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The Pearl of Wisdom
"Wisdom Study Version"
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From the book, "The Pearl of Wisdom" or "Guru Mani",
by His Holiness, M. R. Bawa Muhaiyadddeen
(may God be pleased with Him, and with Us)
About The Book "The Pearl of Wisdom"
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Chapter 18
- "Original Version" -
"The Duties of Man"
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His Holiness Teaches His Children:
Disciple:
Swami. O Great Guru, what are the duties of man in this world? How are we to live, grow, and develop? How are we to find the True Guru and submit to him? Swami, tell this to me fully.
Guru:
O Son, Listen. Allah created all lives and among them He created man, the highest form of being. To be such a man:
1. Firstly, you must have determination in God, and unshakable faith and trust in
Allah.
2. Secondly, you must swear by God to be close to Him, breath to breath, speech to
speech, and thus worship Him.
3. Thirdly, you must offer charity in kind and word. One-fourth of your income should
be given in charity.
4. Fourthly, not only for the sake of God Himself but also for the benefit of your soul,
you must be full of pity and compassion for others, and observe the fast. The fourth
duty is the fast. This must be done.
5. Fifthly, you must visit the temple which is ten thousand or fifteen thousand miles
away in places like Mecca and Medina, and perform Hajj.
So tell the ancient men and the rasools (messenger of Allah). This fifth duty should be performed by everybody in this world. This is being done now.
It is said that these are the important duties of man.
Firstly, When man was created originally in an earthen pot, into which was filled the pure life and sent down to the earth-world, God said,
"O Man, you are going to the earth-world; go there and worship Me with faith and
certitude."
"Those who visit the City of Possessiveness (Mamakaram), and the illusory realms of
Maya, usually change their human qualities. Therefore, you must escape from this
change."
"You must believe in the "Five Letters", the "Five Magical Letters (Panchadcharam), or
the "Five Pillars" (the Five Sharths). You must recite the "Five Kalimas (assertions of
belief with determination and faith)."
So it is said. In other words, you must have determination of heart and mind, and believe that God is Everything and is Everywhere. There are several meanings to these words.
Second, you must worship the Lord and pray to Him. He exists Now, existed then, and will always exist.
One Person will say,
"Fear Him"
And Another will say,
"Go to the temple and worship Him"
There are many meanings for the Second Letter of Panchadcharam too.
Thirdly, one person will say,
"You must perform charity,
give gifts, do good deeds,
offer alms in memory of the dead (thivasam)",
and perform many such similar acts"
Another will say,
"Give Charity in Kind (sadhaqua),
feed the poor, give away clothes (sarees),
build Mosques, build houses,
make recitals in memory of the dead,
and recite the "Opening Chapter"
in the Holy Qur'an (Suratul Fatihah).
This is acceptable to God. Do not neglect this"
(But) there are many meanings to all these.
Fourthly, observe the fast and see to the needs of the poor. On the twenty-seventh day of the fast give away money, clothes, and many other things.
One person says that fasting is acceptable to God. Others will say you must observe fasting (viratham), offer sacrifice, give alms in memory of the dead (thivasam), and perform funeral rites (anthiraddi), invocation to Lord Skanda (kandashasti), observe the new moon on the first day of the lunar month (amavaasai) keep awake on the night of supplication to Lord Siva (Sivarathri), and similar observances.
They will say, these are the duties of man,
"Believe in God, Perform your duties regularly.
Go to the temple and worship. Perform temple duties"
They offer similar such advice.
Some others will say,
"Come to the temple. This is an important duty.
Do not neglect these five duties. Come to the mosque.
Do your prayers. If you do not come to the mosque you will enter hell.
Fear God. Live as human or you will be sent to hell"
And they utter many such other words.
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But My Son, in a world of this fashion, only if men living as humans perform their duties properly, will they be known as men.
Man's belief in God's Creation, his traits, his nature, and his worship are all considered as part of man's duty. But it is not so.
First and foremost he must be born a human, This is very, very rare.
God the Rare, and the Great Power, created man.
Having created man, God ordained that He be "believed and worshipped".
Man's duty from his birth into this world till he dies is to believe in God with Certitude and Determination. He should accept the truth of it, and keep the truth within him.
God has no race, no religion, no differences, no relations, no people, no birth and no end. He has no decay. He has no comparison (and in truth Neither Do You)
Be Determined by "These Words".
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Such a Lord should be worshipped by man born as human through his Conduct. This is the "Normal Way of Worship".
Man should Worship God in his Breath (as our connection to God, "I am Not, You Are"), in his Speech (as "God Speaking", as "God's Presence", as God's connection to us, as God's connection to "His Creation"), and Stand every minute in "This State".
Charity, compassion, generosity, justice, truth, patience, tolerance, tranquillity, duty, and all other aspects of "Calm Behavior" should be the ordinary, "Natural Behavior" of man.
Therefore, this is an important part of the five duties of man.
Those who understand wisdom and realize the truth will appreciate the importance of the five duties. Those with no such understanding will laugh at it.
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What is birth? (What is "This Birth" of man? What did man "Come to Do"?)
But Son, among these duties mentioned, what is the work a human performs? What is the "normal duty" of man?
(And) "What is the quality" of the "normal behavior" of those "born as men" who live in the City of Magic Possessiveness (MamakaramMayaJaalam) in the Country of self-destruction?
Are these "The Five Duties" referred to by these people? (Apparently Not).
Apparently the people in the Country of self-destruction do not realize that there are "several other duties" too in the "ordinary behavior" of man.
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If you scrutinize these statements (made by them as listed above) you will realize that the above mentioned five duties (listed above) are the more important duties (from their perspective, that Is, over "The Ordinary, Natural Duty" of those "Born as Man).
(To Them), There is "The Ultimate One" (Param) (for you) only in (you performing) these five (duties, as listed above, and that is for sure).
There are several other modes of behavior in man. They say, (other than "The Ordinary, Natural Duty" of those "Born as Man).
(However) They Say,
"We will follow the good way of life",
But (In Truth),
(They) forget and place the five important words (of Alif, Lamm, Mim, Hay, and Dahl) in the front room (for show) and perform sinful evil deeds of the devil (in the back room of "The 7 hells), like getting intoxicated, indulging in sex, committing murder and theft, uttering falsehood, charging interest, being jealous, being arrogant, speaking words that are different from those in the heart, ruining virtuous men, destroying chaste women, torturing children, destroying friends, killing those who trust them, abusing the sages, committing other evil deeds and turning themselves into devils, into the "non-human" (the Asuras).
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If these five duties (as they talk about them) are important to them, (then)
What is
"The Meaning of This Birth?"
(And)
What are
"The Ordinary Duties"
of "The Natural Behavior"
(of Those "Born As Human")?
It is this that troubles the Lord who rules.
God says,
"I Created man. Didn't I.
When there are innumerable duties for man in his speech, in his breath, in his conduct, when he sits, when he runs, and when he lies in bed" (why is man now acting "This Way).
Did I not say that man should dispel his evil qualities and worship Me truthfully from within his heart?
But man, no sooner than he gets to the Country of self-destruction says things to suit his own conveniences."
These thoughts have presented themselves to God.
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There are other matters also.
Son, knowing the conduct of such people you must be wary of them.
Conduct yourself as human as ordained by God. There are yet more "natural duties" for man. The five duties mentioned (above) are mostly man's "natural behavior". A human comes to know many things.
(For In Truth, Everything Belongs To God). Body, property, life, fly, ant, and similar life numbering 8,400,000 (eight million, four hundred thousand), mountain, hills, oceans, earth, gold, sky, arsh, kursi, kalam, hell, heaven, 7 X 2 or 14 universes, and all the things in the three universes or worlds, belong to God.
Leaving aside 2 of the 5 ("Iman" Or "True Faith" Or "God's Faith In God", and "True Prayer" Or "God's Prayer To God), they say that there are Three Main Duties of Man (Charity, Fasting, And The Pilgrimage of Hajj, That Is, The Pilgrimage To Mecca), unaware of the place of the others.
(But) My Son, man himself does not possess these three.
The Almighty Allah, the Unique, the Rare, is the Only One (who possesses anything). Everything belongs to Him. All are His. Amen.
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Go To: "Initial Original Version" of "Chapter 18"
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