Come to the East Side!!! What: General Meeting. When: July 19 at the SGS rented facilites at the Bradford Center of UCC Bellevue, on the corner of NE 8th and 108th NE. We will meet after Latihan. Look forward to see you there.
Kedjiwan day: Sunday July 28 after Latihan at Spring Street Center. Testing!!!
Don’t Forget: Family Camp August 30-September 1. Registration to be sent out soon.
Subud Greater Seattle Dewan Meeting
Minutes: Sunday June 30, 2013
Present: David Lynch, Sherwin O’Bar, Jim O’Halloran, Marston Gregory, Oswald Norton, Hadijah O’Bar, Hadidjah Gregory, Maryka Lynch, Elisha Gullixson, Hadiyah Carlyle
Review of Last Months Minutes
Minutes taken by Oswald and Hadidjah were amended and accepted by the committee.
Financial Report
Sherwin provided financial reports for all meeting members. These figures are current as of 6/30:
o Please email the committee for copies of this report.
Overall summary of income vs. expenses:
– Donations, from Q1 to Q2, have declined 13%. Without additional donations, we will have to use savings to cover expenses this Quarter. We need members to donate.
– Rental Income, from Q1 to Q2, have declined 13%. We have received one additional booking since funding of additional advertising.
Discussion:
Utility usage of center versus enterprise:
We reviewed the financial report to try and determine how to best reflect the actual expenses of Spring Street Center versus the expenses it takes to maintain a facility as a center of worship. We decided to try and sort out the impact of the enterprise on the cost of utilities by getting data that reflects months where there is no rental income and comparing it to months where there are rentals. Right now it’s all in one bucket.
To obtain the data, Elisha will get ten-year data from PSE and Seattle Public Utilities which covers electric, gas, garbage and water usage. He will be assisted by Sherwin and Jim in getting the data into a spreadsheet where we can figure out the details.
Archiving and records storage:
We talked about how to store financial and meeting minute records and the need to sort through and shred documents that are no longer needed in the office.
Sherwin volunteered to be our archivist.
We will also have a day to clean out files etc. for which David and Hadijah also volunteered
Call to action for members to support our center financially and physically
Oswald brought up that it is important to promote members contributing and rentals shouldn’t make up for income from members. We need people’s involvement.
Approval of Financial Report:
The committee approved the financial statement with changes that Sherwin will refine in the itemized financial report.
Spring Street Center
Handicap Access:
Marston gave report for options for handicap accessible such as lifts vs. ramp. He has met with Olympic Elevator Company at the center to review our physical layout and our needs.
Needs:
a. Access to the main hall (women’s latihan hall)
b. Access to the living room area
Olympic has provided 4 preliminary options which Marston wrote up in a document which was reviewed by the committee. They will be providing him with a formal quote soon.
Handicap Access – Next Steps:
a. Determine Seattle building ADA requirements for our building and what the permitting process would be. David and Elisha will work on this.
b. Work on funding sources to fund the work, once we have the vendor and amount
– Grants. Marston has done some work and would like assistance
– MSF and PNW Housing Fund: prepare and present a proposal
– SGS members: Put together a campaign that will engage members and determine the amount of local funding available
It’s The Right Thing To Do:
Making our building handicap accessible is the “right” thing to do, not only for the enterprise, but also for ourselves. We are an aging population. If we want facilities we can use we will need these capabilities.
Renters Point Out Repairs Needed:
A potential client, while reviewing the building to rent it said that repairs would have to be made before considering renting. As a committee, we agreed that these repairs were necessary.
The cost of these repairs has been estimated to be $3000. These include repairs to railings and other areas that are issues of safety both for renters and our members.
A motion to spend $1500 on immediate repairs, to be done by David Lynch was passed. Oswald will post a request to membership on our website for the complete $3000 in funds. These repairs are needed not only for renters, but also for us to have a facility that is worthy of the latihan.
Communications
To communicate center activities we use the MailChimp application to send out emails updates from our website. Not everyone from the old YahooGroup has been imported into the list on MailChimp. For example Jim O’Halloran does not receive these emails. There may be others.
Action: Hadidjah and Jim will send the most recent census data to Oswald. Oswald will work with Paul to compare the data and update the list as appropriate.
Announcements
Next General Meeting
July 19 at the SGS rented facilities at the Bradford Center of UCC Bellevue, on the corner of NE 8th and 108th NE. This meeting will occur after latihan.
Next Committee Meeting
July 28 in Seattle
Family Camp 2013
August 30 – September 1
PNW Regional Meeting in Seattle
September 21st
Volunteers to assist with logistics are needed and welcomed
Elisha Gullixson
I was asked by Julia Hurd to write an article about Subud Greater Seattle and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some of the oral history of the house and the stories of some Seattle Subud members about how they came to Subud. I made an appointment with longtime member Elisha Gullixson for Monday, July 1, 2013, and heard music upon entering the Subud House. He’s really a gifted musician, as anyone who has seen him play at Menucha knows. Because of our shared love of Jazz, he and I hit it off right away and Jazz is at the core of how Elisha found out about Subud in San Francisco in 1966!
The first segment of our chat begins with more piano, then Elisha discusses how Lloyd Rice, a San Francisco Jazz tenor saxophonist (& spiritual seeker), introduced him to Subud, how he did not like Subud at first and how he and his late wife Ruth decided to come to Seattle. He talks about how the early Subud Seattle members were quite welcoming, including Lawrence and Roseanna Crouse, Bob and Andrea Maynard, Baldwin Anciaux, Kathy Zink and Sebastian and Lorraine Tedrow. Part 1 (8:41)
In segment two Elisha talks about his band of that time, The Sparker Band, a cover band. He discussed the Skymont Subud community in Virginia, the Subud committee roles he has held since moving here (he’s currently Vice-Chair), how he dropped out from Subud for ten years, investigating Christianity, the parallels between that tradition and the latihan and how the latihan has changed his life over the years. Part 2 (10:41)
In part three Elisha talks about his hedonistic life before committing to a latihan practice, an early failed marriage, the similarities between latihan and improvisation (how the latihan is like playing a tune), the last days of his late wife Ruth and how her latihan practice helped her transition into the afterlife. Part 3 (7:58)
In the final segment, Elisha discusses the fears that Subud membership is aging and dying off, how he long ago gave up the effort to try and solve all his issues with his intelligence alone and his thoughts about the current situation with the Subud House (like a living, breathing member of the group supplying sustenance) and the vibrancy of the current Subud membership. He ended the chat with more of his piano playing. (Blue Monk). Part 4 (9:58)
CONSIDERING OBSERVING RAMADAN?
From the National Helpers and Office
Ramadan 2013
CONSIDERING OBSERVING RAMADAN? Below is a compilation of information about it, “Subud style”, and also there is information at the bottom about where to order tapes of Bapak talks in various formats.
Note to all: we are not sending out this information because we are urging people to do Ramadan, or because Subud espouses one religion over another. Bapak recommended that fasting has value for us individually, and we know that some members observe Lent or Yom Kippur instead of Ramadan, or do their own private form of fasting.
(See Bapak’s letter to a member on this topic, at the end of this message)
GETTING SUBUD MATERIALS ABOUT RAMADAN:
1. To print out Bapak talks,or listen to or download talks, go to
You can do a search,using key words, so you can ask for Ramadan Talks.AUDIO TALKS ARE MARKED BY TOPIC,SO ITS EASY TO FIND THE RAMADAN TALKS
2.Subud Books are available from www.bythewaybooks.com
Or go to –
www.subudusa.org
Click on Subud Books and Media
Eve of Ramadan: The way to observe Ramadan is to take a full bath, including hair washing, and also cutting the hair and the nails, the evening before the fast. Then, after you are clean, to state your wish to observe Ramadan as a sincere expression of your worship of Almighty God. Then stay up at night, preferably spending the night together with other Subud brothers and sisters, in the home of a member who is also observing Ramadan.
Around three o’clock in the morning, you should take breakfast and you should brush your teeth no later than 4:30 in the morning, and after this, no more smoking, not even gargling till 6:30 PM or 7:00 PM – along about sunset. (The local mosque can clarify as to the hour for breaking the fast.)
To break the fast, start slowly by drinking warm tea and a light snack; you can eat your dinner about half an hour or an hour later. Bapak also recommends no sexual union during the whole month of Ramadan. It is also beneficial to sleep as little as possible during Ramadan, not only on Nights of Power.
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During the month of Ramadan: it is not permitted to have sexual intercourse, and our fasting must also include abstention from the following:
a) We must not use our ears to listen to gossip, quarrels or bad words.
b) We must not use our mouth to say anything wrong or unkind.
c) We must not use the emotions to reach the emotions or passions of others.
d) We must not use our eyes in a way that is not good or nice.
e) We must not use the heart and mind to imagine or think about unhappy things, fantasies or unrealities.
f) We must not eat or drink or smoke anything between dawn and sunset each day.
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During the month of Ramadan, we have to fast thirty days, and during the thirty days of fasting we go through three important periods:
The first ten days (ending evening of 9th day Ramadan):
This is a period of putting the passion in an inactive state. During this period we are made aware that our passions become weaker and weaker day by day, and on the 9th day of fasting, it is felt that our passion is completely inactive.
The second ten days (ending evening of 19th day Ramadan):
This is a period of becoming aware that in general our attitude and actions are guided by our inner-self and the guidance day by day becomes stronger and stronger and on the 19th day of fasting our actions are as if in a complete latihan state, but in harmony with our daily activities.
The last ten days (ending evening of 30th day of Ramadan):
This is a period of receiving the lailatu ‘lkadar (the Nights of Power), and this is sent by God on the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th days of fasting. This lailatu ‘lkadar is not something that falls from above, but it forms a certain power which can change our state.
Most of the Subud members who fasted felt, after completing the fasting, that there were changes to their inner. Mostly, their spirit to worship became stronger and stronger and also the intention of doing ‘prihatin’ became stronger and stronger.
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LAILATUL-QADR (The evening preceding 27th day Ramadan): Although it is generally accepted in the Moslem community that the last ten days of Ramadan are days of receiving, this particular evening is celebrated with special prayer, in the Moslem community, because it is thought that this is the day upon which the Messenger Muhammad received the verses of the Qu’ran.
TAK-BARAN: (30th day Ramadan): The last day of fasting. Sundown marks the end of the month.
IDUL-FITRI:
The Night of Forgiveness. At the end of Ramadan, we again take a full bath and put on new clothes, and then we should go to our family and our friends and ask forgiveness for whatever sin we have done. This is a time of special celebration and thanks to Almighty God.
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With thanks to Leonard Dixon for the compilation of the info from Bapak, Mas Sudarto and Mas Prio.
Download the Subud Newsletter here:
http://www.subudvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Subud-Voice-JUNE-2013.pdf
and see stories like:
RAMADAN 2013 For those wishing to do Ramadan, we understand that the Fast begins this year on Tuesday July 9. However, you should check with local Islamic authorities. Fasting in Ramadan is not obligatory for Subud members. Information about the fast can be found in this issue.
At the National Congress in Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 4-7, 2013: Sharing Circles (Download the flyer here.)
We invite you to join us at this year’s Subud USA National Gathering.
All the testing about this upcoming gathering indicates that it is primarily a time for SPIRITUAL RENEWAL AND BOLSTERING – a time for each of us to truly connect with and deepen our latihans.
In addition to providing three daily opportunities to do latihan with a large group, there will be sharing circles each day to talk about the latihan, what we receive, what is being asked of us, and how we can bring the latihan to bear in our outer lives. The national helpers will offer testing opportunities that will include the inner significance of being alive on the earth, our soul’s significance and meaning, awakening testing, letting go of the past, forgiveness, acceptance of self and others, taking receiving into our lives, ancestors, personal testing, and more.
National gatherings are the one time each year that we and our families can:
be together with Subud brothers and sisters from across the country. And, because the zone 7 council meeting is being held at the gathering, there will be Subud members from Suriname, Mexico, and Canada attending as well.
Each day there will be an opportunity to come together to share deeply with one another where each of us is on his/her spiritual path. The goal is to create an open space for the expression of where each person is at this time and to have the opportunity to really listen to one another.
We invite each person to share in a circle such things as:
How are you managing getting to latihan?
How are you experiencing the latihan itself?
How are you understanding what you are receiving, and what is being asked of you in your latihan ?
How are you challenged to bring the latihan into your outer lives?
We ask that in the sharing circles we all simply listen openly to one another without interrupting, offering advice or making com- ments. After going around the circle we will see what test ques- tions arise. We can share again after testing. Some sharing circles may address specific topics beyond those suggested above.
Understanding True Culture and Talent Testing
What SICA really is. A deepening of your understanding about true culture and how to put it into your daily life. Testing will be offered at the end of the workshop.
Blessing of the Hands
Our hands can be vehicles through which our true talents are communicated to others. Whether we are artists, musicians, construction workers, welders, auto mechanics, bakers, florists, hobbyists, loan officers, massage therapists, healers or health care professionals, our hands impart our shared journey of imparting the latihan through our work.
Communication Skills:
Listening and Responding from the Inner
A structured interactive workshop in which participants will be guid- ed in an opportunity to practice one-on-one listening and speaking from a true place within.
Navigating Dating and Relationships:
A Kedjiwaan Workshop for Unmarried Women
Come together with other unmarried women to talk and test about following one’s inner path and guidance in the process of dating and navigating intimate relationships.
Intergenerational Ropes Course
The University of New Mexico has a state of the art ropes course. This workshop is led by a trained facilitator and will focus on team- work and community building as we navigate challenges that are appropriate for all ages, from 6-90!
From the National Helpers:
An invitation to fast on Bapak’s birthday from our National Helpers – please share with your groups!
Bapak
In order to bring ourselves to a more open and surrendered state, our dewan has decided to dedicate June 22, Bapak’s birthday, to fasting and prayer. Our prayer is that we individually and collectively receive whatever we need to become more truly and strongly Susila, Budhi, and Dharma.
We invite all of you to join us in whatever way seems best to you. At the end of the day, we will each test questions about our how we are functioning as a Subud person in our external life, and (if appropriate) how we are doing in carrying out our role in the Subud organization. We offer these questions to those who wish to test them, or you may feel to receive your own questions that are appropriate to your circumstances:
• How am I living the latihan in my life?
• How would God have me live the latihan in my life?
• How am I functioning in my role in Subud?
• How would God have me function in my role in Subud?
When we do this all together, we are supported by our mutual connection, with the surrendered spirit that unites us now and forever.
Love from your national helpers,
Aminah, Laurie, Suzanne, Alexandra, Humphrey, Hoan Toan and Sjarifuddin
From Myra Margolin:
I have a scholarship to the National Congress to give out to a young person or family from the Pacific Northwest. The scholarship will either cover registration for two adults in a family or registration and housing for one opened young person.
Do you know someone who would benefit from this? Please spread the word!!
from Myra Margolin:
| Myra Margolin | 5:28am Jun 6 |
| From Myra Margolin | 6:16am Jun 4 |
Ours will be wonderful and restorative and theirs looks like it will be completely amazing. Their website is athttp://subudozcongress.weebly.com/ and ours is at http://subudusa.wix.com/2013gathering.
So many opportunities, near and far, to come together to support and get to know one another!
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Subud Australia National Congress 12-18 January 2014
Subud Australia National Congress 2014
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