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Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (died December 8, 1986), also known as Bawa, was a Tamil-speaking teacher and Sufi mystic from Sri Lanka who came to the United States in 1971, established a following, and founded the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in Philadelphia. He developed branches in the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK — adding to existing groups in Jaffna and Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is known for his teachings, discourses, songs, and artwork.
Bawa established vegetarianism as the norm for his followers and meat products are not permitted at the legacy fellowship center or farm.
Though little is known of his early personal life, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen's public career began in Sri Lanka in the early 1940s, when he emerged from the jungles of Sri Lanka, near Kataragama.
Bawa met pilgrims who were visiting shrines and gradually became more widely known. There were reports of dream or mystical meetings with Bawa that preceded physical contact. According to an account from the 1940s, Bawa had spent time in Kataragama, a jungle shrine in the south of the island, and in 'Jailani', a cliff shrine dedicated to 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani of Baghdad, an association that links him to the Qadiri order of Sufism. Many of his followers who lived around the northern town of Jaffna were Hindus and addressed him as swami or guru, where he was a medical and spiritual faith healer — and is alleged to have cured demonic possession.
Subsequently, his followers formed an ashram in Jaffna, and a farm south of the city. After meeting business travelers from the south, he was invited to visit Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, at the time Ceylon. By 1967, the 'Serendib Sufi Study Circle' was formed by these Colombo predominantly Muslim students. Earlier in 1955, Bawa had set the foundations for a 'God's house' or mosque in the town of Mankumban, on the northern coast. This was the result of a "spiritual experience with Mary, Jesus' mother." After two decades, the building was finished by students from the United States who were visiting the Jaffna ashram. It officially opened and was dedicated in 1975.
Bawa taught using stories and fables, reflecting the background of the student or listener and included Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious traditions; and welcomed persons from all traditions and backgrounds.
In 1971, Bawa was invited to come to the United States and subsequently moved to Philadelphia, established a following, and formed the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in 1973. The fellowship meeting house offered weekly public gatherings.
As in Sri Lanka, Bawa developed a following among people of diverse religious, social and ethnic backgrounds, who came to Philadelphia to listen to him speak.[citation needed] In the United States, Canada and England, he was recognized by religious scholars, journalists, educators and leaders.[how?] The United Nations' Assistant Secretary General, Robert Muller, asked for Bawa's guidance on behalf of mankind during an interview in 1974. During the Iranian hostage crisis of 1978–1980, he wrote letters to world leaders including Iran's Khomeini, Prime Minister Begin, President Sadat and President Carter to encourage a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Time magazine, during the crisis in 1980, quoted Bawa as saying that when the Iranians understand the Koran "they will release the hostages immediately." Interviews with Bawa appeared in Psychology Today, the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and in The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Press. He continued teaching until his death on December 8, 1986.[citation needed]
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Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (died December 8, 1986), also known as Bawa, was a Tamil-speaking teacher and Sufi mystic from Sri Lanka who came to the United States in 1971, established a following, and founded the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in Philadelphia. He developed branches in the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK — adding to existing groups in Jaffna and Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is known for his teachings, discourses, songs, and artwork.
Bawa established vegetarianism as the norm for his followers and meat products are not permitted at the legacy fellowship center or farm.
Though little is known of his early personal life, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen's public career began in Sri Lanka in the early 1940s, when he emerged from the jungles of Sri Lanka, near Kataragama.
Bawa met pilgrims who were visiting shrines and gradually became more widely known. There were reports of dream or mystical meetings with Bawa that preceded physical contact. According to an account from the 1940s, Bawa had spent time in Kataragama, a jungle shrine in the south of the island, and in 'Jailani', a cliff shrine dedicated to 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani of Baghdad, an association that links him to the Qadiri order of Sufism. Many of his followers who lived around the northern town of Jaffna were Hindus and addressed him as swami or guru, where he was a medical and spiritual faith healer — and is alleged to have cured demonic possession.
Subsequently, his followers formed an ashram in Jaffna, and a farm south of the city. After meeting business travelers from the south, he was invited to visit Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, at the time Ceylon. By 1967, the 'Serendib Sufi Study Circle' was formed by these Colombo predominantly Muslim students. Earlier in 1955, Bawa had set the foundations for a 'God's house' or mosque in the town of Mankumban, on the northern coast. This was the result of a "spiritual experience with Mary, Jesus' mother." After two decades, the building was finished by students from the United States who were visiting the Jaffna ashram. It officially opened and was dedicated in 1975.
Bawa taught using stories and fables, reflecting the background of the student or listener and included Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious traditions; and welcomed persons from all traditions and backgrounds.
In 1971, Bawa was invited to come to the United States and subsequently moved to Philadelphia, established a following, and formed the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in 1973. The fellowship meeting house offered weekly public gatherings.
As in Sri Lanka, Bawa developed a following among people of diverse religious, social and ethnic backgrounds, who came to Philadelphia to listen to him speak.[citation needed] In the United States, Canada and England, he was recognized by religious scholars, journalists, educators and leaders.[how?] The United Nations' Assistant Secretary General, Robert Muller, asked for Bawa's guidance on behalf of mankind during an interview in 1974. During the Iranian hostage crisis of 1978–1980, he wrote letters to world leaders including Iran's Khomeini, Prime Minister Begin, President Sadat and President Carter to encourage a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Time magazine, during the crisis in 1980, quoted Bawa as saying that when the Iranians understand the Koran "they will release the hostages immediately." Interviews with Bawa appeared in Psychology Today, the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and in The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Press. He continued teaching until his death on December 8, 1986.[citation needed]