Notes from the Archives: Farewell and Appreciation for Our Dear Brother Lester Sutherland (1928-2024)

by Daniela Moneta

Lester Sutherland, 1955, interviewing for Memories of Bapak Project

The first photo above is from the Sutherland family, it is Lester as a 10-year-old boy living in India and with his family and his beloved German Shepherd, named Carmen. Lester was born in Bangalore, India, 96 years ago and lived there until he was about 17 or so as his father was an officer in the British Army.  At roughly the age of 17, Lester was asked by his parents to be the sibling (he had one sister and one brother who passed away a number of years ago) tasked with travelling alone to Canada to see if Canada should be the country the family should move to (the other options were Australia and South Africa). So, Lester stayed with his uncle in Kamloops, British Columbia (his uncle was the magistrate there) and soon after arriving he wrote back to his family in India and said Canada was definitely the country the whole family should move to. In his adult life Lester met and married Pauline, his partner for the rest of his life. They had five children Rayner, Vivienne, Emma, Maria, and Alyce, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Pauline was one of the first group of International Helpers in 1989-1993 after Bapak’s passing. Both Lester and Pauline were longtime, active Subud members.

Lester graduated from the University of Victoria with a B.A. of Education in 1960 and from the University of UBC with a Masters of English Literature in 1967. He taught elementary and secondary school in various communities in BC and was a principal with the Delta School District for many years.

Lester Sutherland, A True Subud Pioneer, and His Many Contributions

The Subud International Archives has a Memories of Bapak Interviews of Lester Sutherland made in 1995. Lester tells about his residence at Coombe Springs while studying at the Institute of Comparative Studies of History, Philosophy and the Sciences founded by John G. Bennett. Lester, a Canadian, was opened in Subud in 1957 and describes how Mr. Bennett told him and other students about Bapak’s upcoming visit to Coombe Springs. Lester describes his opening and the early latihans at Coombe, how he got his name, and his visit to see Bapak in 1958 when Bapak was in San Francisco, California. Lester was one of the early members of Subud Vancouver, British Colombia. For access to the Subud Archives and other interviews of Subud members, send an email to: admin@wsaarchives.org

Lester said that at the time of his opening he was told nothing about Subud, he was just asked by John Bennett if he and the others with him wanted to be opened into this new way. All said yes. He recalls at his opening that nothing apparently happened to him. Afterwards, he went for a walk alone in the adjoining park and spent an hour or two there spontaneously singing hymns at the top of his voice. The park was empty. He just couldn’t stop himself. So, he knew that something very important had happened to his life. It was known that Bapak was always pointing out to others, Lester’s amazing ability to receive the latihan so strongly and clearly. Bapak instructed his two Indonesian helpers to take special care of Lester and support him on his spiritual journey.

Lester visited Wisma Subud several times, I remember meeting him for the first time when he and Pauline attended Bapak’s Thousand Day Selamatan celebration in 1990 and the couple stayed at my apartment in the Guest House that used to be Bapak’s and Ibu’s home before the Big House was finished. Lester visited the archives and spent time with me when I was working on Bapak’s archives, and I think that was where he got his love and appreciation for the archives.

In 1993 at the Colombian World Congress, Lester both ISC Vice-Chair (1993-1997) working along with Harun Murray who was ISC Chair, and Lester was appointed Director of the ISC (Subud International Committee) Archives Committee, also called at the time Media Coordinator. We worked together since that time on many archive projects. It was 1995 or so when Hurun Murrary, ISC chair, asked Lester to copyright the Works of Bapak (everything Bapak ever wrote, recorded on tape, or on film). The copyright does include everything except Bapak’s autobiography which is one treasure that Bapak’s family wanted to keep. Lester was made the Trustee of Bapak’s copyright. Bapak’s works will be protected by copyright until 2057 when it becomes part of the public domain. Lester authored a book about Subud Houses in 1999. He wrote the back cover notes for Vol. 1 of History of Subud by Harlinah Longcroft which he was instrumental in getting this first volume published. He co-authored a very popular book of many Subud members: Experiencing the Miraculous: A Gift of Grace. He was a member of the Muhammad Subuh Foundation for many years, a donor to the Susila Dharma International Association, and was Chairman of Subud Canada, and the Vancouver group several times starting in the 1970s, and he was long-time editor of Canada’s national newsletter SCAN. We will miss Lester’s loving, positive attitude; he was the perfect gentleman in all ways. God’s speed.

Submitted by Daniela Moneta, WSA Archivist
With assistance from the Sutherland family