Monthly Archives: February 2014

Poetry Reading at the Subud House

Dar SafiWith the AWP in town, there will be 14,000 writers in Seattle this week. The Subud House will be full of lodgers by tomorrow night and there was a remarkable poetry reading last night as the debut of Dar Safi Press was celebrated. 

Subud members who attend the Poems for Peace event last September will remember Faiza Sultan whose poems about war were frank, ironic and incredibly moving. She is the Publisher of the Press and welcomed Iraqi poets living as far away as London and the Philippines to read. Wafaa Abdul Razaak had stunning war poems of her own and read them with a bold performance style before they were read in English by Faiza. War Child

Traditional Kurdish drumming and singing was provided by Ahmed Yousefbeigi, whose mastery of the frame drum was mesmerizing. And the first half concluded with Falah Saik, who was introduced by the reigning winner of the Stranger Genius Award for Literature, Cairo native Maged Zaher, who said Salah was the most important Arab poet in the world.

Maged read the English translations which had a broad range of references, from Hamlet to Marx and his own anatomy. The conversation the poet described at the grave of Karl Marx was especially deft. Amalio Madueño closed out the 2nd half of the reading which also featured two local poets.

Ahmed YousefbeigiSalah Faik

Tomorrow (Thursday Feb 27) there are TWO MORE readings at the Subud House. I can’t tell you how amazing last night was and how disappointed there were NO SUBUD PEOPLE to witness, to talk to the gathered about our community, our house, SICA and other topics I engaged in briefly. Please try to attend and remember, there is no latihan.

BEI, Thursday, February 27, 7:00PM- 11:PM. The event is sponsored by Black Earth Institute and we are inviting writers who have had work in About Place Journal, BEI Fellows and various friends and colleagues. Part of the impetus of this event is to explain more about the mission of Black Earth Institute, a progressive think tank of artist-fellows and scholar-advisers to work toward a society based on justice, spirit and earth-centeredness, as well as to get together many of us who have been involved in About Place, the literary journal BEI publishes quarterly to give voice to their mission.

Colorado Review, Yalobusha Review, and Ahsahta Press are proud to present A Midnight Triptych, AWP’s biggest late-night event. Join us for last call on Thursday night/Friday morning for an all-star line-up featuring Carmen Giménez Smith, Matthew Cooperman, Lucy Ives, Danniel Schoonebeek, Gillian Conoley, and C. Violet Eaton. 12M Thursday night/Friday Morning. The reading will be held in the basement of the Spring Street Center chapel (1101 15th Avenue)–just one mile from the conference center. Doors open at midnight and we’ll get started shortly thereafter, so don’t be late. Beer for sale or bring your own drinks. See you there!

Colorado Review
Yalobusha Review
Ahsahta Press

Should We Discontinue Monday Latihans

Women's Latihan Hall/Chapel on Monday Nights

Women’s Latihan Hall/Chapel on Monday Nights

It has been discussed on and off for months now in the Dewan. An average of two men attend Monday night latihans and often there are none. This is a cost to Subud Members because of the heating used and also limits attendance for other latihans. So the question went out last week, should we discontinue Monday night latihans and perhaps add a Tuesday afternoon session. Results from Men’s Local Helper Jim O’Halloran:

How would it be for the SGS group if there were no more Monday night Latihan?
3 got nothing, one got a faint positive.

How would it be if we had a Tuesday Afternoon Latihan about 3PM?
2 got nothing, one got “worth a try”, one got OK.

And from Hadijah Obar:

I should have said that we talked and agreed that phone calls would be made to poll the members about the proposed Tuesday afternoon latihan. Recently several of the women members have talked about the need for an afternoon latihan because there are so many ladies who
no longer like to travel at night, there are specific people I’d like to run the idea of the Tuesday afternoon latihan by.  Also, several inactive women helpers said they would be willing to time an afternoon latihan.
Hadijah

Members, if you have a feeling about this, please chime in to a helper with a comment. No feedback from the membership and I will support the effort to cancel Monday night latihans for the men. For the women it’s not an issue, since there have not been women helpers on Monday night for years and no women ever show up.

TESTING THIS SUNDAY

Our Love Month continues this Sunday (Feb 23)

Here are some possible test questions for next week that we ladies came up with:
What is love?
What are the qualities of Love?
Where do these qualities reside in me?
How do I manifest love in my daily life?
How do I love myself?
How would God have me love myself?
How do I respect myself?
How would God have me respect myself?
How do I care for myself?
How would God have me care for  myself?
How do I love my Subud brothers and sisters?
How would God have me respect my brothers and sisters?
How is it for me and my life when I have loving and/or affectionate feelings
toward my Subud brothers and sisters?
O.K., there’s a place to start.

Hadijah Obar

World Congress Registration Heating Up

From the Subud E-Blast:

FROM THE WORLD CONGRESS ORGANIZING TEAM

 

As of February, 1071 members from 51 countries have registered for the Subud World Congress in Puebla Mexico (street scene above). The EARLY BIRD FEE #2 runs through April 30th, 2014. The adult and discounted fees each go up $100, $550 and $400 respectively. The fee for adults under 26 goes up to $390 and children’s prices go up by $30. To register, go to: http://www.cvent.com/d/rcqvll?lang=en. Get world congress news and information at the newly updated website: www.subudworldcongress2014.com

Subud USA Directory

From the National Office:

Dear brothers and sisters,

Just click on the link below this paragraph to get your free copy of the 2014 Subud USA Membership Directory. The information included is based on what we received from the census that was just conducted. You can keep the directory in its electronic version and/or print it out, whatever is your preference.

If there is an error in your membership entry, please inform the national office at subudusa@subudusa.org. We are working hard to have as accurate a database as possible.

If you prefer, we can also send you a paper copy of the directory for $20. This includes the cost of labor, printing, and postage. Just let us know the following:

Number of Copies of 2014 Subud USA Membership Directory Requested: ______Total Amount: __________ ($20 for each copy)

Mailing Address:
Name _______________________________________________

Street Address ________________________________________

City, State, Zip Code____________________________________

Send this information and your check to:
Subud USA National Office
4216 Howard Road
Beltsville, MD 20705-2644

If you would like the directory, but need a reduced rate, indicate the amount you can afford on the line “Total Amount”.

If you donated at least $240 during the recent Subud USA pledge drive, we would like to express our appreciation by sending you a free copy if you would like one. Just let us know by emailing us atsubudusa@subudusa.org or calling the national office at 301-595-0626.With warm regards,
Shoshanah, Daniel, Lucian, Morris and Hamidatun
(Subud USA National Committee)