Vibrations from the depth of my inner

How I experienced the World Subud Council Meeting in Santiago de Chile, Sept. 14 to 24th, 2015

from Hilaria

“How do I feel the vibrations of my truly deep Latihan when the Budhi is in its right place?”

It felt strong, deeply connected and shaking the ground under my feet. In other words – it felt like an earthquake. … And it turned out that AN EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED right at that moment (8.4 on the Richter scale).

This occurred in the evening of day 3 of our World Subud Council meeting. We had scheduled a joint meeting with the trustees of the Muhammad Subuh Foundation. Before this a few women went to prepare by Latihan and some testing. Was this earthquake meant to underline the importance of working together in harmony with love and respect?

Let me go back to the beginning: The World Subud Council meeting started in the Subud house in Santiago de Chile Monday, September 14th. It was the first

time the council came together in this composition after the World congress in Puebla last year. So after morning Latihan Elias Coragem Dumit opened the meeting. We first created an open space to get to know each other. That evening after a common Latihan we met the members of the Santiago Subud group for a Selamatan.

Our gathering in the Subud house felt like being at home and meeting family members. There were also some members from Colombia and from Argentina who were present to be with us and share Latihan. Besides a few Council members who speak

Spanish fluently most of us know only a few words: “Hola, buenas dias, cómo estás? Qué tal? Muy bien. De donde eres?” So the interaction took place from heart to heart. The love of the Latino brothers and sisters surrounded us.

The Subud house had been restored. For our meetings a big tent had been built up in the garden. Most days we could held our meetings in the tent, except some days the sun was too bright or the rain dropping on the tent was too noisy.

Healthy food was prepared by Debbie Machado-Santos and her team with love and passion. Members of Santiago group brought cakes and fruits.

Day 2 was a Kejiwaan day: we tested to get a deeper understanding of the different roles of Zonal representatives, wing chairs, international helpers, WSA Chair and WSA executive. As the women asked more questions, the men while waiting, got into a good conversation about the wings followed by testing.

Day 3 we focused on Area 2: the Zone representatives pointed out the needs and challenges of their zones and reported on what has happened since Puebla. The first was Andrea Vivit, Zone 3 representative (Western Europe), followed by Farah Cwiertnia, Zone 4 representative (Middle and Eastern Europe). We heard about the challenge of reach unity in diversity. Zone 4 has 24 countries. The communication always takes place in English which is nobody’s mother tongue.

Hakeem Naibi, Zone 5 representative, reported about the English speaking countries in Africa.

Rida Liobo Loote concluded the overview on Area 2 by reporting about the French speaking countries in Africa. He pointed out the need for Subud literature. Then the international helpers shared their experiences.

We heard, diversity is a challenge. Could be many different languages in a zone, could be cultural differences between northern and southern countries of an area. There are a lot of poor members in all zones, lots of unemployment. The international helpers try to visit as many countries as possible. But the area is really huge. Particularly African countries had asked for a visit of the international helpers. They do testing to find out which countries to visit.

We were lucky and happy we had a team of translators with us. Most of the contributions were in English, a lot in Spanish, and Rida spoke French. To give Elisa Sanchez, Paloma de la Viña and Carla Bock Moreno a short break from translating, some Council members helped out when needed.

Day 4 the focus was on the wings. Sebastian Flynn shared the activities of Subud International Cultural Association (SICA) of the past year with us. Then we listened to Kohar Parra about the activities of Susila Dharma International Association (SDIA). On the same day we heard about Subud International Health Association (SIHA) from Maxwell Fraval. In the afternoon Hadrian Fraval spoke about the Subud Enterprise Services International (SESI) and their proposals for creating an Enterprise Investment or Financing Company.

In the evening an important event took place in the Subud house: Poems for Peace. SICA is engaged in this initiative for some years already. Many Subud members read poems in different languages or gave an impression of their musical talents.

Day 5 Area 3 was on the agenda. We first listened to all three zone representatives: Fernando Fatah about Zone 7, Paloma Muñoz Náñez (Paloma 8) about her zone and Uraidah Arrátia Becker informed us about the developments in Zone 9. We got to know that the zones in Area 3 work close together. This includes the international helpers and the wings. There

are regular Skype calls and the Zone 8 meeting of the year has been combined with Area 3 meeting.

One of the main topics in that area is the international Subud Center of Amanecer, about which an exchange with the trustees of the Muhammad Subuh Foundation took place. The need of ASUHAN – working of the international

helpers with the national and local helpers was underlined. Difficulties in collecting funds were mentioned.

Day 6, Saturday, we discussed with Suryadi and all the international helpers of Area 1 and saw a presentation on the helpers’ travel through Asia and Australia. For me the challenges of traveling and meeting Subud members of different countries and cultures became visible. The pictures showed members who were never able to attend World congresses.

During the afternoon of day 6 we shared the experiences of the representatives of Subud Youth. After an introduction by George Demers we attentively listened to Davina Flynn and Rhyana Blakely who gave initial information about the Basara project. For December 2016 the Youth is going to hold a gathering in Basara Indonesia. Konrad Muñoz presented films about World congress in Puebla and about Popayán.

Peter Jenkins informed us about the Yes Quest. We discussed the best place for Yes Quest and Human forces and agreed to test further. Later, by testing, it was received that the Youth should work together with the wings as a pilot project on the Basara Camp.

After a day off on Sunday we started day 7 with testing. We asked whether a meeting of the Council should take place and in which area. It turned out Area 2 felt right for almost all international helpers. The question came up whether the Council meeting should be combined with the bizonal gathering of zones 3 and 4 scheduled for July 2016 in Poland. After exchanging the pros and cons it was decided to ask for invitations from Subud groups within Area 2.

Elisa Sanchez, coordinator for translations, explained the process: the original talk is firstly transcribed from Bapaks words to written Indonesian language. After that it is translated and a proofreading takes place. From the confirmed English version, translations to other languages then occur. All new translators should get in touch with the translation unit. All translations should have the code of year and place.

On the afternoon of day 8 we tested about the importance and significance of the WSA Archives. The results were very strong and unanimous: the WSA archives are an important pillar of Subud. Without the archives no development could take place.

Day 8, we worked on actions to be taken in answer to the needs which came up during focusing on the areas. Related to the number of persons being present we concentrated on four topics.

How can communication be satisfactory between different Subud entities?

Ismanah informed us about the main points discussed in the working group: Communication needs to come from the right place in our inner, maybe after a moment of quiet or sleep over before hitting the send button on an emotional email. The members of the working group felt that communications needs to be inclusive. In Subud this would mean to include members of different mother tongues into the conversations. Translations and therefore translators are essential. Meetings and cooperation of the different wings were seen as an important step towards better communication.

How could we take care of the needs of individual members in Africa?

Rida pointed out that more help for education and ill members is needed (Care support). Besides this, help is necessary to rent Latihan premises and to finish the Subudhouse in Kinshasa. One result confirmed by testing, was to hold a bizonal meeting in Kinshasa in 2017.

How could helpers be supported?

Rashida summarized the results of the group: helpers could be supported through information, Bapaks Advice and Guidance for Helpers (the international helpers are working on a new edition), helpers’ gatherings - also for national helpers of different countries.

How can funds find their way into Subud?

The main points to share: gain countries’ and individual donors’ trust by informing what we are doing, by submitting our financial reports in time and by explaining the real costs. Open opportunities to let donors’ money find its way to work for Subud: by showing the needs, by defining clear focused projects. Invite groups to contribute through actions, i.e. craft store, auctions. And: form the working committee which was recommended by World congress in Puebla in 2014.

Day 9 I gave an overview on the preliminary budget 2016 for the World Subud Association. After pointing out the needs of the different entities, I underlined how important the contributions of the zones and of individual members are.

The same day we held a prayer for Pak Haryono who had passed away in August. In July when Elias Dumit and Lucia Böhm had visited him in hospital, Pak Haryono had asked to convey to all members: we should remember the extraordinary gift and grace we received from God, and this gift is not only for us - the members of Subud and the countries we live in – but for the world and even the whole universe.

Day 10, we started with questions concerning the Muhammad Subuh Foundation. After one trustee decided to resign, the process of replacing him has to start. To work on bylaws, three zone representatives were nominated to work with trustees of the Muhammad Subuh Foundation on their.

We talked about the process in preparation for the next World Congress in Germany. At the recent German congress a new team had been installed. Beginning from a conversation between World Subud Association executive and this new team, the preparations will flow.

In the afternoon we shared what we would take home. We all felt gratitude for being together in harmony. The feeling of unity was underlined. We had managed to work together with love and respect. This included the cooperation between committee, zone representatives, wing chairs and international helpers. Very helpful, we started and ended our meetings with a moment of quiet (thank you Hoan Toan). Also the cooperation between WSA and the wings became closer. The awareness for the work of the different team members grew. And not to forget: We enjoyed our Latihan and being together with the Chilean brothers and sisters.

On our last evening we listened to live music from Sanderson Topham (international helper and musician), Renato Sotelo and Beto Urrejola Davanzo.

To sum it up: I took home from Chile huge joy and good vibrations.

PS: More reports will follow soon.