic of
Indonesia), Sumarah (Submission), Agama Islam Hak
(True Islamic Religion), Pangestu (Peace) and so on. 80
As we have pointed out earlier, aIl of these mystical orders taught a doctrine of religious relativism, univers al tolerance and a relativistic view of religious beliefs and practices. They argued that the ultimate rasa (inner feeling) is not fanatic but calm, cool and peaceful. AlI religions are good, but none is good for everyone. "Many are the roads," they always insisted.
The Sumarah head, Dr. Soerono,9 claims that any fanaticism among its members disrupts the entire meditation meeting, and that fanatics are banned from
joining.
The head of Budi' Setio said, "AlI religions are the same in that they concentrate on the holy power.
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Mazdaism - aIl have at
least a grasp on the truth. Only materialism is wrong completely. ,,10
The head of the Kawruh Kasunjatan order claimed
that his religion was an international one and would
admit Christians, Muslims, Chinese and Europeans without ll their having to give up any of their beliefs.
The Ilmu Sedjati order attempted to include
four religions, Christianity, Islam, Theosophy and 12 Intellectual Free-thinking within its system. 81
Agama Islam Hak was founded in the city of
Magelang, Central Java, by a certain Kijahi Slirodiwismo, whose doctrines were an alleged "further development" or
"improvement" of Islam. This order is principally given to ritualistic innovation, and at one time it numbered its followers in the hundreds. Its devotees declare that since the soul of the Prophet Muhammad has descended upon the Borobudur (a famous Buddhist temple shrine of Central Java), one should pray facing that shrine, not facing Macca. Since Isa (Jesus) and the
Jewish Prophets are spoken of as Muhammad's forerunners in the Qur'an, the followers of Agama Islam Hak should also utilize the Torah and New Testament in their devotions. Fasting should play a much greater role,
Silodiwismo argued. Once a week for a full day one should fast, and even while at work during the fast the 13 devotee should practise dhikr.
Agama Islam Sedjati Republik Indonesia (A.I.S.R.I.), 14 founded by a governrnent clerk, Suarso
Hadikisumo, in Tjirebon, West Java, taught that the religions of the world are divided into five: 1. the original Islamic religion of Java founded by Wali Songo
(nine Muslim saints); 2. the Arab Islam of Muhammad;.
3. the European Christianity of Jesus; 4. the Buddhism 82 of India founded by Gautama; and 5. Confucianism of
China. Muhammad's Islam is described as imperialistic and should be confined to Arabia. The true Islam is that of the Wali Songo. General Professor Dr. Mustopo attempted to establish an international Religious Front to make a
bold stand against the progress of Communism. Mr. Wongsonegoro, the former Indonesian Minister of Education and the president of B.K.K.I.
(Indonesian Spiritual Orders Association) during its
second congress, revealed that religion had not succeeded
in pacifying the world, because it was concerned only with theology and neglected the inner self. Only
"Kebatinan" mysticism could strengthen the existing
re1 l.gl.ons."" 15
Such a religiously universal outlook by no means passed without opposition from the Orthodox
elements. They made every effort to dam up the progress
of such spiritual orders by means of tabligh,
publ l.ca" t"l.ons, compu1 sory re1"" l.gl.OUS e d ucatl.on"16· an d even by requesting government intervention. From this there
arose in Indonesia two official bodies dealing with mystical problems. They are Bagian Aliran Kebatinan dan
Kepertiaiaan Masiarakat (Department of Mysticism and 83
Social Beliefs) under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Pakem: Pengawas Aliran Kemasiarakatan
(Superintendent of Social Beliefs) under the Attorney
General. In addition to that we should not forget that there is ample evidence that sorne of these spiritual orders were often exploited by certain political parties as a means to reach their political ends.17
Now let us see Pak Subuh's views concerning religion in connection with his mystical enterprises.
As he has always confessed, he is a Muslim but the question remains as to what kind of a Muslim he is. His
Islam appears to be unique. From his earnest observance of shari'ah, he can be categorized as an Orthodox
Muslim. On the other hand, viewed from his universalist outlook, we must admit that he emerges as a typical
Javanese Muslim whose religious outlook we have seen
briefly above. Even Pak Subuh sometimes criticised those who practised orthodoxy, whether they were Muslims or
Christians. During the Subud Indonesian Congress at
Malang he said, Brothers and Sisters, compared with those who always go to the mosques and churches, perhaps Bapak does even surrender less thaq they do, since Bapak has many household requirements which need to be thought about. But what do they gain? WeIl. Just so. They just say their prayers. That's aIl. In our case, when we surrender our selves completely to the greatness of Almighty 84
God, at that very moment our entire inner feeling will vibrate and that vibration will finally manifest itself in the various 18 movements which we calI the latihan kediiwaan. Perhaps it is no exaggeration to state that the above quotation means not only that orthodox prayer can be replaced by latihan, but it also means that latihan is regarded as being superior to orthodox prayer. In his talks about the teachings of the Prophets and the action of Subud, although he did not openly claim prophethood he tried however to place Subud at the same level as religions brought by
Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. He argues that Subud has come upon the earth recently because it is the right time for man to receive it, since aIl mankind is now under very heavy pressure from irresistible worldly
influences. This pressure of the world upon man, and
its hold over him, are so dreadful that he has, by his own actions, thrown the world situation into a state of
chaos. God knows when the time is ripe for man to
rece~veo HO~s g~Of t ~n° t h e r~g° h t way. 19 Th ere f ore
according to him, whenever the conditions of life on earth have reached a peak of terror, God has sent an emmissary to direct mankind to the true path. Subud then is the help from God for the present chaotic modern era. Yet he is not rigid in his views about Subud being the 85 last of God's help and the only salvation of mankind. On the contrary he recognizes every existing religion as a possible path to the truth. He has protested even the c h arge t h at Su b u d LS- a new re1- LgLon.- 20 T 0 h-Lm t h e function of Subud is to strengthen the existing re1 LgLons.- - 21 He applies analogically that Subud in its relation to other religions is as a garage in its relation to different sorts of cars. 22
We are, however, doubtful concerning the truth and effectiveness of that claim in practice. It seems those who joined Subud, as weIl as the other spiritual orders, did so as a result of dissatisfaction with their previous religions. And there is no doubt that if one is satisfied with Subud, he will be more concerned with latihan than with going to church and mosque. Even those who are converted to Islam, we assume most of them embrace Islam not in its orthodox sense, but rather in its .Javanese or more exactly in its abangan sense.
Seen from the Javanese mystical point of view,
Pak Subuh's universal religious view is by norneans unique. Almost aIl Javanese mystics, as we have explored above, hold the same view, with certain variations, different theological concepts and different motives. 86
Now let us see Pak Subuh's universal religious view from the point of view of Islamic teaching. There is no doubt that almost aIl Muslim sects and schools believe firmly in the finality of Islam as the true way of saI vat ion and in the Prophet Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets. The traditional arguments are the following Qur'anic verses:
"To-day is perfected for you and your religion, and fulfilled upon you is my favour, and l am pleased for
0 0 ,,23 you to h ave l s 1 am f or a re1 ~g~on; "Verily, (the true) religion in God's sight is ISlam;,,24
"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but the
Messenger of God, and the Seal of the Prophets." 25
Yet within the history of Islam there have been sorne mystics whose views have not been as strict as this orthodox view. Ibn al-'Arabi is the most prominent amongst these exceptions. In his Turjuman al-Ashwaq he writes:
My heart is capable of every form,
A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols,
A pasture for gazelles, the pilgrim's Ka'ba,
The Tables of the Torah, the Koran. Love is the faith l hold: Whereever turn
His camels, still the one True faith is mine. 26 87
From this ode we understand that Ibn al-'Arabi saw him- self as being aIl. AlI for him were One, aIl paths lead to one straight path which lead to God. From the crudest form of idolatry to the most abstract religious philosophy, we find, Ibn al-'Arabi says, beliefs which, when interpreted rightly, are found to be beliefs about
God. 27 Monotheism and polytheism, together with infinite other creeds, are, when interpreted in the light of his theory, nothing but one universal religion. The difference between monotheism and polytheism, according to him, corresponds to the logical difference between the One and the Many. Polytheism is due to the failure of the polytheist to realize the absolute Unit y of the
World, through which failure he regards as divisible the ultimately indivisible Being. "In reality", Ibn al-'Arabi says, "there is no partner to GOd",28 for he is the 'ayn of everything, including what is called partners. Every thing that is worshipped is a form and an aspect of Him, and, actually there is nothing that is worshipped except
Him. Does He not say, "And thy Lord has decreed that ye shall not worship other than Him?",29 a verse which
Ibn al-'Arabi interprets as meaning that "thy Lord had said that nothing is actually worshipped except Him."
'Afifi pointed out that in this verse Ibn al-'Arabi has 88 completely altered the original meaning. And so Ibn al
'Arabi does not reject polytheism, provided that the worshippers of images and idols fully realize that there is a Reality behind the form of their gods, regarding the forms as mere majali (theatres) or ~juh (aspects) or manifestations of this Reality. Images and idols in themselves are, like aIl other manifestations, empty nothings.
"Are not" , Ibn al-'Arabi asks,
the idol worshippers themselves conscious of the imperfection and helplessness of their Gods when they say, 'We do not worship them save that they may bring us near to God.' The greatest of aIl idols is God from whose unit y alone cornes the help to aIl helpless creatu~~s, and aIl creatures are helpless as forms.:.:sU
The similarity between Pak Subuh's universal
religious view and Ibn al-'Arabi's are striking; however
there are still many differences.
We have seen in our previous chapter that Ibn
al-'Arabi's waQdat al-wujud doctrine had influenced many
prominent Indonesian Mystics, ~. Hamzah Fansuri and
Shay~~ Siti Djenar and so it was prevalent among them.
There is however no evidence to suggest Pak Subuh as
having been directly influenced by Ibn al-'Arabi's
thinking, but he may have imbibed sorne of the ideas from
other mystics. This possibility is justified by the 89 fact that Pak Subuh seems to have no consistence in his theology. At times he is very orthodox, but on other occasions he is inclined to pantheisme Moreover he is not concerned with the philosophical concept of theology.
Whatever the assurnption might be, according to our justification, the main difference between Ibn al
'Arabi's universal religious idea and that of Pak
Subuh's lies in origin and motive. The forrner's idea originated from his waQdat al-wuiüd doctrine with a pure philosophical motive, while the latter's originated from non-philosophical motives and did not aim at formulating any rational mystical concepts.
Concerning his view of shari'ah there is an
indication that prayer (~alat) can be replaced by
practising spiritual exercise (latihan) which is even regarded as superior to prayer, although Pak Subuh himself still practises ~alat regularly.3l Zakat is given in the form of Selamatan (Javanese indigenous
thanksgiving meal), especially to commemorate the seuls
of the ancestors and to celebrate certain occasions. 32
As far as the injunction of Qaii is concerned he under
stands it differently. He regards places mentioned during
the pilgrimage ceremony as no more than symbols.
According to him, bayt al-ma'mur is a symbol of the 90 brain, bayt al-mliQarram is the symbol of the hum an heart, and bayt al-mukaddas is the syrnbol of the sex organ. 33a
When aIl these three parts have been purified then they are called the houses in which man stands before God.
Therefore, the instruction of spiritual practices in such places must be perceived in their allegories which embody well-hidden meanings. The pilgrimage injunction, therefore, should be performed in such a way, namely to
pilgrimage unto one's own heart. It seems that Pak
Subuh follows this idea. As we have pointed out, he has travelled almost aIl over the world and he has sufficient
pro pert y; yet he has never visited Macca to perform the
Q~ as understood by a Sunni. Fasting (~~) during
the month of rama9an is perhaps the only shari'ah
injunction he observes strictly and he instructs his 33b followers to do the same.
As regards his reaction to the fact that many
Subud members have been converted to Islam, Pak Subuh
seems unconcerned and neither objects to nor encourages
1"t • 34 Answering the question pertaining to this
phenomena he elaborates that what is needed is not an
explanation about Islam but about themselves - about
why it is that sorne of them who were Christians had
changed to the Islamic faith, whereas none of those 91 members who were Muslims have changed to Christianity.
He explains that it is because latihan is guidance and direction from Almighty God which leads towards the
perfection of life and suitable religion in harrnony with 35 the inner nature of each individual. During latihan
they receive movements and energy that are unknown to
them, while their heart and mind cannot reject or
prevent them, but they can only look on like one at the
cinema who may watch what is shown on the screen, but
has no power to change it. There are also sorne who
feel, in receiving t.hese movements and energy, that they
are like those of a Muslim who is worshiping Almighty 36 God.
It seems that it is this receiving that causes
the person who receives to feel the necessity of
embracing Islam. After having explained this, Pak
Subuh emphasizes,
As for the members who are Christians and wish to embrace Islam, or those who are Muslims and wish to embrace Christianity, Bapak neither forbids this nor does Bapak direct or order them to do this; because in Subud, as Bapak has explained above, you are able, through the Grace of Almighty God, to receive and follow the latihan kediiwaan, which is in reality guidance and direction from Almighty God, so that the understanding and faith you have obtained from studying and from habits you have practised for years are as if wiped away from your inner-feeling."37 92
b. His concept of Daia38 (soul)
The word daia conveys a variety of meaning: force, strength, spirits or soul. In Javanese, daja is synonyrnous to njawa, sukma, djiwa and roh from al-rüQ in Arabie. There is, however, the underlying sense of life in aIl the meanings.
RüQ in Arabie is a primary noun which has become broadly equivalent in meaning to the Latin sp~r~tus,.. b reat, h w~n . d or sp~r~t. . . 39 Th ere ~s. st~ . Il a confusion between the word rüQ and nafs among Sufis. The Javanese mystics, like the majority of Sufis, do not d ~st~ngu~s· . . h b etween sou1 an d sp~r~t... 40 But w h atever the connotation, the words rüQ and nafs and the ideas which underlie them enlist the interest of the theologians, mystics, philosophers and psychologists'of every generation. Also in Islam, the nature of the hum an soul (rüQ or nafs) has been a living issue throughout its history.
The majority of Muslim theologians and mystics, including al-Ghazzalï and al-'Afifï, hold the idea that the nature of rüQ is purely non-material. Al-Ghazzali defines man as a spiritual substance (jawhar ruçani), not confined in a body, nor imprinted on it, just as Allah is neither without nor within the world and 93 likewise the Angels. 4l Also al-'Afifi says that al-rUQ is subtle and non-material. It is independent of the body and does not vanish with its death. It is the divine aspect of man and the source of knowledge and contemplation. A leading figure who rejected the idea of non materiality of rGQ is Ibn al-Quoyyrm (d. 1350). He maintained that it was corporeal. 42 On the other hand a 1 - HuJwl.rl. ... 43.~ tak es a very caref u 1 stand· l.n wh· l.C h h e affirms that knowledge concerning the existence of rUQ is intuitive, and the intelligence is unable to apprehend its nature. He bases his argument on the verse of al- Qur'an, "And they will ask thee concerning the Rül}: Answer -- the RüQ belongs to that which (i.e. the creation of which) my Lord commanded.,,44 Furthermore he says that there are many similar proofs of the existence of the spirit (rGQ), but they contain no authoritative state- ment as to l.ts. nature. 45 As regards the Quranic usages of the word rUQ there are six kinds: 46 nafakha, meaning Allah blew of
His rGQ; rUQ in connection with Allah's ~ (command; Isa is called a rüQ from Allah; Al-Rü9 is an associate of Mala'ikah (angels); Al-RuQ al-Amin; and al-RuQ al-Quddus. 94
Before discussing Pak Subuh's concept of soul in detail it is perhaps worthwhile to summarize his ideas on this particular issue. According to him the cosmic order by the decree of Almighty God comprises different levels. Each level is a sphere or world or its own. Beginning ~th the lowest, there is the world of the material souls, the world of the vegetable souls, the world of animal souls, the world of hurnan souls and the world of the souls of beings superior to human beings of this world. Basically, therefore, there are seven souls in the Universe (macrocosm) as weIl as seven souls within man (microcosm) which influence each other. The souls of the superbeing are the perfect man's soul (rohani). roh rochmani, and roh rabbani. Besides these seven souls there are two more intermediary 47 souls which are called roh al-kudd~ and roh ilofi. Souls, he goes on to explain, have no physical 48 forme His theory of souls is represented in the symbolism of Subud as seven circles one upon the other, each having no limit but always returning to its own beginning. That wnich proceeds from God returns aga in to God. That which arises from a source returns again . 49 to ~ts source. The first four souls, namely the material souls, 95 vegetable souls, animal souls and human souls (diasmani) will, if they are not controlled properly, be obstacles in the way of a man worshipjmg God. In order to worship
God correctly, man has to control these four souls and in order to be able to control these souls man has to understand their origin and character. These souls can be apprehended only when a man is able really and truly to relinquish everything that he has within himself, namely, his thoughts, imagination, feelings, desires and his lower nature in general. These things must be brought to a stand-still or paralysed. 50 This act of relinquishing is a way of purification which Pak Subuh calls latihan kediiwaan (spiritual exercise) with which we will deal in the following chapter. One's spiritual condition and its progress in reaching God depends upon which one of the seven souls controls or influences him most.
From the Islamic point of view, Pak Subuh's theory of soul would appear to be unique. As far as we know, no Sufi has formulated such a theory. Although we are able to refer each one of his classifications, except roh ilofi, back to several Sufi sources, it seems that there is one principle distinction between Pak Subuh's concept of soul and that of the majority of 96
Sufis. The latter believe that there is only one soul within man, although sorne of them sp~culated that there are several aspects and different elements composing it. Ibn al-'Arabi, for example, speaks of three souls: the vegetative, the animal and the rational souls. He, like Aristotle, do es not mean three separate souls within man, but rather three aspects of one soul;5l also al-Ghazzali speaks about the degrees of the hum an soul, al-rüQ al-çassas, al-rüQ al-khayyali, al-rITQ al-'a9li, al-rliQ al-dhikri wa al-figri and al-rüÇ al guddüs al-nabawï, by which terms he simply demonstrates several aspects of the soul. 52 Pak Subuh on the contrary believes that actually there are seven separate souls within this---Universê, emanating seven respective souls within each human being, each of which tries to return to its universal counterpart. Moreover each has a separate world of its own. Now let us look at his concept of the soul in more detail. The material soule Pak Subuh deals with the problem of material soul in his standard book Susila Budhi-Dharma. What follow are selected quotations of his principal ideas concerning the material souls. "Now other matters will be elaborated, beginning 97 with the various souls that are connected with the life of man. The first and the lowest of these are the material souls, since they contain the soul of Satan.
They are present in every kind of inanimate object or man-made thing. "S3
"Although such things appear to be inanimate, and are in fact incapable of inde pendent movement, they are nevertheless filled with souls that correspond to the level of human thought, so that man can use them for every kind of purpose and can modify at will their form and appearance."S4
In order to prove that material souls contain the Satanic elementhe states,
When it is remembered that sorne material objects owe their very existence to man, it seems beyond belief that they should have such power over him. It is just because they are creations of the mind, and therefore impregnated with powerful souls, that they exert such a strong attraction in the human feelings. Thus, things cease to be regarded as such, and even paradoxically come to be taken as objects of worship and founts of blessing. It can even happen that people lose any ability to use their possessions according to real need and fall so completely under their swaYsthat their possessions dominate and use them.~
"That was the reason why many rich people only because of their wealth looked down upon the poor as if they were inferior. This is due to the action of the material souls by which their selfhood is pervaded."S6 98
"Material possessions are indeed necessary, though subordinate, instruments in the hands of man and everyone should acquirethem in order thereby to be better equipped for life. But it must never be forgotten that possessions are for use and must not become objects of worship.,,57
After warning against the Satanic dangers of material souls, in order to be able to resist them, Pak
Subuh advises his disciples to practise the latihan.
"In order to be master of your own possessions, you need to practise the latihan with patience and sincerity. Through the experience gained in the latihan you will begin to observe how material souls influence your feelings, and later you will be able to direct these souls into their right channels.
Finally, you will achieve a state in which material souls will truly begin to be your servants. From then onwards you will no longer need to di:scard possessions or avoid them.,,58
Based upon these principles Pak Subuh goes on to explain in detail the influences of the soul of several materials, instruments used by men for their respective jobs. 59 For example, he discusses how agricultural tools influence the peasants; how money and 99 merchandise influence the traders; how weapons and uniforrns influence the armies; how machines and offices influence the employers and the employees; and how fine clothes and sparkling jewellry influence men and women.
As regards the relationship between materials and God he adds, "If the essence of materials is deeply observed it will appear to be like a world of its own,
inhabited by beings who also worship Almighty God in their own way no less faithfully than man in his.,,60
"Nevertheless, the life of material objects
in their own world resembles that of a man in this
world, since material objects can also worship God at the level of their own existence.,,61
"In the sight of God their mode of life is no
different from that of man, except that, as material
objects, their level of existence as creatures of God is far lower than that of man.,,62
"For this reason, material objects yearn for a
union with human beings that would raise their states and bring them closer to the level of mankind.,,63
"Their submission to the will of man is
constant since their des ire is to remain close to the heart of man until he dies.,,64
"In this way such material objects can 100 accompany man into his own world.,,65
"Such is the nature of material life, and it must be thoroughly grasped by a man if he is to under- stand the way in which the influences of material souls are always a factor in his own life. Gaining this under- standing, a man can regulate these material factors in an orderly manner." 66 '" ...
"It is a fact that material objects do indeed yearn to participate in the activities of man because they fulfil thereby their destiny which is to be the servants of mankind.,,67
"But unfortunately the contrary has happened.
Man becomes the slave of matter; then, far from raising
these objects to a higher level, he himself sinks into the material world.,,68
Pak Subuh's view (it would appear from the above
quotations) leans more towards an animistic point of
view than an Islamic one. Even Ibn al-'Arabi, the
champion of pantheism, does not categorically believe
in the existence of souls within material objects. Never-
theless, Pak Subuh's view is very different from the
prevailing Indonesian animistic view, because those who
believe in the existence of a soul within a material
object try to persuade and to please the object by means 101
d 69 o f sacr~°fo ~ce an wors hO~p. Pak Subuh on the other hand, des pite his belief in the existence of souls within material objects, forbids his followers from worshippng these souls. On the contrary, he insists that they control these souls properly, because for him the material souls are the main spring of human passion. 70
From time to time he has questioned his disciples about these puzzles: "Are you sitting on that chair or is that chair sitting on you?; are you eating that food or is that food eating you?; are you drinking that whisky or is that whisky drinking you?; are you running a newspaper or is the newspaper running you?,,7l
We have pointed out earlier that this concept does not appear to have an Islamic basis, but we know of at least two prominent Sufis who hold the view that every sensible thing has ruç. 'Abd al-Karfm al-Jilâni (al-
Jilly) in his book al-Insan al-Kamil says, "Every sensible thing has a created ruç by which its·form (surah). exists and the -.ruh of that form is like the meaning (ma'na) of a word (laf~). Also Shamsuddin Pas ai demonstrates a series of souls which almost exactly coincides with that of Pak Subuh's terminologies of the soule "There has been," Sjamsuddin Pasai says, "a long series of terminology which does not have any 102
purpose other than demonstrating the way to God, namely, ruh idofi is the soul (hagiga = niawa) of Muhammad; ruh rohani is the essence of the body of Muhammad; Ruh Diusmani is the essence of the human body; Ruh haiawani is the essence of animal bodies; Ruh Nabati is the essence of vegetable bodies; and Ruh Diamadi is the essence of unmoving objects. 73 From such a comparison, it is now clear that
Pak Subuh is not the only Muslim who introduces what might be called animistic doctrines into his framework for which he can be easily condemned of committing shirk. Now let us proceed to his concept of the vegetable souls. According to Pak Subuh, above the soul of a material object exists a soul of plants or vegetables. In this connection he says, "This concludes the explanation of the significance of the material souls. Another category will now be dis~ussed, namely, the vegetable souls which are also subordinate powers in the life of man on earth.,,74
"These souls that arise in plants exert a greater influence on the life of man than material souls, since he needs food and without them he could have no strength whatever, nor could he possess a human body. ,,75
"Plants' souls are essential for life, since a man in his beginning, while still in his mother's womb, already receives vegetable elements through her mediation 103 and is not separated from them up to the moment of birth.,,76
"The elements of vegetable souls are in fact a part of man himself. They are in astate that cannot be detected by the eye of the senses, but only by the inner feelings when these have been thoroughly purified. Such feelings are untainted by the thinking mind. When he is in this state, the food substances derived from plants enter him and serve to nourish and strengthen his bodily condition, and in this way food represents the point of contact between the outer and the inner vegetable souls.,,77
"The contact thus made between the outer and the inner corresponds to the returning of water to its original source, there being no difference between the two. Any disharrnony that arises between the two can have terrible consequences. ,,78
"The contact is made at the moment of eating.
When observed from th8 standpoint of reality, man is only an intermediary to bring the vegetable souls that are outside into contact with the corresponding souls that are already within.,,79
"Whenever food is eaten by man it has two
significant advantages. The food returns to its origin 104 and the man fu1fi1ls his obligation as a wise and noble creature of GOd.,,80
"Such a man is rightly the object of worship of the vegetable souls - both those that are within him and those that are without - since he by eating them can open their way to paradise that have so long awaited his help.,,8l
"The contact between the outer and inner vegetable souls resembles a long-awaited meeting between husband and wife. The feeling of rapture experienced needs no description, for it can weIl be imagined.,,82
"These aspirations are in no way different from those of men who await death in the hope that, having followed the right path in life, they may return to the glory of the eternal world.,,83
"Plants yearn for a similar destiny, where
through the mediation of man they may make contact with, 84 and return to, a noble and lofty world."
"For the plant essences, therefore, it is far nobler to be eaten by man than to be thrown out on the
ground and destroyed, or to become food for animaIs on1y. ,,85
"lndeed plants rejoice greatly and give praise and thanks to humankind for such a noble death.,,86 105
"Thus, my child, the essential state of plants is similar to that of the essence of the material objects already mentioned. The difference between the two essences is that the material souls influence the mind of man only, whereas the soul of vegetables affects aIl his being,,,87
After having completed a general observation of the action of vegetable souls on man and their own nature, Pak Subuh goes on to explain in detail sorne particular vegetables and plants, their nature as weIl as their influence upon those who eat them. He speaks about the influence of different kinds of plants such as rice, vegetables, coconuts, fruits and bamboo. The degree of each one's influence upon those who eat them depends mainly upon its respective shape, the place of its growth and the solidness of its growth. 88 For example the soul of rice which is grown in the paddy fields requires much water, while its stalk is slender but fairly long, and is formed in a hollow section.
Also it is short-lived, ripening quickly. Therefore it will influence people in such a way that they will have little fortitude in facing suffering and they will desire only to live without effort, with just sufficient means for their needs. They will have no urge to exert them- 106 selves to improve and raise their conditions of living.
Moreover, the short life and quick ripening of the rice paddy symbolises the inability of those who eat it to
persevere and their tendency to be too easily satisfied with whatever they happen to achieve. Fortunately how
ever, he argues, people have other foods available, such
as coconuts and bamboo shoots which have a solid and strong nature. These are able to compensate for the
weaknesses of rice. As regards the influence of food derived from
coconuts, he explains that the coconut-palm flourishes
without attention and can grow anywhere, even when
closely surrounded by other vegetation. Its trunk is
tall, straight and without branches. The fruit grows at
the top of the tree and ripens at almost anytime of the
year. Those who eat such food will have a wider outlook, experience and greater self-reliance, even in dis
organised conditions of life. They tend to have more firmly established opinions and are neither easily
influenced by others nor affected by temptations of life.
We think that these two examples are sufficient
to give us more or less a clear picture of the typical philosophy he develops in this matter. Furthermore he
elaborates that moral defects such as jealousy, fondness 107 for quarrels and despair are the effects of the un- controlled vegetable souls. Man, under the compulsion
of vegetable souls, is led to an almost complete neglect of his dut y as a man, so that he prefers to behave in
ways that are unbecoming of him. Therefore, it will
come about that his desires are no longer those proper to man, but are activated by these souls. 89
Again the only way to erase these influences
is latihan. He insists that his disciples carry out
their latihan sincerely, even though they have been for a long time under the influence of these souls. For it
they do the latihan conscientiously, the influences of
these souls will separate themselves automatically. Pak Subuh frequently states,
Do not ask but practise it. Never neglect your spiritual exercises (latihan), for by means of them you will soon be able to experience and understand clearly the inter-relation and the differences among the souls within yourself. Create cooperation between your human soul and subordinate ones. 90
From the above mentioned account, we are led to
conclude that Pak Subuh's theory of the vegetable soul is
quite different from that of the Sufis'; on the other
hand it is very similar to the indigenous Indonesian 9l beliefs. Even those Sufis who have speculated on the
concept of nabâti soul, have not meant by it what Pak 108
Subuh understands -- that is, the influence of the vegetable soul originating from eating real earthly vegetables. Nevertheless, perhaps Ibn al-'Arabi's inter- pretation on this matter is much closer to Pak Subuh's, although from one point only. According to Ibn al-
'Arabi the chief function of the vegetative soul is to seek food and assimilate it into the organisme It has four powers that are attraction (iadhb), retention
(mask), digestion (hadm) and expulsion (daf'),92 but as far as we can see, it has nothing to do with vegetables as such.
Now we will deal with Pak Subuh's third concept of the soul -- the animal soule The influence of animal souls upon man occurs through the eating of an animal's flesh. The outward expression of this power in the world is the behaviour that we see of several animaIs.
In elaborating this Pak Subuh states:
"The influence of these souls in the human body
is aIl the greater and stronger because it penetrates more deeply, so that man's subordinate souls are activated and aroused mainly by animal souls.,,93
"It should cause no surprise if a man finds it ha rd to distinguish between the feelings which originate 109 from himself and those aroused by these animal souls.,,94
"Therefore at present your state appears to be
something of an enigma, that is, who is actually the
spectator within you? Your situation is such that, however profoundly you may think about it, you will not
be able to reach the level at which the difference in
quality between what cornes from yourself as a man and
what cornes from the animal souls can be seen and distinguished.,,95
Even though the danger of animal souls upon
man rnight appear to be great, Pak Subuh is always
against vegetarian practices:
"There are, rnoreover, many of these people who
have already gone so far that they no longer have any
desire for rneat, with the result that they have become accustorned to want to eat vegetables exclusively.,,96
"By practising latihan regularly, it no longer
rnatters whether or not you reduce the amount of meat you
eat. You should continue as you are accustorned, that
is, you should continue to eat whatever is normal for
man during his earthly life. Furthermore, as a result
you will come to feel, and really be conscious of, how
these different souls work within you, you will then have
a very different attitude towards them, as though you 110 were standing apart as a witness. The method by which
this is achieved has no element of force or compulsion
among the various members of soul within you which might cause damage or illness.,,97
Furthermore he elaborates that people who take
pleasure in causing suffering to others are those possessing animal souls. If one were defeated (in
battle or otherwise) he would become more violent. Such
behaviour is sometimes met even in the relation between
a man and his wife who founded their relationship solely
upon the pleasures of the heart. 98
In this connection, it seems that he believes 99 in karma, since he says that these negative conse- quences are not only confined to the man concerned, but
his descendants would also not escape from being involved. If the parents act wrongly, then automatically
their children will be affected.
To conclude this part he says that this
happens when the entire body of a man is choked and
deluded by animal souls. Hence his body, which is by
nature a thing of beauty and perfection, becomes of no
more significance than a tool of the animal and other inferior souls. lOO
Again in this account we are led to assume that III his concept of the animal soul is more influenced by
Indonesian indigenous belief than by Islam, though his terminology is Islamic or rather Arabie. Al-Jurjani for example when he speaks about al-rliQ al-Qavawani, means by that the subtle thing originating from the heart and spreading aIl over the body through the nervesjlOl while
Ibn al-'Arabi using almost the same expression says that the animal soul is a subtle va pour which has its seat in the heart (the physical heart).102 Other Sufis have caIl e d It· b a h-'~mL an d a 1 so s h a h wan~. - ° 103 For the Sufis the animal soul is a permanent potentiality within every person. According to them it is the greatest of aIl veils between God and man. It has potentiality of l04 ammarah bi al_sü. But its function or lack of it has nothing to do with eating or not eating the flesh of an animal as Pak Subuh categorically speculates.
As we have pointed out earlier, before the pen&cration and influence of world religions into
Indonesia, it was believed that the soul could be both
O ~ncrease° d an d d ecrease d b y eat~ng° and d r~n° k ~ng. 105 It was held that the "soul substance" of the food was absorbed by a person. Accordingly there were certain foods either originating from plants or animaIs which were recommended to be eaten and sorne were prohibited. For example, 112 because a deer was supposed to be cowardly, its flesh was prohibited. On the contrary the flesh of lions and snakes were recommended.
On turning to his concept of the human soul
(roh-djasmani), we find that Pak Subuh refers to the physical body of man. In the previous discussion we have seen that the vegetable and the animal souls influence man's inner life through consuming them. The question now arises as to the manner in which the physical body can influence a man, since man rarely eats human flesh.
According to Pak Subuh, the influence of the human soul (roh djasmani) originates from the sexual relationship between a man and a woman. Its influence depends mainly upon the legality of their relationship.
To clarify his teaching in this respect, he then elaborates the various consequences (both negative and positive) of sexual relattonships viz. between married couples and the unmarried ones and their respective effects to their own souls and their children as well as the society where they live.
What follow are selected quotations of his roh djasmani concept.
"The way human physical souls interact is not 113 as a result of eating and being eaten but of spiritual or sexual union. ,,106
"The influence of these forces on man himself is in fact most powerful, but in any case they are a necessity of life that cannot possibly be put aside.,,107
"For by means of the influence of physical souls the already full life of a man will become
increasingly complete, in that he will be able to pro create other beings similar to himself.,,108
"At the time of coition there is a reciprocal
action between two physical souls, one of the male
essence and the other of the female essence. In the out-
come it bec ornes apparent which of the two is stronger and which is weaker."I09
"When the two are of equal purity, the soul
that dominates in the intercourse is that which originates in the male. ,,110
"We can also take the example of the husband
who has, as yet, no understanding of spiritual matters,
and whose wife is pregnant. Sometimes he may act wrongly in that he likes having sexual relations with
other women. The reason for this is that a woman who is
pregnant usually feels a strong aversion to yielding to
her husband's desire, which he is constantly seeking to 114 satisfy. Hence her husband, who may be unable to control his passion, feels himself compelled to have sexual relations with other women."lll
"Eventually he will experience a feeling of remorse, for, by having sexual relations with another woman, he will cause the deterioration of his own inner content. If only he knew, that his wife did not wish to refuse him for her own sake! It was the will of the child still in the womb who in reality was warning his parents to exercise patience and accept the situation in order that, while still in the womb, he might prosper and enjoy a state of bliss.,,112
"It is even more serious if afterwards he still wishes to have sexual relations with his pregnant wife. Such relations can cause suffering to his wife and child as weIl as to himself, in that his wife and child who has no part in aIl this will be very seriously affected by the errors he has committed.,,113
"It must be remembered at the same time that such an occurrence could in no way be desired by the wife. It is clear that conduct of this kind only causes in jury to his wife and her child, so that aIl hopes are extinguished of obtaining an heir of excellent character.,,114 115
After discussing the sexual problems of a married man, he proceeds to discuss the sexual problems of the unmarried one. "To start now upon a new subject. Many young men before they enter on marriage often like to have sexual relations with women and, furthermore, there are sorne who make a practice of it as though it were customary and consider it a harmless amusement whereby they can relieve their passions. Others again consider such behaviour as necessary in order to obtain satisfaction of their desires and passions previous to their marrying a lawful wife.,,115
"In reality, however, such behaviour is extremely dangerous, especially for young men who are destined to become, when they are married, channels for the human seed. Pleasure of this kind is something which cannot easily be given up, for it is not ordinary pleasure but has a quality which, being provoked by
1 ower sou1 s, causes un1 ~m~te" " d"~nner suff"" er~ng. 116
"Thus far can go the results of his errors. For it is clear that the fact that he likes consorting with women whose inner state is already degenerate brings about the destruction of almost aIl he possesses,
so that he will be transformed and will become different 116 from what he was originally.,,117
"Nevertheless, even in such a case, a man may not altogether forget the purpose of his existence; that is, he will still feel the need for sorne young woman to
.f=" __ __ become his life partner and he will hope to obtain .L.L VU1 such a marriage a child who will eventually follow after him or will continue his life. In fact, it is men with just such experience who are often the cleverest at choosing attractive and good-looking girls coming from good families.,,118
"A young man who has behaved wrongly before his marriage can have little possibility of experiencing such good fortune. For his errors are of such a kind that as a result of sexual relations with him, the inner state of his wife will become disturbed and eventually she will meet with the same fate as her husband.,,119
"AlI hopes that their lives will flow smoothly are thus clouded. A man who acts from des ire turns what might be a condition of bliss and well-being into one that is really hard to endure.,,120
"Obviously, the low and depraved souls which flow from the husband have a terrible effect upon the wife, to the extent that the formerly pure and unsullied inner state of the wife becomes corrupt and tainted.,,12l 117
"If in the course of time he begets a child, then this child must also be dominated by the lower souls and its character will be very different from that of the father while he was still young and pure.,,122
"As a result of this pollution, the child will eventually have experienced much suffering in its life,
especially in becoming aware of the spiritual nature of man. ,,123
Based upon his concept that sexual relations
between men and women are a necessity of life which
cannot be put aside, Pak Subuh objects to the idea of
celebacy,
"Hence, little advantage will be gained by a man who, for the sake of improving his life or making it
happier, deliberately isolates himself in sorne lonely place far from society.,,124
"Similarly, little advantage will be gained by
men deliberately avoiding women or by women avoiding
men. In reality, they are both in the same position, for
the decision of a man to reject rnarriage is the same as
if he were to decide to give up aIl contact with himself. It is the same for a woman.,,125
For him latihan is the only rneans to control and guide sexual life of married and unmarried men to 118 its proper channels. "The conclusion therefore follows that, in order to be able to know or come to any understanding of these matters, no other way can be found as simple as the method of exercising oneself without the need to · . . ,,126 arouse t h ough t an d ~mag~nat~on. "After this he will be re-established as the controller and regulator of aIl his subordinate souls.,,127
"Especially in the sexual union of man and wife, he will no longer be influenced by lower souls; so that in this he will be able to merge his self-hood with that of his wife and to raise her to a higher level - that is, to the level of a completed human being.,,128
tilt is therefore clear that it is not the body
which has to be separated from a man's self-hood, but the content of the body. In the same way that which can
lead a man to a higher level is not something to be found in any particular place but in truth it is a Power 129 that envelops him always, wherever he may be."
From our series of quotations above, it is
obvious that he believes in karma and objects to the
idea of celebacy as being contradictory to human nature.
Meanwhile, in dealing with the sexual life, it seems
that although his method is orthodox, his reasoning is, 119 however, based on non-traditional concepts. The Orthodox
o 1 1 0 0 0 130 argument regar d ~ng sexua ~cence sees ~t as a s~n.
Pak Subuh does not refer to that point, but he on the other hand broadens the basis into a spiritual, genetic and social framework. As far as his term of roh diasmani is concerned, except for Sjamsuddin Pasai, no other Sufi is known to have used this terme On the contrary, for Sufis the O term Jasman~o - 0131 h as a connotat ~on whO ~c h LS0 exact 1 y opposite to that of rül}. , In this connection although Sjamsuddin Pasai's132 understanding of roh diasmani coincides with that of
Pak Subuh's, viz. the essence of human body, for him, however, it has nothing to do with sex.
After having discussed Pak Subuh's theories about the four kinds of soul, we proceed to discuss his other five theories. But before proceeding to this discussion we want to emphasize that although his work
Susila Budhi Dharma has been regarded by Subud members as the first main authoritative source of Subud doctrine, it does not cover his whole conception of the soule As a matter of fact it covers only his conception of the material soul, the vegetable soul, the animal soul and the human soul, aIl of which we have discussed above. 120
With regard to the five higher souls, we find nothing in
Susila Budhi Dharma. We rave to turn to his letters and several messages to his disciples. This fact, that is the absence of these five important souls from his main work, cannot but lead us to conclude that the teaching of Subud has been evolving over a period of time. It seems that in the beginning he was only concerned with latihan in its mujahadat
(purgative) aspect without bothering about theological or philosophical conceptions. As soon as Subud became widely known, new questions emerged and he was conse- quently confronted by various theological and philosophical problems of Superbeing. But so far as we can understand, his responses to these issues are still vague in their formulation, because when asked about these higher souls he has always insisted that it was still too early for his disciples to understand them.
The following is the content of the explanation he gave on the issue in 1957: If it is asked why Bapak cannot describe the roh rochamani, rochani and rabbani by means of illustrations or models which you can easily visualize, the answer is that because these are beyond their power of vision, the only way to understand them is by practising latihan continuously; furthermore, beside the seven levels about which Bapak has spoken, there are two more spirits, the roh ilofi and the roh al~kuddus. These two spirits are, 121
as it were, mediators, and through the presence of these spiritual powers, as if a door were opened, man is enabled to rise from level to level. That which is called ilofi passes through the innerrnost of everything. and roh al kuddus moves everywhere from outside.133
Meanwhile in 1963 when a member questioned him about this problem, namely the five higher souls, his answer, still similar, remained vague. The question had been, that four years age when Pak Subuh was talking to them about the three higher spheres, roh rochani, rachmani, rabbani, he said that it was too early for them to understand what he was talking about. Was it possible that they were ready to have the answer now. 134
In reply Pak Subuh replied: Brothers and sisters, when Bapak explains something, it is as though you are looking at an educational establishment, say a university. For example, at a medical faculty. Bapak may show you, 'This is a medical faculty'. Bapak merely points this out for you to see. But in order to become a doctor you have to study, first at the lower school, then the higher school until you reach the university. Not only that, but you must really be capable of following ~r understanding what has been taught in these schools. Clearly what has been pointed out to you 50 far is like a child being told that he may become a doctor; but this cannot happen just yet - fior can he become a doctor quickly, but only after he has first been to school and studied. The situation is the same, when Bapak tells you about rochani, rachmani and rabbani being the continuation of the spiritual life. But it is not yet necessary for Bapak to explain the content of rochani, rachmani 122
and rabbani, because these can enter into your understanding only when you can be free from aIl attachrnent to life on earth where your mind is still on photography, on filming and on earning money. How then could rochani enter your under standing? It is not possible. Therefore it is necessary that you should be able to begin to separate the influence of thinking, desire and heart in the latihan. It is necessary so that the heart, mind and desires become used to not influencing any longer, and you are free from their influence; this means that your inner is no longer being influenced by yourself, and if that can be achieved, then rochani can enter your inner being. Rochani entering into your inner life is not like someone coming into a room and settling down there, carefree and comfortable, as in the human world. Not at aIl! Rochani entering into your inner life in fact means that you are lifted to the world of rochaniah, which cannot be imagined by the mind; you can only experience it if you are carried there.
Moreover about rachmani and rabbani -- before reaching rachmani, the rochani has to .. be completed first. We cannot fathom the forms of rochaniah with our mind. In the world of rochaniah, for instance, everything is similar and yet completely different in quality, to everything in our world. We cannot even imagine the 'cheese' of the rochaniah world as the cheese of this world, let alone the 'nature' of the rochaniah world. 135
Furthermore, probably to prevent furtper questions on this point, he asked his disciples to stop questioning him on this problem and instead of his giving further answers, he would test136 them to check if they had reached a higher level or whether they were still at the level of the animal soul. 137
These two long quotations, as far as we know r are the only explanation of Pak Subuh concerning the 123 higher souls. As we have seen his explanations appear theoretical and vague. We assume that this am~iguity more or less reflects his lack of understanding of 'their real or rather literaI meaning. Such a phenomenon is common among Javanese mystics especially the abangan. Probably the reason is that because of the lack of understanding of Arabie among the Javanese, they employed certain tactics in order to accommodate the spiritual needs of their followers according to their religious affiliation.
Such means are called djarwo-dosok or kiroto-boso by the
J avanese, 138."mean~ng voca 1 -guess " met h 0 d , t h at ~s . an atternpt to analyze a foreign language by phonetic analogy. For example the word rasül in Arabie is translated by Javanese mystics as rosa or rahasia, meaning "taste" or "secret." Because both rasul and rosa or rahasia have the same tone elements namely "r" and "s"; the world zizalaha in the Qur'an is translated as idjadiil 010, meaning "an evil satan."
This method of interpretation is al ways meta- phorical and is ernployed to a large extent by Javanese mystics as is evident in their literature. This usage is fairly cornmon arnong several Sufis, too, in interpreting certain qur'anic verses. Another prevailing phenomenon 124 is that of answering mystical problems by way of telling the disciple that it is a secret or a mystery, and that he has not reached yet the stage when he can comprehend the mystery.139
In the absence of a comprehensive explanation from Pak Subuh himself concerning his theory of higher souls, it might be profitable to investigate the attitudes towards the problem in the works of Muslim
Sufis, and in particular of Javanese Mystics. We begin with roh rohani, which is translated by Pak Subuh as Insan Kamil, the Perfect Man soule As far as we can determine the Sufis do not give it this same connotation, because ruhâni literally speaking does not bear any indication of a particular kind of rüQ. It merely gives the meaning of nisbat (relative adjective), that is, something related to or belonging to. In this case, ruhâni means something belonging to the spiritual world; likewise ilâhi is something relating to God, and iasmâni something related to the corporeal body.
But among Javanese mystics this terrn is often used. For example in Suluk Sangkan Paran we read,
Marang malaikat Arkam, siro angambila malih eroh kang sangan perkoro, kurnpulno dadi swidji, kang dingin roh nabati, kalih roh chewani iku, djasmani kaping tigo, kaping pate roh nurani, limo keng roh rochani siro angambila. Ping nem roh rahmani ika, kaping pitu roh nafsani, roh nurkadim roh 125
kudusnja, lan djahan manikem nenggih, tjampuren dadi sidji. 140
(From the angel of Arkam, take once again the nine souls and then mix them into one unit. First the vegetable soul, second the animal soul, third the physical soul, fourth the nurani soul, fifth rochani soul, sixth roh rochmani, seventh roh nafsani, eighth roh nurkadim and ninth roh kudus. Mingle aIl into one). But unfortunately this mystic does not give any specifie connotation as to what exactly he means by roh rochani. Again from Kitab Makrifat by Ki Sastroprajitno,
we read, "Anapun urip kito iku njowo Rachmani iku tetkolo
den tjampuraken maring djisim kang alus - patang perkoro - kang dingin njowo rochani, kapindo njowo diasmani, kang k ap1ng· tel' u nJowo c h ewan1, . 1 an k ap1ng . pat nJowo. nab' at1. ,,141 (Our life is generated through the rachmani
soule When it becomes mixed with the subtle body, it produces four elements: rochani soul, djasmani soul,
chewani soul and nabati soul). Again we are unable to find out what is meant specifically by roch rochani. AlI
of these sufis, however, regard the ru~ani soul as being very pure, free from physical aspects. Probably because of this extreme purity, Pak Subuh regards this kind of
soul as the soul of the Perfect Man. For him there exists no way of picturing, no comparison to the rohani 126 level. Like Hujwiri, Pak Subuh regards Perfection
(Kamal) as not being attainable except by those in whom perfection is established and whose imperfection is b anl.S. h e d • 142
Al-Jïly's view in his al-Insan al-Kamil fï Ma'rifat al-Awakhir wal 'Awa'il basing his theory of the
Perfect Man on a pantheistic monism which regards the
Creator (al-~aq) and the creature as complementary aspects of the Absolute Being,143 presents a contrast to Pak Subuh's ideas. As we have seen from his state- ment above, it seems he is more concerned with the description of experience of those who have attained the level of Insan Kamil that is the state of -.-rida (satisfaction) which is different from the -.-rida of 144 ordinary people. Probably, as al-Jïly has stated, at this level, the Perfect Man has attained and experienced the jalal (beauty) of God. 145
Now we proceed to his roch rachmani and rabbani. RaQman and rabb are seen by the mutakalimïn and the sufis as the name and attribute of God respectively. These two attributes of God are more related to His jamal
(beauty) than His ialal (majesty).
Here again as far as we know, excepting Javanese Mystics whose theories we have quoted above, no sufi has 127 ever used these terms in this contexte As with rliÇani, they regard raçmani and rabbani as a nisbat, something belonging or related to something else. For example, in his Kash al-MaQiüb, ~ujwiri uses the term rabbani in two places as a nisbat and it has nothing to do with any spec~°fo ~c name 0 f ~-h •• 146 Roh rochmani and roh rabbani are interpreted by Javanese mystics as implying the Divine RüQ. This assumption coincides with Pak Subuh's brief clarification,
"Roh rachmani and rabbani, certainly are higher than the others. AlI were truly devised and made by God. We human beings cannot really understand them with our thought. And this holds even far more concerning God, who is quite beyond our thinking, picturing and understanding."
In this connection, Pak Subuh differs from Ibn al-'Arabi and al-JIli who regarded man as uniting in him self the attribute of God or, in other words, man was the emanation of God. Pak Subuh in this respect seems to be in line with Orthodox thinking in maintaining the separation.between the essence of the Creator and the
Creatures.
Now we are dealing with his roh al-kuddus and roh ilofi. In traditional thought, rüç al-quddüs meant
JibrIl, the angel of revelation. But sorne Sufis understood 128 it metaphorica11y and gave it an esoteric meaning. 'Abd al-Karim al-Jily's work on al-Insan al-Kamil devotes a special section to rüQ al-guddüs in which he speaks of rüQ al-guddüs as being the soul of souls, beyond the creative word "be," and it is therefore not created, because it is a special aspect of God's aspects. It is a rüQ of God himself, since the existence (wuiüd) of God depends upon this rü~. So it is different from the -.rüh that God blew (nafakha) to Adam. AI-Jily identifies rüQ al-guddüs with al-rü~ al_ilahi.147 In this regard, although Pak Subuh's view differs from the Orthodox, it also differs from that of al-Jïly who regards rü~ al-guddüs as the highest, even the essence, of God's rü~. Here Pak Subuh simply states that roh al-kuddus functions as a mediator, to enable man to rise from the leve1 of lower souls to the higher ones. Thus, in this case Pak Subuh' like the Orthodox, maintains the mediary function of rü~ al-guddüs and emphasizes its createdness. However, he still differs from the Orthodox concening the essence or reality of rü~ al-guddüs. According to Orthodox teaching the reality of rü~ a1-guddüs is the holy Spirit or ange1 Jibrïl, the mediator between God and His Prophets. To Pak Subuh the 129 mediating e1ement of rÜQ a1-guddüs is not confined to God and His Prophets, but it is a1so a mediator between man and his Creator. It has a wider spiritual significance than just being an ange1.
Fina11y we come to the roh i10fi. The word i10fi is neither an original Javanese nor an Indonesian word, and apparently cannot even be related to Arabie.
It is most likely a typical Javanese pronunciation of an
Arabie word.
As we have mentioned earlier, owing to the difference in number of letters between the Javanese alphabet and that of Arabie, there are according1y certain Arabie letters which cannot be correctly pronounced by the Javanese, and the abangan group in particular. The word ~uhr for example is pronounced luhur; laf~ is pronounced lapaI; faret is pronounced perlu and so on.
We can presume therefore, that the word ilofi is derived from the Arabie word idafi from the root of aetafa, meaning to rely on or to depend upon. If this assumption is correct, the question remains as to what its mystical significance and meaning is. When we try to discover if any sufi ever used the term roh i10fi, we find that nobody is known to have done so. 130
But from among Indonesian mystics we meet with at least one sufi who uses the term roh ilofi. This is Sjamsuddin Pasai of Sumatra,148 who instead of pronouncing it ilofi as Pak Subuh does, spells it correctly acconding to Arabie phonetics and usage as _e_idafi. In this connection however, though both Sjamsuddin Pas ai and Pak Subuh employ the same terminology, each understands something different.
The former explains roh idâfi as the soul (~agiga = njawa) of Muhammad. While the latter defines roh ilofi as having the same function as the roh al-kuddus. That is to say roh al-kuddus cornes from the outside to man, while roh ilofi moves from within (rasa-diri) man to the outside 149 world. Both the opposing movements have the same aim, to help man to rise from the level of the lower souls to the higher one· in his search to reach manunggal (union) with the Will of God.
Because of this function, it seems that in
Subud's structure of the soul, roh ilofi holds the most important role. For him roh ilofi is located in the innermost being of man. Movements, voices and experiences during latihan are in fact generated by roh ilofi which he sometimes calls daia hidup besar (Great Life Force).150 V
SUBUD SPIRITUAL EXERCISES "LATIHAN KEDJIWAAN"
a. The meaning of 1atihan kediiwaan
Pak Subuh is not much concerned either with phi1osophica1 concepts or theologica1 discussions.
Rather he has laid more stress on practical mystica1 exercises which he termed 1atihan kediiwaan. From the very beginning he has emphasized that 1atihan kediiwaan is the main concern of the Subud order. Therefore, before we attempt to understand and ana1yze Subud spiritual exercises, it will perhaps be worthwhi1e to first understand what is meant by 1atihan kedjiwaan.
This will give us an insight into the direction in which we should proceed in dea1ing with our subject-matter.
The word 1atihan 1itera11y means training,
exercise, rehearsa1, repetition. Latihan in the
Indonesian language can be used for either physica1,
131 132 mental or spiritual exercises. Between 1942 and 1945, during the Japanese military occupation the word latihan was closely identified with olah raga or taiso, meaning physical exercises. This concept was then prevailing in view of the necessity for everyone to be physically.:.prepared to serve in the Second World War.
The word djiwa is synonymous with daja, sukma, roh (soul or spirit). Thus latïhan kedjiwaan literally means spiritual exercise which has exactly the same connotation as mujahadah or riyagah in sufism, pronounced riyalat by Javanese.
In Arabie, riya9ah is derived from the root which literally means to train. In modern usage it means gyrnnastics or physical training. According to the philologists (ahl al-lughah), the meaning of riya~ah is to change a blarneworthy state into that of a prâise- worthy one. Hence, sorne Sufis take it to mean occupying oneself continuously in prayer, fasting and self discipline, keeping awake and isolating onels self from the society.l The word mujahadah is derived from the root meaning to struggle. God has said, "Those who strive to the utmost (jahada) for Our sake, We will 2 guide them into Our w·ays. Il There is also a hadith which .=~= says, "Your worst enemy is your nafs, which is between 133 your two sides,,;3 moreover after returning from the battle
(jihad) of Badr he is also supposed to have said, "We have returned from the lesser war (al-Jihad al-A~ghar) to the greater war (al-Jihad al-Akbar). On being asked, what the greater war was, he replied, that it was the struggle against one' sc_self (muiahadat al-nafs). 4
Although there is a slightly different connotation between riya~ah and muiahadah, in essence and practice they are similar. The two have the same function, that is to control and mortify one's lower self which is known in Sufi terminology as al-nafs, pronounced napsu by Javanese.
Now let us briefly see what Pak Subuh's conception of nafs is, compared to that of the Sufis. The Sufis;distinguish between rüQ, the soul, and nafs, the self or the appetitive soul. S Nafs is considered to be the element of evil in man, the seat of passion and lust, and mortification of this nafs is the chief work of the Sufis. There are among Sufis many outward techniques and methods of mortification, such as fasting, dhikr, silence and solitude. The aim of such practices may be said to be dying to self. By this they do not mean to assert that the lower forces can be essentially destroyed, but that they are to be 134 paralyzed or, in mystical terms, purged of aIl evil qualities. The nafs, in such a process of mortificatton and purgation of aIl its evil qualities, is variously described according to the degree of purity it has attained. Sorne sufis classifièd it into: al-nafs al- ammarah (the soul depraved); al-nafs al-lawwamah (the soul accusatory); al-nafs al-mulhamah (the soul inspired); al-nafs al-mu~mainnah (the soul tranquil); nafs al-ra9ivvah (the soul satisfing); nafs al-mar9iyvah
(the soul satisfied); nafs al-~afiyyah (the soul clarified); nafs al-kamilah (the soul perfected). Abd al-Karim al-Jilany in his al-rnsan al-Kamil states that according to the Sufi's terminology, nafs is of five types: Qayawaniyyah, ammarah, mulhamah, lawwamah, and mu~amainnah. Each of thern is the narne of rÜQ, since the essence of nafs is rüQ, and the essence of rüQ is
God. 6 Whereas in the Qur'an we find four kinds of nafs namely al-Ammarah, al-Lawwamah, al-Mu~amainnah, al
Mulhamah, and al-Zakiyyah. 7 Pak Subuh differentiates napsu, al-nafs in
Arabie, or the lower forces that must be checked and removed into four categories, namely angkara, murka, keinginan, and kediatmikaan. 8 Napsu angkara is the kind 135 of passion that rises up as anger in man's heart; napsu murka is the passion of greed that rises up in the heart of a person; napsu keinginan is the passion of sensua1ity; napsu kedjatmikaan is the feeling of gent1e- ness and patience. Pak Subuh is concerned very deep1y with the fact that there is in man an e1ement of evi1. A~most every event, catastrophe and i11ness that affected his fo11owers is regarded by him as a process of napsu
purification. It was re1ated that one day a snake
jumped out from the mouth of a Subud member. In
exp1aining this, Pak Subuh said that it had been the
person's evi1 napsu that had jumped out. 9
The above mentioned story is a1most simi1ar to one re1ated about a certain eminent Sufi, ~~ammad ibn 'Ulyan, when one day a young fox came forth from his
throat. He trod on it, but it grew bigger at every kick that he gave it.
He said, "Other things are destroyed by pain and blows. Why do you increase?" It rep1ied, . "Because
l was created preverse, what is pain to other things is p1easure to me, and their p1easure in my. pain." It is
a1so related that the nafs of a1-~a11aj was seen running behind him in the shape of a dog; and other 136 cases are recorded in which it appeared as a snake or a mouse. lO AlI these evil elements of nafs must be removed by means of muiahadah or riya~ah. Looking back to the meaning and significance of Subud latihan kediiwaan, usually referred to as latihan, we find that Pak Subuh in his book, speeches and letters has put forward several explanations concerning latihan. He describes latihan as an act of ll worship without any fixed verbal ritual and rules.
Latihan is non verbal spiritual training. It consists in the practice of submitting one's own personal will to the Will of God. The latihan is a spontaneous working of the Holy Spirit in the soul of man. The action is entirely individual, so no general description is possible.12 The latihan is neither thought nor can be explained; nor can it be learned by imitation. Latihan will lead one to his proper religion. Nevertheless, everyone can learn it quickly by repeating the practice in the company of those who have already received it.
On another occasion Pak Subuh explained that this was the way to the true worship of God. Worship was thus not a human act, but a Divine action. Therefore, he always insisted, it was both useless and undesirable to try to understand the latihan or to assist its 137 progress by one's own efforts. "Persevere in your latihan and put your trust in GOd,,13 is always his
instruction to his disciples.
In the preceding chapter we have discussed
Pak Subuh's conception of the soul in sorne detail,
including the lower souls which embodied satanic nafs that must be controlled and checked and the higher
souls which contained Divinity that should be attained.
This can be done only by latihan. There in principle, the latihan kedjiwaan has two principal significances.
One. to control the lower souls. and the second to
attain the higher ones.
This category is markedly similar to that of
the Sufis. For example Afifi contended that the mystical
life had two opposite aspec·t.s. Y€:t the progress of each
needed the progress of the other. The first was the
aspect of self-struggle and self-purification; the 14 second was the aspect of finding and illumination. Or
in the words of al-Hujwiri, the first is mu jahadah , the
second is mushahadah. 15
b. Description of latihan
Before discussing and making any assumptions
about latihan, it is perhaps necessary to give a rather 138 comprehensive description of the external practice of latihan. The membership of the Subud order is divided into three categories: Anggota biasa (ordinary member),
Pengurus (member who holds office in the committee), and
Pembantu pelatih (a member who acts as a helper).16
In order to become a full member, every candidate who applies for membership has to pass the three months probationary period, during which he is not yet allowed to join the latihan. He is asked only to attend the session from outside the latihan hall. During this period he is tested concerning his sincerity and
patience.
The action of the latihan is initiated by the
pembukaan (opening). This is regarded as the awakening of the Budhi, inner self of man, by contact with the
Univers al Force of Life. The contact is transmitted by
those who have already received it and have verified in
t h eLr" own experLence"h t e rea1" Lty 0 f t h e actLon."17 Pak Subuh emphasises that the contact is made in a region of
the self that is beyond sensation, feeling and thought.
The secret of the opening is, therefore, a cessation r that rr.ay be momentary only, of aIl mental and emotional
activity. This state of cessation, or emptiness or 139 submission to the Will of God, is itself induced by the
Universal Life Force present both in the one who transmits and the one who receives. Thereafter, the latihan is continued as a regular practice, and eventually the new member of Subud becomes in his turn aware of the action, and verifies its beneficial effects 18 in his own body, feelings and mind. When the three months testing period is over, the candidate will be· initiated into the order by Pak Subuh himself or by his helper. The openings are arranged to take place within the general latihan witnessed by other members.
Those who gre initiated by Pak Subuh have preserved the following account. 19 The place of initiation was a carpeted room where the other members were already present, sitting cross-legged and quiet.
Before entering the room one was asked to undo his shoes, tie, watch and ~o have his pockets emptied.
Then, he was asked to sit cross-legged on the floor like one who performed dhikr. Pak Subuh then asked hirn his religion. He answered that he was a Muslirn. Ihen he gave him a short talk, pointing out that he should direct his spiritual hopes and aspirations exclusively
towards God. Then he asked him to repeat with him the kalimah shahadah. 140
The thing requested was that he should try to relax his mind and body completely, and to still his thoughts. To facilitate this process he was to close his eyes. Before doing so, he noticed Pak Subuh standing
in front of him, while Sudarto, his helper, was
sitting farther away in a posture similar to his, and apparently in a state of trance. At this moment he was
asked to surrender as a corpse in the hands of the
washers.
He closed his eyes, and after a few seconds,
he was aware that Pak Subuh was intoning the FatiQa in Arabic and before this he recited Allah Akbar. But now
he was aware that something very strange was occurring. It was as if a powerful electric current was vibrating
through his forearms. Suddenly a force quite independent of his volition caused his hands to separate. His arms
were slowly expending outwards until they stretched
horizontally. They remained thus for a few minutes and
then dropped naturally to his sides. A little later Pak
Subuh called out to him and he opened his eyes. The cerernony was over.
There is also an account of an initiation conducted by Pembantu Pelatih (an assistant).20 Before
entering the latihan hall one was required to undo the 141 same objects as above. The other members were already there. Then the helper or assistant began to initiate him. While the helper was taking his kesaksian (bay'at) and then explaining the aim of the brotherhood, he was asked to close his eyes and at the same time to give up the functioning of aIl his physical and mental faculties in order to be fully able to surrender to God. After finishing this opening ceremony he was then left alone, while the other members performed the latihan. Besides that he was warned that if something moved within his body he was not to try to resist but to let it move instead. He was left in such state until the latihan was over in about half an houri From that time on after the initiation either by Pak Subuh himself or by his helper, one was no longer on probation and was thus allowed to join the latihan to- gether with the other members twice a week, for thirty minutes each. For ordinary members the latihan needed to be carried out together in a majlis. Men and women did their latihan separately in differe~t rooms. 2l Now let us proceed to our description of the process of latihan. The process of latihan in brief can be described as follows: The members as weIl as the helpers usually arrive in the latihan hall ten minutes 142 before the latihan begins. Sorne sit down on the floor quietly, while others stand; sorne even lie on the floor. When the time of latihan cornes, they stand in the circle, and within a few seconds the helper recites Cmulai (begin). Everybody then commences the exercise by deadening the functions of aIl his physical and mental faculties completely in order to be able to surrender to
God. From this time on a variety of scenes appear on the stage. As we have pointed out before, no external rules and fixed regulations are exposed~ This is a unique aspect of Subud latihan. In Subud, the manner of latihan is very individual, differing from one person to the other. Five minutes after the start there will be normally a lot of different rnovements and voices. Sorne run and scream, while others bang their heads against the wall or the floor; sorne just stand or sit, or lie quietly. Many also dance and sing. Frequently they collide against each other but none is concerned about
the other. When the pitch of noise and excitement is high, it seems the mystical atmosphere of latihan has reached its climatic stage.
With regard to the voices heard during the latihan they range from crying, sighing, laughing, singing
to uttering words containing the names of God or His 143 attributes according to the religious background of each member. There are many voices uttered whose meanings are not understandable. 22 As far as the situation of women while performing latihan is concerned, in principle, there is no great difference. The only difference is that men move more than women, while women sing more than men.
Such a situation is regarded as the process of purification. The movement of the body and crying seems to be the starting point. During this stage one is not the master of his own organs which serve the lower forces that have invaded him. Little by little the process of latihan gives him control over his organs and changes the situation. This involves the removing of obstacles and putting the organs back into order. So the organs begin to obey the true self or human soul within him. During this stage he is able to receive help and guidance from the soul that is higher than human, the Roh Rohani
and Roh Robbani. In this connection J. Bennet challenged the established belief that there is in Subud latihan an action that does not originate in the human personality.
It does not follow from this, he further emphasized, that the action of S'lbud is in the true sense supernatural, 144 that is, the direct working of the Divine Spirit within the sou1 and spirit of man. It is axiomatic that the supernatura1 is beyond the understanding of the natura1, or in other words, that man, the natura1 can never comprehend God the Supernatura1. It is, therefore, he said, no disparagement to Subud to say that its sources remain a mystery.23 Moreover Pak Subuh himse1f prudent1y emphasizes that the action proceeds neither from one's own will and consciousness, nor from any out- side influence or suggestion. Pak Subuh ascribes it to the Great Life Force which he ca11s the Roh I10fi
(discussed in the preceding chapter).
Mystics of every race and religion have described the progress of the spiritual 1ife as a journey or a pi1grimage. The Sufi who sets out to seek
God ca11s himself musafir (a travel1er); he advances by slow stages a10ng a path to the goal of union with God.
The journey of a Sufi must be carried out through stages and by obeying ru1es and disciplines which according to Afifi in princip1e can be classified into two categories: the aspect of self-strugg1e and its purification and the aspect of discovering and illumination.
In this mystical enterprise, dhikr is always regarded as an externa1, practica1 and noticeab1e phenomena. 145
Professor Nicholson places dhikr among the positive elements in the Sufi discipline. 24 Muslim mystics un- animously regard dhikr as the keystone of practical religion. In other words there is no Sufi order without dhikr.
The practice of dhikr has certain formulas and established techniques by which we can distinguish one order from the other. Referring to Salsabïl al-Mu!in of al-Sanüsi and al Sim~ al-Majïd by al-Qushashi, the standard books exclusively devoted to dhikr, we find out that dhikr in aIl Sufi orders has the same aim, that is, to attal.n. F ana.-, 25 So we can explore the differences of dhikr not by their respective aims, but by their
respective rules or techniques and ritual formulas· .. 0 In this connection we will see in the following section that manunggal (fana') is the ultimate goal of the Subud latihan. So there is no difference of aim between dhikr and the Subud latihan. The only difference is that, as always has been emphasized by Pak Subuh, Subud latihan does not need any fixed technique nor any established ritual, although probably most dhikr practices of Sufis are carried out through rigid disciplines and rules as weIl as exactly similarly pronounced rites and litanies. 146
It is worthwhile to discuss the significance of the absence of technique in the rites of latihan. 26
Because of this lack of rules and litantes, Subud has been called a spiritual order without order. Probably such an accusation is correct from a certain point of view, since, as we generally know, every spiritual order has its specifie technique. Moreover, only through these rules and rites can we distinguish one order from the other. Yet viewed from the purpose of Subud as a spiritual brotherhood for aIl people regardless of religion, the absence of certain rules and fixed rites in
Subud latihan seems very justified. And it is probably also a logical consequence of Pak Subuh's universal views about religions which we have discussed in the preceding chapter.
Thus everybody is able to. join ~ihan without sacrificing his own religious faith. Because the action is very individual, no two persons have similar techniques. Based on this fact, we think it is not too bold a statement to make, regardless of Pak Subuh's previous explanation on latihan, that generally in latihan everybody is acting or moving either according to his cultural background or according to his previous religious experience. It is obvious, then, that each 147 individua1 bui1ds his own technique and creates his own rites which are most1y different from those of other individua1s.
c. The mystica1 goal of 1atihan
Pak Subuh has used the term menungga1kan,27 as the final goal of his system. The word menungga1kan is a transitive verb derived from the noun tungga1 which means single or singu1ar. In Javanese the word setungga1 means one.ê.:..B.. "Ku10 gadah buku setungga1" (I have one book), whi1e the word tungga1, in Javanese means to come from the same origin, .ê.:..B.. "Rahmat 1an Arif tungga1 guru", meaning Rahmat and Arif have been educated by the same teacher. But these varieties of meaning a1ways have the same connotation, name1y the e1ement of oneness. Then 1itera11y menungga1kan, which amongst the Javanese is more popu1ar as manungga1, means to unite. We find this term frequent1y in Javanese mystica1 1iterature. The saying of "Manungga1ing Kawu10
Gusti" (The union between the slave and the Master);
"Loro loroning atungga1" (Two but One); "Dwi Tungga1"
(Two with one essence), are very fami1iar.
The question now arises as to the relation between the Subud conception of manungga1 and that of 148 the Sufi conception of fana'. The Arabic word, fana' is derived from the root which means to di sappear , perish or vanish. The Sufis base their doctrine of fana' on a verse of Qur'an which says: "Everything upon the earth passeth away, save His face.,,28 Hence, the Sufis take it to mean the passing away of human attributes through Union with God, whereby the mystic achieves the eternal continuance (baga') of spiritual life in Him. 29
The self, with aIl its faculties of pleasure and passion, is a great veil and obstacle in the way of attaining the surnmit of Unification. Thus the Sufi has to get rid of himself completely and the world in order that he can be attached to God. AlI that is other than God has to be swept clean so that God can enter the secret chamber of the heart. This is fana' or passing away of the self. In this state the Sufi becomes completely absorbed in the Divine. He does not see any- thing in his surroundings, although sometimes his eyes are open; he does not hear anything, although he is not deaf. Al-Hujwiri (referring to the famous saying of Abü YazId, "Glory to me: How great is my majesty") states, "These words were the out ward sign of his speech, but
the speaker was God." Similarly, the Apostle said, "God speaks by the tongue of 'Umar." And there is also the 149 case of a1-I}a11aj when he said, "Ana a1-J;Iaq." The fact
is that when the Divine omnipotence manifests its
dominion over humanity, it transports a man out of his
own being, so that his speech becomes the speech of God.
But it is impossible that God shou1d be ming1ed with
created beings or made one with His works or become
Lncarnate° Ln° t hOLngs. 30
Prof es sor R. A. Nicholson tried to summarise
the different stages, aspects and meanings of fana' as
fo110ws:
1. a moral transformation of the sou1 through the
extinction of a11 its passions and desires.
2. a mental abstraction or passing away of the mind from
a11 objects of perception, thoughts, actions and
feelings through its concentration upon the thought
of God. Here the thought of God signifies contem-
p1ation of the divine attributes.
3. the cessation of a11 conscious thought. The highest
stage of fana' is reached when even the consciousness
of having attained fana' disappears. This is what
t:he Sufis calI 'the passing-away of passing-away'
(fana' al-fana'). The mystic is now rapt in
contemp l atLonOf 0 t h e dOLVLne ° essence. 31
Using the classification genera11y adopted by 150
Christian mystics, we may regard the first as the consummation of the Purgative Life, and the second as the goal of the Illuminative Life. The third and last stage constitutes the highest level of the Contemplative Of 32 L~ e. It must be noted here that the state of fana' generally prings two alternate consequences that is the negative and the positive. It is sa'id that the enraptured Sufi who has passed beyond the illusion of subject and object and broken through to the Oneness could either deny that he was anything or affirm that he was aIl things. The former is the negative and the latter the positive aspect of Cosmic Consciousness.
Moreover, AbG Yazïd said that in his state of fana' he was not able to distinguish between a wall in front of him or a woman;33 from a worldly point of view it was a negative aspect of fana' whereas he did not care at aIl
about anything of this world. But considered from the
aspect of his nearness to God, namely baga', it is the highest positive aspect of fana'.~ According to al-Hujwiri in the state of fana', the Sufi's relationship to the
world and Gad can be compared to that between sin and
piety, or between ignorance and knowledge, that is to
say, when sin is annihilated piety is subsistent, when 151 ignorance is annihilated knowled5 e is accordingly subsistent. 35
Now let us see what Pak Subuh means when he used the term menunggalkan or manunggal. In reply to a question during the 1959 Subud International Congress,
Pak Subuh explained,
Only God Himself has this Power, which is described in Indonesian as 'menunggalkan' - unit y with whomsoever God wills. Only God can wholly and perfectly unite with ,any man, and no other man can ever achieve this. Therefore only God can give a man evidences 36 which are received through his entire being.
We understand from his explanation above that
according to him, manunggal or fana' implies that
reaching the state of Union with God is beyond man's
power. It is God who is active in uniting Himself to
whomsoever He wanted to. The only thing man can do is
to surrender (tawakkul, pronounced tawakkal by Javanese) and to wait. The Sufis termed this state as 'ahwal'.-.- In this connection al-Hujwiri said, "State (hal).- is something that descends from God into a man's heart,
without his being able to repel it when it cornes, or to attract it when it goes by his own effort. ,,37 Thus fana'
is a consequence of thE:: term ç.al which denotes the
favour and grace which God bestows upon His servant.
Manunggal is then a gift not an act or human effort. 152
Pak Subuh further elaborated,
Man sees with his eyes; however clearly he may see, it is clearer still for God Who is in the seeing; that is to say, if the Power of God is in that seeing, which means that God joins in the action by uniting Himself with man's seeing. When a man listens to something and God unites Himself with that listening then it will be 38 clearer than anything that man'can hear alone. It seems very likely,although Pak Subuh does not mention the sources of his elaboration, that he interprets a l;adith of the Prophet, "When l love him, l am his ear, so that he hears by Me and sees by Me." Moreover in concluding his explanation of manunggal, Pak Subuh emphasized that aIl theories which contained directions about the way to God could be said to be completely use-
~ess. It was more useful not to theorize about it, because God is in us; nearer than aIl our function of seeing, hearing, feeling, thinking and the rest.
We have seen in the preceding chapter that during Pak Subuh's mi'rai39 he visited various planets and reached the final culmination during which his body remained in a cataleptic trance. No doubt he was then in state of manunggal or fana'. In this state he met
Almighty God to receive His decree. According to the Sufi doctrine it is possible that a contact with God occurs in such astate. Kalabadi argues if it were not so, then the petition of Müsa to God, "Show Thyself to 153
40 me 50 that l can look upon Thee", would have meant that he was either ignorant or an unbeliever. 4l In this connection the mi'rai of the Prophet Muhammad, regardless of the controversies concerning whether with his body or only his soul was involved, is a strong proof that 42 direct communion with God is possible.
Among the Sufis this sort of mi'rai during which they met God was very familiar and in fact was the final goal to be achieved. For example Abü Yazïd is reported to have said, "Once He lifted me and placed me in front of Him and said to me, 'Oh Abü Yazïd, indeed My creatures want to see you.' l answered, 'Adorn me with
Your Unit y and clothe me in Your Selfhood and elevate me to Your Oneness 50 that when Your creatures see me, they will say, "We have seen You." Thus You will be that and l shall not be there.,,,43 Al-Junayd also speaks of the direct communion with Him. In one of his rasa'il to his
friend, he expresses his wish that God may bring him (his friend) in proximity to God and grant him a favour
of communion with Him. 44
Another idea that is connected with the
conception of manunggal is that of tawakkal (tawakkul). Sometimes he used the word tawakkal and sometimes menierah.
Both words, however, have the same connotation, that is, 154
trust ~no G0 d or comp l ete d epen d ence on HO~m. 45 According to Pak Subuh tawakkal or menïerah is a conditio sine qua
o 0 0 l oh 46 QQU ~n pract~s~ng at~ an. We have seen already that in the highest stage of fana' or manunggal, the will of the Sufi merges completely with the will of God; he los es aIl personal initiative and volition and becomes as passive as a corpse in the hands of the washer who prepares it for burial. This in fact, is another way of saying that the individual is in a state of tawakkul. In this state, the individual abandons himself completely to God with the belief that He will provide aIl that is needed by him. Dhunün al-Mi~ri defines tawakkul as renunciation of aIl means and efforts;47 al-Qushayri says that tawakkul consists in giving up aIl refuge except GOd;48 Sari al-Saqa~y reveals a profound definition when he says that tawakkul is the removal of aIl power and strength. 49 There are many anecdotes which illustrate how completely the Sufis abandon themselves to God's will. According to them ta regard something other than God as the cause of anything is shirk (polytheism).50
We find similar ideas of tawakkul in Pak Subuh's menjerah or tawakkal. He states, The nature of God is such that in order to bring our feelings even a little closer into harmony 155
with it we must have faith in Him, not expecting anything for ourselves but leaving the outcome to whatever God may will. There fore, we should sincerely accept whatever God may do with us; which means, in effect, that we should truly and completely surrender to the greatness of God. In this way, and with this attitude, we shall be able to continue to receive the working of this powerful Life Force within our being. 5l
Even in facing dangers, Pak Subuh always trusts in God (tawakkal) who has said "Who so trusts in God (tawakkul), God sufficeth him.,,52 During his visit to Ceyilion during the 1965 Communist coup d'etat, he was confronted by a serLOUS" sLtuatLon;" " 53 h e h owever remaLne" d ca 1 m an d preac h e d submission of the entire problem to the will of God. And ultimately the dangers passed without touching him.
Generally those who adhered to the doctrine of tawakk u 1 a 1 so b e 1 Leve" d" Ln pred"" estLnatLon. 54 But surprisi~8ly Pak Subuh has a different interpretation of this. In his book Susila Budhi Dharma, right from the beginning before he started explaining any conception of Subud, he has strongly warned his disciples not to neglect worldly life:
Those who follow the spiritual exercise must also remember that worldly obligations are not to be neglected. The normal conditions of human life on earth are not to be despiser or rejected. On the contrary, we should set ourselves to enrich the world with aIl the arts that are useful to society; for, according to the decree of Almighty God, this is the sery task laid upon mankind here upon earth. 5 156
Nevertheless, it must be noted that the Subud
attitude of preserving worldly needs together with
occupying one's self with spiritual life is not unique. 56 As we know, many Sufis before him, such as the nine Walis
in Java and the most prominent example of Ibrahïm Adham 57 (d. 777) preached and practised the same doctrine.
Moreover, almost aIl great Sufis have been known by
, their kunyah (nickname) such as al-Kharraz, al-Saqa~i,
al-Qawari, al-Ghazzali,58 which indicated their worldly
profession beside their esoteric concerne Even Abü al-
Khayr, probably the most devout Sufi, warned his disciples not to neglect the worldly life. He described
works as also the attributes of the real Sufi.
Pak Subuh bitterly criticises those who often
uttered the word tagdïr as an excuse for worldly
responsibility. He writes, "Do not be so dominated by
material soul, that a mouthful of rice will satisfy your
needs. Do not prate of resignation and acceptance as if miserable conditions were inevitable and pre-ordained by
the Will of GOd.,,59 "Such fatalism is quite unjustified
and it is voiced merely by glib talkers who have no idea
of the true meaning of predestination." "Such talk is
truly like a curse, and to indulge in it will bring harm upon your innocent descendents.,,60 157
He went a step further and criticised the rnonastic life usually practised by rnystics. He says that for this reason there were sorne readers who irnitated the actions of one of the characters described in a fable and one arnong thern rnight be found who put into practice the rnethod described for attaining enlightenrnent by isolating hirnself and meditating in the forest, on a mountain, by the side of the sea or of a river. 6l He further elaborates that it was not the body which had to be separated from a man's selfhood, but the contents of it. In the same way the principle that could lead a man to a higher level was not something to b~ found in any particular place but in truth it was a Power that enveloped him always, wherever he might be. So Pak Subuh concludes, "It is a way which does not necessitate his having to isolate himself and to sit meditating in lonely places as, for instance, on the sea shore or river bank, on mountains or in the forest.,,62 AlI these remote, lofty and lonely places mentioned in sacred books according to him\ are only syrnbols. For example, what is referred to as a mountain is not the visible earthly mountain but the mountain of feeling which is within the breast, that is to say, what is called the centre of the emotions; what 158 is meant by forests and open spaces is the thinking mind which is in the head that is brain; what is meant by the ocean is, in reality, the sensations in the entire human
body; and what is meant by the river is the current of 63 experiences that arises in the sex organs. Even those places of worship mentioned in the
shari'ah, such as Bayt al-Ma 'mur, Bayt al-MliQarram and
Bayt al-Mugaddas are regarded by Pak Subuh as no more
than symbols. According to him Bayt al-Ma'mur is a
symbol of the brain, Bayt al-MliQarram ~s the symbol of
the human heart, and Bayt al-Mukaddas is the symbol of
the sex organ. When these three parts have been purified then they are called the houses in which man
stands before God. 64 Therefore the instruction of spiritual practices in such places must be perceived in
their allegories which embody well-hidden meanings.
To close this section we would like to quote
his following conclusion,
This is the way people go astray who cannot yet understand the true meaning of what is written in the books they have reRd. This is quite different from the case of those people who have been able really to understand this and see that those things are only symbols, and that in order to gain enlightenment concerning the inner life it is sufficient for them to carry out these exercises (latihan) at home in the usual way, provided that aIl their passions, imagination and thinking can be cleansed and purified. 65 159
d. Presumed sources of latihan
As has been pointed our ear1ier Pak Subuh was
a Naqshabandy murid in his early days. Now let us see
if there is any Naqshabandy trace in his latihan, despite his claim that he has got it directly from Allah.
The Naqshabandiyyah order which was founded by
Muhammad Bahauddin (1317-1389) in Turkistan gained a 66 great nurnber of followers in Indonesia. From its
very early establishment the Naqshabandiyyah order
split up into two main branches; the Western branch which
flourished in Turkey and Turkistan, and the Eastern
branch which spread to and flourished in India and thence
to China and Indonesian Archipelago. 67 The order c1aims
to descend from the Iayfuriyah school founded by Abu Yazud al-Bis~ami (d. 875).68 As far as our present attempt to make sorne assumptions is concerned, we will
confine ourselves to the manner and practice of its
riyagah.
According to al-Sanusu (d. 1859) the ultimate aim of this order i§ fana,.69 To reach the state of
fana' it prefers the silent dhikr (dhikr al-khâfï) as
weIl as closing of the eyes. 70 The Naqshabandy doctrine,
according to Muhammad Amïn in his Khulasah Kitâb al- 71 Mawahib al-Sarmadiyyah,' rests on the premise that the 160 purpose for the creation of man is to worship God without any intermediaries. As long as man is in the presence of God and full of love towards Him, he attains his end. The Naqshabandy's claim that their means of worship is the 'nearest and easiest' for the follower to achieve the highest level of union with God. A specific method is prescribed to attain this fulfillment, and initiation into the order by a shaykh who has
'experienced the path' is an absolute condition.
Moreover, according te al=Kurdi (d. 1914) in his Tanwïr al-Qulüb, the best reference for the Naqshabandy order, the most remarkable teaching of this order, is on how to perform the dhikr al-galbi (silent dhikr or dhikr by heart).72 Besides that the masters of this order are weIl known for their effective works on various cures in cases where the doctors had despaired, as weIl as their accurate prediction of future events. 73 These three references of Naqshabandy practice are more or less enough for us ta see if there is any Naqshabandy element in latihan.
Pak Subuh as we have pointed out always stressed that latihan is a non-verbal spiritual training in submitting one's own personal will ta the will of God.
This, in theory as weIl as in its practice, is very 161 similar to that of the silent dhikr of Naqshabandiyah.
Moreover, one of the important reasons for the spread of
Subud was its simplicity, its effective cures of various illness74 and the fact that Pak Subuh many times predicted future events accurately.75 Nevertheless, it would not be proper to derive from this that he has been influenced entirely by his previous order, but his historical background as weIl as the similarity of both practices more or less supports this first assumption. We intentionally said that our above statement is merely a first assumption, because the complexity of religious, spiritual and philosophical phenomena in Indonesia will not allow us to make any exclusive claim for any element of the doctrine. In view of this, it is worth exploring further the possible sources for the latihan.
The teaching of al-Ghazzali (d. 1111), the Ihya
in particular, has been known by early Indonesian Sufis76
and has also ·been taught by 'Ulama in Pondok and Pesantren,77 that is, the Sufis' monastryand
educational institutions. In the section on dhikr in
connection with the heart, al-Ghazzali says,
Let him reduce his heart to a state in which the existence of anything and its non existence are the same to him.- Then let him sit alone in sorne corner, limiting his religious duties to what is absolutely necessary, and not occupying himself either with reciting the Qur'an 162
or considering its meaning or with books of religious traditions or with anything of the sort. And let him see toit that nothing save God most High enters his mind. Then, as he sits in the solitude, let him not cease saying continuously with his tongue, 'Allah, Allah,' keeping his heart on it. At last he will reach astate when the motion of his tongue will cease, and it will seem as though the word flowed from it. Let him persevere in this until aIl trace of motion is removed from his tongue, and he finds his heart persevering in the thought. Let him still persevere until the form of the word, its letters and shape, is removed from his heart, and there remains the idea alone, as though clinging to his heart, inseparable from it. So far, aIl is dependent on his will or choice; but to bring the mercy of God does not stand in his will or choice. He has now laid himself bare to the breathings of that mercy, and nothing remains but to await what God will open to him, as God has done after this manner to Prophets and Saints. 78 Comparing this account and that of Pak Subuh's, we find two similar situations. While performing dhikr in Ghazzali's opinion, one should suppress the function of fikr in order to be able to surrender completely.
Almost in the same word Pak Subud instructed his disciples during latihan to submit themselves to the will of God as the necessary condition for receiving the action of what he called the Great Life Force. And in a very precise expression he says that God can be apprehended and recognized only when a man is able really and truly to relinquish everything that he has within himself that is his thought, his imagination, his 163 feelings, his desires and his lower nature genera11y. Now, let us try to look at Subud in terms of his mystica1 views on the station (a1-magam) and states (a~wa1).79 There is certain1y one important meeting point between Subud and Sufism, in as much as both need to specifica11y identify the object of their worship and submission, name1y Allah. A1though Pak Subuh did not discuss a theo1ogica1 conception of 1atihan from his severa1 exp1anations, we can draw a conclusion that his understanding of God has a strong Is1amic affiliation. But for Subud members it seemed regard1ess of the different conceptions of God, the act of submission a1ways remains the same.
In comparing the Subud 1atihan with the Sufi stages, a1though Pak Subuh never used the terms of magamat and a~wa1 1itera11y, these two connotations how ever, can be gleaned from the 1atihan. The act of submission, for examp1e, must a1so be an act of repentance (tawbah). Moreover, he always emphasises the nee d f or pr~oh at~n,° 80 mean~ng° to suff er b y one ' s own choice. We constantly hear from Subud members that in 1atihan they become more than ever aware of their own un- worthy and sinfu1 condition. Pak Subuh has referred to the spontaneous weeping and banging of heads on the 164 floor for one's sins that is so often observed during latihan.8l He tells his disciples that true repentance cornes not from thoughts or feelings, but from rasa diri (the inner self). If it is true that tawbah is the beginning of mystical journey,82 then for many
Subud members the latihan has been their first truly spiritual experience. In this respect the concept of latihan bears striking resemblance to the mystical stages. It also has been assumed that Subud latihan is influenced by the Yoga practice of Buddhism which has prevailed in Java for many hundreds of years. 83
Externally the manners of Yoga practice and Subud latihan are similar. Based upon our preceding discussion, such a claim is not very substantial.
Firstly, in Yoga the point of departure is concentration on a single objecte Whether this is a
physical object (the space between the eyebrows, the
tip of the nose, something luminous, etc.), or a thought
(metaphysical truth) or Ishwara makes no difference.
This determined and continuous concentration, called
eka grata, is obtained by integrating the psycho 84 mental flux. In short we are informed that Yoga is
the suppression of psycho-mental states; while in Subud 165 latihan we find no effort and concentration. On the contrary it requires relaxation. In Yoga there is no physical movement, but in Subud we find a lot of noise and physical movement. The first dut Y of a Yogin is to think, while the principal dut y of those who performed latihan is to suspend thinking.
Secondly, the concepts of ahimsa (not to kill), satya (not to lie), asteya (not to steal), brahmacarya
(sexual abstinence), aparigraha (not to be avaricious) are f 1ve" restra1nts"h t at must b e 0 b eye d b y a Y"og1n. 85 But a Subud member is encouraged to eat meat and to have sexual intercourse to strengthen his spirit.
Finally, there is one principal distinction between Yoga and Subud latihan, in as much as in Subud latihan one must specifically identify the object of his worship and submission, that is to say Allah. While in
Yoga, although it might be that the act of submission is the same, the object of their worship is not Allah.
Moreover as regard to their respective goal, we shall find a great difference.
We have seen that the ultimate goal of latihan is a state of manunggal or fana'. Though this is passive and negative in meaning, it has a positive implication, namely baga'. The ultimate goal of Yoga is nirvana 166
(extinction) which is a negative concept. Probably
Professor Nicholson's remark on fana' and nirvana can also be applied to distinguish between manunggal of Subud and Yoga. He remarks,
Unlike Nirvana, which is merely the cessation of individuality, fana', the passing away of the Sufi from his phenomenal existence, involves baga', the continuance of his real existence. He who dies to self lives in God, and fana', the consummation of this death, marks the attainment of baga', or union with the divine life. Deification, in short, is the Moslem mystic's ultima Thule. 86
It must be admitted, however, that there is very likely an element of Hinduism and Buddhism in Subud, that is, the belief of Pak Subuh in the existence of karma. While Islam teaches, "The fate of man is in accordance to his deed,,;87 "Nobody could bear the burden
(sin) of others,,;88 "Every baby was born in a state of purity (innocence)".89 Pak Subuh on the other hand teaches that the sins of the parents will descend to his descendants. And according to him the only way to help and save the sinning parents from the punishment as weIl as to stop the karma cycle, is by performing latihan sincerely.
Neverthclcss, in our opinion, it is still doubtful if such belief is exclusively Buddhistic. It is also a sort of Javanese morality to do justice, to 167 conduct oneself in a proper way, not to harm others, and to earn a legal living, not only for the sake of the man concerned, but more important than that, for the sake of his children. The short maxim, "Iling anak putu"
(remember your descendant), is a reflection of that
belief.
Between 1942 and 1945 Indonesia was occupied by Japan as a result of the Second World War. During
this period although the Indonesian people suffered much from economic difficulties and oppression, they
enjoyed so-called national identification and pride as
weIl as the intimate dealing with Japanese military government who regarded themselves as Saudara tua, meaning
Older Brothers. People easily befriended Japanese. In
such an intimate mixture one could assume that the
influence of the Japanese should be very deep upon
every field of life. 90 If this concept is true, the
question remains as to whether there is any Japanese
element in Subud.
Now let us try to explore this presupposition
more closely. The word latihan which has been used by
Pak Subuh as a name of his spiritual exercise, began to
be very popular during the Japanese occupation. During
that time the word latihan was more identical to the 168
Japanese word taiso, meaning physical exercises.9l As we have seen Pak Subuh also used a similar terme More- over, the action of latihan is sometimes nearly the same as that of physical exercises. Sorne members admitted that latihan consists not only of spiritual exercises but also of physical exercises. 92
But regardless of the closeness of external appearance between the two, we are unsure whether Pak
Subuh had used the term latihan before the Japanese military penetration or after it. As far as our materials are concerned we have no proof to justify any assumption.
Those Japanese who occupied and reigned over
Indonesia were military men. The majority of the Japanese people were adherents of Shintoism which originated from Buddhism. As regards the military group, the influence of Zen Buddhism is far greater than the 93 other sects. It is likely, then, that the Japanese who occupied Indonesia between 1942 and 1945 were the followers of Zen Buddhism. So if there was Japanese influence, it was from Zen Buddism.
The doctrine of Zen maintains that the state of enlightenment attained by Buddha cannot be conveyed by any external means. AlI doctrinal learning and rituals, 169 therefore are useless. It means that enlightenment could be attained only by direct intuitive insight which 94 is beyond aIl intellectual conceptions. More clearly,
William Theodore de Bary says,
To find rest and security, they said, man had to turn himself and this world to the other world. By contrast, Zen Buddhism, which first rose to prominence in these same times, firmly opposed the idea that Buddhahood is something to be sought outside oneself or in another world. Every man has a Buddha-nature, and to realize it he need only lôok within. Self understanding and self-reliance are the ~eynote.of Zen. No means is employed, no end 1.S atta1.ned.~.)
The statements ab ove look very similar to Pak
Subuh's explanation which have been quoted before. Pak
Subuh always insisted that the work of Subud latihan originated from man's inner self; it does not need any external rules. The only way to attain manunggal is to relinquish man's mental and physical attributes and his
1.nte. Il' ect 1.n part1.cu. 1 are 96
It has also been assumed that because of its complete disregard of the letter or rather its contempt for the scriptures and of ritual pagaentry the Zen doctrine became exceedingly popular among the Japanese warrior class and military men, who prided themselves upon extreme simplicity of life. 97 Also in Subud we notice no ritual, no written litanies to be memorized 170 and the act itse1f is very simple; many people have joined Subud because of its simplicity.
In our opinion it is probab1y true that sorne
Zen e1ements penetrated Subud latihan, since we find close externa1 simi1arity between the two. But still we find a fundamenta1 difference between them. Zen, 1ike Yoga, emp10yed active concentration and meditation, whi1e in Subud 1atihan passive relaxation is required.
Man has to cease to work in order that the divine force can work. It is true that both in Zen meditation and
Subud 1atihan no means are employed. But yet, and it is certain1y very important, the 'end' is different. For the former, no end is attained, while for the latter 'manungga1,98 (union) with God is its u1timate end. CONCLUSION
From the point of view of Orthodoxy we can
presume that it would not be acceptable to calI Pak
Subuh's mysticism, Islamic, particularly since he does not regard Islam as the only way of salvation. More
over, he does not entirely use Sufic or Arabie terms in
his teaching. Even when he uses the Sufis' technical
terms, he almost al ways gives them a very different
meaning and interpretation. But viewed from the stand
point of its principal ideas and its major elements it
is also hard to deny that Subud is Islamic.
In our opinion therefore, probably, the correct
and exact title of his mysticism would be "The Javanese form of Islamic Mysticism" which can be categorized as "Islam Kedjawen."
Therefore, it is no wonder, that in his
theological thinking as weIl as in his mystical inter
pretation, we frequently find contradictions. He has to
fulfill both his inner convictions as a Javanese mystic
and at the same time he has to meet the social demands
171 172 of being a Mus1im and as a leader of an International spiritual brotherhood whose members have originated from a1most every kind of religion and re1igious schoo1 and denomination.
Regarding the manner and process of 1atihan we may conc1ude that the mysticism founded by Pak SubtL~ depended strong1y upon rasa diri (intuition) as the key to experiencing the mysteries of God. He and his fo11owers are, therefore, not much concerned with logic or theo1ogy. Their objective is to revive the existing religious truth within man by persona1 experience and not by a rationa1ization of it.
In Subud, it is almost certain, that not on1y are spiritual problems solved by intuition but even world1y problems are in many cases solved by intuitive means. This instrument is cal1ed "udjian", meaning
testing. On many occasions when someone asked Pak
Subuh a question re1ating to any aspect of 1ife, either
spiritual or physica1, he wou1d close his eyes for a while to 'test' the matter, and 1ater emerged with an
answer. His assistants did likewise when confronted by problems. They frequently emp10yed this method also,
in order to overcome critical situations and i11ness.
It seems that they believe strong1y in the 173 method of 'testing' since according to them God revealed the answer and put the words into their mouths. Pak
Subuh always insisted that his teachings were not from books or by learning from somebody else but directly revealed by God.
From what we have said above, it will be seen that the following formulation represents his theosophy:
1. A human being has no hand in the attainment of the latihan goal that is manunggal; it is only God who out of his blessing grants His elect 'union'; it is God who is active in uniting Himself to any man whom He wills; God cannot be compelled to grant His knowledge to human beings on account of earnest striving. Such grace is a matter of Divine selection.
2. In the state of manunggal, it is the 'Will' of God and the 'will' of man that are united, and not the physical body.
3. The degree of manunggal is individual. It depends upon the condition of the soul and the stage of purification of the person concerned. Therefore, the latihan as a means to attain the state of manunggal is very individual, no rules or rites are required.
4. The Subud spiritual order is against asceticism and monasticism. Pak Subuh has warned his 174 murids not to lead the ascetic life. He encouraged them earnestly to do their latihan as weIl as to work as ordinary people.
This last point establishes a very unique characteristic of Subud. Since the mystical orders are generally accused of being institutions where people went to escape from the difficulties of the world, the economic difficulty in particular.·
Viewed from the problems involved in the
emergence of hundreds of Indonesian mystical orders,
such negative phenomena can be substantial. During the
time of political and economic chaos in the Indonesian
archipelago, and Java in particular, several kinds of
mystical movements flourished. As soon as the chaos
disappeared, the number of the mystical orders also
decreased. But these negative causes cannot be
considered the main stimuli of the birth of Subud.
Because as far as we can see, its development has not
been much affected by the ups and downs of Indonesian
political and economic conditions. Probably this was also the reason why the Indonesian government has not
bothered itself much with the affairs of this order. Moreover, looking to the membership of Subud, both in
Indonesia and abroad, it would be no exaggeration to 175 state that Subud is not a mystica1 order of the 10wer c1ass and ignorant people, but apparent1y it is among the midd1e and upper classes that it finds greater support.
Fina11y, it is a truism that tensions and un certainty of our modern era stimu1ate much more strong1y than ever the need of peace and understanding among people regard1ess of their race, nationa1ity and religion. This has been expressed in different forros such as the concepts and attempts at dialogue, peacefu1 coexistence and so on: In this endeavour, Subud with its
1atihan even without much propaganda has succeeded in rea1izing this 10fty tdea1 by means of bringing people together to worship God without sacrificing their respective race, nationa1ity and religion. NOTES - CHAPT ER l
lThere have been many scholarly works on Indonesian Mystics; e.g. H. Kraemer, Een Javanese Primbon uit de Zestiende Eeuw; B. J. O. Schrike, Het boek van Bonang; D. A. Rinkes, Abdoerraoef van Singkel; P. J. Zoetmulder S.J., Pantheisme en monisme in de Javanesche soeloeck-litteratuur; J. Doorenbos, De geschriften van Hamzah Pansoeri; C. A. O. van Nieuwenhuijze, Samsu'l-din van Pasai; S. N. Al-Attas, Raniri and the Wujudiyyah of l7th Century Acheh.
2See the Appendix for Subud's addresses.
3 the total population of Indonesia is at present approximately one hundred and fifteen million, seventy million of whom inhabit Java. Roughly, sixt y five million are Muslims. Now the question arises as to how many red Muslims and white Muslims there are. This question is rather difficult to answer since there are no statistics available. This writer conjectures that probably the abangan is larger in number than santri, or the two are more or less equally balanced.
4The statement that Indonesia is more than 90% Muslim should be understood to mean that it implies a Muslim society which comprises both santri and abangan that have different attitudes towards Islam.
SIn this case this writer disagrees with Javanese religious grouping made by Geertz in his The Religion of Java, in which he divides the religious groups of Java into three categories viz. santri, abangan and priiaji. In the opinion of this writer, priiaji group has nothing to do with religion. It is in fact social class or cultural group of people of aristocratic origine Even sometimes prijaji is one who works as government official. Therefore, there is no such thing as a prijaii religion. Prijaji can be either abangan or santri. Also many Prijajis are Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.
176 177
6See note 3 of this chapter.
7 Asnawi Hadisiswojo, Il Agama2 dan A1iran2 Kepertjajaan Masjarakat di-Indonesia," Hikmah (October, 1956), 8-9. 8See Appendix for the trans1iteration. NOTES - CHAPTER II
lBasic Information on Indonesia (Ottawa: Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, 1969), pp. 1-3. 2M. A. P. Meilink-Roelfosz, Asian Trade and European Influence (The Hague: Martinus Nyhoff, 1962), p. 13. 3W. F. Wertheim (2), Indonesian Society in Transition (The Hague: W. van Hoeve Ltd., 1956), p. 16. 4G• D. Legge, Indonesia (New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1965), p. 43. 5Soeroto, Indonesia di Ten ah-ten ah Dunia dari abad ke abad (Djakarta: Djambatan, 1955 , p. 12; see also B. Schrike, Indonesian Sociolo ical Studies (Bandung: W. van Hoeve Ltd., 1955 , p. 19. 6Asnawi Hadisiswojo, op. cit., p. 33. 7R. J. Wilkinson, Malay Beliefs (Leiden, Late E. J. Brill, 1906), p. 55. 8A• L. B. L. Kruijt (1), Het Animisme in den Indischen Archipel ( 's-Grvenhage, Martinus Nyhoff, 1906), p. ; see also Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 49. 9Soeroto, op. cit., p. 15. 10Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (Illinois: the Free Press of Glencoe, 1959), pp. 16-29. lIA. L. B. L. Kruijit (2), "Indonesians," Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, ed. by James Hasting, VII, 1955, p. 234. l2Ibid., p. 238.
178 179
l3AsnaWL ° Ha dOLSLSWOJO, ° 0 op. CLt.,° p. 33 • l4H• Kraemer (1) Agama Islam (Djakarta, Badan Penerbit Kristen, 1952), pp. 261-262; see also Wertheim (1), Effect of Western Civilization on Indonesian Society (New York: International Secretariat of Pacific Relation, 1950), pp. 50-51. l5Louis Fischer, The Story of Indonesia (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1959), pp. 199-205. 16B• R. Chatterjee, India and Java (Calcutta: Prabasi Press, 1933), p. 1. l7Soeroto, op. cit., p. 117. 18The Javanese alphabet consists of 20 letters. The ~it of 20 1etters forrns a story of how Adjisoko who represents a new era was fighting a big giant, the syrnbo1 of the dark age. Ultimately the former won the battle. 19B. R. Chatterjee, op. cit. , p. 32. 20Ibid., p. 25.
2lSoeroto, op. CLt.,° p. 118 . 22Slamet Muljono, Menudiu Puntiak Kemegahan Sediarah Keradiaan Madiapahit (Djakarta: Balai Pustaka, 1965), pp. 140-189. 23Ibid., p. 47; see also G. D. Legge, op. cit., p. 30. 24The complex of Borobudur temple (Buddhist) and that of Tjandi Mendut (Hindu) in Magelang is very close and also between Rorodjongrang temple and Tjandi Sewu between Jogjakarta and Surakarta. 25B. R. Chatterjee, op. cit., p. 29.
26p • A. Husein Djajadiningrat, "Islam in Indonesia," Islam - The Straight Path, ed. by Kenneth Morgan (New York, The Ronald Press Company, 1958), p. 378. 180
27Sekaten is a Javanese expression of shahadatayn. It is a festival occasion to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad on the month of maulud (rabi'ul thâni). In that festival, people are attracted to come by gamelan (wajang music), and as soon as they gathered, a kijahi (imam) preaches Islamic teachings and ultimately they are asked to recite two kalimah shahâdah as a basic condition for embracing Islam. 28Indonesian names such as Sukarno; symbols such as Bhineka Tunggal Ika; and mottos such as Pantja Sila and Tat Wan Asi have originated from sanskrit.
29In Ungaran, Semarang, Central Java, there is a Buddhist monastry that has a strong relation with the outside world, Ceylon in particular. Several monks teach and meditate here; even the word Guru is used for school teachers (teachers of elementary to high schools are called Guru, while Professors are called Maha Guru;) Hindus have a strong representation in Bali.
30AsnaW1 . Ha d'"1S1SWOJO, op. C1t.,. pp. 33 - 34 • 3lT . W. Arnold, The Preaching of Islam (Lahore: SH. Muhammad Ashraf, 1965), p. 371. 32H• Kraemer (1), Agama Islam (Djakarta: Badan Penerbit Kristen, 1952), p. 114. 33S . Q. Fatimi, Islam cornes to Malaysia (Singapore: Ma1aysian Sociologica1 Research Institute Ltd., 1963), p. 38. 34 T. W. Arnold, op. cit., p. 367. 35Ibid., p. 370.
36C. Souck Hurgronje, De beteekenis van der Islam voor zijn belijders in Oost-Indie, pp. 8-9, quoted by Arnold, OP. cit., p. 370.
37R . A. Kern, De Islam in Indonesia ( 's Gravenhage: W. van Hoefe, 1947), pp. 7-9; see also Neiuwenhuis, "Hava," Encyc10pedia of Islam, II:2, p. 576; see also B. SChrike, Indonesian Sociological Studies (The 181
Hague, 1955), l, p. 12; see also G. H. Bousquet, La Politique Musulmane et Colonale des Pays-Bas (Paris, 1923), p. 4. 38T . \v. Arnold, op. cit., p. 368. 39This writer recalls that during his childhood he studied how to recite al-Quran not by means of the Arabic harakat (dhommah, kasrah, fathah), but rather by means of the Persian harakat (pish, zir and zabar). 40 T. W. Arnold, op. cit., pp. 369-70.
4lThe preserved documents written in those days indicate that from the very beginnings of Islam in Indonesia, mysticism existed there both in its orthodox form as weIl as in its pantheistic forme The work of Sunan Bonang for example was written in opposition to heretical mystical doctrines such as those taught by Shayhk Siti Djenar. The mystical controversies between Orthodox Sufism and Heterodox ones, were more noticeable in Sumatra, and reached its peak in the work of Hamzah Fansuri who represented pantheistic Sufism and the work of Nuruddin al-Raniri 'Hujiatul ~iddiq li daf' al-Zindïg.' See Attas Al-Raniri and the Wujudiyya of the l7th Century Acheh.
42As regards religious titles we find the following: a. The Hindu and Buddhist spiritual leaders are called Guru, Ki, Pendito, Empu. Their pupils are called Tjantrik. b. Muslim religious leaders bear the titles of Kijahi, Adjengan, Tengku, Engku, Ustadz, Muallim and their pupils are called Santri and Medagang. While those who have performed the pilgrimage to Makkah bear ;Hadji' as an honourable title. c. Christian religious leaders bear the title of "Romo" for Catholic priests and "Pendito" for Protestants. 43H. Kraemer (1) op. cit., p. 265; see also G. W. J. Drewes, "Indonesia: Mysticism and Activism," Unit y and Variety in Muslim Civilization, p. 309.
44D. Rinkes, De Helegen Van Java II (Batavia: Albrecht, 1911), pp. 30-31; see also Husein Djajadiningrat, op. cit., p. 380. 182
45R• A. Kern, op. cit., pp. 14-15; see a1so C. C. Berg, "Is1amization of Java," Is1amica (October, 1955), 140. 46It was here between 1949-1962 that the Daru1 Islam rebe11ion took place. 47R• A. Kern, op. cit., pp. 15-16; H. Kraemer (1), op. cit., pp. 129-130; T. Arnold, op. cit., p. 375.
48R• A • Kern, op. c~t.,. p. 16 • 49H. Kraemer (1), op. cit., p. 130. SOR. A. Kern, op. cit., p. 16. 51Stephen Neil, A Historv of Christian Missions (Baltimore: Penguin Book Ltd., 1964), pp. 348-351. 52H. Kraemer (1), op. cit., p. 131; T. W. Arnold, op. cit., p. 370.
53R. A. Kern , op. c ~. t ., P • 17 ; H . Kraemer (1), op. cit., p. 17. 54T. W. Arnold, op. cit., p. 395. 55H. Kraemer (1), op. cit., p. 132; Kern, op. cit., p. 18. 56R. ~. Kern, op. cit., p. 20. 57T. W. Arnold, op. cit., p. 399. 58Ibid . 59 Ibid., p. 401. 60 Ibid ., p. 392. 61 Ibid., p. 403. 62Encyc10paedie van N.I., Vol. II, p. 432. 63T . W. Arnold, op. cit., p. 402. 64R. A. Kern, op. cit., p. 22; H. Kraemer (1), op. cit., p. 133. 183
65C. Snouck Hurgronje (1), Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century, trans, by J. H. Monahan (Leiden: E. J. Bri11, 1931), pp. 288-292. 66C• Snouck Hurgronje, quoted by T. W. Arnold, op. cit., p. 411. 67This overwhe1ming re1igious zea1 of the beginning of the twentieth century found its channe1s in various social, economic and po1itica1 organizations. 68w. A. Visser't Hooft, "Six Years Pioneering in Java," The Mos1em Wor1d, XIX (Ju1y, 1929), pp. 242-243. 69C. Snouck Hurgronje (2), Verspreide Geschriften (Boon, 1924), pp. 219-20; This Is1amic po1icy has been criticized by G. H. Bousquet in La Politique Musulmane Coloniale des Pays-Bas; see a1so Benda, op. cit., pp. 9-31. 70 G. H. Bousquet, op. cit., p. 18. 71See Chapter l, note 5. 72W. F. ,Wertheim (1), Effect of Western Civi1ization on Indonesian Society (New York, 1950), pp. 50-51; see a1so Kraemer (1), op. cit., pp. 261-262; Louis Fischer, op. cit., pp. 12-15. 73W. F. Wertheim (2), op. cit., pp. 195-196; J. C. Van Leur, Indonesian Trade and Society (The Hague, 1955), p. 169. 74De Bronner van Sa1atiga, cited by Kraemer (1), ~o~p~.~c=it~., pp. 262-265. 75Ibid• 76Ibid., pp. 265-266. 77E. G. Van Kekem, "The East Java Mission," The Mos1em Wor1d, XXX (June, 1940), pp. 23-24; see a1so Wertheim (1), op. cit., p. 52. 78Stephen Neil, A History of Christian Missions (Baltimore: Penguin, 1964), p. 450. 184
79vir~inia Thompson, Minority Problems in Southeast Asia (Ca1ifornia, Stanford University Press, 1955), p. 232; see also Neil, op. cit., p. 289. 80The Moslem World, VIII (October, 1918), p. 423; see also Neil, op. cit., p. 292; see also Thompson, op. cit., p. 237. 8lH. Kraemer (3), "Missionary Work in Java," The Moslem World, XIII (July, 1923), p. 268; see also Van Dijk, "Mission Work in Central Java," The Mos1em World, XIII (July, 1923), pp. 274-276; see also Arnry Vandenbosch, "Christianity and Government in Netherlands-India," The Moslem World, XXII (April, 1932), pp. 134-45.
82Ne~ °1 , op. c ~°t " p. 224 • 83W. A. Visser't Hooft, "Six Years Pioneering in Java," The Moslem World, XIX (July, 1929), pp. 237- 238. 84We shall see in Chapter IV that those spiritual orders that hold the view of religious relativism mostly originated from Central Java. 85G. H. Boesquet, op. cit., p. 19. 86Ibid., pp. 8-9. 87J . W. Gunning, "Missions Among the Moslems of Java," The Moslem World, V (January, 1915), p. 71.
88H• Kraemer (3), op. cit., p. 267. 89J . W. Gunning, op. cit., p. 71. 90 Ibid . 91Ibid., p. 73. 92 E. G. Van Kekem, "The East Java Mission," The Moslem Wor1d, XXX (January, 1940), p. 21. 93Ibid., p. 26; see a1so Neil, op. cit., pp. 291-292. 185
94 " Gunnl.ng, op. cit. , pp. 65-66; Van Kekem, Qg. cit., pp. 26-27. 95 " Gunnl.ng, op. cit., p. 67. 96Ibid • 97Ibid., p. 68; see a1so Neil, op. cit., p. 291. 98w. A. Visser't Hooft, op. cit., p. 243.
99Nei1 , ~o~p~.~c~it~., pp. 348-349. 100Ibid • 101Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christianity ..;:T~h;;;;;r-:;:o:-;;u~gFh;;...... ;;T;.;;:h=-,e;;...... ;;A:.=Iig~e~s~ (New York: Harper & Row,' 1919 65), p. 300. See a1so Neil, op. cit., pp. 532~533. 102Amry Vandenbosch, op. cit., pp. 136-137. 103Nel. "1 , op. Cl."t " p. 418 . 104Ibid . 105Ibid • 106Asnawi Hadisiswojo, op. cit., p. 35. 107Nowadays there is tension between Mus1ims and Christians pertaining to the fact that many abangan Mus1ims, especia11y the poorer ones were converted to Christianity. Economic difficu1ty is probab1y the main reason for this mass conversion. It seems that the over whe1ming materia1 supports to Indonesian Christian missions from abroad faci1itates conversions. 108Van Kekem, op. cit., pp. 22-23; see a1so S. M. Zwemer, The Mos1em Wor1d, XXXVI (Ju1y, 1946), p. 266. 109W. F. Wertheim (2), op. cit., p. 204. 110H• Kraemer, Christian Message in a Non Christian Wor1d (London: James Clarke & Company Ltd., 1961), p. 200. 186
111W. F. Wertheim (2), op. cit., p. 204. 112W. M. Watt, Truth in the Religions (Edinburgh: University Press, 1963), p. 163. NOTES - CHAPTER III
lThe word Bapak literally means father. Besides its original usage viz. a calI of a child to his or her father, it is also used throughout Indonesia for the older generation or respected people, for example Bapak President, Bapak Menteri (Minister), Bapak Kijahi (Ulama), Bapak Guru (Teacher), Bapak Dokter. Frequently it is abbreviated just Pak. Therefore Bapak Muhammad Subuh is known everywhere as Pak Subuh and among his followers he is called just Bapak. Sumohadiwidjojo is an additional name reflecting married status from Sanskrit. 2Muhammad Subuh (8), "Theramah Bapak di Wolfsburg (Bapak's talk in WOlfsburg)," Pewarta, V (April, 1968), p. 172; see also Dr. Prio Hartono, "Bapak dan Sufi2 (Bapak and the Sufis)," Pewarta, V (October, 1966), p. 4; see also Husein Rofe (1), The Path of Subud (London: Rider & Company, 1959), p. 75. 3pak Subuh believes that President Sukarno was born for worldly purposes, while he was born for spiritual needs. Therefore, whenever the former's influence was glaring, the latter's became weak and vice versa. 4In Java, there are five types of names one uses, depending on what cultural group one is in. Abangan names, santri names, priiaii names, western names and blended names. According to the indigenous custom, many Indonesians, the Javanese in particular, have only one name. There was no such custom of family names as in Western tradition, except in certain areas of Sumatra. According to such divisions, village boys of abangan family are sometimes just named after the day on which they are born, for example, Senen or Paing. Or they have simple names such as Bedjo or Paidi. Girls have
187 188 the same simple names, but in the feminine form: Paini, Paidjah. When Hindu culture penetrated Indonesia many Indonesians from the priiaji group were proud to have names of heroes from Hindu epics or names from Sanskrit literatures. So, boys and girls from the prijaji class usually have names originating from Sanskrit ~. Djoko, Bambang, Sukarno, Suharto, Wibowo, Sumohadiwidjojo, Endang, Sri Suwarni. Thesl3,pread of Islam among the Indonesians has brought about the change of names with Arabic usage. Boys and girls of santri family are named Muhammad, Ali, Abubakar, Umar, Usman, Hasan, Aminah, Fatimah, etc. The coming of Europeans and Christianity also brought about further changes such names as Radios, Paulus, Magdalena, etc. Finally besides these, recently there has been a prevailing custom of syncritizing names. Santri from abangan origin attached the Arabic name to his indigenous name like Muhammad Bedjo; it also occurred among the prijaji circle~. Ahmad Sukarno, or just combining Sanskrit and Arabic origin such as Muhammad Gautama. Sjafruddin Prawironegoro, Ali Sastroamidjojo, Rahmat Himawan, Arif Darmawan. The same practice of combining names also took place among Indonesian Christians such as Paulus Pidi, Magdalena Kartini. Many Indonesian changed or rather added their names after getting married or after returning from hajj.
5Javanese birthday is rotating every 35 days. It is due to the two kinds of day they have. First the known seven days of the week and second the five days of the market namely Paing, Pon. Wage, Kliwon and Legi.
6prio Hartono, op. cit., p. 4; see also Muhammad Subuh (8), Pewarta, V (April, 1968), p. 172. 7pangeran is Javanese aristo~ratic title meaning prince. Before the Indonesian independence, the prijaji still maintained their aristocratic title which ranged from Raden, Raden mas, Bendoro, Raden Adjeng, Raden aju, Raden arjo Adipati, and Pangeran. Since 1945 these aristocratic titles have gradually been dropped and as their substitute in mentioning the names of respectable people or the senior one, the Indonesians used the terms Bapak or Pak, as has been mentioned above, meaning father. While Sajjid is a Javanese expression of Arabic Sayyid meaning master or those Arabs who are descended from the Prophet family namely Ali and Fatimah. For the Javanese, 189 however, every Arab is sayyid and shou1d be honoured. If one's name is Pangeran Sajjid, he is most 1ike1y an Arab origin as weIl as an aristocratie fami1y.
8 Siti is a1so a Javanese expression of Arabie sayyidati, meaning my mistress. It is a feminine form of Sayyid.
9Sunan Ka1idjogo of Kadi1angu was one of nine Javanese Saints (Wa1i Songo). Before becoming a Wa1i he was a dangerous robber who repented under the power fuI hand of Sunan Bonang. He was the youngest and the most radical who executed Shayh Siti Djenar, another member of wa1i who was accused c1aiming Divinity to himse1f.
10J . G. Bennet, Christian M)sticism and Subud (New York: Dharma Book Company, 1961 , p. 49. 11Husein Rofe (1), The Path of Subud (London: Rider & Company, 1959), p. 77. 12Muhammad Subuh (8), Pewarta V (April, 1968), p. 174; see a1so Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., p. 77. 13 . H . 6 p r~o artono, op. c~t., p .. 14Sunan Ampe1 is the senior among the nine Wa1is. He is said to have come from Mecca. 15 . H . 3 p r~o artono, op. c~t., p ••
16K • Mangundjaja, "Bapak" s talk in Bandung on February 15, 1968," Subud North America Ouarter1y, X (Summer, 1968), p. 1.
17Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., p. 77; Muhammad Subuh (8), Pewarta, V (April, 1968), p. 178. 18 Md· . . 2 K . angun JaJa, op. c~t., p .. 19Husein Rofe (2), "Muhammad Subuh: Mystic of Java," The Is1amic Literature (June, 1951), p. 306; see a1so Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., p. 78. 20Muhammad Subuh (2), The Meaning of Subud (London: Subud Brotherhood, 1960), p. 9. 190
21Husein Rofe, op. cit., p. 79.
22p'rLO Hartono, op. CLt.,. p. 9 • 23Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., p. 79.
24G• M. Kahin, Nationa1ism and Revolution in Indonesia (Ithaca: Corne11 University Press, 1952), pp. 66-68.
25prLO' H artono, op. CLt.,. p •. 6 26 E. G. Van Kekem, op. cit., p. 23.
27Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., p. 80; see a1so Bennet, op. cit., p. 3.
28For the Japanese Is1amic po1icy, see H. J. Benda, The Crescent and the Risin Sun (The Hague: W. van Hoeve Ltd., 1957 , pp. 120-131. 29Asnawi Hadisiswojo, "Agama2 dan A1iran2 Kepertjajaan Masjarakat di Indonesia," Hikmah, IX (October, 1956), pp. 8-9. 30This prediction was reported by Husein Rofe in his article, "Muhammad Subuh: Mystic of Java," The Is1amic Literature (Lahore: June, 1951), p. 309. 31Muhammad SUbu!.1 (9), "Bapak tells the story of Tji1andak," Subud Wor1d News, II (London, October, 1966), p. 2; see a1so Pria Hartono, op. cit., p. 9; see a1so Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., pp. 165-170. 32Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., pp. 17-28.
33Muhammad Subuh (9), op. cit., p. 3.
34In connection with the spread of Subud abroad, Husein Rofe and Bennet played very important ro1es. Both of thern gave a lot of ta1ks and wrote many books about Subud. But in the 1ater deve10pment of Subud the names as weIl as the activity of these two people are no longer heard. With regard to Bennet, this writer heard that he has joined a Sufi order and seems no longer to be active in Subud. He has even given his 191 house, Coornbe Springs, which wa~ previous1y used as a centre of Subud activity in England, to a Sufi brotherhood under Idris Shah. See Subud Wor1d News, III (June, 1969), p. 2; a1so Prio Hartono, op. cit., p. 3; Rofe (1), p. 171. 35Muharnrnad Subuh (9), op. cit., p.S. 36This pecu1iar phenornenon will be discussed in the fourth chapter on his universa1 re1igious view. 37Muharnrnad Subuh (8), "Pentggantian narna (Change of narne)," Pewarta, IV (June, 1966), p. 192. 38Muharnrnad Subuh (8), Pewarta, V (April, 1968), op. cit. ,p. 178; see a1so Mangundjaja, op. cit., p. 4. 39Muharnrnad Subuh (4), Subud and the Active Life (London: The Subud Brotherhood, 1967), p. 98. NOTES - CHAPTER IV
lH. Kraemer, The Christian Message in A Non Christian World (London: James Clarke & Company, Ltd., 1961), p. 200. 2Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unit y in Diversity) is the official motta of the Indonesian Republic. It expresses the existence of common spiritual and cultural characteristics underlying the apparent heterogeniety, Pantja Sila is the philosophy of the Indonesian state which comprises five principles viz. monotheism, social justice, democracy, humanism and nationalism; Nasakom (nationalist, religious and communist) was an ideological melting pot of various contending Indonesian groups devised by Sukarno during his reign, that is to say of cooperation and peaceful coexistence amongst nationalist groups, religious groups and Communist groups to develop the Indonesian people.
3E . G. Van Keken, "The East Java Mission," The Moslem World, XXX (June, 1940), p. 25.
4Al-Sanusi, Al-Salsabïl al-Mu'in Fi al-Taraiq al-Arba'ïn (Cairo: Al-Ma'ahid), p. 4. 5Clifford Geertz, The Religion of Java (Illinois: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1960), pp. 310- 311.
6This concept is very similar to that of al- Ghazzali.
7Clifford Geertz, op. cit., p. 314; in Persi~~, Jigar , liver is also important as the seat of emotions.
8This sort of esoteric doctrine is very common among Javanese mystics especially the Roso-Sedjati (true inner feeling) order.
192 193
9Clifford Geertz, op. cit., p. 336; Dr. Surono was the present writer's teacher during high school. He recalls that one day the teacher said to his students that the Sumarah teaching was revealed truly by God to him directly. lOIbid. llIbid.
l2Ibid • l3Asnawi Hadisiswojo, op. cit., p. 35.
l4Justas M. Van Der Kroef, Indonesian Social Evolùtion (Amsterdam: Van Der Peet, 1958), pp. 69-70; see also W. B. Sidjabat, Religious Tolerance and the Christian Faith (Djakarta: Badan Penerbit Kristen, 1965), p. 65. l5pramono Djuwono, "Gerakan Kebatinan Wongsonegoro mau kemana?, Il Hikmah, IX (September 12, 1956), p. 21.
l6It has been a strong belief of the Orthodox Muslim leaders that aIl Indonesian Muslims (bo~h santri and abangan) are as a matter of course basically loyal to Islam and need only sound Sunni instruction to become good Orthodox Muslims. Out of this belief, religious instruction is now a compulsory subject for elementary school and for university students as weIl, as in almost aIl fields of public life.
l7The Permai spiritual order is probably a best example of this case. It was created or rather exploited by the Indonesian Communist Party (P.K.I.) to undermine any religion, Islam in particular. See Geertz, op. cit., pp. 112-118; another example can be taken from Bah Suro order. Between 1965-1967 there was a well-known spiritual order led by Bah Suro in Ngawi, East Java, which taught an anti-government policy. Armed clashes between the Government army and murids of this order took place. Finally it was discovered that Bah Suro's spiritual dwelling place had been used as a hiding place of Communist forces. At the time the matter was given great publicity in the newspapers. 194
18Muhammad Subuh, "Sambutan Bapak pada Konggres di Malang," Pewarta (June, 1965), p. 56. 19Muhammad Subuh, The Meanin~ of Subud (London: The Subud Brotherhood in England, 1960 , pp. 10-18. 20K• Mangundjojo, "Bapak's Talk in Bandung on February 15, 1968," Subud North America Ouarterly, X (Summer, 1968), p. 3. . 2lMuhammad Subuh, "Kepertjajaan Islam: Arti dari pada latihan dan Sunat (The Islamic Faith: the meaning of latihan and circumcision)," Pewarta, V (July, 1967), p. 80. 22Varindra Vittachi, A Reporter in Subud (New York: Dharma Book Company, 1964), p.85. 23Al -Qur'an, 5:3. 24Ibid., 3:19. 25Ibid., 33:40. 26 Ibn al-'Arabi, Tariuman al-Ashwag, tranSe by R. A. Nicholson (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1960), p. Il. 27'Afifi, The M stical Philoso h id Din Ibnal 'Arabi (Lahore: SH. Muhammad Ashraf, 148; see also Fusus al Hikam, II, p. 245. 28 Ibn al-Arabi, Fusus al-Hikam, II, p. 380. 29 Al _Qur'an, l7:24.
30Af;f;~ ~ (1), op. c~t.,° p. 149 ; Fusus a 1 HO~~m, 1ft. p. 246. 3lHusein Rofe, "Muhammad Subuh: Mystic of Java," The Islamic Literature, III (June, 1951), p. 307. 32The slametans (free Arabie salamah) to commemorate the souls of ancestors are held by Javanese on the 3rd, 7th, 40th, 100th and 100th day after one's death. Geertz deals with the notion of Javanese Slametan 195 very clearly in his The Religion of Java, pp. 11-15. 33aMuhammad Subuh, Subud and the Active Life (London: Subud Brotherhood, 1967), p. 87. 33bSalamh Pope, "Tjilandak Newsletter: Fasting during the days, little sleep ?t nights, with Bapak up almost every night talking to~men and women," Subud World News, III (January, 1969), p. 6; during this writer's stay in Montreal he was asked by several Subud members about how fasting had to be conducted in the month of ~amazan according to the Islamic injunctions. He noticed that they observed this injunction strictly during the whole month. 34Husein Rofe, Tslamic Literature, op. cit., p. 307. 35Muhammad Subuh, "Tentang Subud dan Islam (About Subud and Islam)," Pewarta, VI (June, 1969), p. 3; see also Luzita Fatima Aitken, "Why l accepted Islam," Muslim News International, VIII (üctober, 1969), pp. 14- 15. 36Muhammad Subuh, Pewarta, VI (June, 1969), op. cit., p. 7.
37Muhammad Subuh, Pewarta, V (July, 1967), op. cit., p. 82; see also Pewarta, VI (June, 1969), ~ cit., p. 8.
38In the Indonesian language daia means "force" in general. Pak Subuh in his mystical system, however, means by the word daia a particular living force that is ruh or soule Since he uses the word daia and roh in his works and articles alternately for the same thing. 39 D. B. Macdonald, "The Development of the Idea of Spirit in Islam," The Moslem World, XXII (January, 1932), p. 25.
40Al-Hujwir, Kashf al-Mahiub, transe into English by R. A. Nicholson (London: Luzac & Co., 1911), p. 196; see also Ibn al-Arabi quoted by Tahanawi, op. cit., p. 591; see also Ibn Qoyyim, Kitab al-Ruh (Haidarabad: Dar al~Maarif, 1357), p. 264. 196
41A1-Ghazza1i, Tahafut quoted by a1-Tahanawi, op. cit., p. 547. 42Ibn Qoyyim, op. cit., p. 45. 43A1-Hujwiri, op. cit., p. 261. ~.4A1-Qur' an, 13: 87.
45A1 - HUJW1r1, . . . op. C1t., . p. 261 . 46A1 _Qur'an, a) 15:29; b) 32:8; c) 38:72; d) 17:2; e) 17:87, 60:15, 26:163; f) 2:81&254, 5:109, 16: 104. 47Muhammad Subuh (2), op. cit., p. 20; see a1so, Three Clarifications on the Process of Subud (New York: Dharma Book Company, 1962), p. 2. 48Six Ta1ks by Bapak (London: Subud Brotherhood. 1957), p. 40. 49symbo1 of Subud: 50Muhammad Subuh (1), Susi1a Budhi Dharma (Norway: Subud Brotherhood), p. 10:3. 51'Afifi (1), op. cit., p. 120. 52A1-Ghazza1i, Mishkat a1-Anwar quoted by a1- Tahanawi, op. cit., p. 541. 53Muhammad Subuh (1), op. cit., p. 17:23. 54 Ibid . , p. 17:24. 55Ibid . , p. 21:2. 56Ibid • , p. 22:3. 57 Ibid. , p. 23:7. 58Ibid • , p. 24:8. 59 Ibid., pp. 31-54. 60 Ibid. , p.72:29. 197
61Ibid• , p. 73:31. 62Ibid • , p. 73:32. 63Ibid • , p. 73:33. 64Ibid • , p. 73:34. 65Ibid• , p. 73:35. 66Ibid• , p. 74:36. 67 Ibid., p. 74:37. 68Ibid• , p. 74:38. 69Suroto, op. cit., p. 15; see also Kruijt (2), op. cit., p. 238. 70Muhammad Subuh (3), op. cit., p. 7. 71Varindra Vittachi, Assignment Subud (New York: Dharma Book Company, 1965), pp. 98-99. 72A1_Ji11y, A1-Insan a1-Kami1 (Cairo: Dar a1- Kutub a1-'Arabiyyah al-Kubra), p. 94. 73Nieuwenhuijze, Samsu'l-Din Van Pasai (Leiden: E. J. Bri11, 1945), p. 123.
74Muhammad Subuh (1), OP. cit., p. 79:4. 7 5Ibid • , p. 79:5. 76Ibid . , p. 79:6. 77Ibid., p. 81:10. 78Ibid. , p. 81:11. 79 Ibid . , p. 82:14. 80Ibid . , p. 82:15. 81Ibid. , p. 83: 16. 82Ibid • , p. 83:17. 83Ibid . , p. 86:25. 198
84Ibid., p. 86:27. 85Ibid., p. 87:28. 86Ibid., p. 87:29. 87Ibid., p. 87:30. 88Ibid., pp. 88-105. 89Ibid. 90Ibid., p. 106:18 & 19.
91KrU~J " "t (2) , OP. cit. , p. 237. 92'Afifi (1), OP. cit., p. 121. 93Muharnrnad Subuh (1), op. cit., p. 112:33. 94Ibid. , p. 112:34. 95Ibid• , p. 117:43. 96Ibid• , p. 114:38. 97 Ibid. , p. 115:40. 98Ibid • , p. 117:45. 99Ibid., p. 118:47. 100Ibid., p. 118:46. 101A1_Jurjani quoted by a1-Tahanawi, op. cit., p. 548. 102'Afifi (1), op. cit., p. 121. 103A1_Jï11y, op. cit., p. 130. 104A1_Hujwiri, op. cit., p. 9; a1-Qur'an, 12:53. 105Kruijt (2), op. cit., p. 234. 106Muhammad Subuh (1), op. cit., p. 164:11. 107Ibid., p. 164:12. 199
108Ibid • , p. 164:13. 109Ibid • , p. 169:29. 110Ibid• , p. 169:30. 111 ...... Ibid. , p. 198:30 . 112Ibid • , p. 199:31. 113Ibid • , p. 201:36. ~14Ibid. , p. 202:38. 115Ibid • , p. 208:51. 116Ibid • , p. 209:52. 117Ibid • , p. 211:58. 118Ibid • , p. 212:59. 119Ibid • , p. 213:1. 120Ibid • , p. 213:2. 121Ibid • , p. 213:3. 122Ibid • , p. 215:9. 123Ibiç1• , p. 216:11. 124Ibid • , p. 229:5. 125Ibid• , p. 229:6. 126Ibid • , p. 218:20. 127 Ibid. , p. 234:23. 128Ibid • , p. 234:24. 129 Ibid. , p. 234:25. 130Genera11y the Orthodox's exp1anation and judgment of i11ega1 sexua1 relation is based upon al Qur'an, 24:2, 3 & 4 and traditions that regard i11ega1 sexua1 relations as among the greatest sins (kabâir). 200
131 A1-Hujwiri for examp1e says, "Jism is_. that which is composed of separate parts," op. cit., p. 386; whi1e a1-Ji11y ca11s it badn, op. cit., p. 133.
132N1euwen· h u1yze, . op. C1t.,. p. 123 • 133Muhammad Subuh (7), The Spiritual Way of Subud (New York: Dharma Book Company, 1966), pp. 1-3; see a1so Muhammad Subuh (3), op. cit., pp. 1-5. 134Muhammad Subuh (5), Subud in the Wor1d (London: Subud Brotherhood, 1967), p. 129.
135Ibid., pp. 130-131.
136W1t· h regar d to t h e myst1ca . 1 s1gn1 . . f·1cance and meaning of testing, see his chapter on "Testing for the Will of God," Muhammad Subuh (3), op. cit., pp. 10-18. 137Muhammad Subuh (5), op. cit., p. 132.
138Widji Saksono, "Islam menurut wedjangan Wa1i Songo (ISlam according to nine saints' teaching," A1-Diami'ah, l (April, 1962), p. 42.
139This phenomenon of secrecy has been dea1t with by R. A. Nicholson very c1ear1y. According ta him this figurative style is invented by the Mystics as a mask for mysteries which they desired ta keep secret. R. A. Nicholson (1), op. cit., p. 103. 140Su1uk Sangkan Paran (The Path of nowhere), no place or date of publication as weIl as no writer mentioned, p. 8.
141K1· S astropra]1tno,. . K·1ta b Ma k r1 . f at (Jogjakarta), p. 22.
142A1 - HU]W1r1, . . . op. c1t., . p. 288 . 143A1_Jï11y, op. cit., p. 135. 144 Muhammad Subuh (5), op. cit., p. 130.
145A1_J-111y, op. C1t.,. p. 135. 146A1 - HU]W1r1, ... op. cit., pp. 21 and 33. 201
147AI_Jïlly, op. cit., p. 94. 148Nieuwenhuijze, op. cit., p. 123. 149Muhammad Subuh (7), op. cit., p.S. 150Muhammad Subuh (3), op. cit., p. 2; see also J. G. Bennet, Christian Mysticism and Subud (New York: Dharma Book Company, 1961), p. 4. NOTES - CHAPTER V
, ~Al-Tahanawi, op. cit., p. 564; see a1so Abu al-Wafâ', Ibn 'Ata'i Allah al-Sakandari wa Tasawwufuhu (Cairo: Maktabah al-Qahirah al-Hadithah, 1957), p. 144. 2Al-Qur'an, 29:69. 3Hadith quoted by Nicholson (1), op. cit., p. 39. 4 H . . . . t Al - UJW1r1, op. C1 " p. 200. SR. A. Nicholson (1), op. cit. , p. 39. 6Al-Jïlly, op. cit., p. 130. 7Al -Qur'an, a) 12:53; b) 75:2; c) 89:27; d) 91:8; e) 18:74. 8Muhammad Subuh (1), op. cit., p. 107:4; see also Muhammad Subuh (8), "Landjutan keterangan2 Bapak (Continuation of Bapak's clarification)," Pewarta, l (October, 1960), p. 25. 9This story was marrated to this writer by a Subud helper in Montreal. 10Nicholson (1), op. cit., pp. 39-40. llHusein Rofe (2), op. cit., p. 307; see also Muhammad Subuh (3), op. cit., p. 9. l2Muharnmad Subuh (8), Pewarta, VI (June, 1969), pp. 2-10. l3Muharnmad Subuh (2), op. cit., p. 59. l4'Afifi (2), Al-Tasawwuf al-Thawrah al-Rühi ah Fi al-Islam (Iskandariyyah: Dar al-Maarif, 1963 , p. 132.
202 203
15A1-Hujwiri, op. cit., pp. 70; 170; 176; 184. 16Muhammad Subuh (8), "Bapak menerangkan tentang kewadjiban pembantu-pe1atih (Bapak exp1ains the duties of he1pers)," Pewarta, V (February, 1968), pp. 130-135. 17Husein Rofe (1), The Path of Subud (London: Rider & Company, 1959), p. 80; see a1so J. G. Bennet, op. cit., p. 3. 18Ibid. 19Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., pp. 54-55. 20This account is based on the writer's persona1 experiences and observations. 21Muhammad Subuh (5), op. cit., p. 58; see a1so Muhammad Subuh (8), Pewarta, l (October, 1960), p. 28. 22Again, this is a matter of my persona1 experiences and observations. See a1so Muhammad Subuh (8), "Tjeramah Bapak di Wolfsburg (Bapak's ta1k in Wolfsburg)," Pewarta, V (April, 1968), pp. 178-180.
23J . G. Bennet, op. cit., p. 4. 24R. A. Nicholson (1), op. cit., p. 45. 25A1-Sanüsi, op. cit., p. 59; A1-Qushshashi A1-Simt a1-Maiid (Haidarabad: Dairah a1-Maarif, 1327~, p. 13. 26Husein Rofe (2), Qp. cit., p. 307. 27Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., p. 98; see a1so Muhammad Subuh (2), op. cit., p. 9. 28A1-Qur'ân, 28:88. 29 A. J. Arberry, Sufism. An Account of the Mystics of Islam (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1968), p. 22. 30 H ... Al - uJw~r~, op. cit. , p. 254. 204
3lR. A. Nicholson (1), .;:;o.".p..:.. --.;;.c=i~t " P • 60 . 32Bennet, op. cit., p. 27; see also Encyclopaedia of Religion, p. 513. 33A_Qushayri, Al-Risalah (Cairo: Muhammad Ali Sabih, 1948), p. 14. 34 Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., p. 98. 35 H . . . . 81 Al - uJw~r~, op. c~t., p. • 36Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., p. 98. More over in his The Meaning of Subud, he seems ta be pan theistic when he says, 'It is the nature of Gad that He is able ta be united with everything that He has created. This means that he is truly one in feeling with whomsoever may stand before Him. Sa that if His creature suffers, Gad also suffers. Gad is able ta be one with aIl His creatures, including man'. Muhammad Subuh (2), p. 48. 37Al-Qushayri, op. cit., p. 35. 38Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., p. 100. 39Husein Rofe (1), op. cit., p. 78. 40Al_Qur'an, 7:143. 4lAl-Kalabadhi, Kitab al-Ta'arruf li-Madhhab Ahl al-Tasawwuf (Cairo: Librairie El-Kandgi, 1934), p. 42. 42The only problem is, whether this communion is face ta face or otherwise. The majority of the Sufis do not believe in the possibility of man's seeing Gad with physical eyes. According ta this group, when Musa wanted ta see Gad, he wanted ta see God's signs and not Gad Himself. The Prophet Muhammad tao, did not see Gad during his mi'rai. Ta support this view, they refer ta 'Aisha's report saying 'whoever claims that Muhammad saw Gad lies.' On the contrary, Ibn 'Abbas is reported ta have heard the Prophet saying that he had actually seen Gad during his mi'rai. Pak Subuh's view is that the vision of Gad with physical eyes is impossible. 205
See Muhammad Subuh (2), pp. 22-23. 43A1-Sarraj, Kitab a1-Lurna~ fi a1-Tasawwuf, ed. R. A. Nicholson (London, 1914), p. 382. 44A1-Junayd, Rasai1, ed. A. H. Abde1 Kader (London: Luzac & Company Ltd., 1962), p. 1. 45 A1-Quran, 5:26; 14:11; 14:12. 46Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., p. 75. 47Attar, Tadhkirat a1-Aw1iya (Lahore: Sh. Muhammas Ashraf, 1961), p. 57. 48A1 -Qushayri, op. cit., p. 77; A1-Ka1abadhi, op. cit., p. 101. 49Ibid., p. 100. 50Ibid., p. 150.
51Muhammad Subuh (4), 0 • cit., p. 75; see a1so Pewarta, VI (September, 1968~, 16! 52A1 _Qur'an, 65:3. 53Varindra Vittachi (2), A Reporter in Subud (New York: Dharma Company, 1963), p. 17; it was a1so narrated that during the cornrnunist coup d'etat of 1965, Pak Subuh was among those Indonesian leaders to be ki11ed. 54A1-Qur'an, 8:17. 55 Muhammad Subuh (1), o~. cit., p. 15:18; see a1so Pewarta, VI (September, 1968 , p. 26. 56A1most aIl Wali Songo (Nine Saints) were merchants. 57A1-Qushayri, op. cit., p. 8. 58A1-Kharraz, meaning a merchant of raw si1k; a1-Saqoti meaning a merchant in spices. This is the tit1e of Sari; A1-Qawariri, a glass seller; and A1- Ghazzali is one who weaves cotton. 206
59Muhammad Subuh, (1), op. cit., p. 37:11.
60Ibid., p. 37:12.
61Ibid., p. 240:7.
62Ibid., p. 234:25 and p. 236:30.
63Ibid., pp. 237-238. 64Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., pp. 87-88.
65Muhammad Subuh (1), op. cit., p. 241:9.
66H. Kraemer (1), Agama Islam (Djakarta: Badan Penerbit Kristen, 1952), p. 255. 67Attas, Sorne Aspects of Sufism (Singapore! Ma1aysian Socio10gica1 Research Institute, 1963), p. 63. 68A1-Sanusi, op. cit., p. 116.
69Ibid •
70Ibid . 71Muhammad Amïn, Khu1asah Kitab a1-Mawahib al Sarmadiyvah (n.p. 1958), p. 7.
72A1-Kurdi, Kitab Tanwir a1-Qu1ub (Cairo: A1- Sa'adah, 1368h), pp. 422 and 522.
73Ibid .
74pak Subuh was known 1arge1y for the first time in Indonesia when a newspaper in Jogjakarta in 1954 reported that he successfu11y cured a film star, Eva Bartok by name, who suffered a certain i11ness from which no doctor was able to cure her; see a1so Pewarta, IV (June, 1966). 75Husein Rofe (2), op. cit., p. 309.
76Hoesa~n "D"" JaJa d" ~n~ngrat, " op. c~t.,"397 p. . 77 See articHe, "Notes on the Is1amic Schoo1 at Gontor," Indonesia, l (Ithaca: April, 1966), pp. 30-45, by Lance CastIes. 207
78A1-Ghazza1i, Ihya 'U1um a1-Din, l, p. 301.
79A1 -Qushayri defines ahwa1 (states) as gifts, whi1e the magam (stations) are earnings. Risa1ah, p. 32. 80Sa1amah Pope, "Bapak emphasises the need of Prihatin," Subud Wor1d News, II (October, 1968), p. 3. 81Muhammad Subuh, "Tentang testing dan penderitaan (Concerning testing and suffering)," Pewarta, VI (September, 1968), pp. 2-9.
82A1 -Qushayri, op. cit., pp. 45-46. 83It appears from Medieval Indonesian inscriptions and 1iterature that various Yoga practices were in use to bring about the extinction of the human individua1ity and ensure the merging of human existence with an unwor1d1y situation. Perhaps it is not too bo1d a supposition to suggest that the teaching of Siva and the Buddhists in Java before the coming of Islam, had prepared the soi1 for the reception of the seed of Is1amic heterodox mysticism. It is very 1ike1y that this kind of mysticism was brought by the Indian Mus1im merchants.
84M~rcea· El·~a d e~ F rom p...r~m~tLve to Zen (N ew York: Harper & Row, 1967), p. 493. 85Encyc10paedia of Religion and Ethics, 12, p. 833.
86R. A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam, p. 149.
87A1 _Qur'an, 99:7-8; 53:39. 88Ibid., 6:164.
89Mus 1·~m, Q0 d r: 25 . 90H. J. Benda, op. cit., p. 355; in his article, "Indonesian V Islam under Japanese Occupation, 1942-1945," Pacific Affairs, XXXVIII (December, 1955), pp. 355-356, Banda uses the word 1atihan. 208
9lThis writer recalls that when he was (during the Japanese occupation) in the fourth grade of elementary school, there was hardly any academic work being done; the young and the old were both trained to perform taiso (latihan) everyday.
92This writer has frequently heard from the Subud members that after join~mg Subud latihan, they feel healthier than before.
93K• Ashida, "JÇlpan," Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 7, pp. 483-484.
94Ibid . 95Eliade, op. cit., p. 510.
96Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., p. 27.
97K• Ashida, op. cit., p. 484; Eliade, op. cit., p. 513.
98Muhammad Subuh (2), op. cit., p. 48; Muhammad Subuh (4), op. cit., p. 98. APPENDIX l
Transliteration
A. The following represent the main differenees between the Indonesian and the English spelling system:
Indonesian English dj = djalan j = jungle j = prijaji y = yes ng = hening nk = ink nj = sunji ny = John Bunyan tj = mentjari ch = charter B. The way of transliteration from Arabie to Indonesian is different from that devised by the Institute of Islamie Studies. Arabie Islamie Studies Indonesian
Akbar Akbar Mu'tamar Muktamar/Mutamar Saba' Sabak/Saba Barakah Barakah/Barakat Tajwïd Tadjwid Nathara Natsara/Nathara/Nasara Jism Djism RGh Ruch/Roh Kh~tïb Chatib Dairah Dairat Dhahabï Dahabi Riyaçlah Rijadloh Zarnan Zaman/Djaman Sulük Suluk Shamsuddin Sjarnsuddin ~iddiq Shiddiq/Sidik Hadirin Hadlirin Tabïb Tabib/Thabib ~alim Zalirn/Dalim/Lalim
209 210
Arabie Islamie Studies Indonesian 'Ali Ali/Ngali Ghazzali Gazali/Gadjali Kafrawï Kafrawi/Kaprawi Qur'an Quran/Kuran Kalam Kalam Layl Lail Mamlük Mamluk Nah For mad, the Indonesian transliteration doubles the vowel e.g. Ramadlaan or just Ramadlan. For tashdïd, it repeats eonsonnat e.g. Sajjid. It must also be noted here, sinee Pak Subuh is Javanese, that there are certain Arabie letters that do not have any equivalents in the Javanese alphabet and vice versa. The Javanese alphabet eonsists of twenty letters. This laek of equivalents causes diffieulties to Javanese, abangan Muslims in partieular, in pronouneing a number of Arabie words. What follows are a few examples: Arabie Javanese Ali Ngali Abdullah Ngabdullah Fardu Perlu Zuhr Luhur Idafi Ilafi Zalim Lalim Fikr Pilir In 1967 there was an agreement between the Indonesian Government and the Malaysian Government to equalize both their languages and their spellings. But sinee the deeision has not been earried out and the materials used in this thesis are taken from the works written before that period, we have, therefore, eonfined ourselves only to the prevailing system. APPENDIX II SUBUD ADDRESSES: AUGUST 1969 Published by I.S.C.C., 342 Cricklewood Lane, London, N.W. 2. Cable address: INSUBUD LONDON NW2. For information about centres, groups, or individuals in an area served by a national committee, please communicate with the national office at the address given in the list below. ANTIGUA BRAZIL Mr. J. C. Parent Centro Nacional de Subud Brazil Telemetry R.C.A. cio Luciano Ottoni Tel: Coolidge 341 R. Prof. Joao Arruda 234, apte 74, Perdizes ARGENTINA Sao Paulo, Z.P. 10, S.P. National Committee: Asociacion Subud Argentina BRITISH HONDURAS Carlos Calvd 1820 Belize Beunos Aires, Miss Helen-Taylor, Box 72 Tel. 238127 CANADA AUSTRALIA Subud Canada, National Committee National Committee: 3115 S.W. 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Box 7668 TURKEY Johannesburg Ankara Miss Saziye Sevket SPAIN Paris Caddesi No. 16/10 Contact loS.C.C. Kavakladere SURINAM Anamur Surinam Subud Centre Mr. & Mrs. H. Fehmi P.O. Box 157 7 Journal St. P.O. B. 2. Paramaribo Tel. 122 (Office) Tel: 99113 217 UNITED KINGDOM AND EIRE National Committee: Subud United Kingdom 342 Crick1ewood Lane London N.W.2 England Tel: 01-455-0136/7 Cab1es: Subuduk London NW2 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA National Committee Subud North America 10521 Burbank B1vd. Nor'th Hollywood Ca1ifornia 91601 Cab1es: Subudus LA. URAGUAY Montevideo Antonio Pezzino San Jose 1143,4 Piso, Apt. 7 Tel: 83780 VENEZUELA Caracas Prfa. Adelaida de Arraiz Centro Subud en Venezuela Apartado No. 534 Merida Paul Aymard Apartado 67 Cable address: Paymard, Merida VIETNAM Saigon Mr. Roosman ~~rti 91 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Cable address: Electindo Sipea, Saigon ZAMBIA Lusaka Mr. and Mrs. R. Brandt P.O. Box 1878. BIBLIOGRAPHY 'Afifi, A. E. (1) The Mystical Philosophv of Muhvid Din Ibnul 'Arabi. Lahore: SH. Muhammad Ashraf, 1938. (2) Al-Tasawwuf. a1-Thawrah a1-Ruhiyyah Fi al-Islam. Iskandariyyah: Dar al-Ma'arif 1963. Amïn, Muhammad. Khulasah Kitâb al-Mawahib al-Sarmadi ah. (no place of publication , 1958. Arberry, A. J. Sufism, An Account of the Mystics of Islam. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1968. Arnold, T. W. The Preaching of Islam. Lahore: SH. Muhammad Ashraf, 1965. Ashida, K. "Japan," Encyc10paedia of Religion and Ethics. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 481-489. Attar, Farid al-Din. Tadhkirat a1-Aw1iya, abridged translation into English by B. Behari. Lahore: SH. MUhammad Ashraf, 1961. Attas, S. N. Sorne Aspects of Sufism. Singapore: Malaysian Sociological Research Institute, 1963. Benda, Harry J. The Crescent and the Rising Sun. The Hague: W. Van Hoeve Ltd., 1957. Bennet, J. G. Christian Mysticism and Subud. New York: Dharma Book Company, 1961. Bousquet, G. H. La Politique Musulmane et Coloniale des Pays-Bas. Paris: Paul Hartmann, 1939. 218 219 Berge, C. C. 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New York: Dharma Book Company, 1965. (2) A Reporter in Subud. Dharma Book Company, 1963. Watt, W. M. Truth in the Religions. Edinburgh: University Press, 1963. Wertheim, W. F. (1) Effect of Western Civi1ization o~ Indonesian Society. New York: International Secretariat of Pacific Relation, 1950. (2) Indonesian Society in Transition. The Hague: W. Van Hoeve Ltd., 1956. Wilkinson, R. J. Malay Be1iefs. Leiden: Late E. J. Bri11, 1906.