Spiritual Stuff 03 - Library Editing Rules 02 Brief Description: Some generic suggestions for improving the editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, that is, by making more material by His Holiness available to more of the public in an on-line written format environment, rather than just as audio & video tapes or as formally edited and published "hard bound" books and pamphlets, by creating a sophisticated on-line data base married with a multi-path, digitally oriented Editing and Publication process, and by assigning "Editing Categories" to each of the 10,000 songs or discourse by His Holiness, and in this way, making a transcript of each of these discourses and songs by His Holiness available through the Internet, with an "Editing Category" of SETO - "Spontaneous English Translation Only", then changing their "Editing Category", like from IEE - "Informal English Editing Complete - Awaiting Formal Tamil & English Editing" to FTEE - "Formal Tamil And English Editing Complete - Awaiting Publication", as they gradually make their way through the formal editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship from "informal transcripts" into "hard bound", as well as "on-line", books and pamphlets Date written: June 10, 2004, Date published: June 26, 2002 Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) Home Page - Spiritual Stuff Go To Spiritual Stuff 04 Stuff 03: Expanded Version Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Al-salam 'alaykkum wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kuluhu. Wa 'alaykum al-salam wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kuluhu. May all the peace, beneficence, and blessing of God be upon us all, my dearest loving brothers and sisters. May God help us all. My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). Outline For Library Editing Rules 02: 1-0. Observations About The Publishing Department - we need to move from analog publishing methods to digital publishing methods 2-0. Suggestions For Improving The Publishing Department - we need to create and maintain a secure database and Internet publishing environment 3-0. Background Information - to help us understand some of the problems that need to be addressed in upgrading the Publishing Department 3-1. Publication of Books or Pamphlets - which include both a Tamil and an English Editing of all discourses and songs by His Holiness, included in the book or pamphlet 3-2. Publication of Audio or Video Tape Cassettes - which usually includes both a set of spontaneous Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and a spontaneous English translation of each of these discourses and songs by His Holiness, all recorded on the tape together, at the same time, and with no after the fact, Tamil and/or English editing of any of these discourses and songs by His Holiness 3-3. Publication of "English Dubbed" Audio Cassettes - which includes both a spontaneous set of Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and formal Tamil and English edited version of each of these discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, with the English edited version being electronically added to (dubbed onto) the original audio cassettes, after the fact, after the discourse and/or song has been given to us by His Holiness 3-4. Internet Publication - of the life & teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), and of the life and teaching of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) 4-0. Closing Comments and Prayer - learning to do "Heart's Work" at the feet of our Shaikh within us, and of God within Him 5-0. Golden Words Number: 907 - The Five Duties Text For Library Editing Rules 02: 1-0. Observations About The Publishing Department - we need to move from analog publishing methods to digital publishing methods To help you in your responsibility, my dearest loving brother, as Manager of The Publishing Department, the following observations are offered to Muhammad Lateef (Kelly Hayden) from Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler), from my heart to your heart, from within the One heart of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). Please take these observations as merely suggestions that came into my heart from Bawa while reading your letter and writing this reply. And always remember, my love you (anbu), my dearest brother. [Note: to read the letter that was written to Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) by Muhammad Lateef (Kelly Hayden), and the reply by Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) on , which included some of what is contained in this document "Library Editing Rules 02", please click on the following: Spiritual Letter 42, "The Life & Teaching of Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen For the Age of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), (www.SpiritualLetter042.homestead.com)] First, we are quickly moving into a time when all of the published material by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) can be placed on 1 CD, and using a variety of search techniques available today, would allow someone to ask the following questions, and immediately be able to read what is currently published about His Holiness that addresses each of these questions. For example, 1) Who is God? 2) Who is Man? 3) What is the relationship between God and Man? 4) Who is the Shaikh? 5) Who is the Disciple? 6) What is the relationship between the Shaikh and the Disciple? 7) How do these two relationship, between God and Man, and between the Shaikh and the Disciple, interact, and eventually become One. With this technical revolution facing us today, we must be constantly re-considering the format and techniques that we are currently using to publish the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), and always be ready to change formats and techniques to better serve the needs of the Fellowship, the needs of all of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us), which from a larger perspective is everyone living in the world today. The current format and techniques for publishing the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), as you referenced in the initial guidelines, includes things like books, and pamphlets. However, there are many problems associated with these tried and true, but ancient, methods of publishing. For example, they are static or paper oriented, very labor intensive (they must be both Tamil and English edited, over and over again, and then manually printed), very place oriented (people must come to them to work on them), resulting in a system that, by its very nature, can only slowly publish books and pamphlets, which then are not easily corrected, or distributed, or re-published into another language. Add to this the fact that the original discourses or songs are spoken in Tamil and only some of them are translated into English, and that the initial translations are most of the time spontaneous, and not performed in a detailed or systematic way, and you have a very complicated, and slow process. And after they are published they are usually distributed using a standard marketing "Push" and "Pull" approach, which means we send them to book stores, and re-supply them when they ask for more, or we wait for people to ask for them. This was perhaps fine in a single culture, with a relatively closed environment, but it is certainly "not the way to go" today, in the multicultural communities of the world today, with large open and even transparent environments, such as the Spanish and Arabic speaking people in America, South America, and in the Middle East, as well as the young people in America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, as well as Australia, who are all in desperate need "today" of what Bawa has given us "yesterday", in order to even survive in the world we are all quickly moving into, let alone becoming true human beings, a world where, as Bawa teaches us, the beast "within all of us" will finally come out of "one of us" to destroy the world "outside" for all of us, destroying any chance for any of us to get it right before we die. For example, a world where we patiently wait while "America prepares to invade Iraq". In this way, it is strongly recommended that we start to use the digital alternates to our current analog methods of publishing, which this child will gladly help implement, in order to help my dearest loving brother Muhammad Lateef in his "Bawa given job", to make the publishing of the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), by the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us), more successful. 2-0. Suggestions For Improving The Publishing Department - we need to create and maintain a secure database and Internet publishing environment My dearest loving brother Muhammad Lateef, with this in mind the following initial suggestions for improving the Publishing Department of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship are humbly offered for your consideration. 1) Scanning the textual archives of all of Bawa's discourses and songs into a database, and making them available for on-line access over the Internet, in order to work on them, to study them, to cross reference them (like all references to the Suratal Fatihah), and to publish them in a secure on-line environment, with people signing onto the Fellowship Publishing Internet (FPI), and the Fellowship Publishing Database (FPD) with secure passwords. Everyone will really love this new open computer based publishing environment, both the "old dogs" and the new recruits. 2) Opening the publishing process to more skilled people of the Fellowship, who want to help but are not currently involved in the process, like computer engineers, marketing people, linguists, and managers, and people who speak other languages, like Tamil, Arabic, Spanish, and other foreign languages, and not just waiting for them to show up, but to actively go in search of them, to recruit them in the way a young entrepreneur would eagerly go in search of young talented people to make his bold new ideas a reality. This is what we really need. 3) Setting up the publishing process so it is database and Internet oriented, not paper oriented, so people anywhere in the world, like down the street in Ardmore, or in England, or in Sri Lanka, can easily gain access to unpublished Bawa discourses and songs in a secure computer environment, and quickly bring them to a point where they can be Tamil and English edited, reviewed, approved, and published, first on the Internet, and then through books, and pamphlets. This is the proper sequence for publishing today. 4) Breaking the publishing process into different groups, rather than having everything under one person, all within one group, or setting it up with one person who manages several separate groups, like the "Book and Pamphlet Publishing (BPP) Group, the Database Publishing (DP) Group (putting everything we have in written form on a database and making it available through the Internet with limited and secure access), and the on-line Internet publishing (IP) Group (like you did with the two books, "Islam and World Peace: Explanations of a Sufi", and "The Book of God's Love"). 5) The development of a "Three Tier" approach to publishing Bawa's discourses and songs, such as an "Initial or Informal English Edit" (IEE), an "Initial or Informal Tamil and English Edit (ITEE), and a "Final or Formal English and Tamil Edit" (FETE), and making each level of the three tiers available through the Internet, for working on, for studying, and for publishing, all within a secure computer environment. My dearest loving brother Muhammad Lateef, we need to vigorously pursue these alternatives, so that people who are willing to help, and there are many of them, can be applied to the current publishing bottleneck, created by the current publishing format and methods, so more of Bawa's material can be made available. May we both think about these suggestions a little, they are very good ideas and they need to be discussed with the appropriate people at the Fellowship. Also, implementing these simple suggestions in a timely fashion would take some of the pressure off those of us currently on the sidelines (of the Publishing of Bawa's material) who are concerned about the slow process of "getting the word out", and end up trying to "go it alone". 3-0. Background Information - to help us understand some of the problems that need to be addressed in upgrading the Publishing Department To help us better understand the editing and publication status of the material from His Holiness we have put together in this section, some Background Information about the editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, as well as, based on this process, a rationale for assigning an Editing and Publishing Category to each discourse and song by His Holiness. For example, the following Editing and Publication Categories could be applied to each of the discourses and songs by His Holiness, categories which will be made clearer as we read this background information: Suggested Editing Categories: 1) SETO - Spontaneous English Translation Only 2) IEE - Informal or Initial English Editing 3) ITEE - Informal or Initial Tamil And English Editing 4) FTEE - Formal or Final Tamil And English Editing Suggested Publication Categories: 1) PAB - Published as a "Hard Bound" Book 2) PAP - Published as a "Hard Bound" Pamphlet 3) PAC - Published as an Audio and/or Video Tape Cassette 4) IOLP - Informal On-line Publishing 5) FOLP - Formal On-line Publishing 3-1. Publication of Books And Pamphlets of His Holiness - which include both a Tamil and an English Editing of all discourses and songs by His Holiness, included in the book or pamphlet From the perspective of someone "outside" of the editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, the process currently used seems to go something like the following: Formal Editing & Publishing Process: 1) A book or pamphlet is planned. 2) Discourses or songs by His Holiness are assigned to the book or pamphlet 3) Discourses and songs are Tamil Edited. 4) Discourses and songs are English Edited. 5) A book or pamphlet is published. In this way, the main goal of the editing and publishing process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship is currently (looking at it from the "outside", that is) to produce books and pamphlets on the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), using traditional linear and analog editing and "hard bound" publication processes, and a relatively closed and rigid system of copyright protection, security, and access rights. And this same editing and publication process does not currently seem to be focused upon producing, again from an "outside" perspective, an easy to use and geometrically expanding on-line library of material on both His Holiness and on His Children, that covers as much as possible about the life and teaching of both His Holiness and of His Children, that everyone can easily become involved in, if they like, that is, in reading and studying, and as well as, in editing and publishing and distributing, and also in sharing this material, to whatever level they wish, wherever they wish, to whomever they wish, using modern multidimensional and digitally based editing and publication processes married to a powerful on-line database and Internet connection. And of course a process and system that provides all of the necessary rules of copyright protection, security, and access rights, but an editing and publication system blended with an on-line database that is designed to be maximally open and flexible, one that consciously tries not just to save and protect the material, but equally, not to lose the child, one that reaches out to embrace and gather in, and to save and protect the Children of God for our age, which for this age, are the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us), which is all of us living in this age, if we but want it, which is the true wealth of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), not the physical things that He left behind, which in truth are just bird dropping, bird droppings of the Mystical Bird for our age, for the Coo-Coo Bird for our age. 3-2. Publication of Audio And Video Tape Cassettes of His Holiness - which usually includes both a set of spontaneous Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and a spontaneous English translation of each of these discourses and songs by His Holiness, all recorded on the tape together, at the same time, and with no after the fact, Tamil and/or English editing of any of these discourses and songs by His Holiness In addition to publishing books and pamphlets the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship also publishes audio and video tapes of the spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness. This is very important because it allows the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship to make available to the public much more of the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) than can be made available just through the paper bound process of publishing books and pamphlets, since currently only a very small percentage of the material given to us by His Holiness, which includes over 10,000 spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness, have been made into paper based publications like books and pamphlets. In this way, most of the 10,000 spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness have been recorded on audio and video cassettes, as they were actually given to us by His Holiness, and at the same time spontaneously translated into English by one of the "Official Tamil to English Translators", and in this format, as audio and/or video cassette tapes, have been published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, and are currently available for purchase. Please click on the following: The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Web Page, which has the following URL or Web Address: www.bmf.org. Once there, click on "On-line Bookstore", to learn about and order books, pamphlets, as well as audio and video tape cassettes on the life and teaching of His Holiness, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). In most cases the audio and video cassettes published and sold by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship contain both a spontaneous discourse and/or songs by His Holiness in Tamil (the language spoken by His Holiness), and a spontaneous English translation of that discourse and/or songs by His Holiness, that occurred at the same time His Holiness gave us the discourse or sang us the song. A spontaneous English translation by one of the "Official Tamil to English Translators" personally assigned by His Holiness to translate into English a particular discourse or song that He was giving. However, is a few cases, the audio and video cassettes published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship contain only a spontaneous discourse and/or songs by His Holiness in Tamil, with no spontaneous English translation to accompany it. 3-3. Publication of English Dubbed Audio Cassettes of His Holiness - which includes both a spontaneous set of Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and an English edited version of each of these discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, with the English edited version being electronically added to (dubbed onto) the original audio cassettes, after the fact, after the discourse and/or song had been given to us by His Holiness, and after the transcript of the discourse and song has been both formally Tamil and English edited by a qualified translator and editor In same cases, when there was no spontaneous English translation of a spontaneous Tamil discourse or song by His Holiness, the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship has electronically added it to the audio tape cassette later, after the fact, after it was given to us by His Holiness, and after a thorough Tamil and English editing process, similar to that performed to publish books and pamphlets, as is the case for several beautiful songs given to us by His Holiness, and published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. For example, this is the case for "The Kalimah Song", the "Allah Muhammad Song", and the "Song of the Qutb", as well as others songs given to us by His Holiness, with the Tamil text of the discourse or song by His Holiness being subjected to a thorough Tamil and English editing process, and then the results of that process being subsequently electronically added to the original audio tape (that is, being dubbed onto the original Tamil only version of the audio tape cassette), and then being published and sold to the public as an English translation of a discourse and/or song by His Holiness. And a lot of this work of producing a "Tamil and English Edited" version of a "Tamil Only" version of some of the most beautiful and mystical songs by His Holiness, including the "Kalimah Song", the "Allah Muhammad Song", and the "Song of the Qutb", as well as others, was produced by our loving sister, Usha Balamore. And we thank her very, very much, from the depths of our heart for her contribution Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. 3-4. Internet Publication - of the life & teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), and of the life and teaching of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) Also, with the recent advent of the Internet, and its power to disseminate and publish information, which did not really come to maturity until after the death of His Holiness on December 8th 1986, we really need to Rethink the whole editing and publication process for the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. For example, this and other Web Sites are being developed by the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us) to help get the word out about the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), the gift of God for this age, as well as about the life and teaching of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral), the gift within the gift of God for this age, the last gift of God for this age, before the Final Destruction. These new Web Sites need to be coordinated and encouraged, and certainly not viewed with suspicion or fear or overly controlled or supervised. In this way, these and other new Web Sites can provide us through the Internet with an on-line version of some of the books and pamphlets published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship on the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), as well as, an on-line transcripts of some of the 10,000 spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness, that have been published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship as audio and/or video tape cassettes, but have not yet been published as paper based or "hard bound" books or pamphlets. All these new Web Sites need is a little help in classifying the material so its Editing and Publication status is made clear to the viewing audience. In this way, along with a little administrative help from the Publishing Department of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, that is, with a little guidance on how best to classify and present this material to the public, these new Internet Web Sites can certainly provide a valuable service. For example, they can provide a Web Page version of some of the English translations of the spontaneous discourses and songs given to us in this age by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) but are not yet available as "hard bound" books or pamphlets. Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. In this way, providing the public with both an on-line copy of a published book or pamphlet, and an on-line written version of a spontaneous English translation of a spontaneous Tamil discourse or song by His Holiness that is currently only available to the public as an audio or video tape cassette, a discourse or song by His Holiness which was spontaneously tanslation by an "Official Tamil to English Translators" of His Holiness, and in a few cases, an on-line written version of a "Tamil and English Edited" version of a "Tamil Only" spontaneous discourse or song by His Holiness. Remembering as discussed in a previous section, that a "Tamil and English Edited" version of a "Tamil Only" spontaneous discourse or song by His Holiness is certainly the special case, representing an English version of a discourse or song by His Holiness that was originally "Tamil Only", but has been both subsequently formally Tamil and English edited, after the fact, that is, after His Holiness has spontaneously given us the discourse or song, and that has then been electronically added to the original audio tape (that is, dubbed onto the tape), after the fact, that is, after the tape was originally recorded, giving us an English version of a previously "Tamil Only" version of the tape, which is then published and made available to the public as an audio or video tape cassette. 4-0. Closing Comments and Prayer - learning to do "Heart's Work" at the feet of our Shaikh, and of God within Him May we all learn to join in partnership with God within us, before we die, to join in partnership with our wisdom, and with the truth of God within our wisdom, which for this age means to join with our Shaikh within us, with our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), and with God within Him, to complete God's intention within us, which is to reveal God to God within us, for the benefit of all of the Creation of God within us, and to do this by first revealing True Man within the Creation of God within us, allowing True Man's within us to reveal God within the Creation of True Man within us, revealing in this way, the "Oneness of God and True Man" within us, which in truth is God and True Man within us. May God give us His grace within us, which is the water of His wisdom, and His light within us, which is His wisdom, and His help within us, which is His 'ilm or divine knowledge, to do this. Amen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rabil Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahman Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahim Alameen. Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. 5-0. Golden Words Number 907 - The Five Duties May we all learn to do our duty to God, our duty to our Shaikh, our duty to the Fellowship, and our duty to the world family, in accordance with the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), and of His Children (may God be pleased with each of Us). Amen. For as Bawa teaches us on page 416 and 417, for "Number 907: The Five Duties", in the book, "Golden Words of a Sufi Shaikh, ----------------- beginning of discourse by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) ---------------- 907. The Five Duties: (Note: the following numbered titles highlighted in green, and the brief summary following each title, also in green but not highlighted, have been added by Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) to the original discourse give by His Holiness, which is presented in red, and which provide a summary or outline to this beautiful discourse by our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), from the perspective of this child living at the feet of His Holiness. Amen) Child: Will His Holiness speak about the five duties? He often talks about duty to God, duty to the Shaikh, duty to the Fellowship, duty to the family, and duty to the world. His Holiness: There are hundreds of millions of duties, not just these five. The 3,000 gracious attributes of Allah are His Duties, the 99 actions are His duties. You spoke of only five. What are our duties? There are hundreds of thousands of kinds of duties. 1) Duty to God - which is duty to the Shaikh "outside" of us, treating Him as our "Second God", after our mother and father, and before we actually meet God within us, causing our Shaikh "outside" of us to become our soul, to become the Nur Muhammad within us, while we become His form, we become the "Windows" in the house of wisdom within us, which are the 99 attributes or wilayats of God within us, which is the completion of the Creation of God within us, which are the 1000 generosities of God within us. Amen First of all, do service to God. God is the Katpaha Virudcham, the tree of plenitude of faith (within us, of Iman within us) which gives you everything you ask. Nourish that tree within you with the water of wisdom (grace). That is duty to God. 2) Duty to The Shaikh - which is duty to the Shaikh "within us", to His word "within us", in this way moving the "word' of the Shaikh from "outside" of us to within us. Amen. Then do service to the Shaikh. The true Shaikh is the ripe fruit on that tree. Taste that fruit and preserve its nourishing sweetness within you. That is duty to your Shaikh. 3) Duty To The Fellowship - which is the duty of wisdom, to the wisdom of our Shaikh, which is the house of wisdom within us, the palace of the soul within us, which is our 6th life within us, our light form within us Do service to the Fellowship. The Fellowship is a place of light (within you) that exists (within you) to dispel the darkness (within you) in the heart. Those who have attained wisdom in that place (within you) must do duty with a loving heart. The duty of wisdom is to know your own self, and when you realize yourself, you will realize your own state. As soon as you understand your own state, you will see the plenitude of God dwelling within you, and you being within God (within you). (And in this way, you will see God within you and you within God, as God within True Man and as True Man within God, and as such you and God are One, One within the other as One, One revealing the other within it as One hides oneself within the One being revealed, only to be revealed again, later, by the One now being revealed) Then there will be no duality (either between you and God within you, or between you and the Creation of God within you). With the 3,000 gracious qualities of God, you will show compassion to all lives (within you). That is duty to the Fellowship, and to the Children of the Fellowship (which in truth are the Creation of God within us who are Shepherded by the Qutb of God within us). It will become a precious gem for your life. 4) Duty to The World Family - which includes our "personal" family that we are currently treating as "separate from" all other "personal" families, which in truth is what is keeping us "separate from" God within us. Amen. What does it mean to do duty to the family? Is there something called a family? The family and the world are really one. The whole world is your family. Do duty for the world. Be one who loves all lives, one who exists as the form of compassion (for all lives within you), and be of service and help them. That is duty to the world family. 5) Duty to Ourselves - which is our true duty or Allah's miracle within us, which is allowing "God to happen" within us, by first allowing "True Man to happen" within us Therefore, with your good qualities, actions, and conduct, acquire God's qualities. To acquire His qualities and serve others, bringing love and peace to their hearts, is your duty and Allah's miracle. When you attain that state, all lives will bow to you." ----------------- end of discourse by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) ---------------- My dearest loving brothers and sisters, may we all learn to do our duty like this, becoming in this way the One Heart of our Shaikh, and performing in this way, His work within us, and God's work within Him within us, perform "Heart's Work" both "here" and "now", learning in this way to do our duty "here" from "there", our duty to the dunya or earth world within us from akhirah or the hereafter within us. Amen, Amen, Ya Rabil Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahman Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahim Alameen. Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. 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. My love you (anbu), my dearest loving brothers and sisters - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). End of Spiritual Stuff 03 - Library Editing Rules 02 - ................................... or ( a top-down version of the Library Home Page) (a bottom-up version of the Library Home Page) |
Spiritual Stuff 03 - Library Editing Rules 02 Brief Description: Some generic suggestions for improving the editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, that is, by making more material by His Holiness available to more of the public in an on-line written format environment, rather than just as audio & video tapes or as formally edited and published "hard bound" books and pamphlets, by creating a sophisticated on-line data base married with a multi-path, digitally oriented Editing and Publication process, and by assigning "Editing Categories" to each of the 10,000 songs or discourse by His Holiness, and in this way, making a transcript of each of these discourses and songs by His Holiness available through the Internet, with an "Editing Category" of SETO - "Spontaneous English Translation Only", then changing their "Editing Category", like from IEE - "Informal English Editing Complete - Awaiting Formal Tamil & English Editing" to FTEE - "Formal Tamil And English Editing Complete - Awaiting Publication", as they gradually make their way through the formal editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship from "informal transcripts" into "hard bound", as well as "on-line", books and pamphlets Date written: June 10, 2004, Date published: June 26, 2002 Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) Home Page - Spiritual Stuff Go To Spiritual Stuff 04 Stuff 03: Expanded Version Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Al-salam 'alaykkum wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kuluhu. Wa 'alaykum al-salam wa-rahmat Allah wa-barakatuhu kuluhu. May all the peace, beneficence, and blessing of God be upon us all, my dearest loving brothers and sisters. May God help us all. My love you (anbu) - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). Outline For Library Editing Rules 02: 1-0. Observations About The Publishing Department - we need to move from analog publishing methods to digital publishing methods 2-0. Suggestions For Improving The Publishing Department - we need to create and maintain a secure database and Internet publishing environment 3-0. Background Information - to help us understand some of the problems that need to be addressed in upgrading the Publishing Department 3-1. Publication of Books or Pamphlets - which include both a Tamil and an English Editing of all discourses and songs by His Holiness, included in the book or pamphlet 3-2. Publication of Audio or Video Tape Cassettes - which usually includes both a set of spontaneous Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and a spontaneous English translation of each of these discourses and songs by His Holiness, all recorded on the tape together, at the same time, and with no after the fact, Tamil and/or English editing of any of these discourses and songs by His Holiness 3-3. Publication of "English Dubbed" Audio Cassettes - which includes both a spontaneous set of Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and formal Tamil and English edited version of each of these discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, with the English edited version being electronically added to (dubbed onto) the original audio cassettes, after the fact, after the discourse and/or song has been given to us by His Holiness 3-4. Internet Publication - of the life & teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), and of the life and teaching of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) 4-0. Closing Comments and Prayer - learning to do "Heart's Work" at the feet of our Shaikh within us, and of God within Him 5-0. Golden Words Number: 907 - The Five Duties Text For Library Editing Rules 02: 1-0. Observations About The Publishing Department - we need to move from analog publishing methods to digital publishing methods To help you in your responsibility, my dearest loving brother, as Manager of The Publishing Department, the following observations are offered to Muhammad Lateef (Kelly Hayden) from Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler), from my heart to your heart, from within the One heart of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). Please take these observations as merely suggestions that came into my heart from Bawa while reading your letter and writing this reply. And always remember, my love you (anbu), my dearest brother. [Note: to read the letter that was written to Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) by Muhammad Lateef (Kelly Hayden), and the reply by Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) on , which included some of what is contained in this document "Library Editing Rules 02", please click on the following: Spiritual Letter 42, "The Life & Teaching of Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen For the Age of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), (www.SpiritualLetter042.homestead.com)] First, we are quickly moving into a time when all of the published material by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) can be placed on 1 CD, and using a variety of search techniques available today, would allow someone to ask the following questions, and immediately be able to read what is currently published about His Holiness that addresses each of these questions. For example, 1) Who is God? 2) Who is Man? 3) What is the relationship between God and Man? 4) Who is the Shaikh? 5) Who is the Disciple? 6) What is the relationship between the Shaikh and the Disciple? 7) How do these two relationship, between God and Man, and between the Shaikh and the Disciple, interact, and eventually become One. With this technical revolution facing us today, we must be constantly re-considering the format and techniques that we are currently using to publish the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), and always be ready to change formats and techniques to better serve the needs of the Fellowship, the needs of all of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us), which from a larger perspective is everyone living in the world today. The current format and techniques for publishing the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), as you referenced in the initial guidelines, includes things like books, and pamphlets. However, there are many problems associated with these tried and true, but ancient, methods of publishing. For example, they are static or paper oriented, very labor intensive (they must be both Tamil and English edited, over and over again, and then manually printed), very place oriented (people must come to them to work on them), resulting in a system that, by its very nature, can only slowly publish books and pamphlets, which then are not easily corrected, or distributed, or re-published into another language. Add to this the fact that the original discourses or songs are spoken in Tamil and only some of them are translated into English, and that the initial translations are most of the time spontaneous, and not performed in a detailed or systematic way, and you have a very complicated, and slow process. And after they are published they are usually distributed using a standard marketing "Push" and "Pull" approach, which means we send them to book stores, and re-supply them when they ask for more, or we wait for people to ask for them. This was perhaps fine in a single culture, with a relatively closed environment, but it is certainly "not the way to go" today, in the multicultural communities of the world today, with large open and even transparent environments, such as the Spanish and Arabic speaking people in America, South America, and in the Middle East, as well as the young people in America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, as well as Australia, who are all in desperate need "today" of what Bawa has given us "yesterday", in order to even survive in the world we are all quickly moving into, let alone becoming true human beings, a world where, as Bawa teaches us, the beast "within all of us" will finally come out of "one of us" to destroy the world "outside" for all of us, destroying any chance for any of us to get it right before we die. For example, a world where we patiently wait while "America prepares to invade Iraq". In this way, it is strongly recommended that we start to use the digital alternates to our current analog methods of publishing, which this child will gladly help implement, in order to help my dearest loving brother Muhammad Lateef in his "Bawa given job", to make the publishing of the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), by the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us), more successful. 2-0. Suggestions For Improving The Publishing Department - we need to create and maintain a secure database and Internet publishing environment My dearest loving brother Muhammad Lateef, with this in mind the following initial suggestions for improving the Publishing Department of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship are humbly offered for your consideration. 1) Scanning the textual archives of all of Bawa's discourses and songs into a database, and making them available for on-line access over the Internet, in order to work on them, to study them, to cross reference them (like all references to the Suratal Fatihah), and to publish them in a secure on-line environment, with people signing onto the Fellowship Publishing Internet (FPI), and the Fellowship Publishing Database (FPD) with secure passwords. Everyone will really love this new open computer based publishing environment, both the "old dogs" and the new recruits. 2) Opening the publishing process to more skilled people of the Fellowship, who want to help but are not currently involved in the process, like computer engineers, marketing people, linguists, and managers, and people who speak other languages, like Tamil, Arabic, Spanish, and other foreign languages, and not just waiting for them to show up, but to actively go in search of them, to recruit them in the way a young entrepreneur would eagerly go in search of young talented people to make his bold new ideas a reality. This is what we really need. 3) Setting up the publishing process so it is database and Internet oriented, not paper oriented, so people anywhere in the world, like down the street in Ardmore, or in England, or in Sri Lanka, can easily gain access to unpublished Bawa discourses and songs in a secure computer environment, and quickly bring them to a point where they can be Tamil and English edited, reviewed, approved, and published, first on the Internet, and then through books, and pamphlets. This is the proper sequence for publishing today. 4) Breaking the publishing process into different groups, rather than having everything under one person, all within one group, or setting it up with one person who manages several separate groups, like the "Book and Pamphlet Publishing (BPP) Group, the Database Publishing (DP) Group (putting everything we have in written form on a database and making it available through the Internet with limited and secure access), and the on-line Internet publishing (IP) Group (like you did with the two books, "Islam and World Peace: Explanations of a Sufi", and "The Book of God's Love"). 5) The development of a "Three Tier" approach to publishing Bawa's discourses and songs, such as an "Initial or Informal English Edit" (IEE), an "Initial or Informal Tamil and English Edit (ITEE), and a "Final or Formal English and Tamil Edit" (FETE), and making each level of the three tiers available through the Internet, for working on, for studying, and for publishing, all within a secure computer environment. My dearest loving brother Muhammad Lateef, we need to vigorously pursue these alternatives, so that people who are willing to help, and there are many of them, can be applied to the current publishing bottleneck, created by the current publishing format and methods, so more of Bawa's material can be made available. May we both think about these suggestions a little, they are very good ideas and they need to be discussed with the appropriate people at the Fellowship. Also, implementing these simple suggestions in a timely fashion would take some of the pressure off those of us currently on the sidelines (of the Publishing of Bawa's material) who are concerned about the slow process of "getting the word out", and end up trying to "go it alone". 3-0. Background Information - to help us understand some of the problems that need to be addressed in upgrading the Publishing Department To help us better understand the editing and publication status of the material from His Holiness we have put together in this section, some Background Information about the editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, as well as, based on this process, a rationale for assigning an Editing and Publishing Category to each discourse and song by His Holiness. For example, the following Editing and Publication Categories could be applied to each of the discourses and songs by His Holiness, categories which will be made clearer as we read this background information: Suggested Editing Categories: 1) SETO - Spontaneous English Translation Only 2) IEE - Informal or Initial English Editing 3) ITEE - Informal or Initial Tamil And English Editing 4) FTEE - Formal or Final Tamil And English Editing Suggested Publication Categories: 1) PAB - Published as a "Hard Bound" Book 2) PAP - Published as a "Hard Bound" Pamphlet 3) PAC - Published as an Audio and/or Video Tape Cassette 4) IOLP - Informal On-line Publishing 5) FOLP - Formal On-line Publishing 3-1. Publication of Books And Pamphlets of His Holiness - which include both a Tamil and an English Editing of all discourses and songs by His Holiness, included in the book or pamphlet From the perspective of someone "outside" of the editing and publication process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, the process currently used seems to go something like the following: Formal Editing & Publishing Process: 1) A book or pamphlet is planned. 2) Discourses or songs by His Holiness are assigned to the book or pamphlet 3) Discourses and songs are Tamil Edited. 4) Discourses and songs are English Edited. 5) A book or pamphlet is published. In this way, the main goal of the editing and publishing process of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship is currently (looking at it from the "outside", that is) to produce books and pamphlets on the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), using traditional linear and analog editing and "hard bound" publication processes, and a relatively closed and rigid system of copyright protection, security, and access rights. And this same editing and publication process does not currently seem to be focused upon producing, again from an "outside" perspective, an easy to use and geometrically expanding on-line library of material on both His Holiness and on His Children, that covers as much as possible about the life and teaching of both His Holiness and of His Children, that everyone can easily become involved in, if they like, that is, in reading and studying, and as well as, in editing and publishing and distributing, and also in sharing this material, to whatever level they wish, wherever they wish, to whomever they wish, using modern multidimensional and digitally based editing and publication processes married to a powerful on-line database and Internet connection. And of course a process and system that provides all of the necessary rules of copyright protection, security, and access rights, but an editing and publication system blended with an on-line database that is designed to be maximally open and flexible, one that consciously tries not just to save and protect the material, but equally, not to lose the child, one that reaches out to embrace and gather in, and to save and protect the Children of God for our age, which for this age, are the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us), which is all of us living in this age, if we but want it, which is the true wealth of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), not the physical things that He left behind, which in truth are just bird dropping, bird droppings of the Mystical Bird for our age, for the Coo-Coo Bird for our age. 3-2. Publication of Audio And Video Tape Cassettes of His Holiness - which usually includes both a set of spontaneous Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and a spontaneous English translation of each of these discourses and songs by His Holiness, all recorded on the tape together, at the same time, and with no after the fact, Tamil and/or English editing of any of these discourses and songs by His Holiness In addition to publishing books and pamphlets the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship also publishes audio and video tapes of the spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness. This is very important because it allows the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship to make available to the public much more of the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) than can be made available just through the paper bound process of publishing books and pamphlets, since currently only a very small percentage of the material given to us by His Holiness, which includes over 10,000 spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness, have been made into paper based publications like books and pamphlets. In this way, most of the 10,000 spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness have been recorded on audio and video cassettes, as they were actually given to us by His Holiness, and at the same time spontaneously translated into English by one of the "Official Tamil to English Translators", and in this format, as audio and/or video cassette tapes, have been published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, and are currently available for purchase. Please click on the following: The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Web Page, which has the following URL or Web Address: www.bmf.org. Once there, click on "On-line Bookstore", to learn about and order books, pamphlets, as well as audio and video tape cassettes on the life and teaching of His Holiness, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). In most cases the audio and video cassettes published and sold by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship contain both a spontaneous discourse and/or songs by His Holiness in Tamil (the language spoken by His Holiness), and a spontaneous English translation of that discourse and/or songs by His Holiness, that occurred at the same time His Holiness gave us the discourse or sang us the song. A spontaneous English translation by one of the "Official Tamil to English Translators" personally assigned by His Holiness to translate into English a particular discourse or song that He was giving. However, is a few cases, the audio and video cassettes published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship contain only a spontaneous discourse and/or songs by His Holiness in Tamil, with no spontaneous English translation to accompany it. 3-3. Publication of English Dubbed Audio Cassettes of His Holiness - which includes both a spontaneous set of Tamil discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, and an English edited version of each of these discourses and/or songs by His Holiness, with the English edited version being electronically added to (dubbed onto) the original audio cassettes, after the fact, after the discourse and/or song had been given to us by His Holiness, and after the transcript of the discourse and song has been both formally Tamil and English edited by a qualified translator and editor In same cases, when there was no spontaneous English translation of a spontaneous Tamil discourse or song by His Holiness, the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship has electronically added it to the audio tape cassette later, after the fact, after it was given to us by His Holiness, and after a thorough Tamil and English editing process, similar to that performed to publish books and pamphlets, as is the case for several beautiful songs given to us by His Holiness, and published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. For example, this is the case for "The Kalimah Song", the "Allah Muhammad Song", and the "Song of the Qutb", as well as others songs given to us by His Holiness, with the Tamil text of the discourse or song by His Holiness being subjected to a thorough Tamil and English editing process, and then the results of that process being subsequently electronically added to the original audio tape (that is, being dubbed onto the original Tamil only version of the audio tape cassette), and then being published and sold to the public as an English translation of a discourse and/or song by His Holiness. And a lot of this work of producing a "Tamil and English Edited" version of a "Tamil Only" version of some of the most beautiful and mystical songs by His Holiness, including the "Kalimah Song", the "Allah Muhammad Song", and the "Song of the Qutb", as well as others, was produced by our loving sister, Usha Balamore. And we thank her very, very much, from the depths of our heart for her contribution Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. 3-4. Internet Publication - of the life & teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), and of the life and teaching of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) Also, with the recent advent of the Internet, and its power to disseminate and publish information, which did not really come to maturity until after the death of His Holiness on December 8th 1986, we really need to Rethink the whole editing and publication process for the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. For example, this and other Web Sites are being developed by the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with each of Us) to help get the word out about the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), the gift of God for this age, as well as about the life and teaching of the Children of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral), the gift within the gift of God for this age, the last gift of God for this age, before the Final Destruction. These new Web Sites need to be coordinated and encouraged, and certainly not viewed with suspicion or fear or overly controlled or supervised. In this way, these and other new Web Sites can provide us through the Internet with an on-line version of some of the books and pamphlets published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship on the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), as well as, an on-line transcripts of some of the 10,000 spontaneous discourses and songs by His Holiness, that have been published by the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship as audio and/or video tape cassettes, but have not yet been published as paper based or "hard bound" books or pamphlets. All these new Web Sites need is a little help in classifying the material so its Editing and Publication status is made clear to the viewing audience. In this way, along with a little administrative help from the Publishing Department of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, that is, with a little guidance on how best to classify and present this material to the public, these new Internet Web Sites can certainly provide a valuable service. For example, they can provide a Web Page version of some of the English translations of the spontaneous discourses and songs given to us in this age by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him) but are not yet available as "hard bound" books or pamphlets. Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. In this way, providing the public with both an on-line copy of a published book or pamphlet, and an on-line written version of a spontaneous English translation of a spontaneous Tamil discourse or song by His Holiness that is currently only available to the public as an audio or video tape cassette, a discourse or song by His Holiness which was spontaneously tanslation by an "Official Tamil to English Translators" of His Holiness, and in a few cases, an on-line written version of a "Tamil and English Edited" version of a "Tamil Only" spontaneous discourse or song by His Holiness. Remembering as discussed in a previous section, that a "Tamil and English Edited" version of a "Tamil Only" spontaneous discourse or song by His Holiness is certainly the special case, representing an English version of a discourse or song by His Holiness that was originally "Tamil Only", but has been both subsequently formally Tamil and English edited, after the fact, that is, after His Holiness has spontaneously given us the discourse or song, and that has then been electronically added to the original audio tape (that is, dubbed onto the tape), after the fact, that is, after the tape was originally recorded, giving us an English version of a previously "Tamil Only" version of the tape, which is then published and made available to the public as an audio or video tape cassette. 4-0. Closing Comments and Prayer - learning to do "Heart's Work" at the feet of our Shaikh, and of God within Him May we all learn to join in partnership with God within us, before we die, to join in partnership with our wisdom, and with the truth of God within our wisdom, which for this age means to join with our Shaikh within us, with our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), and with God within Him, to complete God's intention within us, which is to reveal God to God within us, for the benefit of all of the Creation of God within us, and to do this by first revealing True Man within the Creation of God within us, allowing True Man's within us to reveal God within the Creation of True Man within us, revealing in this way, the "Oneness of God and True Man" within us, which in truth is God and True Man within us. May God give us His grace within us, which is the water of His wisdom, and His light within us, which is His wisdom, and His help within us, which is His 'ilm or divine knowledge, to do this. Amen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rabil Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahman Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahim Alameen. Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. 5-0. Golden Words Number 907 - The Five Duties May we all learn to do our duty to God, our duty to our Shaikh, our duty to the Fellowship, and our duty to the world family, in accordance with the life and teaching of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), and of His Children (may God be pleased with each of Us). Amen. For as Bawa teaches us on page 416 and 417, for "Number 907: The Five Duties", in the book, "Golden Words of a Sufi Shaikh, ----------------- beginning of discourse by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) ---------------- 907. The Five Duties: (Note: the following numbered titles highlighted in green, and the brief summary following each title, also in green but not highlighted, have been added by Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) to the original discourse give by His Holiness, which is presented in red, and which provide a summary or outline to this beautiful discourse by our Father, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him), from the perspective of this child living at the feet of His Holiness. Amen) Child: Will His Holiness speak about the five duties? He often talks about duty to God, duty to the Shaikh, duty to the Fellowship, duty to the family, and duty to the world. His Holiness: There are hundreds of millions of duties, not just these five. The 3,000 gracious attributes of Allah are His Duties, the 99 actions are His duties. You spoke of only five. What are our duties? There are hundreds of thousands of kinds of duties. 1) Duty to God - which is duty to the Shaikh "outside" of us, treating Him as our "Second God", after our mother and father, and before we actually meet God within us, causing our Shaikh "outside" of us to become our soul, to become the Nur Muhammad within us, while we become His form, we become the "Windows" in the house of wisdom within us, which are the 99 attributes or wilayats of God within us, which is the completion of the Creation of God within us, which are the 1000 generosities of God within us. Amen First of all, do service to God. God is the Katpaha Virudcham, the tree of plenitude of faith (within us, of Iman within us) which gives you everything you ask. Nourish that tree within you with the water of wisdom (grace). That is duty to God. 2) Duty to The Shaikh - which is duty to the Shaikh "within us", to His word "within us", in this way moving the "word' of the Shaikh from "outside" of us to within us. Amen. Then do service to the Shaikh. The true Shaikh is the ripe fruit on that tree. Taste that fruit and preserve its nourishing sweetness within you. That is duty to your Shaikh. 3) Duty To The Fellowship - which is the duty of wisdom, to the wisdom of our Shaikh, which is the house of wisdom within us, the palace of the soul within us, which is our 6th life within us, our light form within us Do service to the Fellowship. The Fellowship is a place of light (within you) that exists (within you) to dispel the darkness (within you) in the heart. Those who have attained wisdom in that place (within you) must do duty with a loving heart. The duty of wisdom is to know your own self, and when you realize yourself, you will realize your own state. As soon as you understand your own state, you will see the plenitude of God dwelling within you, and you being within God (within you). (And in this way, you will see God within you and you within God, as God within True Man and as True Man within God, and as such you and God are One, One within the other as One, One revealing the other within it as One hides oneself within the One being revealed, only to be revealed again, later, by the One now being revealed) Then there will be no duality (either between you and God within you, or between you and the Creation of God within you). With the 3,000 gracious qualities of God, you will show compassion to all lives (within you). That is duty to the Fellowship, and to the Children of the Fellowship (which in truth are the Creation of God within us who are Shepherded by the Qutb of God within us). It will become a precious gem for your life. 4) Duty to The World Family - which includes our "personal" family that we are currently treating as "separate from" all other "personal" families, which in truth is what is keeping us "separate from" God within us. Amen. What does it mean to do duty to the family? Is there something called a family? The family and the world are really one. The whole world is your family. Do duty for the world. Be one who loves all lives, one who exists as the form of compassion (for all lives within you), and be of service and help them. That is duty to the world family. 5) Duty to Ourselves - which is our true duty or Allah's miracle within us, which is allowing "God to happen" within us, by first allowing "True Man to happen" within us Therefore, with your good qualities, actions, and conduct, acquire God's qualities. To acquire His qualities and serve others, bringing love and peace to their hearts, is your duty and Allah's miracle. When you attain that state, all lives will bow to you." ----------------- end of discourse by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) ---------------- My dearest loving brothers and sisters, may we all learn to do our duty like this, becoming in this way the One Heart of our Shaikh, and performing in this way, His work within us, and God's work within Him within us, perform "Heart's Work" both "here" and "now", learning in this way to do our duty "here" from "there", our duty to the dunya or earth world within us from akhirah or the hereafter within us. Amen, Amen, Ya Rabil Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahman Alameen. Amen, Amen, Ya Rahim Alameen. Al-hamdu lillah. Allahu Akbar. 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. My love you (anbu), my dearest loving brothers and sisters - Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler). 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