How I Met My Mother – 4

Please read part three here.

My plan!

Per my fabulous plan, I have one full year to work on my meditation and get ready to meet Om Swami Ji. But I guess Swami Ji disagreed with my plan. He had something different and much better in his mind. That same month in October 2021, my younger brother visited my dad in Pune, India. When my brother returned to the US, he suggested I visit my dad as he was not doing well.

I had no Indian visa, unlike my brother, who carries an OCI card, the Indian government wasn’t allowing visitor’s visas due to Covid-19, plus my daughter was planning to be in Dallas for Thanksgiving week (3rd week of November). I told my brother I might visit Dad next year or when an Indian visa opens. Plus, I had no desire to be on the plane with 300 other people when Covid-19 was still roaming around. I could not purchase the business/first-class ticket to minimize contact with people on the plane (lame excuse not to visit India).

Meditation! Meditation!

Somewhere, I read that one should meditate in the woods or near water. So, I started meditating in my backyard; we have a gorgeous swimming pool with a cute little fountain and a Jacuzzi with a gazebo and behind our swimming pool is a creek with loads of trees. I would face east to meditate (read somewhere about that as well!). Emptying my thoughts was not a struggle, as I would completely get soaked into Swami Ji’s voice on the Black Lotus app meditation. One day I had a vision of Swamiji standing In front of me in my backyard; he put his right hand on my head, smiled at me, and disappeared; the feeling was so calm and happy.

After that vision, a few other times, I saw myself in the Ashram. I was standing there, looking at the river Giri and the majestic mountains. Even though I have never been to that place, I could see everything so clearly, and vividly. The rocks, trees, the dirt on the road. I was standing there.

My favorite one is, where I am sitting at the feet of the Divine Ma, there is water fall on the right-hand side. Ma is smiling and caressing my hair with love. Om Swami Ji comes and takes my hand; before I know it, we both are flying up in the sky. He takes me to show our galaxy and other many million galaxies. I don’t want to come down, but he gently brings me back into my body.

Technically my rational mind understands that I was meditating whenever I had these experiences, and this is just my imagination playing with my thoughts. I was delighted with my vision. Well! Little did I know! Something was changing me inside for sure.

Magic of Om Swami

Back to reality, my brother again asked me to reconsider my decision, as the Indian government opened up a 30-day e-visa starting on the 15th of November. My daughter called me around the same time and said she would like to visit her friend at thanksgiving instead of coming to Dallas. Now suddenly, my November opened up. I started looking for tickets to India, but they were so expensive!! I wasn’t ready to pay $6000 for one ticket. My kind brother offered me his miles to purchase the American Airlines ticket, and I thought I should try it. Sadly, AA doesn’t fly to Mumbai. “Oh, Well! I tried; maybe next year,” I said to myself. I needed that one year to get ready for Om Swami’s visit. I wanted to show Swamiji that I am a dedicated person who meditates daily, knows Vedanta, and is well-read! This way, he will accept me as his disciple immediately. My ego and confidence were in full charge. Was I trying to impress him or impress myself? What a silly plan that was!

But as we all know, when the instructions come from up there, no one can do anything about it. Somehow, I was forced to check with AA and found out I could fly to Delhi on FF miles. I thought, “Ok, why in the world would I fly to Delhi? I need to be in Mumbai and from there to Pune to be with my dad”. I last spent more than 12 – 15 years ago in Delhi for a vacation. But then I thought, from Delhi to Pune is not a long flight. I should try that option regardless. I applied for an e-visa, and within 10 hours, I got my 30-day e-visa. I booked my 1st class/business class flight to Delhi from Dallas. Whoo Hoo!!! Also, my brother and his family graciously agreed to take care of Albie (our 10-year-old golden retriever) for a month. Before I knew it, I was ready to fly to visit my dad via Delhi!

Please click here for part five.