SUBUD GREATER SEATTLE
INVITES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY TO
OUR ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY
EVERYONE WELCOME!
TIMES: 12 PM – 3 PM (AFTER LATIHAN)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2017
BRING A DISH TO SHARE
Come enjoy the holiday fun!
All come, bring instruments and your voices!
The Subud library is a fantastic source for finding Bapak’s talks, other Subud books and literature, Bapak’s songs and music and videos of his talks! the videos now have subtitles which make it much easier to follow along with what Bapak is saying in real time rather than waiting for the English translations! I just watched the last one in the list from London in 1986 and was amazed at how powerful it was! I even received strongly at the end when he was doing testing! It was as if I were really with Bapak! It was no different from the times I was actually in testing sessions with him! Amazing!
Click the link below the Subud symbol to get to the site or click the link at the bottom of this page to join and receive password access!
The Subud Library contains over 2,800 talks (many previously unpublished), audio tapes, books and articles by Bapak, Ibu Rahayu, and others with translations in English, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Vietnamese, Serbian, Dutch, and Japanese. Access to the library is restricted to registered Subud members only. If you already have a registered user name and password, you can proceed to the library and enter your “username” and “password” (case-sensitive, no quotes) in the security dialog.
The documents you are about to access are for Subud members and are subject to copyright. Please do not modify, reproduce, copy, display, or distribute all or part of these documents in any form or through any medium, including Facebook and other social media,without the prior consent of the copyright owner WSA. To request such consent, please contact: wsa.secretary@subud.org.
Bapak and Ibu Rahayu have previously explained that their talks were received and provided to suit the needs and capacity of the relevant audience. Bapak and Ibu Rahayu have also explained that their talks and writings are guidance, advice and clarifications rather than rules.
If you are a Subud member who has not yet registered and would like to, click here to complete and submit a library security registration form. We will set up an account for you and email you when your account has been activated (usually within 24 hours).
Rachman Cantrell at it again
While at Menucha, Honora asked me to take over the editing job for the Subud Greater Seattle newsletter. Hariana Chilstrom and Paul Nelson have been doing a masterful job but Hariana is leaving for parts unknown and Paul has his hands full with managing the Subud building enterprise, his non-profit organization (SPLAB) and his five year old daughter Ella! After receiving about it I accepted the post. It means a steep learning curve for me but with help I am hoping for a good outcome. Information and articles of interest to Subud members can be addressed to me at rachmanc@gmail.com. Everything should be in as complete a form as possible so I can copy and past as needed. I will do some editing if necessary. Including an image related to the story is very helpful. Please forgive me if I make mistakes! Thanks, Rachman.
Quick snapshot of our last Menucha event:
For me (Rachman) it was interesting in how smoothly everything went! I seemed to find myself wherever I needed to be, met who I needed to meet and experienced what I needed to experience! In past Menuchas sometimes I would feel out of place with more ups and downs but this time everything seemed in sync!
I especially liked the spontaneous ‘Virtues’ workshop of people hanging out in the ‘Barn’ with Joyce O’Halloran. I was a reluctant participant but very glad that I was drawn in by the sincerity and willingness of those in attendance! Some really deep work occurred that seemed to be of benefit to all who participated. Thanks, Joyce!
Another workshop that was powerful for me had to do with sounds. A young woman named Grace brought sound bowls and had us add our voices to sounds emanating from the bowls. With some hesitance I allowed my voice to be explored and heard! It was a truly liberating feeling! Near the end of the session we were sorted into groups of three with the idea to direct sounds of healing toward each other. I was touched by how well it worked in our little group! All the sounds were different for each of us depending on our different individual needs. On my turn sounds were directed toward healing pains in my back and it actually felt better afterward! I cannot comment on what others received but it was remarkable to me that healing energy seemed to flow out though sounds that I made!
I had not participated in the entertainment for many years but upon walking into the Wright Hall entrance Frederick Branchflower ordered me to put my name on the board with all the other entertainers. It is hard to say ‘no’ to Frederick so I wrote my name at the end! I sang a song prayer that I had received years ago that I had not done publicly until now. It felt good to finally share it. Thanks, Frederick!
The main testing was always done in the morning ( I am not a ‘morning’ person!) so I missed that part of Menucha but heard that it went well and generated some strong experiences for those who took part.
Other workshops had glowing reports of transformative effects with beneficial results dealing with current issues and world problems.
Getting to meet old and new friends was especially heart warming for me! We truly are brothers and sisters who love and cherish being with each other! I really felt the love going in both directions!
The Menucha retreat has always been the highlight of my Subud year and this one was no exception! It seemed that I received just what I needed! Amazingly the only times I have been disappointed with Menucha is when I have failed to attend! See you next time?
New friends and the Columbia Gorge!
Beata Alexander and Rachman
Leandra and T
Maryka and David Lynch
The first Subud Seattle House
This intimate interview of Ann and Chuck Cary by Sebastian Tedrow describes the early years of Subud Seattle and the first Subud Seattle house. Ann and Chuck are some of the earliest Subud Seattle helpers.
Chuck: The history of Subud in Seattle starts in 1959. We were opened by a group of Subud Members from Vancouver BC. Members of the Vancouver group were originally opened by the Von Bissings who I believe were on a world tour to promote Subud and sailed from San Francisco to Vancouver in a yacht. The Von Bissings, who had been living in Cyprus, were opened in London in 1956 by Hussein Rofe. Of course they knew John Bennet and some of the early people who brought Subud to the West.
Ann and I were opened in what later became the first Subud House in Seattle. It was quite beautiful. It is still there, a stately mansion, stucco, half timbered, 3 floors plus a basement, a garage and a carriage house. Many people prior to and after Subud lived in the many rooms. There were 5 bedrooms on the second floor and various other bedrooms on other floors. The main floor had a living room and dining room, library and adjacent to that was a kitchen. The rooms had beautiful hardwood paneled walls. The ceiling was white plastered ceiling with heavy wooden beams. There were tapestries, big French doors and windows which looked out on the gardens. It was on Capitol Hill at the corner of Broadway and Prospect.
Sebastian: The address is 959 Broadway Ea. It is currently a Bed and Breakfast – “The Bacon Mansion.”
Ann: From the upper windows, where we lived, we could see the Seattle Center across lake union. When we lived there we watched building of the fountain from our bedroom.
Sebastian: From the Subud House you could watch them building of the Seattle center for the world’s fair?
Chuck Yep. The house had a long history, probably built about 1910. They still had horses and wagons and carriage houses in those days. It was in a nice neighborhood of old tree lined streets and similar mansions. Before it became a Subud House it was leased by an organization called the “Center of Integration”. That was when I first knew about it. I occasionally attended Sunday morning meetings there. I attended a few lectures on Sanskrit and yoga. The Center was led by two men. The dominant gentlemen was Robert Carr. His partner was a man named Connie. Robert gave most of the lectures and did psychic readings. He was a student of oriental religions. His goal was helping people presumably to achieve Satori or Samadhi or enlightenment. He was a student of Yogananda and Krashnamurti. He had maybe 30 or 40 people who came every Sunday for his lectures.
Before I knew anything about Subud I would sometimes go to listen to the lectures. I also went to Vedanta Society about 10 blocks away and sometimes to the Theosophical book store about 6 blocks away. In those days I was probably 21 or 22 and had been a spiritual seeker most of my life, and had studied oriental languages and philosophies. I had a BA degree from the University of Washington on Far East and Russian History. People would come to the Center of Integration to give lectures. One of the people who came was from India and he taught lessons in Sanskrit. He knew Yoga and I wanted him to teach me Yoga but he never did. And that is how I became acquainted with the building.
I became personally acquainted with Subud when I was doing research in the University of Washington Library and came across deep in the stacks a series of issues of the magazines called “Tomorrow”. For some reason I pulled one of them out and there was an article about Bapak and Subud. I read that a person once being opened could receive the life force and could open others and pass the life force on to them. I thought this was too good to be true.
The article stated that the main problem for people seeking enlightenment was to quiet the mind and various techniques had been developed to do this. But in Subud it was easier because the latihan did it for you. I thought this was a miracle if true. I told my old friend Rashad (then Robert) Hopkins who was studying art at the University of Washington. In later years he has operated art galleries in San Francisco. I told him about Subud and we decided to seek it out. We found that there was a small group of Subud Members who had been meeting for a few months in private houses. We also found that the Center of Integration was interested in Subud. The original Subud members and some of the people from the Center of Integration became the core of the Seattle Subud group. They began to do latihan at the Center.
Ann: Was Betty Warden one of them?
Chuck: Yes.
Ann and I were married in September 1957 before we joined Subud. During those early years of our marriage Ann and I and Rashad went down to meetings held at the Center. We decided we wanted to be opened, partly because we admired the quality of the people.
No one had been opened long enough to be helpers, so the helpers came down from Vancouver BC to do openings for new people who wanted to join. One of the Canadian helpers was Joe Koach. The first members of the small Seattle group were already opened. We were opened in January of 1959. Many of Robert Carr’s followers also joined Subud but most of them fell away eventually.
Ann: I don’t think Baldwin Ancioux or Dianna Dickstein came in this early.
Chuck: About this time, (1959) Bob Carr and his partner Connie dissolved the Center of Integration and got regular jobs. They eventually moved to San Francisco. The Subud group inherited the lease on the mansion.
The whole building was an Ideal Subud House, big enough that you could have all of the latihans and the noise and the neighbors wouldn’t even notice. We could do simultaneous latihans and still have plenty of room for probationers.
Ann: I think the men did latihan in the library.
Chuck: Yes they did. Sometimes when the Canadians were down there would be very large groups. I believe there was a way of shutting off some of the rooms.
Our relations with the Canadians were close. In fact the first Subud Northwest combined British Columbia with the Washington and Oregon groups. Later, at the suggestion of Bapak, BC was separated out so there was a separation between the two countries.
Chuck: Ann and I were asked to become caretakers of the house. So we went to the top floor and made that into our living quarters. We cleaned it all up and repainted a lot of it. It was quite beautiful. It had been a Ballroom with beautiful hardwood floors. From the windows you could see the Seattle Center and some of the world’s fair preparations while we were there.
Now it became a Subud house we lived there and tried to keep it up, and manage it. We had a Subud book store where we sold Subud magazines and books like Tarzie Vatachie’s Reporter in Subud and Bapak’s book Susila Budi Dharma.
Ann: We carried copies of these books all over the world. So now after a year of this life we received our commission to join the Foreign Service and we left Seattle in January of 1961.
Chuck: We left in January 1961 to join the Foreign Service and moved to Washington D.C. about six days after President Kennedy’s inauguration. So our intensive time in Subud Seattle was in 1960 when you and I became Helpers.
Ann: Just at the time we were leaving, I was pregnant. Our oldest, Evan, (formerly Jack) was born before we were opened. Our second and third were born in Washington DC. We did latihan with the Washington group. We came back to visit Seattle several times and did latihan, first in the old house and finally in the smaller Belmont Avenue house.
Ann and Chuck Cary are currently living in the Olympia area and have helped revive the Olympia group.
Click on the link below to see what’s happening this Sunday.
SUBUD GREATER SEATTLE GENERAL MEETING
September 15, 2017, Eastside
ATTENDEES: Jim O’Halloran, Honora, Hadijah and Sherwin O’Bar, Lorraine and Sebastian Tedrow, Marston Gregory, Paul Nelson, Bhakti Watts, Rachman and Ida Cantrell, Halstein Stralberg, Elisha Gullixson, Hanafi LIbman, Danella Mauguin, Oswald Norton, Hadiyah Carlyle.
Minutes from January 29, 2017 approved
FINANCIAL: Sherwin gave a comprehensive report for the year so far.
Revenue: $63, 272 (including member donations of $10,124 and Airbnb of $51,625).
Expenses: $68,024 (rental expense of $31,6k72 and house improvements/occupancy costs of $26,030 of which about $10,000 represents full payment for the sewer line rework).
Excess of Expense over Revenue: $4,752.
SPRING STREET CENTER:
After many years of working on a way to bring income to the Subud Greater Seattle house we are proud to say that both Airbnb and rentals are doing very well. Paul reported that the total income for Airbnb 2017 so far has been $61,143.39, an 11 % increase over the similar period last year. Last year included Airbnb and rentals and this year Airbnb is up by itself over that.
We continue to hold “Superhost” status at Airbnb due to three factors:
Paul said that the rental service creates awareness of Subud, gives lower-income lodgers a warm, clean place to stay in Seattle and provides revenues to help keep the house well-maintained. He thanks us for the opportunity to serve Subud.
Marston also reported that the team for the rentals is working well. A lot of work has been put into making the enterprise successful.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Menucha – Registration now open. We encourage people to register. Hadijah brought up that if people have special diets they need to report it to Menucha ahead of time.
Great Create Recap – Oswald reported that 27 people attended. It was a weekend of great talent. It’s a SICA backbone. We obtained funding for a pilot program for future programs giving youth chance to take over.
Fall SGS Oct 15 event – Honora encouraged people to come. Lorraine and Hadiyah reported. Debbie Santos Machado will be the chef for a sit down lunch after latihan on Oct 15. Debbie needs to have a head count by Oct 6 to order food. So far we have a good response from Olympia and Skagit.
Regional Helper visit – Scheduled for Dec 9. Honora reported that there will be a kedjiwan day and then at night music and a party.
International Helper visit – A date needs to be scheduled but will be sometime in Jan/Feb.
Respectfully submitted by Hadiyah Carlyle
Please Remember: Subud Greater Seattle Fall Gathering on October 15. We request that you rsvp to Hadiyah Carlyle 206 271 4577 or hadiyahc@aol.com by October 5 in order to provide sufficient food for all.
Fall is coming, and so is the Subud Greater Seattle Fall Gathering, a celebration of community and all those who make it so.
Please join us on Sunday, October 15, 2017 for an opportunity to share delicious food and to grow our sense of community. Our Subud sister Chef Debbie Machado is graciously donating her time and expertise.
The food will be served buffet style at about 12:30 pm, and we will sit down together at tables in the ladies’ Latihan hall. A donation of $15 to help pay for the food is appreciated, but everyone is welcome.
Please RSVP Hadiyah Carlyle at hadiyahc@aol.com or call 206-352-3274
The Great Create at Pilgrim Firs had a modest turnout (about 25 folks), but the people who came had a delightful variety of workshops to choose from. It was sometimes hard to decide which to do, especially since the gorgeous lake and hiking trails beckoned us out into the beautiful surroundings. The setting was a fragrant evergreen forested retreat on the Kitsap Peninsula, Pilgrim Firs.
Pilgrim Firs is in a Douglas Fir/Hemlock forest with a pristine lake and hiking trails. Housing included shared rooms in a large lodge and several smaller cabins that one or two people occupied. Several Latihans and generous buffet-style meals topped off the creative workshops and outdoor activities.
Summer time in the Northwest is at its best in our forests. The characteristic fragrance of sun-washed evergreen needles was everywhere here.
Kayaking, canoeing and swimming were fabulous in the warm weather.
The workshops were great! Michael Dubois and Marius Hubbard led the fabric marbling and Halimah Taylor organized Fun with Clay.
Marlena Knill and Liza Ramey inspired creations with oil pastels and watercolors; Aaron Mann supervised a wonderful glass-fusing workshop, and Hariana Chilstrom directed Bug Art. Virginia Bowers led an interpreted nature walk around the lake, and many folks just ambled on their own.
Most of these photos were taken by Lambert Bazinet of Canada.