Subud (abbreviation for the Sanskrit
phrase Susila Buddhi Dharma)
Subud is one of the more successful new Islamic-
inspired spiritual movements to emerge in indo-
nesia in the 20th century. It was founded by
Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo (1901–87),
who began to receive messages from a spiritual
source as a teenager. This culminated in 1925
when he received a revelation concerning the
latihan kejiwaan, the basic spiritual practice of
Subud. During this initial period, he studied with
various teachers, including some Sufi leaders. He
worked with the latihan for the next few years and
also went through a period of spiritual/mystical
growth. It would be eight years later, however,
before others began to practice the latihan. Thus
1933 is generally accepted as the beginning date
of the movement, which slowly spread through
the country. Initially Bapak (as his followers came
to call him) named the small group that was gath-
ering around him Ilma Kasunyatan.
The group’s spiritual practice, latihan, involves a
gathering of members for about half an hour twice a
week. Sitting with others of their own sex (men and
Women practice separately), they wait for a sponta-
neous impulse to act. Some begin to move, others
will utter sounds. These movements and utterances
vary widely. Members go through the latihan as a
catharsis-like experience, often accompanied with
the reception of some personal guidance. Depend-
ing on their life situation at any given moment, the
immediate impact may be positive or negative.
After more than a decade, Bapak introduced
the term Subud to the movement, occasioned by
the development of a more stable organization
in 1947. The new name is derived from three
Sanskrit words (Susila Buddhi Dharma) that carry
the essence of the movement—following the will
of God, or the power of the life force that works
both within us and without. To outsiders, Subud
appears to be a completely new religion; mem-
bers, however, do not see it as such, and Bapak
noted that Subud lacks a holy book, formal teach-
ing, and sacred formula. Rather, it is a process of
surrendering to God and receiving inspiration.
Subud was limited to Indonesia until the 1950s,
when some followers of Western spiritual teacher
George Gurdjieff (d. 1949) identified Bapak as the
person their teacher had described as the coming
prophet of consciousness. They invited Bapak to
England in 1956 and a number of Gurdjieff’s stu-
dents identified with him. In 1957, as she began
to participate in the movement, actress Eva Bartok
(d. 1998) experienced a much publicized physi-
cal healing. The Institute for the Comparative
Study of History, Philosophy and the Sciences at
Coombes Springs, England, founded by John G.
Bennett (d. 1974), became the point from which
Subud initially spread in the West.
Subud did not allow proselytizing or adver-
tising to assist the spread of the movement and
Bapak also counseled against charging member-
ship fees. However, as the movement spread, a
periodical, Subud News, was launched in 1959,
and a publishing house, Dharma Book Company,
founded. Today, the movement is headed by the
International Subud Committee, headquartered in
the Indonesian island of Bali, with Western head-
quarters in the United States. Its charitable arm,
Susila Dharma International, has NGO (nongov-
ernmental organization) status with the United
Nations. Subud groups are now found in some 70
countries on every continent.
See also hindUism and islam; sUFism.
J. Gordon MeltonFurther reading: Eva Bartok, Worth Living For (New
York: University Books, 1959); John G. Bennett, Con-
cerning Subud (New York: University Books, 1959);
Antoon Geels, Subud and the Javanese Mystical Tradi-
tion (Richmond, England: Curzon, 1997); Robert Lyle,
Subud (Kent, England: Humanus, 1983); Matthew Barry
Sullivan, Living Religion in Subud (London: Subud Pub-
lications International, 1990).Sudan (Republic of the Sudan; Jumhuriyat
al-Sudan; Al-Sudan)
Sudan is the largest country in Africa with an area
of 2,505,810 sq. km (slightly more than one-quar-
ter the size of the United States) and an estimated
population of 40.2 million in 2008. It is locatedSudan 635 J