IN A POSITIVE LIGHT
Dispelling negativity, Dr SEKAR JAGANATHAN intends to steer the dispirited onto the right path of life, writes justin jg
Dispelling negativity, Dr Sekar Jaganathan intends to steer the dispirited onto the right path of life
“My passion is to empower, mentor people. If you asked me to do it for free for the rest of my life, I would,” says Dr Sekar Jaganathan.
A self-confessed people’s person, Sekar’s lasting pursuit of clarity of mind, of means to help others to get on the right track landed him in a meditation group during a 30-month-long sabbatical. Inexperienced, he was apprehensive about forming his own meditation group. Instead, he opted to join a group, to observe and learn.
It didn’t turn out to be what he had imagined. The session would convene in a restrictive cocoon where participants were compelled to follow. Rigid and constricting rules were set on who could raise questions. There were no answers – nor indeed clarity. The apathy didn’t resonate with Sekar.
Three months in and after numerous sessions, he found himself no closer to unearthing the recipe he sought. Voting with his feet, Sekar stood up and walked out. It was at that pivotal point, much to his amazement, that many who were disenfranchised but endured in silence followed his dissenting lead.
“They asked, can you guide us?” recalls Sekar, explaining that at the time he wasn’t fully prepared to be a pathfinder, a counsellor, but voluntarily agreed to do so. “And apparently not knowing anything is the right way to start, because you give up everything that you know and start afresh.”
Under the aegis of his single mother, Sekar was nurtured in an environment conducive to empathy and to care for one another. This closeknit upbringing he shared with five other all-boy siblings sowed the seeds of Sekar’s interest to connect with people.
A strategist and consultant in technology and digitalisation of banking, Sekar serves as a director of one of the leading investment banks in the country as well as an advisor at Information Services Group, a leading global technology research and advisory firm. He fell in love with computers as a child. It was an Apple computer with a green screen, he adds. When he left school to pursue higher honours, IT was instinctively the course he gravitated towards.
“Being an IT person, I find everything should make sense. And it is this combination of IT and passion for people that I yearn to find a logical solution. That has been my life-long search. The sabbatical that I took gave me clarity and now I can help others to realign and understand their lives in a more logical manner,” says Sekar.
The walkout over a decade ago led Sekar to establish 7C Life RealiZation Centre in 2009, focusing on mindfulness meditation and empowerment. Through word of mouth, the centre flourished and has since benefitted more than 5,000 people worldwide. The centre conducts meditation sessions six days a week and admission is free.
“For people to find empowerment within themselves, mindfulness is very important. Often people don’t realise that they are built empowered due to a cluttered mind and unsolicited thoughts that make them forget who they are. My mindfulness meditation is more of a positive vibration to help them see the world in a positive manner,” says Sekar.
“You must motivate yourself from a positive perspective. You can’t allow yourself to be controlled by the circumstances; you can actually manage the circumstances and control the outcome.”
Inspired to help more people to realise that they aren’t alone and encourage them to take the first step to open up and seek assistance, Sekar authored self-help book MakingMiraclesfortheSelf, drawing from genuine stories of various experiences and people who he had the pleasure to enlighten.
The 2019 World Health Organisation report SuicideintheWorld: GlobalHealthEstimate paints a startling picture. Suicide is among the top 20 causes of death worldwide, more than diseases like malaria and breast cancer, with around 800,000 people ending their own lives. It is the second leading cause of death in young people aged 15-29 years. In Malaysia, a total of 1,726 people committed suicide in 2016.
“I didn’t want it to be just any book. I wanted it to be a book for them rather than a book by me for them,” says Sekar. “This book speaks about everybody’s life and connects with the people because it is for them. It is going to help people to come out and talk about their problem. One of the biggest challenges is that they feel lonely and that nobody understands them. But when they read the book, they will know that there are a lot of people like them and that it’s common. That will get them to get up and speak to somebody.”
“Often people don’t realise that they are built empowered due to a cluttered mind and unsolicited thoughts that make them forget who they are”