The life lessons from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari are simple and profound. Personally I find the list of life lessons found here are nothing new, earth-shattering or ground-breaking. Some of you may called them common sense. But common sense, in an unusual amount leads to wisdom.
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is about living a simple balanced life filled with enchantment, courage, strength and joy.
This book written by Robin Sharma of “Who Cry When You Die”, is about a hard-driving successful attorney named Julian Mantle, who had a sudden severe heart attack which changed his life forever. The ever hyper competitive legal world had taken its toll on Mantle, physically and emotionally and spiritually.
It was a wake-up call for him. He told one of the partners that he wanted to simplify his life and that he “needed some answers”, and hoped he would find them in the mystical land of India.
In short, a weary western lawyer who trekked off to India on a spiritual odyssey and turned an enlightened yogi of the East.
“Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present.” – Camus
He sold off his material possessions (Ferrari, mansion, racehorse, Rolex, plane and private island) and embarked on a soul-searching journey in exotic India. You get to learn important life lessons from his journey. Or what he called it “personal odyssey of the self”.
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.” – Carl Jung
After giving up his practice and all his worldly possessions, Julian Mantle traveled from through remote villages, by foot and by train. Along the journey, he learned new customs, met warm and kind Indian village folks who opened their huts and hearts to this weary litigator from the West.
He discovered a refreshing perspective on the true meaning of life. The sacredness of the mystical landscape of India.
With his newly regained energy for living, his natural curiosity and creative spark steadily returned, and he started to feel more joyful and peaceful.
Julian mantle learned of ageless yogi who had mastered the art of mind-control and spiritual awakening.
It was in the ancient Kashmir, at the foot of the Himalayas, Mantle met a slightly-built man named Yogi Krishnan, who also had been a hot-shot lawyer just like him. Similar to the protagonist of this fable, Yogi Krishnan who had it with the hectic lifestyle in modern New Delhi, he too gave up his material possessions and retreated to a world of greater simplicity.
According to lawyer-turned-yogi Krishnan who now lives an austere but fulfilling life, after becoming a caretaker of the village temple. It was here, Krishnan came to know about himself and his purpose in the larger scheme of life.
Julian learned from Krishnan that every event has a purpose and every setback has it’s lesson. He also discovered that failure, be it of the personal, professional or even spiritual kind, is essential to personal expansion. It brings inner growth and other psychic rewards.
One shouldn’t regret your past, but instead embrace it as a teacher. And worry drains the mind of much of its power and, sooner or later, it injures the soul.
Krishnan told him that there is a group of sages known as Great Sages of Sivana ( Sivana means oasis of enlightenment) living somewhere in the treacherous Himalayas mountains, who know ageless principles and timeless techniques which can liberate the potential of the mind, body and soul.
So the next day, with his missionary zeal, our anxious lawyer headed off to search for the land of Sivana. As he trudged his way alone up the snow-capped Himalayas, the fresh mountain air and the serenity of nature cleared his mind and energized his spirit. He felt a oneness with the natural surroundings, a kind of kinship that two old friends might enjoy. That is the power and the wonder of Mother nature.
“One’s destiny unfolds according to the choices one makes.”
Julian finally met one of those mythical monks from Sivana. Before this Sivana sage took him to his temple to learn the ancient principles of how to live a life with more joy, strength and purpose, Julian had to promise that upon learning these timeless truths he must return to his homeland in the West and share this wisdom with all those who need to hear it.
Immediately Julian accepted the sage’s terms and promised that he would carry their philosophy on enlightened living of Sivana System to the West.
As Julian made his way into the village where the monks lived, he found they were all looked astonishingly youthful and moved with poise and purpose. Each of them looked calm, healthy and deeply contented.
Julian also learned they all consumed a diet of fresh fruits and exotic vegetables which kept them healthy. His broken spirit started to heal as he began a life of simplicity, serenity and harmony.
He learned that self-mastery and the consistent care of one’s mind, body and soul are essential to finding one’s highest self and living the life of one’s dreams. The simple thing is you have to care about yourself first, before you can care for others.
It is when you can truly love yourself then only you can truly love others. It’s only when you have opened your own heart that you can touch the hearts of others. When you feel centered and alive, you are in a much better position to be a better person.
He acquired a series of methods to unleash the wellspring of youthfulness and energy which has slumbering deep inside of us.
Sivanan System has seven basic virtues, seven fundamental principles which embodied the keys to self-leadership, personal responsibility and spiritual enlightenment.
The yogi told Julian a rather odd story about a a nine-foot-tall, nine-hundred-pound Japanese sumo wrestler coming out from a lighthouse, who wore a pink wire cable, found a stopwatch in the rose garden, and then how he followed a long winding path covered by millions of sparkling diamonds that led him down the road of everlasting joy and eternal bliss.
In fact the garden, the lighthouse, the sumo wrestler, the pink wire cable, the stopwatch, the roses and the path of diamonds are symbols of the seven timeless virtues for an enlightened life.
1. The Magnificent Garden – Master your mind
2. The Towering Lighthouse – Follow your purpose
3. The sumo Wrestler – practice Kaizen (constant and never-ending improvement)
4. The Pink Wire Cable – Live with Discipline
5. The gold Stopwatch – Respect your time
6. The Fragrant Roses – Selflessly serve Others
7. The path of Diamonds – Embrace the present