Two Duties Of Mankind

12 Apr Two Duties Of Mankind

You have to understand that man has two duties in this world: One is to worship Almighty God according to God’s guidance. And the second one is to use his nafsu in accordance with the Will of God in order to fulfil the needs of his life in this world. These are the two duties. You have to do both. It’s not enough to do just one. That is what Bapak is trying to explain to you.[81 WAS 1]

The idea that when you are involved in the kejiwaan you do not need to work is a big error. One function of man is to worship God Almighty without using his heart and mind, but simply by surrendering and submitting to God Almighty. And this is what we do when we do the latihan kejiwaan. However, besides doing the latihan where we simply need to surrender to God Almighty, we need also to ear our livelihood to meet the needs of our life in this world. But there is no way to earn money and earn our living without working . . .

Therefore, man in this world has two functions. One is to worship God Almighty: that is simply, without using the heart and mind, through receiving the guidance of God. The second is to use the heart and mind to work in this world. But the first duty – that is to worship God – is something where the heart and mind cannot help, where they cannot grasp and cannot do anything in that field. Therefore, it is very important that the heart and mind are channelled in the right direction – that is away from the kedjiwaan and towards this world. The result of that will be that when we do our latihan we will not be disturbed by the heart and mind and the nafsu, because the nafsu would have been satisfied  — its needs will have been satisfied through our work in this world, through our enterprises – so that in our latihan we can be completely free and open. In this way, also our enterprises will benefit, so that more often than not we will be able to be successful. Bapak doesn’t say that we that we will always be successful in everything, but we will tend to be successful because we will have become used to separating these two functions and these two duties of ours. [Mexico, 20 November, 1977]

It may be that some among you have the feeling, ‘How can the spiritual way be mixed up with money, with enterprises, with undertakings of various kinds. Will that not hold back the development of our soul?’ There might be some of you who think that way. All right, let Bapak explain.

The Subud latihan is a spiritual training for human beings to worship God in a way that is new for them, and it has come at a time when humankind’s ability to think has made a great deal of progress. From this we can guess or surmise that it is God’s will at the present time that we human beings should be able to survey our resources, pay attention to the world, and be involved with material things whilst not forgetting our worship of God; because God is with us in all circumstances.

That is it. Subud truly is different from other ways. Therefore do not compare it with others ways. In those other ways it is in fact like this: usually, in order to have contact with the greatness of God, people need to keep away from busy places, put aside their pleasures and live in some lonely place far away from others; and even, so they say, completely refrain from marrying, because they do not need children in order to reach a high spiritual level. That is what they say; and that was the usual way in times past.

Now it is otherwise. It may be that it is God’s will; Bapak himself does not know. But Subud appeared when we were wholly preoccupied with affairs of this world, so we need not be afraid that when we have piles of money in our hands we shall forget God. No. When you have reached the level required for your inner self, as you are counting money you worship God: ‘One, two, three, four …’ While you write a book you will not forget to worship God; while driving a car you will not forget to worship God; it will be the same in everything you do. So it is clear that the Subud latihan is different from other ways, hence we do not need to worry when we concern ourselves with material things.  That is how it is. It means that Subud does not isolate itself from anything. [New York, 16 July, 1983]

It is clear, then, that through doing our latihan, carrying out our worship of God, there arises within us a picture, an understanding of our needs in this world and the activity which we have to do to fulfil it. We begin to understand not only our obligation to worship Almighty God, but also the correct use of all the instruments that God has given us for living in this world.

We understand that we are not forbidden or prevented from following, pursuing and keeping up with the development of technology in today’s world. We have to understand that God does not get angry with us or object to us if we make progress. After all, the whole world and everything in it is created by Almighty God. And God has handed over this world to us to run and organize. It’s the least we can do to help God by running and organizing this world, and not always keep running back to God every time we want something. [81 SAO 3]

The most important thing is that you should truly want to work. Don’t live without working. Don’t say you work in order to live. While alive you have to work. Why ? Because Almighty God created this world, this universe, and all there is in it. The universe was made by God and clearly God works ceaselessly. But you do not know, you cannot understand, how it is with God or how He works. Were God to stop working, this world and the other worlds you see in the firmament would exist no more. [71 TJD 18]

This is something Bapak has received in Subud. This is why Bapak encourages everyone, in addition to doing their latihan or worshipping God, to do enterprises. This is absolutely essential . . . We have to be able to do both things: we have to worship and we have to work.  We must understand this. We must understand and recognize our relationship with our fellowman.  We have to realize that, yes, we have our relationship with God Almighty, but we are not allowed, then, to deny our re­lationship with our fellowman. We have to have both . . . Thus you see the boundary you need to grasp: the two duties of man: to worship God and to work . . . You should become aware of this distinction. You should not neglect your outer life when you begin to worship God. [81 JKT 3]

From everything that Bapak has been saying to you it should be clear now that man has two duties in this world. The one duty is to worship God Almighty according to the guidance and according to the power of God Almighty Himself, so that the worship of God is God’s service to man. It is God’s work, not ours. All we can do is surrender completely to the power of God. This is, actually, the true meaning of Divine Service. It is not we who serve God, but God who serves us. That is, we surrender completely to God at the moment when we worship Him.

For the rest, we work in this world in the normal way, in the way that people normally work in this world – except that we must watch that what we do is never wrong, that what we do is always right and in accordance with what has been agreed by mankind in general. So, on the one hand, we have the duty to surrender .to God Almighty in our worship to Him -that is, put aside the heart and mind and only to follow what God wills us to do. And then in this world we have to use our heart and mind, so that our heart and mind really have to be used. They have to be given work to do to find our needs in this life. In other words, we should work. We should think about this world. Don’t become like people who use their mind always to think about the kejiwaan, to think about spiritual things, and then neglect the material. In other words, they no longer like, or are able, to think about this world. You must think and feel about this world. But having already received the Latihan Kejiwaan you will be able to do so. Also, in your thinking and in your dealing with this world, you will, as it were, be protected and guided by the power of Almighty God, which is there all the time to protect you and guide you and show you the way where you can go which is right for you.

Once again, it is clear that there are these two duties which are separate. That is, the one which is to worship God Almighty, following only God’s guidance and God’s will; and secondly, you will be able to use your heart and mind to work in this world through which you will then always be able to find what you need in this life. [77 YUL 2]