Bapak On Kalimantan

12 Apr Bapak On Kalimantan

[With thanks to Rahman Connelly who compiled most of the extracts used in this section in 2001]

Since 1957

Bapak says that actually those of you who were in Coombe Springs will remember that Bapak talked about Kalimantan then. Bapak came first to Coombe Springs in 1957. So it means that already from 23 years ago Bapak had this plan to develop Kalimantan.

[81 JKT 1]

Waiting for the time to start

For a long time Bapak has known how the situation was in Kalimantan. Bapak knew how it was, but Bapak waited for the best time so that you could all witness the truth. Then Bapak made preparations for the Kalimantan project, Bapak knew how things were in Kalimantan. Thus it is clear, brothers and sisters, that human beings need not worry if they acknowledge God, for God takes care of human beings. Through the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, which you are following, you will be able to know where your happiness in life lies; you will know where it is. It is like it has been in Kalimantan where, long before geologists had investigated it, Bapak knew that the soil of Kalimantan was full of many of the materials needed by human beings. [82 AKL 7]

From God

When Bapak first went there, Bapak decided he wanted to acquire a certain area in Central Kalimantan, which, beforehand, nobody knew anything about and no one was interested in. But when and after Bapak went there, it seems that suddenly all sorts of people started paying attention to the area Bapak wanted to go to.

Even the governor didn’t really realize that there were these places in his own province – places where there are all sorts of resources within the earth like diamonds, gold and even oil. Bapak knows where these things are. So the governor himself was surprised and asked, “How do you know?” and Bapak, just to keep it simple, said: “From God.”  [81 LON 16]

Our servants

Bapak knows, Bapak can see that in Kalimantan there are resources in the earth which can be very valuable, very useful for mankind.

Inside of the being of man, there are many beings or spirits, starting from the material level and going to the vegetable level, to the animal level and then to the human level. These beings and spirits are useful for us. They are there for the purpose of helping us to live in this world. If they truly are our servants, then they can teach us things about this world. They can tell us things and help us to find what we need to have in this world; that is why Bapak knows that inside the earth in Kalimantan there are all sorts of minerals, all sorts of things that are valuable and useful for mankind.

Why is it that nobody else knows this?  It is because they are blind; they do not see. This is very interesting. What is blinding them is their own nafsu. It is very important for you to understand, brothers and sisters, that the nafsu, in addition to being an obstacle in our worship of God – in our feeling the guidance of God in our being – the nafsu can also make us blind. The power of the nafsu can make our heart and mind useless so that we fail to understand or see what is around us. But, with the latihan kejiwaan which separates us from the power of the nafsu, we can get indications and guidance so that we can begin to get a very broad understanding of what the world contains, and of what our right path is  [81 CMB 4]

To Use this Wealth

One day Bapak found himself thinking, ‘Why is it that this island of Kalimantan, which is so full of wealth, which is so full of useful things for mankind, why is it not used for something? Why are people not able to use it?’

And Bapak realized that it is because the people who want to use this wealth only want to take it away and use it for themselves. But with Bapak it’s different. Bapak realized that what Bapak has to do is to use this wealth, in the first instance, to improve that place itself, to make that place a good place. [81 WEN 5]

The only one we are willing to deal with

Bapak has heard a story – this one about the unseen beings who supposedly own all the precious minerals of the earth in Kalimantan. Bapak heard this story from the local people who are evidently in communication with these spirits and ghosts. The story they tell is that these spirits or devils have said that the only person they are willing to accept here to exploit the wealth and minerals is Bapak Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo. He’s the only one we are willing to deal with,” they apparently say. [81 LON 16]

By speedboat …

When Bapak was there Bapak travelled by speedboat, so Bapak was out in the wind for quite a while. And, as you may know, if people in Indonesia are out in the wind, they immediately get masuk angin, a kind of illness that feels like you’ve got flu. Bapak admits that here in Jakarta, even if Bapak just takes his jacket off for a while, he’s liable to catch masuk angin. But up there in Kalimantan, even though Bapak travelled in a speedboat for several hours, Bapak was fine, Bapak didn’t feel any of those symptoms of having flu or being unwell. And that goes to prove what Bapak has said before that the air of a place is not unhealthy in and of itself, but because of the human beings there who make it unhealthy. And the one thing you don’t find much of in Kalimantan is human beings. [81 JKT 1]

The Dyaks Cried…

I can tell you, brothers and sisters, that the Dayaks had never seen Bapak. Then, when Bapak visited Kalimantan, his path lay through the forest. He went down into the forest, down into a valley, until he could walk no further. The Dayaks wanted to carry Bapak on their shoulders, but Bapak said he had his own children with him and they wanted to carry him themselves. Then the Dayaks cried and asked why they were not allowed to carry Bapak. Thus their fellow creatures love people who are close to God. If his fellow creatures love someone, then wherever he goes he will have a good reputation, as is the case for Bapak  [81 LON 1]

Sparsely Populated…

The area is about one and a quarter times the size of Java, but the population is hardly a million – Bapak’s talking about Central Kalimantan now, not the whole of Kalimantan itself. That makes the population density very much below that of Java. ( roughly 5 or 6 people per square kilometre versus 1000 people per square kilometre in Java ).

Wealthiest Province

According to Bapak’s own receiving, this province of Central Kalimantan is perhaps the wealthiest province in Indonesia. Why then is it so utterly neglected? It’s as if it’s been forgotten by everyone and remains virgin territory.

The reason why is that people in general are frightened of the ghosts there. The spirits there are what you might call “heavyweight” spirits. They are extremely large and fearsome, and can be many times the height of the trees. And it’s not just the locals who see these ghosts and are afraid of them. The foreigners who go there also see them sometimes. There have been Frenchmen and Americans, for instance, who have learned to acquire respect for the spirit population of Kalimantan and there’s a Swiss Christian mission, for example, providing trade schools for the native people.

The funny thing is that these ghosts, spirits, jinn, devils or whatever you want to call them – these creatures or beings which are considered by many to be so fierce, dangerous and frightening, well, it seems these devils are actually waiting for Bapak to come there. They’re looking forward to having Bapak there, they’re longing for Bapak to come along and do something in Kalimantan. That’s why it seems that when you go there, as long as you belong to Bapak’s group and you explain to them that you’re one of Bapak’s sons or daughters, they won’t do anything to you. On the contrary, they’ll make you comfortable. Bapak said that this contention was proved when Bapak went there with a party of around 12 people and several of them saw all these spirits coming and going. As long as they explained to them they were members of Bapak’s group, they all went away and left them alone. If you want, you can check with L about this.

Bapak is Welcomed by the Jinn…

In fact when Bapak landed in Banjarmasin, his first stop in Kalimantan and the capital of the neighbouring province, South Kalimantan, the moment Bapak’s foot touched the ground, there they were: all these jinn and devils come to greet Bapak. They were all waiting there on the tarmac to greet Bapak. You see, it seems these spirits have given Bapak a name, a title called Jaga Guru or Teacher of the World, a name Bapak himself of course did not ask for. That was their idea.

Majestic Rivers…

Now from Banjarmasin to Palangka Raya is still another 200-odd kilometres or so, and you have to get there by plane because there are no roads at all. Any sort of preparation for human habitation there is extremely minimal. There being no roads, you have to fly or go by boat. When you want to go anywhere, usually you go by river and speedboats are the mode of transport. The rivers are very large, and several of them flow majestically from north to south in Kalimantan. The smallest of them is about the size of the River Musim (Palembang, Sumatra) around 100-200 meters across; and the largest is the River Barito which is around 2 kilometres wide. Practically all habitation is along the rivers. You hire these speedboats, which they call river taxis or speedboat taxis, and there are quite a lot of them, which makes the rivers the places where the only real traffic is.

Palangka Raya…

Palangka Raya itself isn’t more than 40 square kilometres in total area. It has a population of only 60,000. So it means the whole area is very nearly empty. You hardly see any cars. The one or two cars you do spot are the same one or two that have always been there and they just keep going round and round the town. That’s all the road traffic you encounter, though the roads themselves are quite wide, and the city is quite well laid out. But not much is going on.

Like Building a New City…

So, frankly, if we now start building a new township north of Palangka Raya, it will in effect be like building a new city altogether because anything which is there already is not more than what we are going to do. What we will be making is going to comprise quite a significant step in that region. We do have to understand of course that, having taken this step, the whole area now is going to start warming up very quickly. The population will increase quite fast from now on.

Warming up …

Bapak also foresees that our activities will probably spill over from Central to East and West Kalimantan as well. Already in Central Kalimantan one of the signs of this warming up is that three new airports scheduled to be completed in the next 2 or 3 years, airports already under construction, perhaps, because Bapak has decided to go there. [81 JKT 1]

Land concessions …

To date, in Kalimantan, Bapak has applied for concessions amounting to 100,000 hectares. Later, perhaps, if we want it, there will be an additional 200,000 hectares available. This land is full of trees, thick with jungle. So our first job is to cut down trees and exploit the timber resources. The cutting down of timber on a large scale requires many years, perhaps even 20 years,

For Agriculture …

Bapak doesn’t know: but in some of those areas which we clear Bapak will prepare plantations of palm oil, cocoa, coffee, maybe even cloves and things like that.

Gold, Silver, Copper, even Oil…

In addition to this agricultural work, Bapak knows that (some) areas are also full of minerals. If Bapak tests, Bapak’s testing indicates that there is gold, silver, copper, even oil – and all sorts of other minerals, which Bapak needn’t, describe in detail. So, in addition to timber and plantation projects, we must also survey the land and find out where the best places are for mining projects. [81 JKT 1]

In Central Kalimantan, the price of vegetables and other foodstuffs is high. Carrots cost 1000 rupiahs a kilogram. Why is it so costly? Because the people who live there don’t like to farm. They’d rather pan for gold in the river. In one day a man can bring in 5 to 10 grams of gold. Which means he’ll get around 60,000 rupiahs in a day. And, think of it, if that’s what they take in using the most rudimentary methods, how much more could be taken in using more advanced tools and technology.

Besides gold and copper there are also diamonds of various types. The pure, clear white ones, and then yellow ones and beautiful blue ones. The reflective power of these gems, experts say, indicates their approximate age – a minimum of 300,000 to 400,000 years old. This is not strange since Kalimantan, just from examination of its enormous trees, is obviously the oldest island in the Indonesian archipelago. Some trees are said to be three meters in diameter, and some of those large trees, Bapak has heard, are contained in the very concession Bapak has selected.   So, brothers and sisters, this has been a description of the projects Bapak is beginning now in Kalimantan: projects Bapak foresaw long ago. [81 JKT 1]

Bapak is Preparing a Place…

It is clear that what we are undertaking in Kalimantan is very, very large. The task we face is very big indeed. In order to start this great work, Bapak is preparing from now a place where people can live in Kalimantan. You see, whereas these big projects Bapak has described are located in the north of Central Kalimantan, the place Bapak is planning for people to live is located about 350 kilometres south of there. It is here that Bapak has acquired land amounting to 240 hectares.

On this land there is a plentiful supply of high quality white quartz sand. Bapak intends to exploit this sand, sell it and derive from the sales a cash flow. In the same area there happens to be granite, which can be used for building materials.

With market gardens …

Here, too, Bapak intends to make a place where we can raise animals and have market gardens. All of this is intended to support a residential area. Now what Bapak means by a residential area is something like Wisma Subud, but at least 100 hectares in size.  [81 JKT 1]

For those working in Kalimantan …

Indeed, brothers and sisters, the place is extraordinary, and to start the work, Bapak is starting to develop some land for housing for Subud members – the experts who will later work in the mining, in the logging, in the plantations, in the cattle breeding and all sorts of other things. Bapak has bought six hundred hectares for housing there in Tengkiling. That is for all of you. [81 LON 1]

Housing lots …

The committee (which Bapak has appointed) to handle this is already preparing to sell plots to Subud members all over the world. These plots will be 1000 square meters – around a quarter acre each. The price the committee has set for this land is not really a market price at all: rather, it is a price which has been fixed in order to help raise money to develop the whole project. In other words, to provide funds not only for the infrastructure needed for this 240 hectares secured near Palangka Raya, capital of Central Kalimantan; but also for some of the preparations of the larger projects – for feasibility studies and exploration, for instance.

The price they have set is 1.5 million rupiahs for a single thousand-meter plot (around $2400). Bapak hopes you will not feel that this is very expensive because if you look at it from a consumer’s point of view, and if you live there for ten years, say, then the value of your investment will certainly go up 20 times. Bapak tells you this so you realize that you are not going to lose your money, you are not buying something at an inflated price or anything like that.

Tourist facilities …

In the same vicinity, Bapak plans a recreation area where there will be more houses provided. But these, instead of being residential, will be aimed more towards tourism. Of course, they will also be available for Subud members. But the idea is to take advantage of the fact that the land around there is extremely beautiful. Bapak tells you that, although Bapak himself is Indonesian (and is familiar with Indonesian scenery), even so Bapak considered the place when he went there absolutely wonderful! It’s not too hot and not too cold and it is not as humid as it is in Jakarta. [81 JKT 1]

Fantastic, but …

And now Bapak is starting with this project in Kalimantan and the purpose of Kalimantan is not to become rich, but to make Bapak’s country fertile, and to give an example, so that people should like to work and should be able to work. Here is L. When he was there, he said, “Bapak, this is fantastic,” but don’t just say “fantastic”, get on with it. [81 LON 1]

Pity if others get there first

Of course it will require effort and perseverance as Bapak has already experienced for himself. When Bapak went to Kalimantan he had to be carried in a chair, because he was not strong enough to walk. It was no joke for an old man to be asked to climb up and down over logs and fallen trees. Bapak got tired.

You must not be afraid of difficulties or pain or sickness; you must not be afraid of trouble or unpleasantness. You must not let the people from other countries get there before the people here; that would be a great pity. [80 PDN 1]

Bapak became aware

This is how it happened that, little by little during Bapak’s journeys, Bapak became aware of the need of enterprises. Bapak became aware that without enterprises man cannot live and that it was essential for Subud members to work in enterprises. It is excellent if you can do that standing on your own feet – in other words you become independent and you create your own enterprise. But if you cannot, at least you can do something as an employee, as hired labor paid by someone else to do a job. But even then, even in that situation, which is much less desirable, it is still all right, providing you are frugal, providing you are aware of what your situation is and you take appropriate steps so you truly take into account your own needs.

God taught Bapak to recognize the causes of backwardness in this world. The causes of backwardness are that people are not conscious of their own needs. The means of escape from backwardness is to be constantly aware of your own material needs in this world. And it is that awareness that will lead you to the way that is right for you: in other words to the consciousness of your right work and your right talent in this world.

An illustration of what Bapak means is savages who live in the jungle, like people in Kalimantan and people in other countries, other areas of the world; those who do not wear clothes and so on. You ask them, “Why don’t you make an effort? Why don’t you work? Why don’t you think about what you need?” and they say, “Why should we? If we feel hungry we go into the jungle, find some fruit and come out satisfied. What is the use of making an effort? Why should we make more effort than that?” It is this laziness, this inability to grasp ones own needs, that is the cause of backwardness. And it is actually against the Will of Almighty God. [84 CDK 5]

Receive and carry out

It is said in the Al Qur’an that God will not bestow His grace and will not help somebody who does not work, who does not make the effort. Indeed, the proof that God provides us with innumerable ways for us to complete our lives is all around us – as in Kalimantan.

Literally, in Kalimantan, you go up river, take a pan, dip it in the river sand in some spots, slosh it around and you can pick out flecks and pieces of gold, sometimes a precious stone. All around us, all over the world, everywhere, in fact, there are opportunities. Here in Indonesia, you can plant just about anything and it grows. Such is the wealth of this particular country.

And it makes us realize that all we have to do is receive it and carry it out. Brothers and sisters, nothing will happen, nothing will eventuate, if you don’t carry it out, if you don’t do something about it. You cannot achieve the required result without doing the things necessary to achieve that result. That is what you have to remember. It is impossible for you to live well if you do not make an effort. So do not say to yourself, “It is my fate to be unfortunate, it’s my destiny to be poor,” because the one who knows and determines fate is not you, it is God. You have no right to speculate on what your destiny is. That is God’s province. [84 CDK 8]

Why Bapak Proposes Kalimantan

Don’t say, “But where is my capital? Where is the wherewithal to do something?” Were you born with capital? You were born with nothing. Were there banks in the old days? When man first started out in this world did he have banks he could go to to borrow money from? Man started out with nothing. Men made banks, not men by banks – and so with everything in this world. Why then are we lacking in resourcefulness? Why can’t we find the way to develop our own lives?

We have come from nothing and we have become something and from this something we go back to nothing: a “nothing” that envelops everything. And that makes the cycle of life complete. This “something” that is in this world, is this world, is the reality of this world; and is something we should face with courage and confidence because it too is filled with the Power of Almighty God.

Bapak explains this to you today so you have some understanding of what Bapak intends to do and why Bapak proposes Kalimantan, this enormous project. [81 CDK 1]

Home will be in Kalimantan

So brothers and sisters, what Bapak is trying to explain to you is that Indonesia is not short of wealth. Indonesia is full of everything that you need for your life. But the problem is that the people of Indonesia have been too slow in making use of it. They are not active enough to develop what exists in their own country

What we need is to have the willingness to work, and the willingness to practice what we receive in the latihan kejiwaan, so that gradually we are able to put into use all these things that God has given us. Maybe you feel that to move to Kalimantan is something very far and very dangerous and very unpleasant, that Kalimantan is a very strange place and you would like to stay where you are? Bapak knows that once you are there it is not strange, anymore. In the days when Bapak used to live in Semarang, and Bapak used to go to Jakarta, Bapak felt that to go to Jakarta, was a very big step and that Jakarta was a very strange place. And now that Bapak is in Jakarta, Bapak feels the same way about Semarang. Bapak feels very much at home here. Bapak feels that later, when Bapak moves to Kalimantan, he will feel that Jakarta will be a very strange and distant place, and home will be in Kalimantan.

The Move to Kalimantan is like nothing

So this is something that you need not be afraid of, even more so because you have received the latihan kejiwaan. And through the latihan kejiwaan, we realize that the power of God is not only in one place, but is everywhere throughout the world. The power of God is as much in Kalimantan as in Java.

Bapak has verified this, because Bapak has experienced not only moving from Java to Kalimantan, but Bapak has once been taken completely out of this world, to a place where he looked at this universe, and it wasn’t like a ball, but it was like a marble in the distance. Bapak asked God, “What is that, over there?” And God replied, “That is the world that you have left behind.” But when Bapak was there, Bapak felt completely at home. Bapak didn’t feel as if he were in a strange world very far from everything.

So once you realize this, you are no longer afraid of little things, like moving from Jakarta to Kalimantan. And also when Bapak was there, Bapak was able to understand the magnitude and greatness of the power of Almighty God. So Bapak really could understand that the power of God is something so great and so infinite, that the idea of God being present in this world, or God coming into this world and conversing with us like a human being, is completely impossible. Because if the whole of that greatness, of that authority, were placed into this world; this world would break asunder and disappear. It could not hold the greatness of God. And yet, God’s power is here in this world and is in touch with everything in it. [84 CDK 17]

To the Javanese

Bapak is addressing these remarks now to the Javanese. But the same is true for all of you. In your own countries, each of you has the possibility to find wealth and opportunity. So don’t just sit and complain. Do something. Find where that wealth is. In Indonesia it’s in Kalimantan. Where is it in your country? All you have to do is go and find it. Bapak has no patience with you if you only complain, if you always just say, “Oh, I don’t have this and I don’t have that. My life is inadequate,” and so on. It’s up to you to go out and find it.

Heaven in This World

Bapak is starting this, is doing this work in order to give all of you an opportunity, to give all of you Subud members a chance to put into practice the closeness of the Power of God in this world.

Bapak is providing this project as a field in which to train ourselves and to practice carrying out work in this world with God’s guidance in the latihan. Then, at very least, as Bapak says, we can strike a balance: as our kejiwaan grows so grows our worldly situation, our worldly situation will always be improving. This is so that we are not eventually enveloped by a situation where we complain all the time about this and that in our lives. But, on the contrary, we finally come to the point which is actually required by God’s Will, that we have heaven here in this world, and we have heaven as well in the world to come. [81 CDK 1]

For the Whole of Society

Perhaps this is the difference between the Subud and non-Subud involvement in Kalimantan, because although many people are talking about Kalimantan and want to go there and do things, for a lot of them, their motive is just profit. But, for us, because we are guided by the latihan, what we do in Kalimantan will be not only for ourselves, but also for the whole of society. It will be good for those who have nothing. It will be good for those who are destitute. It will be to help those who are really short of everything, to give them new hope, to give them new life. It will be for those who are without work, to give them a chance to work, and so on.

What we do is not aimed at just finding wealth. What is the use for Bapak to run after wealth, since Bapak is already an old man? The reason we are doing this is also to raise our own society and our own nation, so that to some extent, through following and receiving and practicing the latihan kejiwaan we keep up with the modern world. We are doing this so that Indonesia will not be behind other countries in the modern world, but maybe even in front. Maybe Indonesia can become a country that does not always follow, but can at least keep up with other countries in the progress of the times. And all this is possible through following what we receive in the latihan kejiwaan. [84 CDK 17]

Bringing something to mankind

And then, in addition to having this great, wide heart, we have also to work: to do enterprises. Like what Bapak has shown you in Kalimantan. Bapak has not undertaken Kalimantan to seek wealth, however; he has not begun this to become very, very rich. No, Bapak has done it in order to set an example for all of you: That you yourselves will also find a way to arrange your own life, to find the opportunities in your own life, to fulfil your material needs.

And brothers and sisters, this is the benefit and this is the use of the latihan kejiwaan we have all received. For what grows within us as a result of the latihan, is a feeling of love. A feeling of wanting to help those around us, and this is very much in line with what has been received by the Prophets and the Messengers of God in the olden days. They have received Heaven within them from Almighty God. Yet they did not keep it to themselves. It is not simply that they received something for themselves and then there was nothing left over for their families or for the people around them. On the contrary, the great wisdom and knowledge which they received, they were able to pass on to others in the form of a teaching. And this wisdom was truly able to transform the lives of those around them. It was able to give others a real life, a new life and something of genuine benefit.

So it is clear that in the latihan kejiwaan, it is not enough for us just to develop ourselves. In Subud there has to be something that goes beyond the limits of our own selves; that brings something to the world outside. There must be some benefit from Subud for mankind all over the world. [81 CDK3]

Why are you so ineffectual?

Bapak has experienced this, brothers and sisters, as in the case of Kalimantan. Bapak knew in advance where this and that were to be found. Bapak knew, but why is it only now that Bapak does anything about it? Of course it is because this is now the moment for it. Thus although Bapak already knew about it, he could do nothing about it until it was the right time. Well, now is the time. This is how it is for Bapak, and although I am not blaming you, I am asking you – why is it that you, who have been for fifteen or twenty years in Subud, are still so ineffectual?

Yes, you can work, but only in the ordinary way. There is nothing of what in English is called a miracle about it. In Javanese the word is ‘goib’. In Islam it is said that we should believe in miracles, in the ‘goib’ which is beyond the mind – that is what in Dutch is called toevallighen (unexpected) Thus everything which is monco (original) is discovered through a toeval (chance or coincidence)  not through learning. Only after that can it be studied. That is why for us and for our children at school, we should not think only about what is already written in books, but we must always work, so that from time to time we shall be able to receive these ‘toevals’.

This is very important. The reason why progress is so slow for us, and for our children, is because we do not try hard enough to learn and do not persevere enough in what we do. Unless we persevere with things, they will yield no fruit, and we shall never possess any fruits. [82 CDK 3]

Pioneers of Peace

With the success, with the achievement of what Bapak has just been describing, we will open up the way for us to become agents for bringing peace to mankind. If we can achieve this, we will certainly also receive in the end real reward from the Power of Almighty God because we will have been the pioneers who bring to mankind an understanding of the meaning of life.  [81 SAO 3]