'The qualities, actions, and conduct of a true Sheikh will be that of God. He will not do his work for money, hunger, house or wealth. His wealth, his health, his life and his nourishment are God. The search for God will be his only quest. How does this Sheikh, this man of wisdom, attain his connection to God? He establishes complete faith in God. His faith is unwavering with no doubt or suspicion. It is firm, unshakable, ?m?n-faith. Through this faith, he feeds on God's qualities. He imbibes God's actions, conduct, demeanor, and virtues, thus disappearing and dying in God. Through this death he attains wellness. How does this happen? As soon as he disappears, God transforms his qualities and give him wellness through divine qualities. Karma, arrogance, selfishness, pride, and jealousy are transformed into God's qualities. He is given that wellness.

He will acquire God's love, His virtues, His patience, His forbearance, His equanimity, and His three thousand gracious qualities. He adopts God's attributes that are manifest as ninety-nine qualities in action (wil?yats). Because his is surrendered to God and merges with Him, he attains these qualities.

Just as the tree transformed the air, God transforms the Sheikh and liberates his soul. He receives that wellness. In his qualities and wisdom, God's beauty and fragrance will be present. Just as fragrance permeates a flower, God permeates his inner heart. The Sheikh merges into God's beauty, and God's beauty merges into the beautiful inner heart of the Sheikh, like a fragrance. The two exist as the fragrance and the flower.

A Sheikh will have this manner of faith.
He will merge with God and attain
this wellness, this beauty, and this fragrance.
If you arrive at that state,
have the same belief, certainty, and determination,
have the same doubt-free intentions,
have the faith that does not say
one thing on the outside and another on the inside,
and intermingle with the Sheikh
as the fish intermingles with water,
then the Sheikh will wash and cleanse your dirt
with waver after wave of wisdom.
He will transform your qualities
He will change your karma,
your actions, and your thoughts
and give you the wellness he received from God.
He will take your airs,
lay open and purify them with wisdom,
wash them with love,
and cleanse them with patience and inner patience,
giving you strength and peaceful wisdoms.
This will give you wellness and happiness.
It will transform your blackened air,
change your karmic air,
and change your arrogance, karma and maya,
giving you beauty and qualities
that bring forth peace, freedom, and soul-liberation.
It will grant you the state
wherein you liberate your soul and live.

When you associate with a Sheikh, this state should be entrenched in you. You should surrender to him with ?m?n'absolute faith, certitude, and determination. This faith is surrender. Establish certitude with the wisdom and strength of this faith, and when you attain this state, you can receive the benefits. Only then can there be change.

There are different kinds of trees; some make you well and others make you ill. If you stand beside a tamarind tree or a wood-apple tree, they could make you sick. They contain the five elements, sourness, and certain kinds of air that can change your health.

My precious jeweled lights of my eyes, what is the connection with a Sheikh? He is one who will obtain the liberation of the soul for you. He will make it sound and give it to you. He will safeguard the indestructible treasure of the soul which does not perish in this world or the next, and keep it from being tarnished.

In his body of five elements,
there are four hundred trillion, ten thousand
kinds of miraculous powers and tricks of maya
that cause change.
The Sheikh dispels these turbulent winds.
He has the breeze that will subdue all desires.
He has God's air of grace,
this grace-wisdom, this rare treasure.
In order to receive this treasure,
no matter how big you are in the world,
you have to be a babe-in-arms with him.

When you join a Sheikh who is a perfected man (ins?n-kamil), you must be a baby to his qualities. No matter how much you may have studied, whether you rule the world, whether you are a king, whether you are a rich man or a poor man, or whether you are a ruler or a slave'you must be a babe-in-arms to the Sheikh. Only then will he embrace you to his chest.

When you come to him, come as a tiny baby. If you are a baby, he will pick you up on all four sides. He will carry you on his shoulder, embrace you to his chest, wrap you around his neck, or carry you on his head. He will carry you in one way or another. Even if he has to tie you on his back, he will carry you.

But if you come to him as a great king, like a big mountain, he will unburden himself and move on. Why? He will not carry you, because you are too heavy. You must first understand the meaning of belief, resolute faith, determination, and certitude. Then, unloosen and discard all your prior learning and intentions. If you want to follow a Sheikh, you must become a babe-in-arms with unconditional ?m?n. You should not harbor any doubt or suspicion. You should not hold on to anything else. If you do, he will move on, saying. 'That's fine, play with it.' Having tried his very best, he will then leave you and move on.

'M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen- a Sufi mystic, can best be remembered for his efforts to bring unity through understanding to the faithful of all religions.'

Copyright: The Fast of Ramadan p 421-424
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Family Newsletter JanuaryFebruary 2001