Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen | |
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Born | Unknown |
Died | December 8, 1986 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Era | 20th century |
Region | Sri 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]
Though little is known of his early personal life, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen 's public career began in Sri Lanka in the early 1940s, when he emerged from the jungles of northern Sri Lanka. Bawa met pilgrims who were visiting shrines in the north, and gradually became more widely known. There were reports of dream or mystical meetings with Bawa that preceded physical contact. [4] According to an account from the 1940s, Bawa had spent time in 'Kataragama', a jungle shrine in the south of the island, and in 'Jailani', a cliff shrine dedicated to 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani of Baghdad, an association that links him to the Qadiri order of Sufism. [4] Many of his followers who lived around the northern town of Jaffna were Hindus and addressed him as swami or guru, where he was a medical and spiritual faith healer — and cured 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]
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.[ citation needed ] In the United States, Canada and England, he was recognized by religious scholars, journalists, educators and leaders.[ how? ] The United Nations' Assistant Secretary General, Robert Muller, asked for Bawa's guidance on behalf of mankind during an interview in 1974. [10] During the Iranian hostage crisis of 1978–1980, he wrote letters to world leaders including Iran's Khomeini, Prime Minister Begin, President Sadat and President Carter to encourage a peaceful resolution to the conflict. [11] [12] Time magazine, during the crisis in 1980, quoted Bawa as saying that when the Iranians understand the Koran "they will release the hostages immediately." [13] Interviews with Bawa appeared in Psychology Today , [14] the Harvard Divinity Bulletin , [15] and in The Philadelphia Inquirer [16] and the Pittsburgh Press . He continued teaching until his death on December 8, 1986.[ citation needed ]
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]
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 ]
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]
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen was referred to as Guru, Swami, Sheikh or '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.
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.
Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, or simply Rumi, was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi faqih (jurist), Islamic scholar, Maturidi theologian (mutakallim), and Sufi mystic originally from Greater Khorasan in Greater Iran.
Sufism is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism and asceticism.
Idries Shah, also known as Idris Shah, Indries Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an Afghan author, thinker and teacher in the Sufi tradition. Shah wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.
The Masnavi, or Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi, also written Mathnawi, or Mathnavi, is an extensive poem written in Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, also known as Rumi. It is a series of six books of poetry that together amount to around 25,000 verses or 50,000 lines. The Masnavi is one of the most influential works of Sufism, ascribed to be like a "Quran in Persian". Some Muslims regard the Masnavi as one of the most important works of Islamic literature, falling behind only the Quran. It has been viewed by many commentators as the greatest mystical poem in world literature. It is a spiritual text that teaches Sufis how to reach their goal of being truly in love with God.
Fakir, faqeer, or faqīr, derived from faqr, is an Islamic term traditionally used for Sufi Muslim ascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do not necessarily renounce all relationships, or take vows of poverty, but the adornments of the temporal worldly life are kept in perspective. The connotations of poverty associated with the term relate to their spiritual neediness, not necessarily their physical neediness.
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (tariqah), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persian and Turkish (derviş) as well as in Tamazight (Aderwic), corresponding to the Arabic term faqīr. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reach God. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God. Their most popular practice is Sama, which is associated with the 13th-century mystic Rumi. In folklore and with adherents of Sufism, dervishes are often credited with the ability to perform miracles and ascribed supernatural powers. Historically, the term Dervish has also been used more loosely, as the designation of various Islamic political movements or military entities.
A teaching story is a narrative that has been deliberately created as a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom. The practice has been used in a number of religious and other traditions, though writer Idries Shah's use of it was in the context of Sufi teaching and learning, within which this body of material has been described as the "most valuable of the treasures in the human heritage". The range of teaching stories is enormous, including anecdotes, accounts of meetings between teachers and pupils, biographies, myths, fairy tales, fables and jokes. Such stories frequently have a long life beyond the initial teaching situation and have contributed vastly to the world's store of folklore and literature.
MewithoutYou, usually stylized as mewithoutYou, was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian, and Rickie Mazzotta (drums). The band's music is generally dominated by spoken-word vocals and free-ranging drums, bass, and guitar.
Nafs (نَفْس) is an Arabic word occurring in the Quran, literally meaning "self", and has been translated as "psyche", "ego" or "soul". The term is cognate with the Hebrew word nephesh, נֶפֶשׁ. In the Quran, the word nafs is used in both the individualistic and collective sense, indicating that although humanity is united in possessing the positive qualities of a nafs, they are individually responsible for exercising the agencies of the "free will" that it provides them.
Esoteric interpretation of the Quran is the allegorical interpretation of the Quran or the quest for its hidden, inner meanings. The Arabic word taʾwīl was synonymous with conventional interpretation in its earliest use, but it came to mean a process of discerning its most fundamental understandings. "Esoteric" interpretations do not usually contradict the conventional interpretations; instead, they discuss the inner levels of meaning of the Quran.
William Clark Chittick is an American philosopher, writer, translator, and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, and Islamic cosmology. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at Stony Brook University.
Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam in which Muslims seek divine love and truth through direct personal experience of God. This mystic tradition within Islam developed in several stages of growth, emerging first in the form of early asceticism, based on the teachings of Hasan al-Basri, before entering the second stage of more classical mysticism of divine love, as promoted by al-Ghazali and Attar of Nishapur, and finally emerging in the institutionalized form of today's network of fraternal Sufi orders, based on Sufis such as Rumi and Yunus Emre. At its core, however, Sufism remains an individual mystic experience, and a Sufi can be characterized as one who seeks the annihilation of the ego in God.
Sufi literature consists of works in various languages that express and advocate the ideas of Sufism.
The Fihi Ma Fihi or Fīhi Mā Fīhi, lit. ''It Is What It Is" or "In It What Is in It'') is a Persian prose work of 13th century Sufi mystic and Iranian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī. The book has 72 short discourses.
The Mosque of Shaikh M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the grounds of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. The building of the mosque took 6 months and was done by the members of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship under the direction of M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. It was completed by May 1984, two years before his death in 1986. The official opening and dedication took place on May 27, 1984.
It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright is the fourth studio album by American indie band mewithoutYou. The record was Produced by Brian McTear and Daniel Smith, and was released on May 19, 2009 through Tooth & Nail Records. The album is much more focused on the band's melodic and folk influences, such as Neutral Milk Hotel and Bob Dylan, with most of the songs written around the acoustic guitar. Many other instruments are used throughout the album, such as bells, violins, and an accordion. The poetic themes in the album include lyrical confessions, pastoral reflections, and parables. There is also a focus on spiritual reflection, existential meaning through the love of God and others, and the teachings of Sufi mystic Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.
Leonard Lewisohn was an American author, translator and lecturer in the area of Islamic studies and a specialist in Persian language and Sufi literature. He was the editor of Mawlana Rumi Review, a publication of the Rumi Institute and Archetype, Cambridge, published once a year. He was a member of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies in University of Exeter.
Gisela Goodrich Webb is an American scholar of comparative religion and professor emerita of religious studies at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. Her works mainly focus on the intellectual and mystical traditions of Islam, Muslim women's rights and Islam in America.
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has generic name (help) Chapter 4: Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary American Islamic Spirituality: The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship by Dr. Gisela Webb, Professor of Religious Studies at Seton Hall University{{cite book}}
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has generic name (help) Chapter 4: Third Wave Sufism in America and the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship by Dr. Gisela Webb, Professor of Religious Studies at Seton Hall UniversityPart of a series on Islam Sufism |
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