Members of Sufism Reoriented identify divinity as love and consider Meher Baba an embodiment of love. They also wish to engage in a course of spiritual education with the Murshida (spiritual director) of Sufism Reoriented. On a practical level, they agree to adhere to four prerequisites of membership:
- A commitment to try to be 100 percent honest in all things, with kindness
- Abstinence from use of illicit and hallucinatory drugs
- Abstinence from sex outside of marriage
- Active and productive participation in the world, including being financially responsible and having a surplus of time and energy for service.
In setting these prerequisites, Meher Baba emphasized the importance of members of Sufism Reoriented being fully engaged in work in the world and contributing to the life of their social communities as well as to the life of their spiritual community.
Spiritual orders of the past often maintained patterns of life that were isolated from the world, designed to protect their students from all that might distract them from one-pointed focus on God. Meher Baba's principles begin with the knowledge that all aspects of life are divine. God is to be found everywhere and within everything.
Therefore, Meher Baba encouraged the members of Sufism Reoriented to lead active lives in the world, to pursue careers and to raise families. He valued the ability to deal skillfully and responsibly with one's duties and obligations in daily life and encouraged members to strive to meet socially acknowledged standards of education, professional training and productive work.
Accordingly, members of Sufism Reoriented are involved in the community fully and practically. They include doctors, nurses, lawyers, college professors, school teachers, financial managers, bankers, business managers and more. In all these roles, they seek to express love with those whom they meet and work in the flow of daily life. Ninety-nine percent of the members offer voluntary service to the community through organizations and projects as well as their work lives. For example, members of Sufism Reoriented were founders of the Hospice of the East Bay, the Contra Costa County Rape Crisis Center and the School of Holistic Studies at John F. Kennedy University.
Members gather together for spiritual lessons and worship services once or twice a week from late October through May.