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Post subject: Doing your latihan with a group and doing your latihan alone
 Posted: May 01, 2006 - 04:33 AM
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7th Level Skirter
Joined: Jan 11, 2006
Posts: 136
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To clarify the question - or actually the answers to it that people have posted - are you (i.e., anyone who replied) making a distinction between the group latihan and latihan done by yourself? That is, do you only practice the group latihan? Or do you practice the latihan both with a group and by yourself? Which do you do more: do you mostly practice latihan by yourself or mostly with the group? Do you find it difficult to do it alone?
The point I was trying to make in my previous reply - which I did a poor job of - was that I don't feel the NEED to regularly attend the group latihan. Yes, I attend it as regularly as I can because it is worthwhile to do so, but to be honest, it's an hour's drive round trip for me, and I can practice it at home just as well (though it's a bit harder to initiate it), so it doesn't make much sense for me to attend it more than once a week. |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 07, 2006 - 08:22 PM
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 05, 2006
Posts: 1
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Wow... this chain was started over two years ago... but the conversation goes on! Hello, everyone. (: This is my first time posting, but I have enjoyed the marvelous fruits of the Subud Life worker's efforts for some time now. Thanks, all of you! It seems like so much is happening over there in the UK, with Subud Youth life. Fun, fun.
At any rate... writing here from Virginia in the US... in hopes to answer the question... why do I do the latihan? The reason has evolved over time. Initially, growing up in Subud I always knew that at one point I would join. I saw my parents change over time, shedding bad habits, growing more peaceful, our family life that had gone through a few rough patches becoming better and better... and then I watched my mother find the work that was meant for her, and saw what a small miracle it produced in her life and the lives around her (she is a nutritionist and health practitioner.) And because they attributed all of this to the latihan and I felt it also, I knew it was a gift and something special... and it was never a question for me as to whether or not I would join... though being distracted by a relationship in college made me put it off for a little while. (:
And even then, after I joined, it took several years and becoming a helper for me to become regular with it. And it hasn't always been an easy process, to say the least. I think sometimes, when we are deeply involved in something that we have an inkling is probably not the right way for us to go... it can be hard to be "diligent" in coming to latihan. Because we recognize that by surrendering to God in the latihan, we will be faced with the reality of our life, and then the wiser part of us will grow stronger, and eventually ask us to let the old habit go. And for me, this is what happened with my first relationship, that had more or less become the center of my life, where it didn't belong.
I remember my mom telling me that when she was pregnant with me, Tuti (I believe... ) told her she was going to have a girl, and she was very grateful to be born into Subud. I'm not sure where that came from, but I think she was onto something... because over time the latihan has grown to be something truly valuable to me... the vehicle through which so many gifts and blessings have come into life as I know it.
It changes over time... though sometimes the change is so slow and gradual that I don't notice it until long after it comes... but I continue to be surprised by what crops up. There was a time initially when I had some experiences that i felt were quite shaking, small though they were, and proof that latihan isn't something we direct ourselves, but something we experience, that teaches us from the inside out. I was amazed that sometimes others who do the latihan, would have similar experiences in different places and times, so we could corroborate with one another.
I go through periods of the latihan moving through different parts of my body that allow me to experience them in different ways... experiencing my organs in different ways... a feeling in my head opening up, where it used to feel more like rocks. (: All of this is interesting and has been an inner education that I've been able to use in learning new physical exercises like dance, and so on.
I have learned about religion through Subud... from Subud friends in other religions, and from my own experience in the latihan, which drew me to Islam. And that is something I am really grateful for.
Now I notice a change in my attitude towards the latihan... that it is becoming more and more normal to me. I may go through long stretches of time where nothing particularly interesting happens. (: Maybe I'm being asked to change that which I already know needs correcting. (: But also as a result I'm beginning to feel the sense of separation I had between Subud and non-Subud members dissolving... and that is a good thing for me. I'm beginning to see Subud as just life... it's just normal. It connects us to one another in Subud and also to those not in Subud. It keeps me aware of that within myself which needs to grow... new levels of ingrained habits to be let go of.
Maybe I haven't experienced this long enough to put it into words. (:
Anyway... thanks for the opportunity to try... much love to all of you out there and I look forward to reading more of your experiences... it's great to share.
Keep the entertainment going...!! (;
affectionately yours,
Laura R. in VA. |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 07, 2006 - 10:52 PM
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7th Level Skirter
Joined: Jan 11, 2006
Posts: 136
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Thank you for your report, Laura.
You said: "It changes over time... though sometimes the change is so slow and gradual that I don't notice it until long after it comes..."
I think this is an important point and one that applies to everyone who does the latihan. The latihan may be producing changes that we're not consciously aware of until much later - until they bear fruit that is visible to us. In fact, I think this is why I dropped out of Subud a while after I first joined it. I wasn't sure if anything was happening and I was too impatient to wait any longer to find out. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 15, 2006 - 06:19 AM
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Directed Jiwa
Joined: Sep 07, 2004
Posts: 31
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Hmm...I notice Esias still hasn't gotten back to us with his answer...the awe and suspense is killing me. 
Growing up in Subud I had no idea if I wanted to join, but I always knew that I MUST be part of the Subud Community. I just loved it too much to let it go--the hippies, the family atmosphere, the hippies...
Then one day when I was 18 I said to my mom, "you know, I think I might get opened sometime soon. I don't know when, but it's approaching." Need I say she could scarcely conceal her glee. My sister had been opened when she was 17--I was getting on in years and making people nervous. ;P
A few months after that conversation my mom and I went to Canada to spend a weekend with a Subud sister, and while we were there I suddenly realised that I wanted to be opened immediately! I talked to my mom and she talked to our friend and I was opened the next morning. Since then I've come to recognise many experiences of my childhood as being basically the latihan, only now I can at least sometimes start at 'will.'
To answer the question of why I do latihan now though is a tricky one. I just can't imagine not doing it. I don't think I'd be allowed not to do it. There have been times when I've slacked off for a couple of weeks, and then the latihan just starts spontaneously at the most inopportune times as if to say, "If you don't do it yourself, I'm gonna do it for you!" (Which incidentally is similar to the receiving I got which made me hasten to New Zealand.) The latihan gives me peace and focus and hope, as well as unrest and discomfort from time to time, but those are all part of my growth.
And I love my group! They're my family!
That is all. |
_________________
Some people are like slinkies. They don't really have a purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.
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Post subject:
Posted: Oct 07, 2006 - 09:58 PM
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Directed Jiwa
Joined: Sep 11, 2004
Posts: 35
Location: UK
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Hello all,
I was opened about 8 years ago but it feels a lot shorter as I have not attended regularly at all for various no good reasons so feel a bit behind. However I am trying to mend my ways you will be glad to know. I partly do latihan through fear. yes fear. I fear what will happen if I do not attend as I can see pretty clearly that I can not grow spiritually as I can with the latihan. I would like to see myself grow to be the person I sense i can be and it is scary that I might be left far short. Now the good point here is that I do not live my life in fear but have a deep love and humility for the life around me and I count my blessings every day at what I have and where I am now. i have said in the past that if I died today I would be happy that I have experienced what I have, but the truth is also that I would be sad at not going further and developing as far as I could. There was a point where I hoped to progress very fast in latihan but through reading the talks etc I realise I must simply surrender and accept what comes with gratitude and try to live my life as best I can so that i can try to do my bit while God does His.
I also do the latihan as it not only helps me but my wife and children too and it is a duty that I must do for them. I could not imagine winning the lottery and not using that money for their benefit as well. I would be doing them a disservice if I chose not to go.
I also do the latihan for mankind - that I might be a benefit to it and in some very small way become an asset and not a hinderance.
I also do the latihan for the benefit of the thousands that do attend every week to give my support to them and to thank them for keeping Subud alive and that I might become an active part of the whole that is Subud.
I could expand on a few of these but in summary these are my reasons!
Best wishes,
Oliver. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Oct 14, 2006 - 08:39 PM
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Newbie
Joined: Sep 25, 2006
Posts: 2
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Very interesting to read everyones take on ..there specific understanding of why...we all do the latihan, why we all innately need the latihan.
So I would simply like to add- i do the latiahn bc I can not live without it...To be more clear/concise, how would i find peace? How would I gain clarity to understand the implications of my conduct, the repercussions I mean...I sometimes wonder , in awe and amazement, at some of my non Subud member friendsfriends who make clean/right/good decision in their respective lives, without any understanding( I mean conscious understanding) of what is proclaimed in religion, or seemingly without any tools to reference their conduct by. I sadly, or not sadly, not necessary to judge, I guess, NEED to consciously be aware to try to live within the constraints of acceptable conduct, otherwise i fear where i could tread-
I just need the latihan, and the peace and sometimes clarity(!) it provides to feel alive, to feel truly whole.
This innate desire to worship the one who created me- us...is absolute..
Sometime, it can seem that other aspects of life, comparatively have no pleasure attached to them, at all, without my connection, or at least steadfast desire to worship..
Anyway, i always really thank God that my parents found the latihan, found Subud, bc how can i be sure that I would of?! lol..but then i wouldnt know.
You know sometimes, i perceive some of my friends drive to aquire only material wealth, or fulfill their sometimes strong passions, and i wonder how much simpler life would be...bc sometimes its painful, and uncomfortable to have to be/do/at least endeavor to become/or life the way that you..or 'one' knows is the only correct way for you. Sometimes its so annoying. really lol!
.But really, with sincerity...Thanks be to God......really, Alhumdillah...for us all.
I dont know if im answering the question correctly, I am by nature to serious I guess...what to do... |
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Post subject:
Posted: Oct 24, 2006 - 09:53 AM
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Jiwa Dancer
Joined: Oct 19, 2006
Posts: 15
Location: Spain
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Hello all, this is an interesting topic and not something I often sit and think about because latihan feels so natural. Why do I do latihan? Because it's the air I breathe. Without the latihan my heart wouldn't beat, my feet wouldn't walk, my hands wouldn't write. I couldn't not do latihan.
I have to laugh loud and long when I think back to when I was opened at the age of nineteen with puerile ambitions to achieve sainthood! Within a few weeks!!! Wow, what hubris! Of course then the rubbish and rubble started tumbling out, I even add to it at times, and now many years later I know the journey never ends and I'll be very happy just to be truly human.
Love from a humble jiwa walker with hopes of becoming a jiwa dancer,
Yafiah |
_________________
Yafiah Katherine
http://barzakhabound.blogspot.com
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Post subject:
Posted: Nov 02, 2006 - 11:46 PM
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Newbie
Joined: Jun 18, 2002
Posts: 2
Location: Kelowna, B.C.
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| I do the latihan because of the condition I find when my thinking and imagination have been put aside and all that is left is awareness. That state may last half a second or several minutes at a time and may repeat during the exercise but it seems to be a glimpse into the world of my spirit. Carrying a remembrance of that world, intuitive knowledge occasionally comes to me in my non-latihan life. In simple terms I go back to my latihan repeatedly becuase it is the only place where I find this knowledge of self. I like the finding it and so want to do it again....and again. Michael Irwin |
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Post subject:
Posted: Nov 22, 2006 - 11:32 PM
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Jiwa Walker
Joined: Oct 25, 2006
Posts: 6
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I' m a newly opend member and I'm glad to see people talking about this. I've been doing Latihan 2-3 months now and it has been very rewording. I've been on a kind of search since early adolesence and it has taken me into bioenergy experiments, aura manipulations, been intrested in magic, and even been a born again cristian when I was 17. that after I said good ridance to my chatolic church and religion into wich I was born into. I am no longer practising-for diferent reasons- any of the mentioned. Through all that, somehow, I was slowly destiling a meaning that wuld become aperent to me later on. I'm 28 now and since 15 I was prety much an alcoholic 'till about a year ago. 4 years back I had...an expirience of being fully united with god but still living. kind of awakening into what I am... never mind that... as a resut I changed my direction in life. I knew to where I must go if I ever again want to be satisfyed. After this my understanding of what "real" or "thruth" is, together with "love" have changed, and my standards have risen all together. I am not a person that can easily follow other peoples theachings, not at all if I have not come up with it myself atleast to some extent. I was constantly developing and refining my own way to God (I love in the book by Hermann Hesse "Sidartha" how Sidartha when he meets Buddha, recognize that Buddha has attained what he himself seeks but in the same time he understands that Buddha can not teach him that. Everyone has it's own individual path to there) when I met Bjorn V. who is a Subud member and with whom I talked a lot of these subjects. I was not at all inspired to join Subud inspite of great example set by my friend. But one day it I woke up with complete understanding that I shuld join Subud and do Latihan. All the peaces fell into place. I met some people that were in Subud and they had the qualitys that I was developing within my self as a way to my self, to God.
To finaly say the answer to this threads name: I do Latihan becose it is opening my eyes and ears to the great and only true Teacher (for me) that is within us. Every day I "get" new lesson in living and my days are incrisingly spent in observing the beauty to wich The Teacher drows my attention to.
Latihan shows me and takes me to see and shortly expirience possibilities of higher being, and then it is up to me to walk it through in everyday life.
Latihan is my key to an adventures life. I say where i want to go and It points me into right direction. I just pray for anough curage to start walking that path when i see nothing but dark, but I guess those are the ralms and requests of faith.
...All in all - it's great FUN! 
all the best to you
neven |
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Post subject:
Posted: Dec 02, 2006 - 11:02 PM
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Newbie
Joined: Dec 02, 2006
Posts: 1
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I just wanted to add that sometimes I hear people say that the hall is not to their liking or the people around them are to noisy or whatever. I like the saying to " put principles above personalities".
Sometimes right after latihan someone will come up and start talking about whatever and I'm stilled in that zoned out peaceful state and talking just isn't where I'm at and I have had to say can we talk about this later.
Also as far as disturbing surroundings ,from what I've learned, the latihan prepares us( along with everything else) for the moment when we die and ideally it will be in a warm bed with candles lit and soft cellos in the background, but it could also be in horribly disturbing conditions and if I can still hook up with my higher power when the moment comes then I can give thanks to those "bad" situations that I did latihan in and could still surrender and receive in spite of them.
Ever grateful to have the latihan connection in my life. |
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Post subject:
Posted: Dec 09, 2006 - 08:28 PM
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7th Level Skirter
Joined: Jan 11, 2006
Posts: 136
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| That's a good point, Cary. My experience is that if I've really let go in latihan, someone could come up and yell in my ear or walk into me (both of which have happened) and it won't bother me. I'll just observe it in a detached manner like it happened to someone else because I'm deep in contemplation. And like you said, the latihan helps you learn to stay centered in even the most disturbing situation. In fact, for me, that was one of the first signs that the latihan was affecting me. I found that I was reacting less and responding more intelligently to negative people and circumstances. |
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