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.