Subud (Susila Budhi Dharma)
Indonesian-derived spiritual movement founded by Muhammad Subuh ('Pak Subuh', 1947). Distinctive 'latihan' practice — group spontaneous spiritual exercise. Low-moderate control with strong family-cultural integration.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — Indonesian-derived spiritual movement; voluntary practice, low-moderate control.
Profile facts
In context
Subud teaches a distinctive 'latihan kejiwaan' — half-hour group sessions of spontaneous physical and emotional spiritual practice. Members ('subudians') are 'opened' by an authorised helper. The movement is structured by national and regional bodies but daily-life regulation is light. Pak Subuh died in 1987; succession is via the World Subud Association.
Key control doctrines
- Latihan kejiwaan as core practice
- Pak Subuh's interpretive lineage
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
- Reclamation Collective — Religious-trauma-aware therapist network; relevant for post-exit identity-rebuilding.
- Religious Trauma Institute — Religious-trauma clinical research and clinician directory (Marlene Winell tradition).
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
See the full curated list at /resources.
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- 1925Pak Subuh's first revelations
- 1947Subud formally established
- 1987Pak Subuh dies
Sources
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Universal fallback.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: academic sources. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Key terms in this profile
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
You may also want to explore
Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.