What I love about Sufi music is the sheer abandon of the compositions. Each melody arches towards Divine love and the lyrics are suffused with such devotion, such a complete sense of surrender and love. To address the Guru as one’s beloved is the most beautiful expression of all. To hide nothing from the Master, to hide behind nothing, to be open, totally vulnerable… for there is none who can love you more. None who knows you better. When there is respect, a distance is created. When there is love, respect is lost. Here is a relationship that is blooming with love and yet the respect and adoration stays intact. In this beautiful balance of love and respect, even the slightest separation causes deep pain and longing. Physical separation happens a lot – and when the oportunity to meet comes up, there is such joy. Like in Mera Piya Ghar Aaya, every opportunity to be in the physical presence of the Guru is an occasion to celebrate. But the worst of all is mental separation. Guru, God and the Self are one and the same and so there is truly no separation. But when you’re away from your Self, you move away from the Guru as well. Man, that is utterly heartbreaking. Even more so because you know what it is to breathe in that love, that heavenly space. To not feel it is like being out in the cold… and the memory of that warm embrace leaves you totally broken. But at the base of this pain is love and gratitude. For how lucky does one have to be to even know such love? Even if it is accompanied with this pain…
This relationship is like no other. It is termed *relationship*, for lack of a better term. Like nothing I have ever experienced ever before… nothing.
