The next day, I arrived at the library at 9 p.m. and headed straight for the "supernatural phenomena" section of books. Most of the volumes were the usual popular information on haunting and ghosts; I couldn't find a single reference on the experience I was having. I was alone in this section of the library, and for some reason, I was beginning to feel uneasy. Maybe it was because I had read a number of ghost stories; I wasn't quite sure why, but the feeling wasn't good. I thought I saw shadows moving between the rows of shelves and heard the sounds of footsteps, paper shuffling, and what sounded like a murmur off in the distance. Then suddenly, all was quiet. I was sure there were other people in this section of the library, but every time I looked, I saw no one. I sat at a table close to the one where I had met the beings before. I even brought a glass of water, since my throat had gone dry answering their questions the last time they appeared.

At around 9:30 p.m., the lamp at the table flickered, but no one appeared. I kept looking around for a few more minutes, but still no sign of my two new friends. At 9.35 p.m., the lamp flickered again; I looked over to the table and still—no one. I rubbed my eyes and when I turned my head back, Mir Pacha was sitting directly across the table, looking at me eye to eye. I was startled at first, but then I calmed down.

"What did you find out about us? We noticed you were reading books about paranormal occurrences," he said.

"Not much, I'm afraid," I confessed. "I couldn't find anything other than ghost stories."

He ignored my answer, and went on. "Are you ready to go deeper into the first wave of Junoon—pure inspiration?"

"Pardon my asking, but what happened to the other person who was with you?" I said.

He smiled, and told me that he would join us in our next meeting. With that, he went into the details of pure inspiration:

"This first wave of Junoon comes upon you strongly, in such forceful, dazzling light that you feel transformed. It's as if your entire brain sparks with illumination. You become charged with energy as this revelation from the universe hits you completely and captures your mind. You're instantly able to see the solution to a problem with which you have been wrestling; it comes to you in wordless form, and you perceive the entire package as it's laid out to you in the depths of your being. You undergo a transcendent moment of creation as this inspiration enters your consciousness, and you comprehend what you must do and all the ramifications. The solution is complete, non-debatable, and irrefutable. This is the stuff of great discoveries—from scientific and technological advances to extraordinary forward leaps in philosophy, logic, art, music, and ethics."

"How do you know so much about Junoon?" I said.

"You forget that we have been investigating this concept for a very long time," he said. "Every development in human civilization has happened because someone had the Junoon to invent, discover, resolve, and change a current situation. Let me continue, Razi."

Mir Pacha went on to explain that pure inspiration may come to those who experience it through what we call enlightenment, clarity, or secret unlocked. It may come in only one or two of these forms, or it might come about through all three. The important thing is to recognize pure inspiration, however it reveals itself to you.

"Enlightenment: This kind of pure inspiration occurs as an evolutionary leap of thought. It's as if your entire brain suddenly receives a massive download of higher-order information. Can you imagine what it is like to know in your heart of hearts, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are experiencing a supra-ordinary event?"

"I think I understand what you're explaining," I said.

Mir Pacha went on to describe how an event like this happened to Scottish biologist Sir Alexander Fleming when he discovered penicillin in 1928. While working in his laboratory on a windy fall day, Fleming noticed that mold had developed by accident on a plate of bacteria. The mold had spawned a bacteria-free zone around itself. After further experimentation, Fleming found that such a mold culture prevented bacteria from growing, even when diluted hundreds of times. His enlightenment centered on the fact that the fungus excreted a substance that killed the bacteria. That substance, now known as penicillin, gave birth to the modern antibiotic form of treatment. Fleming's Junoon allowed him to find a cure at a time in our history when bacterial infection was a major cause of death. Diseases such as tuberculosis were common, and their diagnoses were considered death sentences.

"Fleming's discovery is a perfect example of pure inspiration through enlightenment, one that led to a discovery that saved countless lives," Mir Pacha explained. "Now, the next form of pure inspiration is just as gripping," he exclaimed.

"Clarity: This form endows you with unwavering certitude, and the certainty of your solution surpasses normal, sequential reasoning. Thought manifests itself with such clear, precise, and accurate fullness that it is utterly undeniable and at the same time, fairly simple to understand. It's not complex; it's like a law of nature. What's more, your communication skills intensify and reach a new level of refinement during such experiences. You're able to articulate thoughts with such well-honed precision that people open their minds and hearts to your insights. The word choices you embed in your explanations are so explicit that others comprehend in a flash what you say and recognize it for the truth that it is.

"This type of pure inspiration came to the Baptist -minister and U.S. civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. Never once did King doubt the righteousness of his drive to secure fair treatment for African Americans. His pure inspiration engendered in him a total identification with the movement—something he expressed through his activist behaviors and clarified for the world in his 'I Have a Dream' speech, delivered before thousands in the 1963 March on Washington."

"And I was there to witness that moment," Mir Pacha informed me with pride.

"What do you mean, you were there?" I asked incredulously. But he just smiled and continued.

"King's personality and accomplishments depict the full scope of clarity. Achieving civil rights for African Americans was not just some ordinary insight, especially when millions of Americans stood in harsh opposition to it, and oppressive behavior was so deeply embedded in society. King took a stand during a time when it was common to see derogatory anti-civil-rights signs posted at public places like water fountains and in restaurants. Society was what you might call desensitized to such injustice.

"Martin Luther King's pure inspiration was simply too elegant to be wrong," Mir Pacha explained. "This brings us to the last form of pure inspiration that can elicit a state of Junoon." He continued.

"Secret Unlocked: This last form comes to you with complete proof; you understand the rationale, logic, and mechanics that underlie your pure inspiration. You sense that you have unlocked some kind of secret, and although the inspiration has always existed within you, the universe has just now opened it. There's no denying that the dimensions of your inspiration are deeper and wider in scope than you could have ever imagined.

"An example of this form of pure inspiration took place when renowned scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, unlocked the secret of gravity. In fact, most laws of science in history have been discovered based on this form of pure inspiration. Newton's explanation of gravity changed the way people comprehended the universe. He showed in his book, Principia Mathematica, that everything in the universe, gravity included, behaved in an orderly, not a chaotic, way. He made it clear that all movements, large or small, follow the same, elegantly simple universal laws. Newton's pure inspiration spawned a new era in science and technology. In formulating his physical theories, he developed the field of mathematics that we now call calculus. Based on his mathematical formulas, scientists have landed robots on other planets and have accurately predicted the motion of heavenly bodies such as comets and asteroids.

"This form of pure inspiration is neither a thesis nor a theory. It is a factual law that is uncovered and unlocked by the person who has the Junoon to solve a challenging problem.

"Pure Inspiration is the beginning of the state of Junoon. Whether it comes to you through enlightenment, clarity, or secret unlocked, this wave surpasses anything you have ever experienced in your life. And this brings us to the end of the first wave of Junoon."

I was incredibly impressed with Mir Pacha's explanation of the first wave of Junoon. At the same time, my curiosity about him was gaining such intensity that I caught myself thinking several times about him instead of listening to his explanation. I think he sensed my curiosity and frustration.

"When we meet tomorrow, we will give you a hint of who we are and why we are passionate about this information reaching your current society," he informed me.

"What are we going to discuss tomorrow?" I asked.

"We will reveal the second wave of Junoon—sixth sight. That's where the obsession to achieve your goal begins," he said.

There was no doubt that something weird was happening here. It was like the movie Field of Dreams, in which the dead players come out to play baseball one last time, and the movie's hero justifiably has a hard time understanding what's happening to him.

I started daydreaming about the movie for a split second and then noticed that my friend was gone. The glass of water, originally at room temperature, had condensation on the outside and ice particles floating in it.