Spiritual Letter 9 - Original Version About Spiritual Letter 9 Title: "The Theme Is Freedom" Written by: Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) Written to: Mr. M. Stanton Evans, a writer of books Month originally written: During the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan (12, 2001) Note: "Spiritual Letter 9" not sent to Mr. Evans. See Spiritual Letter 20 for letter sent. Home Page-Spiriutal Letters Go To Spiritual Letter 10 Letter 9: Expanded Version Page 1 of 4 Related Material Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Al-salam 'alaykum. May all the peace and blessings of God be upon us all. My love you (anbu), my dearest brother. Shaikh Muhaiyaddeen (Louie Beutler) 1. Opening Prayer - only God can help us return to Him, if we join with Him to do it Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim. Al-hamdu lillah. In sha 'allah, ma sha 'allah. Tawakkal-Allah. Allahumma labbaik. In the name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate. All praise and praising belong to God and to God alone. If God so wills, whatever God wills. I place my trust in God, and in God alone, and am obedient to His will, and to His will alone. May all responsibility be given to Allah, the One who is limitless grace, and incomparable love, the One who gives us His blessings. 2. The Reason For This Letter - to share an understanding of our shared freedom Dear Mr. Evans, I recently saw a television program where you discussed your book, "The Theme Is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition", which was very interesting. This program had been recorded on February, 5th,1995, during an interview between you and Brian Lamb, on the C-Span program called "Booknotes". A lot has happened in the world since that time, and yet your book could not be more relevant to the world we live in today. (Click HERE to read a transcript of that interview). What caught my attention were many things, a few of which I would like to review with you a little. Also, I would like to introduce you to some of the things that this child has learned over the last few years about the topic of freedom. 3. Search And Determination - a necessary ingredient in all true journeys First, your search and determination is strong, which is very good, for in truth this is the heart of it all, for without it one becomes pulled here and there, as you pointed out in the interview, and there is nothing to ground you, or bring you back to the reason for your original effort in the first place. In this way, without a strong search and determination you become lost, a ship looking for a harbor, for any old harbor that will provide shelter and comfort, but not a ship sailing forward through any kind of adversity in search of one specific harbor, and none other. I loved it when you said that the mantra for your search was, "But where did our freedom come from?" And I could see how this clarity had saved you from taking up refuge, as many of your friends did, in illusory harbors that turned into deadly traps, like "reasoning" our way to freedom, or "building a logical case" for our freedom, all the time missing the point of our life. All the time missing the point that our freedom comes from the Grace of God, from our Creator, not from anything that we do separate from Him, separate from our Creator, our Creator who has not in any way deserted us on our journey, but is always there joining us in our struggle. But a struggle which will only become successful if we learn to join Him in His struggle, if we learn that our struggle and His struggle are in truth One struggle within us, the struggle to complete His intention within us, and to complete our intention within Him. 4. The Big Picture - must be repeatedly refreshed, allowing new truths to enter Next is the big picture that you have been repeatedly building, and rebuilding, expanding and expanding, to deepen the answers to your questions, to your search for the true source of the freedom that we all now enjoy, but know little about. And for this child, this is the beauty of your book, a journey of 30 years or more, and counting, culminating at this point in a picture of America, of the American experiment called freedom, that is larger than America, that includes England of the 1000 AD to 1400 AD time period. A period that was brilliantly enlightened for some reason, a period that apparently started the process of transformation, of what was then into what is now, a period that was perhaps a harbinger of another similar period of enlightenment to come, starting again the process of transformation, of what is now into what is to come, and perhaps that similar period is now, or at least very soon. 5. Life Is The Victory of Wisdom Reasoning Over Fate - we must come to this point in our life And what is that transformation that you have so beautifully started to draw? It is about what God is doing, not about what man is doing, because in truth man is not doing anything, because in truth God is the only doer, everything else is but man's arrogance. This is the true victory of life, when the wisdom of us, which is the God consciousness of us, becomes strong enough within us to win over the self consciousness of us, forcing it to sit down, so God can stand up within us, when our wisdom reasons over our fate. This is what our life is truly about, not what we have made it about, in our ignorance of who God is, of who we are, and of what is really happening in life. It is about God finishing what He has started within each of us, and within each part of His domain, which is everything. It is about God revealing True Man within Himself, as man reveals God within Himself. It is about the Oneness of God and man, not about the separation of man and man, the separation of man and the Creation of God, or the separation of man and God, as many purport it to be. And in the context of your book, it is about the Justice of God becoming the Justice of the King, and the Justice of the King becoming the Justice of Man, and the Justice of Man becoming Conscience, where Conscience controls and conducts the life of each man, from within, not from anything or anyone external to man, and only then, when this transformation by God comes to completion within man, when man becomes True Man, will men finally be able to live in harmony and equality, in freedom, as one with each other, as one with the Creation of God, as one with God, as the representatives of God to all of the Creation of God. 6. A Little Bit About Louie - to show that our paths are the same, are really one My dearest loving brother, like you this child has been on a journey for the last 26 years, and counting, living at the feet of a wise and holy saint, His Holiness, Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (may God be pleased with Him). So who am I? Who is Louie? A worldly answer is very easy. I have lived in America all my life, as did my parents, and I am of German and Irish ancestry. I graduated from Villanova University in 1962 with a BS Degree In Electrical Engineering. I also graduated from Temple University in 1972 with a Masters Degree in Special Education, and again from Villanova University in 1987 with a Masters Degree in Computer Science. I was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. I have worked in America for 36 years as an Engineer, Salesmen, Teacher, Computer Programmer, Manager, and finally as a Computer Specialist for Unisys Corporation for 18 years, ending up as the "Road Man" for 25 house painters, attending to their every need, which turned out to be the best job of my life, a job where "Lou" again became "Louie". And now I have retired, and I devote all of my time to the pursuit of my freedom, just as you have my dearest loving brother. As for a spiritual answer, the answer is also very easy. I met His Holiness in 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when I was 36 years old, and have been absorbed in His Big Picture for the last 27 years, a Big Picture that fits so beautifully with the picture you have painted in your book, and thank God, a Picture that goes beyond it, to provide us with an even Bigger Picture, the Picture that is needed to finish what we have all started in our life, but that only God can finish in His life, when our life and His life become One. 7. What God Is Doing - is what we should be doing, which is seeking ourselves For example, why did the time period of 1000 AD to 1400 AD in England manifest such enlightenment, that it laid the foundation for the freedom that we are now all enjoying in most of the world today? Again the answer lives in God, in the Oneness of God and man, not in us as separate from each other, as separate from the Creation of God, or as separate from God, it lives in what God is doing, not in what man is doing in his separation from everything and everyone, and it lives in where God is in what He is doing, and how God does what He does. 8. Joining God In What He is Doing - as He has joined us in what we are doing His Holiness teaches us that this is the most important thing for our life, to know what God is doing, to know where He is doing it, and to know how He does it. Only then can we fit ourselves into the Big Picture of God, and only in this way will we ever find peace and tranquility in our life, when we fit ourselves into what God is doing, into where God is active, and into how God does things, and in this way loose ourselves in God, in what God is doing, disappearing into Him as water disappears into a sponge, or as the rain falls back into the ocean, again becoming the ocean, no longer existing separate from the ocean as rain, or as a little light is absorbed into a big light. 9. The Big Question of Life - what is the One thing, and only thing, that God is always doing, that everything else is but a reflection of, including everything in the past, in the present, and in the future of all lives So, what is God doing? He is revealing Himself, He is revealing God within God. And where is God doing this? Within His Creation, within each of us as the Creation of God. And how does God do this? By first revealing True Man within His Creation, and then by revealing God within True Man. In the context of this Big Picture, of what God is doing, let us again address the questions we asked earlier, about our freedom, and about the time period of 1000 AD to 1400 AD in England that manifested such apparent enlightenment that it changed the whole world. And let us also ask, what was God doing during this period in man's history that caused this great shift in human consciousness? And finally, even of more pressing concern, we need to ask, what is God doing today, and what will God be up to in the future? Lets take a pass at answering all of these questions. 10. The Four Seasons of God - how God reveals True Man within His Creation One day this child was watching television and a man was describing the time line of Christianity, from the Prophet Abraham (may the blessing of God be upon Him) to the time of Jesus (may the blessings of God be upon Him), in the following way: .......Abraham.......................Moses...........................David.......................Jesus -------2000 BC ---------------------1400 BC -----------------------1000 BC ------------------- 0 BC However, if we use the Prophet Abraham (may the blessings of God be upon Him) as the starting point, as point O, and if we take these four Prophets of God, these four Reflections of God as representative of the Four Seasons of God, of the Four Religions of God, then the time for God to complete one cycle of His Four Seasons, of His Four Religions, the time that it takes for God to reveal True Man within His Creation, in this case as David (may the blessing of God be upon Him), and to bring Him to maturity, in this case as Jesus (may the blessing of God be upon Him), as God walks through His 4 Religions or 4 Seasons, is 2000 years, as follows: Spring..........................Summer........................Fall..............................Winter 2000 BC -----------------------1400 BC --------------------- 1000 BC --------------------------- 0 BC |----0----------------------------------600 ---------------------------1000 ------------------------------2000--| |...time leading up to appearance of True Man....|.......time of True Man.........| Abraham......................Moses ...........................David ............................. Jesus The Seed of God......The Tree of God..........The Fruit of God..........The Seed of God Religion 1....................Religion 2.....................Religion 3.......................Religion 4 |..........................Pre - True Man..........................|.............True Man .............| 11. The Analogy of The Apple Tree - why does an apple seed germinate? And during these four seasons of God, as shown on our drawing, we can also think of this work of God upon His Creation, this cycle of God over 2000 years, like the work we all see started each year by the apple tree which extends perhaps over 100 years, moving from apple seed to mature apple tree, from mature apple tree to ripe apples, and from ripe apples again to the apple seed, an apple seed that is ready again to germinate at the beginning of the next growing season, in the next season of spring, ready to join with the earth to again reveal the apple tree hidden within it, and also ready to reveal what has changed in the apple tree during the last growing season, perhaps producing even more luscious fruits. Like this, the work of God is like the work of the apple tree, that moves through four seasons - spring, summer, fall, and winter - to complete one cycle of its work, while repeating this same cycle over and over again until its work is complete, until it has completed its work as an apple tree, or in God's case, until God has completed His work as God like an apple tree. 12. Restating Our Questions In The Context of God's Work - of becoming One with Him, as He is One with us So using this example of the four seasons - spring, summer, fall, winter - and how they are completed in one year, and then appear and are completed again in the next year, and the year after that, as representative of the time line of God's work in one cycle of God, of the work that God completes upon His Creation in one cycle of God's work, which then appears and is completed again in the next age, and in the age after that. And using this analogy of the work of the apple tree - seed, tree, fruit, seed - and how each is transformed one into the other, all the while being hidden within what is being next revealed, as representative of the type of work God does upon His Creation during each cycle of God's work, every 2000 years, and repeatedly does for each age. Using the example of the four seasons, and the analogy of the apple tree, as reflective of the cycle and nature of God's work, what can we say about the time period of 1000 AD to 1400 AD in England, that appeared to represent a significant shift in the consciousness of man, which we must understand and take into consideration, if we are ever to truly understand what caused the freedom that we now enjoy, and why God in His infinite Mercy and Compassion gives this kind of freedom to us. And on a spiritual level for the same questions, what can we say about what God was doing at that time, during that time in the history of man, that caused this great shift in human consciousness in 1000 AD to 1400 AD, that directly led to the freedoms that we have today. And finally, is God going to do it again, is God going to do what He did in 1000 AD to 1400 AD again, or does God have something even better in the works for us, for the Children of God today, for the age of 2000 AD? 13. The Three Cycles of Man - how True Man reveals God Within True Man And if this be so, as we propose it to be, why does God repeatedly cycle His Creation through His four seasons, through His 4 religions, transforming them in the process from seed to tree, from tree to fruit, and from fruit back to seed, like we repeatedly pass through the 4 seasons of the year, year after year, while the apple tree goes through its yearly transformation, showing us perhaps ever changing apples year after year, and what does all of this mean? And if in this way, the 4 seasons are pointing to the 4 religions of God, as is proposed, to the fixed circle of God that God repeatedly moves His Creation through as one cycle of the work of God, which in truth represents one pass of God through His own Creation, one attempt by God to join with His Creation to complete His intention behind the appearance of His Creation, if His Creation will only join with Him to do the same thing, to complete His intention, to complete what He has started as His Creation. But which must move forward, beyond being His Creation, to complete His intention, which is to reveal True Man within His Creation, so True Man can reveal God within True Man. If this be so, then who is God, what is the Creation of God, who is man, and what is the true relationship between man and the Creation of God, the Creation of God and man, and between man and God, and between God and man? 14. The Nature of God, of The Creation of God, and of Man - it is only man who changes, everything else stays the same To take a stab at answering all these question, we must first know something about the nature of God, the nature of His Creation, and the nature of man. First we must realize that God is always doing the same thing, the One thing, for each age. God doesn't change nor does His Creation change. It is only we who change, it is only man who changes. God is always doing the same thing to His same Creation. God is repeatedly trying to reveal Himself within Himself, by repeatedly trying to reveal True Man from within His Creation, repeatedly trying to awaken man, as the Creation of God, to the reality of Himself, to His own Divinity, to man's true heritage and destiny, which is the Oneness of God and True Man, to the divinity of God that lies at the very heart of man. 15. Our First Proposal - is to cycle through the four religions a second time, from the time of Jesus (may the blessing of God be upon Him) to the present, to see how God further revealed True Man within the Creation of God, and how True Man further revealed God within True Man, in the last cycle of God through the four religions To creep up on this answer, on both levels, on the worldly and spiritual levels, let us redraw the same time line of 2000 years but this time extend it into the future, to allow for a second cycle of God, to bring it up to the present, not just stop with Christianity, with the coming of Jesus (may the blessings of God be upon Him), but instead, include also what came after Christianity, include also what came from God to man after He gave man His gift of Jesus (may the blessings of God be upon Him), as follows: |...................Cycle 1 ........................|..........................Cycle 2.......................| 2000 BC-----1400 BC----1000 BC-----0 BC/AD-------600 AD-----1000 AD-------2000 AD Abraham.....Moses......David...........Jesus...........(?).............(?)...............(?)....... seed............tree..........fruit.............seed............tree...........fruit............seed...... |...... Pre-True Man ......|..True Man..|..... Pre-True Man .....|...True Man........| Or using the analogy of the four seasons and of the 4 religions, which repeat themselves at the end of each cycle, we have something like the following: |.........................Cycle 1 .....................|.....................Cycle 2........................| 2000 BC-----1400 BC----1000 BC-----0 BC/AD------600 AD------1000 AD------2000 AD Winter/ Spring.........Summer........Fall..........Winter/ ......................................................Spring.......Summer........Fall..........Winter/ ............................................................................................................Spring..... Religion 4/ Religion 1...Religion 2...Religion 3...Religion 4 ....................................................Religion 1...Religion 2...Religion 3 ...Religion 4/ .........................................................................................................Religion 1.. 16. Religion Is A Finger Pointing To The Duty of God - the duty of God revealing True Man within the Creation of God Looking at it in this way, we may begin to realize that perhaps we have missed the point in our pursuit of God through religion, rather than through man himself. That in truth it isn't that God is reflected in the religions but that what God does and how God does it is reflected in the religions. That this is the true point and value of religion, as a finger pointing to the nature of God's work or duty in the world, to the nature of what God does with His Creation, and how He does that work, through the four seasons of God - spring, summer, fall, winter - through the four religions of God - the religion of creation, the religion of a life separate from God, a religion of enlightenment or of moving closer to God, and a religion of oneness with God - or as we traditionally call the four main religions - Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam. And in this way, transforming His Creation into the Seed of True Man, the Tree of True Man, the Fruit of True Man, and again into the Seed of True Man, that has now somehow, significantly and mysteriously changed during the last journey from seed to tree, from tree to fruit, and from fruit to seed, now ready to tell the story of True Man again, but this time with a slightly different twist, this time closer to the Oneness of God and True Man, which is God, and further away from the separation of God that is the Creation of God. 17. Man Is A Finger Pointing To God - a finger first pointing to True Man within the Creation of God, and then a finger pointing to God within True Man In this way, man can be considered as the result of the work or duty of God, as what is produced by the work or duty of God, upon the Creation of God, when God repeatedly puts His Creation known as Adam (may the blessings of God be upon Him) through the process inherent in the 4 religions, the process inherent in original Creation of God's - earth, fire, water, air, and ether (or space) - always moving what God hid within His Creation known as Adam (may the blessings of God be upon Him, which is man, closer and closer to God, to becoming True Man within the Creation of God. And always moving man further and further away from the ignorant separation of Creation and nearer and nearer to an awakened oneness with God, that is God, through the process inherent in the 4 religions of God, through the process of creation, of death, of life, and of oneness with God, the process of living as the creation of God, then living as the life of separation and differences which is the death of God within our life. And then living as the life of God, which is the awakening of the wisdom surrounding our soul, and the liberation of our soul through that wisdom for the life of death that has overwhelmed us, and in this way removing Jesus (may the blessings of God be upon Him) from the cross of our elementary body, by pulling out the 5 nails of desire for the elemental life, the life of separation and differences that we are all now experiencing as "our" life, the life of Creation, that in order to exist and live as separate from God, and from each other, has crucified the life of our soul, which is Jesus (and the blessings of God be upon Him) on the cross of our body, so we can sin. And finally, if that be our intention, living as the oneness that is God and True Man, and the oneness that is True Man and God, the Oneness of God and True Man, which in truth is God. 18. The Four Religions Reflect Four Separate Paths Within Us - the four paths within the Creation of God are Birth, Death, Life, and the Oneness of God and True Man known in Islam as Tawhid, the principle tenet of Islam These four separate paths within us allow God to reveal True Man within His Creation within us, starting with the path of birth, moving through the path of Death, then the path of Life, and finally ending in the path of Oneness, of the Oneness of God and True Man, which in truth is God. 19. The Path of Birth - is the path of earth worship or Hinduism In this way, it all starts with birth, with a gift from God that in truth is life as one with God but in ignorance of God, in ignorance of the oneness that is God, and as a result, a life that is the experience of blissful separation. This can be seen as reflective of the religion of earth worship, or the Hindu religion, the worship of the earth, of everything below the stomach, and of all the things that come from the earth, like water, fire, air, and ether or colors, which in maturity become flesh, blood, semen, children, attachments, family, race and religion, separations and differences. And in this way, it is the life and worship of creation, of the act of creation, and all that comes from it, the life that focuses on the section of man below the stomach, that focuses on keeping the world full of people, of my people and your people, of my family and your family, of my race and your race, of my religion and your religion, of my Prophet of God and your Prophet of God, as my God and your God. 20. The Flaw In The Path of Birth Is Karma - karma is the veil of thought that obscures our wisdom, just as it covered our embryonic form Like this, the flaw in the path of birth known as Hinduism is karma, "is the veil of thought that obscures our wisdom, just as it obscured our embryonic form", is the life of separation and differences that we have become, that we have become having forgotten God, having forgotten the oneness of God and man (see the book by His Holiness, "The Golden Words of a Sufi Shaikh", Golden Word Saying Number 222, page 72). 21. The Path of Death - is the path of fire worship or Zoroastrianism And this is followed by the life that springs from the "Tree of Knowledge" that Adam and Eve (may the blessings of God be upon Them) partook of by eating the forbidden fruit in paradise, a life that caused them to leave the life of blissful separation, the life of the Creation of God, that is characteristic of Adam and Eve (may the blessings of God be upon Them) in heaven before they were thrown into hell. That caused them to becomes conscious of their separation, of their separation from God, and from everyone and everything else, and to revel in it, to partakes of it as good, and to use their own intellect, as separate from God, that is built on arrogance, on selfishness, on a self centered existence, to try and know God, to try and know God's creation, and to try and know oneself, rather than to rely on God, to consciously turn to God, to consciousness turn back to their Creator, for these things, for everything. And as a result of their eating of the forbidden fruit, from the "Tree of Personal Knowledge", they have make God "Unknowable", for themselves, and for all of their children, for all of us, when all the time God seen through God, God seen through the oneness of God and True Man, is completely knowable. This can be seen as reflective of the religion of fire worship, or Zoroastrianism, the worship of the fire, the path of the stomach, the path of arrogance, and of all of the things that come from the fire, and live in the stomach, the worship of the qualities of the fire and heat within man, the worship of the ten deadly sins - lust, hatred, miserliness, delusion, bigotry, malice, arrogance, intoxication, resentment, and revenge. A life that is more death than life, a life that is build more on the qualities of the stomach than anything else, of killing and eating in order to survive, of being killed and eaten for others to survive, a life that focuses on the stomach of man, on keeping the one-span stomach of man full, full of all of the things that God has discarded, and that man was created by God to also discard. Such is our current state, our current fate that is ruling over us in everything that we do, that we see, that we know and understand, by keeping our soul a slave of hell, by keeping Jesus crucified (may the blessings of God be upon Him) on the cross of our elemental body, with the five nails of desire for earth, desire for water, desire for fire, desire for air, desire for either or the colors of the world of illusion, desire earth, woman, and gold. So we can sin, so we can live a life of separation and differences in the world that we see as existing "outside" of us, while God patiently waits within us, as He patiently tries with each breath that we breath, with each scene that we see, with each sound that we hear, with each smell that we smell, with each taste that we taste, with thing that we touch, with each through that we think, with each idea or intention that we have, with each quality that we demonstrate, with each action that we perform, to awaken the divinity within us known as True Man. So God can finish what He started within us, within Himself within us, which is to reveal Himself within Himself, by revealing True Man within the Creation of God, allowing True Man to reveal God within True Man, for the benefit of all of the Creations of God within Him within us. 22. The Flaw In The Path of Death Is Arrogance - especially becoming arrogant about our own ignorance, which prevents the light of wisdom from penetrating our hardened heart Like this, the flaw in the path of death known as Zoroastrianism, of the worship of fire is arrogance, is the belief in oneself rather than in one's Creator, is the belief that "I can do it" rather than turning to God to do it, to know it, to understand it, and to finish it, to finish everything that God has started within us, in His wisdom, grace, and divine knowledge, and to finish everything that we have started within us, in our ignorance of who we are, of where we are, and of what is truly happening in our life, in all life, to finish everything that we have started in our arrogance, karma, and illusion, in our desire for earth, women, and gold. End of Page 1 of 4 - original version - ......................... 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