Self Help Books are
"preachy" and don’t generally resonate with me, except a few like the
ones written by Stephen Covey. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari has been a
"must-read" book recommended by many; I had it lying in my book shelf
since a while but never got to read it. However the phase that I am going
through possibly prompted me to read this one. And I must say that I am not in
the least disappointed! In fact, I am now planning to explore some of the
highly recommended self help books.
The Monk Who Sold
His Ferrari is an easy to understand guide for leading a simple and spiritual
life. It talks about the key 7 virtues of life via a dialogue between Julian
and John. Julian is a high profile lawyer; with everything going good his way
until he collapses in the middle of the courtroom due to a massive cardiac
arrest. Julian decides to leave the luxuries of his life in pursuit of true
happiness and the real meaning of life. He returns after several years as a
transformed and a healthier being. Julian narrates to John the learnings and
the journey of his new life; and he also encourages John to follow the same.
Some of them are bizarre (IMO!) but none of them are really new, all of us are
aware of the basic fundamentals of life. Its just that we get sucked into the
"rat race" and never get time to lead a proper life. The disillusion
of a happy life misleads all of us into being someone we are not or into doing
something we are not happy doing.
Julian teaches John
the 7 virtues of enlightened living via simple stories. The 7 virtues are:
1. Master Your Mind
2. Follow Your
Purpose
3. Practice Kaizen
4. Live With
Discipline
5. Respect Your Time
6. Selflessly Serve
Others
7. Embrace The
Present
It’s a well written
and quick read book. Recommended for those who are on the path of self
discovery!
Most of the thoughts
/ quotes in this book are inspirational and deep. Here are some which I loved:
"An average
person runs about 60,000 thoughts through his mind everyday and 95% of these
are the same as the previous day! This is the tyranny of impoverished
thinking"
"Even the best
conditioned minds are using only 1/100th percent of their mental
reserves!"
"These is no
such thing as objective reality or real world. There are no absolutes. The face
of your greatest enemy might be the face of my best friend."
"There are no
mistakes in life, only lessons"
"Things are
always created twice, first in the workshop of the mind, and only then in
reality"
"When you are
inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your
thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your
consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world."
"Find out what
you truly love to do and then direct all your energy towards doing it"
"Every second
you spend thinking about someone else's dreams you take time away from your
own"
"The quality of
your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts"
"The purpose of
life is a life of purpose"
"Lasting
happiness comes from steadily working to accomplish your goals and advancing
confidently in the direction of your life's purpose"
"Luck is
nothing but a marriage of preparation with opportunity"
"You can never
hit a target you cannot see"
"Stay focused
on your purpose. The Universe will take care of everything else"
"Busy
productive people are highly efficient with their time"
"Never be a
prisoners of the past, become the architect of your future"
"Happiness is a
journey, not a destination"
