In Chapter 3, I used the word, "Junoon," a term I would now like to explain by telling about an ostensibly unbelievable encounter. The experience came after many years of searching for the secret of what makes ordinary people achieve extraordinary accomplishments.
Throughout my life, I've had the opportunity to hold many different jobs—from counting containers on freight ships to designing and building software for high-tech companies. I've had the good fortune to work with salt-of-the-earth laborers who spat and urinated in the hull of a ship to highly accomplished engineers and operations managers at prestigious organizations like as NASA and General Electric. I've interacted regularly with entrepreneurs who risked all their worldly assets to achieve their visions, and with social workers driven by their causes. The vast differences among all these people and the lives they have led have always intrigued me.
My questions have abounded, and continue to this day. How do some of us capture the ability to dream and achieve incredible goals? What enables some people to find the energy and focus to pursue their ideas? How do they fend off the temptation to give up before they fulfill their goals? And how do they attract large numbers of people to support them in what might appear to be impossible missions?
My search for answers led me to study several Western philosophies and bestselling books like Think and Grow Rich, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and The Power of Positive Thinking. Though these works did a great job of explaining the different traits required to become a super-achiever, I needed to find more. I wanted to know if something existed in the core of all human beings that, if activated, could propel them to realize their seemingly impossible dreams.
My breakthrough came when I researched other cultures' philosophies on motivation. Though I found only scant material on the subject, one Eastern expression in particular caught my attention—an obsessive mental state called "Junoon." People in the East knew about this condition and used the word in daily life; yet no one seemed to be able to define or logically explain it. The more I pondered this concept, however, the more I realized that all super-achievers lived in Junoon—a state of obsession.
Over the years, I expanded on the reality of Junoon to communicate it to others and have them understand it. Because this idea is so powerful, I have decided to present it as an experience that I am sure will spark your imagination.
A strange habit of mine is to sit in my car and drive aimlessly through the countryside without a plan or a map. I usually pass through small towns, occasionally stopping for gas or to pick up snacks. I'll sometimes take a walk on cobbled streets, looking at old buildings and stopping at the town center for a cup of coffee. I remember driving through one such small town at dusk one night; the light at that time made everything look beautiful, quaint, and picturesque. I pulled over and got out of my car. As I crossed the street and started walking toward the town center, I noticed an old building with a sign in front that read "Community Library."
I have an affinity for libraries, so I decided to walk in. The interior of the building was magnificent, filled with the smell of books, the appeal of antique wooden floors, and green lamps on the tables that created a calming ambience. I nodded to the librarian, and he smiled. I weaved my way through rows of books, glancing about aimlessly when I noticed a staircase to the second floor. I walked upstairs, and came across two tables with similar lamps in the center and a few bookshelves.
As I approached the corner shelf, the label "Mystic Science" caught my eye, and I immediately started searching for books that made mention of the concept of Junoon. I found an old book, wiped the dust off it, and started leafing through its pages. By then I had lost track of time and knew for a fact that I was alone. As I turned the pages of this old publication, I noticed a movement from the corner of my eye. I looked to my right and saw nothing but an empty table with a lamp in the middle. I resumed reading, but still had the feeling that someone was sitting to my right. I looked up and again, I saw no one.
The late hour, the library's eerie setting, the shadows among the bookshelves, the books, and the musty smell were starting to play with my imagination. Suddenly, I felt cold, and goose bumps rose on my right arm. Feeling uncomfortable, I got up to place the book back on its shelf. Even though I knew from working in a library myself that it was wrong to put books back, I also knew exactly where the book should go.
As I did so, I felt a real draft and the room's temperature dropped. I thought I heard a shuffling sound and sensed that someone was standing behind me, and my better judgment told me not to turn around. I kept staring straight at the bookshelf for what I think was about 30 seconds, though it felt like several minutes. I still had the sensation that there was someone behind me, and I hoped that the feeling would go away. I slowly turned around, and my heart skipped a beat. In fact, my whole body shuddered. At the same table I had looked at a couple of minutes earlier sat two individuals on opposite sides—one reading a large book and the other peering at me. They were dressed in long draping gowns and had a distinguished look about them. They wore caps of a design I had not seen before and huge rings on their fingers. I couldn't put a time period to their style of clothing, but they were definitely not dressed in typical twenty-first–century attire. Then, all of a sudden, the room was filled with an earthy scent similar to when it rains. I've been told that this scent happens when electricity passes through the air and ionizes air particles.
I froze. Never in my life had I experienced an event like this—supernatural or otherwise. Who were these two people? Where had they come from? Why didn't I hear them walk in? And why were they dressed this way? Most important, how could I get out of here—fast?
Just as this last thought entered my mind, the one who was looking at me motioned with his hand to come closer and pointed to the empty chair on his left. I didn't want to sit with them, but my curiosity got the better of me. I approached them hesitantly. The closer I got, the better I could make out their features. There was a softness to their faces, and they appeared friendly yet powerful. Their gaze penetrated my soul.
As I drew closer to the desk, neither one extended a hand to shake mine, but they nodded their heads in gesture toward the empty chair. My heart beat was way up, my palms were cold and clammy, and I felt cold. It was late, around 9:30 p.m. I guessed that in 30 minutes or so, the librarian would toggle the lights a couple of times to signal the closing of the library for the night.
I pulled the chair out and sat down. The being on the right looked at me and spoke deeply in a soft voice. "Don't be afraid. We are not interested in scaring you." He smiled and the being opposite to him also looked up and smiled. "We have noticed that for the past several months, you have been spending a lot of time researching the concept of Junoon. What are you searching for?"
I didn't say anything. I just kept staring at them. Was this for real? Was I hallucinating or witnessing a paranormal event?
I'm not sure how I mustered up a voice; the words just seemed to form in my mouth. "Who are you?" I said. I hoped they would say they belonged to the local drama or theater club and decided to stop by the library.
The being on the left, who had been reading all this time, finally looked up. "We are not what you may naively call supernatural beings, and we definitely don't belong to a drama club," he said, as he lowered his head down to continue reading his book. "We do, however, traverse between the physical and metaphysical worlds. The reason you can see us is that we choose when to be seen." His demeanor was matter-of-fact.
Did I just hear the word "supernatural," and something about two worlds? I responded with a fairly profound statement of my own: "What?"
They both just looked at me. With a broad smile, the man on the right spoke. "We have noticed that you have been searching for the meaning of Junoon, a concept that is also of great interest to us."
Further confused, I simply repeated, "What?" And then I realized I should probably attempt to expand upon this. "Why is Junoon important for you? And how did you know I've been searching for this concept?" I said, my voice trembling slightly.
"Junoon is a state that can uplift humanity to achieve world-changing accomplishments," he said. "If the concept of Junoon were properly introduced, human beings would rise up to eradicate hunger, poverty, disease, violence, and most of all, war. They would experience a leap in their evolution."
"Okay, so once again, who are you?" I said.
"As you can see and may have figured out, we are not of the physical world to which you are accustomed," said the one on the left. "Nonetheless, I promise you that over the next few days, as we share what we know about the concept of Junoon, we will explain what we are, and more important, who we are. For now, let us talk about Junoon."
"Sure, please go ahead," I said.
With this, they launched into a comprehensive discussion on Junoon. The being on the right spoke first, and he revealed the following to me.
"The word, Junoon, comes from the Urdu/Arabic language spoken in the Eastern regions of your world. The current English language lacks a single word to describe the concept, so the best we can do is describe it in three words: Junoon is a state of obsession. It's a transformative, all-consuming mania; a kind of craziness, if you will, that envelops your mind and heart to achieve your goal.
"To live within the state of Junoon is to concentrate passionately on realizing your mission and transcending day-to-day, human motivation to a degree that seems impossible to those around you. Being in this state coalesces and magnifies your ordinary strength of will and determ-ination, and turns you into a person who rises to challenges in ways that others can't even imagine. You hold nothing back. You put your all into everything that you do, and through that investment of your entire being, you find ways to surmount the most daunting of circumstantial barriers with incredible energy.
"Imagine that you're so obsessed with accomplishing something for the greater good that you feel utterly consumed with getting it done. You are inspired by a mandate from the universe, and allow nothing to stop you from achieving your objective. From morning to night, you live within your passionate concentration and desire. This is what it's like to live in, and act from, the state of Junoon."
I was mesmerized by his monologue; then the being on the left filled in the presentation.
"When in the state of Junoon, you walk on a razor's edge. While this state of mind enables you to achieve great things for yourself and others, you must take care to monitor and manage its inherently powerful and overwhelming dynamism to keep your life in balance. History is teeming with examples of individuals who have acted from the state of Junoon to fulfill their extraordinary visions.
"Does any one individual or group of people come to mind, Razi?" he asked me.
"How did he know my name?" I wondered. By now, however, I realized that something highly unusual was happening, and simply decided to continue. I cleared my throat. "How about the Wright brothers?" I blurted out.
"Exactly!" said the being on the left. "You are correct." He claimed that history has shown that the Wright brothers persisted until they built a machine that could fly and ultimately affected the lives of millions in years to come. They transcended logic and overcame hardship in the service of their inspiration to achieve manned flight—all during a time when the world was completely satisfied, happy with other forms of transportation, and no economic or business need to build a plane existed.
At this point, the being on the right moved his hand as if in a gesture to say something. As he did, I noticed the sleeve of his cloak came close to my clasped hands resting on the table. I knew that if I opened my hand I could feel the texture of his sleeve. I wanted so badly to know whom was I speaking with and what kind of beings they were. I stretched out my fingers and touched his sleeve with my index finger. It was like touching frozen nitrogen. In microseconds, my hand became super-cold and the tip of my finger that touched the being's sleeve turned ashen white, and my nail turned blue. I quickly retracted my hand and rubbed my finger.
The being on the right smiled. "Shall we continue?" he asked.
"Sure," I said sheepishly.
He continued on to explain that people who describe their meetings with individuals in a state of Junoon as incredibly revitalizing. When asked specifically why they feel this way, they often reply, "It's like being in an energy field." The laser-beam concentration of these individuals impresses and attracts like-minded individuals who support them throughout their seemingly impossible and interminable quests. To be in their presence is to be co-energized and uplifted.
"The state of Junoon comes upon you in five cascading waves," he explained. Just as he made this statement, the lights in the library went dark, and I flinched. I looked up at the lights just as they came on again and went dark a second time. The librarian was signaling closing time.
"We will go into more detail on this tomorrow," he said.
At that moment, the lamp on the table flickered and I turned to look at it. As soon as I looked back I found myself sitting alone at an empty table. They were gone, just like that, leaving only a fresh earthy scent in the air.
Did I just imagine all this? I suddenly remembered my index finger and looked at it. The nail was still blue and hurt when I touched it. So it was true. I did see them. I had had a "paranormal experience."
With that, I hurried out of the library and didn't even stop to say good night to the librarian. On my drive home, I kept wondering if I would experience this phenomenon again. "Dammit," I thought. "Just when I was going to get the information on Junoon, they up and disappeared on me."
I went to the library the next day hoping to continue my discussion, retracing my steps from the day before. I arrived at 8 p.m. and headed straight for the mystic science area. A couple was sitting at the same table I had sat at the night before, but they didn't look supernatural; they were just a couple reading books. I wondered if the beings would show up when these people were here. I pulled out a book from the shelves and found a table, glancing at the couple now and then and hoping they would leave. Soon it would be 9:30 p.m., and they didn't look like they were in any hurry to leave. I was growing so desperate to meet the beings again that I politely asked the couple when the library would close, hoping my question would nudge them to leave. "I think the library closes at 10," answered the woman; just then, she shivered. "I feel very cold all of a sudden," she said. The man agreed and closed his book. "Let's leave. You're always feeling cold," he said with a hint of irritation.
They gathered their books and headed out of the library. By now, the clock on the wall said 9:28 p.m. The minutes ticked by, and suddenly, the lamp on the table flickered; then nothing. It was now 9:35 p.m. I concluded that the flickering lamp was just my imagination and proceeded to put the book away. As I placed it back on the shelf, I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck and heard what sounded like pages turning. I turned around to find both beings from the night before sitting at the table, one reading a monumental-sized book.
I wasn't sure if I should approach them or not, so I just kept staring at them. I then noticed that I had dropped a note on the floor while replacing the book I was reading. I bent down to pick it up and as I looked up, the being who sat on the right side last night was standing in front of me. I was startled, yet at the same time, I wanted to see if he was standing or hovering off the ground. He looked about my height, with his long flowing gown, clean white long shirt, and his cloak adorned with a single symbol on the side of his collar. He gestured toward the table close to us, and I again noticed the rings on his hand. I turned to pick up my note and as I turned around, he was already sitting at the table. I assumed that these beings don't walk; they just appear and disappear.
"So are you still interested in hearing about the state of Junoon?" he asked.
"Yes," I said, "and I'm also interested in understanding you. But first, please tell me how I should refer to you."
The being on the right looked at the other being for a moment. "Okay. You can call me Mir Pacha, and this is Mir Kotti," he said. "Our names have special meaning that we will make clear to you in time, when we share who and what we are. But for now, let's discuss Junoon."
"Why Junoon?" I said. "Why do you want the world to find out about this concept?"
"Well, as I alluded to before," he continued, "Junoon has the power to uplift humanity. It is time that human beings took an evolutionary leap to solve fundamental issues like hunger, disease, violence, and war." He went on to explain that the human race was capable of achieving grand things, if only people could develop the Junoon to do them.
"Yesterday," he continued, "we were about to share with you the five cascading waves of Junoon, when we had to leave. So let's begin. I will try using terms that you use in your daily life to explain the concept." He went on to say to the following:
"The first wave of Junoon is what we call pure inspiration. This is a phenomenon that happens to all human beings at one time or another in their lives. It surpasses by far any 'aha' or 'eureka' moment that may occur when you're dealing with day-to-day problems. Pure inspiration reaches more deeply within you and is far more encompassing. This vision slams into your consciousness, and unleashes within you a suprahuman sense of clarity and awareness as to how to achieve your goal. It's as though the universe speaks to you in an unalloyed way—and you listen."
"Would you say that Einstein's conceiving his theory of relativity exemplifies this phenomenon? The theory came to him all at once," I said.
"That's right. He experienced the first wave of Junoon—pure inspiration—that enabled him to solve the problem of time and space. It was like the knowledge existed in the universe and was delivered to him," said Mir Pacha.
"The second wave of Junoon is sixth sight. This wave takes you deeper into Junoon; and no, it is not what you call 'visualization,' in which you see only an end result. Sixth sight conveys your entire plan; you feel the textures, smell the smells, and taste the tastes related to your goal. You see what you need to do, how you need to do it, and why you need to do it. You experience a breakthrough. You translate your plan into practical reality. You think about it, write about it, and talk about it with anyone who will listen."
"Now," Mir Kotti chimed in, "Let me explain the third wave." I was caught by surprise at his interaction, and once again wondered who these beings could possibly be.
"The third wave of Junoon is fanatic focus. This wave transcends ordinary concentration. You could say that you are bewitched by it. You live in it and through it, and absolutely nothing distracts you from it. Such an extreme focus spawns an overwhelming need to achieve your goal. You feel embodied within a trance, as this emotional and psychological transformation pours over you.
"You are, in fact, enthralled as your grand vision now starts to roll out in full force. As you can appreciate, fanatic focus is an extremely powerful wave of Junoon in which you can be living. You're now operating on a supranatural drive that requires a different form of energy to keep you on task."
I took notice of these creatures' forms as they spoke with me. At times, they appeared to be solid, while at others, they seemed ethereal and slightly out of focus. I couldn't imagine why this might be. A certain luminescence enveloped them, but the glow seemed to be self-emanating, not coming from the light's reflection. But before I could continue with this train of thought, Mir Kotti continued with his explanation.
"The fourth wave of Junoon is metaphysical energy, a phase that engenders energy in you beyond your wildest imagination. You're up and running at the crack of dawn, and you don't fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. You may not even need food, or require far less of it to sustain yourself. Yet, wonder of wonders, your human immune system remains strong, and you stay healthy in the process.
"Your energy now springs up from the state of Junoon— something that others don't understand about great achievers. They fail to see that this is not stress, but rather a form of pure energy that propels your body, mind, and spirit into action to do whatever you need to fulfill your goal. This leads into the final wave of the state—social Junoon—that grows out of your Junoon and wells up around you."
Mir Pacha took the lead to explain this last wave, and my mind still raced with questions about him and his colleague.
"Social Junoon moves out from you like a web of attraction as you communicate your vision to like-minded people who can't help falling in love with it. Before this, Junoon centered within you as an individual; now it moves through you and beyond you to carry your inspiration to engage others' hearts and minds. Your goal takes on the collective power needed to complete itself. And as social Junoon encompasses others, they take on your Junoon and magnify it a thousand-fold.
"Your Junoon spreads to family, friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. The transformation of your individual state of Junoon converts to one of social Junoon right before your eyes. Your pure inspiration, sixth sight, fanatic focus, and metaphysical energy become theirs, and your individual Junoon to solve a grand problem migrates from one person to another. It becomes a movement comprised of more people than you had ever imagined—all of whom dedicate themselves to solving the problem that first inspired you. Such is the unrelenting force of the state of Junoon.
At this point, both men paused and looked at me, which I took as an opportunity to ask some fundamental questions. "Thank you," I said. "You have given me an excellent introduction to Junoon, but tell me—who are you, and what are you?"
"For now," said Mir Kotti, "consider us friends. If you can get past your current limitation of logical thinking and allow us more time, you will have all your questions answered. We will discuss pure inspiration in more detail tomorrow."
When he said that, the library light flickered, and I looked up momentarily. As soon as I looked down, both of my new friends were gone.
The words I write here to describe my experience and the state of Junoon in all its waves are but simple pointers to the vast force that you carry within you. No matter how expansive the hyperbole I use to describe this state, words ultimately fail. I can say this without the least bit of equivocation, as I have experienced the power of the state of Junoon not once, not twice, but many times in my life.
My fond hope is that as you read on, you will get a taste of Junoon and come to see how this magnificent state may have application in your life for your grand visions.