I couldn't stop thinking about these beings all day long. Who were they? There are so many descriptions in almost every religion—from angels in Christianity and Judaism to Jinn in Islam, to fairies in Irish culture, to gods in Greek mythology. As much as they had said that I would find out who they were, I couldn't stop wondering about them. Why did my index finger freeze when I touched one of their sleeves? Why did ice particles suddenly appear in my glass of water? What was the science behind their sudden appearances and disappearances?
I reached the library at 9 p.m. the next day, ready to discuss the second wave of Junoon with these mysterious beings. I approached the librarian at the main desk and inquired whether anyone had ever reported unusual occurrences in the library. He asked what kind of occurrences I had in mind; I mentioned something about lamps on desks flickering for no apparent reason. He shrugged his shoulders, and said that he wasn't aware of such things happening. "What about in the Mystic Science section upstairs?" I pressed. "No, not a thing," he said, adding, "I've noticed that you're often here. What are you researching?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing much. Just some motivational concepts," I said.
I then made my way to the Mystic Science section. The library was busy, and a few people were reading there. I reviewed my notes from my three previous meetings. Reading the detailed information I had written made me smile. Junoon was a fresh concept, and I particularly liked the definition that Mir Pacha gave me: Junoon is a state of obsession to achieve your goal.
After reading my notes, I noticed that this section of the library was empty; nothing was going on at the table where our two meetings had taken place. The lamp with the green shade was glowing brightly, not flickering at all. The time was now 9:25 p.m. In about five minutes, these beings and I would be diving into the second wave of Junoon. I was determined this time to catch their arrival and see how they materialized. Was it similar to how Captain Kirk in Star Trek was beamed up? But before I could continue speculating, to my surprise, they were already seated. I wondered how this happened, since no one was there when I looked earlier in the direction of the table.
Do you ever find yourself looking for milk in the refrigerator and realizing it's not in there? You close the door, pick up your car keys, and tell your wife that you are going to the store to get the milk only to hear her say that she has just bought some. You open the door again, and right there in front of you, is a full carton of milk. It was always there; your mind simply chose not to see it. This was my experience when I saw the beings. One second, they weren't there; the next second, they were sitting at the table.
Given that I was growing comfortable in their presence, I didn't wait to be invited to sit; I walked up to them and pulled out the same chair I used during our previous meetings. "So, are we going to discuss the second wave of Junoon?" I said. Both of them smiled and nodded; and this time, I had the opportunity to observe them in more detail. Mir Pacha's longish face framed with his gray hair gave a strong appearance, and Mir Kotti's moon-like face made him look softer. They were both dressed in brightly colored, elegant robes. They wore huge rings on their fingers that portrayed some kind of symbols on their flat surfaces. Their voices were strong, clear, and measured; their gazes were penetrating, but not threatening. I felt protected and secure.
This time, Mir Kotti spoke first. "Let us take you deeper into the second wave of Junoon, the Sixth Sight." And so we began our discussion.
"Sixth sight brings with it an aura of all-knowing inspiration. Logic and emotion converge to grant the enormous inner power you need to fulfill your goal. You receive a complete how-to strategy that lays out exactly what to do over time to convert your inspiration into concrete, here-and-now reality—with planning, direction, and purpose."
Mir Kotti added that sixth sight differs from what is ordinarily understood as the modern concept of visualization. Visualization allows you to see a net result, goal, or outcome of your intentions. Sixth sight encompasses far more; it conveys precisely what steps you must take to achieve your goal, how to take them, and why. Then Mir Kotti changed the subject on me.
"Have you heard of the philosopher, René Descartes?" he asked me.
I nodded. "Yes, I know about him and like his philosophy," I said.
"Well, we like him, too," he added. "Remember these words: Cogito ergo sum. We will come back to them later when we answer your question about whom—or, as you would say—what we are. For now, let's continue." He laid out the following three phases for me.
"The first phase establishes what we call a Cartesian plan. Sixth sight requires that you dedicate all your time to convergent thinking. You formulate a grand plan to achieve your impossible goal; you chart all the coordinates of time and space to tell you when and where to reach key milestones. You create a strategy, polish it, and then scrap it, if needed, to start again. Your mind is consumed with details, and you overlook nothing. You know what you have to do, and are also aware of what you don't know. You start and stop hundreds of times. Your Cartesian plan is palpable, right in front of you, and suddenly, it disappears."
He paused for a moment. "Does this remind you of anyone?" he asked.
I asked if he meant someone who followed a Cartesian plan.
"Yes, that too, but I was referring to something that appears right in front of you and then suddenly disappears again," he said.
I smiled, since we both knew that he was referring to himself and Mir Pacha. "These beings have a sense of humor," I thought to myself.
"In any case, you start again," he continued, "and you finally reach a state where you understand your plan in all its perfection. It is dynamic and brilliant in its logic, beauty, and simplicity."
After a long silence, Mir Pacha spoke up and asked if I knew of someone who had built a Cartesian plan and used it to achieve an impossible human feat. I still wasn't quite sure that I fully comprehended the plan's components, but before I could answer, he cited Edmund Hillary as one person he and Mir Kotti respected for creating this kind of plan. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first human beings in the Earth's 4-billion-year history to successfully reach the 29,028-foot summit of Mt. Everest.
"We know this," Mir Pacha explained, "because Hillary scaled the mountain along a route that other members of his team had advised against. What these people failed to realize was that before Hillary physically scaled Mt. Everest, he had already reached the summit in his Cartesian plan."
"Can you please expand on this for me? What are the elements of this plan?" I inquired.
Mir Pacha went on to clarify that one creates a Cartesian plan when he or she is in a state of Junoon. It expands your faculties to a point where nothing is left to chance; every minute detail is outlined, discussed, logged, and scrubbed. There are very few surprises, and each iteration of your plan builds on a previous one. It is a living strategy that evolves. "We call it Cartesian because it is intelligent, mathematical, and measurable," he said.
Mir Pacha then continued with his explanation of the second phase of Sixth sight.
"The second phase of sixth sight essentially transforms you into a seer. Whereas your Cartesian plan shows you what to do, your actionable path reveals how to reach your destination. You know every turn to take, how to master every angle and detail to fulfill your goal. Through your practical execution, you demonstrate how it is done. This phase translates your goal from the entries in your diary to a physical form.
"A perfect example of the actionable path phase of sixth sight," said Mir Pacha, "is when I accompanied your famous leader Mahatma Gandhi as he demonstrated to millions of his fellow Indians the technique to bring the British empire to its knees."
"Can you explain what you mean by accompanying him?" I said. "You referred to something similar when you spoke about Martin Luther King, Jr. What do you mean by accompanying these people, when they accomplished their great feats?"
"Well, Razi," he said, "When we witness people who are poised to change the world through their Junoon, we join them in that event. We are present at any powerful event that uplifts humanity."
"What do you mean? Can people see you when you are at the event?" I said.
"No. We are only seen when we want to be seen," said Mir Pacha.
"So do you participate and help the achiever in making the event occur?" I asked.
"No. We cannot change the event's course or outcome; we just participate in it. It is similar in your world to going to the movies. You watch them with enthusiasm and participate through your feelings; but you cannot change the story or the outcome," said Mir Kotti.
"Okay, let's stick to our task and return to the discussion of Gandhi," one of them said.
"Gandhi's actionable path was his now-famous Salt March. In defiance of the British Salt Law, he led a group of 80 followers on a 23-day march that covered 240 miles to the Indian coast. In doing so, he showed his countrymen how to stand up against the might of the British Empire without resorting to violence. What might at first have appeared counterintuitive to his people—using nonviolent, civil disobedience to resist a superpower—became the defining strategy to gain independence for India. Gandhi's example stands as a testament to his personal Junoon and in applying actionable path as a phase of sixth sight."
Mir Pacha then went on to detail the last phase of sixth sight.
"In the first two phases, you understand what you have to do and how to do it. This next stage allows you to understand why you have to achieve your goal, and serves as the catalyst to kick off the third phase: turning your goal into an undeniable need to achieve your Junoon. Here, you are focused, driven, resilient, and persistent. Nobody can take away your enthusiasm. No failure stops you. No adversity deters you. Your brain does not question your logic or over-think your strategy. It does not feel guilty for pondering the need you must satisfy 24 hours a day."
"I think I understand this point of yours," I said. "In my research I am working on a theory that the motivation to follow a goal may die over time, but the motivation to satisfy a need increases over time."
"Good point, Razi," said Mir Pacha. "This is what the state of Junoon is all about. Your logic rides on an emotional drive that makes your intentions clear and justifies why you're doing what you do." He added that the feeling in your gut becomes the engine that drives you forward. At the same time, the satisfaction sparked by your need runs so deep that it pervades your life and endows you with the intestinal fortitude of your conviction.
"May I offer an example of an achiever who exhibited an undeniable need?" I asked.
"Sure, Razi," said Mir Kotti. "Go ahead."
"So the main concept of undeniable need," I said, "is the fact that your motivation does not die with time. The one super-achiever who exemplifies this conversion of a goal into an undeniable need is Nelson Mandela. He never lost sight of his purpose to abolish apartheid in South Africa, despite spending 27 years in prison for his activist work."
I explained that we now know that his undeniable need for an apartheid-free South Africa allowed him to endure almost three decades of hardship, while he rejected many offers of release in exchange for compromising his political position.
He lived to lead the transformation of his country into a nation free of its divisive, apartheid culture.
"Perfect. We are well aware of Mr. Nelson Mandela. He truly represents how one's Junoon can uplift humanity," said Mir Pacha. And he continued with this thought:
"When you are entrenched in the wave of sixth sight, you will experience great momentum to carry forward the complete rationale to achieve your goal. This wave—through its phases of the Cartesian plan, actionable path, and undeniable need—answers the three fundamental questions in the mind of an achiever. What needs to be done to achieve the goal? How do I do this? And the most important: Why do I need to achieve the goal?
With that, both beings paused. "We will discuss the third wave of Junoon—fanatic focus—the next time we meet," said Mir Kotti.
"I actually have another question," I said. "How do you know how to speak English?"
"We are not speaking English," he said. "We are just speaking. Your mind is translating our words into a language you understand. So where is your glass of water?" he asked.
I passed the glass to him. He then touched the glass with his index finger, and the water inside started turning to ice.
"How did you do that?" I asked, my eyes fixed on the glass. When I looked up, they were gone, and I was sitting alone at the table. Ice particles were floating in the water and once again, there was the distinctly fresh smell that you experience after a rain.