It is the month of Savan (mid-July to mid-August). This is a time that is celebrated in Indic music and folklore, for it is the monsoon season. In Savan, we find physical relief from the heat of the summer, as the dense rain breaks through the harshness of the dry land and air.

In the Indic context, Savan brings with it an emphasis on beautification. People decorate themselves in various adornments to celebrate. The girlfriends get together under the mango trees, they sit and talk, they relax. The whole atmosphere is of celebration. But what of the inner world of the separated human-bride, the seeker separated from IkOankar (the One)? We may see all this beauty and celebration and wonder, what is the atmosphere in my mind? If I am not feeling that way inside, what is the point? The separated seeker speaks:

In mind, in body, the Divine-Husband is pleasing to me, but dearest Divine-Husband has gone into a foreign land.
When Divine-Husband does not come into the home-heart, sighing in separation, one dies; the lightning, having flashed, also frightens.
The human-bride alone on the bed becomes very miserable, and says O mother! This sorrow has become like death.
Tell me, without Hari, how can the human-bride have sleep or hunger? To her, even the cloth on the body is not comforting.

The seeker is the one who says; I do not want to be alone on this bed. This is my condition. How can I sleep or feel hunger? How can these clothes be good for me? All of these things I have tried to do to become the connected seeker are worthless without You. I have been trying to become beautiful for You, but I have not been embraced. You have not come into my mind. This separation is like death to me.

We can adorn ourselves. We can celebrate and beautify and find respite from the heat of the previous season. We can be with those around us in great joy. But unless love enters us, unless the One is with us, it all feels like a waste.  If our beautification and celebration is in the absence of connection or intimacy, it all feels like a waste. Life loses its color. All things feel tasteless and flavorless. Something is missing!

What can we do to come out of this condition, where we do not feel sleep or hunger, where dying and pain feel the same because we are alone on the bed?

We can come out of this state by becoming the suhagan, or the connected seeker—the one who is embraced by the Spouse.

Nanak signature: That alone is the suhagan of the Divine-Husband, remains united in the embrace of the Divine-Husband.9.

The ones whose spouses have come home know that it is not as simple as physical presence. If our relationship is not one of deep connection, we can miss even those who are sitting right next to us. Physically the spouse might be present, but has the spouse come home to our minds? Is there a presence there?

Guru Nanak Sahib invites us to reflect:
Are we just performing intimacy with the Spouse?
Have we lost sight of cultivating devotion within?

May we experience the season of Savan within the mind.
May we beautify ourselves within.
May we embrace the Spouse in deep devotion.
May it rain and rain.  

May the Wisdom-Guru guide us!