Testing Of Your Faith, Patience And Surrender---India Trip

In the book With Love Man Is God written by Dr. Samuel H. Sandweiss, Dr. Sandweiss says, ". . . Swami waits until the last minute to test patience, faith, and surrender."
I found this to be true for myself with my sinus infection last October in India.

When you are a visitor at the ashram, many people are hopeful of getting a personal interview with Sai Baba. Baba says to desire an "inner" view instead of an interview. He says an inner view is much more important.

For me, the inner views always come as a voice that I hear in my head. I have learned to listen for that voice. I guess you could say that mine are inner talks instead of inner views. I rarely see anything.

As it got closer to time for us to leave India, I started to get concerned because my ears were still stopped up with fluid behind the drums. I have a friend whose ear drums burst from flying to Connecticut for Christmas a few years ago because she had fluid behind her ear drums. She wasn't allowed to fly home at the end of her visit. She had to rent a car and drive home to Arkansas.

I didn't have that option. You can't drive from India to Arkansas. A voice told me that when it was time to fly home, I would be fine. I had to trust that voice instead of listen to my own voice of fear and doubt. I had to fly home.

We left the ashram on the morning of October 14 for our three hour drive back to Bangalore where we would fly out about 2:00 a.m. on the morning of October 15. On the trip to Bangalore, I was feeling better until my friend Sherryl bought some Indian potato chips. She shared them with me and our two drivers. I took one bite, the pepper hit the back of my throat and I swear I coughed non-stop for at least five minutes or more. It seemed like forever. I frightened our two drivers because I couldn't stop. I was concerned because I didn't want to cough during our 22 hour + flight home.

When we got to Bangalore, we checked into our hotel and had a late lunch. Sherryl did Reiki on my head and lungs when I got a migraine and started coughing again. We took showers and slept the afternoon away. I still had fluid behind my ear drums.

We set our clock for 7:00 p.m., got dressed and ordered in a late dinner. We watched a little India TV which is a treat in itself. We were at the airport shortly before 11:00 p.m. to give us plenty of time to get through airport security and immigration with our passports. Our only hassle was when a bus boy wanted much too much money for helping with our luggage. Baba gave me a lesson in being firm about the cost. I was proud of myself that I didn't get taken advantage of.

At 2:00 a.m., we were seated on the plane waiting for takeoff which was late. In India, everybody runs on a different time than in the USA. You get used to it quickly. My ears were stopped up and I knew I still had fluid behind my ear drums. I couldn't hear everything that the airline personel said over the intercom because of it. I didn't get stressed about it. I learned a long time ago that worry does no good. Worry just adds more stress to an already stressful situation so why worry.

I believed what the voice told me. As the plane finally started to take off, a voice told me to Reiki my ears on takeoffs and landings and I would be fine. I know I looked strange to several fellow passengers.

Sherryl later told me that the young girl that was sitting across the isle and slightly ahead of us obviously thought I looked strange. She would stare. I didn't care. I was busy doing what I had been told to do. I Reikied my ears. I still had fluid behind my ear drums and I didn't have the first pain the entire trip. My ears did pop a lot but I had no pain at all.

As I was told the week before the flight home, I was fine and able to fly home. My ear drums did not burst. I did not cough once during the flight home. I did cough for two days after I got home before the cough went away on its own.

So, you could say that I agree with Dr. Sandweiss's statement that Swami does try our patience, faith, and our ability to surrender with challenges that are presented to us by Life and other people. I knew when I read those words that it was time to write about this experience of mine.