SUBUD AND SUFISM/NOTES
1 Though his literary skills and influence are undeniable, Idries Shah's credentials are not universally accepted either by Muslims or non-Muslims (see e.g. Elwell-Sutton, L. P. 'Sufism & Pseudo-Sufism,' Encounter vol. 44 no. 5 and James Moore.'Neo-Sufism: The Case of Idries Shah' Telos vol. 6 no. 4). It is also alleged that he wrote many of the books eulogising him, using pseudonyms.
2 Muhammad Subuh, The Meaning of Subud (Subud Publications International)
3 cf Jalal-ud-din Rumi, The Masnavi; Hakim Sanai, The Walled Garden of Truth; Mahmud Shabistari, The Secret Garden; Saadi, The Rose Garden. Versions of all these are published by Idries Shah's company Octagon Books.
4 I have not come across any mention in any written records concerning Bahauddin Naqshband of a specific exercise of surrender corresponding to what exists in Subud. In common with other Sufi teachers, however, he does speak of surrender and self-emptying in terms of a constant and continuous practice, rather than a Subud-type exercise which is specific and of limited duration. Regarding Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, I am indebted to Ruslan Moore for drawing attention to latihan-like activities taking place during al-Jilani's meetings as recorded in contemporary accounts. For example: 'Then the Shaikh would say: "Now the talking [qal] is over, and we are ready to receive the spiritual state [hal]!" The people present would immediately feel an intense vibration, and they would experience the spiritual state and the rapture of ecstasy [wajd].' And, 'Finally, Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir said: 'Let us have done with the talk [qal], and let us now return to the spiritual state [hal]: There is no god but Allah! [la ilaha illa 'llah]. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah! [Muhammadur rasulu 'llah].' All the people in the audience were shaken with an intense vibration, and Shaikh Jamal ad-Din ibn al-Jawzi was moved to rip his clothes to shreds.' (From Necklaces of Gems, trans. Muhtar Holland, Al Baz). It appears from these accounts that the 'spiritual state' [hal] was dependent in some way on the presence of the Shaikh, whereas the Subud latihan to which Shah compares it is not dependent on the presence of anyone else except for the initial transmission.
5 Most of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani's recorded lectures, faithful on-the-spot transcriptions by his pupils, have been translated into English by Muhtar Holland and published in the USA by Al-Baz. The most reliable account of the deeds and sayings of Bahauddin Naqshband and other famous teachers in the line of the Khwajagan Hanedani are contained in a book which has not to this writer's knowledge been translated into any European language, the Rashahat ain al-Hayat by Fakhr ad-din Ali Husain al-Waiz Kashifi. Extracts from this book appear in J. G. Bennett's The Masters of Wisdom (Turnstone, 1977).
6 In The Way of the Sufi, Idries Shah relates an account of Abd-al Qadir al-Jilani advising his pupils to watch out for accidental transmission of the 'opening of potential' to unprepared individuals, taking the form of trembling, crying out, heavenly visions etc. This, says al-Jilani, is highly dangerous and must be stamped out wherever it occurs in a disorganised and spontaneous manner among uneducated villagers. Followers of Shah will, in the absence of information such as that contained in note 4 above, draw the conclusion from this that all such phenomena are to be avoided, even when properly authorised.
7 Muhammad Subuh, Autobiography (Subud Publications International)
8 H. B. M. Dervish, Journeys with a Sufi Master (Octagon)
9 'All of this teaching, like that of the Naqshbandi, these matters that are explained in such detail - man cannot know these things, man cannot explain them. If they can be explained, then it is only God Who can explain them to man. But the point is, when God explains them He does not do it in that way, the way explained by the Sufi teachers... Do not mistake these teachings for the reality; the reality is what is contained in the latihan.' (From a talk by Pak Subuh given in Hamburg in 1983. Translated from the Indonesian.)
10 A prominent teacher of the method of G. I. Gurdjieff and one of the most influential early advocates of Subud.
11 Abdurrachman intended to receive the latihan contact from Pak Subuh, but died on his way to Pak Subuh's house. See Rohana Mitchell, The History of Subud (Al Baz)
12 The report of the Fifth Thule expedition by the Danish explorer Knud Rasmusson, published in 1927. The report gives the historical background to a well-known Eskimo poem. Apparently an ordinary Eskimo woman named Uvavnuk had a spontaneous experience almost exactly like that of Pak Subuh: a ball of brilliant light came down out of the sky and entered her, suffusing her body with light. She began to receive movements and song and was able to pass this capacity on to the rest of her tribe, which then enjoyed a generation of unusual happiness and good fortune. It would be rather surprising to learn that there was a Sufi group in the Canadian Arctic Circle which had brought about this event, as the baraka transmission theory requires. From the evidence it would seem rather that such things happen spontaneously from time to time to individuals of a certain degree of inward purity.
13 J. G. Bennett, Journeys in Islamic Countries (Turnstone)
14 See The Complete Recorded Talks of Muhammad Subuh, at present in preparation by Subud Publications International.
15 Matthew Sullivan, Living Religion in Subud (Subud Publications International)
16 Shah, The Way of the Sufi
17 Quoted in Glimpses of Reality, ed. Dirk Campbell, Pathway (Subud Publications International)
18 Mawlana Jami, Nafahat al-Uns, quoted in J.G. Bennett, The Masters of Wisdom (Turnstone)
19 The term 'inner teacher' is not cognate with God, although Pak Subuh refers both to God and the inner self as the 'teacher within'. A more complete formulation would be 'the guidance of God whose power is present and manifests within the inner self when the influences of thought, feeling and desire are set aside.'
20 I learned from a member of Omar Ali-Shah's group that the governing body, or 'Foundation' behind the worldwide Sufi network is known as the Mu'assisa. Something of the function of this spiritual directorate is revealed in the following true story. An emissary from the Mu'assisa was sent to the Mevlevi dervishes in Konya in the middle of the twentieth century in order to deliver a message. Simply, it stated that their performance, the Sema or whirling, was no more than a tourist spectacle and that they were to stop. Furthermore, that there was no spiritual content either in their activities, or in the music or dance. The message quoted Rumi's own words that the Sema ritual was intended only for local people of that specific time and that the whirling was not in fact for the benefit of the participating dervishes but actually was limited to a specific, targeted audience. Since such conditions no longer existed, what remained was merely an outer shell - a spectacle. The emissary, in his report, stated that the response from the troupe of dervishes was anger! The report continued to say that the old Chelebi Sheikh, who was the head of the order, replied that 'in a world where there is no light at all, even a false gleam is perhaps something to have', and that 'I have been here so long, and so have my ancestors, that we cannot change.' The old sheikh continued with his refusal by further adding: 'We may well be wanted, and believed to be the possessors of secrets… we are here, after seven hundred years, not because of our value or viciousness, but because people want us. They want magic… many can follow a harmless path and feel better, elevated. That, in any case, is what they imagine spirituality to be.' (From the London Newsletter of the Tradition, March 2003)
21 Despite Pak Subuh's theological language, he clearly states that belief in God is not a prerequisite for spiritual experience. Nor is atheism a disqualification for joining Subud. The Indonesian word latihan (which simply means 'exercise') refers, in the Subud context, to a type of experience which anyone can have, whatever they believe, and whether they happen to be Subud members or not. What is required in any context, however, whether Subud, Sufi, religious or otherwise, is sufficient relaxation of the familiar mental and emotional apparatus for receiving to take place. This requirement is what Subud is designed to provide.