INDI A

SINGAPORE

M A L AY S I A

Notion Press Media Pvt Ltd No. 50, Chettiyar Agaram Main Road, Vanagaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 600 095 First Published by Notion Press 2021 Copyright © Sachin Kaushik 2021 All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-1-63714-558-6 This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. While every effort has been made to avoid any mistake or omission, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that neither the author nor the publishers or printers would be liable in any manner to any person by reason of any mistake or omission in this publication or for any action taken or omitted to be taken or advice rendered or accepted on the basis of this work. For any defect in printing or binding the publishers will be liable only to replace the defective copy by another copy of this work then available.

Dedications This book is dedicated to Geetashu, my wife whose patience and persistence made this book possible. Saanvi, my little daughter, whose bubbly smile keeps me motivated, my parents who instilled in me the courage to seek more in life, and my patients who gave me an opportunity to learn and grow.

Contents Preface...................................................................................9

1. Meeting the Mahatma................................................11 2. Mission Discovered....................................................23 3. Ambivalence...............................................................36 4. I Decide.....................................................................45 5. Kolkata Beckons.........................................................48 6. Needle in the Haystack...............................................60 7. The Journey...............................................................70 8. The Sunderban Adventure..........................................77 9. Prayers Are Powerful...................................................89 10. The Dakshineshwar Escape........................................96 11. The Delhi Connection.............................................109 12. Dead End.................................................................117 13. Leap of Faith............................................................126 14. Pitfall........................................................................136 15. Encounter with Death..............................................146 5

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16. The Rescue...............................................................153 17. Taste of Success........................................................159 18. Breakthrough............................................................168 19. Truth Revealed.........................................................176

Seek These ‘Oasis of Wisdom’ in the Chapters of This Book –– Coincidence is a meaningful event................................. 52 –– Relationships are the strength of humanity............... 59 –– Happiness is a realisation, not a pursuit.....................64 –– It is good to be vulnerable................................................. 73 –– Guilt: use it as a tool............................................................ 81 –– Life is an art of balancing opposites.............................94 –– Eternal mindfulness: a new perspective.......................115 –– Take the leap of faith........................................................ 127 –– Love!........................................................................................ 138 –– Master the art of Success.................................................166 –– Nurture patience..................................................................173

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Preface

T

his book is an outcome of an inner journey, which began in the previous decade of my life. This journey started from choosing psychiatry as my specialty, which subsequently led to a fascination for understanding human emotions. Gradually, I became intrigued to see how the trivialities of life drive us, the most intelligent species on the planet. I was surprised to find out how a chunk of our life is wasted on negative emotions and thoughts. Thus, I resolved to work for optimisation of human potential – for us to achieve what we are truly capable of. I started Mind Power sessions at my Mind Peace Clinic and interacted with thousands of people from all walks of life. What was surprising to me was that the issues that stopped us from being truly happy were common to all of us, irrespective of age, gender, social or economic class. Simultaneously, I developed an interest in our ancient knowledge of the importance of purpose, happiness and peace in life. Cumulatively, all my efforts led to a distillation of wisdom in the form of insights, which brought about a radical change in the lives of people. This also formed the basic tenets of this book. The characters in the book, Dr. Siddharth and Rumi, are ordinary people like us, looking for meaning in their lives. They discover answers to the most vital questions of life but not before they get engulfed in an edgy thrilling adventure. Keep a close watch on the events unfolding in this book, for they might be the answers you were searching for all your life! 9

Meeting the Mahatma

I

t was a Thursday afternoon on December 24th, 2020, preceding the long festive weekend. While there was festivity in the air, the usual charm was missing. The Covid-19 pandemic had shaken humanity to the core and wreaked havoc in all quarters. With the dance of death looming large, people were still afraid to celebrate. Apart from the loss of lives, there was a burnout in the minds of people. Though the situation was gradually improving, the pride of humanity had taken a hit and there was a huge economic fallout as well. It seemed as though people had regressed to a ‘survival’ mode of living. For me, it was yet another damn day at the hospital – with the same ward rounds, OPD consultations and academic conferences. I sat brooding in my chamber, secretly sipping a drink from my hip flask, wondering where I had gone wrong. Only a few years ago, psychiatry had seemed like a dream career destined for success, but now it appeared a boring routine. I had excelled in my academic pursuit with an undying quest for exploring new frontiers. It was this quest that had made me choose psychiatry over other premier branches such as surgery and medicine. Though this had come at a cost, my father couldn’t appreciate this decision. He had nurtured a dream of being a surgeon himself, but, due to the untimely demise of my grandfather, he had to choose government service. But, like 11

12 |  The Pursuit of Lost Yantra

any other middle-class father, he wanted to fulfil his dream through his son, who for some hell of a reason wanted to become a ‘shrink’, after topping the post-graduate entrance test. My choice strained my relationship with my father. It remained so till date. For me, an invisible hand had always been modulating my career choices, including my decision to take up psychiatry. Soon I became part of one of the most prestigious medical institutions of the country – Apex Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh. Initially, I made rapid progress and was proud of my area of research. I was trying to infuse a dash of ancient Indian philosophy into a therapy module for treatment of depression and to optimise human potential. ‘Mindfulness’, based on Buddhist teaching, was a craze in the West, and I was working on ancient Hindu texts, which seemed powerful enough to stir the neural connections in the brain. However, over the past two years, I had reached a deadlock in my research, which fuelled my frustration and brought about a sense of failure. The feeling of failure is one of the most destructive human emotions on earth, propelling a person to tread the most prohibited roads. As a result, I became quarrelsome and irritable. The first casualty of this was my relationship with my girlfriend of five years. “Look at yourself, Sid! What have you become!” she said leaving me. “A few years ago, you were smart, handsome, funny and full of life. You always had plans and you would go the extra mile to take care of me. Now,

Meeting the Mahatma  | 13

this shabby beard of yours and unruly hair… Well, they tell a different tale. You don’t answer my calls for days and drink recklessly.” Saying so, she had broken the whiskey bottle lying on my table. I knew it was over between us, for after she left, I grieved more for the broken bottle than her. I thought I had had enough of stupid relationships. After the break-up, I slipped into a path of reckless drinking, trivial fights with colleagues, and stupid arrogance. Covid-19 accelerated my downfall, with isolation and social distancing ruining my association with the few close friends I had. Only recently, I made a minister’s wife wait outside my chamber for an hour for her consultation, while I was busy with my Sudoku puzzles. This had obviously not gone down well with her and she complained to her powerful husband. I had been summoned to the director’s office along with the head of the department (HOD), upsetting him to a great extent. * * * “Dr. Siddharth!” Somebody called my name with a loud knock on my office door, suddenly bringing me back to the present, away from my deep thoughts. “Come in!” I shouted, hurriedly hiding my flask. I put on my mask (despite vaccinations, the government had still not withdrawn the mandate regarding masks.) It was the HOD’s peon. “Sir is calling you to his office immediately,” he said and scurried off the next instant.

14 |  The Pursuit of Lost Yantra

“Shit,” I murmured. This stupid controversy was refusing to die down. I had already apologised to the HOD that day, not because I was afraid of him or, for that matter, the director or anybody else, but because I admired him as my teacher. He was the one who had stood by me when I had chosen my area of research, even when my colleagues had called me a “pseudoscientist”. “Sir, may I come in?” I knocked on the HOD’s office door, before opening it to see him working on his computer. He signalled to me to take a seat. After a few minutes, he closed his laptop, removed his spectacles and took a deep sigh. “Siddharth, you are one of the most brilliant of my faculty or, for that matter, in the country in your field. But look at what is happening! Intelligence has no value without responsibility. I am willing to look the other way for all that has happened so far, but I want you going back to your old self – full of ideas, enthusiasm and dedication to work. You know very well that the other faculty member want you to be dismissed from the department, but I know that you are a fantastic number lock combination, which when clicked with the right numbers will bring about something beautiful in this world. “You know, Siddharth, in this whole modern world, the entire progress of the human race can be attributed to just 2% of the human population. They say authentic scientists, philosophers, politicians, reformists and artists are just 2% of the population. The remaining 98% are just followers or basically repeaters of established ways of thinking. It’s not that they don’t have the ability to think of new ideas, but they lack

Meeting the Mahatma  | 15

the conviction to break from the routine. They lack courage and they call their cowardice ‘convention’. You know you have a thousand faults but you are no coward. But you have somehow lost your path. Just trace your ambitions to your roots and you might find an answer.” I was listening intently. What he said touched a chord somewhere. It seemed to me that I was driving on a road with a faulty GPS. I had a hunch during my research that my destination was very near, but I had no idea where it was exactly. Life seemed to have taken me on a road with a dead end. “Dr. Siddharth!” The HOD’s voice jerked me out of my wee reverie. “Meanwhile, I have a job for you. There is this famous mahatma1 – Chittanand ji, also known as Guruji2, who is apparently nearing his end, or samadhi3 as they like to call it. He wants to write his will but he wants a psychiatrist to attest to his testamentary capacity, so that, later, no dispute arises. Surprisingly, they have requested for you to do the needful. I guess because you work on these existential philosophies… Anyway, the request has been forwarded from the top level. The ashram4 trust is well connected; so, do the task at the earliest and report back to me.” I was pissed. Testamentary capacity? C’mon! This was the task of residents, not a consultant, I thought. But I realised it

sage great teacher 3 a state of highest meditative achievement when one becomes united with the cosmos; this happens when a saint dies naturally in peace 4 hermitage 1 2

This book is for the ordinary who seek the extraordinary. It is a spiritual thriller, which offers a unique journey of self-discovery, through the valleys of mystery, history and love. Dr. Siddharth, once a famed psychiatrist, now drowning in alcohol, suddenly finds himself at the crossroads of life, where he has to choose between his so-called stable life and the dangerous pursuit of a 4000-year-old mystic yantra. Humanity’s fate depends on the discovery of the yantra, whose time of revelation has been guarded for millennia. Dr. Siddharth chooses a path that leads him to challenge his beliefs and discover the true purpose of his life. Thus begins a roller-coaster ride. Keep a close watch, for the answers that Siddharth seeks may change your life too!

Dr. Sachin Kaushik is a senior consultant psychiatrist, who established the now famous Mind Peace Clinic at Panchkula, India. He was formerly working at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi where he developed an interest in the art of optimizing human potential, by realizing the fundamentals from which life derives its meaning. Thus ensued a dedicated research, for more than ten years, into India’s ancient as well as modern wisdom, which culminated in thousands of ‘Mind Power’ sessions that Dr. Kaushik conducted across the spectrum of society – CEOs to students, bringing a radical change in their lives. This book is an outcome of that distilled knowledge and understanding. However, the message is hidden in an edgy thriller, which keeps you hooked till the end, penetrating your subconscious – an art Dr. Kaushik is known for and sought after, as a speaker at various conferences and forums of international repute. Price 245