Subud.

April 19, 2005 1:37 AM

Art of Living! Subud, its origin and aim, meant everything to my recently deceased 99-year-old uncle Latif. He was not attracted to organized religion. He never saw these links , because he never got online - his Subud brothers came to him to do the latihan , with him, at the end of his life.
posted by goofyfoot (9 comments total)

There's something that strikes me as a little "off" about a religion or spiritual group that has its symbol registered as a trademark.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:30 AM on April 19, 2005

Were this post to include any commentary from the outside about the Subdud religion/philosophy/whatever I might take it more seriously.

As presented here it seems to be YAC (Yet Another Cult) of no interest or signifigance other than to its members.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 4:17 AM on April 19, 2005

I have to agree with Monkey...the fact that it meant the world to your uncle, means nothing to us and the links bear little or no relation to the text.

In fact the mention of your uncle in the post is irrelevant, I know thats where you heard of Subud but the line He never saw these links , seems like some kind of misplaced attempt at poignancy.
posted by kenaman at 4:39 AM on April 19, 2005

Why do religious people create such horrible web sites? This FPP leaves a lot to be desired but, I'd be interested in reading about your uncle if you have a self-link to a blog or something.
posted by a_day_late at 4:48 AM on April 19, 2005

I think this is a perfectly fine post.

Multiple links couched in a bit of background, as opposed to how lots of people would have done it:

There's a religion called Subud.

This is far superior to that.
posted by Ynoxas at 6:50 AM on April 19, 2005

From the website...

Subud has spread all over the world since. Yet, little is known about it as Pak Subuh indicated that Subud ought not be spread by any form of propaganda.
posted by R. Mutt at 7:50 AM on April 19, 2005

Thanks for the post. I'd never heard of Subud. In my brief browsing, it looks like a fascinating example of modern mysticism.

Nothing about it sounds like a cult -- I don't see any evidence of an exploitative personality leading this group, or any pressure to leave one's family or give all of one's money to the organization.

Goofyfoot, can you tell us any more about how your uncle came to Subud and what the experience was for him? Did you ever participate in or witness the latihan?
posted by sudama at 8:01 AM on April 19, 2005

I am also interested in this latihan. Mostly because I see a vein of catharsis/ecstansy traditions in many religions. Speaking in tongues, Vodoun dancing, yogic Samadhi. Anyone ever seen one / done one?
posted by jopreacher at 10:57 AM on April 19, 2005

I've never been to a latihan; I understand that the practitioners levitate. If that's metaphorical or physical I can't determine; I'm an atheist and always have been.

What compelled me to make this FPP was meeting my uncle's Subud brethren at his memorial service the other day, coming home to look it all up, finding nothing on metafilter about it, and (feeling a sort of kick against all the Catholic pageantry we've had to absorb of late) posting it.
posted by goofyfoot at 2:53 PM on April 20, 2005