Musa Muhaiyaddeen grew up in New Jersey with his mother, father and brother. He went to law school at Boston University, and practice law in New Jersey for over 35 years. He is also entrepreneurial and has created various businesses. Musa is a devoted husband, father of three, and grandfather of six. In the late 1960’s Musa’s circumstances and point of view led him to question the reasons for his existence. He began on a course to find answers to these questions. He believes that these are some of the most important questions that we can ask. Questions like: Why am I here? What is the purpose of my creation? How was I created? What is my purpose in existence? Where do we go from here? What is the purpose of this body? What is our true relationship with the rest of mankind? How are we supposed to live our lives? What does a human being who understands the answers to these questions look like? What is the essence of one who understands the answers to these questions? In his search Musa came upon the Sufi teacher Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. He met him on Easter Sunday in March of 1972 in Philadelphia. The interaction had a profound affect on both himself and his wife. They both realized that they were in front of a being who was different than any being they had ever met. Even though Bawa was from a culture that was entirely different from their own culture and spoke a language that they did not understand, it did not interfere with the fact that being in his presence made them feel like they were home. For the first time in a very long time they felt that they had arrived at where they needed to be. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen returned to his native Sri Lanka shortly after Musa and his wife met him, and then returned to Philadelphia in 1973. As soon as he was back, Musa and his wife went to see him. Bawa directed Musa to meet with those who were interested in his teachings and to share what was being taught. Musa and his wife spent from 1972 to 1986, when Bawa passed on, under his direct guidance and influence. Over the years, they understood that the essence of what he was teaching, which is Sufism, is a touchstone to reality. It is the heart within all matters; it is the heart within all religions. Compassion, patience, forgiveness, tolerance, love, these are at the heart of Sufism. These teachings are given from our Creator as a gift to bring us closer to Him. For the past 20 years, Musa has traveled to various parts of the world speaking about the unifying nature of Sufism. He began to speak about the experiences and knowledge he had gained from his time with Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. He has traveled to Asia, Africa, Europe, and throughout North America, speaking about the unifying and liberating nature of Sufism. The audio and videos on this website are from weekly gatherings Musa has with a small group of seekers of truth where he continues to share what he has learned and continues to learn with those interested in the Sufi path. Musa says that the learning process never ends for each of us, that we are all initiates on the path. When asked what his intentions are for those listening and watching his talks he replied with a prayer, “May the words found here give comfort, and inspire love, forgiveness, tolerance, compassion, and the guidance we need to connect with the unseen where the mysteries of the universe can be revealed to us.”
A sense of awe can produce maturity. Great and wise teachers can inspire this awe. If we come before them, off the street, full of ourself, immodest, needing attention, needing love, just desperately needing something, they stand us in front of a flame which produces awe, a transformation occurs, awe transforms us. It makes us
God has only to say, “Be!” and something is brought into being, it exists. If God wants something to occur it happens, we are subject to these events, we are subject to God’s wishes and intention. However our memory is short, we are so arrogant we forget the nature of our place in the world.
Some people call love an emotion, but if love is described as an emotion that makes it a lesser kind of love, a love which entails things that give us satisfaction. This kind of love, this kind of emotion is deeply attached to our ego, to our sense of selfhood which is so powerful within
We play many different roles on many different paths, some we are conscious of and some we are not. Let’s think about the acts we are conscious of. To display certain reactions in some situations we know how we have to act and respond. We project a deliberate persona in these situations to produce the
If we observe a fruit tree in the springtime when it blossoms, first we see a flower which slowly blooms and dies, then the flower is replaced by a small fruit which grows. If we watch the fruit we see it not only grows, it also changes, as it grows it changes. If we pick
What the wise teachers have taught is a subtle teaching which requires subtle understanding. We are told we need to find liberation, the freedom of our soul, but to find this freedom we have to be bound in certain ways, we have to be bound to find our freedom. This world is a difficult place
Since we spend so much of our life in the mundane, the transition from mundane to holy is something we need to think about. In the midst of the worldly we need to take ourself to another station, another state, another place. We know that already, but how does it happen, what does this juxtaposition
Spirituality is about being not about talking. We can talk all we want, but unless we become, talking is of no consequence. There are certain individuals who have become what they talk about, and in that case the spoken word carries the resonance of reality. This is an extraordinary phenomenon; if we can sit with
Different religions and different sects and different teachers approach things in different ways. Some teachers teach a religion of exclusivity. They say that in order for you to be among those who are with God, you must do things not only in a certain way, but you must belong to this sect. You must belong
The heart should be a place melted in love, but too often it is a rock, a hard, difficult rock which reacts to the world in a rock-like way. What happens to the soft place in a baby to make it the rock-like place it often becomes? When a baby enters the world it has
