Subud is a Way of Life

Subud is a Way of Life – Harlinah Longcroft

Subud is a Way of Life is a short, plainly written introduction to Subud, the international spiritual movement founded in Indonesia in the 1920s by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo. Harlinah Longcroft, writing for the movement’s own publishing arm, sets out the idea that gives the book its title: Subud is not a religion, a philosophy, or a body of doctrine to be studied, but a practice meant to be lived alongside any faith or none at all. The book was written with newcomers and members’ own families in mind, and it answers the questions a curious outsider would naturally ask rather than arguing a case for belief.

At the centre of the book is the latihan kejiwaan, the spontaneous spiritual exercise that members undertake twice a week in small, gender-separated groups. Longcroft explains how the latihan is received rather than learned, with no fixed technique, teacher, or creed attached to it, and how each person’s experience of it remains entirely their own. She describes how the exercise is meant to support ordinary daily life, work, and family rather than replace them, and why members are encouraged to stay active in the world instead of withdrawing from it.

The book closes by placing Subud among the wider spiritual searching of the twentieth century, tracing its spread from Java to dozens of countries, and it includes a short bibliography for readers who want to look further into the movement’s background. Written in a plain, non-technical style with no chapters aimed at specialists, it remains one of the more accessible short introductions to Subud available in English.