AFTER today’s (2 April 2023) suhoor (Ramadan’s pre-dawn meal), before going back to sleep, I joined a chat on one of Subud Indonesia’s WhatsApp groups. There was one member being teased by other members after he confided in a serious problem. I shared my experience with him, which I meant as a serious input, but as it seemed like a joke, I myself wanted to laugh out loud when I re-read what I shared.
So, here’s the story... (I wrote it here exactly what I posted on the WhatsApp group but in English.)
When I was just opened, many years ago, I went to the house of a helper in Surabaya, East Java, to talk about my particular problem, which I felt was so burdensome that it put me under pressure. The helper laughed the whole time I was telling him about my problem. Seeing the way he was behaving, I really wanted to punch him, but I held myself back; apart from the fact that the helper was much older than me, I had also just been opened.
Helper: “Well, why do you have to face that problem? If it comes, you just leave it!”
Me: “Doesn’t that mean I’m running away from reality?”
Helper: “Why do you have to run? That’s really tiring! You just sit back and relax, watch porn or whatever. Problems will eventually get tired and bored of themselves approaching you, if you don’t respond.”
At that time, I thought, yes that’s right! I even made fun of myself: Only an idiot would face a problem and then succumb to it.
In my further journey in life, after listening to the light and funny advice from the helper, I often just let it go when problems come, and witness how the problem “resolves itself”.
Responding
to my post on the WhatsApp group, a Subud brother shared a snippet of Bapak’s
talk which is something like this: “If your surrender really seeps into all of
your inner feeling, any big problem will disappear, like a drop of dew in the
sun.”©2023
Pondok Cabe, Tangerang Selatan, 2 April 2023
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