Preferred Summaries
…Precise and Powerful
Author: Robin Sharma
Pages: 198
Publisher: JAICO BOOKS
Category: Motivation & Leadership
Summarized By preferred Books…Distributing Knowledge!
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Name of Book: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
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⦁ Wake Up Call
This Topic equally serves as a prologue and an introduction to the book. It kicked off by revealing the frenetic and uncontrollably fast paced life of a Harvard trained trial lawyer known as Julian Mantle. He seemed to have been born in a perfect setting; well do to parents, well to do neighborhood, compelling Physique, and possessing a brilliant mind which was capped an Ivy League certificate. Julian wasn’t just Intelligent; he was very ambitious and self driven and it drove him to the pinnacle of his profession which made him attract all the trappings of fame and wealth to himself. At a time, he was rated as one of the best trial lawyers in the country. He won complex and unbelievable cases, not just in couples but consistently, case after case. And to many, Julian was incapable of losing. He sacrificed family and relationships and health on the alter of ambition. His overwhelmingly stressed life style came to a climax as he fell down while defending a case and the diagnosis was heart attack.
⦁ The Mysterious Visitor
In this section of the book, the company where Julian worked conveyed a board meeting and informed everyone that their legal genius has had a heart attack and in fact, that he has quit the legal profession. Meanwhile, as the years passed, Julian’s former assistant; John climbed up the promotion ladder and found himself like his former boss feeling less fulfilled and empty. One fateful day, he was at the office going through the motions of a demanding and boring legal work when suddenly, a very youthful, radiant and impressive man demanded as a matter of great importance to see him. He refused and almost had the visitor thrown out only to find out that the person was his former boss; Julian Mantle.
⦁ The Miraculous Transformation of Julian Mantle
At this stage of the meeting between John and his former boss, Julian, he recounted to John how he went to India after having sold all his belongings and was directed by fate to a former lawyer turned monk known as Yogi Krishnan. It was from this man he learnt that the essence of life is giving. He also learnt from that there were stories of certain Sages of Sirvana that harbored the secret of reforming life. He was told that very few persons had ventured to the mountain of Himalayas where it was believed they reside. Julian, hungry for a solution, decided to climb the mountain in search of this wisdom that will transform his life. It took him seven days to reach the top of the mountain where he found them and his transformation began. On his way to search out the sages of Sirvana, some of his timeless lessons could be captured in the classical statement made by Albert Camus when he said that the real generosity towards the future consists in giving all to what is present and that in life, one should never regret the past for every experience of our lives serves as a teacher.
⦁ A Magical meeting with the Sages of Sirvana
“Welcome to the Nirvana of Sirvana” were the words that the first Monk he saw, Yogi Raman used in welcoming him to the mysterious and magical land of Sirvana. It was heaven of a sort with its ethereal ambience, flowered on all side and radiating peace and serenity. Everyone of them seemed busy and quietly working with reverential serenity. Most of them were beyond 100 years of age but looked 40. To Julian, though, it was a foreign land, it looked like a long lost home.
⦁ A Spiritual Student of the Sages
Due to his hunger for knowledge and his sharp legally reformed intellect, his willingness and ability to learn endeared him, to the sages of Sirvana. His learning process consisted of no special premeditated approach, rather, it was spontaneous. It could be just be sharing timeless success secrets of life while observing the Indian sun or it could just consist of a trek to remarkable sites. From this simple and uncomplicated approach to life, Julian was taught to observe beauty in ordinary things. he also learnt that success within is more important than success without. He came to understand self mastery and the consistent care of ones’ mind, body and soul as being indispensable to living one’s highest life. It dawned on Julian that in this life one cannot give what one doesn’t have; one cannot give good if one doesn’t feel good. The cumulative effect of this is the seeming physical and spiritual transformation of Julian. It was in this state of hyper expectation that Julian bade his former assistant goodbye, promising to be back the next day.
⦁ The Wisdom of Personal Change
The next day, Julian arrive in John’s house in the evening as he promised and before she started releasing his secrets, he dramatically taught John that the first step in change is to empty one’s cup if one must receive more things using the same cup. Julian reminded John that it’s only when open our own hearts that we can touch the heart of others. He reminded him that the strategies are simply aimed at bringing dynamic changes to the way we operate our mind, body and soul. He told John that Yogi Raman used a mysterious fable to teach him the secret of change. The fable entails that he should imagine himself in a breathtakingly beautiful garden and at the centre of the garden, stands a light house, six stories high and from this light house emerges a 9ft nine hundred pound Japanese Sumo wrestler who picks up a shiny gold watch left behind ages ago and on picking this falls to the ground as if dead but suddenly he comes alive and saw a path covered by millions of sparkling diamonds which to his own good fortune he follows to eternal bliss and joy. Julian told John that when the Monk was done, felt disappointed by the simplicity of the story but that the immediately reminded him to never to overlook the power of simplicity. Julian concluded that session by telling John that the fable embodies the seven timeless virtues of enlightened life.
⦁ A Most extraordinary Garden
Julian told John that his teacher; Yogi Raman made him to understand that the garden in the fable represents our minds. He went on to state that our minds are our most prized possession and should be guarded strongly to ensure that over 60, 000 thought impulses we receive daily are all positive. Its unbelievable to note that are always using just one tenth of their mind capacity. Mind management, he continued is the essence of life management. Nature’s greatest gift to us is our minds and as such, we mustn’t allow even negative thought to get in. our minds must be conditioned to focus only on the positive side of every situation. Whatever we become is directly traceable to how we managed our minds. Julian continued by reminding John that the most effective means of maximizing the mind is to focus on one thing at a time. ‘Focus has the power of unleashing hidden potentials’ he stressed. Another means of generating power is to learn to activate the power of silence and stillness. He concluded by telling John that there are no mistakes in life, only lessons.
⦁ Kindling your Inner Fire
Julian continued by telling John that this is the second virtue of enlightened life, representing the light house at the middle of the garden which simply reflects that the essence of life is a life of purpose. He also told him that those who study others wise but those who study themselves are enlightened. Man is not meant to retire but by gradually working towards a given purpose, one attains true happiness and keeps one’s inner fire blazing. Julian told John that the rallying point of the ancient monks is service and that he who serves most reaps most. He emphasized that the secret of life is constancy of purpose. He told John that he learnt that one important aspect of purpose is having a clearly defined set of objectives which one pursues consistently. One can focus on one’s purpose also by confiding in those one trust and sealing any goal with a deadline. He concluded this session by reminding John that if one focuses on this disciplinary practice that the law of 21 will come to one’s aid which states that what one practices for 21 days will eventually become a part of one.
⦁ The Ancient art of self leadership
Julian continued by telling John that the virtue of enlightened living represented by the 9ft tall, 900 pound sumo wrestler translates to what the sages call ‘Kaizen’ which stands for constant and never ending improvement. To improve one’s outer life, one must constantly improve one’s inner life and questions are the most effective way of eliciting knowledge. The ultimate art of improvement is self mastery. One must exercise courage, he continued in the improvement of one’s body, soul and spirit in this direction; pain is a great teacher. When one dares one’s fears and ventures the zone of the unknown, one will experience uncommon freedom in the direction of self development. Julian explained to John what he called the ten rituals of radiant living; ritual of solitude; maximizing the greatness of silence, the ritual of physicality; physical exercise, the ritual of live nourishment; eating right, the ritual of abundant knowledge; lifelong learning, the ritual of personal reflection; self examination, the ritual of early awakening, the ritual of music, the ritual of spoken word; speaking out what one wants, the ritual of congruent character and lastly, the ritual of simplicity; focusing on priorities. The wisdom here continued Julian is in doing nothing to extremes, everything must be done to moderation. He concluded here by reminding John that failure in self leadership is simply not having the courage to try.
⦁ The Power of Discipline
Another virtue of the enlightened soul is discipline which in the fable represents the thin wire cord that the giant used in covering his private parts. Julian continued by letting John know that all achievements recorded in history are tributes to discipline. H went on to quote as follows: “through the steel of discipline, you will forge a character rich with courage and peace, through the virtue of will, you are destined to rise life’s highest ideal and live within a heavenly mansion filled with all that’s good, joyous and vital, without them, you are lost like a mariner without a compass who eventually sinks with his ship” Julian continued by telling John that enlightened people never seek to be like others but seek to be superior to their former selves. The primary and most essential aspect of discipline is learning to rid one’s mind of all that’s negative and focus only on the positive. He also told him that holding one’s tongue for an extended period of time will leave a powerful effect on one’s discipline. Julian ended the session by reminding his disciple that he is more than he appears to be; that all the world’s wisdom and strength resides with him.
⦁ Your most precious commodity
Isaac Pitman once said that a well arranged time is the surest mark of a well arranged mind and this was how Julian introduced this session. He reminded John that the stop watch picked up by the giant represented time in the virtues of enlightened life. In this material world, to master life, you must master time. Julian reminded John that time is a great leveler. He went on to tell John of the compact rule of 20 which states that its only 20% of the things we do that produces 80% of our results. Enlightened people, he reechoed are priority driven. He also reminded John that appropriate rest is an effective time management tool. Julian reminded John that the sages lived with what he called death bed mentality; living everyday as if it was their last. He concluded this session by reminding John that everything in this life is made subject to man, because we are not human beings having a spiritual experience as is widely held but spiritual beings having a human experience.
⦁ The Ultimate Purpose of Life
Julian started off this chapter by quoting William Blake who said that everything that lives, lives not alone and not for itself. He reminded John of a popular practice of the sages where they don’t allow their children go to bed until they had performed a good act. The quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution, he quipped. Julian rounded off this section by reminding John of an insightful explanation that yogi Raman told him and that is that; when we are born, the world rejoices while we are crying, so, it would be very fitting that when we die, we should be rejoicing while the world cries.
⦁ Timeless Secret of Lifelong Happiness
Julian taught John that the Sages taught him that living above the past is a great tool for happy living. He told him that being engaged in a pursuit that continually challenges one is the surest path to happiness but the key is to remember that happiness is a journey, not an end. He told John never to put off happiness for achievement. He went further by reminding John to live his children’s childhood by getting involved in their lives while their childhood lasts. He went on to say that there is a great difference between making a lot of money and making a lot of life. He told John that life doesn’t always give what we want but what we need. He reminded John that every single person on earth is a genius if one can follow one’s talent. He told John to always meditate on his true calling and how he can give himself more to others. He continued by reminding John that no matter what one hopes to achieve, one should remember that the journey of life is meant to be enjoyed and that the road is as good as the end.
