Tesla As A Metaphor For Dhyana Yoga | Modern Insights On Meditation

This talk begins with a simple observation: highly capable people often struggle with meditation, while others find that the mind turns inward with relative ease—even after long breaks. Reflecting on this contrast led Sundar back to his early exposure to contemplative practice, and eventually to a contemporary analogy that occurred to him while charging his Tesla. The autonomous nature of Dhyāna, where attention begins to move inward on its own, struck him as closely resembling a self-driving system that no longer requires constant manual control. In the same moment, the idea of “lifetime charging” echoed Grace and the inner goal or direction implanted early on—forces that continue to support the inward movement long after they were first received.

Against this backdrop, the talk explores why meditation is universally difficult, drawing on the Katha Upaniṣad’s insight that the senses are factory-set to face outward. It then takes up a seldom-asked question—even among long-time practitioners: Can meditation be measured? This leads to Sundar’s original A-P-B Framework—Absorption, Peace, and Bliss—and its expression in the Meditation Monitor, developed through collaboration with AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude. The session concludes with a striking fulfillment of the Tesla metaphor, grounded in Śaṅkarācārya’s commentary on the famous “two birds” mantra of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, where in two short sentences Śaṅkara draws the roadmap for the path of a Dhyāna Yogin.

Speakers

Sundar Rajan

Sundar Rajan is a technologist, project-management leader, and writer known for his ability to bring clarity to complex systems—both technical and contemplative. He has provided thought leadership in methodology, databases, architecture, and enterprise planning across multi-million-dollar public-sector initiatives. With decades of experience in large-scale technology delivery, he pairs analytical depth with long-standing exposure to Advaita Vedānta and contemplative practice. Sundar has published in industry journals, spoken at international technology conferences, and currently leads the PMI Technology Forum in Sacramento. His recent work bridges AI and meditation, exploring how modern tools can shed light on ancient inquiry.