Spiritual Letter 01 - Outline & Summary Version About Spiritual Letter 01 Title: "Who Are We, Who Is God, And What Is The Relationship Between Us." Wisdom Point: His Holiness, "In Truth There Is Only One God, One Prayer, One Family, And There Is Really Only One Life, Only One Soul, Which Is The Life of God Within Each of Us, Within All of Creation." Date Written: April, 1989, Date Last Updated: July, 2004 Date Published: July, 2004 Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) Written to: Rev. George. A. Johnson, Nigeria, Africa Go To: Outline of Spiritual Letter - for Page 09 Go To: Text of Spiritual Letter - for Page 09 Home Page - Spiritual Letters Spiritual Letter 03 Letter 01: Oiginal Version Library Home Page Spiritual Letter 02 Letter 01: Related Material Page 9 of 18 Go To Table of Contents - Spiritual Letter 01 Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Al-salam 'alaykum wa-rahmat Allah wa barakatuhu kulluhu. Wa 'alaykum al-salam wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kulluhu. May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessing of God be upon us all. May God help us all. My love you (anbu), my dearest loving brothers and sisters - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). Outline of Spiritual Letter - for Page 09 B. Review of The Letter - written to the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship by the brother from Africa 33. We Can Only Truly Meet - within the open heart of the Shaikh 34. Bawa Does Not Speak - of any esoteric part of Islam 35. There Is No Need To Dwell - in other people's illusions, ideas, and opinions, but it is ever better not to dwell in our own 36. Who Is The One - who walks the path to God? 37. We Cannot Truly Pray To God - because God is One and we are many. So first we must become One and then pray to the One who Is. Only that is True Prayer 38. God Is Truth - and Man is wisdom and beauty 39. The True Path of Islam - is the path of the Spiritual Child within us 40. Our Physical Life - is but the vessel for our Spiritual Life Text of Spiritual Letter - for Page 09 B. REVIEW OF THE LETTER WRITTEN TO THE FELLOWSHIP BY THE BROTHER FROM AFRICA In your letter my loving brother you said some very beautiful things and asked some very important questions. Let us next review together what was said in your letter as a foundation of our friendship, our unity, and our compassionate love within the living God within us. 33. We Can Only Truly Meet Within The Open Heart of The Shaikh First, in your letter, you said that you came to us from the love and peace of the Christ within you. It is always important to remember that this is how we came together, my loving brother, and that this is the only way that we can ever truly stay together. We did not meet by your writing to us my loving brother, though an exchange of letters did occur. We met within the one open heart in the state of surrender and unity, in the state of faith and trust in the one life, in the state of oneness with the one God within us. Please always remember this point, my loving brother. Bawa teaches us that we are all one within that secret place within our own hearts. Bawa speaks of this as the heart within the heart, the place within us that is eternal, as the place within our own life that is at peace and in unity with all life. Bawa says that our journey is to find this place and than to merge with this place of peace and unity within our own hearts. This place within our own hearts Bawa says is the Kingdom of God. 34. Bawa Does Not Speak Of Any Esoteric Part Of Islam Second, in your letter you asked to know more about Islam and its esoteric part. Bawa does not speak of any esoteric part of Islam. In the English dictionary the word esoteric is defined as: 1) Defined for, limited to, or understood by the specially initiated alone. 2) Knowledge that is restricted to a small group. The Islam that came with each of God's Prophets, and has now come at the time of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), and now of His Children (may God be pleased with Him), is not like this, is not esoteric. It is for everyone and everything. Bawa teaches us that Islam is purity, that Islam is unity, that Islam is the belief that God is the ruler of the universe, that God is the one who is conducting our lives, not us. Bawa says that Islam is the belief that our entire life, and everything that happens to us, is conducted by God, not by us. Islam is the belief that God is the one who carries out everything, that God is responsible for both the cause and the effect within everything. To read a beautiful introduction to True Islam as explained by His Holiness, please click on the following On-line book, "Islam & World Peace - Explanations of a Sufi" (www.bmf.org/iswp), which is the last book about Islam personally directed by His Holiness, before His passing on December 8th, 1986, and can now be read in its entirety on-line. We suggest that you read this book from the back to the front, that is, from the last Chapter to the first Chapter, which is the same way Bawa told us to read the Holy Qur'an, as the normal way, starting with the Suratul Fatiah, as the "Opening Chapter", is like entering the world, ending with the Suratal Nas, which is our current state of "separation and differences" in the world, and the other way is like leaving the world, starting with our current state which is described in the Suratal Nas, then the Suratal Falaq, which is the dawning, the joining of our soul with our wisdom, then Iklas or the purity, which is the state of the Triple Flame of God within us, saying it 3 times, and in this way saying the rest of the Holy Qur'an, and then saying the Suratal Fatiah, the "Opening Chapter", which is now the "Opening Chapter" to leaving this world, the opening chapter to the "Hereafter" or the next world, to akhirah. Click on the following to go to the last Chapter in this book by Holiness, which is called "Epilogue" (www.bmf.org/iswp/epilogue.html) rather than Chapter 13, because people in America don't like the number 13, even though Bawa teaches us that this is actually a very lucky number. For example, Bawa teaches us that the disciple Barnabus (peace be upon Him) was the 13 disciple of Jesus (peace be upon Him), was the "beloved of Jesus", who at the direction of Jesus (peace be upon Him) lived for over 600 years, and gave the salams of Jesus (peace be upon Him) to Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon Him), before dying, and while living in the world wrote both the "Gospel of John" and the "Barnabus Bible", both of which give us a very beautiful explanation of the "Gift of God" for the Children of God at the time of Jesus (peace be upon Him), that is, if we read them with wisdom, with the "Presence of God" within us, with the "Presence of the Holy Trinity or Triple Flame of God" within us. In this beautiful book of wisdom Bawa teaches us that everyone was born in the state of Islam, that all of the prophets of God, during their time in the world, were a living example of the true state of Islam and that what each of them described and explained was the path of Islam, the path of finding and merging with the living God within us. 35. There Is No Need To Dwell - in other people's illusions, ideas, and opinions, but it is ever better not to dwell in our own Third, you say in your letter, my loving brother, that you do not what to dwell anymore in people's illusions and preconceived ideas and opinions. In one way, as a first step, this is very good my loving brother. There is no need to dwell in other people's illusions, ideas, and opinions. But Bawa teaches us to take this approach even further. There is no need to dwell in our own illusions, ideas, and opinions. Bawa teaches us that within us is the living truth of God, that within us is also the one who can understand and live within that truth, and if we can become this one who understands and lives within the truth of God, then we will becomes the light of truth for the world. It is not forming our own ideas and opinions that is important my loving brother. Rather, it is to discover "who we are", "who God is", and the "relationship between us". Bawa teaches us that it is only in answering the question, "Who are we?", that we will ever find the answer to the question, "Who is God?". Bawa tells us that the answer to the question, "Who are we?", and the question, "Who is God?", is really the same question and answer, simply different parts of the same question and answer. One part is the Secret of God and the other part is the Mystery of God. For as Bawa teaches us on Page 6 in the "Introduction" to the book, "Shaikh and Disciple", God tells man, "You are a Secret. I am a Mystery". Please click on the following to read the full content of this beautiful discourse by His Holiness: Shaikh And Disciple (www.ShaikhAndDisciple.homestead.com). Once there, go to the "Table of Contents" and click on the title, "Introduction". Thank you. 36. Who Is The One Who Walks The Path To God? In one way, my loving brother, this is a good step to take in our life, to try to understand things for ourselves. But before we can take this step there is a very subtle point within our life that we must first understand. Who is the one who walks the path to God? And who is the one who understands God? And who is the one who prays to God? We must be clear on these points my loving brother before we try to understand anything for ourselves. Bawa teaches us that only God can walk the path to God, that only God can understand God, and that only God can pray to God. God is love. God is purity. God is selflessness. God is truth and compassion. God is one with all life. God has no family, no children, no possessions, no ownership, no preferences, no separations, no differences. God has no form. God has no birth and death. It is only one who has died to the things of the world and has been born into the wisdom and qualities of God that can walk the path to God. It is only one who has died to ignorance, arrogance, ownership, preference, and separation and has been born into love, and truth, and unity that can walk the path to God. 37. We Cannot Truly Pray To God - because God is One and we are many. So first we must become One and then pray to the One who Is. Only that is True Prayer Bawa teaches us that the reason that man cannot meditate on God is because God is one and man is many. It is only when man becomes one and gets rid of the many within himself that he can meditate on God. Then he is one meditating on one. But if man is one then man is God and then it is God that is meditating on God. 38. God Is Truth And Man Is Wisdom And Beauty Please be patient with this understanding my loving brother. What the world has taught us about God is wrong. And what the world has taught us about man is wrong. Bawa teaches us that the world has changed the concept of God and degraded the meaning of man. God is truth and man is wisdom and beauty. God is truth and man is what can understand and explain that truth. But to understand and explain that truth man must have emerged out of that truth. 39. The True Path of Islam - is the path of the Spiritual Child within us This is the path of Islam, my loving brother, to find the truth of God within ourselves and then to be born out of that truth as the wisdom and beauty of God. This wisdom of God is what understands the truth of God and then explains the truth of God to the world. And this beauty of God is the qualities and duties of God that demonstrates this truth of God to the world. Bawa teaches us that if we have faith in God then that truth, which is God, will appear within us, and out of that truth will appear the Sun of God, the light of God for the world. It is this Sun of God that can understand and explain the truth of God to the world and that can demonstrate the truth of God to the world as the qualities and duties of God, not us. Bawa teaches us that this is the true Muhammad (Sal.), may the peace and blessings of God be upon Him, the true Messenger of God, my loving brother, that is spoken of in the Islamic tradition. It is the wisdom and qualities of God within each of us that is the true prophet of God, the true messenger of God. We must understand this. Muhammad (Sal.) and the Holy Qur'an are not something separate from our own life, as God is not something separate from our own life, as the wise man and the wisdom that he brings is not something separate from our own life. Bawa tells us that when the state of Muhammad (Sal.) becomes our own life then we are the living Qur'an. 40. Our Physical Life Is But The Vessel For Our Spiritual Life Bawa teaches us that we must view our physical life as the vessel for our spiritual life, as the vessel for our eternal life. Like a woman is the vessel for the birth of the physical life our physical life must then become the vessel or woman for the birth of our spiritual life, the Sun of God, the light of God to the world. It is only this child of light that is born out of the purity and compassion and surrender of the slave of God that can walk the path to God. This Sun of God is the one who will understand God my loving brother, not us. We must become the purified vessel of birth for this Sun of God, this light of God, for the world. 41. The True Virgin Birth This is the true virgin birth my loving brother and this is the point of Mary (A.S), may God be pleased with Her, and of Jesus (A.S), may God be pleased with Him, spoken of in the Christian tradition. The virgin Mary (A.S.) is an example of the state of purity that we must bring our physical life to. And Jesus (A.S.) is an example of what will be born out of any life that has come to that state of purity. It is only one who is in the state of Jesus (A.S.), the Soul of God, one who is in the state of Muhammad (Sal.), the Messenger of God, and one who is in the state of our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), the True Slave of God, that can understand God. It is to bring our life to the state of the virgin birth and then to be born out of this state into the state of the Sun of God, the Light of God for the world, that is the point of our life. If this does not happen during our life time then our life had no point. So, when we say, "We want to find out things for ourselves", we must first recognize who it is that we must first become before any true understanding can occur within us. Once we understand this point then our focus turns to an understanding of the virgin birth and the things we must do to bring about this virgin birth within us. This virgin birth is the state of the slave of God, the state of the one who has no life other than the life of God, the one who attributes everything to God, the state of the True Shaikh, the state of our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). Bawa teaches us that to be in this state is to be permanently in the state of patience, contentment and gratitude, trust in God, and the praise of God for whatever comes to us, saying, "Al-hamdu lillah - all praise and praising belongs to Allah alone". One in this state need not ask anything of God for Himself, because He has no self, no selfish self, because all life has become His life. Like the Prophet Abraham (A.S.) in the pit of fire, One in this state makes "knowing that God knows enough for his life". One in this state makes "God alone sufficient" for his life. This is the state of the virgin birth, my loving brother, and how one acts who is within this state. It is only out of this state of the slave of God, the Abdulla of God, that this virgin birth of the Sun of God, the light of God, can occur. And it is only this Sun of God, this light of God, that walks the path to God, that understands God, and that prays to God my loving brother, not us. 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