Nine Trillion Cells, One Quiet Self with Ahsan Syed (Pakistan)

What if you’re the CEO of your life but you’ve been acting like an overworked employee? We sit down with Ahsan Syed to reframe existence as an enterprise with invisible capital, unknown deadlines, and priceless assets that most of us mismanage. Guided by his mentor’s insights into Muhammad Iqbal’s poetry, Ahsan Syed maps a path from noise to nuance, from borrowed identities to a quiet meeting with the self.

The conversation travels from the challenge of translating depth across languages to the practical design of a 15‑minute inner silence ritual. Ahsan Syed explains how attention has become more expensive than money, why satisfaction eludes both the rich and the poor, and how treating the body like a polished car while starving the soul-driver leaves us stalled. We explore the idea of nine trillion cells as a living network of potential, the role of solitude in the lives of historic changemakers, and the tangible joys that return when the mind’s static fades: taste, colour, wonder, and presence.

We also lay out a simple operating system for meaning. If life kept a balance sheet, its four assets would be time, attention, health, and character. Time never refunds, attention allocates destiny, health carries both work and joy, and character decides whether success can endure. Ahsan Sayed’s upcoming multilingual book—available in Urdu, Roman Urdu, English, Arabic, Azerbaijani, and Turkish—turns these ideas into an accessible story so more people can meet themselves without gatekeepers. If you’ve been rushing, consuming, and calling it living, this is your pause, your audit, and your invitation to lead.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow and subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs a reset, and leave a review telling us which asset you’ll invest in this week.

Music, lyrics, guitar and singing by Dr Ariel Rosita King

Teach me to live one day at a time
with courage love and a sense of pride.
Giving me the ability to love and accept myself
so I can go and give it to someone else.
Teach me to live one day at a time.....

Transcript

Meeting Ahsan Syed

Dr Ariel R King 0:41

Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Business of Life with Dr. King. Today we have a very special guest, Mr. Ahsan Syed. Welcome, sir.

Ahsan Syed 0:52

Thank you very much, Dr. Ariel. First and uh foremost, uh, I would like to sincerely thank you for taking time out of uh your valuable schedule and inviting me to your program to discussion such an important subject. I truly feel that uh these 30 minutes will be devoted to uh something of the greatest significance in our lives, and that is life itself.

Dr Ariel R King 1:20

I love that. Thank you so much. Would you be so kind? I mean, you're such an amazing gentleman. Would you just give an audience a bit of uh information about you as a person, and then let's get into our substitute for today, which is life.

Discovering Iqbal And A Mentor’s Guidance

Nine Trillion Cells And Life’s Purpose

Ahsan Syed 1:35

Uh yes, um uh uh first of all, I just uh I want to say you if I begin by speaking from my personal experience. For many decades, I have been trying to help people reconnect with their true selves. But before that, it was essential for me to be able to meet myself first. So from childhood there was a poet who deeply captivated me, one who spiritually poetry is known across the world. His name is Dr. Elama Muhammadikbal. He's famous with his poetry and with his vision. Whenever I read him, I felt as through he was deeply aware of the countless secrets of life. However, most of his work uh was in Pocian, a language that was beyond my understanding at that time to truly comprehend his poetry. I undertook a long journey. I met many people driven by a single desire to understand what he was truly saying about life. My mantor tongue is Urdu because I belong to Pakistan. So, and translating Persian into Urdu didn't give me access to the deeper meanings and the hidden truths uh embedded in his poetry, what he exactly wanted to say about life. So uh this frustration belongs to me. Why he is not I'm not understanding him what he exactly trying to say. Then in the city of that, there's this Pakistan is the third largest city, Faisalabad. So I encountered a mentor and a benefitor named his respected Mehr Ali Lahuti. He introduced me to the hidden dimensions and inner secrets of Elama Iqbal's poetry. Through this understanding, I came to realize that within every human being there exists nine trillion cells. Every human has nine trillion cells, and that each individual cells in our body carries the life of the entire universe within it. So a single cell has a complete planet, and we have nine trillion cells. So the truth purpose of a human being, which I understand after his poetry, the truth purpose of a human is connecting to the understanding and becoming aware of these nine trillion cells within one's own existence. Once a person gains awareness of them, understanding life and its purpose no longer remains a tribal matter. Actually, unfortunately, we are in a very rush. So uh but uh when I'm talking about this nine trillion cells, very soon my book will be published, in which all of these explained in detail what was my experience and how we can connect with these nine trillion cells.

Dr Ariel R King 5:08

That is absolutely fascinating. So, do I understand it was first in Persian, and of course you speak Urdu and write in Urdu, you were able then to access and understand this particular poet, this gentleman, and now you've written your own book. Is your book in English or is it Urdu or what language or is it in Persian? What language is it in?

Ahsan Syed 5:31

Yes, it's very interesting thing now because uh uh uh we are in the era where every state just uh forget their mother tongue. Every state, all over the world. This uh digital media, social media change everything, culture, language, and these are all things. So I'm first of all, I'm not going to write this book in a traditional manner. I make a story, a young guy's story. Okay, it's a complete storytelling about uh what circumstances and crises are coming in his life, and it's it's a very interesting thing, and it's not only in Urdu, it's in uh Urdu, it's in Roman Urdu also, but which is a digital language, and it's in English, it's in Arabic, it's coming in uh Azerbaijani language and Turkish language.

Dr Ariel R King 6:30

That's fabulous, it's accessible for many people. I think that's so important today. Could you please tell us more, whatever you can, about why you decided to write this book and how it helps a person like me who's just learning about the trillions of cells that I have inside me that allow me to know who I am, which allows me to engage with the world better.

Writing A Multilingual Storybook

Ahsan Syed 6:55

Yes, uh look, uh problem is we have a lot of divergent things now. The gadgets, we we we are together, but we are alone. I'm sorry. This is the we are in a bad era. This book connects with your inner sight. What is your abilities, what is your capacities? If our thumb impression is not matched with anyone, so how is it possible nine trillion cells match with each other? Okay, so we have our own identity, but we actually inspire with the incidents, cultural issues, with the stories which not belong to us, and uh we prepare ourselves with the impression of others. We are not going to build our impression, we are not trying to change ourselves what exactly we are. So there are a lot of things in this book which connect with you, and what is the sequence of the major part of this book is how can you connect with your abilities, and it's a 15-minute exercise actually, every day. You can just sit with you, and I'm I'm giving a complete process, but if I'm highlighting that, so how how can people read it?

Dr Ariel R King 8:33

So I'm sure they'll read it too, but I just find it so interesting. Can you give us an idea of what this 15-minute process is? Is it a type of meditation? Is it a type of vibrational work with some kind of sound? Just give us an idea about that. Because as as people that don't usually talk about these particular things, believe it or not, you can say everything, and it's still something that we have to take on, perhaps not just read, but once we read in order in order to incorporate. So, just for the conversation, what does this look like? The 15 years.

Why Modern Life Feels Noisy

The 15‑Minute Inner Silence Practice

Ahsan Syed 9:08

Yes, it's a very interesting question. You know, even we are in classroom, even we are in office, even we are sitting alone. Our thoughts this even in meditation, also, we are we are doing practices, but it's not working. Seriously, it's not working because our thoughts, thousands of thoughts, are not going to connect with us. Because I'm in early discussion, I'm saying we have many things which divert us in today's world, even our dream is not belong to us, it belongs to our diversified things, and that's why our our happiness and our face satisfaction is gone because we are not living with us, we are living with uh situations. I I make this thing, and uh because it and this direction belongs to my mentor, and first I experience it myself from last three years, and I connect with myself, I meet with them and I see what what kind of abilities I have, and it's marvelous, it's seriously marvelous. So these 15 minutes, it's you can say it's magic, you can say anything, but it's the connection of silence, it's a connection of your inner silence, it removes your all thoughts, and you just become in a cave, your inner cave. And interestingly, after some time, after the practicing, you can sit with your soul, you can sit with your body, and you're the third character, you talk with them, so it's it's it's it's a spiritual thing, but it's very interesting, actually. And you know, it's not first time when you are talking about messengers, and we are talking about in history in in all holy books, the all messengers they fix their time in silence, in caves, in oceans, in different areas. So actually, we think they they are just meditate, the things know they connect their selves and they trying to solve the problems, what culturally problems in society. So when their the learning university self came to in front of them, they say, Yes, this is the solution of this era, so you have to do this. So it's it's it's a very wonderful and it's a very but there are some feelings which uh when you're talking about and we we utilize the words, the things are going small. We have to experience that thing so we can understand what's exactly going on. So of course, in in the book we will talk about this, but the briefly moment I truly encourage uh myself. I realized that I possessed something for which I had never made any effort, no hard work, no struggle, no pursuit. Yet it was given to my freely because of this gift. I was able to enjoy, and I was able to enjoy the changing seasons of the world, become familiar with the colors of nature, and find satisfaction of taste through a variety of fruits, fruits, and drinks. With every passing moment, I continue to take pleasure in the ability to see and to enjoy beautiful landscape. I experience joy by observing the people around me in the various relationships. I learn to reflect upon and contemplate the creation of nature. I begin to dream and I learn the art of turning imagination into a living reality. All of these becomes available to me after receiving life.

Dr Ariel R King 13:39

That's just incredible. While you're talking about it, I'm just smiling and shaking my head and so excited about what you're talking about. And then as you're speaking to me, I realize that there's something to this idea of quieting not just the mind, but quieting, quote unquote, the noise around us, including, I mean, we're on technology now, and there's all kinds of vibrations of technology and all types of pressures and radios and music and you know, apps and so on and so forth. And what's really interesting is that throughout history, this idea of sitting still with ourselves quiet somewhere and learning how to also quiet all the background noise within ourselves and our minds allows us to connect to something deeper than we usually have within our lives. I love the way you said about the taste, what you can taste and what you can see. You know, practically, can you tell me how has this changed your your life on a daily basis with people around you? Because I would think that this connection you now have has really changed not who you are, but has brought you back to who you are and has allowed you to relate and to connect to not just the world, as you said, but to people in a different way. So has that been the case?

Satisfaction, Soul, And The Driver Metaphor

Ahsan Syed 15:08

Yes, exactly. I mean uh it's a really interesting question, you know. If you see a richest person, he's not satisfied. If you see a poor person, he's not satisfied, even mediocre people, they are not satisfied. So it means we have everything, and if we haven't anything, we are not satisfied. So this is the main reason of human beings, they need satisfaction. Interestingly, what we are doing for this body uh it's it's it's a car, it's not a driver. Okay, so we just trying to luxury this car, position the seats. Uh we are in branding watches, branding clothes, you know what I exactly I'm saying, but we are not thinking about driver, and the driver is our soul. Soul is empty. You know, Ari, the most fascinating part in this to receive this life. I never had to make any effort, it was given to me freely. But there is one point that is extremely important if we truly understood how many centuries our soul has traveled in order to attain this existence, then believe me, we would not waste a single moment of life in destructions. Actually, we are not doing anything for this driver, the soul. And when we met with our cells which create us, you know, cell is uh not purified field, cell is the one thing after that it created blood, okay. So this is a most purified thing, and third most purified thing in our body is suprums, which create a human, okay. So it's the third category and the best category of fuel in our body, but actually we use it just for romance and just for the sex. So did you say you this fuel belongs to travel our soul actually? We are not using a fuel uh for car which we use in plane, okay. There is another for the highest area, and when we are using uh rockets out of space, so there is another very expensive fuel which consumes it in our body. We have a very, very precious fuel which utilizes for the soul traveling. When we burn and when we death, our soul just binds in this body. We we don't know what exactly why he's searching thousands of years for this uh physical absence, because after after this, when the soul is going to leave this body, he can't see, he can't talk, he can't taste, he can't use his hands because after that the body is not with him. So, with the body, it's a it's a very great combination of creature, soul and our body.

Dr Ariel R King 19:03

Can you ask you a question? Pardon me, may I interrupt just for a moment because this is so interesting to me. You know, you said something that kind of caught my attention, and you said something about the soul, and I won't say aggression or violence, but I'm wondering whether or not we within our lives are seeing more violence, more aggression, more dissatisfaction, uh, more disconnection as a result of us really forgetting about our soul and just living within this vortex of all kinds of, I won't say noise, but information and forgetting the true essence of who we are, which is our soul. Is there some kind of connection there that's happening more now than ever before?

Disconnection, Violence, And Soul Power

Life As A Business: Four Core Assets

Contact, Book Launch, And Closing Reflections

Ahsan Syed 19:56

I guess uh millions of people are disconnected with the soon. I'm just giving you an example. If I'm giving you a one million dollar chandier for your home, okay, and I say, Ari, it's a gift from my site, it's a very expensive gift. So please turn on in your in your lodges or your drawing room, okay? And uh you are going to uh hang it and you're going to turn on the button of electric, but there is a one connection. It's a positive connection, there is no negative connection. So, what do you think about it? One million. dollar Shandira will be open no and if you are getting a one dollar SMD light and if you have a negative and positive wire connection is accurate it will be on we have everything we we think in a richness in a wealthiness we can connect with ourselves it's a wrong terminology because body is here there is a negative but the positive is soul it's not connected so I think in in this example I'm trying to say you about and unfortunately it's not about in this era in every era where people have very business things to engage themselves and they don't want to connect but when you read the books of leaders it's political it's religious it's c whatever who is whoever they they have participated with the human beings they are the people who connect with the soul okay so we are talking about the business of life before we begin let's pause for one honest uh question if life were a business uh would we be proud of how we have managed it or uh would we quietly avoid reading the final report life is the only enterprise where the capital is invisible the deadline are unknown and the exist date is never disclosed yet every day we spend from it carelessly emotionally unconsciously this conversation isn't about money actually it's about management this management of time attention character and meaning because in the end life doesn't uh fail us we fail to run it consciously so we blame actually unfortunately on life but it's it's our fault so life is the only business where time is the currency we love money enough so that's why i i make this example so maybe we understand life how much life is expensive so yet no one tells us how much of it we have no receipts no warning no renewal option so in in every other business we calculate profit and loss in life most of people calculate only comfort we wake up rush earn consume repeatedly and call it living but the real question isn't how busy am I the real question is am I building something meaningful or merely serving efficiently if life were a company many of us would be loyal employees but very weak CEOs so the question is if we are talking about business so what is the capital of life there is every business has a capital so what is the capital of life so answer is every human being is born with four assets every human being whatever the religion is whatever the area is whatever the culture is so there are four assets which creator give him number one is time time is the only currency that decrees whether you spend it wisely or waste it money can return but time never negotiates and second thing is attention which we are talking about already for our book things so in the modern world attention is more expensive that money but you give your attention to quietly shapes your destiny the plane was inside someone is thinking about that there was a very strong thought something is flying in the air so now we can see iron flying in the air so thought focus thought is so important and third is health in today's world sorry to say you we think luxury is health health is not a luxury actually it's it's infrastructure without it success becomes decoration just decoration fourth is character and uh character is a person which is you can say brand value it determines whether success lasts or collapse the real tragedy isn't lack of talent the tragedy is mismanagement of capital so every business has a balance sheet but the question is what is the balance sheet of life so I love that thank you so much I want to say thank you because our time is up I'm sorry for that I think we need to talk again you're amazing could you please tell our audience how to get in touch with you and also if it's available now how to buy your book thank you yes I'm going to launch my book uh in uh Aprad inshallah and uh but uh I'm uh engaged in different things you can find me on LinkedIn on um uh Facebook Instagram youtube I have on my YouTube channel but um I'm seriously working for um the life on uh linkedin where I am trying to create by synopsis what is my research work and I wanna I wanna show my human beings we are all very unique and uh please don't don't live in in troops in the polity political troops in religious troops in colors troops we we we are we are very very precious and together we can do we can make uh this planet very beautiful we we don't need to see politicians we don't need to see religious people we are unique so we can do and uh this will this book will show you many things actually uh we're trying to portray a human being I'm gonna be one of the first ones to buy your book and I'd like to have a signed copy I'm just gonna say that formally yes why not exactly and thank you so very much thank you so very much and your precious time and I'm I'm really very uh this is also your you're not your one self beauty you spend your time for people so not for your personal benefit actually this is a human being so I've thousands or millions of people then watch these things and someone is clicked that gossip so maybe we can change meditates thank you so much I know that you've given me a lot to think about and it's been wonderful to speak to you and to our audience remember if I'm not for myself who would be for me if I am only for myself what am I?

Dr Ariel R King 28:35

If not now then when that's by the philosopher Hillel but I've added if not me then who? Thank you so much for joining us.

Ahsan Syed 28:44

Thank you very much.