May 2011 - Subud Voice

from all over the world was positive across the
board – as was the feedback to our presentation.
When I arrived in Christchurch, one of the first
questions many members asked me was “how did the
Parliament go?”
Before the British congress in Great Malvern, in 2010, the Subud Britain youth rep, Dahliani Dixon, asked us if we
would do a presentation on ER at the congress. The very first comment was: ‘We would like to know what the
WSA is doing to interface with the broader world community.’
Our younger generation has no problem connecting with all kinds of people, it's part of who they are, yet they often
feel unsure about how to present the association and speak about Subud. My impression is that they would like to
see us take the lead in a kind of interaction that establishes the WSA as part of the human community. Something
they can feel proud of.
Subud members at the Parliament of World Religions
in Melbourne
individuals, already do so, but they felt that Subud officially also needs to.
‘We need to create spaces
’
of respectful dialogue
among ourselves
A member who has worked in Tunisia and Algeria spoke at
the zone 3 meeting last year with an appeal to improve
WSA’s status in the world community for the sake of those
countries where the freedom of religious and spiritual practice
cannot be taken for granted. We have had similar appeals
from members of other such countries, whose names we
cannot mention for obvious reasons.
Recently I happened to be at a well attended discussion on
the environment in Lewes, organized by Sharifin Gardiner
(one of our pioneers) and Sophia Campbell. In the conversation
that ensued in my group, virtually every person voiced
the comment that WSA needs to interact more with other
NGOs and associations. These were people who, as
Just the other day, a Subud member who had spoken recently with Sharifin about sustainable agriculture and the
possibility of creating a forum for discussion on the subject, told me that he had also spoken to a non-Subud person
about the idea. This person had asked to be able to participate if it were to get established. This is, bottom line, the
fundamental idea behind the WSA Forum: creating spaces for dialogue on issues of common interest to humanity.
We have a basic understanding, and are developing a policy to ensure that the WSA does not take any particular
political stand, that we do not proselytize and so on; but, the WSA can surely facilitate and participate in dialogue
and share information back and forth between members?
Sharing Diverse Opinions
It is true that there are some individuals who feel hesitant about the WSA interfacing as an association with the
broader human community – or they don't see the point; yet, we need to take an honest look at the motivations and
causes of this hesitance. Ultimately, we need to create spaces of respectful dialogue among ourselves – spaces
where all members can share their diverse opinions openly.
It is clear that for many Subud members their primary concern is the latihan and their personal lives and processes.
They are grateful for an organization that provides basic services, but do not necessarily concern themselves with
the broader aspects of the global organization which we are.
The World Subud Association, however, bases its activities on the involvement of those inspired and bringing resolutions
and recommendations to pass at World Congress. External Relations activities are one such area, and I hope
that through them Subud can become known as an association that is open to its fellow human beings, that is,
involved in the human dialogue, that cares about humanity as a whole, and that, as a result, members may become
increasingly open to sharing about Subud with their families, colleagues and friends.
I believe that the Subud association that Bapak set up is an entity that exists in the world, and needs to discover a
sense of its own role in this world. This is where the combination of being representative and being 'inspired and
SUBUD VOICE PAGE 9 MAY 2011