A child asked his sheikh, “I would like to know if the poverty, misfortune, or illness that may befall the children of God is a test by God. Does that misfortune in any way involve the karma of those particular children? Is it something separate, or is it because they are on the path to God?”
The Sufi sheikh answered, “If you are poor, it is because you are poor in intellect as well as in your qualities. That is why you experience misfortune. The reason for the poverty or the illness you speak of is that your good qualities are not growing. When they do not grow, the result is karma. That is what karma is.
“When the good qualities grow, there is no karma and there is no unhappiness. Karma is connected to earth, fire, water, air, ether, dirt, filth, and all the things that are in the body. The animals and the qualities and actions of the animals, the birds and the actions of the birds, the dogs and the actions of the dogs, the donkeys and the actions of the donkeys, the horses and the actions of the horses, the elephants and the actions of the elephants, the rat and the cat—these actions and qualities are spread throughout the body. Along with mäyä and darkness, they cause difficulty and unhappiness to man. They are the karma of the body.
“They will make you think, ‘I am poor. I am unhappy. Money comes to other people but not to me. Other people are happy, but I am not.’ Your connection to these thoughts is the cause of your unhappiness.
“When we come into the world, we do not bring anything. When we leave the world, we do not take anything away. That is the extent of worldly wealth. What is real wealth? Real wealth is the grace of God, which is light. As long as this divine wisdom of grace does not grow within us, we will feel hurt.
“When, due to ignorance, our thoughts change like the changing seasons, that is karma. However, when we overcome this and receive the wealth of God, misfortune will not affect us, because there will no longer be any karma to make us suffer. Then we will dwell in the plenitude of God’s grace.”
M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
