Subud

Indonesian religious movement based on spontaneous and ecstatic exercises.

Founded in 1933 by Muḥammad Subuh, a student of Sufism who underwent a mystical experience in 1925, the movement was largely confined to Indonesia until it spread to Europe and the U.S. in the 1950s, chiefly because of the work of George Gurdjieff. The central feature of Subud is the latihan, a group spiritual activity in which practitioners allow the power of God to express itself through unrestrained spontaneous activity. Unprogrammed singing, dancing, shouting, and laughter are thought to give rise to feelings of rapture and release and to promote psychological and physical healing.

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▪ Indonesian religious group

      religious movement, based on spontaneous and ecstatic exercises, founded by an Indonesian, Muḥammad Subuh, called Bapak. A student of Ṣūfism (Islāmic mysticism) as a youth, Bapak had a powerful mystical experience in 1925, and in 1933 he claimed that the mission to found the Subud movement was revealed to him. The movement was restricted to Indonesia until the 1950s, when it spread to Europe and America, at first principally among followers of the Russian-born mystical philosopher Georgy Gurdjieff (Gurdjieff, George Ivanovitch).

      The central feature of Subud is the latihan, its only group spiritual activity, which is usually held for an hour twice a week. During latihan, undergone by men and women in separate rooms, members allow the power of God to express itself through unrestrained spontaneous activity. The latihan includes unprogrammed singing, dancing, shouting, and laughter. Participants often report strong feelings of rapture and release, as well as psychological and physical healing. Subud has little doctrinal teaching, except for the belief in divine power and higher centres of consciousness implied by the latihan.

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