In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai, a renowned author and leadership coach, to explore the ancient wisdom of Chanakya and its relevance today. Dr. Pillai shares insights on leadership, strategy, and the principles of the Arthashastra, demonstrating how they can help individuals and organizations thrive in a modern, fast-paced world.

He also discusses the challenges of maintaining focus amidst constant distractions and cultivating practices like 'abhyas' (practice) and 'vairagya' (detachment). Drawing from his journey into meditation, Dr. Pillai emphasises the power of mindfulness and breath control.

Ryan:But in today's day and age of distraction, phonerings that tv, netflix, wife, family, baby, How Do you shut down ?

Radhakrishnan:There are thousands of sounds and there are thousands of things that you see every day, but everything doesn't get attracted to you. One is called abhyas, practice. And second is called vairagya, detachment. It's very important, consciously, you actually build these two qualities of You remember the first time we learned walking?

We never got attached to the failure.

Ryan:Why did you choose him in so many gurus and sages and, and people of exuberance in our past illustrious history? Why him? Chanakya

Radhakrishnan:was not a king.

Ryan:He was

Radhakrishnan:a kingmaker. Have you ever heard about elephants being given meat?

Ryan:No.

Radhakrishnan:Alcohol? No. No, in fact, subscribe to Chanakya Narotteshan.

Not for ordinary elephants. Chanakya was training war elephants. So think about it. That pregnant elephants were given different diet. And war elephants different diet. So why only limited to human beings? A nutritionist works with the whole society and all living beings. Anna and manna. Anna is word, manna is mind.

They are interconnected. There is a saying that if you want to cut a tree, you should have the axe being sharpened from time to time. Meditation is that sharpening of the mind that you require because you work with the world with your mind.

Ryan:You are known as a gentleman who guides people in what I call is the vibrational plane, the brain meditation.

Where did that get started? My entire life I look for gurus, spiritual people, people that vibrate with the universe, and I had a chance encounter. And now I'm going to ask those questions directly to the meditation guru, Dr. Pillai, welcome.

Radhakrishnan:Thank you so much, Ryan, sir. It's an honor

Ryan:to be with you. It's a, it's, it's a vibrational honor for me to be in your presence, to be very honest with you.

I get attracted to people. I think the universe makes me bump into them. We met at the orange literature festival in Nagpur in Nagpur and we just bumped into each other. And I said to myself, I do breath work. I know about meditation, but let me figure out if I can get an appointment with a guru who will talk about it.

And I was doing a lot of research about you before coming in here. I'll be honest before that I knew nothing about you. And then I was like, Hey, Dr. Pillai, you've written about Janakiya. Now, in my podcast of health shots, I'm like the guru of Moringa and Amla and everything. But doctor, I do not know who Chanakya is.

So can you please enlighten me? Sure. In fact, Ryan sir,

Radhakrishnan:I'm glad you don't know about Chanakya. I have a new market. Because if you already know it, then I'm not required. In fact, that's the way I think gurus work. They take you to a new dimension. So let me speak about two aspects of Chanakya. The person And the wisdom.

Because persons have wisdom, but they're too different. And let me tell you, in India at least, to begin with, most of us have heard about Chanakya. You may not know about Chanakya. So he lived in the 4th century BC, roughly 2400 years ago. And geographically he was in a place called as Pataliputra. Pataliputra is today's Patna, Bihar.

And he was a teacher's son, who became a teacher himself of political science. Thank you very much. What we call Rajya Neti. He went to Takshashila, studied, came back and he did many fantastic things in his life. For example, he had dethroned a king called Dharanand and made his student Chandragupta Maurya the leader.

And all this is 2400 years ago, when even Alexander came to India and with the intellect that he had, remember Chanakya was not a king. He was a kingmaker. He did not have an army, but he trained armies. So that's why he's called the kingmaker. Yes, absolutely. Okay. And he defeated Alexander also. And all his work has been documented.

In the book called as Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti. So second part of the wisdom. So even though the person is physically dead and gone, you know, you are an author yourself. Person can go, but knowledge can remain. Wow. So that's a documentation. And even this podcast would be part of the legacy that we leave behind.

True. Because in the olden days, people used to write in palm leaves. Now we have printed books, but we have moved to a digital format. Remember friends that a podcast is not just for viewing. It is a reference material for ages to come. That's so powerful,

Ryan:Dr. Pillai. That's so powerful. I never assumed that, you know, teaching in the current day and age.

The nadi patta or the leafs that we wrote and everything now is the new age of podcast. So one is, now you've enlightened me, Ho Chanakya, I'm looking at this person and he's a kingmaker. But why did you choose him in so many gurus and sages and, and people of exuberance in our past illustrious history?

Why him?

Radhakrishnan:In fact, there's a saying, you don't choose a person, the person chooses you. Please enlighten us. Yeah. So I'll tell you Chanakya is what we call an open source knowledge.

Ryan:Okay.

Radhakrishnan:So it is already there. Many people have studied about him, read about him, worked about him. But in my case, it was a blessing that came to me.

So like any other person, I was interested in Indian history, Indian characters, Indian heroes, gurus. Saints, sages, and I've been reading a lot, but you'll be surprised that when I started my entrepreneurial journey almost 25 years ago, you'll be surprised there was no guidance. Of course, I had a formal MBA management study, but you know, I realized one thing that maybe the Western education is good.

We should never compare the systems of education at the best of the best because we were a generation that were reading more English books. But fortunately, I started getting associated with a lot of Indian literature in Sanskrit. So the Radhakrishna Pillai before You know, the Chanakya that happened to me, I would say, it was absolutely normal yet colorful life.

Typical person whose parents from a middle class kind of family would say, Beta padhai karo, naukri milegi. Naukri milegi to chokri milegi. Then you're settled in life. But in my case, it was absolutely different. I worked in some glamorous industries. I worked in the cricket industry. I worked in the jewelry industry.

I worked in the music industry, sports industry. And then unfortunately, you know, that part of my life got over. I became an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur then fortunately, I'm lucky that my father in law and my wife also and mother in law agreed that even though he's an entrepreneur, he's worth marrying.

But then afterwards, my thirst for knowledge never ended. I continued. My wife is a great supporter. And that's when I said, I want to run my company in a way that Indian companies would run traditionally because we were the richest part of the world. It is not that, you know, we did not have management skills or we did not have wealth.

And therefore, I discovered Artha Shastra. Artha Shastra technically means the wealth of knowledge and the knowledge of wealth.

Ryan:Repeat that again. The wealth of knowledge and the knowledge of wealth. So we in, as India ancient, we had a wealth of knowledge, but currently we don't have knowledge of wealth is where you have

Radhakrishnan:a knowledge of wealth, but it's very, I would say, we

Ryan:need to come out of that submissive.

So

Radhakrishnan:let's understand our models along with global models. So today we cannot say I, me, myself, we are living in an interconnected world. So what happens in one part of the world will definitely happen everywhere. But at the same time, you should know your traditional models also. So India was the richest country in the world.

I started wondering how? And then I found the answers in Arthashastra. That's what Chanakya attracted me. So I'm

Ryan:just pulling back to Sanskrit. Is it true that they say that Sanskrit is a very logical language and recently somebody wrote an article in the newspaper how if AI was applied to all the languages in the world.

Sanskrit would be the best medium to teach

Radhakrishnan:AI? Absolutely. In fact, I have a friend in IIT Bombay. He actually has used Sanskrit as a programming language. And he's got a Presidential Award also for that. I

Ryan:think he's the guy who wrote the article only. So Sanskrit and Chanakya and then marriage, and then you did all of that and everything.

So you're known as a gentleman who guides people on in what I call is the, the vibrational plane or the brain plane or the meditation plane. Where did that get started? Before marriage, after marriage, what was the story?

Radhakrishnan:Right from the

Ryan:birth. Right from the birth. Because my father is a meditator and a meditation teacher also.

Okay, so for everyone listening in, father was a meditation teacher and a meditation person himself. I was born in the family of a Yogi. Okay. Where my question lies is To get to the fastest place of meditation, do I need to reborn to a father who is doing meditation or do I need to find a guru or I have 11 year old child, do I start meditating as a father and teach him?

So how important is it for parents to teach the next generation about the knowledge of anything. So what is your journey with your father when you were born in the womb with his meditation? Please expand. I

Radhakrishnan:think you answered the question rightly. It is the parents who have to be role models. This is saying in parenting, children don't listen to you.

They will watch you. So if you are meditating, they'll meditate. If you are reading books, they will do. So did you watch your father meditate? Yes. Can you remember

Ryan:your

Radhakrishnan:earliest

Ryan:memory? Absolutely.

Radhakrishnan:I still remember a fight between my father and mother. And? So it was very

Ryan:interesting.

Radhakrishnan:This is not

Ryan:documented anywhere.

Fight between father and mother. Now everyone is tuning in to the podcast. Every

Radhakrishnan:married couple should fight. And that's the beauty of any relationship. And you

Ryan:remembered that. Absolutely. So what was the story?

Radhakrishnan:So the story was an instance. I still remember, of course, like any husband and wife, they used to have their conversations.

And I'm sure you have listened to them, without them knowing it, also some of them. So my mother used to always wonder, this particular person, my father, used to meditate for 78 hours a day. 7 8 hours a day. And remember, I'm talking about a working day. On Sundays or holidays, he used to meet for 12

Ryan:14 hours a day.

So,

Radhakrishnan:you know, the conversations I heard was that, you know, she used to feel, you know, he's a very different person because other husbands of her friend circle would be going out. Not that he never went out. But it's very strange, right? For a person to sit down at the floor and meditate for so many hours.

Ryan:And meditation or spiritual chanting to a God or something or just pure no thoughts?

Radhakrishnan:So there are different schools of meditation. He follows what is called as a Vipashyana meditation. And once in a year or twice a year, he used to go for what is called a 10 day meditation retreat. And in that format, You know, mantra chanting is not

Ryan:very much.

It's absolute silence. I've had friends who've gone there and I'm like, for nine or ten days, you didn't speak to anyone. How is that possible? And then like, it is possible once you connect inside.

Radhakrishnan:Absolutely. In fact, my father used to later on go for 45 days. Wow. I'm sure your mother was not very pleased when he came back.

But she was happy. He was a great husband, a great father, but this was the kind of a background and ecosystem that I was born in.

Ryan:Did

Radhakrishnan:your

Ryan:mother ever meditate?

Radhakrishnan:I think she was a bhakti person. So for her, mantra chanting was the way.

Ryan:So we all have our own way of meditation. So you saw this first memory and what was your first memory of you beginning to start meditation?

My father pushed me. So it's important that we push our children. So like how my parents pushed me to study or I push my kid to do karate or go for yoga. I think it's important, right?

Radhakrishnan:So I think it's very important to give them an exposure. Initially, it can be pushing. But after two, three attempts, if you don't enjoy it, you'll come out.

In my case, the initial push was there. But after two, three times, it became part of me. But if you had not pushed me, I would have never got exposed to it.

Ryan:So important for parents to direct the children into new learnings in life. And I think it's the responsibility of the parent to also learn to be able to push the child into that new exposure.

Okay, so now we're getting the story and how you're a guru of this meditation and your practice and all. What's the best time of the day to meditate? You

Radhakrishnan:know, I'll tell you after a point at the highest level. You go beyond time. Meditation is not about, you know, I meditate for 2 minutes, 1 minute, 5 minutes.

In the initial stages, when you are taking baby steps, those matter. Actually, meditation is not a process. It's a state of mind. It's not a verb. It's a noun. So that's the highest level. But yes, initially, when you're a beginner in the field of meditation, you can choose those hours where you

Ryan:have less disturbance.

Do you believe modern day technology distracts the mind to being focused and on a meditative state of being?

Radhakrishnan:I believe the other way. Modern day technology is an asset for meditation.

Ryan:Please expand

Radhakrishnan:Dr. Per. So let me tell you, if you're a beginner of meditation, and let's say you don't have a physical guru yet.

Ryan:Mm,

Radhakrishnan:there's so many meditation apps, so go for it. But I'll tell you, don't get distracted by gadgets. Use gadgets. So when you're meditating, be consciously putting the mobile or the gadget

Ryan:off. Yeah. So that's my problem. Okay. So I will put on an app and then a client will call, and then wife will call and some, and then suddenly you see an article on LinkedIn, and so you get deviated.

So what you're advising us. is stick to the path using technology, but try and control the filters and technology that don't distract you. Absolutely. Sagely advice from a modern day guru. Okay. So now I'm going to get into a little bit of a deep dive and more substance. Okay. So Dr. Pillai, what are the three most important qualities?

that still hold relevance from the ancient times today in the modern times that every individual needs to become or acquire to become successful in the current day lifestyle.

Radhakrishnan:So I think for any success made in the ancient world or today's world or the future world, the three qualities that are required for becoming successful in any field, physically fit, Mentally alert and intellectually brilliant.

So let me explain that. Please understand, even if you're on a spiritual journey, you require a fit body. Yoga starts from there. If you study the Patanjali Yoga Sutra, it starts with Pranayama. So I think you are in that field. Making people physically fit, but also mentally alert. What is mental alertness?

Remember, a human being is a composition of not just the physical body, but emotions. And that could be both negative and positive kindness love all this a positive kind of an emotion but negativity is also there fear guilt now if you're not mentally stable even if you're the most skillful person you can lose the game so mental alertness and that comes from The high quality of meditation that you do.

A meditative person is aware of every thought that passes through his mind. And an advanced yogi can actually go into a state of no mind. A lot of people say, you know, mind is distracted. That's the very nature of mind. If the mind doesn't have thoughts, then it's not mind. But an advanced yogi can decide when to think and when not to think.

That's

Ryan:powerful.

Radhakrishnan:Very powerful. In fact, there are states when people say, okay, for half an hour, I'll not

Ryan:have a thought. But in today's day and age of distraction, phone rings, this, that, TV, Netflix, yay, whoa, BB, family, huh? How do you shut down? It's a shutdown, right? It's like, it's like putting your computer on hibernate mode.

You choose to press the button. So just expand a little bit more on this.

Radhakrishnan:So there is, there are two SK words for this to become an expert in any field, including meditation. One is called practice and second is called where detachment. So you'll be surprised. There are thousands of sounds and there are thousands of things that you see every day, but everything resonated.

Attracted to you. So let's say if you see a book and you're a book lover the book will attract you Just besides the book there could be a toy. You may not get attracted to the toy So it's very important that thoughts also are like that You'll be surprised you got thousands of thoughts, but you don't recreate all thoughts So for example, let's have to do a podcast and if you hear podcast but in my case chanakya whoever it is My mind will get attracted.

So the mind builds on certain thoughts And they don't get attracted to certain thoughts. It's very important consciously, you actually build these two qualities of constant practice. You remember the first time we learned walking? We never got attached to the failures. Have you ever remembered you're going to your mother and say, Mommy, please teach me walking the way you learned.

Others failures are not your failures. So it's very important you take your own journey. So every meditator. actually has got his own journey. A lot of people say, you know, I see light. I see, you know, some visions don't get carried away. If you don't see, don't feel bad. Some people listen to music. It's okay.

How do you get, you know, this concentration level in a distracting world? Remember there are two, three tips for this. The first one is that control technology. Let not technology control you. I'm a great fan of technology. In fact, I believe in the best gadgets. I invest in the best gadgets. And I feel that's a great blessing for our generation.

It can connect you to any part of the world in a split of a second. But at the same time, let's say, you know, I am not having technology. I still have the human mind and that's where intellectual brilliance comes in. So let me give an example. I was doing a training program with the Indian Armed Forces.

And they're very particular, you know, very specific time. Every second matters to them because in the armed forces, the mistake of a minisecond is a matter of life and death and death.

Ryan:Yes.

Radhakrishnan:And I still remember, you know, we had set up the all laptop, PowerPoint presentations and all. And as you know, technology can fail any moment.

And they're so worried because, you know, I was on the stage and the technology was not working. You know what I told them? Let's start the lecture. Well, sir, the PPT we are setting it up, give us five minutes. After five minutes, I told them, remember, the PPT may not work. But I'm there, still working. And therefore, I always say that, you know, please understand technology as a distraction, if you're getting too much dependent on it.

But technology, as I said, if you can use it. Other thing is that are you disciplined with distractions? So, I'll give you a simple example today, a phone, a mobile phone is not just a phone. It's a communicator of social media. You have so many apps there. A WhatsApp, maybe you have a LinkedIn, maybe you have, you know, an Instagram or whatever, YouTube.

The thing is that, let's say you have a thought, you have to call up your family member, a wife, a friend, or somebody you know. Now you pick up the phone to actually call your wife, call somebody. What do you do? Get distracted to something. First, you go to the WhatsApp. Then you have this problem called FOMO, Fear of Missing Out.

Can you be disciplined in saying that I will look at the WhatsApp, nothing wrong. I mean, you should use the WhatsApp. But the thing is that can you consciously say, no, I picked up the phone for making a call. Let me complete the call and then come back to WhatsApp. But when you look at the WhatsApp after three, four messages, you suddenly realize, why did I pick up this phone?

So that's distraction without discipline. I know people who are very disciplined with their mobile. Very disciplined. And let me tell you about myself. I reply to at least 500 messages on WhatsApp personally every day. I reply back to every single mail. I reply back to every single call. But that doesn't mean, you know, I'm an addict to them.

But I say, okay, there's a time. Okay, if I can't take it, I'll take it later on. So it's very important in a distracted world, be disciplined, and you'll use the benefit of your mind, being active, and also technology that can be helpful.

Ryan:I think whatever you're saying, me as a nutritionist, holds at the same plane of level.

If I replace technology with eating. Wow. Don't be distracted. I know you need to know what is your goal. So these are really ancient words of wisdom, which are so practical and so common sense, but sometimes we forget to connect the dots. You know, speaking of connecting the dots, and you said this earlier, that when you're in a place and you see a book and you have a love of reading and there's a toy next to it, your focus, your razor sharp focus, or your thought process takes you towards the book.

Now, I love to read. And they say that all readers are leaders. It's a very famous quote. What is your opinion of developing the habit of reading? And I think today, podcasting is a new form of reading. Video making is a new form of reading. Video editing is a new form of reading. So do you feel this concept of intellectual stimulation is important to become a successful leader?

Radhakrishnan:100%. And intellectual stimulation can happen through different methods. Even though I'm a writer. I say books are only one form of knowledge. You mentioned about podcasts. There are so many videos coming out now and maybe tomorrow it could be using AI. Maybe they'll clone you. I don't have to be physically present.

But the thing is that don't get carried away by the glamour part of it. A lot of people have this habit of, you know, buying the book because of its cover and title. People actually do that? Yeah, they do. People go to movies because there is a great star in it. I mean, intellectually you say, okay, I like a great star, but what's the content?

So what's very important is that today it's a generation of over information and intellectually you should be able to dissect what is called in an ancient culture called a Viveka Buddhi. So I can consume a lot of things free. But is it having any nutrition for my intellect?

Ryan:Wow. Powerful words.

Nutrition value for my intellect. So when leaders have to read, How do they know what to consume? Do we rely on the ancient wisdom that you're attracted to it? Or what are your words of wisdom? Certainly,

Radhakrishnan:all leaders have one common problem. Time management. If you're a leader, you always have this as the biggest problem.

I'll tell you how to manage time with books because books can take away a lot of your time. And especially when you're reading a book, you don't want to get distracted. I'll tell you there are a lot of secrets, in fact, which maybe I do write on these topics also. So I'll tell you a simple thing. Never read a book if it doesn't interest you.

Just because you don't read a book. Be very choosy about the books you read because books can make you or break you. So I just want to read. It's okay. And it's like, you know, what's your main meal, course, and then what's your supplementary. Like, you know, pickle is not a main course. That's just for taste, you know.

A dessert is not your main course. But that's, you know, end with a sweet. Now think about it, what's your main course? So if, let's say, you're a leader and you are leading, let's say, the armed forces. You can be a corporate leader, you can be a political leader, you can be a scientific leader. So I think you have to be very focused that if I'm an armed force leader, I will read a lot of books on the army leadership.

And by the way, there are thousands of books on that. For a change, you can write a poem. You can read a book on maybe some non fiction or fiction book. That's okay. But your core subject. So I think it's very important to choose your field. Like for me, I have read more than 400 books on Chanakya. But that doesn't mean I only read Chanakya.

So the concept is 80 20. 80 percent read what is your subject. 20 percent to other subjects. Otherwise, you'll only get one sided. So I read a lot of Chanakya and some other stuff

Ryan:also. So speaking of the other stuff and all. What does your daily routine look like when you're not traveling? What are these other 20 percent that you're looking at?

And there's something known as the Dhincharya, your routine. How did you master this? What is your day like? Give us insights into your life, which may be the youngsters out there who are listening in or watching and can get crystallization. What does a meditation Guru's day look like? So I'll tell

Radhakrishnan:you

Ryan:for everyone,

Radhakrishnan:especially youngsters, remember.

You will never be young forever. There'll come a time when you'll have a family. You'll have more responsibilities. But my Dhinacharya is what Chanakya suggested in the Arthashastra. Have a plan and go with the flow. Have a plan and go with the flow. Okay, expand please. Yeah, so you should have a timetable.

I'll get up at this particular time. I'll do this, this routine work. I'll tell you how I do it at my level. But never become rigid. Because you're living with others. There's an emergency. You can't say, no, no, it's time for meditation. And your mother has to be rushed to hospital. You can't say, it's my time, meditation time.

So you should know this because we live in a society. Now coming back, how do you plan? I'll tell you, I plan my personal life into four quarters in a day. Okay. Because I'm married, I have children. So my four quarters, first thing in the morning, which I get up by 5, 5. 30, even before the others wake up and even before the sun wakes up or sun rises, it's called me time.

That's my meditation time. I study in the mornings, my scriptures. I go for a walk, my regular exercises. Can you meditate during a walk? Yes. It's possible. Absolutely. I can meditate when I am driving also. And this takes practice? Does take practice. And where would somebody start?

Ryan:Sitting quietly for one minute a day.

One minute. Let's all start by stating a comment below on this podcast. I am going to start meditating one minute a day. We'll ask Dr. Pillai how to start with one minute, but let's commit to one minute a day. So you're in, you're, you're going walking in the morning. That's one compartment of your day. Then?

So that's the

Radhakrishnan:morning me time. But when I come back, then, you know, I never read a newspaper or any WhatsApp message till 8 Don't touch your

Ryan:phone till eight o'clock or like three hours. You're already awake. Don't touch because we need to get the me time. And this not touching the phone is what philosophy.

Radhakrishnan:So I'll tell you what, because as you rightly pointed out, the mind can be distracted. You know, the first thing I do in the morning after all my me time. After I get ready, I do all my meditations and everything, all my spiritual activities. I read a newspaper. 8 o'clock sharp to 8. 30, I'm reading the whole newspaper.

I don't read it word by word. But I get the essence. Achha. Modi has done that. Ukraine ka And you'll be surprised. You'll be surprised, Whatsapp is just picking up from there. So before the Whatsapp message comes in, I know what's going to come in the Whatsapp. Generally, good morning messages and all. Now comes what is called my professional time.

Ryan:Okay,

Radhakrishnan:so after 8 o'clock, you know, you start planning your day. You have to go and have meetings, etc, etc. Till 8 o'clock, even a family, generally, is in a very low, their own me time. They're getting ready for the day. Children have to go to school. Life has to make sure of the kitchen activities, my father, parents, everything.

So I think that's the time you should be yourself and don't disturb others. Now that's very important. If you want people to respect your time, please respect their time. A lot of people who want personal time disturb others personal times. So that's the first thing. Professional time, of course, the day is very active, where probably, you know, I do a lot of meetings, podcast, training programs.

And as you said, you know, sometimes it's out of Bombay also, but I try and do it within the limits wherever possible. Now comes the fourth box of my day called family Time. Once I'm back home, I'm absolutely normal. My wife always jokes, you know,

because at the whole world you may be known, but at the home you have to be absolutely normal. I listen to my children. I learned from them what they learned in the school. I learned from what my wife's experiences were, my parents experiences were there. And the fourth quarter, which is very important for me, and it is not a fixed quarter, but throughout the day when I get gaps, that is called reading time.

It can be also podcast type. So for me, there's four things I do in every day. Balancing it out, me time, spiritual time, what is called professional time, family time, and what we call it, research or reading time. So these are the way I generally plan out, and it works out well.

Ryan:So, you know, you talked about these four zones in your life.

And it seems that you do a lot of multitasking, but you have these zones. Now they say that all successful people multitask and multitask is not about doing 100 things at the same time, but it's about doing one thing focused multiplied by 100 times. Can you discuss after these four zones, how that essential time management is required for a person to become successful in life?

Now it's indicated that you said you have these four zones, but what are some of the secrets of your success? In this multitasking and busy life that you have. Thank

Radhakrishnan:you. That's where Chanakya's analysis comes in. Okay. So, you know, mentally, I have developed an interesting skill called as what's the priority now?

What's the priority now? It's a very interesting skill to have. You can have multiple things coming to you, but you can only do one at a time. As I was saying, if you try to catch two birds at the same time, you'll be neither able to catch either of them. But that doesn't mean I want both the birds. But let me hunt one, the other will follow.

So mentally you need to prioritize. For example, if you look at WhatsApp messages. Let's say you open up the hundred messages, but you know, there is something called as pinning the top three can be pinned. So what I do is basically whenever any thought comes to me, maybe a phone call comes to me I prioritize saying that is it to be replied right now?

Yes, do it. No, I can do it in the evening You'll be surprised many times people get addicted to just lifting up phones And the thought that I can give back a reply because already most of his cell phones have a callback option, right? The thing is that why are we so addicted that every time a thought comes in I have to entertain it?

Ryan:Our grandparents if they wanted to meet up with each other, they wrote a love letter that reached three months later Yeah, and today it's like You're addicted to a immediate response, which is I'm 10 seconds away, but please wait for me to come. So what you're saying to me to crystallize it for our audience is that in this world of multitasking, have this one thought in your head.

What is my priority right now? Okay. So nice words of wisdom. And speaking of wisdom, I'm going to just rewind a little bit back and you talked about your father and having a lot of wisdom to you. And then the meditation that he did in the form of meditation was Vipassana. Can you enlighten us on the significance of this Vipassana meditation?

And why have you chosen it as your conduit? or your passion or your journey.

Radhakrishnan:So I'll give you a little background about Vipassana. It was a technique of meditation taught by Lord Gautam Buddha himself. But interestingly what happened is that, knowledge was lost for many generations. It was more popular outside India.

Is it? Yeah, yeah. And a great I would say saint, In the previous generation, his name was Go Kaji. He was not a founder of Ana. He was born in Burma. Can you believe Ana was a practice in Burma, which came back to India? What is Ashana? It's a technique of meditation that many techniques, like modern Devi, a lot of gurus also like Kaji speaks about and teaches Su Korea a Crea yoga.

A lot of things. I'll not go into that. Coming back to Ana, it starts with the basic step which everybody can practice, called as Ana. Which means watching your breath. It comes in, it goes out. That's it. Do nothing. Interestingly, to breathe, we don't require efforts. But we don't know how to watch our breath.

In fact, in the Buddhist culture, when you become a monk, the first exercise is to just sit down and watch your breath. And believe me, it's not easy.

Ryan:It's not easy. I try and do it with my yoga instructor. And I've gone to Disney World in the third breath. So now I'm getting the significance. Ana Pana means the in and out.

So all we have to start doing is that one minute that you're asking us to sit down and meditate. And in one minute, can we focus on our breath? Is this the advice? Absolutely. Absolutely. Awesome. So continue on your Vipassana, the significance.

Radhakrishnan:Afterwards, it doesn't stop with that. Please understand, you're watching your breath.

Second step, many yogis do a different practice. That is called, they have to regulate the breath. A lot of people who start from meditation, start to regulate the breath. Don't do that. Watch your breath. For example, in your field of nutrition, you first study the patient, what is the condition right now.

Correct. Then you change the diet plan towards health. You don't just go say, this is the diet plan, follow it right now. No. So people don't know how to watch their breath. They get into pranayama directly.

Ryan:Oh, so this is a real interesting insight. Don't try and teach 10 standard syllabus before you learn the first standard syllabus.

And the first standard syllabus is watch your breath.

Radhakrishnan:And you can do it 24 hours if you're alert. While walking also, you can watch your breath.

Ryan:Oh, so when you go on your morning walk, I can watch my breath.

Radhakrishnan:Or if I'm driving the car, I can watch my breath. Absolutely. And that brings you in a quality called as awareness.

See, being alert and aware and vigilant is the first step for spiritual life. Imagine you start with your breath, you can later on watch your thoughts. And you can dissect them. It's like watching a movie. You're not involved, but you are watching it. And you can say it's a good actor, a bad actor. This is a good noise, this is a bad noise.

This is a nice music. This music includes flute. It goes to a level. It's not just music. You can do what is called Bari Kiya.

Ryan:So I work with a lot of athletes. A lot of athletes, and they practice really hard. What's a good ball? What's a bad ball? They practice it. Read it. So I think, for us, the aam aadmi, the non athlete, the general people, we need to start practicing watching our breath, watching our thoughts.

I think that's something that we take for granted. Start with the mental gym. Start with your mental gym. I'm going to write that down. This is going to be like the most important thing. Start with your mental gym.

Radhakrishnan:It starts with the breath.

Ryan:So we're breathing and we're going to the gym. But there are no weights being lifted.

I think that's an even more difficult weight to lift.

Radhakrishnan:It seems easy one minute a day. Try it. Remember, it's not one minute. It's 60 seconds. You'd never know how much you can gather mental strength by just watching your breath. Do it consciously. Start by sitting down, but do it every day. Little bit more and you'll be surprised.

One to two minutes to five minutes. Later on, you can do it for one hour also. Don't start with one hour. You'll

Ryan:break down.

And I get this question is, why follow the diet? Right? So the question over here is, what I feel is people in the world do not do something unless it becomes a fashion or they are significantly convinced to do that new set of skills. You are telling Chanakya did this, there's a manual, you have done meditation, Vipassana is ancient from Goenka and all of that stuff.

Is there some hook or story or revelation or statistic that we can give the listeners that may convince them to do meditation?

Radhakrishnan:Sure. There is a saying that if you want to cut a tree, you should have the axe being sharpened from time to time. Correct. Meditation is that sharpening of the mind that you require because you work with the world with your mind.

So you're working in the world. You're not actually working with your hands and feet. You're working with your mind. And the more educated you are, you're expected to be more intelligent. But intelligence is not just about reading books or gathering more

Ryan:information. I was about to go to that because like I asked you know, readers are leaders.

So you just buy all the books, keep it, read it. But is the book, acquisition of book actually sharpening of the axe? Because I'm going with Thought and breath over here in the meditation department. Forgive me if I'm wrong over here. It's the most laziest thing that I have to ask my body to do. Because anyway, thought is there.

Anyway, breath is there. Why should I refine it? Because anyway, I'm breathing. Anyway, I'm thinking. How does it make me a better human?

Radhakrishnan:So two things here in meditation. The awareness is not there. Anyway, I'm breathing.

Ryan:Yeah.

Radhakrishnan:I don't require to be aware of my breathing. But why do I need to be aware of my breathing?

Because there is a connection between the breath and the mind. Okay. So let me tell you that two words in English, one is called mind. M I N D just reverse the word M to W, it becomes bind. The mind and the wind are connected. So you want to control the mind, control your breath. And if you control your breath, you control the mind.

So they are interconnected. They are two sides of the same coin. So the breath is the wind. Yes. And why it's important is that after a stage of life, especially leaders, leaders don't work like workers. It's a saying I heard. Workers work, managers manage, leaders lead. But the question is where to? Future. So leaders have a thinking job.

Ryan:That's so brilliant. I had goosebumps just now. I had amazing goosebumps. And I'll tell you why. I had a mentor in my previous company and I used to always take my laptop and go into his cabin. So he used to tell me, take this dabba out. And this gentleman was 75 years old as a mentor. And I would get angry as a youngster.

What do you mean by this dabba? This dabba is the future. It's going to change the way the world works and everything. But I got goosebumps now because of what you just said. We need to control the thought. But before you control the thought, you need to think. You need to be aware of your thinking. So by me taking in that dabba, which was my laptop in, I was not allowing my mind to do the thinking.

I was trying to distract myself that I'm doing thinking because the dabba is giving me the thinking. Right. So I just got goosebumps because of that. Wow. Wow. Talking about goosebumps. My department is food. I'm going to be a little bit cheeky over here. Do you think food plays an important role in medication?

Radhakrishnan:No, it plays a very important role.

Ryan:Very important role. Okay. So tell me what is your deep dive on the very important with regards to food? Actually,

Radhakrishnan:you are the guru for me in that space. But my understanding, if you are studying for meditation, Two things. Don't overeat. Don't undereat. The nutrition value maybe you can, you know, teach me better.

If you overeat, you can fall to sleep because your energy goes into digestion. If you don't eat, you'll be thinking about food.

Ryan:Is it true? That somebody went into very deep meditation and used food as the one Connect with this worldly word to come back.

Radhakrishnan:Yeah, what was that story? That was Swami Vivekananda's Guru, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

But remember he's a PhD level. He's not a first standard, second standard. You know, the highest stage of meditation is called a Samadhi. Samadhi. And even that, there's a stage called Nirvikalpa Samadhi. You're in that stage for, you know, a long period of time and you have no thoughts. Imagine you'll never come back from that state.

And because he was in a living body like you and me, you know, he was aware that if he goes into that state, the trans state, he may not come back. There were a lot of saints across the globe in different cultures have been known to go into trans and totally get disconnected from the world. Remember, they're not dead, but you don't feel they're active.

Now what happens is a common man can get totally disconnected saying that Maybe he's in coma. He's in Samadhi. He's not in coma. He's not. It's a different level. And then there was an incident in Shirdi Sai Baba's life. Many people don't know this that, you know, He was going to trance consciously. He told one of His devotees that, I'll be out for 7 days.

Out as in, out of the body. Yeah. Okay. So there will be no activity. But I'll come back after 7 days. So imagine, now there is no activity. Swedish cyber has gone into a different trance, into a different world. Can you believe after 2 days all the devotees said he is dead? Okay, let's burn him. He said, no, my guru has told me he'll come back.

He'll be surprised. He came back after seven days. Now Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had this particular, I would say, catch. If I'm going to trance, I will have one thought that will bring me back. And he said, okay, I want a gulab jamun. So the way he used to come out of the trance is very surprising. He would just shout gulab this great master is stuck to gulab jamun.

It's not stuck because you don't have a thought. Like, for example, you know, I say this. Dadima ka nuska to make boys responsible Iski shadi kara do It may look like a joke but what happens is that If somebody is irresponsible But through marriage he becomes responsible He has to come back everyday home right Otherwise phone aayega Where are you?

Kya kar rahe ho? Gharav So the idea is that, this particular point That when you go into that stage of thoughtlessness Sometimes you have to come back with a thought The thought could be a gulab jamun

Ryan:or could be anything else. As a nutritionist, I wouldn't prescribe a gulab jamun. Maybe when I'm working with a modern day guru, I would think more like a amla with dipped in honey or dates, you know, that would be good.

But in your experience, Dr. Pillai, in this meditative world of ancient sages, gurus and all, Has there been any protocol written when it comes to nutrition to attain a meditative state in the ancient texts? Have you come across anything? So

Radhakrishnan:I have seen some references. I've been not a student of nutrition like you.

So there are many references in two, three books that I can tell you. One is Patanjali Yoga Sutra. It talks about aahar, vichar and vyavahar. Aahar, vichar. How do you think? Because thoughts are also food for the mind. A good quality of thought can give energy. Like a good food. Can nutrition give you energy for the body?

A negative thought can drain you energy. Imagine getting up with a nightmare. They're already drained out.

Ryan:True.

Radhakrishnan:So this is the first book. The second book is AKA Sam and Sam. These are awe books. And of course, Arthur Shara also mentions about food four, not only human beings, but also for animals, plants, also.

Ryan:So there was an ancient wisdom about how to feed the mind, feed the soul, feed the body, feed the ecosystem.

Radhakrishnan:Can I give an example? You'll be surprised at how food and the mind works. Have you ever heard about elephants being given meat?

Ryan:No.

Radhakrishnan:Alcohol? No. No. In fact, subscribe by Chanakya Nartashastra. Not for ordinary elephants.

Elephants are herbivorous, correct? They don't eat meat. But you'll be surprised. Chanakya was training war elephants. And in war, if you see, every particular army has got a war cry. It is to energize you. Oh, you know, whatever war cries we have. Different countries, different regiments, have this war cries, Har Har Mahadev and all those things.

You will be surprised, that's only at the verbal level, drums and all, because the mind gets active. Now think about it that these elephants who are supposed to be going and attacking the enemy, they were given alcohol. Alcohol not in today's terms, but certain herbs and all. Now what is to happen is that once you consume that, your body suddenly becomes active.

Your mind becomes active and that has to be directed. So think about it, that pregnant elephants are given different diet. And war elephants different diets and they're even today. If you look at, I work with the police department, there are certain police academies where still they have horses.

Ryan:Yes,

Radhakrishnan:correct.

And you will be surprised, they are measuring how much quantity of food they had, which quality. The docs that are there on the payroll of the government are actually being mapped with the nutrition value that they give. So why only limited to human beings and nutritionist works for the whole society and all living beings.

Ryan:So we should eat more out of science and that's where we need to also connect. So connect with your breath, connect with your thought, connect with your nutrition. And connect with yourself. Connect with yourself. People nowadays focus. Mainly on an external dimension. Fashionability. How I'm looking flashy in society.

Which bag am I carrying? What car am I turning up in? And all of this stuff. Fashion. Dikhane ke liye. What would be the magic mantra to be both happy inside? And successful outside.

Radhakrishnan:I love fashion.

Ryan:So let me tell you What's your one indulgence that you can share with our followers? Watches. You love watches?

I love watches. Okay.

Radhakrishnan:But you know, for me, watches is not just about the kind of design part of it. It's also a sense, because I love watches. It's a sense. Like, you know, a color that suits you may not suit me. Certain people have watches because of the technicalities. Some people like Swiss watches, not because it's costly.

The mechanism. The mechanism part of it. So for me, that's one love, you know, some people love cars, some people like clothing. I do understand a little bit of design also because Chanakya spoke about designs, but for me watches is one thing. Now coming back to the point of fashion, you know, it's very important that good products should be packaged well.

Good products should be packaged well.

Ryan:What's this got to do with my internal? So if

Radhakrishnan:I'm a good human being. Okay. Internally, I should be a man of character, but that doesn't mean I have to be, you know, in rubbish all the time. So I can't be good inside and fashionable outside, but a lot of people do the other way around.

They show fashion outside, but the character is very loose. You can attract people because of the external success for a limited period of time. So we have to have a mix of spirituality and material success.

Ryan:If the youngsters today had to reflect this because they're constantly bombarded by marketing, keep, you know, you need to wear this brand or you need to do this or whatever it is.

And there are so many youngsters today that are impressionable. One or two tips for these youngsters when they're 18, 19, 20, they're not listening to mommy, daddy. They're listening to the world. They're listening to podcasts. They're listening to other people out there. The guru of meditation, of mind, of thought.

Talk to them and say, beta, these are three things I want you to do. So

Radhakrishnan:three

Ryan:things I

Radhakrishnan:want you to do is number one, read the right books. Read the right books. Okay. It's very important. The reason is that because 18, 19, 20 is a very vulnerable age. Your future depends on the decisions that you take at this age.

Your future is completely dependent because now you have to live your life. So the books that you read, be choosy. I'm not telling you don't read, you know, glamorous books or romantic books. It's a part of life. But, you know, at that point of time, you have to be sure about your financials, your career, your relationships.

So a lot of good books there. And what you said, Ryan sir, is also important that we read. Scientifically analyzed books. For me, books is not just about storytelling. Imagine, today the highest category of books in India is actually non fiction books. Somebody is a scientist, somebody who has done work in that field, who has got the experience.

So first thing is read books. Second, you know, please, you know, balance between work and life.

Ryan:Because,

Radhakrishnan:please understand, you will have to work and don't get burnt out. Fortunately, we are a generation where we don't have problems much of Roti, Kapda, Makaal. But you have to be careful which kind of a kapda you wear, which kind of a roti you eat or don't eat.

Ha ha

Ryan:ha. Good one.

Radhakrishnan:And if you have a small house, it can still be aesthetically beautiful.

Ryan:True.

Radhakrishnan:People say that if you can't build a small house beautifully, you'll never keep a big house beautiful.

Ryan:That's so wise. That's so wise.

Radhakrishnan:So it's very important that you have this particular, you know, sense of beauty also in your life.

So work life balance. And the third important thing. Please spend time with yourself. A lot of youngsters are in that whole mood of going for a party. Me time. I me myself.

Ryan:So would you tell a youngster today the me time is devoid of TV, devoid of mobile phone, which can distract you. And devoid of friends also.

Hang on, hang on, hang on. One second, this is important. I, you're telling an 18, 19, 20 year old, watch your friends, don't have friends or be devoid of friends. Please expand this thought. So we unravel it for the youngsters out there.

Radhakrishnan:Please understand life is never a lonely journey. You have to have friends with you and friends for life.

In fact, in our country. In our culture, we say, your best friend is your spouse. But remember one thing, you need to understand that friend is also an individual.

Ryan:Okay.

Radhakrishnan:You know, I'll tell you, this whole problem is about privacy. You may have a best friend, but he or she also requires his or her time. Don't you require your time?

Because friends coming too close also is a problem. See, I'll tell you, there's a concept called a Siamese twins. They are together, but they can't be separated. It's a problem. So what is important is that in your age, you should have the right friends. Choose your friends carefully. You can be friendly to everyone, but your core friends, the five, six of them are very important.

Support them, they should support you. But remember one thing, there are times when you should sit alone without a friend also. Because at the end of it, you're an individual and you should maintain the individuality. When I say individuality, I'm not talking about ego. So, for example, you know, it's very important that we spend time in solitude.

Don't be alone, but enjoy your solitude also. Otherwise, it can lead to loneliness. Being alone can be very, very lonely and loneliness is a psychological problem. Many developed countries today are having loneliness as a psychological problem. Mental health. At the same time, you know, in the name of loneliness, we forget that we should enjoy being alone also.

So if you can take the, I'm not taking, you know, 24 hours you have to be You know, shut up in a room, but can you sit down 10 minutes all alone without your mobile without your gadgets without a friends also, can you just go for a walk alone? And of course, after 10 minutes, take your friend along.

Ryan:Wise words of wisdom, Dr.

Pillai, absolutely wise. I wish I met you when I was 18 years of age. Now I'm getting very, very enamored because you explained to me about how he wrote how to make Kingmakers. I want to become king of my life. My followers and our fans and everybody, everybody wants to be the king or the queen of their life.

What he wrote was, in the happiness of the people is the happiness of the king. Chanakya. Now, why does everybody Need to think like a king or think like a leader because there is no, what you say, reward.

What is your words of wisdom for people to transcend to the next level, maybe in this lifetime or the next time? What is it and why is it important to think like a leader?

Radhakrishnan:They printed a story, so there was a spiritual guru and everybody you know is to. Go for his blessings and advice and there's a very popular scene that whoever goes to him for taking his guidance mentoring blessings will become a leader and then there's an intelligent boy intelligent means asking questions that doesn't guarantee intelligence, just because you're questioning doesn't make you intelligent, but okay, we should answer questions.

So this intelligent boy as everybody goes to meet that guru. So maybe let's say 10 people vote. How can 10 of them be leaders? Because in a group only one can be a leader. Like if there is a game of cricket, let's say, there's a team of cricket. Only one person can be a captain. How can everybody be a leader?

You know what the person said? You are right. That everybody cannot be a leader of the same team. But everybody can be a leader of different teams. For example, one person can be a sports leader. One person can be a political leader. One person can be a leader in the field of science. Person like you is a leader in the field of nutrition.

I am a leader in my space. So why it is important to think like a leader? Because you strive for excellence. A leader is not a position. In fact, a great leader is the one who creates more leaders. A lot of people in leadership positions don't really like to give up the position. And that's where the downfall starts.

So leadership is a way of thinking. And let me tell you, leadership is also a spiritual quality. As you quoted the Sanskrit Sutra A leader is not about I, Me, Myself. That's ego. And that's where downfall starts. A leader is the one who wants to make his people happy. So you decide your field of leadership.

Like you have chosen nutrition. I have chosen Charakya. Maybe somebody else has chosen writing. Or maybe, you know. Discovering something business leader. But there you don't think like you know, . The more you give, the more you're a leader. I'm going

Ryan:off my research. You have a very thought provocating information to me, leader should not have ego, right?

Ego. Thought. How does it come? Does it come from the womb? Does it come from our parental upbringing? Does it come in college years? Does it come in life? Is the social media influencing our ego? Because I'm trying to ask you this question that I think a lot of people who I have met who do meditation, the ego is very humble.

So, can you kind of light my lamp on this, that I constantly, you know, when I'm leading my teams as a nutritionist, I have to keep reminding myself, be humble, but the ego comes in very fast. So I'm getting a free lesson here today, free consultation with Dr. Pillai. I just realized that. So what's your advice to me?

Radhakrishnan:So let me start with the first question. Where does the ego gets created? Remember the child, if you see the little children, especially the one who are. You will find that they are less of ego. They are very innocent. They can mix up with anybody and everybody. They don't understand concepts of religion, community, nationality, gender also for that matter.

You know where ego starts? You will be surprised. The mirror. You know the child when he is born doesn't even know. What is a mirror? And then we train them. You are a boy, you are a girl. You have to wear pink, you have to wear blue. And then one day you show your mirror and the child starts wondering, Acha, this makes me different.

So there is something called a body consciousness. I'm different from you. You're different from me. And then you want to develop this individuality, the body. And when you grow, you have to build up your muscles. You have to build up your style, fashion. And you start being different. Please understand that's only the physical ego that you're different from them.

But what happens, we start categorizing them in different formats. For example, I am the boss, you are the junior. I have more salaries you don't have. It will be a surprise if you have the spiritual blend of mind. You can work with everybody without and with hierarchy also. For example, let's say, you know, Ryan sir, you gave me an example that when you started.

Like any one of us, in a small office, you'll be surprised that I'm sure during those days, you wouldn't mind, you know, brooming your office also. Yeah, I was chaparasi and I was vice president. So all put together. So P to P. P to President. P to President. I like that. P to P. Now think about it. Today you got 80 plus people and tomorrow you may have hundreds of them.

One day if the office is not clean, you don't mind cleaning up because you don't have that, you know, that I'm the boss. Of course, I'm the boss. I may have somebody to clean the office, but I don't have the ego. Now, what is the lesson for leadership? How do you keep your ego under control? From time to time, do the last man's job.

That's not your job. Time to time, do the last

Ryan:man's job.

Radhakrishnan:But that's not your job as a leader. Your job is to think It's kind of

Ryan:saying, keep yourself grounded.

Radhakrishnan:Grounded from time to time. And then take off. Don't come down so down that you forget that you're supposed to take everybody up. So it's very important to be aware that everybody has got a role to play.

And as a leader, you have to use your power also. Please understand leadership is not just being humble. A lot of people act humble, but are not humble. Humility is a strange thing. The day you think you have lost it.

Ryan:It's very, very interesting. And I think when you talk about Ego coming down to that one day of doing the first job or the last job in the organization.

I think what is sounding out in my head is parents, because I'm a father, you're a father, and we're at that age where if I go somewhere, people say uncle to me, right? So I'm like going into that role, which is. How do I lead like a wise parent? Or if I have my family, how to behave like a wise parent? So in the sutras or in Chanakya's formula, was there anything about parenting?

And what are the significance of any sutras regarding parenting?

Radhakrishnan:So let me tell you, especially for Indian parents.

Ryan:Okay.

Radhakrishnan:Parenting is a role that ends. Unfortunately, that becomes an identity for life.

Ryan:I'm sorry. Parenting is a role that ends.

Radhakrishnan:But unfortunately for Indian parents, it becomes an identity forever.

Let's say tomorrow your child is 60. You'll still be a parent?

Ryan:No. But I get where you're going because, yeah, it is true. So you're saying this is especially for Indian parents. And why is that?

Radhakrishnan:That's where Chanakya's advice comes in. Because we're too attached to our children. Please understand, family is important, but the roles in a family changes.

Ryan:Roles in a family changes with the evolvement of time. Is that what you're saying?

Radhakrishnan:Absolutely. Like, for example, when you don't have children, you're still part of your family.

Ryan:Yes.

Radhakrishnan:When you get a spouse, you're still part of the family. Yes. When you become a parent, you're still part of your family.

Ryan:Yes.

Radhakrishnan:But you know, when I'm a parent, I remain a parent forever.

Ryan:Interesting. That's why I tell people, no, your body is the most expensive real estate. You can change everything on the planet, but you can't change your parents. You're stuck with them for life. So Chanakya is advising to decouple.

Radhakrishnan:So here is the sutra that comes in and very interesting on parenting. Till five years, love your child.

For the next 10 years, discipline him or her. And after that, consider the child your friend.

Ryan:Wise words. So first five years, love your child.

Radhakrishnan:Unconditionally, even if they break your latest mobile, you can't do anything. Innocent. They're not doing it consciously. But next 10 years, their minds are thinking, their intellect is developing.

So you have to be logical with them.

Ryan:So basically the age of about 6 to 20 is when we are disciplining them. So we have to learn to say no to our children.

Radhakrishnan:Not necessarily no. I would say logically telling them what is right and wrong. See, no is not the only way of disciplining.

Ryan:Correct. Logically telling them what is right and wrong.

Radhakrishnan:It is called viveka buddhi.

Ryan:So I, I, I'm, I mean, this is very, very in the high plane of intellectual. And I'm scratching my brain here. I'm coming down to my basic primal nutrition brain, which is Papa, I want a mobile phone.

Radhakrishnan:Of course.

Ryan:I'm 11 years of age. Now, as a parent, my thought process is, do I give him a mobile phone?

Do I not give him a mobile phone? So what would Chanakya say?

Radhakrishnan:So I'll tell you, that's a mistake. Can you avoid giving a phone? Can I avoid giving a phone? You may not give your phone. You may not own a phone. He has given you the first right of denial. That's all. He will anyway earn it. So the thought itself that if my child is asking a phone, your answer would be yes or no.

Who told the answer has to be only two boxes. I'll tell you how I deal with such a situation. I know my child is still 11. Has

Ryan:asked for a phone already?

Radhakrishnan:Already.

Ryan:Okay.

Radhakrishnan:My daughter also, they come together. So there is a chanakya comes in.

Ryan:Combined power.

Radhakrishnan:I have a combined power, my wife

Ryan:also. Ask your mother.

So,

Radhakrishnan:you know, please understand, you have to respect that they are born in a generation of gadgets.

Ryan:They're smarter generation.

Radhakrishnan:Absolutely, and they're more informed than us.

Ryan:Yes.

Radhakrishnan:What I say is that of course you'll have my mobile, but please tell me the reason why you want it.

Ryan:Wise words from an ancient sage.

I'm going to use this. Can I borrow this for my son? Please. Please tell me why you require it. And

Radhakrishnan:then you'll be surprised. You can guide him before giving the phone. How? So for example, he wants to, you may, you know, because children make you different answers. I'll tell you a small story and then you'll understand how important a phone is for a child.

So there was this particular friend of mine, his daughter wasn't 10th standard board exam. I don't want to watch TV, laptop, mobile. Okay, so exams are, and the moll was taken away. She had a mobile. It was taken away. Two o'clock in the night, this person wakes up, and he finds in his daughter's room there is some light.

So, Padasekar's daughter is studying at 2 in the night. He goes inside, and he sees the girl on a mobile. So angry, so upset. He just takes the mobile, breaks it away. He said, I told you to use the mobile. Exam is coming, board exam is coming. And then the wife comes out and says, let's go. You continue studying.

Let's go and sleep now. Next day, when he's cooled down a little bit, the wife tells him, you know what? Please go and talk to your daughter. Never do that to your daughter. Well, then she was not studying. She was using the mobile and all. We had given a strict rule not to use the mobile during exam time.

She went and she was crying. I said, Papa, you know what I was doing on the mobile? I was checking out for my mark sheets. Sorry exam hall. I was looking for a hall ticket. Because everything is digital today. So my friends got it. Till the last moment. Yesterday night they did not get it. I was downloading it.

They just break it away. Now how do I go for my exam? How do you use your mobile? The idea is that people will use mobile. But the thing is that you have to be conscious what they are using for. So if it's going to be a social media addiction, why

Ryan:do you need the phone? Tell me why you need the phone

Radhakrishnan:and then you can discipline like I say you take my mobile take your mobile But use it for only one hour or half an hour.

What do you decide

Ryan:wise words of parenting? So staying with chanakya and chanakya is going to become Like if I went back in a time capsule, i'll be like I would like to do Chanakya's diet plan. That would be my thought process because I'm falling in love with this process. Let's have a small discussion on this Chanakya Nitis.

Enlighten me about it on how the Chanakya Nitis can improve our lifestyle.

Radhakrishnan:So Chanakya's Nitis, Niti the word means policies, strategies, plan. It all comes from an intellect way of, intelligent way of living a life. So as we said, different stages of life. For example, if you are below 20, your primary responsibility is to be a student.

After 20s to let's say 50s, it's to bring up a family. After 50, you have to give back to the society because your basic financial needs are taken care. The children are settled. And after 75, you're supposed to be 100 percent focused on spirituality. And he gives advices at every stage. How to be a good student.

How to be a good husband or parent as we saw. Or a good mother. How do you bring up your children. How to actually give back to society. And finally how to give up the world also. When I say give up the world, it's not death of the body. But you know, lot of people with high egos cannot give up their positions.

That's why there's a concept called Sannyas. You have to leave the body. So Chanakya's strategies and netis are applicable for every generation at every point of time. So let me give you two examples for our discussion. If you're a student, your primary responsibility is studies. But it is not studies like today.

It is becoming more memory. Today education system has become an examination system. So a good student has a quality of learning from anybody and everybody, not just the teachers. So if you're watching a podcast and learning, great, but can you apply that in your life? So Chanakya prepares students to learn from every teacher.

Unfortunately, today's generation is overrating a teacher.

Ryan:Oh, imagine if Chanakya was around right now.

Radhakrishnan:It's okay. His Google

Ryan:reviews would have been split.

Radhakrishnan:I still remember one small child had come to a parent and saying, this teacher is not bad. Sorry, this teacher is not good. He or she is bad. And the father, a very wise father asked, you know, are you comparing two teachers?

Ryan:Compared to what?

Radhakrishnan:Exactly, so maybe that particular teacher doesn't have great communication skills. That's why he cannot hold your attention. But that attention can be held through a video on the screen. That doesn't make a great teacher. A teacher is a person who has got wisdom of that subject. So never compare because some person uses a different methodology of teaching.

So how to be a good student? Now coming back, what is the responsibility of a father? There's a Chanakya Nidhi for that also. So the responsibilities of a father are three points. Number one, to earn for the family. Let me look like, you know, today we have wives also earning. Let me tell you very frankly, let the wife own.

That's her money. But if she doesn't earn, it's your responsibility. Hum toh amesha joke mein kehte hai. Like, if you are a wife, mera paisa toh mera hai, tera paisa bhi mera hai. Acha main

Ryan:soch raha tha ki yeh mera wife ka original dialogue hai, lekin abhi mereko pata hai because all, since I married my wife 15 years ago, she's told me se.

My money is my money and your money is my money. I thought this is my wife's original dialogue. Let me tell you one

Radhakrishnan:more thing. Her father's money is also hers. And her future son's money is also hers. So that's why you'd be surprised. The role of a parent is number one to earn money. And please understand, wealth is not neglected in our society.

We are the only country in the world which has spiritualized wealth. Lakshmi. Lakshmi is also Shakti. If you don't have money, what kind of a life you'll have? I'm not trying to tell you that be, you know, overboard. But basic money is required for survival, for good education, travel, quality time with the family.

Having two support systems and domestic help is good. So the husband has to earn money. Second important thing. He has to give quality education to the children.

Ryan:And third, give moral values. Teach them the difference or explain to them the difference between right and wrong.

Radhakrishnan:Absolutely. At every stage there

Ryan:are

Radhakrishnan:Chanakya

Ryan:Nithis.

Speaking of Chanakya Nithis in your life, you've lost weight in between. You consciously did that you had a medical scare at some point in your life. Was there a realization to losing weight? What was your thought process? Would you like to share with the world how a guru of meditation decided to say that I don't need the medication, right?

And my breath is in my control. My thought is in my control and my health is in my control. So what is your gift to the world? What is your experience to the world? from your body and health perspective.

Radhakrishnan:So I'll tell you, I've been very fortunate that the doctor that I went for treatment is my student only.

Oh! So I've been lucky that I don't have doctors, I have friends for doctors like you are a nutrition friend now. So when I was admitted, I still remember my wife, my family, everybody was taking care of me. The doctor, he's a student, his name is Dr. Vaibhav. So he comes to me and he asks me a very interesting question.

How do you visualize yourself?

Ryan:The doctor asked you this, and he was your student, student of meditation.

Radhakrishnan:And also at the Mumbai University, where I am at.

Ryan:Ah, okay, so he knows your mind. So he decided to ask the Guru this question.

Radhakrishnan:So, how do you visualize yourself? So I was in the hospital at that time. I said, I visualize myself healthy, strong and more fitter than what I am today, or what I was in the past.

He said, keep that thought with you. Doctors don't work with medicines. They work with the mind of the patients.

Ryan:Wow. Doctors don't work with the medicines. Doctors work with the mind of the patient. This is a meditation guru who's saying this and that's very powerful. Another goosebumps moment today.

Radhakrishnan:So when he told me this, you know, for me, I said, okay, the medicines are required.

You know, the healing part of it, the treatment part of it is there. But finally, how do you visualize yourself? You're speaking about sports person. They visualize themselves as winners even before they go to play the game. So finally, health is also a mind game. Coming back consciously, then you have to do the steps given by experts like you.

Follow this, do this, don't do this. I followed that. But I'll tell you a story. It happened in my family with my father. When he was in his 40s, he was admitted. And I still remember as a child, but he became more healthy today at 89 years. He climbed the Himalayas Wow, he still goes by local train and I used to always wonder, you know, how come he's so healthy at this age He's a role model.

He said at 40 I became conscious of my health And today I'm more fitter than many of them around.

Ryan:I think one of the reasons I wanted to meet with you was to delve into the power of the mind. And you can't become a better version of yourself by eating better dal chawal roti. I seriously believe this because when you put that food into your body, your mind is also telling that body, how it's accepting that food.

So I think even when you are not well, you can come out of that, you know, back foot that you're on by just telling your mind with meditation, with thought process that you're gonna come out in the front.

Radhakrishnan:Anna and Manna. Anna is food, Manna is mind. They are interconnected.

Ryan:So Anna, Panna was there and now is?

Anna and Manna. Anna and Manna.

Radhakrishnan:Manna is mind, Anna is food. So food and mind are also related.

Ryan:Three things that you do from a food perspective.

Radhakrishnan:Eat less.

Ryan:Okay.

Radhakrishnan:Eat consciously. Okay. And eat right.

Ryan:I think in his previous life, he was a nutritionist before, before he, he came into

Radhakrishnan:this,

Ryan:I'm sure a lot of people have asked you this question.

If Chanakya would have been alive, what would be the three problems that he would have solved in today's world to make our youngsters have a better universe, a better thought process, a better life?

Radhakrishnan:Three things he would have focused on. Leadership. Leadership, leadership. We require good leaders. We require spiritual leaders and we require result oriented leaders.

Ryan:Can you expand on

Radhakrishnan:this? We spoke about leadership a lot and Chanakya wrote the book called Leadership, the Arthashastra. Every team, every society, every country. Requires good leaders, even a family requires good leaders, right? We are living in an apartment or a society you require a good chairman there So I think leadership is the requirement of every particular community institution or country chanakya created that it's like attack the top corrected Everything is okay But important is also The spiritual leadership where leadership can become a power game and we see that in so many organizations, right?

And what does opposition have to do? Only oppose. So, please understand that spiritual leadership has got the quality of leading the people without an ego. Therefore, the ideal leader for Chanakya is called Raja Rishi. Raja

Ryan:Rishi.

Radhakrishnan:Raja se Rishi hai. is detached. Wow. And please understand the day comes you to leave, don't even think back.

There's a very famous saying, genius is no, is a person who knows when to stop. So suppose you're a leader and you're given a five year term. People want that second term, fifth term, 28 term. It's okay. If people won't elect you, but a lot of people can't give up leadership position and only a spiritual leader knows when to give up.

You know, just that responsibility will continue after the position goes. Therefore, the last part of leadership is that the leader should be highly qualitative leader who is result oriented. So leader comes in and says, I'll build a whole, or let's say, you know, I will create 20 podcasts, but you will be happy only when the 20th podcast is actually broadcasted.

You're not rest till then. So I think leaders have so many dimensions. You know, I guess spoke about it. This is beyond generations. So all of you please understand, have a spiritual base. Think about being a leader of your field. Don't compare your animation.

You decide today's a generational entrepreneurs. You decide which field you want to, but become a leader. Have a spiritual base as we discuss. You know, it's important, even meditate for leaders. And finally, if you take up a task, stop not till your goal is achieved.

Ryan:Stop not till your goal is achieved, which means also be relentless to your goal.

Radhakrishnan:Absolutely. You have to deliver results. That's leadership.

Ryan:True. You can't just be a floating leader and not deliver a result at the end of the day. Dr. Pillai, it's been an amazing session with you today. And a question out of ancient sagely wisdom to wrap up today's podcast. If Dr. Pillai was stuck on an island and he could choose only five foods to take with him and they don't have to be nutritious, what would be his five favorite foods?

Radhakrishnan:Fruits.

Ryan:Food.

Radhakrishnan:Food, yes.

Ryan:Yeah. So you can take five. Maybe I'll be a little bit liberal. You can take ten foods. But five foods that you would love to take with you if you were stuck on an island and you had no communication with any other island or the rest of the world.

Radhakrishnan:So can I rephrase the question? Yeah.

Will the food be only limited to something that I eat? Because my answer contains something beyond just the food I take for eating.

Ryan:So can we take the physicality of food, five items, and the other five foods that Dr. Pillai has in mind? Apple. Okay.

Radhakrishnan:Dry fruits, which includes your almonds. And

Ryan:these are stuff that you really like, your favorite.

Radhakrishnan:The third one is curd.

Ryan:Okay.

Radhakrishnan:I don't know why I love curd. These are three fruits, but along with that, I will carry books. That's my food. You need to,

Ryan:you need food for the brain.

Radhakrishnan:Absolutely. And I'll carry a meditation mat. I'm going to enjoy my days in the island all alone.

Ryan:Wise words from a very wise man whom I hope to now have as a best friend for life, because the mind has no boundaries, but the mind has boundaries too.

The boundaries are set by our limitations. So if you've liked this podcast, my first request to you is to subscribe, like, share and comment below. And I'm going to be listing in the descriptor all of Dr. Radhakrishna Pillai's books. where you can find him, how you can get private tutions with him, or maybe even take him to that remote island and enjoy a meditation session with him.

Stay tuned as we come back with more food for your soul, food for your thoughts, food for your nourishment. If you've liked this episode, then please gift me a like, a share, or a subscribe, or better still, if you comment, I'll come back to you. And don't forget, let's stay tuned for a new learning coming in.

But till then, your body is the most expensive real estate. Take care of it.

Join us as we delve into Dr. Pillai's valuable advice for young leaders, balancing professional success with personal well-being, and integrating timeless lessons from Chanakya into everyday life. This episode is a must-watch for anyone looking to enhance their leadership skills and lead a more focused, intentional life.

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