Introduction

“MindsOn,” “MindsOn,” shouted George jumping out of his chair with great euphoria. “I got it, Scot, is it not great?”

Scot was unexpectedly taken by surprise seeing George’s face swelling with joy. They were having breakfast in Hotel Ananda (Bliss) in Rishikesh, which is in the foothills of the Himalayas.

“Scot, you know, late last night we discussed the name which we may choose for our application when we succeed in our research to read the mind of another human. I now got the name. The rest is with you. If you succeed in completing your research, then I will design the prototype of the application.”

“Congrats, George. It seems appropriate. You have done a great and wonderful job and kicked the ball into my court.” Scot’s response reflected the pressure on his research work.

“Hello, gentlemen. Welcome to Rishikesh. This place is as old as life on the planet. It is also in the foothills of the sacred mountain range in India. This place is called the gateway to the Himalayas and Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. From ancient times till today, thousands of sages and saints have lived here practicing yoga and meditation. One can feel and breathe the spirit of yoga and meditation in the air.

“Muni Ki Reti (Sands of Sages) is near Rishikesh and although a small town, it is the gateway for Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. There are many ashrams there. Kailash Ashram was established in 1880. It was the first and largest ashram. This was followed by many founded by Swami Atmananda, Swami Sivananda among others.

“In 1968, Beatles visited the now closed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram and even recorded a song there, titled White Album. They composed nearly 48 songs there. Several other artists, including Mike Love of the Beach Boys, Donovan and Gyp Mills, visited the place to contemplate and meditate.

“This place is surrounded by hundreds of ashrams. They teach yoga and meditation. Seekers of Truth from all over the world come and learn the Way. You can take from here whatever you are seeking such as reading minds and finding a name for your application.”

“What?” both Scot and George shouted and looked at each other. It was just incredible for them to absorb. Having recovered from the shock, they simultaneously asked, “Who are you? Who told you about our project?”

“I am a wandering monk. I have no name. Also, I have no home. Please calm down. There is no miracle. All of us have met for the first time. What I told was my understanding of your minds. If it tallies with what you have in your mind, I am not responsible in any way.”

“Still, it is amazing. How can you precisely say what was going in our minds?”

“You know, you both are from some different continents. The gentleman who is quietly sitting here but watching very closely is from the south and I am from nowhere. All of us are interconnected. Also, there is an electromagnetic field in which every human is positioned in time and space. Through this field, everyone is not only connected but also transmits data and messages with enormous speed. This is what our present-day scientists have found out from their research.

“Although we all come from different parts of the planet, we are here for one common purpose. Seeking something is a common purpose. In fact, we are all seekers and wanderers wanting to achieve something or other. Most humans seek happiness. Some seek the Truth. The rest seek nothing. In the process of seeking, some tumble upon the great powers of knowing everything, some great achievement hitherto unknown to humanity, and some great powers of extraordinary results.”

“You are right. We are here to study ‘mind reading’ as we came to know that there are people here who can do it very well. We want to know and understand how they do it. Can you help us?”

“I do not know whether you are trying to know for the sake of knowing or for the sake of learning.

‘Knowing is one thing and learning is another. The more the clutter one accumulates, the heavier the damage the clutter inflicts. The clutter of knowing everything is no exception. Knowing everything other than knowing one’s self leads to nothing. On the other hand, if one knows the self then everything will be known’.

A story comes to my mind and it goes like this:

“A professor of philosophy and religion went to Thailand on a tour to study Buddhism. He had to cross a river to go to the other side to visit a Buddhist monastery. He engaged a boat in crossing the river. While he was traveling in the boat the boatman asked him where he was from. The professor told him that he was from the USA.

“As the boatman did not know where the USA was, he kept quiet. He would have responded had the professor told him he was from America as that name was very popularly known in Thailand on account of tourism instead of the USA. But the professor was a genius and a very learned academician in his profession. He, therefore, did not understand the ordinary boatman’s knowledge about countries in the world.

“After some time, the professor who was reading a voluminous book all the time was struck by the silence and started to converse with the boatman. He asked the boatman whether he had heard about the Bible.”

The boatman said, ‘No!’

“The professor was astonished and said, ‘O! God, man, you have wasted one fourth of your life.’ The professor continued and asked him, ‘Have you at least heard about the Bhagavad Gita?’ 

‘No, Sir’, replied the boatman.

‘You have wasted one-half of your life. I am sure at least you must have heard about the Book of Common Prayer?’ The professor was frustrated.

‘No,’ the boatman replied.

“The professor told him that he had wasted three-fourths of his life.

Suddenly, the boatman noticed a leak and water was entering the bottom of the boat. The boatman became anxious and asked the professor whether he knew how to swim.

“The professor in a boastful tone told him, ‘I have read several books on swimming. Checking Google and reading Wikipedia minute to minute engagements for me. I have gathered a lot of information on swimming but I do not know how to swim.’

“The boatman felt sorry for the professor and said, ‘You have wasted your entire life, sir. The boat is now going to sink and you are also going to sink along with the boat. I have no time but to jump into the water and swim across the river to save my life.’

“The boatman jumped out of the boat and swam across the river and reached the shore. The professor sank with the boat and died.”

The monk continued talking. “I guess your name is Scot; You know Scot, this gentleman from Chennai, in South India is following me like a shadow. He met many successful, happy, disabled and sick humans from all walks of life such as the rich, poor, powerful, mighty, young and old, in different stages of their lives. He watched, talked and moved with all of them.

“He found out that each one is endowed with different capabilities and lives with totally different perceptions, purpose, meaning. Some live without any purpose or meaning in life. There is nothing common in their living other than the existential routines such as eating, playing, working, achieving, non-achieving, mating, co-creating, sleeping and continuing these activities till the last breath in their body. Also, the common factors are sickness, pain, and suffering without any exception.

“According to his findings, no one dies peacefully and quickly when the time comes to depart from the world. There may be a few exceptions. But generally, everyone irrespective of their healthy living throughout the life goes through the process of some illness known or unknown, suffers, and finally dies in an unconscious state of mind. This applies to all without any exception whether they are rich or poor and whether they are powerful or mighty, kings or presidents, leaders or workers, industrialists or agriculturists, literates or illiterates, achievers or non-achievers, saints or yogis, religious or non-religious or atheists.”

“Finally, he is burdened with one question, ‘Living the life’ is fine. Having born one has no choice but to live the life. But ‘whose life is it anyway?’ He now follows me closely to understand and find an answer for his seeking. I raised some questions and wanted him to find answers by himself. But, still, he is not leaving me. Now, you want to join the bandwagon. This is what Bible says:

‘Ask and you shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.’ Mathew 9.”

Scot and George became curious. “What are those questions?” they asked in one voice.

The monk thought that one or two questions out of many questions raised by him may help them in their research project. The monk pointed out two of them for their...