Chowk Puraavo

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love." ~Rumi~

This week’s song has been written as well as composed by Kailas Kher, the acclaimed Sufiana singer. Kailas wrote this song as he stood besides his departing father. It is never to see easy to say good byes to near ones – but Kailas’s love for his father seems to landed him in the sublime territory. For such fortunate few, death ceases to be a cause of despair and transcends into a celebration. For them – as Kailas writes in this song – death is when the beloved comes home.

As we ruminate on the melody of this week’s offering Chowk puraavo, a few chosen words from the wise keep us company on the topic of death.

Do not lose the moment of sorrow, for it is precious, says Hafiz.

Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
as few human or even divine ingredients can 
Something missing in my heart tonight
has made my eyes so soft
my voice so tender
my need of God
absolutely clear.
~ Hafiz

To truly love, is to let go.

To live in this world
you must be able to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
~Mary Oliver

And can death take away the bonds built over many lifetimes?

Your body is away from me
But there is a window open
from my heart to yours.
From this window, like the moon
I keep sending news secretly.
~ Rumi

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls it a butterfly - Bach

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink form the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
- Kahlil Gibran