A while back I had a dream in which I was setting up to do video interviews with Subud members.  When I woke up I had a strong feeling to investigate the idea as a project.  Soon the national committee had heard about this idea and were behind it 100% and Paul Nelson has agreed to help make it happen!  I would like to start with those of us in the Seattle group so if you are willing to be interviewed please let me or Paul know.  The idea would be to do it after latihan on a Sunday or other latihan days.   Many of us are growing old and may not be around too much longer.  We need to get this done!

My thoughts on the interview project.

Goals of the interviews:

1.  Preserve as best we can, through stories and experiences, the essence and meaning of the Subud Latihan.
2.  Keep for future generations memories of Bapak and early Subud history.
3. Record, if possible, the essence of spiritual experiences within the videos themselves.
4. Make available to the general public segments of videos that would help the growth of Subud in the future.

How it would work:

1. First option would be direct one on one in-person interviews which would require someone to go to the interviewee’s home or have them come to another location.
2. Option two would be to do videos via Zoom or another similar source.  This would work well in long distance interviews which would be difficult to do in person.
3. Another possibility is to do the interviews at a Subud event, national or regional congress, local group, etc.

My idea for option one is to ask for volunteers in different groups who would be willing to do the interviews locally and to provide them with interview questions, equipment or help as needed.

Option two could be done online via Zoom with members who may be hard to reach in person.

Paul Nelson, Matthew Cooke and Halimah Collingwood, along with several others, are professional interviewers and may be willing to help in this project.

Option three is probably the first to get started.

I don’t believe it is necessary to invest a lot of money in equipment for doing the interviews.  A cell phone with a good quality camera would work well provided it was close to the interviewee and in a quiet location with no interference.

Sample Interview questions:

Name, date and place of interview, age, contact info.

How long have you been in Subud?

How did you find and come into Subud?

What helper or committee jobs have you had in Subud?

Have you had any outer or inner experiences or memories related to Bapak?

Have you had any other spiritual experiences due to being in Subud?

Have you noticed any outer benefits from doing the latihan over the years?

What effect has Subud had on your outer and inner life?

Have you seen or experienced many changes in your latihan or outer life while being in Subud?

How would you value your overall Subud experience?

Would you agree to have parts of this interview available to other Subud or prospective Subud members?

Rachman Cantrell

425-822-5579

First, a very belated thank-you to Alexa for making and providing surprise gifts for everyone who came to the holiday party!

Second—you guessed it—we are STILL looking for a treasurer.  We will be interviewing bookkeeping services next week, so that should make the job far easier than it has been in the past.

Be sure to make out checks to Subud Pacific Northwest at Seattle. You can also mail to Subud Greater Seattle at 110115th, Seattle, WA 98122.

Oh, and yes, we are still in desperate need of a Treasurer!

One donation box in men’s hall.

One donation box in women’s quiet room.

Subud Seattle needs a treasurer!

The really good news is we now have a chair (Jim O’Halloran), a vice chair; and a secretary (Alexa Wichert).

Even more good news-we are intending to hire a bookkeeper to do the books for Subud Pacific Northwest, Subud Portland, and Subud Seattle so the local treasurers’  burdens for the region, Seattle, and Portland will be much lighter.

Oswald left the books in great shape with excellent documentation and will be happy to help train a new treasurer if that person would like any guidance.  Also, Happy 50th wedding anniversary to Sebastian and Lorraine!  Be sure to ask about their totally epic wedding travels in a huge blizzard!

Subud Seattle needs a treasurer!

The General Meeting of Subud Greater Seattle took place on Sunday January 9th, with in person and virtual attendance. Testing for Chair resulted in another term for Jim O’Halloran. Testing for Vice Chair resulted in the choice of Marston who served as Secretary for the past two years. The Dewan is in need of a Secretary, and possibly a Treasurer. Please consider helping Jim and Marston by volunteering!

There are only a few stalwart souls doing Latihan on the Eastside on Friday nights. Won’t you join in so that they are not all alone? Quiet time is at 7:45, with Latihan starting at 8:00. One more man and one more woman helper would also be greatly appreciated. If anyone has never gone, it takes place at Bellevue First Congregational Church of Christ, 11061 NE 2nd Street, Bellevue, 98004. All Subud brothers & sisters are welcome!

I was participating via the Zoom format so this will be a very limited report!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the general meeting today, especially Paul, who made it possible for me to understand, in part, what was being said by transcribing and interpreting comments!  Sorry I missed a lot (most) of the comments due to difficulty in hearing and understanding the words.  I think the acoustics in the room are not very good for the Zoom format.  Hopefully a solution can be found if we have future meetings in this way.  In all, I think it was an interesting experiment and a step forward in new Subud technology, although maybe not new in the rest of the world!

From what I could hear and understand, the meeting went smoothly and proceeded with the selection of a new (old) chair, Jim O’Halloran and vice-chair, Marston.  Congratulations Jim and Marston!  There were various reports and comments, most of which I could not hear or understand, but it all seemed to work out with good results in the end!   We agreed as a group to give money to SICA USA and Susila Dharma.  We managed to get through the testing in a relatively smooth and timely manner with mostly unanimous results.  We had a very thorough treasurer’s report from Oswald which hopefully will be included in the minutes.  Unfortunately, I was not able to hear or understand it but the impression I got was that we are doing okay!

Thanks to Jim, for being willing to continue as chair and thanks to Marston for stepping up as

vice-chair!  Also, thanks to Annie for agreeing to take on the treasurer job and Alexa for her

willingness to serve on the committee!  Thanks to Elisha and Rayma for the very interesting

helper reports and to everyone else who contributed!

Regarding the Eastside latihan, it was decided to continue with the rental even though

attendance has been very minimal. Hopefully attendance will increase in 2022 with new

commitments from those who voted to continue the rental!

Thanks again,

Rachman

General Meeting and Testing for Group’s Chair & Vice Chair

Moment of quiet

Approval of agenda – Jim O’Halloran

Election of chair and vice-chair with testing – Local Helpers

Turn over meeting to new chair – TBD

Review and approval of minutes (distributed at meeting and available in zoom) New Chair

• Annual meeting 1/24/21 
• Previous general meeting 10/24/21

Helpers’ reports

• Women – Rayma Norton
• Men – Elisha Gullixson

Treasurer’s Report – Oswald Norton

• Year End Cash Flow Summary
• Summary Financial report
  • iTrips Income
  • iTrips Relationship
  • Return of reduced donations to SPNW
  • Building Maintenance Fund and progress toward repairs
• Motion: Will the Subud PNW – Greater Seattle Center donate to Susila Dharma USA $1,000 as a year-end donation?
• Motion: Adjourn Meeting

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We, your outgoing committee members, request that you participate in the meeting to select the new committee members who will lead our group for the next two years.

After latihan, we will start the meeting and at the same time have a brief pot luck (please bring something to share) and discussion regarding our receiving from the testing listed below and the future we all see for our group.  This will be followed by the general meeting in which we will select our new committee. After their selection we will have a brief review of the work of our helpers and committee since our last general meeting.

By participating, you will demonstrate to the candidates your support of their willingness to serve our community during the next 2 years.

Before the meeting, and after latihan, the helpers have prepared the following questions for members wishing to test prior to the meeting, either by themselves or with Helpers:

1. Please receive in your own way what are the needs of the Subud Greater Seattle group at this time?

2. How may I best serve Subud Greater Seattle at this time?

3. What state should I be in to receive the testing for a committee position?

Please see the next article for the meeting agenda and zoom link for those who must participate remotely.