Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
BornUnknown
Sri Lanka
DiedDecember 8, 1986
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Era20th century
RegionSri Lanka, United States

Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (died December 8, 1986), also known as Bawa, was a Tamil-speaking teacher[1] and Sufi mystic from Sri Lanka who came to the United States in 1971,[2] established a following, and founded the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in Philadelphia. He developed branches in the United States, Canada,[3] Australia and the UK — adding to existing groups in Jaffna and Colombo,[4] Sri Lanka. He is known for his teachings, discourses, songs, and artwork.

Bawa established vegetarianism as the norm for his followers[5] and meat products are not permitted at the legacy fellowship center or farm.[6]

Early life

Though little is known of his early personal life, Bawa

demonic possession.[4]

Subsequently, his followers formed an ashram in Jaffna, and a farm south of the city. After meeting business travelers from the south, he was invited to visit Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, at the time Ceylon. By 1967, the 'Serendib Sufi Study Circle' was formed by these Colombo predominantly Muslim students. Earlier in 1955, Bawa had set the foundations for a 'God's house' or mosque in the town of Mankumban, on the northern coast. This was the result of a "spiritual experience with Mary, Jesus' mother."[7] After two decades, the building was finished by students from the United States who were visiting the Jaffna ashram.[8] It officially opened and was dedicated in 1975.[9]

Bawa taught using stories and fables, reflecting the background of the student or listener and included Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious traditions; and welcomed persons from all traditions and backgrounds.[7]

Work in the United States

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship

In 1971, Bawa was invited to come to the United States and subsequently moved to Philadelphia, [7] established a following, and formed the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in 1973. The fellowship meeting house offered weekly public gatherings.[7]

As in Sri Lanka, Bawa developed a following among people of diverse religious, social and ethnic backgrounds, who came to Philadelphia to listen to him speak.[

Pittsburgh Press. He continued teaching until his death on December 8, 1986.[citation needed
]

Legacy

In May, 1984, the Mosque of Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen was completed on the Philadelphia property of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, on Overbrook Avenue. Construction took 6 months and nearly all the work was done by the members of the fellowship under Bawa's direction.[17]

Mazar of M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Farm (100 acres (0.40 km2)) is in Chester County, Pennsylvania, south of Coatesville and prominently features Bawa's mausoleum, or mazar. Construction began shortly after his death and was completed in 1987. It is a destination for religious followers.[18]

Bawa created paintings and drawings symbolizing the relationship between man and God, describing his art work as "heart's work".[19] Two examples are reproduced in his book Wisdom of Man[20][21] and another is the front cover of the book Four Steps to Pure Iman.[22] In 1976, Bawa recorded and released an album of meditation, on Folkways Records entitled, Into the Secret of the Heart by Guru Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.[23]

In the United States, from 1971 to 1986, Bawa authored over twenty-five books,[24] created from over 10,000 hours of audio and video transcriptions of his discourses and songs. Some titles originated from Sri Lanka before his arrival in the U.S. and were transcribed later. The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship continues to study and disseminate this repository of his teachings. It has not appointed a new leader or Sheikh to replace his role as teacher and personal guide.[citation needed]

Vegetarianism

Bawa established vegetarianism as the norm for his followers as he believed the only compassionate choice is to eat without slaughter.[25] He stated that "we must be aware of everything we do. All young animals have love and compassion. And if we remember that every creation was young once, we will never kill another life. We will not harm or attack any living creature".[25] Bawa authored The Tasty Economical Cookbook, a two-volume vegetarian cookbook.[26]

Titles and honorifics

Bawa

His Holiness' depending on the background of the speaker or writer.[citation needed] He was also addressed as Bawangal by those Tamil speakers who were close to him and who wanted to use a respectful address.[citation needed] He often referred to himself as an 'ant man',[27] that is, a very small life in God's creation. After his arrival in the United States, he was most often addressed as Guru Bawa or simply Bawa, and he established the fellowship. By 1976, he felt that the title 'guru' had been abused by others who were not true teachers and dropped the title Guru, with the organization becoming the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship.[28]

By 2007, an honorific,

Qutb, was used by his students in the publications of his talks.[29] Qutb means pole or axis, and signifies a spiritual center.[30]
The name Muhaiyaddeen means 'the giver of life to true belief' and has been associated with previous Qutbs.

Quotes

  • "The prayers you perform, the duties you do, the charity and love you give is equal to just one drop. But if you use that one drop, continue to do your duty, and keep digging within, then the spring of God's grace and His qualities will flow in abundance."[31]
  • "People with wisdom know that it is important to correct their own mistakes, while people without wisdom find it necessary to point out the mistakes of others. People with strong faith know that it is important to clear their own hearts, while those with unsteady faith seek to find fault in the hearts and prayers of others. This becomes a habit in their lives. But those who pray to God with faith, determination, and certitude know that the most important thing in life is to surrender their hearts to God."[32]
  • "The things that change are not our real life. Within us there is another body, another beauty. It belongs to that ray of light which never changes. We must discover how to mingle with it and become one with that unchanging thing. We must realize and understand this treasure of truth. That is why we have come to the world."[33]
  • "My love you, my children. Very few people will accept the medicine of wisdom. The mind refuses wisdom. But if you do agree to accept it, you will receive the grace, and when you receive that grace, you will have good qualities. When you acquire good qualities, you will know true love, and when you accept love, you will see the light. When you accept the light, you will see the resplendence, and when you accept that resplendence, the wealth of the three worlds will be complete within you. With this completeness, you will receive the kingdom of God, and you will know your Father. When you see your Father, all your connections to karma, hunger, disease, old age will leave you."[34]
  • My grandchildren, this is the way things really are. We must do everything with love in our hearts. God belongs to everyone. He has given a commonwealth to all His creations, and we must not take it for ourselves. We must not take more than our share. Our hearts must melt with love, we must share everything with others, and we must give lovingly to make others peaceful. Then we will win our true beauty and the liberation of our soul. Please think about this. Prayer, the qualities of God, the actions of God, faith in God, and worship of God are your grace. If you have these, God will be yours and the wealth of the world to come will be yours. My grandchildren, realize this in your lifetime. Consider your life, search for wisdom, search for knowledge, and search for that love of God which is divine knowledge, and search for His qualities, His love, and His actions. That will be good. Amin. Ya Rabbal-'alamin. So be it. O Ruler of the universes. May God grant you this."[35]
  • "God has a home inside of our heart. We must find a home inside of God's home inside of our heart" - Shared by Bawa Mahaiyaddeen in conversation with advocate for the homeless at the Muhaiyaddeen community in Philadelphia - 1986.

Writings by students and others

Books by his followers and others about M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen include:

Coleman Barks, a poet and translator into English of the works of the 13th-century Sunni Muslim poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, described meeting Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in a dream in 1977.[36] After that experience he began to translate the poems of Rumi. Coleman finally met Bawa Muhaiyaddeen in September, 1978 and continued to have dreams where he would receive teachings.[36] Coleman's likens Bawa Muhaiyaddeen to Rumi and Shams Tabrizi, the companion of Rumi.[37] Artist Michael Green worked with Coleman Barks to produce illustrated version of Rumi's works.[38][39]

In "Blue-Eyed Devil", Michael Muhammad Knight attempts to receive a message from Bawa in a dream, in a Sufi practice called istikhara. He travels to the mazar and unsuccessfully tries to fall asleep on the cushions, but is awakened by the groundskeeper.[40]

The band mewithoutYou explored Bawa's teachings throughout their discography, most notably in their fourth album, It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright. The teacher's story of "The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie" from My Love You My Children: 101 Stories for Children is told as well as his story about the "King Beetle" from The Divine Luminous Wisdom that Dispels Darkness.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Malik and Hinnells, p. 90.
  2. ^ Divine Luminous Wisdom, p. 254.
  3. ^ Malik and Hinnells, p. 93.
  4. ^ a b c d Malik and Hinnells, p. 91.
  5. ^ God, His Prophets and His Children, pgs. 150–157
  6. ^ Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship web-site Farm page
  7. ^ a b c d Malik and Hinnells, p. 92.
  8. ^ Malik and Hinnells, p 92.
  9. ^ The Tree That Fell to the West, p. 171.
  10. ^ To Die Before Death, p. xix.
  11. ^ Haddad and Smith, p 103.
  12. ^ The Truth and Unity of Man: Letters in Response to a Crisis
  13. ^ "Is the Ayatullah a Heretic?" Time. April 28, 1980.
  14. ^ Keen, Sam (April 1976). "The Mind is in the Heart". Psychology Today.
  15. ^ Harvard Divinity Bulletin. Harvard University Divinity School. December 1982 – January 1983, Volume XIII, Number 2
  16. ^ Haddad and Smith, p 104.
  17. ^ Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship web-site.
  18. ^ Xavier, M. Shobhana. "An American Sufi Shrine, Bawa's Mazar in Coatesville, Pennsylvania." Object Narrative. In Conversations: An Online Journal of the Center for the Study of Material and Visual Cultures of Religion (2016). doi:10.22332/con.obj.2016.5 http://mavcor.yale.edu/conversations/object-narratives/american-sufi-shrine-bawa-s-mazar-coatesville-pennsylvania
  19. ^ Acknowledgments page, Wisdom of Man
  20. ISBN 9780914390459
    – via Google Books.
  21. ISBN 9780914390459
    – via Google Books.
  22. ^ Four Steps to Pure Iman, front cover.
  23. ^ "Smithsonian Folkways recording FW08905" Archived 2021-05-02 at the Wayback Machine.
  24. ^ Islam and World Peace, pg.173.
  25. ^
    ISBN 978-0199790678
  26. ^ "Tasty, Economical Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen". rumisgarden.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  27. ^ The Tree That Fell to the West, p. 165.
  28. ^ Truth and Light, p. 10.
  29. ^ The Point Where God and Man Meet, p. xi.
  30. ^ Resonance of Allah, p. 716.
  31. ^ Sheikh and Disciple, p. 63.
  32. ^ Islam and World Peace, p. 3.
  33. ^ Questions of Life Answers of Wisdom, Vol.1, p. 220.
  34. ^ Come to the Secret Garden, p. 188.
  35. ^ My Love you My Children; p. 466.
  36. ^ a b Rumi: the Book of Love, p. 140.
  37. ^ Nov. 12, 2007 interview by Chitra Kalyani, IslamOnline.Net article Archived January 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ Xavier, M. Shobhana. "From Illuminated Rumi to the Green Barn: The Art of Sufism in America." Object Narrative. In Conversations: An Online Journal of the Center for the Study of Material and Visual Cultures of Religion (2016). doi:10.22332/con.obj.2016.4 http://mavcor.yale.edu/conversations/object-narratives/illuminated-rumi-green-barn-art-sufism-america
  39. ^ Xavier, M. Shobhana. "Interview with American Sufi Artist Michael Green." Interview. In Conversations: An Online Journal of the Center for the Study of Material and Visual Cultures of Religion (2016). doi:10.22332/con.int.2016.1 http://mavcor.yale.edu/conversations/interviews/interview-american-sufi-artist-michael-green
  40. ^ "Blue-Eyed Devil", pg. 86-88.

References

External links

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