May 2011 - Subud Voice
May 2011 - Subud Voice
May 2011 - Subud Voice
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So I travelled all day, trying to go south. It got to be six o’clock in the evening. I finally got to the end of Jakarta and<br />
asked someone ‘Where is Cilandak?’ she told me it was at the wrong end of the south. I had to go to the west side!<br />
The next day I started from there. Again all day I travelled. At last I arrived at Cilandak and then I saw a military<br />
camp. I went to the guards and asked, ‘is this Cilandak? Is this the <strong>Subud</strong> World Congress?’ They answered ‘yes,<br />
this is Cilandak, but the <strong>Subud</strong> World Congress is really far away!’<br />
So I went back again.<br />
On the Third Day<br />
On the third day I arrived at Wisma <strong>Subud</strong>.<br />
The little guard post was there, where the guards<br />
were sitting. I said ‘I should like to have information<br />
about <strong>Subud</strong>.’ They said ‘there are 2000 people here!<br />
We are too busy for a man coming to ask for information!’<br />
Then I really became angry, after three days of<br />
searching! I said ‘I’ve come all the way from New<br />
Guinea!’ It made a little bit of an impression.<br />
Someone went away and when he came back he said<br />
‘come back tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock and<br />
there will be someone here then, who will give you<br />
information about <strong>Subud</strong>.’<br />
‘<br />
Wilbert Verheyen<br />
’<br />
So the next morning I was met by a young man. I got the impression he was studying economics at the University<br />
of Bandung. He asked me where I heard about <strong>Subud</strong>. I felt a little awkward having to tell him it was only out of<br />
the newspaper. He said at once that <strong>Subud</strong> is very good for a type of person who is making certain kinds of<br />
mistakes. This and this and this… He mentioned five<br />
things that were like my moral fingerprints!<br />
I asked him when I could start. He told me that at a<br />
Protestant secondary school not far from my convent<br />
they had a Monday and Thursday latihan and also that<br />
I was welcome there at Wisma <strong>Subud</strong> on Sunday<br />
mornings as an applicant. So I immediately went as an<br />
applicant to the next meeting on Monday… it was very<br />
interesting. You got special cake and nice ginger tea…<br />
The waiting room for applicants was at the end of the<br />
corridor. There was a staircase I could see, from<br />
where I was sitting and waiting. I saw a very old lady<br />
being taken upstairs by a Japanese woman and for<br />
some reason I began to cry. It was such a heavy crying<br />
that my shirt became wet. So I finally asked<br />
someone ‘who is that old lady going up the stairs?’<br />
and he said ‘that is Bapak’s mother.’<br />
Wilbert found out about <strong>Subud</strong> just as the 1971 World Congress was<br />
being held in Jakarta. The Wisma <strong>Subud</strong> residential compound had<br />
been transformed to provide accommodation for 2000 people in bamboo<br />
longhouses designed by the architect Ramzi Winkler<br />
I think Bapak’s mother died in 1971 or so. I think it was after my opening. There was a big reception after the<br />
funeral for us to tell Bapak we were sorry about the death of his mother.<br />
Patricia: You hadn’t met Bapak yet?<br />
Wilbert: I think that was the time when I felt I hated Bapak! That’s another story.<br />
It was very interesting though. When we came to the reception in front of Bapak's house, there was a big queue<br />
<br />
SUBUD VOICE PAGE 14 MAY <strong>2011</strong>