Review - The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari_Robin Sharma

 

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It was an inspirational experience to read the book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma, who is famed for his motivational and inspirational work all over the world. The book is written in the narrative style; and contains mostly the dialogue between the lawyer – turned monk and his junior ex – staff. Monk had given up his law practice after a severe heart attack, and roamed around in the Himalaya in search of meaning of his life, to find peace in his life, and to learn ways to live happy and prosperous life. And, finally he found a Guru named Raman, and the Guru taught him the secret of living rich, spiritual, and meaningful life. Things that the Monk had shared in the book are so simple, and yet they can have a profound effect in our daily life that we are awestruck when we study them. Simplicity had made the book one of the great books ever in the genre of ‘Self – Help’.

Sharma had shared a fable in which he talked about 7 virtues of living a life that we only dream of, and they are:

Master your mind, Follow your purpose, Practice Kaizan, Live with discipline, Respect your time, Selflessly serve other, and Embrace the present.

 

The book also talks about the 10 rituals of radiant living, and they are:

Ritual of solitude, Ritual of physicality, Ritual of live nourishment (vegetarian diet), Ritual of abundant knowledge, (lifelong learning and application of learned knowledge), Ritual of personal reflection, Ritual of early awakening, Ritual of music, Ritual of spoken word, Ritual of congruent character (daily action – habit – character – destiny), and Ritual of simplicity,

Entire book has found to be revolving around to describe the above virtues and rituals that would uplift our way of living in this crumbling planet of ours. Running our own race would only secure our happiness, and yet we are running the meager race with everyone else except us.

…do not make the happiness contingent on finding that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

...stop chasing the big pleasures in life or else you miss out little ones.

…what lies behind you and what lies ahead of you is nothing as compared to what lies within you.

…80% of the results we achieve in our life come from only 20% of the activities that occupy our time.

…we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

….life doesn’t always give what we ask for, but it always gives us what we need.

The ways or principles or wisdoms mentioned in the book are timeless, and even our religions teach us the same. We must not forget a fundamental truth of the universe: “power doesn’t come from the knowledge; it comes from its application.” If we read the book and put it in the shelf, it won’t help us. Hence, we must try out the teachings of any books for grasping and understanding the knowledge it contains. Anyway, one can easily pick this book, read it out, and try the things that Sharma had mentioned for living a meaningful life. This is not a magic formula like we learn in chemistry – to turn around the form of matters immediately – it is rather a collection of wisdom that helps the one who practices it diligently. Hence, one is suggested to go directly into it, if one wishes to learn the way of living a meaningful life.

Rating: 4/5