Spiritual Letter 53 - Summary of Letter About Spiritual Letter 53 Title: "Winning The War On Terrorism" Date: November 6, 2003 Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) Written to: George W. Bush, President of the United States of America Home Page - Spiritual Letters Spiritual Letter 54 Letter 53: Expanded Version Go To Table of Contents - Spiritual Letter 53 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. Here is a Summary of The Letter to President George W. Bush that shares with him some of the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) that has grown within the heart of this child, and makes some suggestions to him about using this gift of God for our age to help him in his own life, and as President, to help him and his administration win the war on terrorism. You can access either the Outline or the Text for this summary by clicking here, at the top of this page, or by scrolling down this page. Also, you can return to Page 1, or Page 2, or Page 3, of Spiritual Letter 53 by clicking on these number, either above or at the top of this page. Thank you. My love you (anbu), my dearest loving brothers and sisters - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). Outline of Summary: Summary of Page 1 of Letter - click HERE to go to Page 1 of Letter 1-0. Introduction - to Spiritual Letter 53 2-0. The Life And Teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) 3-0. The Wealth of Our Age - needs to be applied to the problems of our age 4-0. A Little Bit About Louie Beutler - who is probably a lot like you, Mr. President Summary of Page 2 of Letter - click HERE to go to Page 2 of Letter 5-0. Suggestions From The Heart - which in truth is where we all live as One 5-1. Recognize & Believe That There Is A Real Answer To Terrorism - and that answer is God, that answer is the power or grace of God in each of our lives 5-2. Make The "Road Map" Their Problem, Not Your Problem - but make "them", make the Israelis and the Palestinians your problem 5-3. Fix The U.N., Fix What Was Not Right From The Start - by realizing and accepting that a strong U.N. is really what is needed in the world today 5-4. Specific Recommendations For Changing The U.N. - make the U.N. a powerful democratic model for the world Summary of Page 3 of Letter - click HERE to go to Page 3 of Letter 5-5. Taking A New Look At The U.N. - and perhaps develop an entirely new part of the U.N., whose focus is mainly on the citizens of the world, forming perhaps a United World Community, a New Virtual Nation for all of the citizens of the world 5-6. Let Democracy Evolve In America - by seriously taking into account direct citizen participation at all levels of government in America 5-7. The Enemy Within - is the real terrorist, who we must join with God within us to defeat. Only then will we truly bring peace to the world Excerpt From A Discourse - by His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) 6-0. Closing Prayer & Comments - forgive me the wrong and accept the good. So I request Text of Summary: Summary of Page 1, of Items 5.0 to 4.0 - click HERE to go to Page 1 of Letter 1.0. Introduction - to Spiritual Letter 53 My dearest loving brother, President George W. Bush, we are moved by our heart to write this letter to you, to thank you for your courage and leadership in this difficult time in the world, when so many traditional values and beliefs of America and of the whole world are being challenged and attacked by some people and groups in the world today. And to share with you something that you may not know about, about the life and teaching of His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), a Holy man who lived in the "City of Brotherly Love" which we call Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, for 15 years, from 1971 to 1986, until His death on December 8th, 1986, and to suggest that you try to used this beautiful teaching of the One Open Heart of God to guide you in your personal life, in the administration of our country, and in winning the war on terrorism. 2-0. The Life And Teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) His Holiness, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), while living in America for 15 years spoke to us about the Oneness of God and His Creation, and about the Oneness of us and our brothers and sisters, stressing over and over again in over 10,000 discourses and songs about God, that in truth we are all One. (Note: most of these 10,000 discourses and song about God by His Holiness were recorded on audio tape and many on video cassettes, making it easy for all of us to experience them as they actually happened, and all of them have been digially archived for future generations to study) All of it teaching us to turn to God within us, to use God within us, all of it teaching us from many different perspectives, that the only way to be successful in our own life is through our direct relationship with God within us, through the "Stuff of God" within us, the stuff "Made-by-God" within us, like His grace, His wisdom, and His divine knowledge (called 'Ilm in the Islamic tradition), that naturally flows within our life and into the whole world within us and "outside" of us, when we trust and love in God, and in God alone, when we hand all that we are, and know, and do, and say, to God as His slave, making ourselves available to Him for His use, to complete His intention within us, which is to reveal God to God within us, for the benefit of all of the Creation of God within us. That the only way to be successful in our life, is to live our life within God, and before we die, to get God to live within us, to "steady Him" within us, and to do this both in our personal efforts to return to God from which we have all come, before we die, and in anything that we may set out to do in the world, like raising a loving family, showing true compassion to the poor, running a prosperous telecommunications company in the Global Economy with clarity, becoming a fair and honest representative of the people (becoming a good politician), or a responsible and restrained military leader, or as President of America, leading the battle in our age to "win the war on terrorism" by uniting lives and integrating countries, and by building a strong expanded U.N., Realizing without the slightest doubt, that to live this way, first we must use God within us to change our own heart, from a life of "separation and differences", that we are all currently living with our brothers and sisters in the world that we collectively see in our ignorance as existing only "outside" of us, into a life of "oneness and unity", of "justice and truth", and of "compassion and unity", that is lived with our brothers and sisters both in the world within us and "outside" of us, which in our maturity becomes one, becomes the Kingdom of God, become the hereafter "here" and "now", which is the potential of the "Oneness of God and True Man" within each of us, learning in this way to always stand in the "presence of God" both within us and "outside" of us before we do or say anything. In this way, allowing God within us to first change our own heart, and then the hearts of all those around us in the same way, if that be their true intention. In this way, joining in partnership with God within us, making our life into His life, making our problems into His problem, allowing God to transform our life and solve our problems and in the process complete what He has already started within each of us, even before we were born, which is to reveal God within us for the benefit of all of Creation within us, by first revealing True Man within us, within the Creation of God (which is this world) within us, by first revealing the Oneness of God and the Creation of God within us, which is True Man within us, allowing True Man within us to reveal God within us, allowing True Man to reveal the Oneness of True Man and the Creation of True Man (which is the next world) within us, which is God within us, in this way, revealing the "Oneness of God and True Man" within us, which in truth is God and True Man within us. Which is like what happens when the apple seed buried in the earth joined in partnership with the earth, germinates and reveals the apple tree hidden within it, allowing the apple tree to then reveal the sweet apples hidden within the apple tree, all of this naturally happening when the apple seed realizes, understands, accepts, and joins with the truth about itself, that naturally emerges from within it when it comes to maturity, the truth that it is an apple seed, that it is buried within the earth, and that the earth contains everything necessary for the apple seed to germinate, and for the apple tree hidden within it to grow, and for the sweet apple fruits hidden within the apple tree to emerge and come to maturity. So too, His Holiness, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), teaches us that in truth we are the "Seed of God", which is our soul, and we are buried within the earth of God, which is the Creation of God within us, which is this world, and this earth of God contains everything necessary for the "Seed of God" to germinate, and for the "Tree of God" hidden within it to grow, which is True Man within us, which is the soul within our soul, and to reveal God as the "Sweet Taste of the Fruit of God", that naturally emerges from within True Man, from within the Creation of True Man, which is the next world, if we will but realize, understand, accept, and join with the truth of us that naturally emerges from within us, when we come to maturity. And the life and teaching of God for the Children of God for this age, which is all of us living in this age, if we but want it, is what God has personally and ever so lovingly placed within each of us, even before we were born, and it contains the truth of us, and this truth of us, which we all already have, lies hidden and sleeping within us, and can be awakened within us, and nourished most perfectly within us, by the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) that God has also placed "outside" of us, in the "City of Brotherly Love", if that be our true intention, as its mother's milk is the best nourishment for the baby. 3. The Wealth of Our Age - needs to be applied to the problems of our age Dear Mr. President, each age is very different, and provides both it own unique challenges and potential outcomes, all of which are up to us to either successfully meet and in this way produce one kind of outcome, an outcome that moves man upward, continuing man's spiral upward into the divine, into the light that is a part of God's Creation, and from that light into the divine, into the "Stuff of God", from which we have all come, becoming more and more what we were made to be, and what we were created to reveal within us, which is the image of God, the light of God, which is the qualities and actions of God, the duties of God, and within that to reveal God Himself, the light within the light. Or we can fail to meet the challenges of our age, and produce a different outcome, an outcome that moves man downward, continuing man's spiral deeper and deeper into the creation of God, and into the darkness which is also part of God's Creation, which is the opposite, the enemy of the other part of God's Creation, an enemy of the light of God. Realizing that this is where God has placed our soul, which is "His Seed", so we could become "His Tree" and bear "His Fruits", for the benefit of all of His Creation, so our soul having come to God's School of Contrasts, His Contrasts of "birth and death", of "love and hate", and of "good and evil", His Contrast of light and darkness, in order to teach the soul, through contrast, "what it does not know", because understanding only come through contrast. So having learned our lessons, having understood "who we truly are", and "where we truly are", and "what is truly happening" in our life, our soul, joined with our wisdom, and merged with the light of our wisdom, having closed down the world of hell, and reopened the world of souls within us, can learn to pray, can directly receive God's help, revealing True Man within the Creation of God, which is the Oneness of God and His Creation, can open and reveal the Kingdom of God and God within it, before we die, for the benefit of all of the Creation. But to do this in our age, to continue man's spiral upward, and to prevent man's spiral downward, to move man more into the light of Creation and less into the darkness of Creation, causing the darkness of Creation to recede on its own, by understanding and overcoming all of the forces and energies of darkness within us, we need the wealth of our age, we need to apply the wealth of our age to the problems of our age. Only then will we be successful in our age, only then will our wisdom reason over our fate, making all of the things of darkness that are always following us, turn into dust. And the wealth of our age, my dearest loving brother, President George W. Bush, is the life and teaching of God that God has personally and ever so lovingly placed within each of us, even before we were born, even before we came into this earth world. And the "outside" finger that God has also given us that is always pointing to what God has place within each of us, the "outside" sound of God for our age, the "outside" life and teaching of God for our age, pointing to the inside life and teaching of God for our age, is the life and teaching of our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), the little Holy Man from Sri Lanka, who gave up His life so we could truly live, before it is too late. Before we spiral down into aspects of the darkness within us from which we cannot escape, becoming the deepest darkness within us for eternity, forever breaking our connection with the light of Creation within us, and with the light of God within that, and after we die, experiencing that darkness as the suffering of the grave, Qiyamah (the Standing Forth; the Day of Judgment), and an eternal life of "separation from" God, of "separation from" each other, and of "separation from" the Creation of God. May we both think about this a little, my dearest loving brother, President George W. Bush. It is very, very important. 4. A Little Bit About Louie Beutler - who is probably a lot like you, Mr. President We were born in America in 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and have lived all of our life in America for the last 64 years and counting. We are of Irish and German ancestry plus a little French. The name Beutler means "Purse Maker" in German we are told, and my father who was also born in Philadelphia was a first generation German-American. My mother, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, whose maiden name is Margaret Curtain was a first generation Irish-American. Both of my parents are dead. We have an older brother Robert who is 4 years older, and now is retired and lives in Florida with his wife, children, and grandchildren. We live with our wife Crisi and her mother, Mrs. Vee as we all affectionately call her. She is 95 and her name is Alexandra Viekat, originally from Estonia, one of the Baltic countries in northeastern Europe, coming to America in 1946 from a refugee camp in Germany after the 2nd WW war with her only daughter. We now live in a suburb of Philadelphia called the Main Line, and am retired. We have a son Christopher by a first marriage, who is 36, and we have two daughters, Lisa and Susan, who came into my life along with my wife and mother-in-law, as a package deal, getting four lovely ladies all at once, when His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) personally married Crisi and Louie in 1976, both for the second time. And now we have two grandchildren, David Michael Muhaiyaddeen and Noah Joseph Muhaiyaddeen, both children of Lisa, our youngest daughter, and her devoted husband Keith. Our oldest daughter Susan is also married and lives in the area with her hard working husband Rob. That's about it from the family point of view. We have a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters degree in Computer Science from Villanova University, and a Masters degree in Special Education from Temple University, and have worked as an engineer, teacher, salesman, computer programmer, systems analyst, and computer specialist before retiring a few years ago. We were a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as an Avionics Officer, responsible for the Avionics of a Squadron of F-8U Single Seat Fighter Jets flying out of Beauford, South Carolina. That's about it from an education, employment, and career point of view. We met His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) in the summer of 1975, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and have been His devoted disciple ever since, a life and teaching which has filled a void in my heart that all of the other things in my life could not address. That's about it from a spiritual point of view. Summary of Page 2, of Items 5.0 to 5.4 - click HERE to go to Page 2 of Letter 5-0. Suggestions From The Heart - which in truth is where we all live as One Dear Mr. President, from the bottom of my heart we want to offer you a suggestion. Please try to learn about and use the life and teaching of God for our age, that God has personally and ever so lovingly placed within you, even before you were born, even before you were George W. Bush, that God has placed within all of the Children of God for this age, which is all of us living in this age, if we but want it, if we but learn to use it, if we will but awaken to the reality of our own life, before we die. A life that is so much more than what we have currently experienced it to be, since we are all currently trying to exclusively live with our brothers and sisters, our family and our friends, in the world that we collectively see in our ignorance as existing "outside" of us, while all of the Creation of God, all of the 18,000 universes of God, all of the 15 worlds created by God, and all of the "Stuff" of God, all of the stuff within us that has been personally and lovingly "Made-by-God" for us, lies secretly hidden within us, like the "Mighty Oak Tree" lies secretly hidden within the acorn. Please at least investigate, at least look into the possibility, that God has truly sent to us in this age all that we need in this age to become victorious in this age, to really "win the war on terrorism", both within and "outside" of us, a gift from God for this age to the Children of God for this age, a gift, an age, and Children of God, like no gift, age, or Children that have came before us. In this way, God has placed His great wealth for this age within each of us, as He has done in all previous ages, in the ages of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael & Isaac, Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad (may God be pleased with all of His Prophets), and 1000 years ago in the age of Qutb Muhaiyaddeen Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (may God be pleased with Him) in Baghdad, and now in our age, in the age of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. And to help us realize what God has personally and ever so lovingly placed within the heart of each of us living in this age, and within all those to be born into this last age, until the end of time, God sent one into the world "outside" of us, from 1886 to 1986, God sent a simple Holy Man with really no history of His own, to tell us about, to point to, what God has already placed within the heart of each of us in this age, a little Holy man from Ceylon who we call Bawa, who we call Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, who we call Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). A truly humble Holy Man for our own age, who mysteriously came to Ceylon around 1886, directly from the presence of God within Him, to provide what was needed "outside" of us to allow God to finish what He has already started on the inside of all of us in this age, which is to reveal God to God within us, for the benefit of all of the Creation of God within us. And to bring His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), to bring Him finally at the very end of His life "outside" with us, to the "City of Brotherly Love", for 15 years, from 1971 to 1986, until His death, to teach us about "who we truly are", about "where we truly are", and about "what is truly happening" in our life, and to electronically document all of this, all of His life and teaching, on both audio and video cassettes, so everyone can see and hear Him directly, even after He is no longer physically with us, as much as they want, both now and in the future. And as Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) told us one day, about the life and teaching that He brought into the world, "At the end of time, which is now, God would send one to tell the people again what all of the Prophets and Lights of God have told them before, throughout the ages, over and over again, that God has told before to all of the people and races living throughout the world, but this time with no veils." "Everyone would hear it, everyone would understand it, and all that is left is do they want it, do they want a life of "Oneness with" God, or do they want to continue livng as "separate from" God, as "separate from" each other, and as "separate from " the Creation of God within them. The choice is theirs." What a wonder is this God of ours. Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. All praise and praising belong to God and to God alone. Only God is Great. Such is the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) in our age, the final life and teaching of God for the Children of God, before it is all over, the final gift from God to His Children, in order to teach us about "Who we really are", about "Where we really are", and about "What is really happening" in our life, in all life, before the Angel Gabriel (peace be upon Him) blows His divine horn for the last time, signaling the end of the world. In order to teach us that, if we like, if we want it, "We are the Seed of God", and "We are buried within the Earth of God, the Creation of God", and as such "We are of God", and as such, we are not of the Creation of God that we are all buried within, as the apple seed is of the apple tree, it is not of the earth that it is buried within, before it awakens to its own reality and germinates, revealing the apple tree within it. To teach us that as the "Seed of God" buried within the "Creation of God" within us, that "God is happening within us", that this is what is truly happening in our life, the "Seed of God" within us, which is our soul, is waiting to awaken to its own reality, rejecting in the process the reality of the Creation of God that it is buried within in, but at the same time, joining with that same Creation of God within us to germinate within us, in this way, revealing and becoming the "Tree of God" wthin us, which is like what the apple seed does when it rejects the reality of the earth as it reality but then joins with the earth to reveal its own reality which is the apple tree within it. In this way, we must give up our life of "separation and differences", our life of sin, our life of living "separate from" God, of "separate from" each other, and of "separate from" the Creation of God within us, which is our current life in the world, our current life with our brothers and sisters on the "outside" of us, seeing it anew, seeing it for the first time as it really is, as an express train to hell, to the embrace of the Angel of Death, to the suffering of the grave, to Qiyamah (the Standing Forth; t he Day of Judgment ), to an eternal life of "separation from" God. Seeing it for the firs time through the "Stuff of God" within us, through the grace, the wisdom, and the help of God within us, through the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) both inside and "outside" of us, seeing it through the grace and wisdom of God for our age as the reality of the Creation of God that we are buried within, but not as our reality, and having rejected this reality of Creation as our reality we must then join with that same Creation within us to germinate, to reveal, and to become the "Tree of God" within us, which is True Man within us, bearing the "Fruits of God" within us, which are the qualities and actions and duty of God within us, for the benefit of all of the Creation of God within us. And all of this will naturally happen within us, without our interference, if we will but let it happen within us, if we will but realize, understand, accept, and join with this truth of us, if we will but let the "Seed of God" within us germinate, if we will but let our life of "separation and differences" in the world "outside" of us end, if we will but let Jesus (peace be upon Him), who we have crucified with the 5 nails of desire to live here, the desire to live on the "outside" of us with our brothers and sisters and sin, continue to sin by living as if we are "separate from" God, as if we are "separate from" each other, and as if we are "separate from" the Creation of God within us. And all of this was created by God to naturally happen within us, without any need for us to make it happen, or cause it to happen, all of this will naturally happen within us, when we place all of our trust and love in God, put down the world "outside" of us, and pick up God within us, and join with the "Stuff of God" within us, if we will but let our wisdom pull out these 5 nails of desire to live here exclusively in the state of "separation and differences" on the "outside" of us, if we will but allow the grace, the wisdom, and help of God flow within us, and remove Jesus (peace be upon Him) from the cross of our elemental body, and join Him with our wisdom, and the light of our wisdom, making our life eternal, allowing our wisdom to reason over our fate, making our life in the world truly successful. That this is what is truly happening in our life, not successfully living in the world, not growing up, getting a job, getting married, having a family, retiring, growing all, and dying, which is just the natural cycle of the Creation of God within us, but not our "Natural Cycle" within us, not the "Destiny of our Soul" within us, not why we were born into this earth world. And Mr. President, President George W. Bush, my dearest loving brother, please try to apple this beautiful life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) to your personal life, to the administration of our wonderful country, and to your work of "winning the war on terrorism". For example, you can apply this beautiful life and teaching of God for our age to the Presidency of George W. Bush in the following ways: 5-1. Recognize & Believe That There Is A Real Answer To Terrorism And that answer is God, that answer is the Power or Grace of God in each of our lives, that we can bring to bear on our problems, and on the problems around us, if we like, and if we know how. This is the only real answer to the problem of terrorism, which in truth comes from the problem of "separation and differences" that each of us is personally experiencing in our own daily life, and as President, that you and your administration are experiencing in the pursuit of its goals 5-2. Make The "Road Map" Their Problem, Not Your Problem But make "them", make the Israelis and the Palestinians your problem, make "them and their problem" truly "your problem", and stop trying to keep something that you are doing "separate from" them as "your problem", like waging a global war on terrorism 5-3. Fix The U.N., Fix What Was Not Right From The Start Fix the U.N. by realizing and accepting that a strong U.N. is really what is needed in the world today, even if it means from one perspective a less powerful and influential America. That is the sacrifice we and other strong countries must be ready to make, and to lead, just like the leaders of each of the original colonies had to give up some of their sovereignty to form America. In this way, we must willingly transfer some of our sovereignty, power, wealth, and influence over to the U.N., making it strong and financially self sustaining, even profitable, and capable of leading the world in all international issues, if the world is ever to become more democratic and equitable and secure 5-4. Specific Recommendations For Changing The U.N. We must make the U.N. a powerful democratic model for the world, a super-enterprise that is politically and financially independent, whose business is the world, both the sovereign nations in the world and the citizens living in them. And we can successfully do this by monitoring the behavior of all sovereign nations including their care and feeding of their citizens, by monitoring the business transactions both within and between sovereign nations, redefining these transactions as necessary in order to increase the support that each sovereign nation provides to its citizens, to its groups, and to the world community, and in order to decrease its burden on the same community, in the process assigning each sovereign nation a Support/Burden Index, that is recalculated each year at the start of the U.N. session, using it to assign a weight to its vote in the U.N. according to its relative position on the Support/Burden Index (SBI), as compared to other nations Summary of Page 3, of Items 5,5 to 6.0 - click HERE to go to Page 3 of Letter 5-5. Taking A New Look At The U.N. What do we do now, Mr. President, in the 21st Century? What type of world body do we now require to successfully carry us through the next 50 years, or even the next 25 years. Perhaps in addition to what we now have at the U.N., whose focus is mainly on the brotherhood, or lack of it, between sovereign nations, we need to develop an entirely new part of the U.N., whose focus is mainly on the citizens of the world, forming perhaps a United World Community. A New Virtual Nation for all of the citizens of the world, that is not tied to any of the current physical constraints of citizens, like country, place, race, religion, age, marital status, or gender, providing a full range of citizen services, and allowing them, if they like, to politically, socially, and economically transcend, be protected from, be provided with a balance to, all of their current physical constraints, freeing them up to do other things, like going in search of themselves, and of God within them, with the support of those of a similar nature. For example, freeing them from all of the physical constraints inherent in the sovereign nations of the world, who have and will continue to exploit their citizens, in one way or another, for their own practical reasons, whether it be through some old-time form of physical slavery, like ownership, or more present-day versions like childhood, schooling, employment, marriage, military service, and prison, or through other more subtle forms of servitude, like race and religion, history, patriotism, titles, status & position, influence, education, skills, reputation, wealth, ownership, family, gender, marital status, age, language, taxation, debt, unemployment, poverty, alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and drug abuse, retirement, as well as, hunger, illness, old age, and death. 5-6. Let Democracy Evolve In America By seriously taking into account direct citizen participation at all levels of government in America, not just by letting citizens elect a President and representatives at the federal, state, and local levels, but by getting them, encouraging them, and by setting up laws and procedures to help them become directly involved at all levels of government as a new and equal branch of government As the fifth branch of government, making our government truly for and by the people, making our government a new balancing act between the Executive, the Legislative, the Judicial, the Press, and the Conscience of the People. Only then will America survive these very difficult times and address the many complex inequalities emerging in America each day, and in the world all around us, and allow us to change the U.N. as suggested earlier 5-7. The Enemy Within - is the real terrorist who lives within the heart of each of us, just waiting to come out when we forget God The real terrorist is within each of us, just waiting to come out of us at each moment, as arrogance, race, and religion, as desire for land, women, and gold, when we start to trust in ourselves, in our power and qualities and actions, and in our institutions and in the "Stuff of man" outside of us, rather than in God within us, rather than in the grace and qualities and actions of God within us, rather than in the "Stuff of God" within us, in order to manage both our own lives and the world that God has placed around us. That God has placed outside of us for His selfless purpose, not for our selfish purposes, our purposes which are but a reflection of the darkness that has grown in our ignorance within us, which is our current state, our current state of "separation from" God, of "separation from" each other, and of "separation from" the Creation of God within us. Which we can overcome only joining with God within us, not just by joining with each other outside of us, to bring the life and light of God back into each of the rooms of our heart, transforming it into the Palace of the Soul, causing the darkness that has grown within us in our ignorance to leave all by itself., allowing God's selfless purpose for our life and for the world outside of us to move forward in the name of God, as truly One Nation under God, not just a collection of expanding sovereign nations fighting over the same shrinking resources, as is currently the case . May we all stop and take stock of our lives, of the world that we currently inhabit, and realize and accept the great danger we face, if we fail to win over the terrorist within us, who is making a complete fool out of all of us, out of the "most exalted of all of God's Creation", the one Creation who was made in the image of God, who was given the power to wisely rule over all other Creations, and make the world we now see "outside" into the Kingdom of God both within us and outside of us, for the benefit of all of the Creation of God. Only then will we truly bring peace to the world. Until then our calls for peace will only bring about our own destruction. Excerpt From A Discourse By His Holiness: For as His Holiness, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him, teach us on page 1 and 2, at the beginning of the Preface in the beautiful book, "Islam and World Peace: Explanations of a Sufi", ---- Beginning of Excerpt of Talk by His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) ---- "Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate. It is important in this present day that the children of Adam clearly understand the true meaning of Islam. We must know the value of its purity, of its peacefulness, its unity, its sincerity, its honesty, and the value of its conscience and justice and truth. We must know the greatness of Allah who rules over all this, and we must find tranquillity in our lives, so that we will be able to guide others toward peacefulness. To all those who have accepted Allah and His Messenger, Muhammad, with perfect faith, certitude, and determination (Iman), (we must realize that) before we can bring peace to all lives, before we can eliminate poverty, suffering, illusion, and disease in the world, before we can come to love every life as we do our own, we must first understand the value of absolute faith. That is the purpose of this book. To have determined faith in Allah, the Almighty Lord (Rabb) to know Him and to bow down at His feet, to pray to Him and adopt His ways, to believe with complete certitude in His messengers, prophets, and angels, to carry out the commandments sent through them, to bring into our actions His three thousand gracious qualities and His ninety-nine attributes (wilayat), and to dedicate our lives to His service - this is the true meaning of Islam. Islam is equality, peacefulness, and unity. Islam is inner patience, contentment, trust in God, and praise of God (sabr, shukr, tawakku 'ala Allah, and al-hamdu lillah). One who understands this and puts it into practice will be a true believer. He will be Allah's representative; he will know Allah and His commandments and practice the explanations given through His revelations; in his own life he will demonstrate Allah's qualities, His actions, and His conduct. We who claim to be in Islam must destroy all the evil qualities that arise within us. We must cut away and discard all that God discarded from Himself, all the differences that separate us from Him. We must remove all the thoughts that disrupt the unity of Adam's children, the unity of Islam. We must fight against the separations that grow within our bodies, sucking our blood like animals and demons. With the wealth of God's grace and with the help of His messengers, we must wage a holy war against every one of the four hundred trillion, ten thousand evil qualities that come to destroy our good qualities. This holy war, this jihad, is not something that can be fought on the outside; our real enemies have been within us from birth. If we are true human beings (insan), we will realize that. Our own evil qualities are killing us. They are the enemies that must be conquered. We must control and subdue them and keep them in their place. We must show these animal qualities their true master, Almighty God (Allahu ta 'ala), and we must win them over and teach them faith in Him. That is the way of Islam, and that is what this book urges us to do." ------- End of Excerpt of Talk by His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) ------- 6. Closing Prayer & Comments Let those who are knowledgeable correct any fault. Forgive me the wrong and accept the good. So I request. End of Summary of - Spiritual Letter 53 - ........................ Go To Spiritual Letter: or Go To Spiritual Letter 53: Table of Contents Expanded Version or ( a top-down version of the Library Home Page) (a bottom-up version of the Library Home Page) |
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