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Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa, Vahiguru ji ki Fatih!
The month of Bhadon (mid-August to mid-September) is the second month of the rainy season. The skies become heavy with water. Wetlands are overflowing with abundance. The animals are joyful; everything is teeming with life. We are the human-brides, the seekers experiencing changing seasons in our inner-worlds just as much as we experience the changing of seasons in our outer world. And just as in every other season, this is the season to be joyful, to enjoy the color of love of IkOankar (the One), the Spouse.
What happens when we are young and inexperienced in this relationship? How do we navigate connection when we are in the prime of our lives, experiencing the tastes of this world and all its distraction?
When we forget ‘the path,’ we find no joy. We begin to fill with regret: I am witnessing this season, witnessing the wetlands fill with water, witnessing the animals enjoying, but I am not finding comfort. The sounds of the frogs, peacocks and pied cuckoo are disturbing. Snakes are slithering; mosquitoes are biting. Everything is unbearable, for I have forgotten the path. You are not with me.
When we are in forgetfulness, comfort is hard to find. Darkness overtakes. Fear sets in. We become engulfed in doubt. When we are in remembrance, joy abounds. Light abounds.
We pause.
We reflect.
If this is our condition, even as the season is full of joy and abundance, how can we start to feel it in our inner-worlds?
Guru Nanak Sahib gently guides us: Having asked your Guru where to go, go there. Walk the path to meet the Spouse.
If the Wisdom enters, these fears and doubts start to leave us. We begin to Identify with the Spouse. We feel the presence of the Spouse in all seasons. There is so much opportunity to feel hopeful at the external environment, where life blooms all around. We too can bloom.
May we ask the Guru where to go.
May we walk the ‘path’ toward the Spouse.
May the Wisdom-Guru guide us!
The sixth month of Barah Maha occurs between mid-August and mid-September. The human-bride is at a point where she is experiencing a delusion, having forgotten IkOankar. She’s been distracted by the state of her surroundings. Now, she is lost.
In this Sabad, the rain is a natural phenomenon and a metaphor for the Divine’s grace. The Guru pleads for the rain—symbolic of the Divine presence and love—to descend upon their scorched heart.
When the Guru-oriented being attains all three—Nam, dan, isnan—this is what happens. Realization dawns and the being recognizes the self as the observer.