The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Well let me start off by admitting a fact about me. I am not a reader. Over the years, I have lost the patience of sitting through a book. So after I heard about audible, I decided to try it out. I chose it as I like to explore diverse perspectives on spirituality.
The book describes the spiritual journey of a very successful yet unhappy lawyer named Julian mantle, who sells off all his possessions after a stroke in search of the meaning of life. He takes a trip to India and meets Yogi Krishnan who is a sage of a fiction place called sivannah in the ancient Himalayas. Yogi Krishnan leads Julian to his guru, Yogi Raman, his mentor and also, the head of the sages of sivannah. Yogi Raman becomes Julians' spiritual educator in the book teaching him ancient practices and sharing his wisdom on living more purposefully. Julian promises to return and spread this ancient knowledge to those in need and to those who are lost back home. The book is mostly a narration by Julian mantle to his junior and former colleague, John after he returns home, now a completely changed man, full of energy, life and vibrancy.
The yogi describes the meaning of life to Julian via a short story that goes as follows. There is a beautiful garden with astounding varieties of flora and fauna. As the yogi walks through this garden, he sees a red light house. A sumo wrestler naked with a pink wired mesh covering his private parts emerges from the lighthouse. The wrestler sees a golden watch and slips on it . He loses consciousness. Moments later, he regains his consciousness by the smell of some yellow roses. He gets up and sees a path in the garden shining like diamond. He takes the path to eternity or salvation. These simple elements of yogi Ramans’ story describe a beautiful way of living a purposeful life. The beautiful garden, denotes the human mind and its richness. It must be kept pure at all times. The sumo wrestler is a symbol of represents kaizen, the act of continuous improvement. Continuous cultivation of the mind, the body and the soul lead to inner peace. The wired mesh denotes self discipline in life. It is an undervalued practise in my opinion in today’s age having the potential of producing magical results. Loosely coupled wires tied together in a mesh become stronger than iron. That describes the power of self discipline. The golden watch signifies time and is telling you thats its slipping out of your hands. The yellow flowers denote acts of kindness. A hand holding a bouquet of flowers also catches their fragrance. Acts of kindness result in personal happiness that can last a really long time. Finally, the path of diamonds is symbolic to living in the now. Julian heightens the importance of this point by narrating a tale of a restless school boy, very dissatisfied with his life. On his way home from school, the boy meets an old woman who gifts him a bowl with a thread coming out from the bottom. On pulling this thread, the boy can advance a few days or months in his life at his own will. On pulling harder, he can advance years. The restless boy rapidly advances through all the stages of his life finding himself as a lonely old man who has barely savoured the gifts of his life whilst trying to constantly move forward. Each one of us has a unique purpose in life. With each passing day, living right and discipling the self lead us closer to our purpose. Ultimately, we are all spiritual beings having a human experience.
Personally, the book was a good read for me and I found it quite different. It gave me a lot of things to ponder upon. It has got some proven practises for a blissful living and a stable mind that can be easily adapted in everyday life. Concluding by one of the beautiful and unforgettable quote I found in the book,
“Those who study others are wise, those who study themselves are enlightened !”