“Saawan* is the Month of Love, of Longing for the Beloved

Following is the complete translation of this Shabd of Virah (a song sung when the lover suffers from the agony of separation from his sweetest Beloved) by the Tulsi Saheb Hathraswale. Translation into English by Shweta Sharma.

“Saawan* is the month of love, of longing for the Beloved and as the drops of rain touch the earth, the soul thirsts more and more for union with the Beloved, the Guru.

“Tulsi weeps “Saawan without my piya (the Beloved, the husband) is nothing, the pangs of separation rise like waves in the ocean do, in the inmost core of my heart. Uttering and hearing words do not entertain me or suit my mood, my body and mind are convulsing with immeasurable pain.

“The sorrow caused by the absence of my Beloved husband is so intense that it makes me wander like a mad woman. My heart seethes with anguish, this separation torments me like a thorn that pricks the skin. In this severance from the Beloved Guru, all the money and wealth of this world has become to me like the dust of this earth.

“Dark clouds laden with moisture have now become my enemies as they roar and whirl. I feel the twinge of the aching cry of the peacock and with this, the rumbling and twirling of the clouds fills my inner being and I become one with the turbulence of the skies. My soul begins to whirl and swing between the chakras (the doorsteps of these stations within) and I lose all awareness of the world outside.

“If my Beloved comes along with me, I would undertake this journey within the realms of my inner being day and night. Surat (the soul that is a drop from the Ocean of the Supreme Being) is the current that moves up when it engrosses itself in the Divine Shabd and Nirat (the current that detaches the Surat from the Shabd so that the journey of soul does not get hampered by getting stuck at one region of higher bliss).

“Tulsi makes a string of Surat and Nirat and ties this string with a pole that he makes of his mann (mind) and intellect. He merges with the rhythmic waves of the Divine Word that he encounters higher up and the surat rises swinging with these waves.

“This rainy season, Tulsi says, get active in pursuit of true satsang (‘sat’ — truth and ‘sang’ — company: company of the true Guru, the Beloved, the husband). Only those who cross the third til climb up and down this thread of Surat and Nirat and realize the path of Truth.”

* Month of Saawan: Summer, Mid July to Mid August, Rainy Season;

For the Sake of the God-conscious Beings Heaven and Earth Came Into Being

For the Sake of the God-conscious Beings Heaven and Earth Came Into Being 

"Whenever feeling downcast, each person should vitally remember, 'For my sake, the entire world was created.'" (Baal Shem Tov)

The Baal Shem Tov is sort of the "Rumi" or "Kabir" of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), an example of a towering figure and great mystic of one of the great schools of spirituality. The ending part, "For my sake, the entire world was created", is a variation of an ancient axiom of wisdom. A version of it even turns up in saying twelve of the Gospel of THOMAS: 

"The students said to Yeshua, 'We know you will leave us. Who will be our leader?' Yeshua said to them, 'Wherever you are, seek out Yaakov the just [James the Just]. *For his sake heaven and earth came into being*.'"

Martin Buber elaborates and expands on this axiom in a way that includes us all:

“Every person should know and consider the fact that you, in the particular way that you are made, are unique in the world, and no one like you has ever been. For if someone like you had already been, there would be no reason for you to be in this world.” (Ten Rings: Hasidic Sayings, Martin Buber)

Here's a big picture view from the Sikh scriptures of India, the Adi Granth, Peace Lagoon translation: 

"It was for the sake of the God-conscious beings that our True Lord created this earth, and began this play of death and birth". 

Since I'm downloading some books on Kabbalah today, I should also take the opportunity to share this passage on the spiritual journey.

The Reality of the Upper Worlds Will Remain Invisible to Us Until Our Spiritual Path Opens Up to the Higher Reality

"As the eighteenth century Kabbalist Moses Luzzatto taught, the higher soul 'ties man to the highest roots'. Thus, the awakening of each higher soul results in an increase in the amount of nourishment the branches of the upper worlds receive, thereby effecting the outcome of events here on earth in a more positive way. Thus, each one of us can have great influence and none are powerless.

"However, like infants who cannot penetrate the mysteries of the adult world, despite the fact that these mysteries are lived out in front of it, the reality of the upper worlds will remain invisible to us until our spiritual path opens up to the higher reality. 

"This higher reality is multidimensional in nature, standing in sharp contrast to the narrowness of everyday life. Once awakened, the human experience becomes vast and boundless, as the awakened individual participates in a universal consciousness as broad, deep, and wide as the universe itself."

--  Shulamit Elson, in, Kabbalah of Prayer -- Sacred Sounds and the Soul's Journey