At 3 p.m. sharp, the doors close at the University Centenary Hall. Mahatria Ra walks in, in his signature kurta-sherwani and haloed hair, to deliver his message, with a shot of hug-therapy. “Love you so much” he says. “If you don’t respond loudly, I’ll retain you,” he quips. The discourse is slated for two hours – a half hour beyond. We are here for initiation into infinitheism, his trademark pill for a better world. The stage is set.
The discourse is on ‘Remember Now’, a story by Walter Dudley Cavert. Some grubs in a pond couldn’t understand why none came back after crawling up the lily stems to the surface. One of them, vowing to return to tell his story went up, rested on a lily pad and voila, transformed into a beautiful dragonfly. Flying over the pond, he peered down at his friends below, and realised that even if they could see him they would not recognise him. Cavert equates this transformation to death, but our guru gives it a living interpretation to align it with the theme: the human spirit.
Like the dragonfly, your transformation should be complete. Your past should be such that your friends won’t recognise the new you. In 2014 go for total transformation, not less-weight, less-temper, going home for dinner. It should be trans – formation, not modification.
Leave your comfort zone, he said. If you don’t give up being a grub, you will never blossom into a dragonfly. Sure, friends will say, “maritaan” (he’s changed), but that’s the price you pay for growth. Let go, take risks, move on, to harness the infinite possibilities of the future. Be a living inspiration, not a historical one. Those who cannot achieve by listening to these discourses will do it seeing your life. People should say, “if he can, I can.” The greatest joy is to inspire, not be “me, mine, myself”. Examples ranged from Gandhi and Vivekananda to Edmund Hillary and Narayana Murthy, King Khan and Warren Buffett to Rajinikanth.
There were other take-aways: Come out of excuses like “I am only a common man, I am not capable”. At birth there is no common-legend difference. All chessmen can reach the other end. Recognise the potential within you to do larger good. Soon heaven will be here, yeh hi hai jannat . He took a dig at note-takers. “We learn by doing, not from notes.” Was Arjuna taking notes? Gita was not for enhancing memory, but for transformation.”
He touched on evolutionary biology for his denouement. Humans with their sixth sense of differentiation (good/bad, pain/comfort) live in a cosmic magnetic field, he said. Cosmic is magnetic field, individual is the bio-magnetic field. Magnetise the good vibrations, turn your internal compass towards it. Millions want to do good, so get your magnet right to attract these vibrations. Ask: Is my magnet right? Check if your thoughts and feelings are right, your process is congruent to your goals, if you have the energy to carry it out. Your most dominant thought becomes the direction. Negative thinking does not bring success. Jacques Kallis got his hundred because he was a better thinker. Think for, not against.
He releases his Tamil magazine. “We broke patterns, embraced e-media, and in just 14 months, infinitheism impacted multiple times what we did in 16-and-a-half years. Sunday satsang gets the highest dataload in 124 countries.”
The best came in the end: To find your spiritual connect, try silence, meditation, non-doing. To catch that path-breaking thought, walk alone on the beach, watch fish, listen to music, sing a song that comes from your heart. Be still, enjoy moments of quiet. “Trust you will have a new future, love you,” he concludes.
