When he reached the other side, he collapsed and thanked God for rescuing him. After a while, hearing some villagers, Sheriar hailed them, "Show me the way to the town," he requested.
Seeing this strange, ominous, mud-covered figure rising out of the shadows, the men ran away shouting, "The ghost! The ghost of the island is after us."
A few of the men cautiously approached him, holding lanterns and clubs in their hands, and when they were reassured that he was indeed only a stranger in need of guidance, they brought him to their village, gave him buttermilk and attended to his needs.
During his ten years of wandering in India, God saved Sheriar's life one other time. He tried to cross a river but the current was so swift that it nearly swept him off his feet. Had he fallen, he would surely have drowned, but by God's grace, Sheriar managed to forge across.
In the course of his travels, Sheriar came across different types of yogis, ascetics and penitents. Once he encountered a man in Ratlam who had been sitting for years in one position — supported only by his thumbs. But this form of asceticism was not for Sheriar; his suffering was a thirst for the wine of love.
Shortly thereafter, in the same district of Ratlam, he encountered an old woman seated near a lake on the outskirts of the town. The woman made signs for him to go into the village, which he did. Everything there was spotlessly clean, but not a single living person was seen. Amazed, Sheriar instantly realized that the village was an apparition — an illusion — to be taken as a metaphor: Though the house of the heart be pure, it takes ages for God to enter. He understood what he had seen and returned to the old woman, who silently gave him a loaf of bread as prasad. After eating, he left without having exchanged a word with her.
While journeying through the hills near Jaora, Sheriar encountered an elderly man deeply immersed in meditation. After some time, the man opened his eyes and asked, "What do you want, my son?"
Sheriar replied, "I do not want anything. I am a seeker of Beloved God."
Hearing this, the old man was deeply pleased and said, "You are blessed."
In the midst of his travels, although Sheriar encountered many sadhus and saints, he found that none of them could satisfy his inner quest nor quiet his restlessness.