Related Material - for Spiritual Letter 14 About Related Material Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) over the last few weeks & years Home Page Spiritual Letters Spiritual Letter 14: Text Only Version Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. My love you, my dearest brothers and sisters. Outline of Related Material 1. Closing Down The World of Hell Within Us - to become successful in our life, we have to close down the world of hell within us, re-open the world of souls within us, and then open the kingdom of God within us. There is no other way 2. Becoming A Placeholder For God - in this way, the kalimah becomes our direct connection to God, with the term "La ilaha" becoming a placeholder for the name of our Shaikh, allowing the kalimah in this age to become truly alive as "Bawa, Ill Allahu", as the "Presence of God" in our life, as the "love song" between our Shaikh and Allah 3. Finding, Understanding, And Joining With A True Man - which occurred for our Shaikh when He realizes that the most difficult task in our life is to find and understand a True Man among the Creation beings of God 4. Only God Is Not Crazy - how Bawa Muhaiyaddeen changed my life, the life of Louie Beutler 5. The Exaltedness Of Our Life - we will only find God within the exaltedness of our own life 6. Fashioning The God We Worship - by joining in partnership with our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) Only God Is Not Crazy Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. My love you, my dearest brothers and sisters. I met Bawa in the summer of 1975, some time during August or September, when I was 36 years old. By this time in my life, I had been married, had a child named Christopher who was about 10 years old, and who by that time was living alone with his mother in Maryland. His mother Mary and I had been married for about 4 years, and had been separated for about 8 years, and at her request had recently gotten a divorce so that she could get married again. After graduating from Villanova University in 1962 as an Electrical Engineer, I was in the Marine Corps for 2 years as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer, and after leaving the Marine Corps I had worked as an Engineer for 10 years and had been attending Temple University in Philadelphia in the Educational Research Doctoral program for the 3 years prior to meeting Bawa. The Doctoral program at Temple University was my latest and perhaps final attempt to find significance in my life. From my childhood, I had a lot of trouble making sense out of the world and out of the people who lived in it. Basically, up to the time I met Bawa, I did what they told me to do - go to college, get a job, get married, have children, buy a house, party, have sex, drink, etc. - but none of it seemed to still the search that was going on within me. I told Bawa when I first met him, that at the age of 12 I had reached a initial conclusion about life in the world - that I was ok but the world was crazy. But trying to live that way was really starting to take a toll on me after 18 years. He asked me if I had considered going to God. And I said that I hadn't, that I had been raised Catholic but that the Christian approach to God did not make any sense to me either, so I had thrown it all out, and God along with it. He then told me that if I would like to go to God that he would show me how to do this, if I stayed with him for a while. I agree and so started my life with Bawa. I have now been with Bawa for 24 years and have realized during that time that I was half right when I came to Bawa, the world is certainly crazy, but so am I. The only one who isn't crazy is God, and if we hand both the world and ourselves to God with absolute faith, certitude, and determination that both us and the world are indeed crazy, and that God is in truth the only reality, then God will reveal that reality within us. For this child, their is no other way to leave here, to stop the searching of our soul. If we correctly join with God to complete His purpose for having created us, for having created each of us, He will complete His intention within us, which is to reveal God, and as He completes this work within us, we will gradually become one with Him, ending our life in the world, in the world of separations and differences. For when He has completed this work within us, when He has revealed God to God within us, for the benefit of all of the creations of God within us, then like the rain falling back into the ocean from which it came, again becoming the ocean, no longer existing separate from the ocean, no longer existing as the rain, we will fall back into God from which we came, again becoming God, no longer existing separate from God, no longer existing as the craziness of the world or the craziness of you or I trying to live in the world. This is how Bawa has changed my life. Al-hamdu lillah - all praise and praising belong to God alone. Allahu Akbar - only God is great. Al-salam 'alaykum wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kulluh - May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon you. My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) The Exaltedness Of Our Life Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim; In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. My love you, my dearest brothers and sisters. One day a brother came to see Bawa from New York City. He was young, around 20, and he immediately declared to Bawa that he had accepted Bawa as his Shaikh. But Bawa discourage his declaration saying, "You shouldn't accept a woman as your wife until you have checked her out. Before you decide to take her on as your wife you should first investigate her and learn a little about her. You shouldn't be hasty." For example, can she cook? Does she have a nice disposition? Are her relatives friendly toward you? And so on. It is the same in selecting a Teacher, a Shaikh, you should first check him out, before you accept him. Don't be hasty." Then after the brother was there for about a week, on Friday, Bawa opened up his room to all of the people who had gathered there and after we had settled in, Bawa asked if we had any questions. Immediately this brother said that he had a question, and when Bawa asked what it was, the boy said, "Who was the exalted son of Abraham? Isaac or Ishmael?" Bawa then gave us all a beautiful discourse about the first son of Abraham which was Ishmael, and how God had called for the sacrifice of Ishmael by Abraham. When Bawa was done he asked us if there were any other questions, and the same boy put up his hand, and Bawa asked him what his question was, and the boy asked Bawa the exact same question, "Who was the exalted son of Abraham? Isaac or Ishmael?" Everyone was surprised but for some reason I immediately know why. The boy was Jewish and the answer that he was raised on, to that question, was Isaac, not Ishmael. Abraham had two sons, and in the Jewish tradition they believe that Isaac was the son that God called to be sacrificed, while in the Islamic tradition, and as Bawa had verified, it was the first son, Ishmael, that God actually called to be sacrificed. So, Bawa's answer to that question was not in accordance with the answer that he received being raised as a Jew. And more profoundly, for him to accept the answer that Bawa had given him required that he put down his whole life, his life as a Jew, and accept Bawa as his life. And in truth this is what each of us, in our own way, is asked to do, to put down our own life as we know it, and accept the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) as our life and teaching. But this is not easy for any of us to do. And in this context, the boy asking the same question twice is certainly understandable. What happened next I only personally saw Bawa do twice, but over the years I have begun to realize that what Bawa did next was how he did everything, through his relationship with God. When the boy asked Bawa the same exact question a second time, Bawa escaped. He told the boy that he had told him what he know about his question and that the boy had to decide for himself what to do with the answer that Bawa had given him, and then Bawa turned away from the boy, and asked if there were any other questions. But then everything changed. It was as if Bawa had done what he could do for the boy and had then handed the responsibility for the boy to God, and then turned to try and help other children. But then God intervened, and Bawa took on an entirely different persona. His face changed to that of a 16 year old youth, and became radiant, and he immediately turned back to the boy with such love and compassion, and said to the boy, "My son, if you think about it, if Isaac was exalted, then he benefited from his exaltedness, and if Ishmael was exalted, then he benefited from his exaltedness, and if I am exalted, then I will benefit from that." The question that you should have asked is, "Am I exalted?", because you will only find God within the exaltedness of your own life." Al-hamdu lillah - all praise and praising belong to God alone. Allahu Akbar - only God is great. Al-salam 'alaykum wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kulluh - May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon you. My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). End Related Material Spiritual Letter 14 ............................ Return To Spiritual Letter 14 or |
Related Material - for Spiritual Letter 14 About Related Material Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) over the last few weeks & years Home Page Spiritual Letters Spiritual Letter 14: Text Only Version Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. My love you, my dearest brothers and sisters. Outline of Related Material 1. Closing Down The World of Hell Within Us - to become successful in our life, we have to close down the world of hell within us, re-open the world of souls within us, and then open the kingdom of God within us. There is no other way 2. Becoming A Placeholder For God - in this way, the kalimah becomes our direct connection to God, with the term "La ilaha" becoming a placeholder for the name of our Shaikh, allowing the kalimah in this age to become truly alive as "Bawa, Ill Allahu", as the "Presence of God" in our life, as the "love song" between our Shaikh and Allah 3. Finding, Understanding, And Joining With A True Man - which occurred for our Shaikh when He realizes that the most difficult task in our life is to find and understand a True Man among the Creation beings of God 4. Only God Is Not Crazy - how Bawa Muhaiyaddeen changed my life, the life of Louie Beutler 5. The Exaltedness Of Our Life - we will only find God within the exaltedness of our own life 6. Fashioning The God We Worship - by joining in partnership with our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) Only God Is Not Crazy Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. My love you, my dearest brothers and sisters. I met Bawa in the summer of 1975, some time during August or September, when I was 36 years old. By this time in my life, I had been married, had a child named Christopher who was about 10 years old, and who by that time was living alone with his mother in Maryland. His mother Mary and I had been married for about 4 years, and had been separated for about 8 years, and at her request had recently gotten a divorce so that she could get married again. After graduating from Villanova University in 1962 as an Electrical Engineer, I was in the Marine Corps for 2 years as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer, and after leaving the Marine Corps I had worked as an Engineer for 10 years and had been attending Temple University in Philadelphia in the Educational Research Doctoral program for the 3 years prior to meeting Bawa. The Doctoral program at Temple University was my latest and perhaps final attempt to find significance in my life. From my childhood, I had a lot of trouble making sense out of the world and out of the people who lived in it. Basically, up to the time I met Bawa, I did what they told me to do - go to college, get a job, get married, have children, buy a house, party, have sex, drink, etc. - but none of it seemed to still the search that was going on within me. I told Bawa when I first met him, that at the age of 12 I had reached a initial conclusion about life in the world - that I was ok but the world was crazy. But trying to live that way was really starting to take a toll on me after 18 years. He asked me if I had considered going to God. And I said that I hadn't, that I had been raised Catholic but that the Christian approach to God did not make any sense to me either, so I had thrown it all out, and God along with it. He then told me that if I would like to go to God that he would show me how to do this, if I stayed with him for a while. I agree and so started my life with Bawa. I have now been with Bawa for 24 years and have realized during that time that I was half right when I came to Bawa, the world is certainly crazy, but so am I. The only one who isn't crazy is God, and if we hand both the world and ourselves to God with absolute faith, certitude, and determination that both us and the world are indeed crazy, and that God is in truth the only reality, then God will reveal that reality within us. For this child, their is no other way to leave here, to stop the searching of our soul. If we correctly join with God to complete His purpose for having created us, for having created each of us, He will complete His intention within us, which is to reveal God, and as He completes this work within us, we will gradually become one with Him, ending our life in the world, in the world of separations and differences. For when He has completed this work within us, when He has revealed God to God within us, for the benefit of all of the creations of God within us, then like the rain falling back into the ocean from which it came, again becoming the ocean, no longer existing separate from the ocean, no longer existing as the rain, we will fall back into God from which we came, again becoming God, no longer existing separate from God, no longer existing as the craziness of the world or the craziness of you or I trying to live in the world. This is how Bawa has changed my life. Al-hamdu lillah - all praise and praising belong to God alone. Allahu Akbar - only God is great. Al-salam 'alaykum wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kulluh - May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon you. My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) The Exaltedness Of Our Life Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim; In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. My love you, my dearest brothers and sisters. One day a brother came to see Bawa from New York City. He was young, around 20, and he immediately declared to Bawa that he had accepted Bawa as his Shaikh. But Bawa discourage his declaration saying, "You shouldn't accept a woman as your wife until you have checked her out. Before you decide to take her on as your wife you should first investigate her and learn a little about her. You shouldn't be hasty." For example, can she cook? Does she have a nice disposition? Are her relatives friendly toward you? And so on. It is the same in selecting a Teacher, a Shaikh, you should first check him out, before you accept him. Don't be hasty." Then after the brother was there for about a week, on Friday, Bawa opened up his room to all of the people who had gathered there and after we had settled in, Bawa asked if we had any questions. Immediately this brother said that he had a question, and when Bawa asked what it was, the boy said, "Who was the exalted son of Abraham? Isaac or Ishmael?" Bawa then gave us all a beautiful discourse about the first son of Abraham which was Ishmael, and how God had called for the sacrifice of Ishmael by Abraham. When Bawa was done he asked us if there were any other questions, and the same boy put up his hand, and Bawa asked him what his question was, and the boy asked Bawa the exact same question, "Who was the exalted son of Abraham? Isaac or Ishmael?" Everyone was surprised but for some reason I immediately know why. The boy was Jewish and the answer that he was raised on, to that question, was Isaac, not Ishmael. Abraham had two sons, and in the Jewish tradition they believe that Isaac was the son that God called to be sacrificed, while in the Islamic tradition, and as Bawa had verified, it was the first son, Ishmael, that God actually called to be sacrificed. So, Bawa's answer to that question was not in accordance with the answer that he received being raised as a Jew. And more profoundly, for him to accept the answer that Bawa had given him required that he put down his whole life, his life as a Jew, and accept Bawa as his life. And in truth this is what each of us, in our own way, is asked to do, to put down our own life as we know it, and accept the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) as our life and teaching. But this is not easy for any of us to do. And in this context, the boy asking the same question twice is certainly understandable. What happened next I only personally saw Bawa do twice, but over the years I have begun to realize that what Bawa did next was how he did everything, through his relationship with God. When the boy asked Bawa the same exact question a second time, Bawa escaped. He told the boy that he had told him what he know about his question and that the boy had to decide for himself what to do with the answer that Bawa had given him, and then Bawa turned away from the boy, and asked if there were any other questions. But then everything changed. It was as if Bawa had done what he could do for the boy and had then handed the responsibility for the boy to God, and then turned to try and help other children. But then God intervened, and Bawa took on an entirely different persona. His face changed to that of a 16 year old youth, and became radiant, and he immediately turned back to the boy with such love and compassion, and said to the boy, "My son, if you think about it, if Isaac was exalted, then he benefited from his exaltedness, and if Ishmael was exalted, then he benefited from his exaltedness, and if I am exalted, then I will benefit from that." The question that you should have asked is, "Am I exalted?", because you will only find God within the exaltedness of your own life." Al-hamdu lillah - all praise and praising belong to God alone. Allahu Akbar - only God is great. Al-salam 'alaykum wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kulluh - May all the peace, the beneficence, and the blessings of God be upon you. My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). End Related Material Spiritual Letter 14 ............................ Return To Spiritual Letter 14 or |
This page was last updated on: February 10, 2002
