World Religions

• Introduction
• The Baha'i Faith
• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Confucianism
• Goddess Spirituality
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Jainism
• Judaism
• Native American Spirituality
• Primal Religions
• Shinto
• Sikhism
• Taoism
• Zoroastrianism
• About the Author

World Religions:

Bahai

01 | 02

02: Subud

Subud bears some superficial resemblances to the Baha'i Faith, most notably in espousing a "universal brotherhood" of spiritual consciousness, open to members of all races and religions; it has no hierarchy and preaches no creed or system of ideas which members must follow. Subud is not especially Islamic, except for the fact that its founder is a 20th century Sufi from Java. The practices of Bapak Muhammad Subuh (b.1901), have been adopted by members in over 60 countries, including more than 70 Subud Centers in the U.S. Although it reflects the name of its founder, Subud is said to be an acronym of three Sanskrit words: susila ("right living"), budhi ("inner force"), and dharma (which Subud translates with an Islamic tinge as "submission to divine power"). Its main practice is the latihan (Indonesian for "spiritual exercise"), a half-hour session engaged in twice weekly by members who have read about it and prepared for a period of about three months.

Subuh first experienced the latihan himself in 1925, when a ball of radiant light visibly entered his body through the crown of his head while in the company of some friends. He described the experience as a kind of "opening" to divine energy that occurred spontaneously, even during perfectly ordinary activities like shopping or watching television. It appears to have something in common with the ecstatic experiences of certain mystical schools including Sufism, but is controllable and may be stopped at any time by an exertion of the conscious will. In 1933, Subuh began to transmit the experience to others, a process called contact. After growing slowly in Java, the movement began spreading to Europe and America by 1957. Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Buddhists practice the latihan, but formal membership in Subud precludes formal membership in any other sacred tradition.