early morning. In Hermann Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, the Buddha claims three qualities: ‘I can think. I can wait. I can fast.’ And on this vacation I have done a lot of the first two. And now, the plane is delayed for 2 hours, after I arrived here at 11:30. Till 7:30, that’s quite a lot of waiting. And I have done so much reading, and my eyes are glazy by now. And, to make matters much worse, I suddenly developed this dry rasping cough, all in afternoon. Which leaves me struggling to breath. So an exerise in suffering. It is 5 AM and there are still two hours to wait. I have tried breath control, positive thinking, and just staring into space. But I know that I will overcome this, and then possibly a sleepless 5 hour plane ride. It will be great to be home. But I know there is a lesson in this – just as there is in all things -if I can be receptive enough to appreciate it.
