Critical Success Factors For Enterprises And Endeavours

12 Apr Critical Success Factors For Enterprises And Endeavours

Courage and Faith

What is important is two things: one, that whatever happens, your faith in Almighty God never wavers or becomes shaken; that you always maintain a firm trust and faith in the power of Almighty God.

[81 CMB 3]

Brothers, your latihan has come a long way, but what’s the point of having come a long way if the horse is sick? Meaning that the feeling with which you receive the latihan lacks courage. The fact is that because you lack courage your latihan has no effect, no result, in your life. Why is it that only Bapak, who is one man, alone, and an old man at that, is making progress? Why is it that only his progress can be seen outwardly while all of you remain just as you are? The fact is that in God’s Power we have every kind of guidance, every kind of teaching. For God is Almighty, All-Rich, All-Capable, All-Intelligent, All-Understanding. If we want to be a film star, we will succeed. If we want to be a comedian, we will succeed. If we want to be whatever we want to be, we can succeed: providing we have courage. That’s all that’s lacking. So Bapak hopes that you will continue with your latihan, but based on a feeling of courage and acceptance and submission and patience.

The basis for all this is already there: your ordinary every day knowledge, what you have learned. But it remains as it is. There’s no development. Because you lack courage. Whereas, there is a saying that one who has received God’s grace can do anything, can achieve anything. But why is it then, that people who have the same knowledge that you have, who have not received the latihan, actually succeed more and can do more and achieve more than you can? It is because you lack courage. And therefore, what you receive remains unused and undeveloped. [87 CDK 5]

And you don’t need to be afraid because the latihan is the guidance of Almighty God. So as long as what you are doing is right and doesn’t deviate from the truth, you have no cause to fear anything. And in all your actions and activities you will never be without some form of teaching and guidance from within. [87 CDK 5]

What is important for us is to have faith in God Almighty and to go ahead with confidence and do what we have to do . . . Simply have faith in God and go ahead with confidence in yourself and in the power of God [76 MEB 2]

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. Banks were made by men 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. [81 CDK 1]

Then of course you ask ‘What about the capital?’ Well now, don’t ask about the capital. The capital is you. The capital is the people. The capital is not money. Don’t think that. If you are the capital, that capital is deposited within you. Then who is the banker? It’s God, isn’t it? So the banker is the Lord God and the capital is in yourself. [76 CDK 5]

But Bapak wants to tell you frankly: Cost is never a problem. When we want to do something, the cost that it takes to do it is never a problem, as long as you really have faith. Faith in the One Almighty God. If you really start out to work on an idea that is really right, an idea in accordance with God’s Will, and if you truly have faith in God, then cost will never be a problem to you. Again, Bapak wants you to look at Bapak. [81 JKT 2]

Harmony: Cooperation and Agreement

The important thing to enable you to run enterprises properly is harmony. This harmony is very necessary for you, for with harmony among you the work can go well, and without harmony your work will surely experience discord, disruption and regress. [76 CDK 6]

One of the other requirements in doing enterprises is that we do them in a way that is really harmonious. In other words, one of the foundations of enterprises is that we have to be able to work together in a spirit of harmony and co-operation among us. [81 NYC 5]

Brothers and Sisters, Bapak is aware that to some extent you have already set up, or even been successful with some of your enterprises -but still, if in doing your enterprises you are not able to maintain a feeling of harmony among all who are involved, then that enterprise will still not go properly and not go well, because this need for harmony, or ability to work together in a good way with your brothers and sisters, is something that is absolutely basic to the success of your enterprise or any undertaking. Let us say you are working with somebody and you feel very close to them, very friendly and very loving towards them. This is certainly something that will make you peaceful and happy and satisfied. But it has a much wider effect, because this love and harmony makes an atmosphere around you which will make other people also love you and honour and value you, the result of which is that your business will go well. No matter how hard you try, if there is not this feeling of harmony, if there is quarrelling going on within you, among your number, similarly people outside will not like you, will not pay attention to you, will be put off by you, will be disgusted by you or something like that. So no matter how wonderful your work, your business will still not succeed. This is really something extremely fundamental and something you must learn to put into effect, because it is through this that you can find a way to be successful in your enterprises.

It is clear, then, that from a condition of harmony in your enterprises you will achieve peace of mind and happiness in your life. It is the absolute condition for our life in this world. If we want happiness and peace we must start off with harmony – that is, we must be able to get on with our fellow human beings. And if we can do that, then we can really begin to be an example to society round about us. This, therefore, is a prime requisite [77 RTM 2]

This then is the importance of enterprises; and in doing enterprises – since the purpose of enterprises is not only for material gain, but also to achieve harmony in society – one of the cardinal rules is that in the way we run our enterprises, we must always have harmony among ourselves. The reason why we need to have harmony among ourselves is because if something is to succeed it must be done in harmony. The moment we let disputes and disharmony and mutual distrust and differences of opinion creep in, we are heading for disaster.

And this is very, very important because whenever Bapak hears about the decline of Subud somewhere, this decline or this breaking up is always the result of arguments or differences of opinion, of mutual dislike and so on. After all, brothers and sisters, what is it that we are looking for? What is it that we want out of Subud? What we are looking for in Subud is to be face to face with God, to be closer to God and to be happy in our closeness to God and to each other. So what benefit can you possibly get from disagreements, from enmities, from hatred, from mutual distrust, from one-upmanship? What can they possibly bring you? All these things only have one effect – they kindle the fire of greed, of selfishness within you, which only slows your progress. So you have to keep this very far away from you. We must really train ourselves in our enterprises and in whatever we do to be close to each other, to give and take from each other, to help each other, and when we see someone else making a mistake we should not make that mistake into a big issue with which we then hit them over the head. On the contrary, we must run to correct the results of whatever mistakes have been made, just like when we see a house that has something wrong with it we quickly repair it. This is the only way we can act, because who is free from mistakes? Who is there who can say, ‘I never make a mistake’? We all make mistakes, and it is for this reason that we must learn to forgive each other easily and quickly. Even in religion we are taught this. That is why in Islam, after the month of fasting, it is decreed that all Muslims who have done the fast should come together to ask forgiveness of each other, so that thereby the harmony and the trust and the unity of society is always maintained and renewed every year. So how much more must we, who have received the latihan kejiwaan and the blessing of God Almighty, truly learn to forgive each other quickly and stop grumbling about other people’s mistakes and shortcomings. [77 BRS 4]

This is why Bapak advises you to really work at enterprises. And you will really be able to do enterprises, you will really be able to be successful at your enterprises, Brothers and Sisters, providing you can really love one another, trust one another, respect one another, help one another and improve one another. So if you see something wrong, if you see your brother or your sister doing something wrong, or going the wrong way, then you have to remind him, you have to help him, you have to put him on the right lines. And when you are being put right, when you are being reminded, you must not then refuse to listen, or refuse the help or the advice that is being given to you. If you do – then you are not brothers who follow one way, who follow one direction, who follow God Almighty. In other words, you must be willing to give and to take, to take and to give. That is the only way. That is the only way you can be successful. That is what it means to be brothers and sisters who follow the same way, who follow the same teacher – that is, God Almighty. It is this attitude of helping and respecting one another, and being willing to give and take, that can protect you from the influence of the lower forces and can make it possible for you to worship God Almighty. [78 MEB 2]

Harmony: Top and Bottom, Everyone has a Value

Brothers and sisters, what is most important and what Bapak means by harmony is that the one who is intelligent should understand the needs of the one who is not intelligent, and the one who is not intelligent should understand the needs of the one who is intelligent, so the two should look after each other and be in harmony. This is what Bapak means by harmony. In other words the one who is at the top should not only be at the top, but should be aware of the needs of the people at the bottom and look after them. And the people who are at the bottom should not only feel that they are at the bottom, but should look after the needs of the people at the top.

To make this more clear: in an enterprise the people who are at the top must look after and care about the ordinary workers at the bottom, so that the ordinary workers at the bottom do not feel, ‘Oh what’s the use of my working hard because in the end all the profit will go into the pockets of the people at the top.’ They must be made to feel that the whole enterprise belongs to them also, so that they really feel at one with the needs of the enterprise. This is the meaning of harmony. But what usually happens is that the people who are at the top only reinforce and protect their position at the top, and the people down below always feel themselves as just useless people who are manipulated and taken advantage of, so that there will always arise a constant warfare whereby nothing can be achieved. What is really needed is a true feeling of harmony, a true oneness whereby the top and the bottom look after each other, and care for each other. [77 BRS 4]

What is important is two things . . . And secondly, as far as your work involvement is concerned, that you should always maintain an atmosphere of cooperation between all those involved in what you are doing: that there should not be any feeling from the person who has authority that, I am the one who has authority and I decide everything, and nobody else is of any account or has anything to say. Because, on the contrary, you can maintain a close feeling between all those who work, and not have a big gap between those who lead and those who work, the closeness or the willingness of the ones who lead or the ones who run the company, to share what they make, to share their results with those below them, will ensure that everyone in the company will in their prayers really wish for the success of the company as a whole, and they will really feel that they share the responsibility for the fortunes of the enterprise and the company as a whole. [81 CMB 3]

Brothers and Sisters, if in doing an enterprise or any undertaking involving a number of people you wish to be successful, the condition for it is the ability to cooperate, the ability to work together. What does it mean -to work together? It means that what is important in order to be successful is truly to work together, truly to cooperate. If you can really work together, it will lead you to an enormous strength and an enormous power to achieve something. What is the meaning of working together? The meaning of working together is that you give everybody a value – everybody who works has a value. You do not look down on or deprecate someone who maybe isn’t clever, or doesn’t have any skill, or maybe all he can do is to carry something from here to there. It’s fashionable to look down on such people, and to think that cooperation or working together means just working together with clever people. Brothers and Sisters, if you do not have people who can carry something from here to there, if you only have people who can make very wonderful machinery or can produce something very valuable, then you will not achieve anything. You need to have the people who can only carry things from one place to another, the people whose abilities are limited, who have no special skill. If you want to be successful you must value people like that, you must teach them. Even people who know nothing, who are able to do nothing, you must take them and teach them and show them ,how to work and to do something that is useful. Then we will truly be a brotherhood and we will be truly united. We will truly be powerful and able to achieve something. It is like this: imagine an engineer trying to build a house by himself, so that ‘he has to do everything. He has to dig himself, he has to lay the bricks himself and pour the concrete – he has to do everything himself. It is impossible. He cannot do it The house will not get built. The successful completion of building a house depends on the architect or the engineer, then the site agent, then the site superintendent, then the foreman, then the craftsman or the carpenter or something -then the guy who can only dig, for example. All those people working together can make a house.

It is clear, Brothers and Sisters, that working together means a contact or a mutual regard between all the people involved. Not only those who are on the top, those who are clever, those who can manage or organize, but also the simple people doing the work. And if those people are truly taken along – that they truly cooperate: in other words, the cooperation isn’t just between the people at the top: everybody cooperates, right down to the lowest one – then you will be successful. Usually this is ignored. Usually the need for getting the cooperation of the people down below is considered unimportant – the important thing is that as long as the people on top know what’s going on, that’s fine. But this is quite untrue. And even more so in our Brotherhood, where it is really our responsibility to take those of our brothers who cannot work, those who cannot find work or have no skill or ability – to take them and look after them and teach them until they have produced something that is useful, until they can find something in their lives which they can really do.

This is the meaning and the importance of enterprises for us in this world. Therefore – and especially – you must look after people who are not clever. For example, if an organization does not develop or goes wrong this is usually because of opposition or criticism from inside – and the people who oppose or criticize from inside are usually the people who are not clever, .the ordinary workers, the unskilled workers. Therefore, do not neglect those people. Look after them so that they don’t cause the enterprise to fail or breakdown. Then you will have a truly successful enterprise. It is necessary, therefore, to bring all our members up to the level where they can receive and can put into practice the guidance of God Almighty in their work. Then we will achieve the situation where our enterprises will truly be successful, will truly be an example and will also produce the funds that are needed to make Subud strong and successful in the world. [78 MEB 2]

Harmony: Accept Shared Responsibility

Every enterprise has to work together, it has to be an organism constructed of many parts including bookkeeping and selling, including the one who manages it, the one who looks after the production, the one who looks after the sales, the one who looks after the accounts and the finances, and so on. It needs people of different skills and abilities. And they all have to understand that they are all working for the one enterprise, the one body.

This can be understood by a simile. Take the human body. The eye has a very pleasant job. It only sees the results of what you do. The eye sees the finished product and doesn’t have to care about how it’s made or how it got to be like that. It can just take note of what has been done. But the feet complain: ‘Whatever happens, I always have to walk. I have to walk here, I have to walk there, and the eye only gets all the benefit. It can see everything and has a very nice time up there; it never has to do any work. I’m the one who has to walk everywhere, and if I’m unfortunate I slip and fall. Sometimes I get broken, and then who feels the pain? It’s me, not the eye. Really, I have a very tough time.’ Or maybe it accuses the mouth, and says: ‘You have a fine time. Everywhere you go, you have lunch or you have breakfast ( laughter ). You have breakfast here and you have breakfast there ( laughter ), and all you ever say is – “Oh, that’s delicious” ( laughter ). But I never get to eat, I only get to walk everywhere.’

Brothers and Sisters, this is all very well, but if the different parts of the body can understand that, actually, the success of one is the success of all – that is, each member of our body can only make progress, can only be successful if the whole body is successful, if they all cooperate and help each other. Even though the leg cannot eat, suddenly it will be aware: ‘How come that I am getting fatter suddenly?’ Or maybe the cheeks, who never do much work, suddenly become round like that, and they only know that things are going better. So this simile illustrates that the success of each part is the success of the whole.

This is, therefore, the justice of God Almighty. The simile of the physical body illustrates the justice of God Almighty – that what we do in our work is something that God will know, that God knows what we have done, and we will reap the benefit through the success of the whole, through the success of our enterprise, through the success of our Brotherhood. So, then, the one who succeeds is the whole. What we have to be aware of is that we are working together and each one of us is responsible for that success. Quite frankly, if your enterprise has failed, if you have done an enterprise and it has gone down the drain – that is not the fault of anybody but those who have been working in the enterprise. If you want to know whose fault it is that your enterprise has failed – it is the fault of everybody who was working in that enterprise. Because the success of the whole is the success of its parts, and the failure of the whole is brought about by the failure of its parts.

What is important for us in our enterprises is to remain always aware that we are members of one Brotherhood and we are dependent upon each other, and that God in what He bestows on us is completely just, and God will bestow on us according to what we have done, for God is aware of the work we are doing no matter what it is, because God’s power is completely just. [77 SFO 2]

Actually, it should be that enterprises are a path or a training that opens the way for you. Enterprises are supposed to be, or should be, something that helps you to find your own way in life. But why is it that the enterprises that you do are very often the opposite – that instead of making progress, of being successful, they often fail or go under? The reason for this is that what you do in your enterprises is still not guided by your jiwa, but, is still only guided or in accordance with your heart and mind. Because you are still working from your heart, your attitude is also conditioned by your heart. For example, you are working in a Subud enterprise – that is, an enterprise that belongs to Subud or belongs to other Subud members -and you feel to yourself: ‘Well, if this enterprise fails, it won’t hurt me because it’s not my enterprise. It is the enterprise of those other people.’ This is the nature of the heart. But if your work is already guided by the jiwa, it will be completely different because the jiwa always knows what is right. The jiwa can always distinguish between what is true and false, what is right and wrong. [77 SFO 2]

This is the fruit that we can look forward to – the guidance that comes from the jiwa which is always close to the power of God. The result of that, or the direction in which it takes us, is a society which is harmonious, united and prosperous, where people are close to each other and where they take responsibility together for everything that happens. That is, in general. In particular, it will mean that in this Brotherhood of ours, in Subud, we will truly care for each other, we will truly feel for each other, we will truly know the state of each other. For example, if it happens that one of our enterprises fails, everyone will share that failure, will help and try to support the people who have lost out. Not like now when your enterprise fails and everybody turns the other way. Nobody cares. The people who have lost money have lost money. Those who used to work there don’t care – ‘We didn’t lose money, we just worked there.’

Later on, when we are truly moved from the jiwa, those who work in an enterprise which has lost money will feel responsible towards the people who put the money in. It is not like that just now. The people who have rune the enterprise and lost the money don’t care, whereas the people who have put up the money – they carry the burden. So their attitude is, ‘OK, I have lost my money, but I’m not going to put any more into a Subud enterprise – that’s the last time I’m going to finance a Subud enterprise, because all that happens is that they take more and more of my money. Next time they can look somewhere else’. That is the situation as it is now, but Bapak hopes that’s not how it is going to be. [77 SFO 2]

With Determination and Perseverance

Brothers and sisters, it is really true that anything we have to do, we have to do with complete determination, real power, intention and will. And this is something in which we differ from people who generally do business or enterprises. Normally in an enterprise which grows, makes progress and succeeds, the people who work it put everything they have into it for its success. Very often a businessman will put his own life on the line for his company, and for the success of what he is trying to do. And actually this is right. This is how it should be.

So if you have experienced in the past that you have set up enterprises and then they have gone down the drain, or they have folded-up, or whatever you call it the real reason, if you want to hear the truth is because those Subud members who were involved in them were not really determined, not really active. They were just doing it half-and-half. Because if you do something in this world, you have to use your whole strength and put everything you have into it. And that is as it should be. That is right. The only difference is that we have this boundary to our greed, we have a limit to how greedy we are allowed to be. But that does not mean that we should just work half-and-half, or just take it easy. We will never get anywhere with that kind of attitude. [81 NYC 5]

This is the difference, brothers and sisters, the reason why we fall back, get left behind. For we are not like that. When something we are doing becomes difficult we withdraw from it or stop. Don’t do this. We must persevere until we get results. In that way we come to know and understand what the difficulties are that we encounter, and the reasons why we encounter these difficulties. This is what all of you have been taught in the latihan kedjiwaan, we must not draw back. We have to go forward. Don’t be afraid of things we feel are difficult, because we have to overcome the difficulty, we have to find out the causes of it. [72 TJK 3]

We want to be comfortable quickly, to be capable quickly, to become clever quickly, to reach a high position quickly. No; don’t be like that, brothers and sisters. There is a Javanese saying ‘ler basuki mawa beya’ – nothing worthy is achieved that is not earned, that is not bought with prihatin, poverty, struggle. This is the message Bapak so often gives you, so often puts to you all. Thus, brothers and sisters, if you want things to go well, if you want to be comfortable, if you want all sorts of things, don’t be half hearted, work, get on with it; but do this in the right way. [74 CDK 1]

Now about how we do enterprises Bapak would like to explain to you that when you work in enterprises, which is a normal responsibility in this world, you have to do them with your full strength. You have to do them with your full power, with your full intelligence and all the energy that you have got. This means that you don’t stop every five minutes to test this and to test that. You have to act. You have to work. You have to put your full strength in it. [81 LAX 3]

Don’t Mix Business With the Spiritual

So then, why is it that in your enterprises that you always fail? When you do Subud enterprises, very often, not always, the enterprises go downhill. And Bapak says the reason for this is very simple. It is because in your enterprise you still try to do your enterprise with the spiritual. You think that in doing your enterprise you must still use the spiritual to work with. Bapak says that this is completely untrue. If you do your enterprise, you must do it with your heart and mind and not mix it with the spiritual. Because the two are separate. The spiritual is the worship of God Almighty. When you do your enterprise you must work fully and the power of God is there to protect you. You do not use the power of God to succeed in your enterprise. [Toronto, 14 August, 1979 quoted in Bapak’s Advice and Guidance for Helpers 4th Ed, 1988, p141]

We have to remember that the kejiwaan is the kejiwaan, and the organization, or the external aspects of what we do, are the external aspects of what we do. The two are fundamentally different in their content and their approach. This is the reason why it is our manifest experience that when an enterprise is strongly based on the kejiwaan, it doesn’t progress and in fact fails. The reason for this is very simple. In the kejiwaan there is no place for dissimulation or untruth: whatever you receive you express. But in business, that is not the way. In business if you want to sell something, you don’t have to tell the person you are selling it to what it cost you. In other words, in business you are allowed to tell lies. But in the kejiwaan, there is no place for lying. This is a fundamental difference between the spiritual and the organization. So for that reason, it is very important not to try to run your business according to the kejiwaan, but to run it in a normal way, as you normally would a business.

If you bought something for ten rupiahs and you are selling it for 12, and you were doing it in the kejiwaan way, ( according to how the helpers receive about it or how you test ), you would have to tell everyone, “Well, I bought this for ten rupiahs.” But in reality you don’t have to do that. You don’t have to tell them what it cost. When you do your enterprise, do it in the normal way that enterprises are done. Don’t try to do it according to the kejiwaan or the guidance of helpers . . .

This is why a lot of Subud enterprises fail. The people who do them rely too much on what they receive in their testing. This is why Bapak advises you in your enterprise to trade in the way people trade. Don’t connect it with the kejiwaan. Just do it in the normal way. t doesn’t mean that you will always make a profit; you may also make a loss. But you may sometimes make very big profits. The difference is that in the kejiwaan we have to be truthful, we have to be honest. For that reason, the kejiwaan is more akin to charity, to the social attitude whereby if there is a need, we give. It is very different from the business attitude. Therefore the two things have to be kept strictly separate . . . When you do business, you may not do it according to the attitude that we have in the latihan: patience, acceptance and submission. If you do it that way, you will lose everything. We have to do business in the way business is done and not mix it with the attitude of the kejiwaan . . . It is clear that we have to do business in the way that business is done. We have to calculate our profit. The difference in Subud is that we measure the right amount. We do not take so much profit that it brings harm on the people who we deal with. But we calculate a sufficient profit to make our business worthwhile. [84 CDK 7]

As Bapak has always said regarding the problem of enterprises, they should not be mixed with the latihan kejiwaan because the latihan kejiwaan is based on surrender with patience, trust and sincerity towards the One Almighty God and is not completely filled by the wishes of the nafsu, but is only just following what is received. While your way of doing an enterprise, although you are a Subud member, it is necessary to possess strong wishes of the nafsu for working and utilizing your physical energy as much as possible. From such a situation it is clear that an enterprise problem and the latihan kejiwaan cannot be mixed. But it is necessary for both to work side-by-side, the inner and the outer, or the jiwa and the body, so that both may proceed well. [Bapak’s Letter Archive, E42, 1977]

This is how it is, brothers and sisters, and so the enterprises that Bapak is always urging you to do must be done seriously and sincerely, and you must not try to do them by sitting still and doing the zikir. You must not run a marketing enterprise and then just sit still and repeat la ilaha ilallah, la ilaha ilallah, la ilaha ilallah. Then all your goods will be lost. Thus you must be above your material possessions, not below them. If you can do that, brothers and sisters, God will always continue to protect you. Your enterprise will not break down and stop half way, but, on the contrary, it will go straight ahead. [79 LON 6]

. . . what is important for us is to have faith in God Almighty and to go ahead with confidence and do what we have to do. And not always to stop and test. In other words, you want to do this, you first stop and you test. No I shouldn’t do this. O.K., you won’t do it. Should I have my lunch? You test it. No, you shouldn’t have your lunch. So finally you cannot do anything. You can never get anywhere because you are always going around in circles. So don’t do that. Simply have faith in God and go ahead with confidence in yourself and in the power of God. [76 MEB 2]

Now, this is very important. What has become customary in the past is that when people doing enterprises have a problem or a question they run to the helpers. So it is the helpers who guide the enterprises. Yet, it is not sure whether those helpers know anything about the field in which the enterprise is. They may not have the faintest idea about industry, or about agriculture or something like that. So when they give advice it is very often not practical or right – with the clear result that the enterprise then starts going downhill, starts to lose money and very often falls on its face, or goes bankrupt, or something like that. There have been examples of this sometimes, in the United States, in England and in Europe. [78 SIN 2]

This is why Bapak always urges you to do the enterprises of which he spoke just now. Then you will begin to know and to recognize more and more the closeness of God to all of you. But it seems that many people still take this in the wrong way, and try to make use of God in doing their enterprises. You must not do that. You must not ask God to get you a loan. You must not do that. You must not ask God to do the work. You must not do that. God is more than enterprises, and so you must not ask Him to do these things any more. It is you yourselves who must be asked to do enterprises. [79 LON 2]

Money has to be earned; yes, of course, for God is not a financier, God is not a banker, God is not a shop-keeper or a hotel manager. No; God is All-powerful, and so it is enough if you use your minds to deal with worldly matters. That is enough. It is not necessary to turn to the power of God. It is not necessary. It is thus clear, brothers and sisters, that if you always ask God to help you in doing enterprises it means that you are degrading the One Almighty God, whereas you should worship Him throughout your lives in this world. [79 LON 6]

It is our fault; we imagine that our inner can deal with things like these. No; it is impossible. The inner and the outer are different. You could not be well fed, you could not feel satisfied if you do not have your fill of rice that is grown in the padi fields. You could not. So long as you live you will never be able to find spiritual rice. It does not exist, there is no spiritual rice. [72 TJK 3]

Use Appropriate Expertise

Bapak wants to remind you that it is most important in whatever field you decide to do your enterprise to get the advice, help and guidance of someone who is really professional in that field. So when you are doing your enterprise you will minimize the danger of that enterprise getting stuck, or going down the drain or going bankrupt or something like that. In order to do this it is very essential that in whatever field you happen to be, you do it really professionally according to how that field should be done. For that, you must have people who are experienced, who understand – in other words, experts . . . If there are people like that in Subud who can give advice, who can help – that’s fine. If there are not – then you have to take someone from outside. Of course, you have to pay this person from outside a salary, an honorarium or a fee for his advice, or something like that – that is normal. But the fact is that you will then have a really professional and correct basis upon which you will do your enterprise. [78 PER 3]

As for the way in which we organize our enterprises, this is done in the normal way. In other words, enterprises have to be carried out by people who are experts in the field of the enterprise itself. That is, if we are setting up an enterprise in buying and selling, then you have to look for a businessman who understands trade. If we are setting up an enterprise in the field of building, we have to look for technical people who understand about building. So it must be that each enterprise is done by the person who is qualified and has the know-how and the expertise to carry it out, and not someone who understands nothing about it but is put there because the helpers received ‘Yes’ when they tested about it in their testing. This is something that is the cause of the failure of enterprises. Bapak has heard, for example, that here in the United States you have had enterprises which have failed, and this is because you have gone along and done something which was approved of by the helpers who had actually no understanding about enterprises. [77 NYC 3]

It is clear that when we do enterprises, we have to do them properly. Because they relate to work in this world they have to be done according to the know-how, according to the way in which things are done correctly in this world. And for this we have to get together and to make use of those of our members who have some expert knowledge or some specialized knowledge in some field . . . However, supposing you need an expert in a certain field, because you are doing an enterprise in a certain field and you don’t happen to have that expert and you don’t happen to have a Subud member who has that expertise, then there is no objection at all to taking somebody from outside, someone who gives his time and you either pay him a salary or an honorarium or a fee for his advice, for his services. This is perfectly all right if we do not have someone with that expertise in our Brotherhood, rather than the enterprise going without expert knowledge and getting into trouble. [78 SIN 2]

Develop a Good Reputation to Build From

In this way you come to be people who are of value to the community. This is what you are really looking for, brothers and sisters. What people seek is a good name; that good name is what is important, brothers and sisters, not money, as capital – no. Reputation is the capital for human life. If you have become a person of good repute in the view of the public, well, that is extremely nice, and it enables you to do anything. It can be said to be like a joke. If you need money, there is no need to ask for it. People know, as though they have felt how it is, and they ask you “Why do you say nothing? You’re in need of money, aren’t you? Yes, that must be it, here’s some.” Everyone is like that. So such is the nature, brothers and sisters, of a respected name. [72 TJK 9]

That is why Bapak suggests that you should get on with the enterprises as quickly as possible. Have no doubt or worry or fear. As for the capital, the basis of the enterprise you run, that part is easy. What is important, brothers and sisters, is your capacity to work in some field or other. This is what you must demonstrate. If you can prove your capacity for the work, of course the capital will be available, for the people who will provide the capital and who will help you will naturally be more confident in letting you have it, because you really are capable of doing the work and are able to make your work successful. [75 CDK 7]

And this is something that is itself the capital for everything we need to do. If we are successful in becoming like this, no door will be closed to us. For example, from this Subud members will become people who are truly loved and respected by whoever is around them. So if it happens that the one who loves and respects them is someone who happens to be a rich industrialist, then automatically the capital they need for their enterprise will be provided without any more talk. [77 RTM 2]

Even though you have money, say, a hundred million, two hundred million, three hundred million rupiahs, unless you have a good name in the world, you are not worth one cent. That’s a fact. But even if you have no money but your name is of good repute in the world, so that people like you, people love you, oh, looking for money then is easy, it’s easy. How can you become like that? You must like, you must love your fellow men. So, if you want people to love you, you must be loving; if you want people to feel affection for you, you must feel affection for others. You should therefore be willing to form a relationship with anyone and everyone, provided it can all run smoothly and not fall short in any way, that is, not conflict with what is customary. [76 CDK 5]

Now we come to the matter of capital. Generally capital is considered to be money. But in fact, capital is energy. Capital is energy which is applied in a way that is honest and correct for the purpose required. So if you undertake an enterprise in a way that is truly honest and truly correct – in other words, if you can really be trusted by other people, really trustworthy, and are also willing to be trusted – then that is your capital. So in fact, capital is not money. Capital is your own nature or your own work. The key to having capital is to have a good name, that is to have a good reputation as someone who is trustworthy and knows how to work. The key to all this is that whatever you do, you have to do honestly and well. If you can do that, then it will be easy for you to find the working capital, the money or the financing that you need for whatever scheme you want to undertake. And of course, always do whatever you do guided by experts in that field. [82 SYD 2]

Be Prepared to Learn from Mistakes

And as a result we have experienced what we have experienced up until now, which Bapak has seen all over the world – that it is as though Subud members starting enterprises, in general meet with bad luck, or they fail, and this is because they are trying to do something that is completely new. For this reason, because this is something completely new for mankind, it is necessary for us to approach it with a lot of patience and an attitude and firmness, because it is said – it has always been said – that a man is able to learn mainly from the results of his own actions. Therefore, if we experience bad luck or misfortunes, or failure, then that is actually for us a source or a fountain of learning, of understanding what our mistakes are; because we have received the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, so it is easier for us to understand. In other words the fact that we are worshipping God and receiving the latihan makes it easier for us, or makes us better at, looking at our mistakes and learning from them, so that we are in the unusual position that we are able to change things. In other words, once we have made a mistake we are able to do it differently the next time.

So what Bapak hopes is that we should have an attitude in our enterprises of patience and a willingness to study and learn from the mistakes we have made, because man cannot learn from something without carrying out an action. Man cannot learn without acting. It is; or course possible for people to fail over and over again. In fact, it is possible for people to fail until they reach a point where they are broken-hearted, or completely give up. But we have not reached that point, and Bapak indeed hopes that we will never reach that point, because what we are doing in doing enterprises besides our latihan kejiwaan – is actually an order from God. So in doing enterprises in the way that Bapak has told us many, many times, we are actually following God’s order; and although these orders may not be easy, yet Bapak is convinced that if we follow God’s orders, they cannot in the long run lead us to a point which is not where we want to be or which is unsuitable for us, or doesn’t bring us good fortune.

Therefore, what we most need is to use our failures and our setbacks as lessons in order to learn and to be able to learn gradually what we have to do in the right way. There is, in fact, no such thing as an effort which succeeds the first time you try it. [77 RTM 2]

Similarly, if an enterprise you are running goes wrong, don’t stop and change to another. Don’t do that. If you stop and change to something else, that will go wrong too. Those mistakes become experience, those mistakes become lessons. That’s how it is. So if you are running an enterprise which doesn’t make a profit, keep on with it. Find the reason, find where the fault lies. If you can find the fault in your enterprise, you can then go ahead and work to put it right. Things do go wrong, as in France. French members, their French enterprise, lost almost three million or something like that. Three million francs. They lost money, then got frightened and did nothing more. Don’t be like that. Keep right on. Look for the causes. As soon as you begin to look, you will find out little by little what they are. They are faults in organizing. [76 CDK 6]

Build Slowly, Steadily

Bapak always hopes that you will not rush into these enterprises but build them up by sure stages . . . [75 WOB 9]

This is how it is, brothers and sisters, that our ideas and our ideals have taken a concrete form, though still in a small way. Yes, for no action is immediately complete and nothing becomes large all at once. That never happens; everything comes from something small. Everything begins small and grows larger; from being small it comes to be large, from being low it comes to be high, from not being it comes to be.

This is a test for us, a test for mankind, in fact. Don’t wish for things to happen quickly, to become rich quickly, to become comfortable quickly. If this could be, if it was possible, Bapak would give thanks to God, but nothing is like that. The people who are very rich began by being poor like everyone everywhere. There is no one living who has become rich all at once. No one is like that; even if they have inherited through their ancestors, the ancestors started off with nothing. [74 CDK 1]

One thing is absolutely clear. To get there, you have to go step by step. It is not possible for someone to jump from here to there, just like Bapak said it is not possible to plant a tree today and to­morrow it will bear fruit. Everything has to go according to a process. Wherever you are, you have to start from there, and make progress little by little. Nothing starts big. Nobody starts learning today and is already clever tomorrow. You have to go through each stage. [81 CMB 0]

Be Practical

So you must know the beginnings, the origin of everything. If you can know all that, brothers and sisters, then life will not be difficult but very easy for you. It is really all the fault of human beings themselves if it is not. Because before they start they already begin making plans: ‘When later I have a hundred million I will build one house here, another there, and one more there and another over there. I’ll let two of them and use two myself’. That is the usual way; the heart is like that. Thus if we always use our hearts with their nafsu, then before anything has actually happened we feel we already have something, but it is all imagination. You must not do what in Dutch is called ‘Lucht – kastelen bouwen’ ( building castles in the air ). You must not make grandiose pictures of what you will do, no; get straight to work. If you really work sincerely and seriously at an enterprise, you will not be very far from the power of God; it will be like when you do latihan, and God – or rather one should say the power of God – will show you the way to do it, step by step. [83 LON 4]

In other words, don’t start thinking about things which are very far off, which cannot be seen at all yet, where there are not yet the conditions necessary or prepared since you are already thinking so far away. It is better to think about the things you are doing now, and to do the things you are thinking about. When you think and you do (at the same time), it is together. [81 CDK 3]

Act Collectively Where Possible

Bapak wants to explain to you another thing: When you do enterprises, Bapak doesn’t intend or doesn’t have the idea that each of you separately do your own enterprises. Because everything that we do will become easy, will become light, will become possible, if we cooperate. Organization and-cooperation is strength and power. Bapak takes an example: The organization of labourers and workers. In the olden days before the workers organized themselves, employers could act any way they liked toward their workers. For the smallest mistake they could kick out their workers, or if workers asked for a raise in salary, the employer didn’t have to give it if he didn’t feel like it. But as soon as workers began to join together and to cooperate, suddenly the employer had to take notice of what they wanted or what their interests were. As a result of their organization, the employer knew that if this one stopped working, all the others would stop working as well.

The same thing exists among farmers. If farmers join together, they can maintain a reasonable price for their products. If they are growing bananas, and if they all agree together that their bananas should cost one penny, then people are forced to buy at that price because otherwise they cannot get a banana. Of course, it is not allowed for them to charge one pound for each banana because that is against the Will of God to charge exorbitant prices for something that should not cost so much. This is why organization and harmony bring-prosperity and happiness. That-is why Bapak doesn’t have-the idea that you –should do enterprises individually, but that you should cooperate. Because if each one of you does his own enterprise, then you end up quarrelling among yourselves. [81 SAO 3]

This is why we need to undertake enterprises, brothers and sisters, so that we accustom ourselves to stand on our own feet both inwardly and outwardly. We need to establish enterprises so that everything begins harmoniously; with mutual respect, with mutual consideration, with mutual help. We shall establish these enterprises by joint endeavour, which means you are doing it together. Do not let it happen that A sets up an enterprise, B sets up an enterprise, C sets up an enterprise and D sets up an enterprise, all of the same kind, so that it seems from the first as if all of them are competing and vying with one another for advancement and profit. That will eventually lead to conflict and will certainly not be harmonious. In order for everything to begin harmoniously and with mutual assistance, let the future enterprises be established in the form of cooperatives. That means with many members all in them together. And because such future enterprises will be rather large, you will therefore need not a little capital. [72 NYC 1]

So don’t try to go out and do things on your own so that each one of you is ignoring everybody else, and just thinking of your own needs. The purpose of a Subud enterprise is to cooperate. In the latihan we are taught that we have to know each other, become aware of each other, and understand each other. We have to know each other’s problems and each other’s needs. We have to love each other, help each other, trust each other and respect each other. So if we are taught that in the latihan, we have to apply it in our everyday life. It is from this source that we build enterprises. The condition for something to succeed is that the people who undertake it together are harmonious and honest. These are the two requirements for successful enterprises. It is clear then that the way we are to undertake enterprises in Subud is to combine. Combine people working together in the form of a cooperation or cooperative, or in some form working together – whether it is ten people, or twenty people, or thirty – the more the better. [82 SYD 2]

The enterprises Bapak suggests to you are enterprises of all the Subud members. They are not the enterprises of individuals, because it is no longer appropriate for us to pursue profit just for ourselves alone but, so far as possible, we should do something together, with other partners, other members, so that eventually we also share in harvesting and tasting the fruits of what we do together. To do this implies that the people in Subud are in harmony not only in their spiritual life but also in their worldly life. That means harmony of thought and mind, so that you are really living up to the highest human standards, which makes us be harmonious, both as among ourselves and also between all of you and other people. [72 CPT 2]

As to the enterprises that Bapak proposes, these are not enterprises to be run on your own, so that, for instance, A runs an enterprise on his own, B runs an enterprise on his own, C runs an enterprise on his own and so does D. You should not do it that way. You need to run enterprises jointly and to build up substantial concerns. That means enterprises that really are enterprises, like a P.T. — a Perusahaan Terbatas (Limited Company). And to make it strong, such an enterprise should be constituted in the presence of a lawyer, so that it includes regulations to define all the responsibilities and requirements. Amongst the regulations an article can be included laying down that so much per cent of the profits is to be contributed to the Spiritual Brotherhood of Subud. Thus the way you run the enterprise is united into a really democratic activity; you work together and go through both the bitter and the happy experiences together. It is a different matter if each of you acts alone, so that you are competing for your own needs, regardless of what your friends need. Because of this, Bapak tells you to organize the enterprises you establish in the way Bapak has said. [72 WAS 1]

That is why Bapak urges all of you in Subud, between yourselves, to get these enterprises running soon. And the way to run enterprises is not for A, B, C, and D each to act on his or her own. Don’t have individual enterprises. It is better to act collectively, in cooperation, because if each of you runs an enterprise on your own, you will then always be using the profits for your own purposes; you will each work for your own good, work for your own profit. Whereas if you act collectively, gotong-royong, as it is called in Indonesia, helping one another in a cooperative way, it will make you closer in brotherliness. For the progress of one is then the progress of all; together you go forward, together you lose ground, meaning that if there is a profit, it will benefit everyone. And please don’t carry on a halfway or middling sort of enterprise, for if it is a middling one, the running costs will be higher. But if it is large, although the running costs will be high, the profits will also be high, so that you will be able to provide the brotherhood with everything it needs. [72 WAS 2]

Accept Difficulty, Embrace Prihatin

There is, in fact, no such thing as an effort which succeeds the first time you try it. It is impossible to achieve a situation where you just start something and immediately you succeed. There is always some kind of failure, or some kind of test, beforehand. This is why, if Bapak looks now at the enterprises that have been set up – actually, of all that Bapak has told you to do, nothing has yet been accomplished. But it this is not something to be afraid of. If we look-at the progress of the human intelligence now, you know that men have achieved a tremendous amount, like being able to make vehicles which can take men anywhere, even up to the moon in recent years. But do you imagine that these great achievements which we all admire so much have been achieved without any sacrifice, without any hardship, without any difficulties or any pain, or any heartbreak. That’s absolutely wrong. All these things have been achieved by going through bitterness and difficulties and great sacrifices – because God sees man’s determination and man’s genuineness and sincerity in wishing, or following something, so God gives him what he wants, and so has been achieved all that man has achieved up till now.

The same is true, for example, if you look at someone who is maybe very successful and extremely rich and owns great industries and so on – do not imagine that he has achieved that without great sacrifice, great bitterness and great suffering. You need only to look at the facts and you will see for yourselves. Therefore do not imagine that you will achieve something without going through bitterness. Indeed. as Bapak has told you, if you wish to succeed in what Bapak has advised you to do in these enterprises, which is what God has ordered us to do – which; as Bapak says is completely new for mankind – we cannot expect to achieve it without difficulties and bitterness and hardship, and even to the point where we will often feel like giving up hope, because within us we have something, we have guidance and power, which is the power of life which will always sustain us and show us the right way to follow, once we are able to follow it, and which in addition will teach us to do something with harmony. [77 RTM 2]

Indeed, a reduction in eating and sleeping, marital relations and all kinds of pleasures is very necessary, for that is in fact a way to make it possible to obtain an improvement in one’s fortune in life. Brothers and sisters, Bapak is aware that everyone wishes for a life of ease and abundance, but if people will not follow the path of prihatin in the way Bapak has just indicated, such a wish will remain no more than a hope.

Bapak will take an illustration from ordinary life, where there are prosperous people, clever and well-known people, highly-placed people, wise ( waskita ) people. But these have become prosperous because they have previously been thrifty in all things, resolutely denying themselves all extravagant pleasures, which only follow the nafsu; they have become clever and famous because they have diligently and persistently pursued knowledge that can benefit human existence; they have become wise because they have been patient, calm, peaceful, trusting and sincere. These last qualities are to be found in the Prophets and Messengers of Almighty God. So, in fact, even though they were Prophets and Messengers of God, they were not exempt from experiencing constant suffering and the practice of keprihatinan at an earlier stage of their lives. [from Bapak’s Answers To Members’ Questions, First Edition, 1971].

So the Monday and Thursday fast is a worldly fast. It is not for the kejiwaan, the spiritual life. No. The Monday and Thursday fast may be used so as to work hard at earning money. [78 CDK 24]

Now, because of the great love of Almighty God for us, we can witness the happenings that have taken place over the last few years. But we should also realize that we must repay, we must answer God’s love by doing something in this world, by expressing what we have received through working, and through doing something in this world that is in accordance with God’s Will. And in this we should understand that it is impossible for us to achieve anything in this world, to achieve success without prihatin.

It is not possible in this world to do anything without preceding it by suffering; and it is never possible in life to have something which is in the nature of a great happiness, unless it is preceded by a period of suffering, a period of hardship, a period of prihatin. For this reason, brothers and sisters, we should not feel upset or fearful in front of difficulties, for difficulties in the work which we are to carry out represent only an examination or trial for us. It is only through penetrating the difficulties which are in front of us, that we can arrive at a situation of success of happiness, of achieving our hope and our aim that we want to achieve. In this there is no difference between Bapak and the Prophets and the Messengers of God of olden times. If you consider the lives of the Messengers of God, do not imagine that there was ever a moment when these Messengers of God did not experience prihatin, did not experience hardship and suffering in order to be able to complete their task, to fulfil their duty, that was given to them by Almighty God. [72 WEN 1]

The state of the world today is extremely bad and extremely volatile, but you must understand that there is no such thing as success without pain, or happiness without prihatin or suffering. So if we have to go through difficulties and if we have to face difficult problems on our way, that is not something strange, that is exactly as it should be. But don’t worry, because the power of Almighty God is there supporting us and guiding us, all the time, every minute of the day and within our being and outside of us. [85 JKT 4]

Therefore, as Bapak has said before, don’t be afraid of’ what feels like difficult work. For the difficulties in doing that work are important and very necessary for you, because they will be experience for you. [72 TJK 3]

So do not be afraid of suffering, because there is no other way that you can achieve what you are hoping for. There is nothing that you can achieve without suffering, especially when you have received it from within yourself. You already know that that is the way you have to go. There is no other way but to do it. And again, the example is Bapak himself. Bapak, at the age of 83, should not have to travel around anymore. Bapak at the age of 83 should be able to sit at home and rest and put his feet up. And actually the doctors don’t allow Bapak to travel. If the doctor had his way Bapak wouldn’t be travelling now, because ‘at your age’, he says, ‘it’s not right, it’s no longer right.’ And Bapak agrees, ‘Yes, that’s how it is, but it is Bapak’s duty.’ And it is Bapak’s duty because it is through Bapak that all of you have been able to receive the Grace of Almighty God and the reality of the worship of God. So it is Bapak’s duty to make sure that you understand, to keep reminding you and to keep explaining to you the reality of what Bapak has brought to you. Bapak cannot not do that, because it is a duty and a responsibility that he has been given and has accepted. [81 CMB 1]

Personal Responsibility

Bapak wants you to realize this now. You do not need anything more than a right idea guided by good intentions in order to build enterprises. In a nutshell, Subud is you. You don’t have to ask others, “How is Subud getting on in the world?” It is enough to ask yourself about your own progress. You are Subud. Whatever is achieved by Subud in the world will be achieved as well by you and will also depend on you. [81 JKT 2]

Don’t Wait, Move

Bapak hears a response from here and there: people saying that it’s not time yet. To that Bapak would only comment that time is ours. Time is with us. We can shorten it or lengthen it as we choose. What we experience in the latihan kejiwaan is that time belongs to us. We are in charge of our time. We must not surrender the responsibility for the time to something outside of ourselves. We must not wait for the right time. We must be responsible for our own time, for making the right time. If we do that, we will meet with success and we will make progress. But if we leave things to outside forces, then we will always fail… [84 JKT 5]

So it is time for the committee to reawaken enterprises to fund Subud’s activities. It is true that enterprise is hard to do and in the past created trauma in Subud circles. But when are we going to start again? Even if we pray all the time, we will achieve nothing without effort, as it is only then that God will provide the way. [Ibu Rahayu, Letter to Subud USA, 14 June, 2010]

The reason why Bapak talks about enterprise is because God will not give you anything unless you move. If you just sit still you will never receive anything from God. It is only if you move that God will give you something. This is already something you should understand. [81 LAX 5]

But there will be no gift or grace, there will be no receiving, nothing will happen, if you do nothing. It goes without saying, brothers and sisters, you have to show tangible evidence. Even if you receive enough advice and information to fill this building, if you do not practice it, what will happen? Obviously, brothers and sisters, things will happen only if you act. [83 LON 14]