Branches of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship are located throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Sri Lanka, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Please email info@bmf.org for specific addresses and meeting schedule information for the following branches:
Boston, Massachusetts
Northern California
Southern California
Colorado
Stamford, Connecticut
Iowa
Unionville, Pennsylvania
Wisconsin
Australia
Toronto, Canada
London, England
Colombo, Sri Lanka
The Tree
… Once there was a wise man living in the desert who noticed there was no water, there were no trees, no shade and no place for travelers and animals to sit and rest. He thought to himself, “I will plant at least one tree to offer shade to those who come by.”
And so he planted a seed, but everyone who came past ridiculed and mocked him, “Who is this idiot, this madman trying to plant a tree in the desert? How will a tree ever grow here? There is no water here, and not only that, there are sandstorms, there is lightning and thunder. He must be really crazy!”
But the wise man kept watering the young plant with the water he brought from far away, guarding it carefully. Soon roots began to grow, then branches. It grew higher and higher until it could draw up its own food and water through the roots. Soon animals and wayfarers came to sit under the tree because it was the only place there was to rest, but they left it dirty with their excrement and garbage. Even so, the wise man just kept cleaning it up, continuing to take care of the tree.
The tree grew from the depths of the earth to the highest heaven, bearing excellent, endless fruit which satisfied the hunger, thirst and fatigue of those who came. Its branches and leaves gave shade and rest to those who were tired, but once the tree was discovered, people started fighting about it, claiming it as their tree and their fruit. So the wise man who had cared for the tree left saying, “You can have the profits of this tree.”
Birds like parrots and mynahs would come to eat the fruit high up on the tree, then people put up nets to trap them, to stop them from eating even though these people could only reach the fruit on the lower branches. The very same people who had ridiculed the wise man for planting the tree now claimed it was theirs. Their envy had made them ridicule him, and their envy and jealousy made them claim the tree
as their own. They fought and fought to such an extent they wanted to cut it down so that other people would not benefit from it.
That tree was such an amazing tree, growing all the way from awwal to ākhirah, from the time of creation to the realm of God. There was so much fruit, that jinns and fairies, birds and human beings could all eat from this tree. Whoever came could take some and be satisfied. Even the fruit that fell off the tree was eaten by animals, insects and worms in the earth.
Eventually they cut the tree down. Because the tree had reached up to the heavens, it fell from the east to the west, and now the fruit and the flowers were a benefit in the west. The trunk remained in the east, but the taste, the fruit and flowers fell in the west where the people were able to profit from its amazing flavors…
… what is left in the east are the trunk and roots of the tree. Some people have collected these parts of the tree and preserved them, but the fruit, the benefit fell in the west…
Even though there may be only a small group of children now in the west, God has given you the taste of this fruit, the ripe fruit of gnānam, that divine wisdom from the kingdom of God, because the tree fell here. The kingdom of God belongs to you. Be very careful not to let it go. Preserve it, do your duty and know the taste. This is not just a game, this is not magic and not a mantra, this is something you should not neglect. Try to savor the taste with your wisdom, do this duty. This is the right thing to do, children, please do it.
The Tree That Fell to the West, pp. 21-22