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It is good to join the Fellowship. Once you become a member, these are your duties: The First duty is to join the Fellowship. The second duty is to purify yourself, to clear and purify your qualities, day by day. The third duty is to do service for the Fellowship. Whatever service you like, do it. The fourth duty is to concentrate and listen to the words of the Sheikh, hold them within, and reflect on them. The fifth duty is to bring the actions of the Sheikh into your own actions. Try to follow his qualities, actions, and conduct closely. The sixth duty is to recognize that all lives are equal to your own. The seventh duty is to feel the hunger of others as your own hunger. If you see that others need food, you must share your food with them. The eighth duty is to perform your duties selflessly, as God does. The ninth duty is to have the constant thought of God in your heart, whether you are working or resting. The tenth duty is to perform your duties no matter what the world says. The world will praise you one day and blame you the next. Close your ears to both praise and blame. The eleventh duty is to realize that what you see with your physical eyes is impermanent and will perish one day, but what you see with wisdom is permanent and will live forever. Whatever your eyes see and delight in should be discarded, but what wisdom sees should be accepted and placed in your heart. The twelfth duty is not to be tricked by what the tongue tastes or what the nose smells. Instead of being fascinated by the food of the world, use your inner tongue and your inner nostrils to taste and smell the love and qualities of God. With certitude, use these inner organs to search for Allah’s ‘ilm, His profound knowledge. The thirteenth duty is to be constantly aware of your own faults. Do not focus on the faults of others, but try to remove your own faults. The fourteenth duty is to know the hearts of others, to comfort them and make them peaceful. Even if someone harms you, do not dwell on that thought- throw it away. The fifteenth duty is to trample all physical and mental visions under the feet of wisdom. Make the words, actions, and qualities of God into a crown for your head. Bow in obeisance to God, pay Him respect, and receive the wealth of His kingdom. The sixteenth duty is to perform God’s duties without attachment, separatism, or partiality. Then your heart will contain His kingdom. When His light comes into your heart, your face will be as radiant as the full moon, and you will be filled with resplendence and beauty. The seventeenth duty is to hold sabūr, the undiminishing treasure of patience, in your heart, no matter what suffering or happiness may come your way. This will make the exaltedness of your life complete. The eighteenth duty is to understand what is meant by surrender to Allah. The light within a gem gives the gem its value. There is a point of light within the eyes which makes the eyes valuable. There is a point within the moon which gives the moon value and beauty. There is a point within the sun, a power which gives the sun its magnitude. Similarly, there is a point within your body and your qalb, your innermost heart, which is the scepter of the kingdom of God. For that point to merge with God is surrender. For that point to merge with God’s Power is surrender. For that point to look at God and mingle with Him is surrender. Then your whole body will be valuable as the luminosity of the moon, as valuable as the magnitude of the sun. That Power will give you value. For that connection to come about and for your actions to resplend with light is the value of surrender. The nineteenth duty is to develop the absolute faith, determination, and certitude that is known as īmān. Īmān is a wealth that can never be diminished or destroyed. It is God’s treasury, the treasure chest in which His wealth is kept. Faith, determination, and certitude are the lock for that chest, and divine luminous wisdom is the connection to Allah which is the key. To place His treasures in that chest, you have to turn the key and open the lid. The treasure chest of īmān must be kept in the qalb. The Kalimah (la illaha, il Allah), the word of God, becomes the form, the body, and the world of one who holds the treasures of God. If you accept responsibility for His treasures, if you put them in the proper place, you will have the treasures of the soul, the treasures of paradise, and the treasures of His duties, grace, and qualities. Build this place. The twentieth duty is to perform service with understanding in your qalb and in your awareness, perception, intelligence, judgment, and wisdom. As you become further aware, you must do more and more duty in this state. See with the eye of wisdom and do duty; realize with your perception and do duty; understand with your awareness and do duty. If you have the determination in your qalb to finish your duties, that will become the undiminishing wealth of God’s duty. The twenty-first duty is to worship God in every word and in every breath. If your perception, awareness, faith and īmān are connected to God, it is very easy to pray to Him. It is not difficult. You breathe in and out while you sleep, while you are awake, while you are walking- in any state. Does your breath ever sleep? Does it stop when you work? Does it stop when you walk? It flows continually. In the same way, when your remembrance, perception, and awareness are focused on His point while you search for Him, that is worship. Just as you breathe even while you are sleeping, when your faith, certitude, and determination flow like your breath, that is prayer. No matter what you do, it will not stop. Your faith and connection to God must be like that. To pray with that connection is true prayer. To remember God no matter what you are doing is prayer. For your wisdom to flow within, for your awareness to flow within, for your perception to flow within, for that state to exist in your body, in your nerves, skin, and tissues, for that focused awareness of God to flow through all your organs and limbs is prayer. No matter what you do, it must be done like this. Do not forget even when you are asleep. Remembrance must exist in everything you do. That is prayer. That is the point. The twenty-second duty is to stand focused on the One Point which is God. Just as your eyes are drawn toward something you want, you must stand on that Point if you want your Father and your true wealth which is the wealth of His kingdom. The vision of your Father must be within you, and you must look at Him and His kingdom, His duty and His judgment. The point is to always look at Him. The point is for your heart to go to that Point. That is the point between you and your Father. Your Father will look at you, and you will look at Him. Looking at each other’s faces, you will become one. To focus your inner vision on that Point is īmān. This is what is known as focusing the eyes of īmān. The twenty-third duty is to say, “Tawakkal-Allah,” surrendering all your thoughts to God. If you say, “My Father, no matter what comes, all this belongs to You; it is Your responsibility,” that is tawakkal-Allah. Whatever happens, you must say, “I have a Father. It is His responsibility.” You must give your Father all the reports that come to you: all the telephone calls that come must be given to your Father. Whatever treasures come must be given to your Father. That is tawakkul. The twenty-fourth duty is to do all duty so that your Father is the One who is doing it. You must be your Father’s son or daughter, and He must be the One who does everything. He must do everything. You must do as He says, but He must be the One who is performing your actions. You have to say, “Al-hamdu lillah! All praise is Yours,” in everything you do. Say your Father’s name, “Al-hamdu lillah,” and you will always see perfection. Say, “Al-hamdu lillah,” and praise your Father. Praise your Father in all your life. The twenty-fifth duty is for your words to be spoken by God; your actions must be performed by God, and in that state you must become His son or daughter. Then you will not be able to do anything without His word. He will have to do everything. He will have to speak: He will have to act. Your body must be like a box, a cage, a plastic bag, and all your duties must be the wealth carried within it. All duties must be His duties. Your cage is like thin plastic. You have to know this with certitude. Think of God and disappear within the Point which is God. Then you can understand the kingdom of the soul, the kingdom of the world, and the kingdom of God. If you follow your Father, you can understand all kingdoms. You can understand everything everywhere. Your Father exists everywhere, in all lives, in all places, in all worlds, in the 18,000 universes. Your Father does duty everywhere. All kingdoms are His. If you follow your Father, you can understand all the kingdoms, and you can also understand your Father’s Power. Know this. You must know this, my children. Amin. These are the duties of the members of the Fellowship. These are words about duty from the wise father of the Fellowship. If you act according to these words, the Fellowship will be the kingdom of God, and you will be the children of God. Copyright: Discourse by His Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen on March 25, 1979 Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Family Newsletter May-Jun 1997
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Bawa Muhaiyaddeen for over 50 years selflessly shared his knowledge with people of every race, religion—from all parts of the world. Before Bawa’s passing in 1986 he wrote “Peace and the Mind” and requested that everyone in the world receive a copy. If you would like your FREE copy please Click Here! www.onegodonly.com
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