Shivani and Ankur Modi founded Ceekr to make mental mastery accessible to all sentient beings. “Everyone who is interested in improving their life. Everyone who wants to ‘overcome challenges and win’ can use this product. Weight and blood measurement combined with food literacy has revolutionised physical fitness. Mind measurement and mind literacy will revolutionise mental health and change leadership development forever,” says Shivani. She has been a student of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeva for almost two decades and wishes to improve the world’s mental health with the Yogimeter. She says that the “Yogimeter makes the measurement of mind and life possible for a common man, who does not have access to or knowledge of the works of great masters. It is an introspection tool. With YogiMeter people understand the consequences of their actions. They understand that mind management is not prayer but essential to their commerce, wealth, health and relationships. Many Sadhaks also suffer from a false sense of feeling good and ego diversions. YogiMeter can help them keep the course. It's a knowledge, mind, choice, goal and spiritual GPS.” In conversation with Indica Yoga.
Sophia: How and when did you and Ankur decide you wanted to create Ceekr?
Shivani: Ankur and I have been friends since school. Around 2014 -15, we started discussing our spiritual journeys. I wanted to work in the human consciousness space and Ankur wanted to work in the area of human choice making. As we delved deeper, we realised we were looking to answer the same questions in different ways. This lead to the formation of Ceekr.
Sophia: Tell us about Yogimeter and how it works?
Shivani: Upanishads, Samkhya Karika, Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, etc., have many frameworks that describe the states of human consciousness and human choice-making. The Ceekr research created a framework which made these frameworks interoperable. This lead to the creation of a new framework which we call the “Causal Mind Model.” This model explains the cause and consequences of human choices. It explains that humans use one of 351 levels of consciousness at any given time. These can be understood as 351 mindsets. Then we created a compendium of symptoms from the scriptures and created its biological equivalents. Through this we were able to create a Biometric table to predict which of the 351 mindsets a person is using at a given point of time. We wrote this knowledge into a logic. This logic was coded into an AI algorithm which is called YogiMeter. YogiMeter is present on the Ceekr Apps and on Ceekr web. The YogiMeter test takes 5 minutes. It publishes an instant report for the user.
The report shows:
- Your 60 day happiness forecast.
- Your mental wellness on the basis of 40 + markers used by modern science and scriptural studies.
- It measures your prosperity, relationship behaviour, effectiveness, stress etc.
- The latest version of YogiMeter can also provide team reports and show group dynamics of an organisation.
Sophia: Do you and Ankur have a yoga/spiritual practice? Tell us about your individual spiritual journeys…
Shivani: My Guru is Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeva of Isha Foundation. I have been an Isha meditator for almost two decades. The journey has been very fulfilling as it helped me realise that I had a tool that enabled me to keep my joy and my calm irrespective of external challenges. Ankur is a meditator and a Gyan Margi. He thinks his research, his day to day life and his work are his spiritual practices.
Sophia: Your website says “master your mind, master your life” that’s a lofty claim. How will YogiMeter aid this?
Shivani: The essence of Vedanta, Yoga, Jainism and Buddhism is mind mastery. The place of “no mind” or moksha or nirvana is also achievable through mind mastery alone. Leadership, super-achievement and excellence are all milestones on the road called mind mastery. If mind mastery was not possible Patanjali, Kapil, Krishna and Buddha would not have spoken. Mind mastery is not an option, it’s the only way. All forms of human, social and financial development are defective and without balance if not based on mind mastery. Every sustainable creation and way of life is based on mind mastery. No precise solution is achievable without measurement. Rest is all feel good. Once something is measurable and understandable, one can set goals and achieve them. YogiMeter makes the measurement of mind and life possible for a common man, who does not have access to or knowledge of the works of great masters. It is an introspection tool. With YogiMeter people understand the consequences of their actions. They understand that mind management is not prayer but essential to their commerce, wealth, health and relationships. Many Sadhaks also suffer from a false sense of feeling good and ego diversions. YogiMeter can help them keep the course. It’s a knowledge, mind, choice, goal and spiritual GPS.
Sophia: With the onset of COVID, spirituality and yogic practices have seen a growth in online offerings. Is it possible to study something so subjective online? How does Ceekr fit into this trend?
Shivani: The entire purpose of Yoga and Vedanta is to convert subjectivity into objectivity. When we think of ourselves as our body or just as our identity everything becomes subjective. When we think of ourselves as part of the whole, things start becoming objective and when we think of ourselves as an observer, we are objective.
In the olden days, seekers of objectivity have learned in the isolation of the jungle. The internet is a much easier place to learn. Due to covid more people are asking fundamental questions. Work from home has led to huge investments in remote learning and remote collaboration technology. All this is very beneficial for ideological and knowledge based tools. Besides this if today we want to recreate Nalanda or Takshashila or any kind of ATMGYAN (Knowledge of self) university, it would make the most sense to locate it online. The idea of Ceekr is to spread Mind Literacy (Knowledge of self) to every school, college and organisation of the world. For this there is no better place than the internet. Post covid internet has more seekers and better ed-tech for this.
Sophia: Who are your spiritual inspirations?
Shivani: Krishna, Mahatma Gandhi, all seekers of truth. Researchers, inventors and those who feel the pain of others and dared to change the world for better like Vivekananda, Steve Jobs and those seeking excellence are all my spiritual inspirations.
Sophia: How does Yogimeter benefit students and teachers of yoga?
Shivani: It is a tool for introspection. It helps you find your blind spots. If you don’t have the benefit of a Master or a Guru, you can still find your gaps, set goals and measure your progress. Teachers can diagnose people quicker, give them bespoke solutions, monitor their progress, make them see the mirror and most of all prescribe remedies and stay in touch with their students without building their own technology.
Sophia: Is there a market for this kind of offering? Who is such a product most popular with?
Shivani: Everyone who is interested in improving their life. Everyone who wants to ‘overcome challenges and win’ can use this product. Weight and blood measurement combined with food literacy has revolutionised physical fitness. Mind measurement and mind literacy will revolutionise mental health and change leadership development forever. The world is facing a mental wellness pandemic. WHO says one in 7 people are suffering due to mental illness and the World Economic Forum says that the cost of mental illness will rise from USD 1 trillion to 6 trillion a year in this decade alone. The world needs non-clinical and non-medical mental wellness experts in every corner to combat this problem. Vedanta and Yoga Psychology are the most comprehensive and proven methods of mind management. We are preparing Mind Mastery Mentors who are able to help people in the areas of mental challenges, emotional stuck-ness, growth, relationships, stress, leadership etc. These mentors witness noticeable changes in their own lives within the short period of the training and then go on to help people and build a career around Vedanta and Yoga Psychology.
Sophia: What are you reading right now? And can you list some of your favourite books…
Shivani: I love fiction based on our mythology, so currently I am reading War of Lanka by Amish. I like reading and listening to Sadhguru.
Sophia: What is the future of Ceekr?
Shivani: The world needs a Mind Mastery movement. The world needs everyone to be literate about the mind. The world needs the mind and its decisions to be measurable. The world needs an online place where mind mastery mentors and seekers can commune. The world needs the free market and democracy to marry a culture of inclusion, sustainability and excellence and shed the culture of personal distinction. Ceekr aspires to fulfil these needs of the world.
To find out more about Shivani and Ankur’s work, visit Ceekr
