Becoming A Placeholder of God Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) on January 26, 2002 Wisdom Point: We have to replace us, each part of us, with each part of God Selection: Related Material of Spiritual Letter 14 - Topic 2 Coming to grips with our current condition, and finding peace with it in partnership with God, through our partnership with Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) Outline of Topic 2 Our Good Qualities Are Hidden Within Our Bad Qualities Man is God's placeholder, that is, we are reserving a place for God in the world by entering the world, becoming the world, rejecting the world while still in the world, which God then fills, thereby establishing a place for God in the world. For example, we learn about the 99 beautiful names of God, like sabr or inner patience, and shukr or contentment and gratitude. If we try to have these qualities through our effort then we are living in the world, but it we reject the idea of our patience, and our contentment and gratitude, and instead turn to God to fill these places within us, then His patience and His contentment and gratitude will be present in the world, and everyone who experience them through our lack of presence, or His presence, will be pleased, and feel the patience and contentment of God shining through our selfless heart. "La ilaha" Is A Placeholder For The Name of Our Shaikh The same thing applies in the context of saying prayers to God, initially we use ourselves as a placeholder for God to pray to God, but when we realize, understand, accept, and join with a True Man, which for this age is our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), then He fills the place that we have filled, we give our place up to Him. For example, initially when we say the first Kalimah, we say "La ilaha Ill Allahu", and the "La ilaha" is said by us as a placeholder for the name of our True Teacher, for our Shaikh, while we are looking for Him, or deciding if the one we have found is the True Shaikh for our age. Once the True Teacher has be accepted into the heart of the True Disciple, then the name of the Shaikh is substituted for the placeholder in the Kalimah, for the "La ilaha", which for this age, in the age of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) is Bawa. Then the first Kalimah is said by the True Disciple joining in partnership with the True Shaikh, stating with inviting the True Shaikh to come and pray to God, and to stand on the True Disciple as His prayer mat, and in this way, for our age, the first Kalimah becomes "Bawa, Ill Allahu", calling the name of our wisdom to stand up within us, to come out of the place of oneness within our innermost heart, within our qalb, and pray to God, to pull our soul into our heart, establishing the akhirah, the Kingdom of God within us. And in this way, calling our direction connection to God, to pray to God for us, and stand on us as His prayer mat, and He will, as He has for this child - Al-hamdu lillah, Allahu Akbar. Another three examples may help. Rene' De'carte Was Half Right First, the Philosopher René De'carte is reported to have said, after his analysis of himself, "I think, therefore I am." In this way, Rene' was half right, and in the context of our being but a placeholder for God, we could add to what he said in the following way, "I think, therefore I am, I am separate from God, separate from my brothers and sisters, and separate from the Creation of God, so if I don't think, therefore I am not, I am not separate from God, or separate from what God is one with, because my thinking independently, independent from God, my thinking separate from God's thinking is what defines me as separate from God, separate from each other, and separate from the Creation of God." "So if I don't think then I negate myself, I negate "me", I reject the "me" of me, the "me" of me that is '"separation from", that is separation and differences, and I embrace God, the real me, the me of me that is "oneness with", oneness with God, and one with all that God is one with, all that God is." Let Your "Local" Program End, So Your "Global" Program Can Finish In computer terminology, this is like the relationship between the "Global" and the "local" computer programs in the "Common Business Oriented Language" called COBOL. First the "Global" program is written, that oversees the whole program, then a set of "local" programs are written to deal with individual tasks like printing, data input, data manipulation. When a "local" program is running the "Global" programs sits in the background watching and waiting, watching for problems and waiting for the "local" program to complete its work, and when the "local" program is finished, the "Global" program starts up again, unless there is a problem, in which case the "Global" program takes over to deal with the problem. In this analogy, the "we" of separation and differences is the "local" program that runs completely independent of God, and God is the "Global" program which is watching and waiting, watching to get us out of any problem that we may encounter, and waiting for us to be done with our independent operation, with our "thinking" separate from Him, so He can finish the original purpose of the program, which in our case is to reveal God within True Man, by first revealing True Man within The Creation of God, reveal True Man as the Oneness of God and the Creation of God. But if we don't finish our "local" program before we die, if we don't let it end, if we don't let our "thinking", our living, independent of God, end before we physically die, before our allotted time to finish our program is over, then God will never be able to finish what He has started with us, the "Global" program cannot finish the original intention of the program, which in our case is to reveal God, not "us" as separate from God. Life Without Sex Is True Paradise In the second example, this child was watching a religious television program where they were discussing what it was like in paradise before the fall of Adam (may the blessings of God be upon Him) and Eve (my the blessings of God be upon Her), and the topic of sex came up, and whether there was sex in paradise. And an older woman said, "There must have been sex in paradise, before the fall of Adam and Eve (may the blessings of God be upon Them) because what would paradise be without sex." And again, in the context of our being but a placeholder for God, we could add to what she said in the following way, "Without sex, our personal paradise, which in truth is God's public hell, would be true paradise, would be us without sex, without separation and differences, would be us without "us", would be the state of Man-God, not Man-animal, the state of the oneness of God and man." My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) End of Related Material - Topic 2 ..................................................... |
Becoming A Placeholder of God Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) on January 26, 2002 Wisdom Point: We have to replace us, each part of us, with each part of God Selection: Related Material of Spiritual Letter 14 - Topic 2 Coming to grips with our current condition, and finding peace with it in partnership with God, through our partnership with Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) Outline of Topic 2 Our Good Qualities Are Hidden Within Our Bad Qualities Man is God's placeholder, that is, we are reserving a place for God in the world by entering the world, becoming the world, rejecting the world while still in the world, which God then fills, thereby establishing a place for God in the world. For example, we learn about the 99 beautiful names of God, like sabr or inner patience, and shukr or contentment and gratitude. If we try to have these qualities through our effort then we are living in the world, but it we reject the idea of our patience, and our contentment and gratitude, and instead turn to God to fill these places within us, then His patience and His contentment and gratitude will be present in the world, and everyone who experience them through our lack of presence, or His presence, will be pleased, and feel the patience and contentment of God shining through our selfless heart. "La ilaha" Is A Placeholder For The Name of Our Shaikh The same thing applies in the context of saying prayers to God, initially we use ourselves as a placeholder for God to pray to God, but when we realize, understand, accept, and join with a True Man, which for this age is our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), then He fills the place that we have filled, we give our place up to Him. For example, initially when we say the first Kalimah, we say "La ilaha Ill Allahu", and the "La ilaha" is said by us as a placeholder for the name of our True Teacher, for our Shaikh, while we are looking for Him, or deciding if the one we have found is the True Shaikh for our age. Once the True Teacher has be accepted into the heart of the True Disciple, then the name of the Shaikh is substituted for the placeholder in the Kalimah, for the "La ilaha", which for this age, in the age of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) is Bawa. Then the first Kalimah is said by the True Disciple joining in partnership with the True Shaikh, stating with inviting the True Shaikh to come and pray to God, and to stand on the True Disciple as His prayer mat, and in this way, for our age, the first Kalimah becomes "Bawa, Ill Allahu", calling the name of our wisdom to stand up within us, to come out of the place of oneness within our innermost heart, within our qalb, and pray to God, to pull our soul into our heart, establishing the akhirah, the Kingdom of God within us. And in this way, calling our direction connection to God, to pray to God for us, and stand on us as His prayer mat, and He will, as He has for this child - Al-hamdu lillah, Allahu Akbar. Another three examples may help. Rene' De'carte Was Half Right First, the Philosopher René De'carte is reported to have said, after his analysis of himself, "I think, therefore I am." In this way, Rene' was half right, and in the context of our being but a placeholder for God, we could add to what he said in the following way, "I think, therefore I am, I am separate from God, separate from my brothers and sisters, and separate from the Creation of God, so if I don't think, therefore I am not, I am not separate from God, or separate from what God is one with, because my thinking independently, independent from God, my thinking separate from God's thinking is what defines me as separate from God, separate from each other, and separate from the Creation of God." "So if I don't think then I negate myself, I negate "me", I reject the "me" of me, the "me" of me that is '"separation from", that is separation and differences, and I embrace God, the real me, the me of me that is "oneness with", oneness with God, and one with all that God is one with, all that God is." Let Your "Local" Program End, So Your "Global" Program Can Finish In computer terminology, this is like the relationship between the "Global" and the "local" computer programs in the "Common Business Oriented Language" called COBOL. First the "Global" program is written, that oversees the whole program, then a set of "local" programs are written to deal with individual tasks like printing, data input, data manipulation. When a "local" program is running the "Global" programs sits in the background watching and waiting, watching for problems and waiting for the "local" program to complete its work, and when the "local" program is finished, the "Global" program starts up again, unless there is a problem, in which case the "Global" program takes over to deal with the problem. In this analogy, the "we" of separation and differences is the "local" program that runs completely independent of God, and God is the "Global" program which is watching and waiting, watching to get us out of any problem that we may encounter, and waiting for us to be done with our independent operation, with our "thinking" separate from Him, so He can finish the original purpose of the program, which in our case is to reveal God within True Man, by first revealing True Man within The Creation of God, reveal True Man as the Oneness of God and the Creation of God. But if we don't finish our "local" program before we die, if we don't let it end, if we don't let our "thinking", our living, independent of God, end before we physically die, before our allotted time to finish our program is over, then God will never be able to finish what He has started with us, the "Global" program cannot finish the original intention of the program, which in our case is to reveal God, not "us" as separate from God. Life Without Sex Is True Paradise In the second example, this child was watching a religious television program where they were discussing what it was like in paradise before the fall of Adam (may the blessings of God be upon Him) and Eve (my the blessings of God be upon Her), and the topic of sex came up, and whether there was sex in paradise. And an older woman said, "There must have been sex in paradise, before the fall of Adam and Eve (may the blessings of God be upon Them) because what would paradise be without sex." And again, in the context of our being but a placeholder for God, we could add to what she said in the following way, "Without sex, our personal paradise, which in truth is God's public hell, would be true paradise, would be us without sex, without separation and differences, would be us without "us", would be the state of Man-God, not Man-animal, the state of the oneness of God and man." My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) End of Related Material - Topic 2 ..................................................... |
This page was last updated on: February 9, 2002
