REPORT OF THE VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA - Subud World News

REPORT OF THE VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA
by the International helpers:
Héloïse Jackson, Hamidah Jelman and Andrew Holloway
from 12 th to 23 rd March 2009
The 26th South African Congress [in Johannesburg] was officially opened on Saturday
morning 14th March and all the reports, starting from the Chairman’s report through to
the kejiwaan ones, were duly approved and seconded. A lot of time was spent setting
up the agenda and making sure a chunk of that day and the next was spent on latihan
and testing.
South Africa National Congress with Hamidah, Heloise, and Andrew, International
Helpers, and Lateef , Zone Representative, with the majority of members being from
Johannesburg , some from Cape Town and from Durban and one isolated older lady
who had not come for 17 years.
Various topics were discussed:
1) Enterprises: Money was in very short supply with many members still not
contributing. The level of commitment to try to redress the balance was impressive.
Using an imaginative way to try to set up priorities, Hamilton Minnaar, the Chairman of
the Cape Town group, suggested using the “Dutch Auction” model, which he
demonstrated. One makes a list of everything that is necessary in Subud from helpers’

travels/workshops, contributing to the International Subud Association, rental of
premises, entertainment evenings etc. to much less realistic goals such as having a
Subud hospital or school. The items are then put in order of priority according to which
gets the highest bid from the members, the guiding principle being which item one
values the most! The budget, for what one regards as “essentials”, is then divided to
give an idea of each member’s contribution towards these, whilst the most voted for
longer term goals, are reserved for definite fund raising.
2) Helpers: Thank goodness, this “Dutch Auction” did not happen until the next day as
the Helpers had come in for quite a lot of criticism and would certainly not have made
the “Top Ten” since the National dewan was devoid of men and there were only two
lady National helpers. The National and group committees were not being supported on
the kejiwaan side as a result. The question was therefore raised “What are the helpers
for?” and “Do we really need them?” The IHs spent some long testing sessions, where
all received the importance of having a strong National dewan and indeed a strong
group helpers’ dewan, without which the group and National committees cannot
operate. The tests were also directed towards the well-being of groups, the latihan of
the members who stayed at home, the ones who attended group latihan, and how it felt
to be both isolated as a member and as a group. The results of these tests were so
clear and overwhelming to every one that the next day, a new national committee was
tested and approved enthusiastically by all the members present, raising the helper’s
ranking impressively to the top, of the “Top Ten”, on the priorities’ list, at the Dutch
Auction.
3) Finding directions: For many, Subud South Africa feels rather isolated and some do
not really see the relevance of being part of the International Subud Association. The
questions tested such as “What is the role/responsibility/contribution of each member
towards their group? “What is the role of the National committee in South Africa, in
Africa, in the Subud World? showed not only the importance Subud South Africa had in
Africa and in the Subud world but also highlighted the benefits a strong commitment
from all had not only for the members themselves as individuals, but for their groups
and ultimately, for Subud in Africa and for the Subud world .
4) Welfare: The activities of Susila Dharma (S.D.) were discussed and a new S.D.
chairperson was elected. We heard how a bursary had been started many years ago to
provide education for some boys in the poor black community and how 2 brothers had
been particularly helped and were now respected teachers, thanks to this grant. A new
energetic lady (Rowena) was already starting to make a difference by giving help to
various groups in terms of providing food etc. for minority groups. She became Susila
Dharma chairperson in the new National Committee.
5) Putting the latihan into practice: A discussion, followed by a testing session on this
topic, touched on the many issues discussed above (enterprises, welfare). People gave
many examples which highlighted how they were putting the latihan into their daily lives.
Questions tested, such as “what are our qualities? “How do we use these in our daily
lives?”, “What does it mean to put the latihan into practice? “How is it for the people we
work with if we work with the right attitude in our lives”? all reminded us of the
importance of working in the right way, as the latihan filtered through us into our
activities thus affecting others. These and others were wonderful tests and were
conducted after awareness testing to help enliven receiving in the different parts of our
being.
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6) Finally, there were discussions on Bapak’s advice to helpers and committee, on, for
example; “How often should the National Committee meet? On the importance of going
back to basics such as “How to prepare for latihan? Asking to receive a latihan free from
desires and wishes, and with direction (asking to surrender to the guidance of Almighty
God before we start receiving the latihan). All these were tested, helping to make these
explanations more real to every member present.
There were talks about South Africa hosting the next bi-zonal meeting sometime in the
future, although the members felt they were not quite ready yet.
The resulting new National committee members now are: Mike Muller, who re-tested for
chairman with Valentine Blacking as a vice-chair. The treasurer, Shereen Jardine, was
also voted to continue and Olivia, who was taking notes at congress, offered to work as
secretary with this newly formed National committee. The only vacancy remaining
being that of Committee Councillor, the lady fulfilling that role having now stood down.
The Cape Town members left for home, eager to await the arrival of the IHs in their
group where work could carry on; the isolated members retired to their isolated places
no longer feeling quite so isolated as before as commitment had been made by the
National committee and the helpers to include them in their heart and simultaneous
latihans as well as organising occasional visits. One lady who had not done latihan for
17 years felt “over the moon” at her renewal of the latihan.
Hamidah and Heloise left dear Paula and Valentin’s house not forgetting to hug their
housekeeper, Paggy. Paula later told us that after our departure Paggy had said, “Oh
those people are the most wonderful church people I have ever met!”
The three IHs landed in Cape Town accompanied by Roland (the young and newly
made helper from Tanzania) and Lateef Dada Bashua (the zonal co-ordinator for Africa
– zones 5/6). It was hot, being at the very tip of this vast African continent where the
Indian and Atlantic oceans meet and merge as one. This was reflected by the mix of
the Subud members comprising mostly Christian and Muslim.
Having left Johannesburg where many Subud members present at the congress, had
experienced such intense feelings guided by the latihan and testing, the first latihan in
Cape Town felt a little flat. To remind everyone what being Subud meant, tests such as
“What is the meaning of Surrender/Submission? were followed by an explanation of
what the words, Susila, Buddhi and Dharma meant for us, before testing their reality for
each one of us in our latihan.
The next day, Friday 20 th , started quite slowly as many Muslim members were following
their daily prayers at the Mosque and at home and therefore were not able to attend the
latihan. Our hosts, Lambert and Heidi Kriedeman, who had opened their house to us
(IHs), used that opportunity to take us sight seeing. This is an area of outstanding
natural beauty where the sea and the mountain (the world famous Table Mountain)
dominate. No-one except God could possibly have created such magnificence. The
sun, the air, the breeze, the rocks, all made one feel humbled and insignificant in the
presence of such grandiose scenery, and privileged to be a witness to this creation.
By the evening, some members had come and we had a helpers’ and committee
meeting after latihan. We reminded everyone of the necessity of a strong dewan of
helpers, not just for the benefit of the members but also to support the committee. More
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tests confirmed this and two new men National Helpers were tested for the posts.
Unbeknown to us, the ladies were testing a new National Helper/KC who turned out to
be the wife of the newly tested man NH/KC, which would facilitate their visits to other
groups as well as throughout the zone, by travelling together. Halimah Guderjahn
accompanied by the ladies in the group, did a latihan thanking God that she had been
able to fulfil the NH/KC role for the last two terms and was now going back to doing
group helper duties. The first visit of the National Helpers would probably be to visit the
Durban group which had split up following a dispute between some members and was
experiencing many other difficulties.
What had started as very slow and perhaps a bit flat ended up with many people
present feeling a renewed and deeper understanding of the latihan and its practice in
the outside world. Some isolated members came, including the Somerset West group,
to share with us all, food for the inner as well as for the outer. Many general tests such
as, “What is the meaning of love before/ and after joining Subud?” asking to feel “How is
the love for each other when we are a couple who doesn’t receive the latihan/ and again
after they are opened?” ending with asking, “How does it feel to give/ and be the
recipient of unconditional love?” These were in addition to receiving “How it is for the
development of our soul if we do the latihan at home only/ at home and with the group?”
and to receive, “What is the benefit for us and for the group?”
We finished the day with admiring the sunset over the mountain and down to the sea,
feeling completely grateful for this visit which had brought not only the subud members
of South Africa but also us, the visitors, such blessings.
Everyone had been so generous, so selfless and so kind that we were humbled by their
openness. This visit was the catalyst for a renewed belief in the latihan for some, and
hopefully giving new hope for others. May these feelings remain and grow over the
next few months and years.
Thank you to our hosts, both in Johannesburg and in Cape Town for opening their
homes and their hearts to us. We did feel completely at home. Thank you to all the
members who welcomed us so openly, and to the National Committee of South Africa
who very kindly offered to pay for our domestic travels between Johannesburg and
Cape Town despite the fact that their budget is very limited.
May God bless you all and may Subud South Africa truly fulfils its role as the strong
presence that it is, for the rest of Africa and for the Subud World.
From Hamidah, Héloïse and Andrew
29 th March 2009
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