Episode Transcript
Brendon Orr (00:00)
Yakub, you brought together insights from over 55 global thought leaders for this book. Spiritual masters, scholars, politicians, royals, artists, each offering their understanding of the infinite. What did you learn about the nature of the infinite from synthesizing all these different voices and traditions? Were there surprising commonalities across the faiths
Yakub Mathew (00:28)
First of all, to even try to understand a very complex subject like the Mahakumbh, which is largely based on Hindu belief and it's been there for thousands of years. So it's a brilliant, brilliant sort of concept done by the early sort of religious spiritual leaders of the Indian civilization.
to have great events like the Maha Kumbh, the Kumbh and the Ardha Kumbh. There three types of Kumbhs and they are able to create these events around these beliefs so that it continues as a subconscious travel into your life. So when you say the Ardha Kumbh is once in six years, they are all based on planetary movements and
mathematical calculations and it's some sort of a cosmic play also at play with their beliefs. So the Ardh Kumbh is when the Jupiter goes around the sun halfway through it takes six years. For one circulatory movement of the Jupiter around the sun takes 12 years. So it's the Poorn Kumbh. Poorn Kumbh means the full Kumbh and then it does 12 circulations under the sun.
over around the sun. It is called the maha kumbh. The maha kumbh happens once in 144 years. So neither has anybody seen it before, neither will anybody see it again. So 19 of us went there. We will never see another one after 144 years and neither any of us experienced it previously. So having said that, this is a very, very complex subject which has been largely interpreted
on the belief of the cosmic energies, the place being a sanctuary of divinity and the river being full of spiritual concoctions of energy. So when you see all this thing, here comes a person who is not even a scholar on Hinduism, who is a Christian who left India 40 years ago.
who's really not a religious person who interprets this as a multi-faith. So when I started thinking, when these people told me that you must put it together for our children and grandchildren, I said, was going to be a simple book and continue to be simple. The thought idea was very simple. Then I said, what are these people doing there? They are wanting salvation. They are seekers and the
power of their faith. It's called Bhakti Mein Shakti. So all I know is I started bringing up questions and each question led to deeper questions. So in the end of it, I said they are seekers. They're seeking something. And what is the salvation? The Abrahamic religions, when you see Islam, it has this thing called Jannat. When you see Christianity, salvation, when you see Judaism, is a it is a it's a sort of a
faith based on a collective salvation for all Jews and the state of Israel and believers in the Judaic faith. So I said, what is the salvation? So this thing is something beyond one person. So I said, we must have perspectives of the infinite. And that itself was the brilliance of this book, which brought in people of multi-faith, it brought in people of Hindu culture, Islamic culture.
Judaism culture, people who are billionaires, people who are artists, people who are painters, people who are journalists, people who are filmmakers, people who are sportsmen. And all of them were giving glimpses of the infinite. And all of them were my personal friends. So they took time and they just didn't write. They thought and they gave us a perspective or a glimpse of the infinite. So every page in this book is a catalyst.
It just gives you a glimpse and makes you think. And ultimately, nobody knows the full truth. So that is the beauty of this book. It is some sort of a process which makes you think that what is this infinite? So answering this question, the common thread between all these 55 people is that the infinite is not a destination to reach. It's not a place, but it is something of a
Brendon Orr (04:53)
Mm.
Yakub Mathew (05:15)
inward journey. It is a place within you which lies a horizon without end. So that means you got to experience it. It is not something that you get outside. It's within you.
