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QUESTION: What should we do when we see faults in others? BAWA MUHAIYADDEEN: Primarily, we must try to correct our own faults. If we analyze every point within us, we will find that the faults we see in others are really within ourselves. If we look into our own thoughts and intentions, we will find that they are all wrong. Therefore it is those faults that we have to correct, not the faults of others. The wisest thing we can do in this life is to correct all the problems and differences and troubles that we have within ourselves. Then only will we understand the world with clarity. We must examine and correct each one of our thoughts, each one of our intentions, and each one of our qualities. That is the path to becoming true human beings. It is a most difficult path, but if we really follow it, then we will be the leaders for all three worlds: the world of the souls, this world, and the hereafter. Until that time, we will continue to be the ones among God’s creations who find fault with others and hurt them. My children, this is something that we must realize and accept. E ach one of us must correct our own thoughts and intentions. If a beetle sits on a flower, it will always make a hole and spoil the flower’s beauty. If a pest crawls on a leaf, it will damage the leaf. If a bug creeps into a fruit, the value of that fruit will be completely lost. If a piece of dirt falls into someone’s eye, it can injure the eye. In the same way, if there is a flaw in the innermost heart, the qalb, it will ruin the heart completely. We should think about this. All those things that fall into the heart can destroy it, so we must destroy them before they destroy us. We must try to remove all the faults that are within us. That is what a wise man would do. That is the intelligent thing to do. Whatever we see on the outside is a show, an exhibition. There are six kinds of lives, and each one exhibits whatever is natural for that life. Its color, its shape, the language or sounds it produces, the food it eats, the place where it lives—all these will differ, according to what is suitable for that life. Each one has its own ways. We must find out the section where man dwells. We have to understand that section and then correct everything within it. That will be very good. There are so many lessons we have to learn, things that we have to understand about ourselves. Many things are there within us, and we must try to find out what they are. The one who can understand that is a true human being. The one who does not understand will have so many animal qualities within him that he will be worse than a devil, worse than the deadliest of animals. His happiness will be to hurt others. His bliss will be to murder others. Such a state could develop within him. We must use our intelligence and try to avoid being like that. Then we can realize and experience the meaning of shanti, of true peacefulness. We must wash away the dirt from our own garments. We should not try to remove the dirt from another person’s garments. If we do, we will only get kicked. A dog likes to clean himself with his tongue, so if we try to wash his backside with water, he will bite us. Instead, we must wash our own backsides very carefully. Muhaiyaddeen, M.R. Bawa. Questions of Life - Answers of Wisdom. Philadelphia: Fellowship Press, 1991. 281-282.
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