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Chapter 12 What is Rebirth? Questioner: Bawa has said that if we do not make it in this life, in our first birth, then we will be reborn. And as far as I understand the Islamic scriptures, we die, we go to the grave, we are questioned there, and we wait until the final Day of Judgment when the trumpet is blown. So when is it decided upon that we have to go back to the world and be reborn with lower and lower levels of wisdom, until we finally end up in hell as a worm? Bawa Muhaiyaddeen: Yes, I have talked about this a lot. This is one thing you have to understand. It is while you are living in the world, in this very birth, that you undergo all these rebirths—about 105 million rebirths. Every day, you are being reborn. Every new quality is indeed a rebirth. Every new action is a rebirth. You undergo all these births in this very lifetime. Look at a person’s face, for example. Sometimes his face is a very angry face, like a tiger’s. At another time it is like the dark face of satan. At yet another time a face that is broad and open suddenly becomes contracted and pinched. So many faces develop and appear within the one face. The heart and the face reveal the person’s state, whether it be happiness, sorrow, anger, vengeance, and all the other states that a person experiences. Each of these is a form that the person has taken at a particular time. In this way, without his even being aware of it, the person is reborn in different forms within his lifetime. This happens all the time, whether he is sleeping or awake, whether he is thinking or dreaming. Every action performed in this birth is either good or evil, right or wrong. When we go to our grave, we will be questioned, and an account of our actions will be taken. Those who did good will receive what is good and those who did evil will receive their punishment. Each person will receive what he has earned. On the Day of Questioning (Qiyamah), the trumpet will be blown by Israfil, the angel of air, and everyone will be woken up. When that air is blown by Israfil, the person will rise up in the specific form that he has been reborn in according to the changes in his qualities and actions in this world. It is only then that this new form is revealed. He may have the form of a dog, a cat, or a rat, or some other being, and it is in this form that he will finally be asked the questions and have to account for his actions. What is this final questioning? It is an account of everything we take with us. What is heaven? Heaven is what we take with us. What is goodness? Goodness is what we take with us. For every small act of goodness that we take with us, one thousand or even ten thousand beautiful things will be spread out before us there. A single good act is made into so many thousands of acts of goodness. Whatever we have done in this world, good or bad, is magnified and stored for us. Heaven is the place where all our good actions and good thoughts have been multiplied thousands and tens of thousands of times and reserved for us. Precious child, what is the meaning of the saying, “We must die before death?” It means that we must make all the evil qualities, all the qualities of satan within us, die before our death. If those qualities die, then the world within us dies. And if the world within us dies, then all the sins, ghosts, demons, and satans contained within it also die. The desires for earth, gold, and sexual pleasures all die along with the world within us. All that is left is Allah and His power [qudrat]. If all the evil qualities die within us, then we die before death and only Allah’s qualities, actions, and conduct will remain. Then there will be no death for us. We will have attained eternal life [hayat]. If we attain eternal life, where will we live? We will live in heaven, in God’s kingdom. This is how it is, my child. When that day comes, such a person will no longer be in the grave. He will be in heaven, because any place he is will be heaven. He has no death. Wherever he lives, it will be a palace. On the earth he lives in a palace, and in heaven he lives in a palace. When he is buried, he is in a palace. He has a palace on the outside and one on the inside. There is a saying by Tamil wise men (gnanis), “If I fail in this birth, O God, when will I ever get another chance?” The explanation of this saying is as follows: This birth is our only birth as a human being with divine analytic wisdom (pabuth arivu). And if we do not succeed in our quest this time, when will we ever obtain such a birth again? Never. If we don’t learn what we have come here to learn, we will be subject to may rebirths. Our qualities and wisdom will change. Our actions will change. Our form will change. This is our only birth as a human being, and if we do not change and attain the state of eternal life by dying before death, then we will not obtain God’s grace. But if we miss our opportunity in this birth, then all the qualities within divine analytic wisdom will leave us, and all the animal, demonic, and satanic qualities will enter us. We will be subject to anger, hastiness, and hatred, and we will undergo many difficulties. The qualities of jealousy and vengeance and the divisive qualities of ‘I and you’, ‘my religion and your religion’ will take hold and lead us to some other place. They will change us. That is why it is said that if we miss our chance in this birth, we will have given up our human form and be subject to many different forms and many different births. This is what the wise men were talking about. If a man becomes a true human being (insan), then there is only one birth. If all his qualities die and the world within him dies before physical death comes to overtake him, then he will die within Allah and be absorbed into His qualities. That is the meaning of this saying. Do you understand, my child? I give you my love. May 3, 1985
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Muhaiyaddeen, Bawa. To Die Before Death: The Sufi Way of Life. Philadelphia: The Fellowship Press, 1997. pg. 115-118. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen- a Sufi mystic, can best be remembered for his efforts to bring unity through understanding to the faithful of all religions. If you would like more wisdom quotes and articles that will help you in your life, marriage, job, and prayers that give you peace of mind visit us at www.wisdomarticles.com.
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